The Flying Crowbar
March 28, 2007 8:18 PM Subscribe
"We were tickling the dragon's tail all the way." The true story of the nuclear ramjet missile and the hypersonic nightmare that nearly was.
Holy crap that's awesome. Would something like this work on other planets, or is it totally dependent on oxygen to fly?
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:01 PM on March 28, 2007
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:01 PM on March 28, 2007
Horrifying.
BB, it worked by causing gas to expand. So long as there's gas to expand, it should work.
posted by lekvar at 9:22 PM on March 28, 2007
BB, it worked by causing gas to expand. So long as there's gas to expand, it should work.
posted by lekvar at 9:22 PM on March 28, 2007
Wow. Just wow.
posted by gergtreble at 9:25 PM on March 28, 2007
posted by gergtreble at 9:25 PM on March 28, 2007
Engineers are such ponies. We'd build a tool to split the earth in two if it posed interesting design problems. (Admit it, you're thinking about how to do that now.)
posted by Popular Ethics at 9:35 PM on March 28, 2007 [6 favorites]
posted by Popular Ethics at 9:35 PM on March 28, 2007 [6 favorites]
Interesting read, thanks for posting this. From the article:
a locomotive-size missile that would travel at near-treetop level at three times the speed of sound, tossing out hydrogen bombs as it roared overhead. Pluto's designers calculated that its shock wave alone might kill people on the ground.
wow.
posted by marxchivist at 9:41 PM on March 28, 2007
a locomotive-size missile that would travel at near-treetop level at three times the speed of sound, tossing out hydrogen bombs as it roared overhead. Pluto's designers calculated that its shock wave alone might kill people on the ground.
wow.
posted by marxchivist at 9:41 PM on March 28, 2007
Sweet. Its predecessor: Project Orion was a space vehicle propulsion system that depended on exploding atomic bombs roughly two hundred feet behind the vehicle.
posted by tellurian at 9:54 PM on March 28, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by tellurian at 9:54 PM on March 28, 2007 [1 favorite]
Engineers are such ponies. We'd build a tool to split the earth in two if it posed interesting design problems. (Admit it, you're thinking about how to do that now.)
Do it with a giant bandsaw device across the poles, through north and south america and asia at the point of most dry land to start with. Use fusion reactors to supply the energy for cutting technology Manned by robots, of course, because conditions would become antithetical to life long before the hemispheres would part ways.
posted by longsleeves at 9:59 PM on March 28, 2007
Do it with a giant bandsaw device across the poles, through north and south america and asia at the point of most dry land to start with. Use fusion reactors to supply the energy for cutting technology Manned by robots, of course, because conditions would become antithetical to life long before the hemispheres would part ways.
posted by longsleeves at 9:59 PM on March 28, 2007
and the spin of the earth would help fling the hemispheres apart. Forgot that part.
posted by longsleeves at 10:02 PM on March 28, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by longsleeves at 10:02 PM on March 28, 2007 [1 favorite]
Ah Project Orion. Even more awesome than pluto as it was designed to be launched from the ground with nuclear explosions to get it into orbit. "The Starship and the Canoe" was a fun book on the subject.
I remember reading something about the French designing a nuclear powered airship. See also.
posted by BrotherCaine at 10:19 PM on March 28, 2007
I remember reading something about the French designing a nuclear powered airship. See also.
posted by BrotherCaine at 10:19 PM on March 28, 2007
I have to admit that I admire its purity, as despicable a device as it would have been. As cstross noted, sort of, in one of his short stories, everything about it was designed to cause more harm. It is an utterly undiluted engine of destruction.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:29 PM on March 28, 2007
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:29 PM on March 28, 2007
Hells bells: chasing the dragon
I think he meant to convey that they weren't merely chasing it, but right up it's butt the whole way. That dragon ass is apparently some pretty dangerous territory.
posted by IronLizard at 11:04 PM on March 28, 2007
I think he meant to convey that they weren't merely chasing it, but right up it's butt the whole way. That dragon ass is apparently some pretty dangerous territory.
posted by IronLizard at 11:04 PM on March 28, 2007
I mean, if the damn thing breathes fire, can you imagine what the exhaust is like?
posted by IronLizard at 11:06 PM on March 28, 2007
posted by IronLizard at 11:06 PM on March 28, 2007
"Do it with a giant bandsaw device across the poles, through north and south america and asia at the point of most dry land to start with."
