Editing 2148: Cubesat Launch
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The comic begins with [[Megan]] telling [[Cueball]] that being officially part of a CubeSat launch is fairly expensive (starting at around $40,000),<ref>https://makezine.com/2014/04/11/your-own-satellite-7-things-to-know-before-you-go/]</ref> but she has an idea for a much cheaper alternative: use a fishing line on a drone to attach to a rocket (that is similar visually to the European Vega rocket) just before launch, with the CubeSat attached to the other end of the fishing line so it gets pulled into space. | The comic begins with [[Megan]] telling [[Cueball]] that being officially part of a CubeSat launch is fairly expensive (starting at around $40,000),<ref>https://makezine.com/2014/04/11/your-own-satellite-7-things-to-know-before-you-go/]</ref> but she has an idea for a much cheaper alternative: use a fishing line on a drone to attach to a rocket (that is similar visually to the European Vega rocket) just before launch, with the CubeSat attached to the other end of the fishing line so it gets pulled into space. | ||
| − | In reality, this plan would fail for multiple reasons. | + | In reality, this plan would fail for multiple reasons.{{citation needed}} |
| − | # Security would presumably prevent the drone from reaching the rocket. | + | # Security would presumably prevent the drone from reaching the rocket.{{citation needed}} |
| − | # Even if Megan were to pilot the drone past security undetected, the launch would have been scrubbed as soon as any observer noticed the drone near the rocket and told Mission Control, who would order a countdown halt and stop the rocket launch, which prevents Megan from launching her CubeSat in the first place — after which Security would locate the drone's user and take her into custody. | + | # Even if Megan were to pilot the drone past security undetected, the launch would have been scrubbed as soon as any observer noticed the drone near the rocket and told Mission Control, who would order a countdown halt and stop the rocket launch, which prevents Megan from launching her CubeSat in the first place — after which Security would locate the drone's user and take her into custody.{{citation needed}} |
| − | # The drone would not be able to attach itself to the rocket in a way that would remain secure. | + | # The drone would not be able to attach itself to the rocket in a way that would remain secure.{{citation needed}} |
| − | # The fishing line would not hold - either the rocket exhaust would sever it, or the force from the CubeSat, gravity, and the acceleration of the rocket would become more than its tensile strength could withstand. | + | # The fishing line would not hold - either the rocket exhaust would sever it, or the force from the CubeSat, gravity, and the acceleration of the rocket would become more than its tensile strength could withstand.{{citation needed}} |
| − | # The unshielded CubeSat would likely be destroyed by aerodynamic forces. | + | # The unshielded CubeSat would likely be destroyed by aerodynamic forces.{{citation needed}} |
| − | # The comic shows the drone attaching to the lower part of payload fairing, a shell at the tip of the rocket protecting the satellites from aerodynamic forces in the early phase of the launch. The fairing is ditched as soon as practical and falls back to Earth, so the drone would never reach orbit. | + | # The comic shows the drone attaching to the lower part of payload fairing, a shell at the tip of the rocket protecting the satellites from aerodynamic forces in the early phase of the launch. The fairing is ditched as soon as practical and falls back to Earth, so the drone would never reach orbit.{{citation needed}} |
| − | # Precise weight is an important number during launch. The extra weight of the drone, the fishing line, the air drag from the drone, and the CubeSat all would combine to put more downward force on the rocket than planned. The rocket may be able to compensate for this unexpected extra weight, but if it can't, the rocket may find itself in a lower orbit than planned, or unable to reach orbit at all. | + | # Precise weight is an important number during launch. The extra weight of the drone, the fishing line, the air drag from the drone, and the CubeSat all would combine to put more downward force on the rocket than planned. The rocket may be able to compensate for this unexpected extra weight, but if it can't, the rocket may find itself in a lower orbit than planned, or unable to reach orbit at all.{{citation needed}} |
Upon realizing her plan, Cueball immediately responds with "uh-oh", indicating his concern, but Megan assures him that it will be fine, before piloting the drone towards the rocket. She successfully connects the drone to the rocket, and the rocket lifts off. | Upon realizing her plan, Cueball immediately responds with "uh-oh", indicating his concern, but Megan assures him that it will be fine, before piloting the drone towards the rocket. She successfully connects the drone to the rocket, and the rocket lifts off. | ||
