Why Do Satellites Launched into Low-Earth Orbits Not Remain There

question 17

Multiple Choice

Why do satellites launched into low-Earth orbits not remain there indefinitely?

• A) they do not have enough speed to fall freely around the Earth
• B) they tend to collide with other spacecraft and spacecraft fragments
• C) they lose speed due to friction with the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere
• D) they run out of fuel, and without fuel, all satellites, no matter what their orbit is, must fall
• E) this is an unsolved problem, but a NASA committee has been assigned to work on it

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Definitions:

P-value

The p-value is a statistical measure indicating the probability of obtaining test results at least as extreme as the ones observed, assuming that the null hypothesis is true.

Standard Deviation

An index of the dispersion or variability around the mean of a set of data points, indicating how spread out the data is.

Producer

An entity or individual that is responsible for the creation or provision of goods or services in an economy.

Sampling Distribution

A probability distribution consisting of all possible values of a sample statistic.