Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
For reference, to orbit with the ISS you're looking at an altitude of ~400 km, and a speed of ~17,000 mph, so starting from 40,000 ft, and 500 mph, makes essentially no difference.
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That would make sense. The shuttle burns 11000 pounds of fuel per second and takes approximately 63 seconds to reach 40000 feet. So if it didn't need those 693000 pounds of fuel on board you're still far beyond what a 747 can lift off with, weight wise anyways.
But since its about speed, the shuttle hits 500 mph after about 30 seconds. So yeah, not much difference.