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like mother like daughter

like mother like daughter published on 1 Comment on like mother like daughter

(click here for a high resolution version of this illustration)

another day, another illustration i probably should’ve planned ahead better instead of winging it and hoping i’d figure it all out along the way. i think it came out a bit too blue and visually noisy (but hey, it’s not the worst thing i’ve ever drawn).

as some of you may know, this is actually based on a real window on the international space station in the “cupola” module, which has by far the greatest view of any window on earth (or off earth, in this case). the actual window is a tiny bit little smaller than this one though, and probably doesn’t have as much random garbage floating around most of the time.

ask your mother

ask your mother published on 6 Comments on ask your mother

wait, sedna has a mother?!

that’s right, apparently sedna actually had a mum back in classic sedna. i’d been meaning to reimagine and redesign her a bit before reintroducing her to the comic, but ended up taking so long most new readers probably just assumed sedna’s dad was a single parent by now. well, here she finally is, looking a tiiiny bit different from before. hope you guys enjoy the next batch of mum comics because they were a blast to write.

(also now i’m wondering if sedna having two loving parents automatically disqualifies her from ever getting a disney tv/movie adaptation.)

emu family

emu family published on No Comments on emu family

this is my sneaky way of showing the size differences between some famous rockets.

for those who don’t know, the ‘v-2’ rocket (aka a4) on the far left was 14 metres tall and was the first rocket to ever reach space in 1944. it was built by the nazis to bomb london (but luckily they mostly missed).

the ‘saturn v’ on the right was the rocket that brought people to the moon in 1968-72, and is still the largest rocket ever launched as of now (2021/08) at 110 metres tall. however, spacex’s 120m tall ‘starship’ is going to break that record when it launches (hopefully) later this year.

sugar rocket

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yes, you can make a rocket with nothing more than table sugar and fertiliser. makes sense if you think about it. sugar has a lot of energy, and potassium nitrate has oxygen, which are the main two ingredients you need for a big boom.

if you want to try this at home, maybe consider looking up some more detailed instructions online. don’t get your pyrotechnical advice from a comic strip, kids.

reusability

reusability published on 1 Comment on reusability

the hybrid jet/rocket spaceplane concept is being developed the british company ‘reaction engines’, a company who’ve been working on their ‘skylon’ spaceplane project for about the last 30 million years (so naturally i expect them to finish aaany day now).

the reusable two-stage rocket concept was pioneered by the american company ‘spacex’, who currently reuse the 1st stage of their ‘falcon 9’ rocket and are planning on reusing both stages on their upcoming ‘starship’ rocket. pretty much every other private space company is going this route. cuz you know, it actually works.

the ‘catch-the-rocket-in-midair’ concept sounds so insane you’d think i just made it up, but it’s actually the plan of the new zealand-based company ‘rocket lab’, who are eventually going to start catching their ‘electron’ rocket 1st stages with a helicopter. can’t wait to watch it.

of course, i could’ve also mentioned the space shuttle, but calling that “reusable” is about as generous as calling a potato chip a vegetable. “partially-somewhat-refurbishable” would be a more honest description.

the rocket equation

the rocket equation published on 1 Comment on the rocket equation

the rocket equation is the reason we don’t live in the star trek universe. because a rocket has to carry all its fuel, it grows exponentially the further you want it to go.

rocket that goes up a few hundred metres? size of a water bottle.
rocket that goes into orbit? size of a dinosaur.
rocket that goes to the moon and back? size of skyscraper.

if we lived on a smaller planet with weaker gravity (like mars), space travel would be relatively easy. if we lived on a larger planet with stronger gravity (like saturn), space travel would be impossible. instead we live on earth, where space travel is only just possible, but incredibly difficult.