this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
647 points (99.1% liked)

xkcd

18027 readers
65 users here now

A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] MajesticTechie@feddit.uk 54 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I thought of Futurama too, but instead how the Ships engines move the Universe around IT

[–] ergonomic_importer@piefed.ca 40 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It came to me in a dream, and then I forgot it in another dream.

[–] Smug_Marmot@lemmy.zip 17 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] AnarchoEngineer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Nothing’s a complete load! Not if you can imagine it; that’s what being a scientist is all about!

[–] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

no, it's only a third of the load. i left the other two thirds with a friendly laotian couple.

[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

I was thinking of the robots all firing their exhaust upward to push earth away from the sun.

[–] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I thought that was a silly joke but that's actually more or less how an alcubierre drive would work.

[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Is it though?

Giant chemical engines to push a planet away is like bending space around a spacecraft?

[–] wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago

The giant chemical engines were not being compared to the alcubierre drive. The commenter was discussing how the engine of the ship in futurama, which "moves the universe around it" would fairly neatly describe the function of an alcubierre drive in layman's terms. This is why you were downvoted.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

I don’t know why you got downvoted for what seems like a reasonable question. I think it might be the lateral nature of the solution that is comparable.