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I can't jump from the bottom to the top of the hill. I also can't throw a ball from the bottom to the top of the hill. But I can ride a bike from the bottom t
by a3n 12y ago
I can't jump from the bottom to the top of the hill.
I also can't throw a ball from the bottom to the top of the hill.
But I can ride a bike from the bottom to the top, and if I can't ride straight up then I can weave back and forth, taking a shallower and longer path. When I get near the top I can throw the ball to the top of the hill, or maybe even ride my bike all the way to the top.
So why can't large planet dwellers ride one optimized vehicle as close to orbit as they can get, and then launch another one or more stage vehicle (of whatever propulsion system) from there?
- Crito 12y agoHumans have launched things like this as well. Orbital Sciences does it with their Pegasus rockets which are launched from high-flying airplanes. They are still chemical rockets though. A key part of getting to space and staying there is going fast. Getting yourself above most of the atmosphere makes it easier to go fast, but you still need to get up to the same speed. Realistically that takes chemical rockets. We know of other options, as mentioned, but they have problems, as mentioned.
- noselasd 12y agoThat's what rockets basically do today, use multiple stages optimized for the area they're operating in. The issue with rockets is that they have to use a certain amount of energy to go up, and they have to carry their own fuel which adds weight and means it need to consume even more energy and so on. For certain values of gravity and type of fuel, this becomes hard, to impractical, to impossible.