Basically the post title, wouldn’t it be faster to go through the atmosphere at an angle instead of pushing up through the atmosphere? Is it possible to launch a spaceship this way?
I never took high school physics so this may be an exceptionally dumb question.
Edit: Thanks for all the explanations! I understand why now
In: Physics
Taking of horizontally makes sense for planes because they fly by generating lift.
This is generated by having air moving over and under the wings at different rates, pushing the plane upwards.
Since lift requires air, it doesn’t make sense to put wings on a spaceship, since it can’t use lift in space.
Lift requires air so the higher you get, the less lift wings generate, since the air becomes thinner. So using lift to go to space isn’t an option either.
You need the massive power of rocket engines to reach space. And those are hard enough to steer if they start off pointed in roughly the right direction.
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