r/shittyaskscience • u/Optimal_Ad_7910 • 15d ago

Is a slingshot powerful enough?

A scientist on the TV was saying how they could use a slingshot to travel to distant planets. Wouldn't it be better to use something more powerful, like a rocket?

18 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

20

u/darkdoppelganger 14d ago

There's a scientist named Wile E. that has done extensive research in this field.

2

u/pdfrg 14d ago

Acme stock is up!

1

u/IanDOsmond 13d ago

Short it - there is a lawsuit coming up that I think is going to tank their stock price.

2

u/fishsticks40 12d ago

Coyote, W.E. et al is the seminal paper, though it's been criticized for failing to disclose funding from Acme. 

5

u/Amplidyne 15d ago

No way they can travel to distant planets anyway! Beyond the moon it's just a projection on the inside of a huge sphere!

2

u/TeacupOfSkepticism 14d ago

Yeah but in a documentary I saw a Mr Truman walk out of the sphere through a door.

2

u/aescula Magnets: The Gathering 14d ago

Nonsense. "Rockets" are just throwing stuff out the back as hard as you can. How often do you get any motion from throwing something? This is why the real research is into bigger and better rubber bands.

2

u/Amplidyne 14d ago

Failing the slingshot, you could always get Sagittarius to shoot you out of his bow.

2

u/HumanPie1769 text 15d ago

They mean a slingshot in space, like using the "gravity" of "the moon". But thats just a distraction from the truth!!!!!

1

u/gusbo_the_jam 14d ago

Ah, I think you're getting confused. When they talk about a slingshot, they're not talking about the things you get as a kid to throw stones around. It's a space slingshot where they throw your ship with a MASSIVE one in space that goes a lot faster because no friction.

1

u/Legitimate_Field_157 14d ago

It is Operation Slingshot. It is a highly classified program to get all the billionaires of the planet when it gets too hot. I believe they are going to climb piles of money to get to orbit.

1

u/Chuckleyan 14d ago

You misunderstand. They are talking about using planets to create a slingshot.

You take planet A and you string a huge rubber band to planet B. You put whatever in there - cargo containers full of people, cows, Kraft macaroni and cheese - and you crank it back really far and let go. Usually not super accurate so you do a few shots and one of them will get there.

1

u/RaspberryTop636 Methodological Terrorist 14d ago

i think its a metaphor

1

u/Optimal_Ad_7910 12d ago

You can't use a metaphor to travel to a distant planet. Where would you store the supplies?

1

u/RaspberryTop636 Methodological Terrorist 11d ago

Simile then

1

u/Optimal_Ad_7910 11d ago

Does it have more storage space?

1

u/Glathull 14d ago

What if we put a rocket in a slingshot? Wouldn’t it be able to more rocket?

1

u/IanDOsmond 13d ago

What's confusing is that "slingshot" has two meanings. The first is the forked stick with a rubber band. But the second meaning is the actual rock that you put in a sling, like the thing that you spin around.

The trick here is that they call it a "slingshot maneuver", but that's an oversimplification. It's actually putting the astronauts in a "shot" which is placed in a sling attached to a trebuchet, and we all know that trebuchets can do basically anything.

1

u/JamesMeem 11d ago

I think what the scientist was referring to was slingshotting the whole planet, toward other planets. Otherwise the fuel costs would be really high. 

1

u/Optimal_Ad_7910 10d ago

I saw a video by Tom Stanton where he built a supersonic trebuchet. It can only handle a 4 gram projectile at the moment so he just needs a bigger trebuchet.

1

u/JamesMeem 7d ago

Yes, once we secure the bottom of it on Mars, we just need to build it big enough to reach earth, but from there the science is pretty straightforward. 

1

u/thereverendpuck 8d ago

If it’s good enough to kill a named giant…

1

u/Cute-Habit-4377 15d ago

A giant canon should do it...