• Chocrates@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 year ago

      I guess technically, but Kelly is talking about an aircraft which implies the craft is still in atmosphere and therefore Mach can still be calculated.

      • EdgeOfToday@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        1 year ago

        The original thread was started by Neil deGrasse Tyson saying that Maverick would be “splattered” during ejection at mach 10. Scott Kelly responds saying he went on a space walk from the ISS at mach 25. The gardener is technically right that mach numbers don’t really apply in a near vacuum. It’s also kind of off topic because we know the Darkstar is in the atmosphere and not in space, and therefore there is no “re-entry”. But Scott is right that the real issue would be heat and not getting splattered.

        I also want to point out that we don’t actually see Maverick eject, and it’s likely that he would have been ejected in a capsule (like in several real aircraft like the B-58) rather than just thrown out of the plane in his pressure suit as Scott suggests.

      • mortadelo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Yes, but the gardener guy is specifically talking about the ISS flying in a vacuum. So he is not wrong. I find the comment of that Bruno dude just condescending.

        • morphballganon@lemmynsfw.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Just because an aircraft is capable of mach 10 in atmosphere doesn’t mean that you would call that speed “mach 10” everywhere. Gardener is arguing semantics at best.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          It’s a condescending response to a condescending attempt to correct an expert’s comment with something that wasn’t even relevant to what was actually being said. I don’t really like the appeal to authority, but the snark was deserved IMO.

          Plus space being a true vacuum is a myth anyways. It might not be dense enough for sound to propagate, but there’s plenty of material out there. The Earth’s atmosphere actually extends past the moon and the Sun gives off a steady stream of particles that are the dominant force (besides gravity and planetary magnetic fields for those that have them) out to the Kuiper belt.