Please. That's like trying to cut a glacier in half with a piece of hot wire. Sadly, the gravitic forces involved are way beyond anything we can counter with energy we generate ourselves.
I think our best bet is to look at approaching comets and see if we can guide one our way. All it would take is a nudge in the right direction (with an H-bomb or somesuch) if we can find one that's far enough out. As long as it's in the ballpark, our gravity will help to guide it in. Then the problem becomes channeling the energy of the impact into a force that splits the planet into distinct halves, rather than just mashing it up.
Wait, there's no particular time constraint on this problem, is there? Like, it doesn't have to happen on cue, right? 'Cause that's much harder.
posted by contraption at 11:39 PM on March 28, 2007 [1 favorite]
Please. That's like trying to cut a glacier in half with a piece of hot wire. Sadly, the gravitic forces involved are way beyond anything we can counter with energy we generate ourselves.
I think our best bet is to look at approaching comets and see if we can guide one our way. All it would take is a nudge in the right direction (with an H-bomb or somesuch) if we can find one that's far enough out. As long as it's in the ballpark, our gravity will help to guide it in. Then the problem becomes channeling the energy of the impact into a force that splits the planet into distinct halves, rather than just mashing it up.
Wait, there's no particular time constraint on this problem, is there? Like, it doesn't have to happen on cue, right? 'Cause that's much harder.
posted by contraption at 11:39 PM on March 28, 2007 [1 favorite]
It is an utterly undiluted engine of destruction.
Ah, but do remember, insane as it is, it would probably have worked. And don't forget the "Dead Hand" system that the Soviets built. Not to mention crazier ideas.....like, say, using nukes to dig canals and tunnels.
We monkeys are good at making messes. Not so good at cleaning them up. Your tax dollars at work.
posted by metasonix at 12:00 AM on March 29, 2007
Ah, but do remember, insane as it is, it would probably have worked. And don't forget the "Dead Hand" system that the Soviets built. Not to mention crazier ideas.....like, say, using nukes to dig canals and tunnels.
We monkeys are good at making messes. Not so good at cleaning them up. Your tax dollars at work.
posted by metasonix at 12:00 AM on March 29, 2007
This was one of my favorite stories in Air & Space Magazine when I was younger. I don't think the sheer magnitude of its destructive ability was apparent then, however, as I was mostly impressed with the ramjet technology, and not so much worried about the idea that we'd actually think about building a flying nuclear reactor that spewed "fission fragments" as it went by at hypersonic speeds.
But it's still an engineering marvel, and I'm still a bit impressed by it. Even if it is scary as hell.
posted by CipherSwarm at 4:50 AM on March 29, 2007
But it's still an engineering marvel, and I'm still a bit impressed by it. Even if it is scary as hell.
posted by CipherSwarm at 4:50 AM on March 29, 2007
"Tickling the Dragon's Tail" was a very specific phrase, and I'm surprised to see it here.
It was the phrase for a demonstration that killed someone in the early days of nuclear energy/weapons research Louis Slotin.
Slotin was tickling the dragon's tail. He had a subcritical mass of plutonium, which was placed into a hollowed out beryllium hemisphere. Another hemisphere was slowly placed on top. Beryllium acted as a neutron reflector, pushing the plutonium mass to near criticality. The reaction was controlled by a screwdriver keeping the two beryllium hemispheres from completely surrounding the plutonium.
One day, while doing this, the screwdriver slipped, and the top beryllium sphere dropped. In a very short time, the reaction went prompt critical. Observers around the bench saw a blue glow, tasted metal in their mouths, and felt a burst of heat. Slotin quickly grabbed the top hemisphere and pulled it away, ending the reaction. The entire event took much less time from initial accident to end of reaction than it took for you to read this -- about two second.