| − | Whatever her plan was, it goes wrong almost immediately. The unexpected force on the rocket from the side causes it to tilt and go off course. Perhaps if the rocket's control software employed {{w|adaptive control}} techniques, it could have maintained control in the presence of this unexpected force. It is implied that it's not due to the comparatively small force of the CubeSat, but because Cueball is standing on the fishing line. However in real life the force from Cueball stepping on the line would still be very small and would be unable to cause a scenario like this. Megan and Cueball get tangled in the fishing line and are carried away. While the fate of the rocket is not shown, it is likely that its unplanned {{w|Attitude_control|attitude change}} would activate the automatic termination sequence or result in manual activation of the destruction protocol. | + | Whatever her plan was, it goes wrong almost immediately.{{citation needed}} The unexpected force on the rocket from the side causes it to tilt and go off course. Perhaps if the rocket's control software employed {{w|adaptive control}} techniques, it could have maintained control in the presence of this unexpected force. It is implied that it's not due to the comparatively small force of the CubeSat, but because Cueball is standing on the fishing line. However in real life the force from Cueball stepping on the line would still be very small and would be unable to cause a scenario like this.{{citation needed}} Megan and Cueball get tangled in the fishing line and are carried away. While the fate of the rocket is not shown, it is likely that its unplanned {{w|Attitude_control|attitude change}} would activate the automatic termination sequence or result in manual activation of the destruction protocol. |
| − | Megan and Cueball miraculously survive and are brought to an investigative board to explain their actions. Megan attempts to defend herself using flawed logic: something was bound to go wrong sooner or later, so it's not her fault that she was the cause. This logic does not account for the fact that this particular rocket's chance to crash was greatly increased by the drone attempting to connect to it. She isn't totally to blame for the accident anyways, since the launch should have been scrubbed as soon as the drone came anywhere near the rocket, and the failure of Mission Control to do so is negligence on their part, and hence they are more responsible for the failure of the mission than Megan and Cueball as they did not follow proper protocol and allowed the launch to occur under unsafe conditions. | + | Megan and Cueball miraculously survive and are brought to an investigative board to explain their actions. Megan attempts to defend herself using flawed logic: something was bound to go wrong sooner or later, so it's not her fault that she was the cause. This logic does not account for the fact that this particular rocket's chance to crash was greatly increased by the drone attempting to connect to it.{{citation needed}} She isn't totally to blame for the accident anyways, since the launch should have been scrubbed as soon as the drone came anywhere near the rocket, and the failure of Mission Control to do so is negligence on their part, and hence they are more responsible for the failure of the mission than Megan and Cueball as they did not follow proper protocol and allowed the launch to occur under unsafe conditions. |
The title text describes that the supposedly huge amount in damages they had to pay (for all the damage they caused) was partly covered by the earnings from a water skiing championship, which Cueball and Megan presumably won by being dragged across the water by the rocket. This might be a tangential reference to an incident in the {{w|The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin}} adventure ''{{w|The Black Island}}'', where {{w|Thomson and Thompson}} blunder into and win an aerobatics competition when they compel a mechanic with no flying experience into taking off in pursuit of that volume's antagonists. Alternatively, it may simply be a case of the title text being largely irrelevant to the comic itself and simply something Randall found funny. | The title text describes that the supposedly huge amount in damages they had to pay (for all the damage they caused) was partly covered by the earnings from a water skiing championship, which Cueball and Megan presumably won by being dragged across the water by the rocket. This might be a tangential reference to an incident in the {{w|The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin}} adventure ''{{w|The Black Island}}'', where {{w|Thomson and Thompson}} blunder into and win an aerobatics competition when they compel a mechanic with no flying experience into taking off in pursuit of that volume's antagonists. Alternatively, it may simply be a case of the title text being largely irrelevant to the comic itself and simply something Randall found funny. | ||
