• Question: Why can't we send rockets deeper into space? For example: out of the Milky Way.

    Asked by PrettyP123 to Huma, Jack, Lucy, Miranda, Peter on 7 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Huma Shah

      Huma Shah answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Hello PrettyP123,

      Don’t know for sure but I guess it is due to energy cost of getting the rocket deeper than previous ones, and also the purpose. There needs to be a tangible reason for the cost of sending a rocket, why send one when a telescope can provide some information?

      Again, the Physicist here will provide a better, scientific answer than mine 🙂

      Huma

    • Photo: Peter Boorman

      Peter Boorman answered on 16 Nov 2016:

      Hi PrettyP123,

      The only reason we haven’t done this *yet* is because the Milky Way is simply *so* huge – about 100,000 light years across! To travel out of the Milky Way would either require us to travel many times the speed of light, or to wait long enough for a spacecraft to travel these sorts of distances, which would take a very long time!

      Peter

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