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
The ISS is moving at 28,000km/hr.
You don’t just hit it with a rocket and say job done.
You need to enter orbit (moving fast enough sideways so when the spacecraft falls it doesnt hit the earth) AND match velocity with the ISS so that you can dock to the station without destroying anything.
Checking trajectory, equipment, and communications takes time. Over-do a burn and you have to waste more precious fuel to slow back down.
Yes, one could “technically” do this in under 4 hours but that would be massively reckless and require absolute perfection in every step along the way.
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