How do rockets fly?

Moment of Um

American Public Media

Kids & Family, Education For Kids

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2023

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

3…2…1… Blast off! Rockets launch things into space, which is no easy task. They have to push off from the Earth and zoom at great speeds to break free from gravity. But how do they do it? What makes them different from airplanes? We asked NASA aerospace engineer Erik Axdahl to help us find the answer.

Got a question that’s launched you into a tizzy? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll jet off to find an answer!

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the brains behind brains on, this is a um, um.
0:15.0	Moment of um comes to you from APM studios.
0:18.0	I'm Slacks, a talking pair of pants. I'm in a real pickle and I could use some help. You see I was just an ordinary pair of khaki pants until yesterday, when I was hit with a magical
0:36.4	spell that brought me to life. And for the last 24 hours, I've been a talking, walking, thinking
0:42.1	pair of pants.
0:44.0	But that's not my problem.
0:45.8	My problem started when I accidentally wandered into a laboratory earlier today.
0:51.5	All these smarty human types were talking about making something fly. And I said,
0:56.2	hey, I know all about fly things. After all, my mouth is literally a zippered fly.
1:05.8	These humans got really excited and started showing me lots of drawings and blueprints. Well it turns out they were talking about
1:11.6	making a rocket fly, not the fly of a pair of pants.
1:16.1	Yada, yada, next thing I know, I'm the CEO of a major rocket company and they need me to design a new rocket to launch next week.
1:26.0	I'm having major imposter syndrome. I mean, I'm just a sentient pair of khakis.
1:32.0	I have no idea what I'm just a sentient pair of khakis. I have no idea what I'm doing.
1:35.6	I'm thinking of appointing my pal Jacob to be the co-cee.
1:39.2	Since at least he knows how to ask the right questions.
1:46.0	Hi, my name is Jacob from Fort Worth, Texas,
1:49.0	and my question is, how do rocket ships fly?
1:53.0	Unlike airplanes, so airplanes need atmosphere to, you know, fly and to have a source of
2:00.9	oxygen for other engines, Rockets are nothing like that.
2:04.0	Rockets are trying to, if they're coming from Earth,
2:06.0	get out of the atmosphere as fast as possible.
	...

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