Topic Battle

The rocket exists as humanity's ultimate expression of velocity worship. Escape velocity from Earth requires speeds exceeding 40,000 kilometres per hour. The Saturn V achieved 39,897 km/h; modern vehicles like the New Shepard reach similar velocities within minutes of ignition. Voyager 1, launched in 1977, currently travels at 61,000 km/h and will do so for millions of years. In the competition for raw speed, the rocket occupies a category so vastly superior that comparison feels almost cosmically unfair to the floating yellow anatid.

The rocket, conversely, represents spectacular planned obsolescence. Most launch vehicles are designed for precisely one journey, after which they become extraordinarily expensive ocean debris or atmospheric particulate matter. Even reusable rockets like the Falcon 9 require extensive refurbishment between missions. The thermal stresses of re-entry, the corrosive effects of propellant, and the general violence of defying gravity through controlled explosion ensure that no rocket approaches the carefree immortality of the bath-time duck. Durability, in rocketry, is measured in successful missions rather than years.

Rocket access remains the exclusive province of nation-states and billionaires. The procurement process involves years of regulatory approval, billions in capital, and legions of aerospace engineers. Even witnessing a rocket launch requires considerable planning and often international travel. The average citizen's interaction with rocketry is limited to television broadcasts and museum exhibits. While space tourism promises eventual democratisation, current ticket prices hover around several hundred thousand pounds—approximately the cost of four million rubber ducks.

Rocketry's cultural impact operates on a grander but perhaps less intimate scale. The Space Race defined Cold War geopolitics and inspired generations of scientists. Apollo 11 remains humanity's greatest shared television moment. Science fiction from Verne to Musk draws upon rocket mythology. Yet rockets exist primarily as symbols of aspiration rather than objects of affection. One does not cuddle a Saturn V. The rocket inspires awe and ambition; the rubber duck inspires fondness and smiles. Both represent significant cultural forces, but through markedly different emotional registers.

Rocket launches represent concentrated environmental catastrophe. A single Falcon 9 launch produces approximately 336 tonnes of CO2. Solid rocket boosters release aluminium oxide and hydrochloric acid into the stratosphere, potentially affecting ozone layer integrity. The growing frequency of commercial launches raises serious atmospheric concerns. Even 'clean' hydrogen fuel rockets produce significant water vapour at altitudes where it acts as a greenhouse agent. The environmental cost per operational minute exceeds most industrial activities by orders of magnitude.