Rocket science is hard, but you know what's harder? Trying to explain it using nothing but the 1,000 most commonly used words in the Eng...
Rocket science is hard, but you know what's harder? Trying to explain it using nothing but the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. Which is exactly what MinutePhysics and XKCD have pulled off in the latest episode. And nope, rocket, fuel, and orbit are definitely not allowed.
So how do you explain the extremely complex process of getting to space without mentioning the objects involved? With a whole lot of creativity. First of all there's rocket fuel AKA firewater, "which is usually made from old dead animals", as Henry from MinutePhysics explains. Don't forget the up-goers that you ride up into space, and all those sky boats you see in the air.
The first step is to fight Earth's pull to get into space in the first place, and then you need to angle yourself so that when you fall back towards Earth you miss and go around instead of straight down, which is how you stay in space.
Once you're up in space, you need to make sure you're in a room with thick walls that has heaters, air, and no holes so you can stay alive. But getting back home has its own challenges.
Of course our description sounds pretty terrible and makes no sense without the illustrations by XKCD, so watch the video above, and get inspired by how much complex science you can explain without actually saying the 's' word.
