Original static webpage version: https://what-if.xkcd.com/64/
this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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Only involves one single person, still manages to destroy the earth.
I thought he would have stopped at space as you are not going "up" anymore.
For me, "down" is the direction that gravity you pulls you, and "up" is the opposite. As you leave Earth's orbit and orbit the Sun instead, you start moving away from the Sun at 1 foot per second instead, unless doing so would move you back into a planet's orbit.
What if you hit some sort of local Lagrange point?
If all the local sources of gravity are balanced out, then you'd probably start moving away from the center of the galaxy.
Alternatively, if you are constantly x feet above a spot on Earth, where x is the number of seconds since takeoff, we have a different problem. You'd be in a geostationary orbit above that spot, following the Earth as it rotates, no matter how far away you are. After about ~~~~10~~~~ 860,000 years, you are traveling at the speed of light, and this only increases. Hope your body doesn't impact Proxima Centauri.
Edit: Oops, I assumed an Earth day is 1 second instead of 86,000 seconds
Edit: Oops, I assumed an Earth day is 1 second instead of 86,000 seconds
I don't think that one's been made for Youtube yet.
Dead?