[Eli5] Why do planes need huge wings but space rockets don’t ?
In: Physics
The wings provide lift through a pressure differential. Something that blew my mind when I really thought about it is that the entire weight of the plane is supported by the wings. You can pick up a plane by the wings theoretically.
Rockets don’t need lift to stay in the air. They have rocket fuel and go more or less straight up for a lot of the flight. They do spiral though.
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