The largest rocket ever flown into space

The largest rocket ever flown into space

A space rocket is probably the most powerful and majestic thing that mankind has created throughout its history. In different years, different countries have created rockets of various shapes and sizes. And people interested in space sometimes have a question: which rocket was the biggest? Let's remember a few facts.

Any material body that suddenly decides to leave the Earth requires a certain amount of energy to do so. And the heavier the object, the more energy is needed. Therefore, any space rocket is essentially a huge barrel of fuel. The payload it has to carry into space weighs much less than the rocket itself. And if the payload has more mass, then even more fuel is needed to overcome the Earth's gravity. And even more fuel increases the total mass of the rocket. Which, in turn, requires even more co

We need a powerful rocket

And this is a serious problem. The weight of a rocket carrying a large payload grows to unthinkable values.

But one day some people said to others - ah so! Then we ... will fly ... mmm ... to the moon! Here!

And they developed a plan to fly to our only satellite. That's how the Apollo program was born.

It was a staggeringly ambitious idea. Its goal was to land a man on the Moon. For the first time in human history. And of course, to return these people safely to Earth. But solving this problem led to a number of problems. One was that it needed a rocket with enormous power. It did not have to be too heavy. It could easily carry a fairly heavy payload into space.

Miracle Rocket

And people managed to create such a miracle! A rocket capable of taking a man to the moon was created. It was called Saturn 5. The first stage of the rocket was the largest. It was 42 meters high. Five engines, called Rocketdyne F-1, ran on kerosene and oxygen. They were so powerful that after the Apollo program ended there was no further use for them.

These huge engines burned 15 tons of fuel per second. Together they created an incredible 34,000 kN of thrust. The first stage of the Saturn 5 rocket, which was the size of a 36-story house, took off up to 61 km above sea level. This happened in just 2.5 minutes. After it was shut down, the five J-2 engines of the second stage came into operation. These engines, not visible at launch, were activated to bring the rest of the machine to a height of 185 km from the Earth surface. Their fuel is oxygen and hydrogen. The operating time is 6 minutes. Total thrust is 5100 kN.

The third stage, the last and smallest, was equipped with one engine. Its name was J-2. This device accelerated the payload carried by the Saturn-5 rocket to 40,000 km/h. This was quite enough to send the payload to the moon. The third stage engines used the same fuel as the previous one. The thrust was 1000 kN.

Monster in Space

The Saturn 5 rocket was made with aluminum, polyurethane, asbestos, cork and titanium, among many other materials, and had about 4 times the payload capacity of another space monster, the Space Shuttle.

The entire Saturn-5 launch complex weighed 2,800,000 kg on the launch pad. That is 16 times more than the largest and heaviest animal on planet Earth, the blue whale, which weighs 177 tons.

This giant rocket flew into space 13 times between 1967 and 1973. In addition to the Apollo program, it was used to launch the Skylab space station into orbit.

To this day, Saturn 5 remains the largest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever flown into space.

Top Fastest Rockets in the World

What is the speed of Mach 1 - how many kilometers per second (hour), what is Mach number and is it possible to have a speed of 27 Mach

September 12, 2019

1. Peculiarities of the speed of sound
2. 1 Mach is how many kilometers per second
3. 27 Machs - dream or reality

Hello, dear readers of the blog KtoNaNovenkogo.ru. The concept of speed is known to us since school. If we talk about its physical essence, it is the distance covered by the moving body (material point) for a certain period of time.

The distances are both system and non-system units (meters, miles, inches, angles, etc.), while time is defined in seconds or hours. Thus, speed can be expressed by a variety of quantities, such as meter per second (m/s), kilometer per hour (km/h), radian per second (1/s), etc.

Although the aforementioned speed designations are easily converted one to the other, there are a number of areas where it is convenient (or historically accepted) to measure speed in specific units.

For example, sailors prefer a "knot" (a nautical mile per hour). Astronomy uses radial (radial) velocity, astronomy uses space velocities (there are three).

In aviation, where supersonic speeds have to be dealt with, the reference point is usually the speed of sound waves propagation in a gaseous medium (more simply, the speed of sound in air).

