Big Big Question

Would you go on a mission to mars? What about if it was a one-way mission? And you were by yourself?

Blatant Plagiarism: Gizmodo

Hold on, let me explain. One of the great small pleasures in my life is looking through the referrer logs on my websites — especially the google/etc search-string listings. The logs for Big Big Question are shaping up nicely: we’re a popular stop for those shopping for body parts or examining the ethics of torture, for example, based on previous questions.

But today’s question is from a referrer log search string that asks something I don’t think we’ve even contemplated. So let’s do it!

I’m open to any parameters you care to tweak, including what exactly you’re using for a slingshot, how you’re tracking this animal down, and what the definition of “can” is.

Take the Earth: orbiting the sun, revolving once every twenty four hours, towing the moon and any number of manmade satellites in orbit.

And then it explodes.  So!  A few questions:

What happens to the debris?  In the short run and in the long run?  What happens to the moon?  And how does the planet get blown up in the first place?  And how blown up does it get, exactly, anyhow?

(Inspired by a classic Ask Metafilter question.)

If the world were to suddenly stop spinning and we all got flung off it into deep space, what would be your favorite way to be saved before the vast frigidity and emptiness of space turned you into a bloated frozen explode-y corpse? Points for originality.

Extra points if you bear in mind the terrific velocity of your trip into space or can convincingly explain why you’d be moving slowly.

(Suggested by shmegegge!)