3. TIL that the amount of energy required to launch a typically outfitted space shu...

TIL that the amount of energy required to launch a typically outfitted space shuttle (110 metric tons) from rest to an orbital velocity of 17,500mph would be sufficient to power the average American home for 41 years (in 2014).

I'm kinda interesting in how the numbers work out.

It states:

The launch of the Shuttle demanded a dynamic expenditure of energy as the vehicle accelerated from rest to an orbital velocity of 17,500 miles per hour (mph). Including crew and cargo, a typical Shuttle with a complete payload weighed about 110 metric tons, and the acceleration of such a mass to orbital velocity required nearly one million watts of energy, or enough energy to power the average house for 41 years.

So, one million watts during acceleration, which is 1m joule/s. The acceleration phase takes about 8'30", so 510 s total, making the total energy required 510m joule.

Now onto the average American household, using around 11000 KwH yearly. This is nearly 40 billion joule. Meaning -according to this paragraph- the shuttle uses as much as an American household in 510m/40b years time. Which is little under 5 days.

Can anyone find the error?

/r/todayilearned Thread Link - ntrs.nasa.gov
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