The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation
Guest Speaker
Thursday, 6th November 2025 (19:45 - 22:00)
Venue: Meeting Room
The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation is the primary formula governing the physics of a rocket. In this talk we will explore the equation itself and its application to rocketry, along with it's interesting (and very challenging) restrictions that influence our approach to spaceflight.
Warning - may include some maths - although it's not needed to understand the final conclusions!
Speaker: Tom Gillespy
Tom Gillespy is a keen amateur astronomer who joined Aylesbury Astronomical Society at the age of 9 and has been an active member since - before becoming chairman in 2018. He has an active interest in all aspects of astronomy, from looking through a telescope at the many brilliant objects in the sky, to maintaining and the construction of telescopes and mounts and has an active interest in spaceflight and rocketry, delivering many talks on subjects such as the Space Shuttle, comparisons of different launch systems and their pros and cons, and guides to telescopes.