•  A typical rocket produces more than a million pounds of thrust that allows it to carry more than 6,000 pounds at speeds topping 22,000 miles per hour. This is equivalent to the power generated by 13 Hoover Dams and traveling at speeds 15 times faster than a speeding bullet.

•  The heat produced by a rocket in the first moments after lift-off could heat 85,000 homes for a full day.

•  In January of 2006, Atlas V set a new world record during the launch of the New Horizons mission, for the fastest spacecraft at time of leaving Earth’s atmosphere – more than 36,000 miles per hour. At this speed, it would only take 41 minutes and 44 seconds to go around the Earth’s Equator, which is 24,902 miles. The spacecraft reached a top speed of 47,000 miles per hour. A flight from Denver to New York would only take 2 minutes and 16 seconds at that rate.

• An Atlas V 500 series vehicle stands 205 feet tall which is nearly 19 stories.

•  Enos the chimp flew into space onboard a Mercury Atlas-5 (a mercury capsule on an Atlas D booster) on November 29, 1961. He completed his first orbit in 1 hour and 28.5 minutes.

•  Launch rockets are several rockets linked together. When one rocket expends all its fuel, it breaks apart and falls away, making the unit lighter to travel faster.

• Rocket boosters fall into the ocean when they return to Earth. They can often be reused but require extensive repair due to damage from salt water.

• Robert Goddard is the father of modern rocketry! He built the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926 which climbed 12 meters in 2.5 seconds.

• Rockets use enormous parachutes to slow their descent when they come back to earth. Some are hundreds of feet wide!

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