You are an engineer for NASAs Curiosity rover that is curren

You are an engineer for NASA\'s Curiosity rover that is currently driving around the surface of Mars. Suppose you need to send it an emergency transmission because it\'s about to drive off a cliff! Assume Earth is on a circular orbit of radium 1.5x10^11 m around the Sun and Mars is on a circular orbit of radius 2.3x10^11 m around the Sun. What is the fastest time (in minutes) that your message could reach the rover, when Mars is as close to Earth in its orbit as possible?

Solution

distance between earth and mars will be 2.3 x 10¹¹ - 1.5 x 10¹¹ = 0.8 X 10¹¹ = 8 X 10¹⁰ meters

time = distance / speed ;

speed = 3 x 10¹⁰ m/s

t = 8 x 10¹⁰ / 3 x 10¹⁰ = 8/3 seconds = 0.0444 mins

1 sec = 1/60 minutes; 8/3 seconds = 8/3 * 1/60 = 8/180 = 2/ 45 = 0.0444... mins