In light of the recent launches I was wondering why rockets launch straight up instead of taking of like a plane.
It seems to take so much fuel to go straight up, and in my mind I can’t see to get my head around why they don’t take off like a plane and go up gradually like that.
Edit – Spelling and grammar
Edit 2 – Thank you to everyone who responded. You have answered a life long question.
In: Physics
In order to get into the air you need to generate enough lift to overcome your weight, planes use air passing over the wing in order to generate lift and maintain it over the long flight times. Lift increases with increasing speed so planes use a long ground run to generate the speed and therefore lift to fly. The engines then continue to provide enough forward thrust to overcome the air resistance created whilst flying.
Rockets however are trying to get into orbit around the planet. This actually involves going sideways really fast however, air resistance at that speed would destroy any vehicle used. The rocket only flies straight upwards to clear the launch tower and get clear of the ground, it then pitches over at angle to gain altitude quickly, getting out of the thickest parts of the atmosphere where air resistance is highest whilst beginning to gain horizontal speed. As they get higher up and the atmosphere begins to disappear they pitch over almost flat to allow them to build up the speed required to stay in orbit.
I can eli5 how orbiting works if anyone is interested
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