FE Meme
Rocket Arc vs Jet Contrail Straight?
#165: A rocket launch visibly arcs through the sky while a jet contrail stays straight, so curved "around the Earth" flight paths are inconsistent.
The Meme
Split photo meme: night rocket trail bending upward labelled "Rocket Going Around The Curve"; daytime straight jet contrail labelled "Jet Going Around The Curve" with Smith William watermark.
Why It Spreads
Contrails look ruler-straight from the ground while rocket launch footage bends dramatically upward, so the split photo feels like a controlled comparison proving curved flight paths are inconsistent. Viewers already skeptical of space programs treat the contrast as catching NASA in a geometry error without noting the rocket is climbing through a gravity turn and the jet is cruising at nearly constant altitude.
What It Gets Wrong
The split photo labels a night rocket trail "Rocket Going Around The Curve" beside a daytime straight jet contrail "Jet Going Around The Curve," treating both as the same experiment. Launch vehicles pitch during a gravity turn to shed velocity horizontally for orbit injection, so their plumes trace ascent guidance near the pad, not a horizon-following commute. Airliners hold pressure altitude near 10 to 12 km relative to local gravity, so contrails appear straight over short sight lines while great-circle paths still curve on R ≈ 6371 km over routes spanning thousands of kilometres. TestTheGlobe's Aircraft Never Dip Their Nose and TestTheGlobe's Curvature Calculator walk through the observations and predictions this image skips.
The Debunk
Gravity turns during rocket ascent predict a bending launch plume near the pad, while airliners holding pressure altitude near 10 to 12 km predict straight-looking contrails over short sight lines; great-circle routes still curve on R ≈ 6371 km over thousands of kilometres. A split photo comparing a night rocket arc to a daytime jet contrail is inconsistent with treating both as the same "around the curve" experiment. Use TestTheGlobe's Curvature Calculator to compare the meme's claim with a measurable prediction.
- TestTheGlobe's Aircraft Never Dip Their Nose page explains why airliners maintain local level while Earth's surface curves beneath them over long routes.
- TestTheGlobe's Curvature Calculator shows how little local deviation appears over short sight lines versus cumulative curve h ≈ d²/(2R) over thousands of kilometres.
- TestTheGlobe's Aircraft Never Dip Their Nose: gravity turns convert vertical climb into orbital injection; the arc is ascent steering near the pad, not proof of a flat runway in the sky.
- TestTheGlobe's Flights Only Make Sense On A Flat Map: flight trackers show airliners maintaining altitude while great-circle routes curve on a spheroid, even when contrails look straight to ground observers.