this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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xkcd #3291: Launchpad

Title text:

It does come at the cost of some launchpad expansions and increased fuel requirements, but that all comes out of the facility's budget.

Transcript:

Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com

Source: https://xkcd.com/3291/

explainxkcd for #3291

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[–] solidheron@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I still say we should mount rockets into a rollercoaster rail🎒 that way stage one can be spent on the ground doing a horizontal launch and then the rail would have to change the angle to be more horizontal

[–] kinkles@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This was actually tested in 2001 and found to be effective method to launch a crew into space

https://youtu.be/mt_kSlBBEXs?t=139

[–] solidheron@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sweet now I have a working example to show. Also I remember seeing jimmy neutron movie in theaters

i remember the 2000s being a lot less colorful. and pointier.

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sure, it's just 2000 kilometers long. We'll just take over the northern half of Brazil to build it

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago

You need a bit less than 1/3 of it...

But it's supposed to be build in an ocean. Forests do not make for good logistics.

(It's also supposed to use a series of hypersonic iron pellets running inside a tube, that will explode and endanger a hundreds of km radius if something like even an air leak appears there... So yeah, the size is the least of the issues here.)