a 2.00 * 10^5 kg lunar landing craft is about to touch down on the surface of the moon

To calculate the force with which the lunar landing craft will touch down on the surface of the moon, you need to use Newton's second law of motion, which states that force (F) is equal to the mass (m) of an object multiplied by its acceleration (a).

In this case, the mass of the lunar landing craft is given as 2.00 * 10^5 kg.

Since the craft is about to touch down on the surface of the moon, the acceleration due to gravity on the moon needs to be taken into account. The moon's gravitational acceleration is approximately 1/6th of the gravitational acceleration on Earth, which is 9.8 m/s^2. Therefore, the acceleration on the moon is about 1.63 m/s^2.

Now, you can calculate the force with which the lunar landing craft will touch down by multiplying the mass of the craft by the moon's acceleration:

F = m * a
F = (2.00 * 10^5 kg) * (1.63 m/s^2)

By performing this calculation, you will find the force exerted by the lunar landing craft when it touches down on the moon's surface.