June 7, 2026

Interstellar Inquiries: Hot Jupiters, Rocket Fuel Solutions & Debunking the Artemis Conspiracy |...

Interstellar Inquiries: Hot Jupiters, Rocket Fuel Solutions & Debunking the Artemis Conspiracy |...
Interstellar Inquiries: Hot Jupiters, Rocket Fuel Solutions & Debunking the Artemis Conspiracy |...
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Interstellar Inquiries: Hot Jupiters, Rocket Fuel Solutions & Debunking the Artemis Conspiracy |...

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Q&A: Ultra Hot Jupiters and Rocket Fuel Recycling In this engaging Q&A episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Jonti Horner tackle a variety of intriguing questions from listeners. From the nature of ultra hot Jupiters to the complexities of reusing spent rocket fuel, this episode is packed with insights and cosmic curiosities.

Episode Highlights:

- Ultra Hot Jupiters Explained: David from the Sunshine Coast asks about the origins of the materials that form stars and their planets, leading to a fascinating discussion about the lifecycle of stars and the cosmic recycling of elements.

- Rocket Fuel Reuse: Mark from the UK presents a thought-provoking idea regarding the potential for reusing water ice as rocket fuel, prompting a deep dive into the challenges of capturing exhaust and the physics of propulsion.

- Flat Earth Conspiracies: Paul shares his experiences with flat Earth discussions and questions the feasibility of the Artemis mission, allowing Jonty to clarify orbital mechanics and the importance of relative motion in space travel.

- Astrophysical Insights: The hosts explore the implications of past star generations on our solar system's composition and the future of space travel technologies, including the potential for innovative propulsion methods beyond traditional rockets.


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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.


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- Origins of Stellar Material

- Challenges in Rocket Fuel Reuse

- Addressing Flat Earth Theories

- Future of Space Propulsion Technologies

- Cosmic Recycling of Elements

Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/33672985?utm_source=youtube

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.230
Hello again. Thank you for joining us on


00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.230
another episode of Space Nuts. This is a


00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.869
Q&A edition where we take audience


00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:08.629
questions, we write them on a piece of


00:00:08.639 --> 00:00:11.350
paper, and then we throw it in the bin.


00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:12.870
Or we could answer them. We'll do the


00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:15.669
we'll do the latter. Uh we got questions


00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:18.950
about ultra hot Jupiters. We've also got


00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.910
questions about reusing spent rocket


00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.630
fuel. How would you do that? That is the


00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:27.910
question. And wow, how about this one?


00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:30.870
uh some conspiracy with the Arteimus 2


00:00:30.880 --> 00:00:33.910
mission being fake. We'll deal with all


00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:37.190
of that on this episode of Space Nuts.


00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.990
>> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9


00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:43.750
Ignition sequence start.


00:00:43.760 --> 00:00:44.630
>> Space nuts.


00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:49.590
>> 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1


00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:50.790
>> Space Nuts.


00:00:50.800 --> 00:00:53.750
>> Astronauts report. It feels good.


00:00:53.760 --> 00:00:55.990
And joining us to try and sort all that


00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:57.830
out is Jonty Horner, professor of


00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.310
astrophysics at the University of


00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.310
Southern Queensland. Jonty, hello.


00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.310
>> Good afternoon. How are you going?


00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:07.109
>> I'm all right. Um, please forgive me if


00:01:07.119 --> 00:01:09.109
there's some background noise. There's a


00:01:09.119 --> 00:01:11.590
gardener working uh just out the front


00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:13.670
and uh he's doing a fabulous job, but


00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.510
he's using that kind of equipment that


00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:18.149
you would um you know demolish a


00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.789
building with. So,


00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:22.789
uh, it's, um, it's making quite a noise,


00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.270
but, um, I've got my filter turned on,


00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:26.870
so hopefully it'll just keep it blocked


00:01:26.880 --> 00:01:28.230
out.


00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:30.149
>> All these things work. I use this


00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:31.670
microphone in front of me for my


00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:33.190
teaching. I've had a number of occasions


00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.270
where the dog has decided that I'm


00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:36.630
paying too much attention to my students


00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:38.630
and not enough to her. It's got quite


00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.149
vocal about that, lying just behind me


00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:41.510
here next to her fire at the minute,


00:01:41.520 --> 00:01:43.590
keeping her really happy. And they say,


00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:44.950
"No, we can't hear anything." It's


00:01:44.960 --> 00:01:46.389
amazing how well it can filter out the


00:01:46.399 --> 00:01:47.670
background noise.


