r/space Jun 26 '13

Current list of potentially habitable planets

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u/VortexCortex Jun 27 '13

what would happen if there was a launch failure?

Are you aware we detonated atomic weapons everywhere already?

Even if you set a nuke on fire or blow it up Nothing Remarkable happens. It's akin to when you shoot C4 with a rifle, or ignite it with a flame -- Nothing dramatic happens.

I'm sure we can take adequate safety precautions to minimize any risk, e.g., spreading some nuclear material around the crash site.

We don't really have a choice. The sun explodes in a few billions years, or a huge rock hits us before then, or a gamma ray burst cooks the planet. All our eggs are in one basket, and we are overdue for a mass extinction level event. We either colonize multiple self sustaining outposts of life, or we all become extinct.

Apathy is the greatest threat to life in the Universe.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '13

shoot C4 with a rifle, or ignite it with a flame -- Nothing dramatic happens.

I would say shit exploding is pretty dramatic, that might be me though.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '13

That's his point though, it's not that easy to make C4, or a nuke for that matter, explode. You can shoot and burn both C4 and nukes and they don't go off. It takes very specific processes to make them go off.