The ISS is around 400km above us. A rocket needs a speed of at least 8km per second to get to space. If we cut out the acceleration part it could in theory reach the ISS in around 50 seconds. Even if we factor in the acceleration part etc. it should still be very quick up there. Yet the fastest possible time to get to the ISS is 4 hours. That would be an average speed of 100Km/h which is way slower than the speed of the rocket after a few seconds. Why the long journey?
In: Planetary Science
It’s not about getting to the ISS. It’s about getting there while both are moving at the same velocity.
If you wanted to pass a glass to somebody on the far side of the room, the quickest way would be to just hurl it at them as hard as you can.
But since you probably don’t want to shatter a glass in their face, you’re likely to take the slower option which gets the glass there at a more acceptable speed.
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