1788: Barge

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Barge

Title text: My life goal is to launch a barge into the air and have it land on one of Elon Musk's rockets.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Links to video of successful landing in barge and maybe also failed to show what this hobby may result in. Also if there are videos of this newest success If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This is another one of the "My Hobby" series, where Randall tells about a strange hobby. This is probably the most destructive one so far, as it would result in the loss of nine space rocket engines. It would also likely be the most expensive even disregarding the costs to others, due to the costs associated with buying and damaging a barge specifically for a prank (though it could potentially be reused).

The launch company SpaceX is currently testing a reusable rocket system, where the first rocket stage is capable of landing back on an autonomous spaceport drone ship after launch. The rockets guide themselves in to land by aiming towards a giant launch pad with the "X" from the SpaceX logo painted on it. Randall imagines creating a similar-looking barge and placing it near the intended landing site, except his barge's platform would be hollow in the middle with only a sheet of paper supporting the part where the rocket would land. Presumably the goal of this setup would be to trick a rocket into falling into the sea, similar to the old trapping pit. If a rocket attempts to land on Randall's barge, it will quickly burn through the paper (assuming the paper had not already been destroyed from being soaked by ocean spray) and, not having enough time or fuel to readjust its course, fall into the sea. Luckily for Elon Musk (but unluckily for anyone planning this prank), SpaceX rockets will not land on any old barge [citation needed], unless perhaps something happened to the intended barge.

This hobby seems more appropriate for Black Hat, considering that he is a real classhole.

The title text plays on the incredible difficulty of successfully landing a rocket on a barge.  Such a feat has only recently become possible, some 60 years after the launch of Sputnik 1. Randall imagines an even more implausible idea of launching an entire barge into the air and have it land on the rocket. Launching a barge in the first place would be tremendously difficult - they are big, heavy and not very aerodynamic [[1]]. Having one come down on top of a rocket would likely destroy the rocket as well - but it would be worth it for the spectacular explosion.

This comic was published on the week following SpaceX's Iridium 1 mission, where the first stage of the rocket which delivered 10 satellites into orbit successfully landed on a barge near California. It marked the seventh time SpaceX successfully landed and recovered its booster on a commercial mission.

Transcript

[There are one panel in this comic with the main drawing at the bottom. Two smaller drawings are inserted above this drawing to explain the idea.]

[The first insert shows a barge with no center and a large piece of paper with the SpaceX logo above the barge.]

[The second insert shows the paper stretched over the hole.]

[The main drawing at the bottom shows a cross-section of the barge in water, showing there is only water below the paper. Above the paper the large first stage, without the top part with the payload, of a reusable rocket is attempting to land on the paper on the SapceX logo (not visible in this view). It is still so high above the fake barge that the exhaust fire below the rocket is nowhere near the paper.]

[Caption below the panels:]

My hobby: Hollowing out the center of a barge, stretching paper over the hole painted with the SpaceX logo, and leaving it floating offshore near launch sites.

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Discussion

Any reason why the background is black in this one? 162.158.234.34 16:35, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

Black background...huh? GoonPontoon (talk) 18:27, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

The xkcd Browser Android app, at least, uses black outside the rectangular comic image for this one instead of the usual white. It usually does that for dark-background comics like 312. I don’t know if it gets the color from the site somehow or uses its own heuristics, but either way this isn’t the first time it’s made the “wrong” choice. --162.158.78.148 18:40, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

When did the fine print at the bottom of the xkcd homepage change? 162.158.122.102 18:08, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

A few weeks ago, exactly when I'm not sure.

Actually, for quite a while That's right, Jacky720 just signed this (talk | contribs) 21:22, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

Where do we put this kind of information on this wiki? Very funny but not so great as the one about the humour --Kynde (talk) 23:16, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

A sorry did not understand that the link was to a page on this site: footnote. Thanks. Have made a link to this page from the page on (xkcd). --Kynde (talk) 14:21, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

But much worse the xkcd warning has also been removed. So sad. Made the page for it. --Kynde (talk) 15:13, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

What exactly would cause a rocket to explode when it lands on this trick-barge (and into water)? 141.101.105.48 08:52, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

If the computer thinks it landed on a solid barge, it will turn off the engine, and the rocket will tip over, crash into the remaining hull, and explode. If the computer does not think it landed, the engine will enter the water and either go out (tip over, explode) or cause a steam explosion followed by a fuel tank explosion. Chrullrich (talk) 10:26, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

I'm not sure it is intended to be destructive, so much as scaling up of the everyday. You know how satisfying it is when you open a new jar of coffee or spread and get to punch the paper seal with a spoon? Randall has previously referred to these little pleasures, like cleaning the dryer fluff in https://xkcd.com/1346/ . 141.101.98.244 09:32, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

I do not think I would take any pleasures engaging in violence against pinnipeds made of compressed wood cellulose, especially with a metallic eating utensil. Fresh dryer fluff is another story while the spread depends on the magazine. 162.158.69.9 11:38, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Paper isn't compressed wood, it's dissolved wood that has been stuck together with a paste. Beanie ^talk 13:22, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

In fairness, paper other than cheap tissue is compressed. While still wet, it's generally pressed between rollers. Nitpicking (talk) 12:07, 4 March 2022 (UTC)

Actual SpaceX launch was a couple of weeks ago: should we mention it?

SpaceX launches happen regularly. They do not happen often, but you can still count on them. Therefore, no. Beanie ^talk 13:22, 16 July 2021 (UTC)