import turtle
import random

screen = turtle.Screen()
screen.setup(400, 500)
screen.bgcolor('#0a0a40')

pen = turtle.Turtle()
pen.hideturtle()
pen.speed(0)

pen.color('white')
for i in range(30):
    star_x = random.randint(-200, 200)
    star_y = random.randint(-250, 250)
    pen.penup()
    pen.goto(star_x, star_y)
    pen.dot(3)

# Animate the rocket flying up
rocket_x = 0
rocket_y = -200

for step in range(50):
    pen.penup()
    pen.goto(rocket_x, rocket_y)
    pen.color('silver')
    pen.dot(30)

    rocket_y = rocket_y + 8

screen.mainloop()

_{Project 3 — Step 3 of 4}

⭐ Step 3 — Liftoff!

➡️ Make the rocket fly up the screen.

A simple trick: draw the rocket, then move its y position up a bit, then draw it again, and again, and again — 50 times! That’s a for loop with range(50).

✏️ What to type

Replace the rocket-drawing block from Step 2 with a loop that draws and moves the rocket 50 times:

rocket_x = 0
rocket_y = -200

for step in range(50):
    pen.penup()
    pen.goto(rocket_x, rocket_y)
    pen.color('silver')
    pen.dot(30)

    rocket_y = rocket_y + 8

import turtle
import random

screen = turtle.Screen()
screen.setup(400, 500)
screen.bgcolor('#0a0a40')

pen = turtle.Turtle()
pen.hideturtle()
pen.speed(0)

pen.color('white')
for i in range(30):
    star_x = random.randint(-200, 200)
    star_y = random.randint(-250, 250)
    pen.penup()
    pen.goto(star_x, star_y)
    pen.dot(3)

rocket_x = 0
rocket_y = -200

pen.penup()
pen.goto(rocket_x, rocket_y)
pen.color('silver')
pen.dot(30)

# Change the single draw above into a for loop that:
#   - draws the rocket
#   - moves rocket_y up by 8
#   - repeats 50 times

screen.mainloop()

Tap ▶ Run. The rocket should leave a trail of silver dots going up the screen. It’s not pretty smoke yet — just a stack of rockets — but the rocket has moved! 🚀

🔍 Tip

rocket_y = rocket_y + 8 adds 8 to the rocket’s current y each turn. After 50 turns, the rocket has moved up by 50 × 8 = 400 pixels — right off the top.

Next → Step 4

_{⬅ Back to Step 2}

---

_{Adapted from Raspberry Pi Foundation — Rocket Launch under CC BY-SA 4.0.}