Mass
Forces and Motion

​​​​​​​Is it possible to jump into orbit?

Stories from Physics for 11-14 14-16 IOP RESOURCES

A paper has considered whether it is possible to jump into orbit on a body of small mass, such as Mars’s moon Deimos. The authors conclude that it is impossible to jump from the surface of Mars’s moon into a trajectory that would lead to a stable orbit though comment that it may be possible to enter orbit by jumping vertically from a high point on the surface or by building a platform which is then collapsed. Deimos’s escape velocity is only 5.8 m/s and it is calculated that a stone dropped from waist height would take around 30 s to reach the ground.

References

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