University of Illinois Atmospheric Sciences Professor Larry Di Girolamo is a lead scientist who helped design the new MAIA (Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols) instrument that will be launched into space very soon! This satellite will follow a sun-synchronous, polar orbit at an altitude of 700 km above Earth’s surface. It will complete one orbit around Earth every 99 minutes and provide spectacular high resolution satellite imagery of Earth’s surface and atmosphere. Please solve for the orbital velocity (in mph) of the MAIA satellite in its circular orbit around Earth. (Show all of your work.) Things you need to know:
1. Earth’s radius is 6,370 km
2. The satellite is 700 km from Earth’s surface
3. The orbit is circular and it takes 99 minutes to complete one orbit.