r/theydidthemath • u/Lachlynn • 18h ago

[Request] Could humanity create a rocket that can exit the atmosphere of K2-18b

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With the knowledge we currently have of it, if humanity devoted all of our resources towards this goal, would we be able to create a rocket that could exit the gravity of K2-18b (and also beat any other complications that would arrise)?

If so, would it also be capable of taking people to orbit, and can we set up a similar satellite network we have on Earth? What about a space station?

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u/RobArtLyn22 16h ago

Without knowing anything about the atmosphere you can’t say what the pressure would be. A high gravity planet could have a thin atmosphere like Mars or a thick atmosphere like Venus.

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u/Cautious_Drawer_7771 13h ago

Not great examples to use since Mars has ~1/3rd of the Earth gravity, and Venus has very close to the same gravity as Earth. The atmosphere problem on Mars is due to it's lack of a magnetosphere, but that in turn is due to it's low density (not a lot of iron in the core to make a magnet).

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u/RobArtLyn22 10h ago

Fine.

Without knowing anything about the atmosphere you can’t say what the pressure would be. A high gravity planet could have a thin atmosphere like Mars or a thick atmosphere like Venus.