3192: Planetary Alignment
| Planetary Alignment |
 Title text: We're going to need to modify the surface to mount it on the test stand. Which ocean basin do you like the least? |
Explanation
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This is one of 69 incomplete explanations: This page was created by SLARTIBARTFAST, CARVER OF FJORDS. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
In this comic, Ponytail (presumably a planetary mechanic) is informing Cueball of the results of a planetary inspection.
According to her, the planet needs to be re-aligned, as the magnetic and rotational axes of the planet are 400 miles (640 km) offset from each other, which could create a number of problems with the planet, such as unbalanced magnetic fields.
Ponytail mentions radiation anomalies over the South Atlantic ocean. This is a real phenomena, known as the South Atlantic Anomaly, where satellites experience malfunctions and the cosmic background radiation is higher than average due to the alignment of the magnetic field as well as a massive rock structure underneath Africa.
Transcript
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Remember to buckle your seatbelts! King Pando (talk) 05:20, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
I hope they remember to restart the calculations when we get it back. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 23:41, 11 January 2026 (UTC)
I have personally been the victim of a much-inferior mobile phone as a loaner. I owned a Nokia phone (probably a Nokia 239) that was on the United States AMPS analog network around 1997, and broke the LCD display. I brought it in for service, and while they worked on it, they issued me a Motorola MicroTAC type phone, which was only slightly better than the original "brick phone" design. Due to delays in repair and distance from the shop itself, I probably used the loaner phone for longer than the phone which I had nominally purchased. Elizium23 (talk) 06:10, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- Not necessarily "inferior", but the last time I had a car in the shop I got a car very different from what I'm used to. I normally drive a sedan (Camrys and Accords for several decades), but the loaner was an SUV, which took some getting used to (I'm a short person, getting into the driver's seat felt like climbing into a truck). Barmar (talk) 15:21, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- Well, a cuboid shaped planet or one made of marshmallow could have been offered92.239.132.210 01:39, 23 February 2026 (UTC)
Seems related to 3059, same clipboard and everything. 64.114.211.116 08:46, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- Also related to 3037. These three comics seem to form an arc. 2001:861:8ac3:fa50:aeaa:c2ce:fdee:8131 (talk) 11:37, 10 January 2026 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- these would fit into a "Planetary Inspector" category --Youforgotthisthing (talk) 16:06, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
I wonder if “Planetary Alignment” refers to the astrological notion of “the planets are in alignment…”? 75.111.176.208 (talk) 13:37, 10 January 2026 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- It's not just astrological, astronomers also call a group of planets close together in the sky an alignment, although the more technical term is syzygy. That's what I expected the comic to be a pun on. Barmar (talk) 15:21, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- It is more a reference to a wheel alignment done on a car.--2600:100A:B10C:6B2E:EC47:CF99:9B14:1C81 06:55, 17 January 2026 (UTC)
“Which ocean basin do you like the least?” is also reminiscent of Hank Scorpio asking Homer Simpson whether his least favorite country is France or Italy, with the least favorite one being the target of the death ray. 96.250.83.179 (talk) 16:01, 10 January 2026 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- I believe that the premier nerd canon parallel here would be Princess Leia giving up "Dantooine" as the location of the Rebel Base in a vain effort to save her home planet, while the Imperial officials paid no real attention to her desperate lie. They probably knew she wouldn't give a real answer, but if she had to think of someplace expendable that she "liked the least", it certainly would be Dantooine. Elizium23 (talk) 04:17, 11 January 2026 (UTC)
3037 and 3059 also have the same characters as this comic - Ponytail as inspector, Cueball as homeowner. I added a sentence to the main explanation linking to these related comics. --2600:4040:99D4:8B00:F922:E24E:C61E:3AB6 19:20, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
Pacific Ocean. We like the Pacific the least. While you're there, could you give the Ring of Fire a checkup? Thanks. Fephisto (talk) 15:05, 12 January 2026 (UTC)
- Hmmm, yeah.... <sucks air between teeth while looking thoughtful> ...you're right, it isn't working properly at all. Leave it with us, though, and we can definitely get it constantly spewing magma all the way round, once we get the proper replacements. It will cost you, though, for both parts and labour... 82.132.238.61 13:53, 14 January 2026 (UTC)
- > <sucks air between teeth while looking thoughtful>
- I felt that infuriating contractor bs nonverbal language in my soul. Fephisto (talk) 14:49, 15 January 2026 (UTC)
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