This led to the emergence of such a unit of measurement as "Mach number"Why this is necessary, we'll talk about below (and note in passing that this scientist has nothing to do with the phrase "gave(ed) the go-ahead").

Peculiarities of the speed of sound

A distinctive feature of the speed of sound is that it varies depending on the nature of the environment.

In particular, the speed of sound in cast iron is approximately 5000 m/s, in fresh water - 1450 m/s, in air - 331 m/s (1200 km/h). The definition "approximately" was not chosen by chance, because other factors influence the speed of sound vibrations.

For the air environment we are interested in factorsThe following are the factors affecting the speed of sound:

1. temperature (T);
2. pressure (P);
3. density (p);
4. humidity (f).

These indicators are closely related to each other (for example, density is a function of temperature, pressure and humidity), as well as to the altitude above sea level. They also affect the speed of sound.

This relationship is illustrated in the table below (according to ICAO).

Высота, м0500100050001000020000

Pressure, kPa	101,3	95,5	89,9	54,0	26,4	5,5
Density, kg/m3	1,22	1,17	1,11	0,74	0,41	0,09
Temperature, 0C	15	12	8	-18	-50	-56
Speed of sound, m/s	340,3	338,4	336,4	320,5	299,5	295,0

The main thing here is that the speed of sound varies significantly with altitude.

1 Mach is how many kilometers per second

The inconstancy of the speed of sound (as opposed to the speed of light) was one of the reasons why the parameter called "Mach" was used in aerodynamics.

Mach characterizes the motion of an aircraft (AC) in an air stream, in other words, it shows the ratio between the speed of sound in the air medium flowing around the AC and the speed of the AC itself. In other words, it is a dimensionless unit.

1 Mach on the cockpit instrument panel means that the airplane is traveling at the speed of sound at a particular altitude.

If the plane exceeds the speed of sound propagation at that altitude by a factor of two, the dashboard will show 2 Mach (2 M). The general formula for calculation looks like this:

There is also a simplified approach in the literature, where the Mach number is translated into linear velocity (kilometers per hour or per second). As a reference unit 1 Mach is assumed to be 1,198.8 km/hour or 333 m/sec., which is equivalent to the speed of sound at normal atmospheric pressure (101.3 kPa) and zero temperature and humidity near the surface Lands.

But, as noted above, atmospheric conditions change with altitude, so this approach is not considered correct and is not used in mathematical calculations on aerodynamics.

When we see a jet plane high in the sky, leaving a white plume of gas behind it, and at some point we hear a distinctive pop, this means that the plane has passed sound barrier, that is, exceeded the value of 1 Mach (Mach˃1).

Reference books indicate that the maximum speed of the MiG-29 is Mach 2.3 or 2450 km/h. It turns out that in this case Mach 1 = 1065 km/h (295.8 m/sec.) Having compared this value with the table data (see above), we see that it corresponds to a height of about 18,000 m, which is in fact the practical ceiling of the MiG-29.

To summarizeTo answer the question "What is the speed of Mach 1 in kilometers per hour", we must clarify the altitude of the flight in question. Look at the above table and take the closest to the desired altitude value of sound speed and multiply it by one (Mach 1) or by 27, as in the case of the Vanguard speed (read about it below).

27 Machs - dream or reality

1. The speed of 1 to 5 Mach is considered supersonic
2. Over 5 Mach - hypersonic
3. 23 Mach is already first space speed

But the speed of 27 Mach was talked about at the end of 2018, when the Avangard hypersonic missile passed this threshold in launch tests, making it inaccessible to the enemy's air defense system.

If you take the simplified approach discussed above, 27 Mach is about 9,000 m/s or 32,400 km/h. But this is at the surface of the Earth. at an altitude of 10 km This would already be about 8,000 m/s (27 x 299.5) or 28,800 km/h. In any case, it is difficult to imagine that a material body can fly at such a speed.

Although, what am I saying? Landing modules of spacecraft (and the ships themselves - our Buran or American shuttles) enter the earth's atmosphere and at higher speeds. For example, if the Americans really were on the moon, then enter the atmosphere of the earth on return they had to speed 40 Mach!

