Why are space rockets shot straight up? Wouldn’t it be easier to make a spacecraft that ascends like regular aircraft until it’s out of the atmosphere?
In: Technology
They aren’t shot straight up.
They start pointing straight up, but very gradually turn so that by the time they have exited the atmosphere, they’re more or less parallel with the ground.
The reason is aerodynamics. The wind slows down the craft, so we have to make the rocket very pointy to cut through that. If we tried to slowly go up like a plane, it would need too much fuel, and fuel is heavy. The more weight you carry, the more fuel you need, so it goes in a big loop getting worse and worse.
So the most efficient way we know of is to go straight up, then slowly level out. Even this is tricky with the amount of fuel needed, so there’s lots of math and weight considerations.
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