Question

In January 2004, NASA landed exploration vehicles on Mars. Part of the descent consisted of the following stages:
Stage A: Friction with the atmosphere reduced the speed from 19300km/h to 1600km/h in 4.0min
Stage B: A parachute then opened to slow it down to 321km/h in 94s
Stage C: Retro rockets then fired to reduce its speed to zero over a distance of 75m
Assume that each stage followed immediately after the preceding one and that the acceleration during each stage was constant.

part 1) Find the rocket's acceleration (in m/s^2) during stages A,B,and C.

Part 2) Find the total distance the rocket traveled (in km) during stage A,B,and C.

Answer 1

A) Divide the velocity change by the time interval cases A and B. For part C, where you are given the distance and not the time interval,
time interval = 2x/V ; a = V^2/(2x)
There will be a need to convert speeds to m/s

B) Multipy the average (mean) velocity of each stage by the corresponding time interval, and add them up.

Please show more effort if you wish further help.