RubCapital1244 t1_j9up6xz wrote on February 24, 2023 at 6:14 PM

Reply to comment by Red_AtNight in ELI5: Why is it to reach space we can't simply fly an airplane there I need to use rockets? by [deleted]

Ahh yes. I was thrown by OPs comment about the fuel tanks…

… Three main reasons haha

RubCapital1244 t1_j9uln9h wrote on February 24, 2023 at 5:52 PM

Reply to ELI5: Why is it to reach space we can't simply fly an airplane there I need to use rockets? by [deleted]

Two main reasons:

(i) to get to space you need to escape earths gravity completely which requires much more energy than just flying above the surface as regular planes do. You need a shed load more fuel and so need big fuel tanks; and

(ii) travelling through Earths atmosphere is crazy destructive (that’s why things burn up coming back down to earth) so you need special design to withstand the heat.

TLDR: planes don’t go very high compared to rockets.