Tuesday 15 July 2008

Rocket Science

Last evening the kids & I were just discussing about how their day went when Nikita asked me “Mama, do you know about Rockets?”

“Yes, I know” answered Mama absently.

“Ok then, we know how Rockets take off from the ground, right?” began Nikita.

“Yes we do” answered Mama, more alert now, wondering where the conversation was heading.

“So how do these Rockets land back on earth….the same way they take off, I mean with the pointed end towards the earth or the flat end on the earth?”

I was standing with my back towards her and my mind was working furiously.

I don’t ever recall wanting to know how the rockets landed back on earth. I just assumed that it landed like how an aeroplane landed……on its feet……to put it more simply…..on the flat end(yeah I know most of you are laughing:-P).

But now that the question was asked aloud my idea of rocket landing didn’t exactly sound plausible. There was definitely something more to this.

“You tell me, how do you think the Rocket lands?” Mama congratulates herself for avoiding the question neatly.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you, right” answers Nikita exasperatedly.

Clearing my throat, I told her that papa knows more about all these ‘technical’ things so we’ll ask him when he comes back from work.

“Ok then, tell me how babies are born” demanded Nikita.

"Yes, tell us how babies come out" chimed in Naina, demanding a more graphical explanation.

[Some of you must be thinking I’m exaggerating. No, no really no. We had another ½ hour discussion(most of which I spent ducking the “to the point” questions), which I’ll put up in a day or 2. Absolutely loaded with work today.]

Now I’m asking all of you to put your ideas down on “How YOU Think a Rocket Lands”. Don’t google the subject or anything to find out. Just write how you thought Rockets landed. Come on all of you, it will be good fun…….

19 comments:

  1. On its butt? ;)

    Okay kidding :D :D

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  2. errmm.. can i please answer the
    2Nd question she wanted an answer to :/

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  3. haha... Rockets landeing on their feet... thats hilarious :) :) but seeiously... these things that go up is actually the space shuttle with the huge fuel tanks.. so when it comes back, it lands like a normal plane.. in other cases it just falls into the ocean or some deserted place aided with super huge parachutes :)

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  4. hey--my kids asked me the EXACT same questions--but not on the ame day..and you know what, for rockets landing I guessed the answer and said we'd look it up--and I was right!
    For babies being born, my kids already know--as they have seen hamsters,fishes and dogs mating.They asked me if I mated with anyone else other than papa whether i'd still have a baby! LOL.
    Cheers
    Preeti (Just a mother of two)

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  5. Just the kind of important question that I don't seem to know the answer to :((( I'm so ashamed! How bright your kids are!

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  6. hey btw.. dont post this.. just an message... wrote an update on the story "Deception"

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  7. Inever thought that Rockets come back to earth:)

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  8. ahem..i agree with winnie :D
    thats wat i used to think

    btw nanc you are right about the landing like an aeroplane, there are some that glide down a loooong runway

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  9. Winnie: ok so even u dont know the answer;-P

    Ish: heehee had a good laugh but u avoided THE question

    ArunPK: Ur explanation ditto matches the description my husband gave us later that day....so a big hand to Arunpk, everybody:-D

    Ps: ur kids too. but then I guess all kids do at some point or other:-P.
    And my kids were not asking how they were made, they wanted to know how they came out of my stomach:-S

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  10. wannabe: U & me both:-S.

    winnie: chked out ur story and commented too:-).
    Actually published the comment so automatically...click:-P

    renu: wow renu thats exactly how it is supposed to be...read arun pk's comment.

    sunshine: I belive there r diff types of rockets. some come back whereas most of them explode or something mid-air. read arun pk's comment...it explains more clearly:-P

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  11. :D Well, I thot ut landed the way it went up. Now, the last thing we want is a sorry face when kids ask us crazy q's. But wow it is going to b difficult to keep ourselves updated.
    p.s: I am sweating!

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  12. arun: still finding it funny huh:-D

    bins: tht decides it, I'll be putting up the explanation abt how rockets land in my next post. Seriously v need to be updated guys:-P. Dont know when the kids will jack us next. Have to be prepared, right.

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  13. nancy
    so i hope the "why me" phase is over and we are back to business:-)
    very nice description of what happened. i added the "very" to the nice hoping that should accommodate for any errors in my rocket answer. i am not sure how they land on land as the ones i've known all landed in the ocean or at least that is what i remember from the news. i do know parts of the rocket are burnt off for launching and breaking the atmospheric barrier so what goes up is not what comes down. phew!

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  14. nah I know the answers :D
    I had satellite comm in my 8th sem ;)

    Well yes arun is right.. most of the fuel is already used up.. n the part that remains is then collected in something called as graveyard belt in the space....

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  15. Arun's answer reminds me that i am a woman still ignorant of technicalities::))

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  16. lan: tht much info is good enoff for the kids, the rest we can make up as we go:-P.
    Yeah the "Why Me" attackes without warning but sporadically:-D but as of now its out of my system.

    winnie: U delibrately with held information and thats a crime:-O

    renu: very nice way of hiding our flaws.....agree with u whole heartedly:-D

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  17. here's how I handled the "babies" question... not that I was successful :-)

    http://amitsarkar.wordpress.com/2007/11/30/the-birds-and-the-bees/

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  18. LOL, chked it out.....really funny. Even ur child cd see the holes in ur story:-)

    Thanks for visiting:-)

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