kfeltenberger wrote:
Again...physics.
First, nuclear weapons aren't that effective in a vacuum unless they have a contact hit, and even that is questionable. Why? There is *no atmosphere* for blast propagation. Without that, a nuke is a momentary, very hot, and radioactively energetic point of light. There is no material to turn into fallout or to irradiate. Galactica's hull is ~5m thick, even without the extra armor. The nukes were rather small, and even so, they're trying to use the equivalent of a fraction of a multi-thousand ton explosive detonation to move something that masses millions of *tons*. Yes, it could cause maneuvering issues, but it isn't the fist of an angry god you seem to equate it to.
Second, there was no way, short of a direct surface detonation, to impart the heat to the hull, and even if there was, it was momentary. Re-entry takes time, not seconds, not minutes, but tens of minutes. Again, physics.
Pretty sure that nuke hit was a casaba howitzer type detonation right to the hull.
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Third, Galactica pretty much wrecked herself when she rammed the Colony. They knew it was the last voyage and would be lucky if the ship was able to jump...none of them expected to return. The passage was radiation, completely different.
Because she was already suffering structural failings after decades of service with substandard structural components. Even still, she was still structurally intact after the final jump broke her back.
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Physics. The compensators might work for people *in* the ship, but hitting the ground at terminal velocity, even if it is the ocean, is...well...terminal.
Yet people have survived impacts at terminal velocity as well as objects. If Galactica has a large area/mass ratio it is entirely feasible that it terminal velocity is irrelevant, as the impact force is absorbed across a wide enough area to survive the hit. And even if it doesn't:
Consider the Colonials are a mature space faring civilization that builds multi-kilometer vessels that don't tear apart from their own acceleration and have control of gravity to make advanced alloys. They more than likely have a greater understanding of gravity than we do and considering they can give inertia the finger, its not surprising what their ships can take.
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