Air resistance, also called Drag ,

Gravitational Force refers to forces that oppose the relative motion of an object through a fluid, liquid, or gas. These forces act in a direction opposite to the oncoming flow velocity. Air resistance depends on velocity. When considering air resistance in astrodynamics, it is an inefficiency that requires additional thrust during lift-off, but is an added efficiency when returning to Earth. Apparently, what goes up, comes down a little more easily.

Size and shape are the two factors that affect air resistance. Air resistance works with surface area, so the more surface area, the more air resistance. When an object is falling air resistance acts to push it back up. This is only true for objects falling straight down. If the object was falling left or right, then air resistance would be opposite. Air resistance is the opposite of gravity for an object falling down. It pushes up while gravity pushes down. When an object is falling, it will reach a point where it can no longer accelerate. That is its terminal velocity. Gravity is stronger than air resistance on all falling objects, but there is a small timeframe when air resistance overpowers gravity. A good example is a skydiver. The skydiver falls until reaching terminal velocity(gravity is stronger). After the rip cord is pulled, air resistance is stronger for a short time. Eventually, gravity exerts itself again and the diver falls to the ground. Air resistance increases as velocity increases. The main reason that the space shuttle needs fireproof shielding is that the friction created by air resistance heats the surrounding air enough to cause an intense fire. Air resistance is a major factor in calculating the amount of fuel that is required to lift a space craft into low Earth orbit. It comes into play for every plane trip that leaves an airport. Actually, there is no way to avoid air resistance in every aspect of your daily life.

Why does a larger balloon drop slower than a smaller balloon?

Answer: If the balloons are dropped from the same height, then because gravity is constant the balloons would theoretically hit the ground at the same time, but when you consider air resistance you can observe that because the larger balloon has a greater surface area than the smaller balloon the force of air resistance pushing the large balloon up would be greater causing the large balloon to drop slower than the small balloon.

Rocket Physics Picture of Saturn V Launch for Apollo 15 Mission. Source: NASA
A rocket has variable mass because its mass decreases over time, as a result of its fuel (propellant) burning off. The concept of momentum was used to launch the rocket to the outer space