How to dismantle a planet

[KAL 9000]

With grey goo, of course! (Von Neumann machines for technical people) Once a spacecraft carrying the grey goo lands on the planet, the tiny nanobots carried inside start building copies of themselves, mining the planet's resources to get enough material. Pretty soon, the entire planet is made of grey goo! Then, you either hit the self-destruct button or have the nanobots build spacecraft to carry them all away! Ta-da!

[Gaarst]

If your robots are made of whatever a planet is made of (rock, iron, nickel, or hydrogen or methane...), and able to withstand the pressures and temperatures inside a planet then why not ?

[RuBisCO]

Step 1: Get Freeza to blow it up.

[Vanamonde]

Is there enough chemical energy in the planet components to, when converted into self-destructing nanobots, overcome escape velocity and expel matter from the location of the planet? Because if not, you'll have a big boom and then all the mass will settle down into a ball again. Whether in the form of rock, bots, or debris, mass is mass and will exert the same intensity of gravity.

[KAL 9000]

[quote name='Gaarst']If your robots are made of whatever a planet is made of (rock, iron, nickel, or hydrogen or methane...), and able to withstand the pressures and temperatures inside a planet then why not ?[/QUOTE]
Well, let's imagine that this is the future, and nanobots are extremely strong and we put miniaturized fusion/fission reactors in them to convert planetary resources into metal/whatever they're made of.

[COLOR="silver"][SIZE=1]- - - Updated - - -[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[quote name='Vanamonde']Is there enough chemical energy in the planet components to, when converted into self-destructing nanobots, overcome escape velocity and expel matter from the location of the planet? Because if not, you'll have a big boom and then all the mass will settle down into a ball again. Whether in the form of rock, bots, or debris, mass is mass and will exert the same intensity of gravity.[/QUOTE]
Yes, I considered that. We have them manufacture tiny amounts of antimatter inside them. Then, when we trigger self-destruct, the turn off the magnetic confinement fields stopping the antimatter from interacting with normal matter. BOOM!

[sal_vager]

[U][URL="https://i.imgur.com/8N2y1Nk.gifv"]Hit it with another planet.[/URL][/U]

[Gaarst]

[quote name='KAL 9000']Yes, I considered that. We have them manufacture tiny amounts of antimatter inside them. Then, when we trigger self-destruct, the turn off the magnetic confinement fields stopping the antimatter from interacting with normal matter. BOOM![/QUOTE]

At that point, sending a big chunk of antimatter directly on the planet would be easier.

[quote name='sal_vager'][U][URL="https://i.imgur.com/8N2y1Nk.gifv"]Hit it with another planet.[/URL][/U][/QUOTE]

[s]Is that a simulation for the creation of the Moon ? Or just a random planetary collision ?[/s]
Nevermind, just watched the end of the gif :P

[ment18]

[quote name='KAL 9000']Yes, I considered that. We have them manufacture tiny amounts of antimatter inside them. Then, when we trigger self-destruct, the turn off the magnetic confinement fields stopping the antimatter from interacting with normal matter. BOOM![/QUOTE]
Why don't you just make a huge slug of antimatter and smash it into the target planet? Would be cheaper and easier than making a bunch of extra nanobots.

You could also have you grey goo build rail-guns and shoot the bits of planet into very different orbits, powered by those magical reactors.

Edit: Ninja'ed Edited November 23, 2015 by ment18

[Deadpangod3]

We could just not destroy the planet in the first place. Why are you destroying a planet? What did the planet do to you? Just let it be a planet and do planet things. :sticktongue:

[Gaarst]

[quote name='Deadpangod3']We could just not destroy the planet in the first place. Why are you destroying a planet? What did the planet do to you? Just let it be a planet and do planet things. :sticktongue:[/QUOTE]

But what if "it's coming right for us!" ? :huh:

[kiwi1960]

The minute you hit the core of the planet, it will explode. Also, what happens when the planet is gone and the planets left realign themselves to the sun, a missing gravity source will have implications... mind you, that depend on how fast you "dismantle" a planet. Even if you wanted to mine a planet, there will always be that which is not required. So maybe mine the surface... but the whole planet? Not even the Borg were THAT ambitious...

