An interplanetary space probe has a mass of 2 x 10^4 kg and lands on a newly discovered planet far from Earth. Following is a table containing data from the probe's descent, during which time its rockets provided a constant upward descent thrust of 1.3 x 10^5 Newtons to slow the craft for a period of 40 seconds. t (s) | v (m/s) | Remarks
0 | -21.3 | Begin timing
10 | -16 | Altitude = H
20 | -10.7 |
30 | -5.3 |
40 | 0 | h=0, v=0
a) calculate the acceleration of the probe during its descent
b) calculate the altitude of the craft when timing began at t=0
c) calculate the value of H
d) calculate the surface value of g for the planet (assume it is constant for the duration of the descent)