Slam! Bam!

[CAllenDoudna]

Something I've heard and always believed but have never seen any figures attached to it (just too lazy to look?): You are the Captain of the SSSS Titanic (Solar System Starship Titanic) on humanity's maiden flight to Proxima Centari. The SSSS Titanic has a mass of approximately that of an aircraft carrier. It is cruising along at 10% of the speed of light when it strikes a volleyball-sized object of ice and rock with a mass of 20 kilograms.

For perspective, could you state the results in terms of the Hiroshima Bomb and what will be left of the SSSS Titanic?

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

If only 10% of the kinetic energy of the collision is turned into "useful" destruction then that's 900 terajoules of destructive energy. The Hiroshima bomb was something like 60 terajoules. That make's the collsion about 15 "A bombs". I trust you can figure what happens to the good ship SSSS Titanic.

Hint : There won't be any lifeboats.

EDIT : corrected the math