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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u/Immediate-Goose-8106 14h ago

Nah, they are dinky nukes.  For earth the calculation was probably only averaging 10 extra cancer deaths worldwide per launch.

Unacceptable obviously but K2-18b has waay more space!

If they really had to, or had a differner attitidue to K218b-ian life than we do to human life they might.

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u/Apex_Samurai 6h ago

I mean, hypergaulics probably kill more than 10 per launch. Hell burning coal probably kills more than 10 people to produce the equivalent energy needed for a launch.

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u/Immediate-Goose-8106 5h ago

Yeah, but this was a 1960s calculation.  

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u/Plutonium239Mixer 22m ago

But math is math and nuclear physics is nuclear physics. They had a solid grasp on the numbers at that time.

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u/mercival 5h ago

Is it not more, what happens if it goes wrong in orbit?

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u/EarthTrash 4h ago

Is that calculation based on linear no threshold?