Talk:3291: Launchpad
This is very similar to a Buttersafe comic where Jolly Octopus pushes the earth away from Saddest Turtle in this very same manner. Xkdvd (talk) 19:34, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- Here it is! https://www.buttersafe.com/2016/04/28/time-for-takeoff-saddest-turtle/ Xkdvd (talk) 21:16, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
Liquid-fuel cryogenic engines or nuclear pulse propulsion? Either way, this seems an excellent way for Planet Earth to enter the Twilight Zone. 205.175.118.2 20:02, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- Nuclear Pulse might work but no chemical rocket has the isp. The article also seems to get escape velocity wrong, it’s 11.2km/s not 7.6 iirc Bubli (talk) 20:12, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
This is a mass driver. KSP style rocket based mass driver.Xurkitree10 (talk) 22:03, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
"...but that all comes out of the facility's budget." - To me, this was by far the funniest part of the comic. I interpreted this as one department (Engineering) coming up with a ridiculous solution to a problem because the cost of implementing it comes out of another department's (Facility/Operations) budget. They are just blithely tossing the cost of moving the Earth over the fence. 75.112.204.110Pat
Isn't there an additional issue not mentioned in the current description, that usually spacecraft have a specific destination other than "away from the Earth" which this scheme wouldn't help them reach? 2A0D:5600:8:308:0:0:0:17 23:48, 28 August 2026 (UTC)
- It does not appear to have been considered but now you can consider fancy orbit maneuvers. If you accelerate the earth in the direction of its orbit. The earth will go into a higher orbit and slow down. The spacecraft will follow but lose ground until the earth gravity is relatively weak and effectively decouple. Then, if that isn't enough, since you have infinite (imaginary) fuel you could bring the earth around next orbit and slingshot it faster/higher. Lordpishky (talk) 21:02, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
Getting to space is so expensive that even a partial ground based propulsion system would likely drastically reduce the cost of space travel. A short barrelled space gun might be one of the least practical ideas due to the forces applied to the payload (compared to an elevator or loop), but the worst part of the proposed idea is still that it's accellerating the wrong object. Mneme (talk) 10:54, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
"...causing widespread destruction to everything on the planet" - sounds like it'd be a feature if applied to a What-If comic! Esp666 (talk) 00:24, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
Am I the only person who thinks 1366: Train is relevant here? 2601:189:8502:5C00:E7E4:1F5F:E6C0:181D 12:59, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
I'd note that 7.6 km/s is orbital speed -- escape velocity is 11.2 km/s. 185.242.6.70 09:19, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
All launch windows are scheduled for opposite day/night launches to prevent global warming from being exacerbated... or reversed. 174.134.128.173 07:43, 30 August 2026 (UTC)
Having the power source attached to the ground is the real idea behind SpinLaunch, mass drivers, laser propulsion and space elevators. 2A00:23C7:F7BC:BC01:7410:7CC5:52BB:221A 12:08, 4 September 2026 (UTC)