When dabbling with the laws of motion in the 17th century, Isaac Newton first realized that it’s indeed possible to send an object out of Earth, int

Rocket equation 101: The Moon as a launch platform

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2021-06-18 09:30:09

When dabbling with the laws of motion in the 17th century, Isaac Newton first realized that it’s indeed possible to send an object out of Earth, into space. As long as an object is shot away from Earth with a high enough velocity, it will reach space and orbit our planet.

With the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957 onboard a powerful rocket, the Soviet Union achieved exactly that. For the first time in four billion years of life on Earth, something was intentionally sent to space.

Give a satellite another speed boost, by either launching it on a more powerful rocket or using thrusters onboard, and it can escape from Earth’s gravitational hold completely. That’s how you can send missions to Venus, Mars, Saturn and beyond. But one of these two things is not like the other.

The rocket equation is what allows scientists and engineers to quantify and compare the energy required to reach various destinations in space. Its implications are far-reaching but not intuitive so I shall attempt to explain them without use of any math.