3294: Asteroid Mission
| Asteroid Mission |
 Title text: Lander, this is Houston. There's been a request that you turn clipping back on and instead set the mass to 1kg. The theorists believe that will be pretty funny. |
Explanation[edit]
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This is one of 48 incomplete explanations: |
This refers to noclip mode in video games: "A cheat that allows players to pass through normally impenetrable objects – walls, ceilings, and floors – by disabling clipping." In most online games this results in a ban. In others it disables achievements, or requires enabling cheats. Often it functions from a built-in developer console, such as in Source games such as Half-life or Portal. In most cases, though, it requires a third-party hacked client, such as in Geometry Dash, where the noclip mod in many clients allows the player to pass through obstacles without dying. By enabling noclip on an asteroid headed for Earth, the asteroid will no longer interact with Earth, thus saving it[citation needed]. The only issue, however, is that the astronauts can't get to the ship if they can't push against the asteroid! This error would be trivial if they were tethered to the ship, and the mission does not seem to have enough foresight to include tethers.
The title text suggests that rather than enabling noclip, the astronauts instead just reduce the asteroid's mass to 1 kg. If the asteroid is assumed to have a volume of about 1000 km³, this would reduce the density of the asteroid to 10^{-15} g/cm^3 and the energy of the asteroid to a few kJ. This relatively small amount of energy would be rapidly dissipated by friction with the outer atmosphere, and then the asteroid would float in the upper atmosphere, probably until the solar wind blew it away. This would be "pretty funny".
Transcript[edit]
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This is one of 33 incomplete transcripts: |
[A news reporter is standing in front of an image of a rocket.]
- The asteroid is headed for Earth, but a mission has been launched to intercept it.
[Cueball and Megan are walking off a lander with some equipment.]
[A laptop is on the ground, and Megan plugs a peripheral from the laptop to the asteroid.]
[Cueball types into the laptop.]
- >noclip on
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Discussion
First time I've ever gotten the first comment 128.119.202.28 17:15, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
Breaking News: The XKCD Store IS BACK 144.121.25.46 17:18, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
How did I do with the transcript? Majordesmosnerd (talk) 17:35, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
I don't think the "Roshe limit" part is right. Whatever mass the asteroid has. The Roshe limit depends on distance, and any asteroid will be below the Roshe limit at some point. But so what? It will still hit the Earth. Roshe limit is relevant to orbiting bodies, not impactors. Instead, reducing the mass to 1kg will also reduce the Kinetic energy of the impact. The kinetic energy would be quickly lost in friction with the outer atmosphere, and the asteroid (which would be much less dense than helium) would then float with neutral boyancy: something that would be pretty funny! I've edited - hope it makes sense.92.238.26.192 17:46, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
- I don't think the "Roshe limit" part is right. You're right: Roche limit . 158.173.67.243 18:10, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
Wasn't that the plot of a Stargate episode? Angel (talk) 17:55, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
If I'm not mistaken, the people on the asteroid would fall through it, along with the rocket, when they activated noclip, and most likely would die. SomebodyElse (talk) 18:00, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
Would the noclip setting affect the ship and astronauts too? If yes, how would they get home? (Wait until asteroid flew through Earth, then turn noclip back off before leaving?) If no, they'd have quite a time getting back to the ship, not being able to push against the asteroid! 162.10.127.42 18:07, 4 September 2026 (UTC)
My first thought on reading this one was IDSPISPOPD :D Add comment