Louis Slotin went outside and threw up. He'd been hit by a 21sv dose of neutron and hard gamma radiation, and died eight days later. Three others that were in the room (but not right next to the reacting mass, as Slotin was) died of cancer in the years ahead.
Obviously, this procedure was quickly banned. This same hunk of plutonium had already killed one man (Harry Daghlian) who was building a close-to-critical mass by assembling beryllium blocks around the core, and dropped one into the wrong place. Daghlian was working alone, the rule of "don't work alone" was quickly instituted. After Slotin's encounter with the dragon, the assembly of critical masses by hand came to an end.
Of course, this hunk of plutonium only killed a few men. It is speculated that this particular hunk of plutonium may well have been (or became) the third plutonium device core -- which would have been the third nuclear weapon used on Japan. (The first two plutonium weapons cores were used at Trinity and Nagasaki -- Hiroshima was a uranium weapon.) If so, this core would have finally made one last prompt critical reaction -- in Operation Crossroads, as the Able or Baker shot.
Compared to Nagasaki, it didn't kill that many people at all.
posted by eriko at 5:19 AM on March 29, 2007 [22 favorites]
It was the phrase for a demonstration that killed someone in the early days of nuclear energy/weapons research Louis Slotin.
Slotin was tickling the dragon's tail. He had a subcritical mass of plutonium, which was placed into a hollowed out beryllium hemisphere. Another hemisphere was slowly placed on top. Beryllium acted as a neutron reflector, pushing the plutonium mass to near criticality. The reaction was controlled by a screwdriver keeping the two beryllium hemispheres from completely surrounding the plutonium.
One day, while doing this, the screwdriver slipped, and the top beryllium sphere dropped. In a very short time, the reaction went prompt critical. Observers around the bench saw a blue glow, tasted metal in their mouths, and felt a burst of heat. Slotin quickly grabbed the top hemisphere and pulled it away, ending the reaction. The entire event took much less time from initial accident to end of reaction than it took for you to read this -- about two second.
Louis Slotin went outside and threw up. He'd been hit by a 21sv dose of neutron and hard gamma radiation, and died eight days later. Three others that were in the room (but not right next to the reacting mass, as Slotin was) died of cancer in the years ahead.
Obviously, this procedure was quickly banned. This same hunk of plutonium had already killed one man (Harry Daghlian) who was building a close-to-critical mass by assembling beryllium blocks around the core, and dropped one into the wrong place. Daghlian was working alone, the rule of "don't work alone" was quickly instituted. After Slotin's encounter with the dragon, the assembly of critical masses by hand came to an end.
Of course, this hunk of plutonium only killed a few men. It is speculated that this particular hunk of plutonium may well have been (or became) the third plutonium device core -- which would have been the third nuclear weapon used on Japan. (The first two plutonium weapons cores were used at Trinity and Nagasaki -- Hiroshima was a uranium weapon.) If so, this core would have finally made one last prompt critical reaction -- in Operation Crossroads, as the Able or Baker shot.
Compared to Nagasaki, it didn't kill that many people at all.
posted by eriko at 5:19 AM on March 29, 2007 [22 favorites]
That was a great find, Spike. Loved it.
posted by malaprohibita at 7:43 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by malaprohibita at 7:43 AM on March 29, 2007
Metafilter: an utterly undiluted engine of destruction
posted by Pliskie at 8:40 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by Pliskie at 8:40 AM on March 29, 2007
Fascinating. And beautiful in its own horrifying way.
It is an utterly undiluted engine of destruction.
I am SO going to steal that phrase someday.
posted by chimaera at 9:02 AM on March 29, 2007
It is an utterly undiluted engine of destruction.
I am SO going to steal that phrase someday.
posted by chimaera at 9:02 AM on March 29, 2007
This was a great read, and Eriko's post is icing on the cake. Thanks.
posted by boo_radley at 9:03 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by boo_radley at 9:03 AM on March 29, 2007
Eriko, I thought that tickling the dragon's tail was Kistiakowski's phrase?
posted by Relay at 9:11 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by Relay at 9:11 AM on March 29, 2007
Do it with a giant bandsaw device...
