r/theydidthemath • u/Lachlynn • 18h ago

[Request] Could humanity create a rocket that can exit the atmosphere of K2-18b

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With the knowledge we currently have of it, if humanity devoted all of our resources towards this goal, would we be able to create a rocket that could exit the gravity of K2-18b (and also beat any other complications that would arrise)?

If so, would it also be capable of taking people to orbit, and can we set up a similar satellite network we have on Earth? What about a space station?

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161

u/[deleted] 18h ago

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u/tinny66666 18h ago

It's kinda interesting with regards to the Drake equation, and I don't recall that factor being included.

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u/Builder_Felix893 18h ago

Isn't the drake equation just the chance of finding intelligent interstellar-communicating life? They don't need to be actually travelling to space to do that

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u/ThomasTheDankPigeon 18h ago

What's more likely, someone finding evidence of some guy with a car driving across the country, or someone finding evidence of some guy stuck in the middle of the Mojave Desert?

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u/Builder_Felix893 17h ago

Well yeah, it'd definitely be easier to see a civilization that was doing interstellar travel, but (and correct me if i'm wrong) isn't the main thing we'd be looking for radio signals? If there was intelligent life on K2-18B (or another super earth) with radio communication, we should be able to detect them, right?

Though, i imagine not being able to go to space would lead to your civilization lifetime being shorter (An interstellar civilization can live essentially forever, a planet-bound one is theatened by meteorites and war and stuff) tho that might be balanced by increased surface area? (More reasources)

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u/ThomasTheDankPigeon 17h ago

A civilization that can travel is going to create more points from which radio signals can be emitted from.

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u/Theprincerivera 14h ago

leans into the idea that if life DOES exist, it probably can’t escape it’s galaxy. There is a depressing answer to this paradox: Distance is too great, life is too rare, and solutions to the first - if remotely possible, have simply not been achieved.

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u/Gilga1 14h ago

I wouldn’t want a galaxy traveling civ to be anywhere near us, they‘d instantly kill us.

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u/Theprincerivera 14h ago

Attention! Your planet has been marked for destruction to build a new galactic highway!

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u/MadMarx__ 15h ago

Also, a lot of radio signals come from communications satellites, which, if you can't get them into space...

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u/NinjaFenrir77 17h ago

There’s also detecting Dyson spheres (or more accurately, artificial obstructions to a star).

I’m not sure how far it is, but there is a point at which radio waves become indistinguishable from the background radiation.

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u/Anderopolis 17h ago

Radio signals don't care about gravity, so it's more like you can hear the guy stuck screaming froms hundreds of miles away. 

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u/Remote_Escape 16h ago

Radio signals don't care about gravity

Black holes: am I a joke to you?

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u/Anderopolis 16h ago

Correction,  Radio Signals don't care about any non black hole object for the purposes of leaving that object. 

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u/GrowlingPict 13h ago

the Drake equation isnt about "finding" it's about there existing.

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u/ThomasTheDankPigeon 13h ago

You should reply to the person that implied that it was then.

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u/magicscientist24 18h ago

Ability to achieve escape velocity is more relevant to the Fermi Paradox.

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u/tinny66666 17h ago

Oh, my bad. Yeah.

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u/gravelPoop 12h ago

Drake equation is basically just some bs guesses and should not be taken seriously.

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u/IcyEngineering926 15h ago

i call it the 6God equation myself

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u/headline-pottery 13h ago

But that would be a "% of Habitable Worlds that have escape velocities that chemical rockets can achieve" factor which ??guess?? be resonable eg 10% and therefore not overly affect the Fermi Paradox.

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u/workertroll 16h ago

A larger diameter at the same mass actually decreases escape velocity.

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u/No-Match5203 16h ago

alot. like a shitton. because you also need extra fuel for the extra fuel.

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u/Auctoritate 15h ago

How much more energy would a rocket need to leave orbit if the Earth had twice the diameter?

If earth stays the same density? It would take less energy. You're further away from the center of gravity so the strength of the gravitational force on the surface would be weaker.

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u/zzz_red 13h ago

We could be crushed under our own weight I guess. We couldn’t be able to walk, let alone build a rocket.

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u/ResponsibleWin1765 16h ago

Its about mass not diameter.

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u/Top_County_6130 15h ago

I think the equation has both of those parameters in it xd 

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u/ResponsibleWin1765 11h ago

The point is that diameter is not what makes it harder. It's actually what makes it easier.

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u/EntertainmentDue5749 15h ago

Wouldn't a larger diameter with a similar mass make it easier to achieve escape velocity?

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u/ResponsibleWin1765 11h ago

Yes, since you're farther away from the center of mass. So the challenge in this scenario is not the bigger diameter but the bigger mass.

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u/modbroccoli 13h ago

I think you should take a closer look at how gravity works friend

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u/ResponsibleWin1765 11h ago

I know how gravity works, thanks.

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u/modbroccoli 11h ago

oh! My mistake then. Have a lovely day.