Space is a mysterious and maximally unfavorable space. Nevertheless, Tsiolkovsky believed that the future of mankind lies precisely in space. There is no reason to argue with this great scientist. Space is unlimited perspectives for the development of all human civilization and the expansion of living space. In addition, he hides the answers to many questions. Today, people are actively using outer space. And our future depends on how rockets take off. No less important is people's understanding of this process.
Space race
Not so long ago, two mighty superpowers were in a state of cold war. It was like an endless contest. Many people prefer to describe this period of time as an ordinary arms race, but this is completely not so. This is a race of science. It is to her that we owe many of the gadgets and benefits of civilization to which we are so accustomed.
The space race was only one of the most important elements of the Cold War. In just a few decades, man has moved from ordinary atmospheric flights to landing on the moon. This is incredible progress when compared with other achievements. At that wonderful time, people thought that the exploration of Mars was a much closer and more real task than the reconciliation of the USSR and the USA. It was then that people were as passionate about space as possible. Almost every student or student understood how a rocket takes off. This was not difficult knowledge, on the contrary. Such information was simple and very interesting. Astronomy has acquired extreme importance among other sciences. In those years, no one could say that the Earth is flat. Accessible education everywhere eliminated ignorance. However, those days are long gone, and today everything is completely wrong.
Decadence
With the collapse of the USSR, competition ended. There was no reason for overfinancing space programs. Many promising and breakthrough projects have not been implemented. The time of striving for the stars gave way to real decadence. Which, as you know, means decline, regression and a certain degree of degradation. In order to understand this, one does not need to be a genius. It is enough to pay attention to the media network. The flat land sect is actively pursuing its propaganda. People do not know basic things. In the Russian Federation, astronomy is not taught at all in schools. If you go up to a passerby and ask how the rockets take off, he will not answer this simple question.
People do not even know what path rockets fly. In such conditions, it makes no sense to ask about orbital mechanics. The lack of education, Hollywood, and video games all created a false impression of space as such and of flights to the stars.
This is not a vertical flight.
The earth is not flat, and this is an indisputable fact. The earth is not even a ball, because it is a little flattened at the poles. How do rockets take off under such conditions? In stages, in several stages and not vertically.
The biggest fallacy of our time is that rockets take off vertically. It's not like that at all. Such an orbit scheme is possible, but very inefficient. Rocket fuel runs out very quickly. Sometimes in less than 10 minutes. There is simply not enough fuel for such a take-off. Modern missiles take off vertically only at the initial stage of flight. Then the automation begins to give the rocket a small roll. Moreover, the higher the flight altitude, the more noticeable is the roll angle of the space rocket. So, the apogee and perigee of the orbit are formed in a balanced manner. Thus, the most comfortable ratio between efficiency and fuel consumption is achieved. The orbit turns out to be close to the ideal circle. It will never be ideal.
If a rocket takes off vertically, you get an incredibly huge climax. Fuel will end before perigee appears. In other words, the rocket will not only not fly into orbit, but also, due to lack of fuel, will fly parabola back to the planet.
At the heart of everything is the engine
Any body is not able to move on its own. There must be something that makes him do it. In this case, it is a rocket engine. A rocket, taking off into space, does not lose its ability to move. For many, this is incomprehensible, because in a vacuum a combustion reaction is impossible. The answer is as simple as possible: the principle of operation of the rocket engine is slightly different.
So, the rocket flies in airless space. There are two components in her tanks. It is a fuel and an oxidizing agent. Their mixing provides ignition of the mixture. However, not fire but hot gas escapes from the nozzles. In this case, there is no contradiction. This setup works great in a vacuum.
Rocket engines come in several types. These are liquid, solid fuel, ionic, electroreactive and nuclear. The first two types are used most often, as they are capable of giving the greatest traction. Liquid ones are used in space rockets, solid propellants - in intercontinental ballistic missiles with a nuclear charge. Electro-reactive and atomic are designed for the most efficient movement in a vacuum, and it is they who have the maximum hope. Currently, they are not used outside of test stands.
However, Roscosmos recently placed an order to develop an orbital tug with a nuclear engine. This gives reason to hope for the development of technology.
A narrow group of orbital maneuvering engines is kept apart. They are designed to control the spacecraft. However, they are used not in rockets, but in spaceships. They are not enough for flying, but enough for maneuvering.
Speed
Unfortunately, in our time, people equate space flights with basic units of measurement. How fast does a rocket take off? This question is not entirely correct in relation to space launch vehicles. It doesn’t matter at what speed they take off.
There are quite a few missiles, and all of them have different speeds. Those that are designed to bring astronauts into orbit fly slower than cargo ones. Man, unlike cargo, is limited by overloads. Cargo missiles, like the super-heavy Falcon Heavy, take off too fast.
The exact units of speed are difficult to calculate. First of all, because they depend on the payload of the launch vehicle (launch vehicle). It is logical that a fully loaded launch vehicle takes off much slower than a half-empty launch vehicle. However, there is a common value that all missiles strive to achieve. This is called cosmic velocity.
There is a first, second and, accordingly, third cosmic velocity.
The first is the necessary speed, which will allow you to move in orbit and not fall on the planet. It is 7.9 km per second.
The second is needed in order to leave the earth's orbit and go to the orbit of another celestial body.
The third will allow the device to overcome the attraction of the solar system and leave it. Currently, Voyager-1 and Voyager-2 are flying at such a speed. However, contrary to the media, they still have not left the borders of the solar system. From an astronomical point of view, it will take them at least 30,000 years to reach the Horta cloud. Heliopause is not the boundary of the stellar system. This is just the place where the solar wind collides with the intersystem environment.
Height
At what height does the rocket take off? On the one that is required. After reaching the hypothetical border of space and atmosphere, it is incorrect to measure the distance between the ship and the surface of the planet. After entering orbit, the ship is in a different environment, and the distance is measured in distance values.