Questions tagged [atmosphere]
Questions regarding an envelope of gasses surrounding a celestial body held in place by the body's gravity.
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Effect of atmospheric drag on rocket launches and benefits of high altitude launch sites
What is the approximate influence of atmospheric drag on the cost of rocket launches? Is it beneficial to have launch sites located at higher altitudes?
Cape Canaveral is at sea level, but I've ...
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Why does Earth's atmospheric density have a big "knee" around 100 km? Is there a good analytical approximation?
I've used a quick very rough approximation of the drop of atmospheric density with altitude in this answer and in this answer by using a single exponential and scale height parameter, but that's not ...
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How strong and "hot" is the wind on the payload after the fairing is deployed at ~110km?
In the question What makes 21st century fairings so valuable that they'd potentially be recovered and re-used? I said:
21st century fairings are much more than passive rooftop boxes to "keep the ...
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Could you feel the wind on Mars?
The air pressure on Mars is about 1% that of Earth's at sea level. But wind speeds on Mars can be higher, up to maybe 60 mph sustained (actually I have come across several different figures, some ...
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Why is the breathing atmosphere of the ISS a standard atmosphere (at 1 atm containing nitrogen)?
The Wikipedia page for the International Space Station says that it has a fairly Earth-like, sea-level atmosphere: 21% oxygen, balance nitrogen at 101.3 kPa. Supposedly it's because a pure-oxygen ...
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Is the "airship to orbit" mission profile feasible?
By one of those weird coincidences, I had been on JP Aerospace's site mere hours before reading this question about space dirigibles here. Their mission plan seems too good to be true.
They are ...
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When did planetary scientists realize Venus' surface pressure was almost 100x that on Earth? How did they find out?
The question Surface of Venus - what would it look like to see a spacecraft crushed by the atmospheric pressure? is a good one!
That plus comments below this answer got me thinking first about just ...
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Is Mars' gravity strong enough to hold a human-breathable atmosphere?
If we ever try to make Mars outdoors habitable, won't the air just keep flying off into the outer space because of low gravity?
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How do you 'make oxygen' on Mars?
This morning's BBC News says that a 2020 rover mission to Mars will "make oxygen". There is a brief line indication that it will extract it from atmospheric CO₂, but no other details.
What process ...
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Flying on dense atmosphere planets & moons
Would certain types of flying be possible on planets like Venus, Titan (which is a moon, I know :P), or gas-giants?
I'm thinking on the aspects of these types of aircrafts: airships (that uses only ...
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Where can I find data for Atmospheric density vs. altitude?
I'm looking for information on atmospheric density in Earth orbit. All the atmospheric density tables and graphs I've found go no higher than 100 km. Definitions like the US Standard Atmosphere don't ...
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How many kilograms of nickel particles will be dispersed in Earth's atmosphere by dumping old ISS batteries overboard?
update: CNN's November 7, 2023 Japanese scientists want to send a wooden satellite into space links to October 16, 2023 NOAA scientists link exotic metal particles in the upper atmosphere to rockets, ...
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Does "What happens beyond Kármán, stay beyond Kármán"?
The title refers to the promotional slogan "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
The question How much CO2 would city-to-city rocket flight produce compared to airliners? seems to be focused on ...
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Is wind-power a viable backup power source for Mars One?
A question related to What power source options provide reliable and sustainable power generation for a Martian Colony, particularly the answer that solar and nuclear based energy sources being the ...
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Why is the Aeolus space laser losing power so quickly?
The BBC News article Aeolus: Wind-mapping space laser is losing power says that
Europe's Aeolus satellite was launched last year to gather data to improve weather forecasts, and its observations have ...
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