This NASA footage shows the Atlas V rocket launching the

Last updated: 7/10/2022

This NASA footage shows the Atlas V rocket launching the Mars Science Laboratory (aka Curiosity Rover). This rocket launched the Curiosity rover on its 8.5 month long journey to Mars. The first part of the trip was to use the ATLAS V rocket to launch the rover into orbit around earth. The first few seconds of this trip are shown in the video below. 1. Let's start by calculating what acceleration the rocket must produce to launch into earth orbit. In order to attain orbit around earth, the ATLAS V rocket must accelerate up to a speed of about 7700 meters per second in about 4.2 minutes. What average acceleration is required to accomplish this? (acceleration = velocity/time)