Which rocket technology has the highest specific impulse?

LH2-LOX propellant
The LH2-LOX propellant has the highest specific impulse of any commonly used rocket fuel, and the incredibly efficient RS-25 engine gets great gas mileage out of an already efficient fuel.

How fast does a rocket travel to leave Earth’s orbit?

11.2 kilometers per second
The ‘second cosmic velocity’ is the so-called escape velocity from the Earth: 11.2 kilometers per second. This is the speed a rocket should attain in order to be able to escape from the Earth’s gravitational field and fly to other planets.

What does a higher specific impulse mean?

The higher the specific impulse, the less propellant is needed to produce a given thrust for a given time and the more efficient the propellant is.

How high can a rocket go?

Sounding rockets can travel much higher than weather balloons (another way of measuring the atmosphere), which can only travel up to an altitude of 40 km. Some sounding rockets travel up to 950 km or higher before falling back to Earth.

What is the highest specific impulse?

The highest specific impulse for a chemical propellant ever test-fired in a rocket engine was lithium, fluorine, and hydrogen (a tripropellant): 542 seconds (5320 m/s).

What determines specific impulse?

We can divide this equation by the weight of the propellants to define the specific impulse. The word “specific” just means “divided by weight”. The specific impulse Isp is given by: Isp = Veq / g0. where g0 is the gravitational acceleration constant (32.2 ft/sec^2 in English units, 9.8 m/sec^2 in metric units).

How long does it take for a rocket to get to the Moon?

It takes about 3 days for a spacecraft to reach the Moon. During that time a spacecraft travels at least 240,000 miles (386,400 kilometers) which is the distance between Earth and the Moon. The specific distance depends on the specific path chosen.

What is the specific impulse of a rocket engine?

For instance, if a rocket has a specific impulse of say, 1000 seconds, then it means that the rocket can generate thrust for 1000 seconds, given a quantity of propellant whose weight equals the rocket engine’s thrust. Note that most manufacturers quote the specific impulse of their rocket engines in ‘seconds’.

How do you find the thrust of a rocket?

Then the rocket thrust equation becomes: F = mdot * Veq The total impulse (I) of a rocket is defined as the average thrust times the total time of firing. On the slide we show the total time as “delta t”. (delta is the Greek symbol that looks like a triangle):

What is the effective exhaust velocity of an air-breathing rocket?

Hence effective exhaust velocity is not physically meaningful for air-breathing engines; nevertheless, it is useful for comparison with other types of engines. The highest specific impulse for a chemical propellant ever test-fired in a rocket engine was 542 seconds (5.32 km/s) with a tripropellant of lithium, fluorine, and hydrogen.

What is the delta-v speed of a rocket?

Delta-v is the actual milleage of a rocket. Specific impulse is about the engine. But besides the engine, you have fuel, and you have the payload. This is the Tsiolkovski’s Rocket Equation, and this is about “where you can go with your rocket.” Good 9km/s to reach LEO.