Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

We are told by NASA that space is a vacuum. Since water boils in a vacuum, why aren't the oceans and lakes boiling on earth? NASA sends rockets through the atmosphere, so what is in the atmosphere that stops this process?

You can find quite a bit of information online about why this is. https://www.google.com/search?q=why+do+ ... 8&oe=utf-8

The short answer is gravity. The Earth's gravity keeps the atmosphere surrounding the planet and creates a layer of increased pressure around the planet.