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[Culise]

I mean we still crash probes on Mars because differences over measurements units. (Everyone should use metric system).

The most successful nation at getting probes to Mars is India, by the way...

Makes you think!

Yep. Do it 40 years after everyone else and only launch one: abuse those percentage success rates for fun and profit. ^_^
^{And yes, I know they're planning their follow-up by 2020}

[Jopax]

Do we know anything about the density of the atmosphere tho? 400mph winds aren't that dangerous if the atmosphere is thin enough (Mars being a good example of extreme winds that aren't as scary as they sound).

Also an idea occured to me. How about giant space railguns for long distance probes? You can have a controllable acceleration without having to load all the fuel needed for it on the ship itself. And since it's in space, size isn't that huge of an issue for the most part. I'm sure this isn't the first time someone thought of the idea, but I'm curious if it was ever considered seriously as a more efficent form of interplanetary launch system than just pure rocket power.

[Madman198237]

Would take a railgun of more than 1 AU in length for a 5000g acceleration to reach some highish fraction of c that I can't remember right now. I'll edit this post after lunch with the actual numbers.

Suffice to say it will only work for the sturdiest of robotic payloads, and it would be EXPENSIVE.

[Doomblade187]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/spacex-to-launch-a-secret-but-significant-payload-thursday/?amp=1

Not sure if you guys had heard about this. I know it's not huge news, but still fun.

[smjjames]

And if we're advanced enough to have the ability to build and power a rail gun in excess of 1AU in length without it collapsing under its own mass, surely we'd have better methods of getting there by then? We're talking about structures that are a few steps below megastructures like a ringworld. Edit: Maybe more than a few steps, but building something more than 1 AU in length is a hell of a task when we haven't been building stuff in space for all that long.

[JoshuaFH]

I wonder if that "Nuclear Explosion Cannon" is still on the table.

[smjjames]

Not while we still have the treaty banning the use of nuclear weapons in space and exploding nukes in space. The concept of using them as propulsion is already well studied and conceptualized, just that we wouldn't be able to use one with the current treaty.

[Jopax]

Didn't expect them to be so damn huge for any sort of noticeable effect.

Maybe a radial one that gradually spins a thingy up and then lets go at a certain point? Sort of like a giant slingshot.

Tho really, it doesn't have to do the entire acceleration or even most of it. Just a bit of a starter boost to help the thingy along and save on size/weight/delta somewhat.

[JoshuaFH]

Not while we still have the treaty banning the use of nuclear weapons in space and exploding nukes in space. The concept of using them as propulsion is already well studied and conceptualized, just that we wouldn't be able to use one with the current treaty.

Pshaw, we have a new home possibly just a human lifetime or two away! What's a few nukes here or there, we gotta strike at the tidally locked planet while the iron is still half-hot, half-cold, and half-just-right! There could be aliens on that planet as we speak, building their own nuclear cannons to leave their crap world to come to our crap world! We gotta stop them with our own nuclear cannon space battleship, it's the only way!

[Madman198237]

Yep, 3/2 of a planet.

That's totally possible.

[Starver]

It might be crinkly!

[LordBaal]

 If we ever build such a cannon or anything the likes of it, even at a smaller scale I'm sure we won't use it in any pacific, exploration endeavors.

As for nukes in space people used to think we would contaminate the space with the nukes... Fucking hippies.

Other more realistic concern is getting the nukes safely beyond our orbit. High altitude nuclear explosions and fallout are far more pressing.

Perhaps a combination of high acceleration railgun and some ion engine could do. That or nuclear propulsion.

[Reelya]

Hey if we use enough nukes we could get the planet spinning again, and it would take millennia for it to slow down again. Instant day/night cycle and even out the climate.

[Madman198237]

I request you calculate the moment of inertia of the earth, and then look up/calculate the amount of energy contained in nuclear bombs, and tell me if that is enough to give the Earth a tangential radial velocity of 1000mph.


Spoiler alert:

It won't be.

[redwallzyl]

Hey if we use enough nukes we could get the planet spinning again, and it would take millennia for it to slow down again. Instant day/night cycle and even out the climate.