Escaping Earth. But suppose the goal is to let the rocket escape from Earth’s gravity forever so it can fly off into the depths of space. That’s when scientists do a neat trick called staging ...

The upper stage of the rocket didn’t fire correctly, and the craft never got fast enough to escape Earth’s gravity. The rocket and the craft meant to carry the lander to Venus split into ...

Escaping Earth. But suppose the goal is to let the rocket escape from Earth’s gravity forever so it can fly off into the depths of space. That’s when scientists do a neat trick called staging.

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d ...