Kandor - the Bottled City

[Captain Kal]

Quoted from Supermanica entry:
"Later texts, such as the Supergirl story in Action Comics #316, assert that the city was covered by an airtight plastic "weather dome" at the time of the disaster to accommodate the "atmospheric experiments" being conducted there by the scientist Zor-El."

I've read that story and IIRC it showed Zor-El and Allura surviving via delayed projector reaction by being transported to the Survival Zone.

The purpose of Argo City's dome wasn't to survive Krypton's pending explosion but for Zor-El's atmospheric experiments.  He probably was developing weather control technology.  IOW, Argo City was lucky the dome was there since its purpose was not to survive the planetary catastrophe.

Also, minor correction: Argo City was destroyed by anti-kryptonite radiation (which only affects non-super Kryptonians).  X-kryptonite gives super-powers to Terrans like it did to Streaky the Super-Cat.

[dto]

OOPS!  Sorry for the Super-Gaffe, folks!  Yes, I really DO know the difference between X-Kryptonite and Anti-Kryptonite -- my mind must have been affected by someone in the Phantom Zone using Jewel Kryptonite!   :wink:

Yes, the dome over Argo City was never designed for the vacuum of space.  This might imply that at least a trace atmosphere still clung around the asteroid, relieving some of the internal air pressure on the dome.  Otherwise, when the meteors pierced the dome and lead sheeting, Argo City residents would have been blown into space by sudden decompression rather than dying a slow death by ANTI-Kryptonite poisoning.  (See, I got it right this time.)   :wink:

[Captain Kal]

Ah, very perceptive, Dto.

You're right.  Without that atmosphere outside the dome, explosive decompression would've been the result of those meteor piercings.  The dome was self-sealing but it couldn't have possibly have kept all the air in with a meteor storm like that.

I guess that brings us back to our speculation on this thread that Argo City's asteroid had enough gravity to keep its own atmosphere, which you've just proven via canon.

[llozymandias]

Yes, dto that was a very good point.