Why is it a rocket🚀 is used to go straight up into outer space and not just use an airplane ✈️ ? I’m sure there is a good reason but it seems that the gradual assent would be preferred over the straight up approach.
In: Engineering
>Why is it a rocket is used to go straight up into outer space and not just use an airplane ?
Going into orbit isn’t about going UP. It’s about going horizontally really fast. Rockets go up in order to get out of the thick, lower atmosphere into the thin, upper atmosphere where they can avoid drag and go horizontally faster.
Experimental planes are sometimes carried under the wings of bombers. They sometimes can reach the Karman Line designating the boundary between the atmosphere and space. There is a British company attempting to create a plane that can fly to orbit using air breathing engines and carrying a supply of oxygen and fuel to burn when the air gets too thin. They’re called SABRE engines.
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