Stupid Writer Of Yahoo Article.

I just read this Article on Yahoo. https://news.yahoo.com/rocket-launch-blast-first-timer-114437650.html

The Writer starts off by saying that she witnessed a rocket launch, and then goes on to say that the rocket is "literally a well-engineered bomb,..."

No, it is not. It is literally a Rocket.

:eyeroll::rant::no:

She is correct in the sense that a rocket is a giant pressure vessel for gases (alternate definition for bomb). Technically an aerosol can of hairspray is a bomb too, yet millions carry them around in public.

Words are such troublesome things, yet we can't hold civilization together without them.

Well, if she's right, then so is a car....

More importantly, a poorly engineered rocket is a bomb.

I would go so far as to say that at liftoff, a lightweight rocket with a “Warp-9” motor is indistinguishable from an artillery shell; albeit one without a warhead.

I just hate it when people misuse the word "Literally".

mrichhcirm said:

She is correct in the sense that a rocket is a giant pressure vessel for gases (alternate definition for bomb). Technically an aerosol can of hairspray is a bomb too, yet millions carry them around in public.

Words are such troublesome things, yet we can't hold civilization together without them.

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NO!!! "Technically", a can of Hairspray is a can of hairspray.

Folks using words like "Technically" and "Literally" when that is not what they mean bothers me.

No disrespect Top, but I remember a time when an aerosol can, or a can of airbrush propellant, was referred to as a bomb. The language hasn't changed, society has.

But to your point, the reporter probably has no idea why she was correct.

Time to get out and burn a few woosh generators Top. And stop reading clueless Yahoo "space science" writers. She apparently thought we had some "greener" way to get out of the gravity well.

The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Francois: Do you know what kind of a bomb it was?

Clouseau: The exploding kind.

:grin:

samb said:

She apparently thought we had some "greener" way to get out of the gravity well.

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Well I have asked Randy, proprietor of eRockets and Semroc, to produce “Anti-Gravity Ascension Engines” but I haven’t heard back from him regarding his progress.

Sadly; as long as we have to use “Whoosh Generators” to get men and materials into space we are not going to get very much of either into space.

Funny thing is:

I have read the article several times and wonder what the fuss is about. It is relatively positive, and actually conveys a sense of excitement and awe over what is going on. Yeah, from a very basic layman's point of view, it is a big honking bomb. Get over it, people will say things that make sense in their context.

To play devil's advocate here, the rocket is a potential bomb. If the engineering is done right, the rocket will stay a rocket, and not turn into a bomb. But a quick search on YouTube will produce dozens/hundreds of videos of rockets that turned into bombs. I have seen LPR and HPR rockets with CATOs. They turned into bombs.

Yes, it can be likened to a Bomb, and I can see that point, but when you say the word "Literally", it means that rather than likening something to something else, you are describing it as what it actually is.

TopRamen said:

Yes, it can be likened to a Bomb, and I can see that point, but when you say the word "Literally", it means that rather than likening something to something else, you are describing it as what it actually is.

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Agreed. I was with some friends once, when one of them said, "His head literally blew apart when I told him that!" So we accused her of murder.

TopRamen said:

I just hate it when people misuse the word "Literally".

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It literally drives me insane.



Wait, what?

:wink:

I agree with the OP - this was an EXCEEDINGLY poor choice of words - especially coming from someone who makes a living by writing.

In fact there are some very "well engineered bombs". (as pictured below) - What she witnessed was not one of them.