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  1. #16
    Spectacularly Neurotic Sharkerbob's Avatar
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    I'm not bothering to math anything, but, like, depending on how it hits, would it not just pierce the planet like a martini olive? I guess it depends on how much it's able to pierce, if it goes right through or gets stuck. I guess the real problem would be less the immediate moment of impact, and how much the spear tears up the planet as it drags/digs as it conflicts with Earth's spin.

    Otherwise, Beadle basically laid out my first thoughts.

  2. #17
    The Weeping Mod Sharpandpointies's Avatar
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    I'm with Beadle in the 'we're hosed' department.
    Why are we here?

    "Superboy Prime (the yelling guy if he needs clarification)..." - Postmania
    "...dropping an orca whale made of fire on your enemies is a pretty strong opening move." - Nik
    "Why throw punches when you can be making everyone around you sterile mutant corpses?" - Pendaran, regarding Dr. Fate

  3. #18
    Spectacularly Neurotic Sharkerbob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sharpandpointies View Post
    I'm with Beadle in the 'we're hosed' department.
    Hosed like a martini olive.





    :V

  4. #19
    The Weeping Mod Sharpandpointies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sharkerbob View Post
    Hosed like a martini olive.





    :V
    Ka-thunk.


    *limit dance*
    Why are we here?

    "Superboy Prime (the yelling guy if he needs clarification)..." - Postmania
    "...dropping an orca whale made of fire on your enemies is a pretty strong opening move." - Nik
    "Why throw punches when you can be making everyone around you sterile mutant corpses?" - Pendaran, regarding Dr. Fate

  5. #20
    JUST DO IT?!?! Postmania's Avatar
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    But at least we can use the spear as basis for the space elevator if we survive
    “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
    -Stephen McCranie

  6. #21
    She/Her Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh's Avatar
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    It's not a matter of surviving honestly, it's a matter of how badly we die.
    Yeah, but if you... man, we're getting into weird analogy territory, like if you disintegrated Superman's arms he wouldn't be able to go "fool! Little did you know that my arms and I are one and can be remade from me!" and will his arms back into being from pure nothingness. - Pendaran

    Arx Inosaan

  7. #22
    Extraordinary Member The Drunkard Kid's Avatar
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    I mean, if we're allowed to defend ourselves then a bunch of nukes just detonating along one side might be able to deflect something that thin and that long the fraction of a degree needed to make sure that it missed Earth altogether several months later.

  8. #23
    She/Her Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh's Avatar
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    the amount of work and coordination needed to hit a moving target like that probably wouldn't be feasible given the time frame.
    Yeah, but if you... man, we're getting into weird analogy territory, like if you disintegrated Superman's arms he wouldn't be able to go "fool! Little did you know that my arms and I are one and can be remade from me!" and will his arms back into being from pure nothingness. - Pendaran

    Arx Inosaan

  9. #24
    The Weeping Mod Sharpandpointies's Avatar
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    Also, how do we deliver the nukes? Forget about the actual targeting issues (which are huge, as we don't have 'guidance packages' on the nukes that are calibrated for hitting an object in space), how do the nukes reach the target far enough away from Earth that they will actually affect its trajectory sufficiently to make it miss?

    ICBM's are 'intercontinental', not 'interplanetary'.

    Granted, at 10 miles per second, we have a ton of time to figure this out. EDIT: ~1.3 years, based on current distance between Jupiter and Earth, and not bothering to take into account the differences of our orbits and stuff that make such things much more complex.
    Last edited by Sharpandpointies; 10-12-2021 at 05:32 AM.
    Why are we here?

    "Superboy Prime (the yelling guy if he needs clarification)..." - Postmania
    "...dropping an orca whale made of fire on your enemies is a pretty strong opening move." - Nik
    "Why throw punches when you can be making everyone around you sterile mutant corpses?" - Pendaran, regarding Dr. Fate

  10. #25
    Rumbles Limbo Champion big_adventure's Avatar
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    If this becomes a "survival" issue, we can probably figure out something. All of the problems for sustainable travel and reasonable budgets go straight out the window in the face of "extinction level event." We have plenty of nuclear warheads, and we can make plenty of rockets. We have already, while constrained by budgets, sent numerous probes and vehicles far further then this has to go, and this task doesn't require things like delicate orbital insertion or recoverable assets. Given the absolute lack of fiscal responsibility this would entail, just launch spacecraft as quickly as possible carrying nukes and a bunch of packing arounf them, and detonate them to the side of the oncoming needle. Diverting it a fraction of a degree is enough, and that should be possible, I'd guess.
    "But... But I want to be a big karate cyborg... ;_;" - Nik Hasta
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  11. #26
    The Weeping Mod Sharpandpointies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by big_adventure View Post
    If this becomes a "survival" issue, we can probably figure out something. All of the problems for sustainable travel and reasonable budgets go straight out the window in the face of "extinction level event." We have plenty of nuclear warheads, and we can make plenty of rockets. We have already, while constrained by budgets, sent numerous probes and vehicles far further then this has to go, and this task doesn't require things like delicate orbital insertion or recoverable assets. Given the absolute lack of fiscal responsibility this would entail, just launch spacecraft as quickly as possible carrying nukes and a bunch of packing arounf them, and detonate them to the side of the oncoming needle. Diverting it a fraction of a degree is enough, and that should be possible, I'd guess.
    All of that, again, depends on how fast we get this together. It's not just a matter of strapping big stuff to a rocket. We need to actually get something chock-a-block full of nuclear warheads close enough to this thing that detonating the warheads in space will actually have an effect on it, and far enough away from Earth that nudging it a trifle WILL shift it off course. The nukes REALLY need to be super-close to the target - we're not talking about any kind of 'shockwave' any more (due to space), it's all heat and particles.

