Concordia Students Set to Launch Most Powerful Rocket Developed by Civilians

Re:Concordia Students Set to Launch Most Powerful Rocket Dev... by ck2 on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @12:22AM (#34606750)

All these needle shaped rockets by students/amateurs make me wonder since I've seen flat shaped drones go vertical at incredible speed if there might be another way to use vertical lift at least within the atmosphere using millisecond reaction controllers.

The needle shape really limits payload. If it could be wider but use the outer surface as some kind of physics trick to multiply lift, that could change everything.

Mass weight still is a factor but would allow a wider range of payload shapes.

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Re:Concordia Students Set to Launch Most Powerful Rocket Dev... by ben_w on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @06:04AM (#34608983)

Drones generate lift by pushing against the air, rockets are trying to get past as much of the air as possible because orbit involves going sideways so fast that, even though the satellites are always falling, they keep missing the ground.

That necessary speed is such that even air too thin to generate helpful lift[0] is ram-compressed to be thick and hot enough to cut exactly, non-metaphorically, like a blowtorch.

[0] Maximum heating during re-entry is 55-80km, less than the Karman line but still higher than non-rocket-powered aircraft. Not exactly the same thing, but gives you a useful comparison point.

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