Why can't normal airplanes fly into outer space?

Answer 1

Because airplanes depend on the lift generated by the airflow across their wings, and they use air (and fuel) to power their engines. At some altitude around 150,000 feet, there isn't enough air to generate any lift, and above about 120,000 feet, there isn't enough air to keep the jet engines lit.

If an airplane could also have a rocket engine that did not require air, then it could continue to accelerate and continue into space as a spacecraft, but so far, no rocket-powered airplane has been able to carry enough fuel to actually make it into orbit. The "SpaceShip One" rocket plane was the first private manned spaceship to make it into space, but ran out of fuel and glided back to Earth as planned. But it went high enough to win the Ansari X-Prize for 10 million dollars.

Airplanes cannot fly in "space" because the lift that allows them to fly is created by the flow of a gasseous atmosphere above and beneath the wings. For our Earth that atmosphere is air. There is little or no atmosphere in space, and thus an airplane cannot fly in space. There have been a few airplanes that have flown TO the edge of Earth's atmosphere, and slightly into space, BUT... that was only the result of their high speed "carrying" them momentarily beyond the upper "edge" of the atmosphere.

Answer 2

This is not completely true. Several aircraft can go to and beyond the "edge of space" by simply getting really fast then coasting along on momentum.

But in general, a regular aircraft cannot fly into space (or within it) because space by definition lacks the crucial component of flight: atmosphere.

An atmosphere is required both to provide the energy needed - combustion in the engines, or the ability to pull a propellor forward by the Bernoulli principle and other aerodynamic ideas - and to allow that energy to turn into lift - again, the Bernoulli principle.

Without an atmosphere, there is no way for the plane to go forward (excluding rockets) and no way for it to go up.

Answer 3

Normal airplanes are designed to fly within Earth's atmosphere where they rely on the air for lift and propulsion. The air thins out as altitude increases, which makes it difficult for regular airplanes to operate effectively in the vacuum of space where there is no air for lift or propulsion. Additionally, normal airplanes are not designed to withstand the extreme temperatures and pressures found in outer space.

Answer 4

No. The wings that give airplanes lift need air, and the engines that power the airplanes need air.