So 27 Machs is a reality(I'll attribute the nonsense that there is no material that can protect against the inevitable overheating to ignorance).

So what is the innovation of the Vanguards? That they can fly long enough at that speed (glide) and still maneuver both in altitude and angle.

It is not difficult to shoot down a target flying at breakneck speed, but on a given trajectory (simple mathematics). Another thing is to shoot down a target that maneuvers chaotically (unpredictably) at this speed. For this, the antimissile must move even faster, but this is already impossible (flying up is not like gliding down while falling).

At the same time, it should be noted that a rocket engine is not able to provide a long sustained flight at such a speed. Scientists and designers are trying to solve this problem by using a hypersonic ramjet engine (HJR) capable of operating continuously for tens of minutes.

So research on building a full-fledged hypersonic aircraft continues both in Russia and abroad. Apparently, they have already yielded results in our country or an alternative solution has been found.

Why else can we be sure that the Vanguard really meets the MOE's stated characteristics?

Think about it: the strike was carried out on a target at the Kamchatka test site, which is only a hundred miles away from U.S. radars, which can easily track almost the entire critical stage of an innovative missile's flight. Why was this done? Could other test sites have been used?

It was necessary to give the enemy the opportunity to verify the claimed characteristics. They made sure and this is very important (cools the hot heads). Now let them puzzle over how it is possible and on what physical principles it is based.

R-12U | Speed 3.8 km/sec

R-12U - the fastest medium-range ballistic missile with a maximum speed of 3.8 km per second opens the rating of the fastest missiles in the world. R-12U was a modified version of R-12. The missile differed from the prototype by absence of intermediate bottom in the oxidizer tank and some minor design changes - the shaft has no wind loadings, which allowed to lighten the tanks and dry compartments of missile and refuse from stabilizers. Since 1976 R-12 and R-12U missiles began to be removed from service and replaced by mobile ground-based Pioneer systems

SM-65 Atlas | Speed 5.8 km/sec

SM-65 Atlas - One of the fastest U.S. launch vehicles with a top speed of 5.8 km per second. It was the first intercontinental ballistic missile developed and adopted by the U.S. It was developed under the MX-1593 program in 1951. It formed the basis for the U.S. Air Force nuclear arsenal in 1959-1964, but was quickly removed from service due to the introduction of the more advanced Minuteman. It served as the basis for the Atlas family of space launch vehicles, in service from 1959 to the present.

UGM-133A Trident II | Speed 6 km/sec

UGM-133ATridentII - US three-stage ballistic missile, one of the fastest in the world, with a top speed of 6 km per second. Trident-2 was developed since 1977 in parallel with the lighter Trident-1. It was adopted for service in 1990. Launch mass is 59 tons. Max throw-away weight is 2.8 tons with launch range of 7800 km. Maximum range with reduced number of warheads is 11 300 km.

RSM 56 Bulava | Speed 6 km/sec

RSM 56 Bulava - one of the fastest solid-propellant ballistic missiles in the world, in service with Russia. It has a minimum kill radius of 8,000 km and an approximate speed of 6 km/s. The missile is being developed since 1998 by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, which developed the land-based Topol-M missile in 1989-1997. To date, 24 test launches of the Bulava have been made, fifteen of which have been declared successful (during the first launch a mass-size model of the missile was launched) and two (the seventh and eighth) were partially successful. The last test launch of the missile

Minuteman LGM-30G | Speed 6.7 km/s

MinutemanLGM-30G - The LGM-30G Minuteman III has an estimated range of 6,000 to 10,000 kilometers, depending on the type of warhead. The Minuteman-3 has been in service in the U.S. since 1970 and is the only silo-based missile in the U.S. The first launch was in February 1961, versions II and III were launched in 1964 and 1968 respectively. The missile weighs about 34,473 kg and is equipped with three solid-propellant

53T6 "Amur" | speed 7 km/sec

53T6 "Amur" - The fastest anti-missile missile in the world, designed to defeat highly maneuverable targets and high-altitude hypersonic missiles. Tests of the 53T6 series of the Amur complex began in 1989. Its speed is 5 km per second. The missile is a 12-meter pointed cone without protruding parts. Its body is made of high strength steel with a composite material winding. The missile is designed to withstand high overloads. The interceptor launches with 100 times acceleration and can intercept targets flying from

