DERIVING THE IDEAL ROCKET EQUATION FOR NASA’S ARTEMIS 1

by Sahir Singh

Submitted : Spring 2022

In astrophysics, Newton’s second law (force equals mass times acceleration) cannot be applied to rockets taking off from the Earth’s surface. This is due to a multitude of variable factors, including but not limited to the rocket’s mass (due to the constant usage of fuel), the velocity of the rocket, and atmospheric pressure. Therefore, an equation known as the “ideal rocket equation” is used in its stead. This project provides a derivation of the ideal rocket equation for NASA’s upcoming Artemis 1 mission. Publicly known specs were utilized to derive equations with values specific to this mission. Discovering that the launch takes places over multiple steps, or “stages”, I found that the ideal rocket equation applies to each stage of the launch independently.

Artemis 1 is an upcoming test flight that serves as the first phase of the Artemis Program, which aims to send manned missions to the moon again. The launch is planned for late May 2022. It will be the first test flight for new NASA technologies; namely, the Space Launch System (SLS) Rocket and the Orion spacecraft. The mission will also carry small satellites known as CubeSats as cargo, which serve the purpose of performing additional research and experimentation.

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