From the videos I’ve seen online when a rocket lift’s off the rocket boosters separate from the capsule. What are they and why do they separate?
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Everything you try to carry up to space adds weight and air resistance. Once a boosters fuel stage runs out they detach it so they don’t have to drag the empty part up with them.
The more stuff you try to accelerate up to orbital velocity the more fuel you need to lift it. But when you add more fuel you just made the rocket heavier so now you need to add even more fuel! Having stages and boosters that could detach solved the problem.
Other solutions including using things like nuclear bombs and/or accelerating more rapidly and/or launching from somewhere very high near the equator, like Mt.everest base camp or something.
The earth is spinning so launching from the equator adds earth’s rotational speed to your velocity, whereas launching from the north or south pole wouldn’t give you that extra bit.
There are a lot of factors to take into consideration when it comes to launching rockets and every tiny bit of efficiency makes a dramatic difference!
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