# Why does it take so much power to leave the planet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-much-power-to-leave-the-planet/545794 "2010-07-06T23:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-much-power-to-leave-the-planet/545794/21 "2010-07-07T13:52:29Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Ignoring air resistance and obstacles, you could be in free-fall one foot above sea level, if you were moving sideways fast enough to miss the ground as you fell that foot. The Arthur Dent method, essentially. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-much-power-to-leave-the-planet/545794/22 "2010-07-07T14:35:40Z")
> [@SoulFrost](#): > > Wasn’t that a plot point for some Andy Griffith movie? You are probably thinking of the movie [Salvage](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079847/). In that movie, they used a rather different method of launching a rocket to space. Instead of rocketing to space at break-neck speed, the premise was to launch slowly and gently, and return for a soft touch down. The disadvantages were that far more fuel would be needed or as they did in the movie, use a fuel with a lot more energy but with the drawback of being highly explosive. I have no clues if what was proposed is valid in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-much-power-to-leave-the-planet/545794/23 "2010-07-07T14:50:09Z")
> [@J-P\_L](#): > > You are probably thinking of the movie [Salvage](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079847/). That was the plot of the pilot movie, which was followed up by [a TV series called Salvage 1.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvage_One) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-much-power-to-leave-the-planet/545794/24 "2010-07-07T15:50:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Instead of rocketing to space at break-neck speed, the premise was to launch slowly and gently, and return for a soft touch down. The disadvantages were that far more fuel would be needed or as they did in the movie, use a fuel with a lot more energy but with the drawback of being highly explosive. > > I have no clues if what was proposed is valid in any way. In principle, that’s true, but in practice, it’s hard (and expensive) enough to do it fast, and doing it slowly is just burning money. ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-much-power-to-leave-the-planet/545794/25 "2010-07-07T17:02:57Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > That’s why, until recently, you weren’t able to simply take a helicopter to the top of Mt. Everest. The low density of the air (plus some pretty fierce cross winds) made it impossible to land or even hover there. You can now? \*edit: Ok, now that I read the article, I seem to remember [this](http://www.spadout.com/wiki/index.php/Didier_Delsalle_lands_Helicopter_on_Everest). I still don’t see them ferrying people to the top on a tour any time soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-much-power-to-leave-the-planet/545794.md?page=1)