Answer to Question #68890 in Mechanics | Relativity for Becca

Question

Our Addition Problem this week will deal with an asteroid the "size of Texas" heading our way. Our asteroid is heading toward earth at 22,000 mph with a mass of 6.2 x 1021 kg. Instead of a misfit crew of oil drillers we send a small intrepid spacecraft to nudge it off course. After setting down on the asteroid it will give a constant force of 5.0 N. We only need to change the velocity of the asteroid by 0.30 cm/s to have it miss the Earth. How long must the force act on the asteroid to avert disaster?