Imagine a Star Wars type spaceship in orbit around a planet. Its engine suffers a severe malfunction, and explodes. What is the most physically realistic depiction of this event?
A) The spacecraft breaks in half, and begins to sink down into the planet, like a sinking aircraft carrier.
B) The spacecraft breaks apart, and the pieces continue to orbit the planet.
C) The spacecraft burns up in a giant ﬁreball.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In orbit, objects are constantly falling towards the planet, but they are also moving horizontally fast enough to miss it. If the spaceship were to explode, the pieces would continue to follow the same orbit, just like debris from a satellite collision would. Option A is not physically realistic because the spaceship would not begin to sink down into the planet like a sinking aircraft carrier. Option C is also not very realistic since there is no oxygen in space to sustain a fire, but there would be a brief flash of light as the explosion occurred.

Imagine a Star Wars Type Spaceship in Orbit Around a Planet