"Satan" SS-18 (R-36M) | speed 7.3 km/sec

"Satan" SS-18 (R-36M) - the most powerful and fastest nuclear missile in the world at 7.3 km per second. it is designed primarily to destroy the most fortified command posts, ballistic missile silos and air bases. the nuclear explosive of one missile can destroy a large city, a very large part of the U.S. The accuracy of impact is about 200-250 meters. the missile is placed in the most robust silos in the world. SS-18 carries 16 platforms, one of which is loaded with decoys. entering high orbit all heads of Satan go "in a cloud" of decoys and almost no identification of

DongFeng 5A | Speed 7.9 km/s

Intercontinental ballistic missile DongFeng 5A (DF-5A) with a top speed of 7.9 km per second opens the top three fastest in the world. The Chinese DF-5 ICBM entered service in 1981. It can carry a huge 5 mt warhead and has a range of more than 12,000 km. The DF-5 has a deflection of about 1 km, which means that the missile has one purpose - to destroy cities. The size of the warhead, deflection and the fact that it takes only an hour to fully prepare it for launch, all mean that the DF-5 is a punitive weapon designed to punish any potential attackers. version 5A has increased range, improved

P-7 | Speed 7.9 km/sec

Р-7 - The first Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile, one of the fastest in the world, with a top speed of 7.9 km per second. The first missiles were developed and produced by the OKB-1 enterprise near Moscow in 1956-1957. After successful launches, it was used in 1957 to launch the world's first artificial satellites. Since then the launch vehicles of the R-7 family have been actively used to launch various spacecraft, and since 1961 these launch vehicles have been widely used in manned spaceflight.

RT-2PM2 "Topol-M" | Speed 7.9 km/sec

RT-2PM2 "Topol-M" (15Zh65) - The fastest intercontinental ballistic missile in the world with a maximum speed of 7.9 kilometers per second. It has a maximum range of 11,000 kilometers. It carries one thermonuclear warhead of 550 kt. The silo-based version was accepted for service in 2000. The missile's solid fuel injection makes it much faster than previous types of missiles of the same class developed in Russia and the Soviet Union, which makes it much harder to intercept by missile defense assets during the active phase of flight.

Top 10 worst rockets on the planet

On August 29, the newest secret American technology, the Delta IV spy satellite, was launched at an air base in California, U.S. The object is the most powerful rocket in the history of mankind. It is 71 meters high, the engine has 17 million horsepower, and one launch of the monster cost the U.S. one million dollars.

America has always had a special attitude towards global organizations and their large-scale events. So the owners of the most powerful missile in the world decided to launch it on August 29 - the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. The funny thing is that the United States never admitted what the purpose of developing, building and launching Delta IV was.

MPORT men's online magazine remembers that not only the United States has super-powerful weapons. There are many other countries in the world that also boast intercontinental ballistic missiles. Find out what you, a peaceful citizen of planet Earth, should fear the most?

The most mobile - Topol-M

Produced by Russia, first launched in 1994, with a launch mass of 46 and a half tons. It is considered the basis of Russian nuclear weapons.

The most secure - Yars RS-24

It has a range of 11,000 kilometers and, unlike Topol-M, has multiple warheads. In addition to warheads, Yars also carries a missile defense penetration kit, which makes it much harder for enemies to detect and intercept. This innovation makes RS-24 the most successful missile in the deployment of the global American missile defense system, and it can even be placed on a railroad car.

The heaviest - R-36M Satan

The first launch - 1970, weight - 211 tons, range - 11,200 - 16,000 kilometers. Rocket complexes placed in silos can not be too light by definition. Satan simply broke the record of all heavyweights.

The most accurate is the Trident II D5

Trident is based on submarines and is capable of hitting protected silos of intercontinental ballistic missiles and protected command posts with maximum precision.

