2007-09-16 03:49:38 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
And who'd want to go into space in a boring old jet when you can do so in a great big rocket!
2007-09-16 04:05:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The SR-71 blackbird can NOT fly into space. The pilots space suit is because of the low air pressure at extreme altitude. A jet engine requires air flowing through in order to function. When get higher, there's less and less air. There's no jet in the world that could produce enough thrust at altitude to get out of the atmosphere on it's own. The space shuttle is not unstable and dangerous, it's just that orbital space flight is very demanding.
2016-05-21 00:25:28 · answer #2 · answered by shery 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jets burn fuel with Oxygen from the air. When you're going to outer space, you dont have that luxury, you have to lug the oxydizer with you.
Also, if you were going to outer space in a jet, what would you do when you got there? Go into orbit? Fighter jets fly a few times faster than the speed of sound.... say 2100 miles an hour.... the space shuttle, when its on orbit, is moving 15,000 miles per hour. It takes a lot of fuel to get moving that fast.
2007-09-16 03:56:38 · answer #3 · answered by cato___ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Jets carry fuel - but no oxidizer - as a result, when they run out of atmosphere, they run out of propulsion. Rockets carry both - so they work in the atmosphere or out of the atmosphere. Modern jet engines can get enough air to fly up to about 50,000 feet without much trouble, some can fly higher, mostly because they travel very fast - and are able to gulp enough oxygen to sustain flight perhaps as high as 100,000 feet, depending on how fast they can travel. Jets can get up to speeds of 3-4000mph, but orbital velocities are around 17000mph - much higher - hence we use rockets...
2007-09-16 03:58:29 · answer #4 · answered by Steve E 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because Jets could only fly straight up to about 50,000 feet or so. And they cannot get fast enough so that they can coast into orbit.
NASA is working on Scramjets that can go higher and faster to create hybrid rockets that will be able to make it into orbit carrying less fuel. However at some point you will still need rockets as there will not be enough air to get oxygen to burn.
2007-09-16 03:55:03 · answer #5 · answered by rscanner 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
the basic reason is a jet engine needs
air(oxygen in the air) to create the combustion
to make the motor work(just like a cars engine
needs to mix air with gas for it to work) when
it reaches a certain altitude the air is to thin for
its engine to keep it flying. When flying what gives
a jet its thrust is the turbines pushing air out the
back of the engine. when the air gets to thin it
cant push enough air tokeep it flying.
2007-09-16 04:07:45 · answer #6 · answered by llloki00001 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
123,500ft is the record for an airbreathing vehicle, it was a stripped down Russian Mig E266 and it did it by throwing itself into a ballistic trajectory the engines probably flamed out at about 75000 feet or so, and the plane was probably doing about M=2.5 at the time this is only 1/10 of the Space Shuttle orbit speed of about M=25!
2007-09-16 11:18:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jets suck in air at the front, to be mixed with and burn the fuel.
There is no air in space. Rockets carry the fuel and oxidant together.
2007-09-16 03:53:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
jets burn oxygen in the atmosphere but rockets go into space where there is no oxygen, so they have to carry an oxidiser as well as fuel, hence the huge size of space craft.
2007-09-16 03:53:40 · answer #9 · answered by brian777999 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Excaping the gravintational force of earth. is key, Jets run in our airspace, paralell to the forces of nature. Outerspace is a whole new different way of physics.
2007-09-16 11:56:59 · answer #10 · answered by tigerashes 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