An astronaut finishes some work the outside" of his satellite, which is in circular orbit around Earth. He leaves his wrench outside the satellite. The wrench will

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ISRO URSC Technical Assistant Mechanical 24 March 2019 Official Paper
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  1. Fall directly down to Earth
  2. Continue in orbit at reduced speed
  3. Continue in orbit with the satellite
  4. Fly off tangentially into space

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 3 : Continue in orbit with the satellite
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Detailed Solution

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Explanation:

  • The astronaut and the wrench have very different weight, size and shape. But objects in orbit are in a free fall and the only force acting on the objects is the gravitational attraction of the Earth.
  • So both the astronaut and the wrench are accelerated towards the Earth with the same acceleration.
  • Since both Space wrench and astronaut are falling with the same acceleration, the astronaut appears to be "weightless" and "floats" relative to the wrench.

Hence the wrench will continue to orbit with the satellite.

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