Question 4

A spaceship of mass $m$ is launched into an orbit around the Earth (mass $M$ and radius $R$) with a perigee distance of $2R$ and an apogee distance of $10R$. Find

(a) the semimajor axis and eccentricity of this orbit,

[7 marks]

(b) the minimum energy needed to place the spaceship in this orbit, [5 marks]

(c) the speed of the spaceship at perigee,

[7 marks]

(d) the angular momentum of the spaceship.

[6 marks]

[Hints can be found here, but do not follow this link until you have attempted the question on your own.]