[Shpaget]

Why would it explode?
Also, the Sun contains 99.86% of the mass of the solar system. Even if Jupiter with its moons just disappeared, it would have negligible effect on the rest of the system.

BTW, does the goo come in neon green?

[Gaarst]

[quote name='Shpaget']Why would it explode?
Also, the Sun contains 99.86% of the mass of the solar system. Even if Jupiter with its moons just disappeared, it would have negligible effect on the rest of the system.

BTW, does the goo come in neon green?[/QUOTE]

Actually, if Jupiter disappeared that would be really bad for us: most asteroids in the Asteroid Belt are kept in their place by the gravitational pull of Jupiter, without it they would be less stable and end up crashing on our heads.
Also, interesting fact: the barycentre of Jupiter and the Sun is outside the "surface" of the Sun despite the mass difference between the two.

[EdFred]

If the nano-bots eat from the outside in, there won't be any pressures to withstand when they get near the core. You'll also want atmosphere consuming nanobots if the planet has one.

[Shpaget]

[quote name='Gaarst']Actually, if Jupiter disappeared that would be really bad for us: most asteroids in the Asteroid Belt are kept in their place by the gravitational pull of Jupiter, without it they would be less stable and end up crashing on our heads.[/QUOTE]

I'll have to ask for citation for that one.

[More Boosters]

[quote name='Vanamonde']Is there enough chemical energy in the planet components to, when converted into self-destructing nanobots, overcome escape velocity and expel matter from the location of the planet? Because if not, you'll have a big boom and then all the mass will settle down into a ball again. Whether in the form of rock, bots, or debris, mass is mass and will exert the same intensity of gravity.[/QUOTE]

But the debris isn't as uniform as the gas clouds that formed planets during accretion and there won't be enough central gravity to pull everything back together. What are you escaping from if you already unbound the planet?

But yeah if the goo ate everything then it would just be a planet of goo.

[quote name='Gaarst']
Also, interesting fact: the barycentre of Jupiter and the Sun is outside the "surface" of the Sun despite the mass difference between the two.[/QUOTE]

Well, Jupiter is the most massive planet in the system. I'd find it more interesting if Saturn and pals had the same. Edited November 23, 2015 by More Boosters

[NFUN]

According to [URL="http://qntm.org/destroy"]this[/URL] obvious completely accurate and not-at-all tongue-in-cheek source, nanotechnology will [B]*not*[/B] destroy the Earth, for the same reasons [B]Vanamode[/B] posted above.

[Superfluous J]

[quote name='Gaarst']But what if "it's coming right for us!" ? :huh:[/QUOTE]

Then we'd better keep it intact because it's far better for one thing to be coming for us than a huge cloud of debris. We're better off nudging it aside.

And before you say there's no time... If we don't have the time to move it aside, then we don't have the time to blow it up. Put on your sunglasses, crank up the Aerosmith, and kiss your loved ones goodbye.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

But, if you make nanobots out of a planet, then you still have a planet, just one arranged into lots of nanobots.

If you want to destroy a planet, look here: [URL]http://qntm.org/destroy[/URL]

[More Boosters]

[quote name='Mad Rocket Scientist']But, if you make nanobots out of a planet, then you still have a planet, just one arranged into lots of nanobots.

If you want to destroy a planet, look here: [URL]http://qntm.org/destroy[/URL][/QUOTE]

It's not just energy that is left after matter/antimatter annihilation.

[Shark4558]

a creative way to "cook and dismantle" A planet would be to stop all the orbital speed, causing it to be attracted to the sun and get dismantled in a very bright place....leaving no dangerous debris behind...

[EdFred]

After reading the ways to (and not to) destroy the earth....

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80hj8qvRplg[/url]

[NFUN]

[quote name='Mad Rocket Scientist']But, if you make nanobots out of a planet, then you still have a planet, just one arranged into lots of nanobots.

If you want to destroy a planet, look here: [URL]http://qntm.org/destroy[/URL][/QUOTE]

Way ahead of you. 7 minutes ahead, to be exact.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

[quote name='NFUN']Way ahead of you. 7 minutes ahead, to be exact.[/QUOTE]
Whoops, missed that.

[RainDreamer]

Knock it towards a black hole.