If NASA scientists use positive and negative numbers to represent the time surrounding a rocket launch, what would zero mean?

one hour before take-off
two minutes before take-off
the moment of take-off
two minutes after take-offIf NASA scientists use positive and negative numbers to represent the time surrounding a rocket launch, what would zero mean?
one hour before take-off
two minutes before take-off
the moment of take-off
two minutes after take-off

1 answer

In the context where positive and negative numbers are used to represent time surrounding a rocket launch, zero would represent the moment of take-off.

Negative numbers would indicate time before take-off (e.g., -1 for one hour before), while positive numbers would indicate time after take-off (e.g., +2 for two minutes after). Therefore, the correct answer is:

the moment of take-off.