COMMENTS

  1. How fast could humans travel safely through space?

    The Space Launch System, a new rocket that will ferry the Orion spacecraft aloft, should have its first crewed mission in 2021 - a flyby of an asteroid captured in lunar orbit - with a months ...

  2. Spaceships and Rockets

    The International Space Station is a spacecraft, just like the smaller vehicles that deliver crew and cargo to it. Spacecraft launch on rockets and have their own propulsion and navigation systems that take over after they separate from the rocket, propelling them to other worlds in our solar system. Their main purpose lies in transporting ...

  3. How do space rockets work without air?

    A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 60 Starlink internet satellites into space from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Oct. 6, 2020. It was the third flight for the ...

  4. How rockets work: A complete guide

    The key to using rockets in space is to carry a chemical called an oxidant that can perform the same role as oxygen in Earth's air and enable the fuel to combust. The Space Shuttle's unique ...

  5. Three Ways to Travel at (Nearly) the Speed of Light

    2) Magnetic Explosions. Huge, invisible explosions are constantly occurring in the space around Earth. These explosions are the result of twisted magnetic fields that snap and realign, shooting particles across space. Download related video from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio. Magnetic fields are everywhere in space ...

  6. How fast can rockets go?

    How fast can a rocket go? The speeds of rockets is normally measured in meters or kilometers per second (m/s, km/s or kps). Rockets have to go very fast to leave Earth and get into space. Here are a few examples of how fast rockets travel: To get to low Earth orbit: 7.8 km/s (28,100 km/h; 17,400 mph).

  7. How Do We Launch Things Into Space?

    The Short Answer: We launch things into space by putting them on rockets with enough fuel — called propellant — to boost them above most of Earth's atmosphere. Once a rocket reaches the right distance from Earth, it releases the satellite or spacecraft. Watch this video about how we launch things into space!

  8. How Do Rockets Work In Space Without Oxygen?

    This same law is what helps rockets travel and turn in space. In order to move forward, a rocket releases high-pressure gases (produced as a result of a combustion reaction) from its rear section. Therefore, an action (the ejection of gases) triggers a reaction (i.e., the rocket moves forward).

  9. Rocket Principles

    One of the most commonly asked questions about rockets is how they can work in space where there is no air for them to push against. The answer to this question comes from the third law. ... A speed of over 40,250 km per hour, called escape velocity, enables a rocket to leave Earth and travel out into deep space. Attaining space flight speeds ...

  10. How Rockets Work

    Educator Guide - Additional Resource. This section of the Rockets Educator Guide explains Newton's Laws of Motion, which support the basic principles of rocketry. How Rockets Work is part of the Rockets Educator Guide. Whether flying a small model rocket or launching a giant space shuttle into space, Newton's Laws of Motion are at work.

  11. How Fast Rockets Must Travel To Reach Space And Go Beyond

    A rocket must travel at a speed of approximately 28 000 km/h or 17 500 mph to achieve Low Earth Orbit and 40 000 km/h or 25 000 mph to break free from Earth's gravity. It can further increase its speed to several hundred thousand miles per hour by using the gravitational pull from celestial bodies.

  12. Fact check: Yes, rocket propulsion works in space despite lack of air

    Our rating: False. Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that propulsion can't work in a vacuum, so space travel isn't real. Rocket engines function by creating thrust, which moves the ...

  13. How Far Could A Spaceship Go If We Never Ran Out Of Thrust?

    If it weren't for Einstein's relativity, you might think that, with each second that passes by, you'd simply increase your speed by another 9.8 m/s. If you started off at rest, it would only ...

  14. How fast a rocket can humans safely travel in?

    So, typically, a rocket, something like the Soyuz rocket, which is what astronauts use to get to the International Space Station, doesn't actually accelerate that much it's about 3 or 4g - if that - maximum going up to the space station. Coming back, it's more unpleasant: it's kind of nearer 5g, but not for a long period of time, so that's fine.

  15. Have we made an object that could travel 1% the speed of light?

    They use rockets to break free of the Earth's gravity, which takes a speed of 25,000 mph (40,000 kmh). ... But engineers need to figure out new ways to make things move in space. All rockets ...

  16. Getting rockets into space

    Rockets launched into space can be suborbital (brief visit to space) or orbital (staying in motion around the Earth) or can escape Earth's gravity to travel deeper into space. ... Sounding rockets can travel much higher than weather balloons (another way of measuring the atmosphere), which can only travel up to an altitude of 40 km. Some ...

  17. How did the Shuttle move in space when there's no air to create lift?

    How did the Shuttle move in space when there's no air to create lift? - BBC Science Focus Magazine.

  18. How Far From Earth Can Humans Travel Into Space?

    Fer Gregory/Shutterstock.com. As of 2021, Americans James Lovell, Fred Haise, John Swigert are the three people who have traveled furthest from Earth, during the Apollo 13 mission. When they flew ...

  19. Moving in Space

    Long range exploratory spacecraft, like Voyager 2, use rocket power and gravity to reach their destinations. Using rockets alone, spacecraft are limited to visiting planets close to Earth (like Mars or Jupiter) because of fuel limitations. To visit planets farther away, spacecraft use the gravity assist method to speed up and change their course.

  20. NASA could get to Mars in 13 minutes

    A NASA scientist has cooked up plans for a bonkers new rocket engine that can reach close to the speed of light — without using any fuel. ... "Deep space travel is often a trade-off between ...

  21. How Rockets Are Able To Accelerate In The Vacuum Of Space

    Rockets are primarily able to accelerate in Space through Newton's Third Law of Motion by generating and pushing hot gases at high velocities through the back of the vehicle's nozzle, which produces thrust that propels the rocket forward. Increasing its thrust allows a rocket to accelerate in Space. Whenever objects on or near the Earth's ...

  22. Why can't we fly planes into space?

    Many people wonder why we can't just fly planes into space instead of using rockets. The answer involves physics, engineering and economics. Find out the challenges and limitations of flying planes into space, and how some scientists are trying to overcome them, in this fascinating article from BBC Science Focus Magazine.

  23. ESA

    Without rockets, there's no space travel. No view of our Pale Blue Dot seen from deep space or our changing climate and planet seen from orbit. ... Its design is modular, meaning for each flight the rocket can be adapted to the needs of its passengers. Over time, Ariane 6 can integrate new technologies and components to suit the future needs ...

  24. Even with astronauts stuck in space until next year, NASA's pushing

    Starliner launches aboard the Atlas V rocket. Boeing The end of an era. When NASA decided to end the Space Shuttle program in 2011 due to the increasing resources required, it became dependent on ...

  25. NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew

    The Crew-9 mission will be the ninth rotational mission to the space station under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which works with the American aerospace industry to meet the goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the orbital outpost on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

  26. Business Development Manager, Satellites

    ABOUT ROCKET LAB. Rocket Lab is a global leader in launch and space systems. The rockets and satellites we build and launch enable some of the most ambitious and vital space missions globally, supporting scientific exploration, Earth observation and missions to combat climate change, national security, and exciting new technology demonstrations.