Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/iii/paper-316/1/vii/solution

An encounter can occur only near an orbital node of the comet's inclined orbit. Its tangential velocity projected into the planet's plane is reduced by , so the relative-speed calculation becomes
The missing projected component is a vertical relative velocity, so the moon encounter is three-dimensional: becomes a vector in the impact plane, and a collision also requires the trajectory to pass close to the moon's orbital plane. Once the total asymptotic speed is used, the two-body gravitational focusing formulae in parts (v) and (vi) retain their form, but the geometrical collision probability is lower.

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