The rocket equation explained by coding it (opens in new tab)

The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation is the single most important formula in spaceflight, and it explains why getting to orbit is so brutally hard. It is one line, and coding it makes its consequences (including why rockets have stages) impossible to miss. The equation The change in velocity a rocket can achieve, its delta-v, is: import math def delta_v(exhaust_velocity, mass_initial, mass_final): return exhaust_velocity * math.log(mass_initial / mass_final) In words: delta-v equals the exhaust ve...