00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:49.749
>> Yes. the the technology is amazing


00:01:49.759 --> 00:01:51.910
today. It's like the telescope uh


00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.069
technology that exists now where you can


00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:57.429
filter out light pollution. I don't know


00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.830
how that works, but uh it it's quite


00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.389
incredible these days. Works really


00:02:02.399 --> 00:02:04.709
well. I want to answer some questions,


00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:06.069
>> of course.


00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:08.710
>> All right, let's start with David who's


00:02:08.720 --> 00:02:11.430
on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland,


00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:12.550
Australia.


00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:14.070
>> Good day, David from the Sunny Coast


00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.949
again. I just had a question regarding


00:02:16.959 --> 00:02:19.910
the uh ultra hot Jupiter article from


00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:24.070
the latest uh podcast. Um in the


00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:27.750
conversation uh Fred mentioned that uh


00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:29.750
the belief is that stars and their


00:02:29.760 --> 00:02:32.390
surrounding planets all form from the


00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.430
same uh disc of material. Um I just had


00:02:35.440 --> 00:02:38.949
a question regarding that material. Um


00:02:38.959 --> 00:02:41.589
you know we tend to think of stars as


00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:44.390
helium or hydrogen or both. Um and


00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.550
everything else is metals and we believe


00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.910
those metals formed within stars uh due


00:02:49.920 --> 00:02:54.949
to the the fusion burning. Um where then


00:02:54.959 --> 00:02:57.509
does this material come from in the disc


00:02:57.519 --> 00:02:59.750
to form a star and its planets? Is that


00:02:59.760 --> 00:03:02.550
from material from do we believe it's


00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.509
material from another star or um is


00:03:05.519 --> 00:03:07.350
there some other process going on?


00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.670
Thanks very much for the show. Awesome.


00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:10.630
See you guys.


00:03:10.640 --> 00:03:12.630
>> See you David. Thank you very much. Uh,


00:03:12.640 --> 00:03:14.070
that sounds like it's right up your


00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:16.630
alley. It is. It's a good fun one to


00:03:16.640 --> 00:03:18.869
start off with. So,


00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.670
you're right. The material that forms a


00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.070
star and its planets has been


00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:26.550
contributed to by many previous stars.


00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:28.229
If you imagine after the Big Bang, the


00:03:28.239 --> 00:03:30.710
universe was hydrogen and helium and a


00:03:30.720 --> 00:03:32.149
tiny little bit of other stuff, but it


00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:34.470
really was barely any, which meant that


00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:36.550
a generation of stars formed that were


00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.229
pretty much just hydrogen and helium and


00:03:38.239 --> 00:03:41.030
very little else. those stars in the


00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:42.550
early universe. There's some speculation


00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:44.710
that they may have been including mega


00:03:44.720 --> 00:03:47.589
mega stars much bigger than something


00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:50.070
called the Edington limit, which is a


00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:52.149
maximum size that a stable star can


00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:54.309
form. Um, because of how dense the


00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:55.589
universe was at the time, how much


00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:57.110
material there was. So, the speculation


00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.030
of stars up to several thousand solar


00:03:59.040 --> 00:04:01.589
mass. Those stars lived fast, died


00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.309
young, put material back out into the


00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:06.789
cosmos. So they when they died they


00:04:06.799 --> 00:04:07.990
locked some of the stuff up in the


00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.429
remnants to the left whether that's a


00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:11.589
black hole a neutron star a white dwarf


00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:14.470
whatever but the material that was flung


00:04:14.480 --> 00:04:16.390
outwards to form planetary nebula


00:04:16.400 --> 00:04:19.110
supernova remnants disperses into the


00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.230
wider galaxy. So what's happening over


00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:24.310
the eons of time since the Milky Way


00:04:24.320 --> 00:04:28.469
formed is that stars are born live and


00:04:28.479 --> 00:04:31.030
die. And when they die they pollute the


00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.749
cosmos. stars of different masses throw


00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:35.270
out different things. But what that


00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:37.270
means is that you gradually get more and


00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:40.070
more heavy elements introduced into the


00:04:40.080 --> 00:04:41.670
galaxy


00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.310
and that goes to basically contributing


00:04:44.320 --> 00:04:45.990
to the composition of the gas and dust


00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.230
that floats around in our galaxy. If you