The fastest is the Minuteman LGM-30G

The missile weighs 35 and a half tons and has a range of 13,000 kilometers. It is considered one of the fastest ICBMs in the world and can reach speeds of over 24,000 kilometers per hour during the terminal phase of flight.

The most advanced is the MX (LGM-118A) Peacekeeper

The heavy intercontinental ballistic missile Peacekeeper is simply the embodiment of the latest technology, such as the use of composite materials. It also has a higher hit accuracy, and - most characteristically - increased "survivability" of the missile in conditions of nuclear attack.

The very first R-7

Weight - 88.44 tons, range - up to 8,000 km. The legendary Soviet "seven", which became the world's first ICBM. However, it took several hours to bring it to combat readiness, which did not suit the military very well. And the hit accuracy was not very high. But it outran the whole planet.

The very first underwater one - Polaris A-1

The mass of the missile is 12.7 tons, range - 2200 km. Despite attempts to launch the missile from submarines by engineers of the Third Reich, only the Americans succeeded: their first Polaris was launched from the board of George Washington from the depth of 20 meters. And exactly 40 days later the same success came to the Soviet missile R-21.

The most economical - R-30 Bulava

The missile weighs 36.8 tons and has a range of 8,000-12,000 kilometers. Experts say that the replacement of traditional liquid-propellant missiles with Bulava significantly reduces the nuclear deterrent potential due to almost threefold reduction of throwable weight. In addition, the missile is launched at an incline, which allows firing right on the move.

This boat appeared due to the banal desire of Russia to save money: the country's desire to reduce development costs by unifying the Bulava with land-based missiles and made its production cheaper than usual.

The most modest is V-2

The brainchild of Nazi engineer Werner von Braun, colloquially called "weapon of vengeance" - Vergeltungswaffe-2, proved itself as an ICBM with the most modest performance: every such missile fired at London killed only two people. But its basis was very useful for both us and the Americans for future nuclear developments.

Well, it remains to find out: how much you can earn if you happen to come across one of these toys - for example, in your own vegetable garden, homestead, or even in the yard of the house?

The world's five heaviest space rockets (6 photos + Video)

On November 23, 1972, the fourth and the last launch of the super-heavy launch vehicle H-1 took place. All four launches were unsuccessful and in four years the work on H-1 was terminated. The starting mass of this rocket was 2,735 tons. We decided to tell about the five heaviest space rockets in the world.

H-1

The Soviet heavy-lift rocket H-1 was developed in the mid-1960s at the OKB-1 under the leadership of Sergei Korolev. The rocket initially was intended to launch a heavy orbital station into Earth orbit, with the prospect of assembling a heavy interplanetary spacecraft for flights to Venus and Mars. As the USSR joined the "moon race" with the United States, the H1 program was forced and refocused to fly to the Moon.

However, all four test launches of the H-1 were unsuccessful during the first stage. In 1974, the Soviet lunar manned lunar landing program was effectively closed until the target result was achieved, and in 1976 the H-1 work was also officially closed.

"Saturn-5."

The U.S. Saturn 5 remains the heaviest, most powerful, heaviest (2,965 tons), and largest payload carrier rocket in existence. It was created by rocket designer Werner von Braun. The rocket could carry 141 tons of payload into low Earth orbit and 47 tons of payload into a lunar orbit.

"Saturn-5 was used to execute the program of American lunar missions, including the first landing of a man on the Moon on July 20, 1969, as well as to place the Skylab orbital station into near-Earth orbit.

"Energy."

"The Energia was a Soviet super-heavy launch vehicle (2,400 tons) developed by the NPO Energia. It was one of the most powerful rockets in the world.

It was developed as a universal advanced rocket to perform various tasks: the carrier for MTKK Buran, the carrier for manned and unmanned expeditions to the Moon and Mars, for launching new generation orbital stations, etc. The first launch took place in 1987, the last one - in 1988.

"Ariane 5."

"Ariane 5 is a European launch vehicle of the Ariane family designed to place payloads in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or Geo-Transition Orbit (GEO). The rocket weighs less than the Soviet and American rockets - 777 tons. Produced by the European Space Agency, Ariane 5 is the main launch vehicle of ESA and will remain so at least until 2015. There were 43 launches from 1995-2007, of which 39 were successful.

