[ELI5] Why do rockets have to go around in orbit and do a bunch of squiggly maneuvers to get to the moon? Why cant they just go in a straight line?

Question

And by straight, i mean, just… Point the nose of the rocket towards the moon and keep steering till you get there….

In: Physics

Answer 1

You’re thinking of the moon and the earth as two stationary objects in space. The earth and moon are moving really fast relative to each other, faster than a rocket can catch up. If you just point the snoot of the rocket directly at where the moon is and blast off, the moon is probably going to be on the other side of the earth by the time the rocket gets out to the moon’s original location.