00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:50.070
go out particularly this time of year in


00:04:50.080 --> 00:04:51.990
the southern hemisphere,


00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.350
but if you go out on any night of the


00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:54.710
year where you can see the Milky Way,


00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:56.390
you'll see that in the band of the Milky


00:04:56.400 --> 00:04:58.070
Way there are dark patches as well as


00:04:58.080 --> 00:05:00.870
glowing pits. The dark patches are not


00:05:00.880 --> 00:05:02.550
places where there is a lack of stars,


00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.070
but rather they're places where you've


00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:06.629
got huge clouds of gas and dust that are


00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.469
opaque that are blocking the light from


00:05:08.479 --> 00:05:09.909
stars that are more distant from


00:05:09.919 --> 00:05:12.230
reaching us. So they look dark in the


00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:14.469
same way that a cloud blocking the sun


00:05:14.479 --> 00:05:16.390
will look dark in the daytime. It's


00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:18.710
blocking the light from beyond.


00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:20.230
>> These clouds can be vast and they're


00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.590
made of gas and dust and ice, mainly


00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.070
hydrogen and helium, but lots of other


00:05:26.080 --> 00:05:28.629
stuff. And that other stuff will vary


00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.469
from one cloud to the next to some


00:05:30.479 --> 00:05:32.469
degree based on what it has been


00:05:32.479 --> 00:05:34.629
polluted with. You'll have some degree


00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:36.150
of stirring a pollution of the galaxy


00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:37.749
that gives you a background increase in


00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:39.670
the amount of metals. But you'll also


00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:41.830
get local variation.


00:05:41.840 --> 00:05:43.990
We see all of this incidentally in the


00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.350
Earth and the solar system. There are


00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.749
suggestions that the solar system when


00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:50.150
it was young, when it was forming, was


00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:52.070
polluted by a nearby supernova that


00:05:52.080 --> 00:05:53.830
injected a load of very short-lived


00:05:53.840 --> 00:05:56.710
radioactive aluminium isotopes that


00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:58.629
accelerated the degree of melting you


00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.469
got in the rocky objects. There's a


00:06:00.479 --> 00:06:03.590
signature there of a radioisotope that


00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:05.189
is so shortlived there shouldn't really


00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:06.790
have been any of it around unless a


00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:08.950
supernova exploded nearby to pollute our


00:06:08.960 --> 00:06:10.870
disc, giving us a slightly unusual


00:06:10.880 --> 00:06:12.950
composition. There is also an argument


00:06:12.960 --> 00:06:16.309
that the earth is richer in gold than it


00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.670
should be because sometime between 10


00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.430
and 100 million years before the


00:06:21.440 --> 00:06:23.430
formation of the earth 10,000 light


00:06:23.440 --> 00:06:25.830
years from where we formed two neutron


00:06:25.840 --> 00:06:27.749
stars collided polluting the universe


00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.230
with gold and some of that gold made its


00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:31.749
way into the disc that formed the solar


00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:33.510
system got incorporated into the earth


00:06:33.520 --> 00:06:35.350
and that's why we are a particularly


00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:37.430
good place for goldfinger to have his


00:06:37.440 --> 00:06:39.270
little layer. We've got more gold than


00:06:39.280 --> 00:06:40.390
normal.


00:06:40.400 --> 00:06:42.309
>> Yeah. What this all means is that those


00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:44.390
giant clouds of gas and dust in space


00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:46.950
can be truly vast. When they get nudged


00:06:46.960 --> 00:06:48.629
and start to collapse, they'll fragment


00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.510
in their interiors to form a cluster of


00:06:51.520 --> 00:06:53.909
stars. A number of stars which form from


00:06:53.919 --> 00:06:55.110
the little denser bits. It's like


00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.029
driving through a fog bank. Fog banks


00:06:57.039 --> 00:06:58.710
are never one uniform density. There's


00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.510
denser patches and less dense patches.