Ever split wood? If you're lucky, there's a natural crack in the grain. You place the tip of a wedge in that crack and smack it with a sledgehammer.
So, build a a giant wedge (we'd probably have to mine Mars and possibly Venus) and place the tip in the Mariana Trench with the blunt end out in space. Stack the blunt end with nukes and light 'em up. Might take a couple nuclear whacks, but that baby would eventually crack in half, spilling her molten innards into space.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 9:15 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Ever split wood? If you're lucky, there's a natural crack in the grain. You place the tip of a wedge in that crack and smack it with a sledgehammer.
So, build a a giant wedge (we'd probably have to mine Mars and possibly Venus) and place the tip in the Mariana Trench with the blunt end out in space. Stack the blunt end with nukes and light 'em up. Might take a couple nuclear whacks, but that baby would eventually crack in half, spilling her molten innards into space.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 9:15 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Later the technology was sold to the Ng Corporation. The same year my dog went missing.
posted by hal9k at 9:16 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by hal9k at 9:16 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
Great find, btw, Spike. What a wicked, awesome machine.
By "wicked" and "awesome" I mean "evil" and "humbling," not "cool" and "cool."
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 9:20 AM on March 29, 2007
By "wicked" and "awesome" I mean "evil" and "humbling," not "cool" and "cool."
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 9:20 AM on March 29, 2007
Eriko, I thought that tickling the dragon's tail was Kistiakowski's phrase
(Kistiakowsky, btw. Yes, I looked it up, I have enough problems with spelling to even pretend I can handle (poor) transliterations of Slavic names.)
It might have been. Slotin's connection with the phrase was the experiment killing him. IIRC, Kistiaksowsky's big contribution was figuring out the configuration of the plutonium sphere and explosive lenses to reliably get the density required for a nuclear detonation, so I don't know how much work he would have done finding out the exact critical mass and density required -- he needed to know that, but he didn't need to discover it himself.
The point of this experiment, in the beginning, was to find out what that point was with a given mass of plutonium. The idea was you put just enough reflector around the mass to note the increased flux, which told you that you were close. Both Daghlian and Slotin were killed when they took the mass just to the point of prompt criticality.
Because there was little to no compression, the chances of a multi-kiloton explosion were none. To get a kiloton level explosion, you need to pack a slightly subcritical mass of plutonium together enough that it becomes critical, then hold it together long enough for the reaction to generate all of the energy -- the problem with making an atomic bomb is holding it together long enough to *be* an atomic bomb. If you don't, you get a much-lower order explosion, or you just throw plutonium around with the conventional explosives.
Or, if you will, the hard part of building an atomic bomb is holding it together while an atomic bomb is trying to rip it apart.
posted by eriko at 9:41 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
(Kistiakowsky, btw. Yes, I looked it up, I have enough problems with spelling to even pretend I can handle (poor) transliterations of Slavic names.)
It might have been. Slotin's connection with the phrase was the experiment killing him. IIRC, Kistiaksowsky's big contribution was figuring out the configuration of the plutonium sphere and explosive lenses to reliably get the density required for a nuclear detonation, so I don't know how much work he would have done finding out the exact critical mass and density required -- he needed to know that, but he didn't need to discover it himself.
The point of this experiment, in the beginning, was to find out what that point was with a given mass of plutonium. The idea was you put just enough reflector around the mass to note the increased flux, which told you that you were close. Both Daghlian and Slotin were killed when they took the mass just to the point of prompt criticality.
Because there was little to no compression, the chances of a multi-kiloton explosion were none. To get a kiloton level explosion, you need to pack a slightly subcritical mass of plutonium together enough that it becomes critical, then hold it together long enough for the reaction to generate all of the energy -- the problem with making an atomic bomb is holding it together long enough to *be* an atomic bomb. If you don't, you get a much-lower order explosion, or you just throw plutonium around with the conventional explosives.