    This is really something we've never, ever done.

    Is it possible to accomplish this in 1.3 years? Maybe, but we don't have 1.3 years. We have a lot less than that, because while each day means the giant flying noodle is much easier for us to actually reach, it also means the giant flying noodle is more difficult to shift enough off-course. If you get my drift. ^_^

    I think it COULD be done, but my expectations are pretty low.
    Last edited by Sharpandpointies; 10-12-2021 at 06:42 AM.
    Why are we here?

    "Superboy Prime (the yelling guy if he needs clarification)..." - Postmania
    "...dropping an orca whale made of fire on your enemies is a pretty strong opening move." - Nik
    "Why throw punches when you can be making everyone around you sterile mutant corpses?" - Pendaran, regarding Dr. Fate

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beadle View Post
    2.5 million tons of force is pretty much exactly 2.5 Megatons. That’s what a Megaton is.
    Terms like 'kiloton' and 'megaton' were coined to describe a weapon's blast energy in equivalent weights of TNT. Of course, being constants, they should be simple enough to convert to standard force or energy units, but they do not directly or instinctively relate to kgs or newtons as a measure of force.
    Herochat.com now surprisingly back from the dead. Again.

  13. #28
    Extraordinary Member The Drunkard Kid's Avatar
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    For what it's worth, if they can get within visual range of the target, then there's probably a bunch of people willing to manually close range and set of the nukes from point blank in order to save the entire planet. Granted, the trick would be find the ones who also know how to properly pilot a space shuttle to a sufficient degree...
    Last edited by The Drunkard Kid; 10-12-2021 at 06:46 AM.

  14. #29
    The Weeping Mod Sharpandpointies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Drunkard Kid View Post
    For what it's worth, of they can get within visual range of the target, there's probably a bunch of people willing to manually close range and set of the nukes from point blank in order to save the entire planet. Granted, the trick would be find the ones who also know how to properly pilot a space shuttle to a sufficient degree...
    They would also need to fly the darned thing in a pretty exact way the entire time to arrive there close enough to pull this off. And stay alive all of that time, as well - we're not talking a couple hours of flight, intercepting it far enough away to make a difference will mean 'well-beyond lunar orbit' or something like that.

    And getting 'in visual range' of something thin as a telephone pole is getting pretty darned close, in terms of space. ^_^
    Why are we here?

    "Superboy Prime (the yelling guy if he needs clarification)..." - Postmania
    "...dropping an orca whale made of fire on your enemies is a pretty strong opening move." - Nik
    "Why throw punches when you can be making everyone around you sterile mutant corpses?" - Pendaran, regarding Dr. Fate

  15. #30
    Rumbles Limbo Champion big_adventure's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sharpandpointies View Post
    All of that, again, depends on how fast we get this together. It's not just a matter of strapping big stuff to a rocket. We need to actually get something chock-a-block full of nuclear warheads close enough to this thing that detonating the warheads in space will actually have an effect on it, and far enough away from Earth that nudging it a trifle WILL shift it off course. The nukes REALLY need to be super-close to the target - we're not talking about any kind of 'shockwave' any more (due to space), it's all heat and particles.

    This is really something we've never, ever done.

    Is it possible to accomplish this in 1.3 years? Maybe, but we don't have 1.3 years. We have a lot less than that, because while each day means the giant flying noodle is much easier for us to actually reach, it also means the giant flying noodle is more difficult to shift enough off-course. If you get my drift. ^_^

    I think it COULD be done, but my expectations are pretty low.
    I hear you - I'm not saying it would be easy, just that it would be far from impossible given the incalculable amount of resources that would be thrown at the problem. This isn't NASA spending years negotiating the very lowest bidder for a rocket, and building it for a few million. This is "We're going to spend hundreds of billions or trillions to make dozens or hundreds of rockets with the range required and deliver existing warheads and filler" (to provide mass to shift the trajectory).
    "But... But I want to be a big karate cyborg... ;_;" - Nik Hasta
    "Get off my lawn! ...on this forum, that just makes people think of Cyclops." - Sharpandpointies
    "...makes me think the Night King just says "Screw the rules, I have magic money" when it comes to physics." -Captain Morgan

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