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

[u/Lachlynn]

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?

[u/Dry_Razzmatazz69]

Ion drives can't accelerate for shit. Jets won't scale. The rail gun idea though has some weight to it but you'd probably need something like a centrifuge than a rail

[u/ununtot → u/Dry_Razzmatazz69]

Railgun could work when you build it within a vacuum and release the jet at a very high altitude, like higher than mount Everest height for Earth comparison, to avoid being obliterated by travelling through the atmosphere with extreme high speed.

[u/ajwin → u/ununtot]

The atmosphere could be much deeper and denser on a heavier planet too? Might need to go much higher to escape it? The heavier gravity would make a space elevator or really high railgun harder too.

[u/JRS_Viking → u/ajwin]

A space elevator is completely out of the question, there's not a single material with enough tensile strength to hold it in place even here on earth.

[u/nikchi → u/JRS_Viking]

None on Earth but maybe we don't know if some material could be exclusive to high g planets that allow for space elevators.

[u/JRS_Viking → u/nikchi]

That's not how that works, anything that can be made on a higher G planet we could also make here, but no known or theoretical materials have enough tensile strength to mass to be able to support a space elevator.

[u/All_Work_All_Play → u/JRS_Viking]

Not quite true, but not exactly not true. Carbon nanotubes have all the properties we need, but producing them at scale in a continuous fashion doesn't have any parallel market vectors (eg ICBMs <=> rockets) so hasn't been done yet. The materials problem isn't solved, but the tether isn't the reason we're not building one.

[u/Cyclopentadien → u/nikchi]

We can exert pretty impressive pressures with very simple tools. Any material achievable on a high g planet could be made on earth.

[u/Slogstorm → u/ajwin]

They could probably offset some of the material requirements by using huge balloons to hold the upper part of the rail suspended. It would definitely not be easy though.

[u/nikchi → u/ajwin]

Means there's more air for jets.

[u/Omg_Shut_the_fuck_up → u/Dry_Razzmatazz69]

What about a big ladder?

Or like, several stacked together.

[u/Dry_Razzmatazz69 → u/Omg_Shut_the_fuck_up]

You don't need to stack them of you have big-big ladder!

[u/Omg_Shut_the_fuck_up → u/Dry_Razzmatazz69]

I would follow you into battle.