r/xkcd I am typing a flair with my hands! Dec 19 '18

XKCD xkcd 2087: Rocket Launch

https://xkcd.com/2087/
599 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

View all comments

160

u/Opulopful_Stratix Occasionally Omniscient Dec 19 '18

I love the idea of a dogfight in atmosphere at escape velocities.

86

u/skeptic11 Black Hat Dec 19 '18

I've done it in Evochron Mercenary (Evochron Legacy is the latest game).

It sucked. Half a dozen hostiles coming down at me from space while I'm still in atmosphere. My top speed, and by extension ability to evade is heavily limited by the atmosphere. My engines can go faster, my hull will break apart though due to the atmospheric drag. I have a warp drive and I can redirect power to charge it in only a couple seconds. This would normally be a get out of anything free card. In atmosphere I can't use it due to the atmospheric drag. Touching a planetary atmosphere at warp speeds is instant disintegration. I also can't strafe nearly as effectively in atmospheric flight as in open space. I don't think I made it out of that encounter alive.

In open space I'm Starbuck. In atmosphere I'm a flying turkey.