How do rockets push themselves all the way into space?
The Backpack Toss
How do rockets push themselves all the way into space?
A rocket sits on the launchpad, taller than a building, and somehow it heaves itself up past the clouds, past the birds, past the very top of the sky. No road, no wings flapping, nothing to push against. So how does it climb a ladder that isn't there?
Here's the secret, and it's hiding in something you do every day. Sit in a rolling chair and throw a heavy backpack hard one way — you roll the other way. Push something away from you, and it pushes you back, exactly as hard. That stubborn little rule runs the whole show.
