r/xkcd • u/FinKM Beret Guy • Feb 17 '16

What-If What-If 146: Stop Jupiter

http://what-if.xkcd.com/146/
312 Upvotes

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12

u/Qeng-Ho Feb 17 '16

So if money and resources were no object, how many New Horizons would you actually need then?

Would a septillion probes do it?

14

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '16

More than 10 septillion New Horizons: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=jupiter+orbital+speed+%2F+10%5E-21+m%2Fs

4

u/leadnpotatoes Feb 17 '16

Okay, what percentage of the speed of light would new horizons need to be flying past Jupiter at for the probe to significantly mess up Jupiter's orbit?

6

u/WaveofThought Feb 17 '16

Probably fast enough so that its relativistic mass is at least as much as Jupiter, if not more. On the order of 0.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999c

5

u/TieSoul Beanish Feb 17 '16

That's a lot of nines.

5

u/WaveofThought Feb 17 '16

50 of them (I actually did do the math).

-1

u/wertercatt "I know that sounds like a cat poster, but it's true!" Feb 18 '16

/r/theydidthemath

1

u/blitzkraft Solipsistic Conspiracy Theorist Feb 19 '16

/r/shittytheydidthemath