xkcd #3322: Dragonfly

Title text:

I'm excited for Dragonfly, because on the list of places in the solar system that I desperately want more pictures from, 'Titan's surface' is right up there at the top with 'Jupiter's atmosphere.'

Transcript:

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Source: https://xkcd.com/3322/

explainxkcd for #3322

I'm excited for Dragonfly, because on the list of places in the solar system that I desperately want more pictures from, 'Titan's surface' is right up there at the top with 'Jupiter's atmosphere.'

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[–] 14 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

A blimp is probably preferred for Venus anyway.

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  • [–] 4 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

    A Jupiter chopper would be insane.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

    37 dot 5! we need to take the time.

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  • [–] 22 points 15 hours ago* (13 children)

    Sure. 25% --> 37% ... as long as you (for some arbitrary reason) only consider 8 "places" in the solar system.

    7 of those are planets, but Titan is a moon. If we're going to include moons, then there's going to be a whole lot more than 8 "places" in the solar system, so the percentage of places where helicopters can work is going to be greatly reduced. If we get really pedantic and consider any orbiting body in the solar system to be a "place", then there will be hundreds, thousands of them where helicopters can't possibly work, once you start tallying up asteroids and comets.

    Also, why does the list include 7 planets, not 8? What? Are you not interested in trying to make a helicopter work on Mercury? That's quitter talk!

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  • [–] 45 points 14 hours ago (8 children)

    Places where helicopters can work is places with sufficient atmosphere, which is why the list is what it is

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  • [–] 25 points 14 hours ago (7 children)

    Ah, but what if you brought a large balloon, inflated it, and flew a helicopter inside the balloon?

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  • [–] 10 points 14 hours ago (4 children)

    Blowing my mind that Gas Giants are just big ole balloons

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  • [–] 12 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

    It’s an inside out balloon! Gravity holds the atmosphere in, not a cloth sheet

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  • [–] 11 points 12 hours ago (1 child)

    And I have a hard time believing that there isn't some solid or liquid (or maybe some other exotic state of matter, due to the heat and pressure) inner core way down in there, even if it's relatively tiny compared to the size of the planet.

    Even if it was entirely made of gas when it formed, surely some materials would have fallen in over the eons that could stay solid/liquid at the pressure/temperature of a gas giant's core?

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  • [–] 9 points 14 hours ago

    I think it's saying those are the eight places a helicopter could work, and we are checking them off as we accomplish them.

    Helicopters require atmosphere (obviously), so this is a list of the eight bodies in the solar system with atmosphere sufficient for heavier-than-air flight.

    Mercury basically doesn't have an atmosphere for instance, which is probably why it's not on the list.

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  • [–] 3 points 8 hours ago

    Maybe some design could also work on Neptune's moon, Triton?

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  • [–] 2 points 14 hours ago

    That's 50% of those places that we also know how to land on, soon to be 75%.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 hours ago

    How is this not a Thanoscopter joke?

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