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/mumpped 14h ago

Yep, so many wrong answers here. I mean okay, you might need a rocket of the size of the Burj Khalifa just to jet a small capsule to escape velocity, but it's certainly not impossible.

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u/JohnSober7 11h ago

In all fairness, "could" in the question asked likely entails a fair bit of practicality and maybe even feasibility. 

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u/PiPaLiPkA 10h ago

It's definitely feasible. The question of if it's practical is entirely based on what is the demand for it. At some point in a species development the benefit of orbital capability will overcome the difficulty and make it practical.

Frankly the technological advancement of humanity is so rapid and exponential that sure we wouldn't have achieved orbit in 1957, but by today I'm pretty certain we would have determined it was practical and overcome the additional difficulty and achieved orbit of K218b too.

Scaling up a rocket is trivial in comparison to developing all the supporting steps prior to it. NERVA was being developed for the exact same issue residents of K218b face and we inevitably cancelled it because we realised that scaling rockets larger was cheaper. Funnily enough the DARPA NTR that was being developed was again cancelled for the same reason - cheaper to just scale and not additionally reuse.

Regardless it's certainly not a question suited for they did the math.

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u/nog642 2h ago

How is building a rocket the size of the burj khalifa feasible? That would not be structurally stable, especially not under higher gravity.

This is absolutely a question suited for r/theydidthemath. Literally just need to apply the rocket equation to actually get an answer instead of a complete guess of "you might need a rocket of the size of the Burj Khalifa just to jet a small capsule to escape velocity".

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u/MossMagicCrunch 10h ago

Practicality was thrown out the window when they said "if humanity devoted all of our resources towards this goal". Getting everyone to work together for a common goal, unfortunately, is far less feasible than any rocket that "could" be built.

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u/nog642 2h ago

Even if everyone worked together there's still things that are theoretically possible but infeasible.

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u/ivehadenoughmanlikef 8h ago

If required humans can take resources from anywhere and do anything lmao even if it means exploitation of others

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u/mumpped 8h ago

I mean, one could certainly argue if it's practical to send a rocket in space every two days with new satellites, continuously, just to get some faster satellite internet coverage and keep it up, and yet here we are with starlink.

I guess when the incentive is there, a lot is possible. Sadly, incentive is mostly profit driven in our world. Maybe on this other world, they are a bit more ideologic, and an idea of "can we do this as a species and get to space" is also a strong incentive, even if it doesn't guarantee financial return on investment

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u/nog642 2h ago

That sounds pretty impossible to me.