Space Exploration for Dummies

[Chase]

I'm as new to the whole astronomy thing as can be. The only experience I have is a college class I'm taking my sophomore year in high school and I would like, perhaps a bit prematurely, to send something - anything - into space. My plan of action is to use a large weather balloon with a small rocket on top of a small platform atop the balloon. The balloon will go as high as it can, being as it is filled with helium. At the precise moment I plan to launch the rocket into space taking a currently-unnamed something with it. I am obviously over-simplifying this by ALOT, but I am determined to do what it takes to succeed in this task. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing on the math of this project and I'm looking and depending on the expertise of the citizens of this website to help me. Thanks for all the help I know everyone here will be giving me!

Confused and determined I look to you.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Chase
Mispelled Words

[CaptainPanic]

There are 2 aspects of being and staying in space:

 

1. altitude

2. velocity (speed)

 

Regarding the altitude, your plan seems good. You go as high as you can with the balloon, and then use a rocket engine to do the next step. It is said that space starts at 100 km. That is just a human invention. Space doesn't start, and the atmosphere doesn't stop like that. At 250 km there is still a bit of gas, although very little. It just gets thinner and thinner. For example, the X prize was given for the first rocket to bring a man up to 100 km twice in 2 weeks.

 

The other aspect of space is how to stay there. In order to stay in space, you need to overcome the gravity. You can do this by getting enough speed to stay in orbit. Note that this velocity is several kilometers per second! If you want to get away from earth forever, you need to achieve the "escape velocity" of 11.2 km/s.

 

And in that second part is your problem challenge. I really doubt that you can accelerate enough to go that fast with your little rocket.

 

Summary: I think that if you do a really good job, you can make it to space... but to make some rocket that actually stays in space, I would be impressed (and you would become rich and famous).

[Arch2008]

http://space.about.com/cs/employment/ht/becomeastronaut.htm

 

Send yourself into space. See your future, be your future.

[Chase]

Well geeze I didn't realize that I would have to move that fast to stay in orbit... that seems almost impossible with my resources and money. But if I could build up enough force inside this rocket that at one precise moment all of the pressure is released at once maybe I could temporarily sustain the altitude of the rocket for a temporary amount of time... say a few days? But if this fails ill need a fail safe parachute... of would it burn up in the atmosphere altogether on its way back down?

[D H]

Chase,

 

To be brutally honest you have set your expectations far too high. Amateur groups have sent rockets into space (100 kilometers altitude), but at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars and *a lot* of experience in amateur rocketry.

 

You should also beware that there are a lot of rules and regulations that pertain to high powered amateur rockets. Do not venture into high powered rocketry without learning about these rules and regulations. These aren't small regulations, pay a fine and you are done. Some of the penalties are felonies. Low powered model rocketry is more-or-less exempt from FAA and ATF regulations.

 

I suggest you find a local model rocketry club.

[Chase]

I planned on cantacting the AAF before doing anything I wouldn't dream of intentionally doing anything illegal that may cost people lives... For if I did what would be the point of the expirement? Thanks for the warning though!!

[CaptainPanic]

But if I could build up enough force inside this rocket that at one precise moment all of the pressure is released at once maybe I could temporarily sustain the altitude of the rocket for a temporary amount of time... say a few days? But if this fails ill need a fail safe parachute... of would it burn up in the atmosphere altogether on its way back down?

 

Apart from all regulations, at most you could sustain a ballistic flight. That's the same as intercontinental ballistic missiles do (the big nasty ones with nukes). That means: the rocket will fall back down to earth at the gravitational acceleration. that will take minutes, not days.

 

And if you plan on using a single moment to release all the pressure... well... that we call an explosion. I believe they tried that once with the Space Shuttle Challenger (sorry, bad joke) - anyway - cannons also use this technology, and they focus the energy inside a barrel. They cannot shoot something into orbit either. Single blast of pressure will not be enough, and it will almost certainly destroy any rocket.

 

And finally, if you would be able to make it into orbit, then yes, your rocket would burn up on the way back down. But that would be irrelevant, because you would never be able to find it back anyway. Unless you also included a guidance system (GPS and whatnot) you would lose track of the rocket in the first minute anyway.

 

In short: experiment on a small scale first. Then you'll soon realize how difficult it is to put something in space.

 

I always advise people the very safe version of rocketry: water bottle rockets. Safe, simple, legal, and environmentally friendly. You will learn about propulsion. Then you can start playing with things that burn later.

[npts2020]

In short: experiment on a small scale first. Then you'll soon realize how difficult it is to put something in space.

 

I always advise people the very safe version of rocketry: water bottle rockets. Safe, simple, legal, and environmentally friendly. You will learn about propulsion. Then you can start playing with things that burn later.

 

If this is too tame for you, I highly recommend building your own model rockets (ala Estes) for initial experiments. These rockets will not reach orbit but they will give you some ideas about how to move toward that and are not very expensive to try out.