Or, if you will, the hard part of building an atomic bomb is holding it together while an atomic bomb is trying to rip it apart.
posted by eriko at 9:41 AM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
"Do it with a giant bandsaw device across the poles, through north and south america and asia at the point of most dry land to start with."
Nah, all we really need is Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, and we can just tear the planet apart, but not before Liv Tyler gets a lot of screen time moping about.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:57 AM on March 29, 2007
Nah, all we really need is Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, and we can just tear the planet apart, but not before Liv Tyler gets a lot of screen time moping about.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:57 AM on March 29, 2007
513 megawatts in 5 minutes. This is cooler than heck. I'm almost amazed restraint was exercised and I'm flabbergasted full scale engine tests were performed.
Baby_Balrog writes "Would something like this work on other planets, or is it totally dependent on oxygen to fly?"
A nuclear ram jet doesn't need oxygen because the heat to power it is being produced by the nuclear reactor, any gas will do. In theory you could even use plain water, lots of heat to vapourize the liquid/solid is available.
posted by Mitheral at 9:58 AM on March 29, 2007
Baby_Balrog writes "Would something like this work on other planets, or is it totally dependent on oxygen to fly?"
A nuclear ram jet doesn't need oxygen because the heat to power it is being produced by the nuclear reactor, any gas will do. In theory you could even use plain water, lots of heat to vapourize the liquid/solid is available.
posted by Mitheral at 9:58 AM on March 29, 2007
Great thread. I feel compelled to add that Charles Stross makes a interesting reference to this weapon in his short story A Colder War. Well worth a read if you're a spy novel fan, or just enjoy the nightmares of Lovecraft.
posted by Kikkoman at 10:58 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by Kikkoman at 10:58 AM on March 29, 2007
Evil and humbling indeed.
Sure would be nice if we put the kind of brainpower it takes to create an unmitigated horror like this into figuring out how to get people to live together more harmoniously.
How come so many really brilliant engineers never seem to want to work on systems, processes and practices that would generally help people? We really have too many of our best brains working on weapons. And they're not doing it for the money, if they're working for the government. I'm enough of a hardware nerd to sort of understand the fascination with designing a difficult and complex, but successful piece of weaponry, but I'd personally never be able to reconcile the "fun" of creating it with the slaughter it could wreak.
That said, I've met a number of people from LLNL, and they're all pretty decent folks. Some of whom may, or may not (I have no idea, of course) design and build nuclear weapons. Weird.
Oh yeah, remember Project NERVA? Heh...
posted by zoogleplex at 11:01 AM on March 29, 2007
Sure would be nice if we put the kind of brainpower it takes to create an unmitigated horror like this into figuring out how to get people to live together more harmoniously.
How come so many really brilliant engineers never seem to want to work on systems, processes and practices that would generally help people? We really have too many of our best brains working on weapons. And they're not doing it for the money, if they're working for the government. I'm enough of a hardware nerd to sort of understand the fascination with designing a difficult and complex, but successful piece of weaponry, but I'd personally never be able to reconcile the "fun" of creating it with the slaughter it could wreak.
That said, I've met a number of people from LLNL, and they're all pretty decent folks. Some of whom may, or may not (I have no idea, of course) design and build nuclear weapons. Weird.
Oh yeah, remember Project NERVA? Heh...
posted by zoogleplex at 11:01 AM on March 29, 2007
I have a copy of a program about Project Pluto that was playing on Discovery Wings for a while. The film of the tests is pretty neat. Now I'm going to have to go find the DVD and watch it again. :p
posted by wierdo at 11:08 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by wierdo at 11:08 AM on March 29, 2007
I'm picturing a time far distant in the future, where a now unpopulated earth is being visited by alien explorers. In wondering what could have happened to the civilization that had one existed here, one of the aliens looks up and sees an object streak by overhead, followed by a deafening boom.
"Looks like they built that thing" he remarks. His companion nods, pauses and comments,
"That was kind of stupid of them, wasn't it?"
They stare reflectively at the superheated contrail overhead. Finally the first alien says, "Sometimes it takes a lot of very smart people, working very hard, to be that stupid."
