Calculating the descent of a rocket landing

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Calculating the time for a rocket to land safely involves complex variables, including gravity and thrust, making it challenging to create a universal formula applicable to all celestial bodies. The discussion highlights the importance of making assumptions about the rocket's characteristics to derive any meaningful calculations. A simpler question posed focuses on determining the thrust needed to propel a 180 kg object to specific speeds, such as Mach 1 at sea level. It is clarified that thrust relates to acceleration rather than speed; thus, constant thrust results in constant velocity unless it exceeds the force of gravity. Understanding these principles is crucial for accurate rocket propulsion calculations.
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Hello, I've been working on calculating the time that a rocket would take to reach ground level, safely. But some things are getting me confused, also I would like to create a formula for this so i can just input values no matter what planet or celestial body you're landing on. To put it in clearer terms:

I want to know how long a rocket would take to land safely(eta) at a landing pad going vertically down, taking into account the gravity and the upward thrust that a rocket engine would create.

Thank you, if I'm missing something than tell me.
 
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There are too many variables, not to mention the variable of personal taste, to create such an equation.
 
If you can neglect air drag, it is easier to consider the time-reversed process: A launching rocket.
You have to add several assumptions about the rocket to calculate anything.
 
Thank you!

Hmm... You're right that there is too many variables. This question was just to understand how much thrust is needed to lift an object at whatever speed I want, or to decelerate any object with a rocket engine fixed to it. Ok a (hopefully) simpler question:

How much thrust is needed to propel 180kg to mach 1 at sea level, when I say propel I mean vertically up, I tried to convert the force the object exerts (which came out to be ~1773.8(N)). If I push upwards, the opposite direction of gravity, with a rocket at this force I will not gain any altitude (am I right with this?) so i want to know how much thrust I need to reach certain speeds. For instance I want to go 5 m/s weighing only 180 kg, how much thrust would I need?
 
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so i want to know how much thrust I need to reach certain speeds
That is not a meaningful question - thrust is related to acceleration, not to speed.
If you have 1774N of thrust (in vertical direction), your velocity is constant - it can be zero, it can be supersonic, or anything else. If you have more thrust, the rocket can accelerate, and reach any velocity if it has enough time.
 
Pilot training is critical to safe flying. I watched the following video regarding the crash of TAM 402 (31 October 1996), which crashed into a Sao Paolo neighorbood about 25 seconds after takeoff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAM_Transportes_A%C3%A9reos_Regionais_Flight_402 The pilots were never trained to handle such an event (the airline had asked the manufacturer about training for this event), since it was considered too improbable (so rare) by the manufacturer. There was no...
Due to the constant never ending supply of "cool stuff" happening in Aerospace these days I'm creating this thread to consolidate posts every time something new comes along. Please feel free to add random information if its relevant. So to start things off here is the SpaceX Dragon launch coming up shortly, I'll be following up afterwards to see how it all goes. :smile: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/

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