How do rockets get gas in outer space?

Question

How do rockets get gas in outer space?

Answer 1

They don't. When they run out they are out. They have to start on the ground with as much as they can carry and when it is gone it is gone and then they just coast.

Answer 2

They take everything they will need with them.

Answer 3

The cool thing about rockets and the space shuttle is that they oxidize hydrogen and create water as their exhaust.  Normal cars and trucks on earth rely on the oxygen in our atmosphere to run but rockets take it with them in the form of liquid oxygen.  Most rockets are not designed to return to earth but the space shuttle takes enough fuel with it to make the round trip.  Hope this helps answer your question.

BTW: the space station was allowed to fall back in to earth's atmosphere a few years ago so it no longer exists.

Answer 4

They bring all the fuel that they need with them.

Answer 5

Although it would, in principle, be possible to transfer fuel and oxidizer from one rocket to another or from a "filling station" to a rocket, the technology to do this has not been developed.  Rockets in space are limited to the fuel and oxidizer they bring with them.

Answer 6

There are gas stations on the moon.

Answer 7

They bring barrels of gas im guessing

Answer 8

They bring it with them.  

Answer 9

Well they don't need to. First of all giant space shuttles and saturn V type rockets don't run on your typical car fuel. They run on a mixture of Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. But they have all the fuel they need with them. If the Command Module from the saturn V ran out of fuel on the way to the moon it would b stranded there. I've heard the space shuttle can refuel from the iss but I'm not sure if thats true.

Answer 10

I don't believe they do. If it did I assume it would be similar to the movie Armageddon where they docked with a space station and refueled.

Answer 11

Rockets don't use "gasoline".  

Rockets bring all of their fuel with them and must also bring the oxidizer (so it can burn) with them too.  Liquid oxygen is an example of a good oxidizer often used.

Keep in mind that once in outer space, there is no longer much friction to fight against as on Earth.  It is just momentum and Newton's 3rd law of motion that controls the speed and direction of a spacecraft.  Push the mass of fuel out the back and the ship moves forward, send it to one side and it can turn the oposite direction.  

To understand how much friction the air can cause, compare a person falling with and without it.  Go up in a plane a few thousand feet and jump (hopefully with a parachute) freefall for the first part and you'll reach terminal velocity (the maximum speed due to wind resistance) which is about 125 mph.

Yet, in the 1950's, an experiment using high altitude balloons sent a man to the edge of space (no atmosphere) where he proceded to fall back to earth reaching speeds approaching 600 mph!

So once the spacecraft gets to space, little energy is needed to keep it going.  Often times they will use solar panels to maintain the electrical needs onboard.

Hope this helps.