As it's been discussed in another thread, escape velocity on Earth is going straight up at about 25,000 MPH but that's at sea level. The higher you get the less speed you need to escape the Earth's gravity well, assuming you're going in the direction of straight up (that's what velocity is, speed and direction.) For instance, the escape velocity at the top of Mount Everest is less than what it is at sea level.
Now I know it wouldn't be practical to build a launch pad on top of Mount Everest, but if we could build launch pads at higher altitudes, if we built tall enough structures that we could put the launch pads on top of, we would need less energy and therefore less fuel to put spacecraft into orbit or to completely leave Earth.
Now I know it wouldn't be practical to build a launch pad on top of Mount Everest, but if we could build launch pads at higher altitudes, if we built tall enough structures that we could put the launch pads on top of, we would need less energy and therefore less fuel to put spacecraft into orbit or to completely leave Earth.
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