 Maths is all around us. It's almost impossible to think of something that's made without the help of mathematics. Buildings, transport, technology, medicine, even clothes and food all rely on numbers, measurements and sums. Since man first looked to the stars, we have dreamed of exploring worlds beyond our own. In the last century, the space age began as first satellites were launched into space followed by animals, humans and now entire space stations. But it's extremely difficult to leave our planet and enter space requiring complex maths to calculate the massive amount of opposing force to escape the Earth's gravity. Just try to jump upwards. That force pushing you back to Earth is gravity. One projectile that can create enough energy to beat gravity is the rocket. Early rockets were wild, inaccurate and almost impossible to control. Modern rockets, however, rely on complex maths to reach space. Rockets gain speed, known as thrust, by igniting backfiring gases from the rocket engine, creating a huge explosion. This force generates more kinetic energy than Earth's gravity. Thrust propels the rocket into the air fast enough to escape. The speed required to do this is around 11 km per second or over 40,000 km per hour. That's around 120 times the takeoff speed of a jumbo jet. Using maths, scientists can calculate the amount of fuel that's needed to create enough thrust to escape Earth's gravity. The quantity of fuel needed depends on both the weight of the rocket and the cargo or payload that it carries. But these calculations are dependent on gravity and the bigger the planet, the greater the force. A rocket launching from Saturn, for example, would need to reach 35.6 km per second. While in zero gravity, the tiniest amount of thrust would propel the rocket a very long way, as there would be no force to stop it. Precise mathematics is also needed in order to steer the rocket in the right direction. With such high-speed travel, even the smallest error could result in a rocket straying thousands of km off course. Nowadays, computers calculate and control space travel. But the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 relied on less powerful technology than the average modern smartphone. Imagine what clever mathematics was used to get those first astronauts to land safely on the moon. Maths has conquered our planet and made space travel a reality. Who knows what the future holds? There's almost no limit to the ways that maths benefits humanity. Thank you for watching.