As they leave, they contact their home planet and file their report. Earth: Vacant. Radioactive. [Use caution when visiting; fast moving, type 2 planet killer present.]
posted by quin at 11:31 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
"Looks like they built that thing" he remarks. His companion nods, pauses and comments,
"That was kind of stupid of them, wasn't it?"
They stare reflectively at the superheated contrail overhead. Finally the first alien says, "Sometimes it takes a lot of very smart people, working very hard, to be that stupid."
As they leave, they contact their home planet and file their report. Earth: Vacant. Radioactive. [Use caution when visiting; fast moving, type 2 planet killer present.]
posted by quin at 11:31 AM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
If I were going to split the earth, I'd probably get about 61,400 miles of sinclair molecule chain and string it between geosynchronous satellites on opposite ends of the earth. If you put the satellites over the equator (one over quito, one over kuala lumpur), you could probably use the earth's own rotation to start the slicing as you tightened it up. Sorta like a giant hard boiled egg. Since the chain is only one molecule thick, it won't be very heavy, so it should be pretty easy to get it up into orbit.
posted by jenkinsEar at 11:32 AM on March 29, 2007
posted by jenkinsEar at 11:32 AM on March 29, 2007
zoogleplex writes "And they're not doing it for the money, if they're working for the government. "
Many probably are doing it for the money, the money available in facilities. Being able to play with the equipment available to a 260 million dollar budget is compensation enough that I'd bet many of the workers would work for free if you kept them clothed, fed and housed.
posted by Mitheral at 12:06 PM on March 29, 2007
Many probably are doing it for the money, the money available in facilities. Being able to play with the equipment available to a 260 million dollar budget is compensation enough that I'd bet many of the workers would work for free if you kept them clothed, fed and housed.
posted by Mitheral at 12:06 PM on March 29, 2007
Actually, it doesn't seem to me like Project Pluto had much in common with Orion. It seems more like a natural development after the cancellation of the Convair X-6 prototype and the WS-125 nuclear-powered bomber. After all, if those projects stumbled upon the problem of shielding the crew, doing away with the crew would solve that. Of course, it didn't help solve the other problems of nuclear aircraft propulsion...
posted by Skeptic at 12:12 PM on March 29, 2007
posted by Skeptic at 12:12 PM on March 29, 2007
How come so many really brilliant engineers never seem to want to work on systems, processes and practices that would generally help people?
zoogleplex, I'll tell you why: users are always a pain in the ass. If your engineering task is supposed to kill them all, then you never have to put up with their shit, do you?
posted by NortonDC at 12:12 PM on March 29, 2007 [3 favorites]
zoogleplex, I'll tell you why: users are always a pain in the ass. If your engineering task is supposed to kill them all, then you never have to put up with their shit, do you?
posted by NortonDC at 12:12 PM on March 29, 2007 [3 favorites]
The problem with sawing the earth in half isn't just the slicing. Once you've done that to the crust (which doesn't really hold the planet together, anyway), the molten center is comparatively easy. It's getting the whole mess to split apart against the gravity of the entire mass.
You're better off just throwing another planet at it.
posted by IronLizard at 3:20 PM on March 29, 2007
You're better off just throwing another planet at it.
posted by IronLizard at 3:20 PM on March 29, 2007
"Being able to play with the equipment available to a 260 million dollar budget is compensation enough that I'd bet many of the workers would work for free if you kept them clothed, fed and housed."
A very good point indeed, Mitheral, I agree. However, you'd probably also agree that this is subtly different from doing it for personal monetary gain.
Hmm, then again... how many jobs for brilliant energy/aerospace types are there outside of government/military work? Maybe the worker pool and the mission just bootstrap each other...
"zoogleplex, I'll tell you why: users are always a pain in the ass. If your engineering task is supposed to kill them all, then you never have to put up with their shit, do you?"
That makes an awful lot of sense. It's also kind of starkly disturbing in a lot of ways.
"It's getting the whole mess to split apart against the gravity of the entire mass."
