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Planes cannot fly into space due to lack of atmosphere and propulsion limitations.
The problem has to do with the presence of air. Planes need the air for 2 reasons: oxidizer for the fuel they carry to generate thrust and drag on the wings to produce lift. No air, no thrust, no lift, no flying. So obviously, you can only fly so high until you start running out of air.
- How Planes Fly
- Forces Are Different in Space
- Things Are Heating Up
- The Type of Air
- A Matter of Thrust
First, let’s take a step back and ask how planes fly in the first place. When we talk about flight, we usually mean “generating lift,” but what does that actually mean? When we think about lift, we usually imagine it to be air rushing beneath the bottom of wings, and while that’s technically true, it’s how and why that works that explains how and w...
For one thing, flight as we know it is dependent on the Earth’s gravity. Planes are built to compensate for our gravity, but the amount of gravity exerted is particular to Earth as a result of several factors. In space, gravity is different. Because there is not the same consistent gravitational force pulling the craft downward, the whole concept o...
There is also the fact that entering or exiting our atmosphere generates an incredible amount of heat. If you have ever seen a shooting star, that’s actually a meteor or some other type of space debris entering the Earth’s atmosphere and burning up. Space shuttles require special heat shielding to be able to withstand the incredible friction that g...
Then there’s the fact that not all air here within the Earth’s boundaries is the same. Specifically, the further up you go, the thinner and weaker the air becomes. If you have ever been to Denver or another place that has peaks and areas of high elevation, you know this all too well. The air is thinner in places like that, which has real consequenc...
All of this is putting the cart before the horse – or, rather, the rocket before the spaceflight. Not only are airplanes not able to withstand the heat of atmospheric reentry, they don’t have the engine power to even get that high and far in the first place. A typical Boeing 747 or similar commercial jet generates a lot of thrust, 63,300 pounds at ...
Contrary to what people are led to believe, flying remains very hands-on operation, with tremendous amounts of input from the crew. Our hands might not be steering the airplane directly, as would have been the case in the 1930s, but almost everything the airplane does is commanded, one way or the other, by the pilots.
Apr 18, 2014 · The Karman line (the altitude at which an airplane cannot generate enough lift to stay aloft at any speed slower than orbital velocity) is usually considered the lower edge of outer space. This implies that with a powerful engine and enough fuel it's possible to "fly" up into space: you just keep gaining altitude and speed until you find yourself in orbit.
Nov 2, 2014 · Unfortunately, they can't. Planes need lift to fly; but to produce lift, you need air. Since there is no air in space, airplanes cannot fly in space. Rockets are disgned to fly without needing lift: they rely etirely on thrust. While some engines need oxygen to work, it's easy to pack the oxygen along, in the form of a liquid or solid oxydizer.
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May 13, 2021 · It is also called MACH 1. These planes can fly up to 5 times the speed of sound. Planes in this regime have specially designed high performance engines. They are also designed with lightweight materials to provide less drag. The Concorde is an example of this regime of flight. Space Shuttle
