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Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki! Help us finish xkcd.com Go to this comic explanation. Getting astronauts to the moon and back is hard, xkcd.com.

The subject matter of the comic varies from statements on life and love to mathematical , programming , and scientific in-jokes. Some strips feature simple humor or pop-culture references. It has a cast of stick figures , [3] [4] and the comic occasionally features landscapes, graphs, charts , and intricate mathematical patterns such as fractals. Munroe has released five spinoff books from the comic. The first book, published in and entitled xkcd: volume 0 , was a series of select comics from his website.

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In popular music, a supergroup is a musical group formed by collaboration of existing solo artists and members of other musical groups. This comic shows a marquee announcing a concert by a supergroup formed from members of 10 musical groups whose names all begin with a number. The name of the supergroup is the sum of all those numbers, , followed by the names of the original groups without their numbers. It's reasonable to estimate that there could be up to 32 members of the supergroup see below. The title text indicates that this supergroup performs a medley or mashup of songs whose titles begin with numbers. The title of this "supersong" is similarly formed by adding the numbers and following with the rest of all the titles. Notably, none of the referenced songs were written by any of the referenced artists. There are two more songs titled or known as " Miles" , by Hedy West and Tori Amos, which could be added up to replace "A Thousand Miles" or " Miles" in the tally as well. These counts mostly reflect the bands' most well-known lineups and may vary with time due to changes in membership or the band's status. On the other hand, especially for worthy causes , it is possible that groups with many changing lineups could perhaps rustle up far more members than they ever had at a given time, never mind any prominent artists who may guest-star in their own right. It is unclear whether the band names would be pro rated in these circumstances for example, if only one of gecs joined the supergroup, would they only count for 50? Randall may be making a subtle reference to mathematical physics, in which a supergroup is a generalization of a group based on the concept of supersymmetry. Readers with a background in mathematics or physics might find their expectations thwarted upon realizing that the comic is about mundane musical collaborations. But then, "every supergroup carries a natural group structure, but there may be more than one way to structure a given group as a supergroup" [1] , which applies to both contexts.

Archived from the original on March 10, xkcd.com, Transcript This transcript is incomplete.

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The seventh What If? No matter how fast you push something, it will never quite get up to light speed. Our universe has some weird rules. But the closer something gets to the speed of light, the more energy and momentum it has—and this energy and momentum go up without limit. As it falls, it compresses the air in front of it. When the air is compressed, it heats it up. This is the same thing that heats up spacecraft and meteors—actual air friction has little to do with that.

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Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki! Help us finish them! Go to this comic explanation. A Venn diagram compares two or more sets such as properties of objects and shows, in the middle area, traits or properties common to both, and in the non-overlapping regions, those that are unique to the respective sets. This diagram is simultaneously both a Venn diagram and a proximity illustration. Shockwaves refer to intense, high-pressure waves caused by the immense force of the impact, that propagate through the materials of both planets at speeds exceeding the speed of sound. Impact ejecta refers to the material expelled from the impact site, consisting of molten rock, vaporized material, and solid debris, flung out at high velocities due to the energy released by the collision. The title text notes that Mars is still orbiting by itself, though presumably out of the frame of the "diagram", since we can't see it.

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He has no name, though he is commonly referred to as "Black Hat" or "Black Hat Guy" in the community. Status: Rejected for requiring an unreasonably large rocket. After the Moon mission, the lander ascent-stage only ascends to dock once more with the command module in lunar orbit, the crew then return to Earth in the command module leaving the abandoned ascent stage behind, in most cases purposefully directed to impact the Moon. December 17, Archived from the original on May 16, Archived from the original on October 21, Retrieved December 21, Retrieved November 5, Archived from the original on February 3, The title only contains , regardless of what the lyrics say, and it's about forming composites of songs' names. It's an interesting associated fact, but doesn't deserve to be treated like it's a potential candidate. It is unclear whether the band names would be pro rated in these circumstances for example, if only one of gecs joined the supergroup, would they only count for 50? It was released on September 3, Archived from the original on January 9,

Note: You are welcome to reprint occasional comics pretty much anywhere presentations, papers, blogs with ads, etc. If you're not outright merchandizing, you're probably fine.

Another recurring character is a man with a beret , sometimes simply referred to as "Beret Guy". Retrieved September 27, Explanation: This concept involved launching different parts of the spacecraft into Earth orbit using multiple rockets and then assembling them before heading to the Moon. October 16, Retrieved August 20, Retrieved September 25, Retrieved February 26, But then, "every supergroup carries a natural group structure, but there may be more than one way to structure a given group as a supergroup" [1] , which applies to both contexts. The Gazette. Retrieved March 12, Please help editing it! This transcript is incomplete. Retrieved May 30,