Editing 2447: Hammer Incident
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
| date = April 7, 2021 | | date = April 7, 2021 | ||
| title = Hammer Incident | | title = Hammer Incident | ||
− | | image = hammer incident | + | | image = hammer incident normal.png |
| titletext = I still think the Cold Stone Creamery partnership was a good idea, but I should have asked before doing the first market trials during the cryogenic mirror tests. | | titletext = I still think the Cold Stone Creamery partnership was a good idea, but I should have asked before doing the first market trials during the cryogenic mirror tests. | ||
}} | }} | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by: a WAFFLE CONE MIRROR. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | The {{w|James Webb Space Telescope}} (JWST) is a {{w|space telescope}} created to be the successor of the {{w|Hubble Space Telescope}} under construction at time of publishing and expected to launch in October 2021, though in [[2014: JWST Delays]], xkcd predicted its launch would actually occur during late 2026. | |
− | + | It's implied that Cueball dropped a hammer on the mirror of the JWST, and breaking mirrors in superstition causes seven years of bad luck. But since the mirror panel is not made of glass it is likely that a dropped hammer would dent and distort the panel rather than shatter it. | |
− | The | + | NASA is quite angry as the telescope was very expensive (current estimate US$10 billion). While Cueball appears to only damaged or destroyed one mirror panel (The mirror is made of eighteen separate panels, so if he had destroyed the entire telescope, he would have been facing 7×18=126 years of bad luck.), even breaking a single panel would likely be very expensive because it would have required extremely accurate machinery to make and extensive calibration tests. Another factor making the mirror panels more expensive is the fact that they were coated with gold (While most mirrors are coated with silver or another reflective gray metal in order to reflect all of visible light, the designers of the James Webb Telescope wanted it to be able to view redshifted galaxies, which would have required the mirror to be able to reflect infrared light. While silver is good at reflecting visible light, it is a poor reflector of infrared light, as are most other metals, but relativistic effects shift gold's spectral range of reflectivity to longer wavelengths so that it reflects near- and mid-infrared light but not the shorter wavelengths of visible light.) While Cueball hasn't destroyed the individual gold atoms, so the gold at lest theoretically can be melted down, salvaged, and reused, expensive measures must be taken in order to ensure that no gold is lost during the process, and it's possible that a little gold will be lost even then, in which case replacing it would be expensive because gold is very valuable. Also, NASA would have to redo a bunch of background checks and other security precautions for the goldsmiths, and those would likely be expensive. However, Cueball is more concerned about the fact that he has 7 years of bad luck. Cueball seems be on trial for breaking a very expensive piece of equipment. The trial seems to be conducted by NASA, given the caption below. |
− | + | In addition, JWST's mirrors are made of beryllium due to the light weight, stiffness, and various other mechanical properties of the metal. Breaking a beryllium mirror would lead to dust formation; single exposures to beryllium dust [http://who.int/ipcs/publications/cicad/en/cicad32.pdf can cause] acute beryllium poisoning and massively increase the risk of lung cancer; in addition to the property damage Cueball is probably liable for injuring his coworkers. | |
− | + | The title text refers to the ice cream chain {{w|Cold Stone Creamery}}. Since the cryocooler of the JWST cools things down to 7.00K (-266.15°C, or -447.07°F), it would be a bit of an overkill. Cold Stone Creamery mixes ice cream with various other ingredients, such as fruit or candy, in front of the customer before serving it to the customer. The usual surface for mixing is a piece of metal or marble which is kept quite cold (about -10 C), but nowhere as cold as components of the JWST. If Cueball had tried mixing his ice cream and flavourings in the style of Cold Stone Creamery on the JWST, it would have messed up the surfaces on the telescope and perhaps have gotten into the instrumentation. If it was the finely polished reflective surfaces, he may end up scratching and/or staining them beyond usability. Possibly, due to the localised temperature differential from ice-cream hundreds of degrees ''warmer'' than the material, promoted damaging distortions/fractures. If Cueball was mixing ice cream within a 7K cryo chamber, it also raises the question of how he could have survived. Also, if such an irresponsible person was able to enter the cryo chamber where the expensive telescope was being kept, it raises the question of whether NASA has any sort of security. | |
+ | |||
+ | The JWST has previously been mentioned in [[2014: JWST Delays]], [[1730: Starshade]], and [[1461: Payloads]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | For some reason, the original version of this comic was very large (4332×4838px). This was probably a mistake, as the double-resolution version [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/hammer_incident_2x.png] is significantly smaller at 578×645px. It has since been fixed. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | :[Cueball stands before a seated panel of four people (Ponytail, Hairy, a second Cueball and Hairbun).] | ||
:Cueball: Yes, I know you're mad that I dropped that hammer. | :Cueball: Yes, I know you're mad that I dropped that hammer. | ||
:Cueball: But think about me— | :Cueball: But think about me— | ||
:Cueball: '''''Seven years of bad luck!''''' | :Cueball: '''''Seven years of bad luck!''''' | ||
− | |||
:[Caption below the panel]: | :[Caption below the panel]: | ||
:Man, NASA is really on my case about the James Webb Space Telescope. | :Man, NASA is really on my case about the James Webb Space Telescope. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
− | |||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
Line 41: | Line 40: | ||
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] | [[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] | ||
[[Category:Telescopes]] | [[Category:Telescopes]] | ||
− |