Gravity and Space Exploration

Scientists observed a rocky, rotating object orbiting in space.  It was 250 km wide. The rocky object was located several times farther away from the Sun than the Earth. The object is most likely —

• Venus

• the Moon

• Mars

• asteroid

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

A student writes the following in his notes:

This object in space is much bigger than Earth. It is mostly gas and is generally round. It has many moons and is closer than Saturn to Earth.

Which of these is the student describing?

• Sun

• Jupiter

• Venus

• Mars

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

Exploration has been a large part of human history. In the mid 1900's, humans developed technology which made the exploration of space possible. Which countries were the world leaders in space exploration throughout the 1960’s?

• United States and Soviet Union

• United States and China

• Japan and Soviet Union

• Germany and United States

Which of the following exists around every object that has mass?

• magnetic poles

• electric charges

• a magnetic field

• a gravitational field

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NGSS.MS-PS2-4

NGSS.MS-PS2-5

Which of the following statements is true?

• Only objects that are very close together exert gravitational forces on each other.

• Objects can only exert gravitational forces if they are at least as dense as water.

• Any object with mass exerts a gravitational force on all other objects.

• Only objects that are as large as planets exert gravitational forces on other objects.

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NGSS.MS-PS2-4

NGSS.MS-PS2-5

__________ is the attractive pull between any two objects

• Atmospheric pressure

• Gravity

• Inertia

• Friction

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NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Which of the following exerts gravity?

• only planets, moons, and stars

• any object with mass

• only objects on Earth

• only the Earth

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

NGSS.MS-PS2-5

Scientists and engineers are testing three different satellites orbiting Earth. The scientists are able to use sensors to determine the gravitational force experienced by each satellite. Some of the data from each of the orbiting satellites is shown in the table above. Which statement best summarizes the information given?

• The gravitational force on the satellite depends only on the distance from Earth at which it is traveling.

• The satellite with the least amount of mass is able to exert greater gravitational force on Earth than the others.

• The gravitational force exerted by Earth changes the mass of each of the satellites.

• The gravitational force exerted by Earth on the satellite depends on the satellite's mass.

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NGSS.MS-PS2-4

All objects anywhere on or near the Earth are

• pulled toward Earth by the force of gravity.

• held in place by several forces pushing and pulling on them.

• pushed away from Earth by the force of repulsion.

• spun in a counterclockwise direction by magnetic forces.

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NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Astronauts on the Moon can jump higher than if they were on Earth. This is because

• the astronauts are less massive on the Moon.

• there is no friction on the Moon.

• Newton's laws of motion do not apply to the Moon.

• the Moon is less massive than the Earth

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

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