USAAAO — 2022 First Round
Questions 21–22
A satellite is in a circular, equatorial orbit, and can fire its engines to accelerate in any of the following directions: 1. In the direction of motion 2. Against the direction of motion 3. Towards Earth, perpendicular to direction of motion (against radial vector) 4. Away from Earth, perpendicular to direction of motion (along radial vector) 5. Towards the North Celestial Pole (perpendicular to both direction of motion and radial vector) Consider a small change of velocity in each of these directions. For how many of these maneuvers will the perigee of the orbit decrease?
For the five maneuvers described above, rank the resulting apogees from lowest to highest. Assume the change in velocity is small relative to orbital velocity, but not negligible.
Sign in to save your progress.
Answer both parts to check. Both must be correct to count as correct.
Source
USAAAO 2022 First Round. Question text, choices, and answer were transcribed from the official USAAAO exam and solutions PDFs.