Rocket Science

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

As of 2023, NASA has launched 166 flights like the one you watched in the video above.

• Did you know you were watching a law of motion in action?

According to Newton's third law of motion, there must be an equal and opposite reaction for every action. You use this principle every day!

Watch the following video to learn more about this law of motion.

Now, think about a rocket. Rockets are huge!

• How can the space program possibly get such a heavy, large object into space?

This action requires force and a lot of it!

Scientists have found a way to produce enough action force to create a reaction that sends a rocket hundreds of miles away from the earth and into space!

Fuel is burned to produce gas, pushed out the back of the rocket, causing it to rise with enough force to get into orbit — or even to the moon! This force is called thrust.

Thrust helps an object work against gravity.

On the earth, gravity is a natural force always trying to get objects on the ground. A rocket's thrust is powerful enough to push a huge object, like a rocket, against gravity and up into space.

Watch another video to understand better.

• Still have questions about force and motion?

Watch one more video!

Now, head over to the Got It? section to look more closely at gravity.