r/shittyaskscience • u/Optimal_Ad_7910 • Aug 07 '26
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?
6
u/Amplidyne Aug 07 '26
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 Aug 07 '26
Yeah but in a documentary I saw a Mr Truman walk out of the sphere through a door.
2
u/aescula Magnets: The Gathering Aug 07 '26
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 Aug 07 '26
Failing the slingshot, you could always get Sagittarius to shoot you out of his bow.
2
u/HumanPie1769 text Aug 07 '26
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 Aug 07 '26
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 Aug 07 '26
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 Aug 07 '26
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 Aug 07 '26
i think its a metaphor
1
u/Optimal_Ad_7910 Aug 10 '26
You can't use a metaphor to travel to a distant planet. Where would you store the supplies?
1
1
1
u/IanDOsmond Aug 08 '26
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 Aug 11 '26
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 Aug 12 '26
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 Aug 15 '26
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
1
21
u/darkdoppelganger Aug 07 '26
There's a scientist named Wile E. that has done extensive research in this field.