Question

the space shuttle orbits at an altitude of approximately 200 km above the surface of the earth. If the radius of the earth itself is 6380km, what is the acceleration due to gravity at the altitude ofthe space shuttle?

Answer 1

It is defined to be precisely 9.80665 m/s2 or 35.30394 (km/h)/s (32.174 ft/s2 or 21.937 mph/s)

Answer 2

Since the earth is not a perfect sphere, there is no actual radius for the Earth. If there was one, the distance would be way outside the earth's atmosphere, meaning it would be in space. Space has 0 gravity, which means everything is weightless. That means the satellite would be 0 pounds at that distance.