In this blog post, we’ll explore the possibility of humanity one day traveling to the moon and floating among the stars, and the technology at the center of it all: rocket science.
Far, far out there!
The human imagination about space dates back to ancient times. Thousands of years ago, people looked up at the night sky and saw the stars and planets in the distance as the realm of the gods. The universe was a place of mystery and awe, and humans could only look on from afar. But as science and technology advanced, humans realized their dreams of flying, and the universe was no longer out of reach.
“Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars.”
This line from a famous pop song is known for its soothing melody and romantic tone. However, in some ways, it’s not just a romantic song, but a call to action for advances in aerospace engineering: “Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars,” where both reaching the moon (rocket launches) and playing among the stars (spacewalks) are made possible by aerospace engineering. In other words, the song, written in 1954, is a call to action for spacewalks in 1965 and human arrival on the moon in 1969.
Believe it or not, the idea of human travel in space was once thought to be unrealistic, the stuff of romanticized song lyrics. But that fantasy has been turned on its head, because satellites and spacecraft now allow us to do things in space that were once thought to be impossible, such as exploring satellites, traveling to other planets, and even developing artificial planets. And space launch vehicles are at the center of that change.
The same goes for satellites and spacecraft. Even though we can do various activities in space, we need to get to space first, but space is very far away from human perspective, so we need launch vehicles to launch satellites and spacecraft into space. And the discipline that deals with these launch vehicles is space engineering, especially rocket engineering.
Rocket science and the journey to space
Rocket science is literally the study of rockets. Unlike airplanes, which typically burn fuel to fly, rockets are made to fly in the absence of oxygen by preparing a mixture of oxygen and fuel inside the airframe. The principle of how these rockets fly is based on Newton’s third law, or the law of action and reaction.
Action and reaction is the principle that when two objects interact with each other, as much as A affects B, B also affects A. This is how rockets work. This principle applies to rockets. A rocket pushes gases from burning fuel backward, and that force propels the rocket forward. It’s a simple principle now, but there was a time when it was misunderstood that rockets couldn’t fly in a vacuum.
This principle of action and reaction is what propels rockets into space. Rocket engineering requires a variety of scientific knowledge, including fluid dynamics to design the fuselage to reduce the friction the rocket has with the air, solid mechanics to calculate the pressures and stresses on the rocket, thermodynamics to design the engine, and kinematics to predict speed changes over time.
How rocket science impacts everyday life
While rocket science may seem like a complex and difficult discipline, its outputs have had a profound impact on our daily lives. For example, the integrated circuits (ICs) in almost all of our electronics started out as a technique developed to reduce the weight of rockets. Also, GPS, which provides location information, MRIs, which are used in medical exams, and shape memory alloys, which are used in eyeglass frames, were created thanks to advances in rocket science.
So many of the technologies we use are closely tied to advances in rocket science. Despite this, rocket science itself has often been thought of as a field familiar only to astronauts and rocket scientists. But that’s all changing. The era of civilian space travel is dawning.
Private space travel and the future
Rocket science used to be centered around large-scale national space programs, but recently, private companies have been entering the space industry, especially in the United States. Companies like SpaceX, Boeing, and others are developing rockets for private space travel, and as a result, we may soon be able to travel to space at a lower cost.
For example, the American company Space Adventures is already offering civilian trips to the International Space Station (ISS). It costs a hefty $20 billion, but what was once unimaginable has become a reality, and we can expect to see more of this movement in the future.
Rocket science in Korea
Amidst the trend of space engineering led by the United States and Russia, Korea is also focusing on rocket development. Recently, Korea successfully developed and launched a two-stage rocket with its own technology with the launch of Naro, and also launched its first astronaut. Although the development of the first stage rocket is not yet complete, it is gradually improving through steady research and investment.
The day is not far off when the lyrics “Take me to the moon, and let me play among the stars” will become a reality. In the future, space travel may become as commonplace as airplane travel, but for that to happen, Korea needs to continue to invest in developing its own rockets.