Might it be possible to use the vaporization of all the ocean water that would fall down the slice into the molten mantle and core as reaction impetus to separate the halves? Probably not enough energy release, actually...
posted by zoogleplex at 3:43 PM on March 29, 2007
A very good point indeed, Mitheral, I agree. However, you'd probably also agree that this is subtly different from doing it for personal monetary gain.
Hmm, then again... how many jobs for brilliant energy/aerospace types are there outside of government/military work? Maybe the worker pool and the mission just bootstrap each other...
"zoogleplex, I'll tell you why: users are always a pain in the ass. If your engineering task is supposed to kill them all, then you never have to put up with their shit, do you?"
That makes an awful lot of sense. It's also kind of starkly disturbing in a lot of ways.
"It's getting the whole mess to split apart against the gravity of the entire mass."
Might it be possible to use the vaporization of all the ocean water that would fall down the slice into the molten mantle and core as reaction impetus to separate the halves? Probably not enough energy release, actually...
posted by zoogleplex at 3:43 PM on March 29, 2007
Probably not enough energy release, actually...
No, but it would be the most awesome steam cloud ever. And leave the earth covered in a thin crust of salt, like when you leave a pot of salt water boiling too long. Giant Saltine. Not to mention the amount of snow that would be created. Giant Saltine + SnowCone.
posted by IronLizard at 3:52 PM on March 29, 2007
No, but it would be the most awesome steam cloud ever. And leave the earth covered in a thin crust of salt, like when you leave a pot of salt water boiling too long. Giant Saltine. Not to mention the amount of snow that would be created. Giant Saltine + SnowCone.
posted by IronLizard at 3:52 PM on March 29, 2007
It took me quite a while to recognize it, but I think this thing was simply a bizarre miscegenation of ICBM and souped-up American hot rod.
The monstrosity ought to cancel the kitsch, or the kitsch the monstrosity, but somehow each enhances the other, which is also quintessentially American, I suppose.
posted by jamjam at 3:53 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
The monstrosity ought to cancel the kitsch, or the kitsch the monstrosity, but somehow each enhances the other, which is also quintessentially American, I suppose.
posted by jamjam at 3:53 PM on March 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
NASACAR
posted by hal9k at 5:42 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by hal9k at 5:42 PM on March 29, 2007 [2 favorites]
"Ever split wood? If you're lucky, there's a natural crack in the grain. You place the tip of a wedge in that crack and smack it with a sledgehammer.
So, build a a giant wedge (we'd probably have to mine Mars and possibly Venus) and place the tip in the Mariana Trench with the blunt end out in space. Stack the blunt end with nukes and light 'em up. Might take a couple nuclear whacks, but that baby would eventually crack in half, spilling her molten innards into space"
Yes I have split wood, starting with trees I cut down myself, trimming and cutting the logs to firewood length and splitting them with a maul to age as cordwood for a Better n' Bens woodstove. I kick myself for not thinking of your idea!
posted by longsleeves at 6:43 PM on March 29, 2007
So, build a a giant wedge (we'd probably have to mine Mars and possibly Venus) and place the tip in the Mariana Trench with the blunt end out in space. Stack the blunt end with nukes and light 'em up. Might take a couple nuclear whacks, but that baby would eventually crack in half, spilling her molten innards into space"
Yes I have split wood, starting with trees I cut down myself, trimming and cutting the logs to firewood length and splitting them with a maul to age as cordwood for a Better n' Bens woodstove. I kick myself for not thinking of your idea!
posted by longsleeves at 6:43 PM on March 29, 2007
And for the bonus coolness, the original patents for nuclear airplanes and rockets belonged to none other than Richard Feynman.
posted by eritain at 1:15 AM on March 30, 2007
posted by eritain at 1:15 AM on March 30, 2007
FWIW, someone posted a documentary about Project Pluto to Usenet.
posted by wierdo at 12:46 AM on March 31, 2007
posted by wierdo at 12:46 AM on March 31, 2007
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That sure does sound like a hypersonic nightmare in the making.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:22 PM on March 28, 2007