What Happens If a Craft Travels Through a Wormhole and Collides with a Planet?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the hypothetical scenario of a spacecraft traveling through a wormhole and the implications of colliding with a planetary body. It addresses questions about the nature of wormholes, the effects of high-speed impacts, and the potential outcomes of such collisions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether a wormhole would allow a craft to pass through a planetary object or if it would terminate at the obstacle, suggesting a scenario where the craft might collide with the object.
  • Another participant asserts that wormholes are not considered real and that the concept of hyperdrive is purely fictional, implying that the original question lacks a meaningful answer.
  • A different participant raises the issue of high-speed impacts, asking what would happen if an object traveling near light speed collided with a moon or planet, speculating on the depth of penetration into the surface.
  • Another response suggests that if the energy of the impact is not excessive, it would create a significant explosion and a deep hole, while sufficient energy could lead to penetration and the creation of hot plasma exiting the other side of the body.
  • It is mentioned that with even more energy, a collision could potentially destroy the entire planet, referencing an analysis by Randall Munroe from xkcd.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the reality of wormholes and hyperdrives, with some asserting their fictional nature while others engage in speculative scenarios. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications of collisions at high speeds and the nature of wormholes.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the existence of wormholes and the nature of high-speed impacts, which are not universally accepted. The potential outcomes of collisions depend heavily on the energy involved, which remains speculative.

UUP
Question: If one creates a wormhole (theoretically has a space/hyper drive) and one is going from point A to point B, and there is a moon or planet in the way, intersecting the path...

What might happen? Is a wormhole out of space/time of this dimension and thus the craft would pass through the planetary object like a cloud and a plane, or would the wormhole 'end' at the obstacle?

And... (sorry) If the craft collides with the object (planetary body), what might happen? Just a splat or would the craft, with high velocity and mass figuring in, actually penetrate far deep into the small world, like perhaps even 1/3rd of the diameter of such a world?

Many thanks for any ideas on this. My thoughts are that one would 'hit' the object if you were using a propulsion system that can use Negative Gravity which would be similar (from what I hear) to a wormhole.

This is hypothetical in that one 'has' such a vehicle and one 'can' achieve speeds far greater then lightspeed.


UUP


(working on a book)
 
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Since wormholes are a mathematical artifact that are not thought to be real in any meaningful sense, your question doesn't have an answer. "Hyperdrive" is sci-fi fantasy.
 
High speed objects and collisions

Hey all,

What if an object (lets say the size of a ship/frigate) is going at a speed that is close to light and it runs into a moon or small planet (like Mars or Earth). What would happen?

The velocity and mass of that object is already pretty high. Would it simply impact on the surface or would it shoot far into the surface, perhaps 100 feet or more?
 
If the energy is not too big, it would create a huge explosion and a very deep hole in the surface.
If the energy is sufficient, it would penetrate the moon or planet, and create a stream of hot plasma exiting at the other side.
With even more energy, you can blow apart the whole planet.

Randall Munroe analyzed that at xkcd: What if?
 

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