"Proton"

"Proton (UR-500, Proton-K, Proton-M) is a heavy launch vehicle (705 tons) designed to launch automatic spacecraft into earth orbit and further into space. It was developed in 1961-1967 at the OKB-23 (now Khrunichev State Research and Production Center).

"Proton was a means of launching all Soviet and Russian orbital stations Salyut-DOS and Almaz, modules of Mir and ISS stations, planned manned space vehicles TKS and L-1/Zond (of the Soviet lunar space program), as well as heavyweight satellite satellites for various purposes and interplanetary stations.

The scariest nuclear missiles

France, P51

The M51 missile was put into service by the French in 2010. It is installed on Triomphant-class submarines and is capable of covering a distance of 10,000 km with six to 10 warheads of 100 kilotons on board. Probable deviation is 150-200 m. The M51 is difficult to intercept, so it deserves to be on this list.

China, Dong Feng 31

This missile has been in service in China since 2006. It is capable of carrying a large 1-megaton warhead to a distance of 8,000 km. Probable deviation is 300 m. The improved version has three 150 kt warheads and a distance of 11,000 km with a possible deviation of 150 m. This weapon can be moved and launched from a mobile carrier rocket and therefore poses a serious threat.

Russia, Topol-M

The Russian Defense Ministry introduced the Topol-M back in 1997. The missile can be fired from a bunker or from a mobile launcher. It is armed with an 800 kt warhead, but can be equipped with six warheads and decoys. Speed 7.3 km per second. Probable deviation - 200 meters. All this makes it very effective and virtually uninterceptable.

USA, LGM-30G Minuteman III

The Americans introduced this system back in 1970, but later upgraded it. It is a ground-based ICBM that can travel at 8 km per second. The probable deviation is less than 200 meters. The missile is capable of delivering a 375-400 kt warhead.

Russia, RSM 56 Bulava

It is this missile that allows us to catch up with the Americans in the development of naval weapons. "Bulava" is designed for the new Borey-class submarine. In service since 2013. It is equipped with six 150 kt warheads, but can also carry 10 warheads. It can also carry decoys that allow us to deceive missile defense. Range - 8 thousand km, probable deviation 300-350 meters.

Russia, R-29RMU2 "Liner

The system was commissioned in 2014. It is an updated version of the previous Sineva SLBM. It was developed to make up for some shortcomings of the Bulava. The range of the Liner is 11 thousand km. It can carry 12 warheads of 100 kt each. Some of them can be replaced with decoys. The probable deviation is classified.

USA, UGM-133 Trident II

The Trident II is a greeting from the 90s, but it has been updated and modernized. This SLBM was capable of carrying 14 warheads, but after upgrading their number was reduced to five (475 kt each). The range depends on the payload and varies from 7,800 to 11,000 km. The probable deviation is only 120 meters, which makes it one of the most accurate nuclear missiles in the world.

China, DF-5/5A

The Chinese Armed Forces introduced this system back in 1981, but since then it has remained in the lead in terms of efficiency. This ICBM can carry a warhead of 5 megatons to a distance of 12,000 km. The deviation can be 1 km. This missile has one purpose - to destroy cities. In recent years, the PRC has improved the DF-5, increasing its range. In addition, the missile can now carry several warheads, and the deviation, according to some reports, is only 300 meters.

Russia, R-36M2 "Voevoda

In the West, this missile is called "Satan". It was deployed in 1974, but since then it has undergone many changes. The latest upgrade allowed to install on the "Voivod" up to 10 warheads at 750 kt. The range - 11 thousand km. Speed - 8 km per second. Probable deviation - 220 meters. This weapon caused the Pentagon the greatest concern until March 1, 2018.

Russia, R-36 "Sarmat

At present, the Ministry of Defense, together with enterprises in the rocket and space industry, has begun the active testing phase of a new missile system with a heavy intercontinental missile, the Sarmat. The range of the new missile and the number of warheads are greater than those of Voyevoda. The Sarmat will be equipped with a wide range of nuclear warheads with high power, including hypersonic, and the most advanced anti-missile defense systems.