i saw it take off this weekend at cape canaveral and i was imagining it will take off really fast. but when the engines roared, it started up very slow. what's up with that?
2006-12-16 17:23:04 · 8 answers · asked by chapped lips 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It looks slow, but it accelerates at 2-3G's. Unlike an airplane, which needs speed in order to obtain list, a rocket only needs to produce more thrust than its own weight to lift up.
The space shuttle reaches supersonic speed within 40 seconds. By that time, it is so far in the sky that it does not appear to be moving quickly. If it was moving horizontally across the sky and a low altitude, you would see how blazing fast it is.
There are a few reasons why the takeoff speed is slow. Since the rocket starts at a zero speed, you would not want to launch off the pad so quickly as to harm the astronauts or cargo. The slower speed also helps control its trajectory until it clears the tower.
Also, the shuttle is its heaviest at launch weight, so the rockets have more mass to lift. It loses over 80% of its weight in three minutes as it burns its fuel. The lower weight and atmospheric drag after a couple of minutes of flight help it pass the minimum orbital speed of 15,000 MPH.
2006-12-16 17:44:13 · answer #1 · answered by jordannadunn 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
apparently you're too youthful to maintain in ideas the Apollo and gemini Missions yet speed had little to do with the nice and cozy temperature at reentry. you may slow it right down to a move slowly and it received't make it unnecessary to have a warmth safeguard. really it is what the former area drugs use to do. They nevertheless lit up from the end results of gravity pulling them down at an speeded up cost of speed. Your question is are you able to lessen speed to the point that the nice and cozy temperature generated by technique of gravity is disipated. answer No. The slower you flow the hotter you'll develop into. in case you had to lose warmth you may could flow quicker no longer slower. in spite of the undeniable fact that, in going quicker the end results of gravity and centripetal stress will make stearing the deliver almost no longer feasible and perchance creat a sparkling warmth signature on the finished of the go back and forth from the further g stress because of the further cetripedal stress. you're also speaking about desiring more beneficial gas, and gas is a combustable. it could be like using a stick of dynamite. I actually believe you may burn out the hydralics on the flaps, brakes and stearing once you tried to navigate the deliver. Now in case you may arise with some style of anti-gravitational stress field which does no longer exist today then you actually ought to decelerate the go back and forth to the position it can make a smooth landing with out warmth. otherwise the present landing approaches are the perfect feasible answer. It limits warmth in the main to the nice and cozy temperature safeguard. It diminishes speed. And, it helps the pilot to flow today to lead after reentry. Sorry in spite of the undeniable fact that it extremely is merely how that is. that is a relative mass and speed element.
2016-11-26 23:46:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, uhh, its really big and heavy, and it has to overcome the gravitational and friction forces of the earth's atmosphere which is pushing down against it. That's why it takes enormous thrust to overcome that gravity and friction. We don't live in a wieghtless environment like space. As it gains more thrust, it increases speed as the atmosphere then becomes less gravitational as it gets higher
contrary to below--it is not just an optical illusion. It really is going slower as it starts and greatly increases it speed very fast as it gains altitude for the reasons I stated above.
2006-12-16 17:25:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The initial velocity was zero. It appeared as a slow start because the entire thing is almost as tall as a football field is long. It appears slow because you loose the scale of the project as you watch it take off from far away.
2006-12-16 17:32:58 · answer #4 · answered by eric l 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Shuttle's thrust to weight ratio is only 1.74:1, therefore, after 5 seconds, its speed is only 81 mph:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust
2006-12-16 18:49:30 · answer #5 · answered by arbiter007 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the same reason your car or bike slows down more on a steeper hill ... with a given amount of force ...ie. thrust, the straighter up you go the more of the total gravitational force you are resisting.
2006-12-16 19:56:40 · answer #6 · answered by themountainviewguy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Optical illusion. The acceleration is actually quite considerable, and if it were much higher the astronauts would be injured.
2006-12-16 17:32:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well for everything it take time to accelerated
you know the shuttle is really heavy
2006-12-16 17:24:35 · answer #8 · answered by legna20v 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