if spacecrafts travelled vertically in space instead of horizontally..?

Question

what wld happen?

Answer 1

Look at spacecraft like Pioneer and Voyager. They travelled great distances "vertically".

Answer 2

Then the rocket stages would have to fight harder and longer to maintain position.

Think of climbing a steep slope. It's much easier to get to the top by spiralling up rather than to go directly to the top. More energy is used, but the energy per unit of time used is less.

Interplanetary spacecraft usually go into orbit about the earth (into a so-called Parking Orbit) for several reasons. One of the reasons is so the preferred launch time "window" is then not so much of a factor. That is, if the spacecraft has to be pointed a specific direction when it leaves earth, then it is easier to launch anytime in a time range (launch window) and let the parking orbit take the spacecraft to the spot where it can be pointed properly. If there was no parking orbit then if the rocket developed a problem on the ground the launch window might be missed and the launch postponed for months.

Answer 3

Well, first off, in space...horizontal and vertical have no real meaning do they...

Without gravity there is no up or down.

The main objective is to place the rocket exhaust or thruster nozzle at the back of the rocket and face forward so you can see where you are going. If you were to turn the space ship so that it was moving through space with one of its sides leading the way, the only problem would come about when you needed to fire the engine again for more thrust. Then you would need to turn the space ship around so the engine faced backwards again.

Answer 4

This is a pretty easy question to answer... there is no vertical and horizontal in space. Direction is relative to a reference point.

You could use the space craft as a reference point though and say that if it is moving in the "forward - backward" direction relative to how it was intended to fly, that could be called horizontal and likewise, "up - down" direction could be called vertical.

Now to answer your question assuming we are using the above assumptions. It would not matter because space is a vacuum and therefore there is not resistance. Space crafts used only in space would not need to be aerodynamic for this reason (they would be just as efficient if they were shaped like cubes). The reason they are aerodynamic is to get through the earth's atmosphere easier on their way to space.

Answer 5

Nothing. There is no 'horizontal' or 'vertical' in space. It is microgravity (near-weightlessness) out there, so 'up and down' don't exist.

Answer 6

the important thing to remember is that there is no direction in space. there are no horizon's, north poles, or gravitation pole's that disgnate direction. upside down will not be simply because there is no gravitational pull to say otherwise.