Acceleration and Velocity Profiles
1. Accelerations. The accelerations for the mission were found using the equation F=ma. Since it is a constant thrust, the acceleration will increase at a constant rate. The acceleration was found by dividing the thrust by the mass left at the time. This gives the acceleration chart on page.
2. Velocity. Since the acceleration changed at such a small rate, it was assumed that an average value for the acceleration could be used for computing the velocity. The acceleration at the beginning of a phase and at the end of a phase were averaged. This acceleration was then multiplied by the time interval for which it pertained. This delta V was then added to the previous velocity. The turning point for the mission was found with the computer program on the next page. Different turning points were tried until one was found that gave a final velocity of about 32.935 km/s.
