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How did the Bugs in Starship Troopers launch the Asteroids towards earth?

Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked by Madeyedexter on April 2, 2021

In the Starship Troopers movie, Apart from a big Brain Bug and the plasma launching Bugs the bugs didn’t have enough technological equipment that could launch an Asteroid towards Earth precisely. I also remember that they used a wormhole or some kind of portal to send the asteroid from klendathu to earth across the galaxy.

Is there any explanation of how they built a wormhole or launched an Asteroid precisely and big enough to destroy a whole city?

3 Answers

In the media franchise, the bugs have a subspecies of Transport Bugs that are their primary means of space travel, as well as an even bigger subspecies called the Super Transport Bugs that can carry a Queen, several Transport Bugs, a full battery of Plasma Bugs, and a small army of Warrior bugs within it for 75 lightyears or so at the same speed as human ships.

There's no evidence that the Bugs themselves are capable of creating wormholes. It's more likely that if they use any, they're simply naturally occurring wormholes. Otherwise they rely on their own FTL capabilities (which the Transport Bugs have), or just launch spores into space at subluminal speeds.

And since the wormhole already exists, and they clearly have the ability to navigate interstellar distances, then it would just be a matter of maneuvering an asteroid through the wormhole in such a manner that it would strike Earth. They would probably use Super Transport Bugs and possibly the even larger Ice Bugs, which themselves are the size of large asteroids, to move the asteroids into the right trajectory.

Still, given that they haven't simply wiped out humanity with repeated bombardments or a single extinction-event-causing meteor strike, we can surmise that the Buenos Aires strike took considerable effort (and perhaps luck) on the part of the Bugs.

Also, I think it's important not to judge the capability of the Bugs in anthropocentric terms. It's not necessary for an alien species to have human-like technology/equipment or even human-like intelligence to be a threat.

Correct answer by Lèse majesté on April 2, 2021

In the news broadcast on the destruction of Buenos Aries it was said the meteor was knocked toward earth by the plasma bugs but how the wormhole it came through had been created wasn't explained (at least not AFAICR).

Answered by Nu'Daq on April 2, 2021

Not sure about the book, but in the movie, it's implied (or at least, left vague) that the bugs sent the asteroid at all. We never see them launch it, it just drifts past that ship at sub-light speed, giving Earth / other ships plenty of time to react and shoot it down.

Maybe the military lets it hit Earth as an excuse to go to war? Would fit with the more satirical tone of the film.

Answered by Spenny on April 2, 2021

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