00:07:01.520 --> 00:07:03.029
A denser patch in one of these clouds


00:07:03.039 --> 00:07:05.029
will collapse under its own gravity. And


00:07:05.039 --> 00:07:07.189
so you'll get lots of stars forming. As


00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:08.950
that material collapses in, it collapses


00:07:08.960 --> 00:07:10.629
down to form a disc around that young


00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:13.430
proto star that's forming. And the star


00:07:13.440 --> 00:07:15.430
and the disc are made of the same


00:07:15.440 --> 00:07:17.029
material. They're forming from the same


00:07:17.039 --> 00:07:19.749
material. All that material that was in


00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:21.270
the cloud from which they formed, which


00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:23.110
has been polluted over many generations


00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.909
of stars, cooking the books to give the


00:07:25.919 --> 00:07:28.309
composition that is uniform across that


00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.950
star system. What happens then is that


00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:33.110
the star forms from everything. So it


00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.070
ends up very rich in hydrogen and helium


00:07:36.080 --> 00:07:37.430
because even after all that pollution


00:07:37.440 --> 00:07:39.510
and all that evolution, hydrogen and


00:07:39.520 --> 00:07:41.270
helium still make up something like


00:07:41.280 --> 00:07:43.909
between 98 and 99% of all atoms in the


00:07:43.919 --> 00:07:46.070
universe. So the star is going to be


00:07:46.080 --> 00:07:48.070
primarily hydrogen and helium with a


00:07:48.080 --> 00:07:50.629
thin veneer of everything else. In other


00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.230
words, the abundance of material in the


00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.869
star is going to be very nearly


00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.670
identical to the disc. Star will end up


00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:00.309
being very very very slightly enriched


00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:03.510
in the heavier elements because from the


00:08:03.520 --> 00:08:05.029
disc particularly when the disc is


00:08:05.039 --> 00:08:07.110
cleared there will be some infall of


00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:09.430
rocky and icy objects like the crotzing


00:08:09.440 --> 00:08:11.589
comets we see that fall into the star


00:08:11.599 --> 00:08:13.350
and pollute it further but that's a very


00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:15.430
very small effect compared to the


00:08:15.440 --> 00:08:17.909
overall mass of the star. The planets


00:08:17.919 --> 00:08:21.670
that form in the disc in the main form


00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:23.189
through a process we call core


00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:24.550
accretion. There are some suggestions


00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.629
that some of the most massive stars can


00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:28.869
form through a process of instability.


00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.589
And those planets and binary stars would


00:08:31.599 --> 00:08:34.230
form with a more stellar composition. I


00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.230
lots of hydrogen and helium. But most


00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.110
planets will form by initially growing a


00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.909
core of solid material because when you


00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.949
have a low mass, you can't capture gas.


00:08:44.959 --> 00:08:47.190
And so therefore, your composition will


00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:49.190
be dominated by the solid material, not


00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.269
the gases. So that's why the Earth


00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:53.430
doesn't have free hydrogen and helium.


00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:55.110
We simply don't have enough mass to


00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.509
capture those gases and hold on to them.


00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.750
So even though 99% of all atoms in the


00:08:59.760 --> 00:09:01.670
protolanetary disc were hydrogen and


00:09:01.680 --> 00:09:03.750
helium, we didn't get any of them other


00:09:03.760 --> 00:09:05.509
than the odd tiny little atom that was


00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:09.030
captured in a cage of other compounds


00:09:09.040 --> 00:09:11.670
called a clatherate that was captured in


00:09:11.680 --> 00:09:14.470
a mineral effectively. So we barely got


00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.070
any of those materials cuz we couldn't


00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:17.430
hold on to them. We formed out of the


00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:19.829
solid stuff. The further you are from


00:09:19.839 --> 00:09:21.750
the star, the colder it is. So the more


00:09:21.760 --> 00:09:23.190
different things can be solid rather


00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:24.710
than gas, which is where we get the idea


00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:26.630
of the ice line. If you're far enough


00:09:26.640 --> 00:09:29.670
from the star, water can be solid, can


00:09:29.680 --> 00:09:31.430
be ice. And then suddenly you've got a


00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:33.750
lot more solid material because water is


00:09:33.760 --> 00:09:35.590
about the most common compound there is


00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:37.350
almost. It's the most common atom


00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:39.030
hydrogen and the third most common atom


00:09:39.040 --> 00:09:40.389
oxygen. And you put them together and


00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:42.790
you've got water. So beyond the Iceland,


00:09:42.800 --> 00:09:44.150
you've got a lot more solid and you can


00:09:44.160 --> 00:09:46.870
form planets much quicker, which is why


00:09:46.880 --> 00:09:48.710
we think Jupiter and Saturn got so big


00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:50.710
so quickly. They had a lot to feed on


00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:52.550
and eventually they got massive enough


00:09:52.560 --> 00:09:54.070
that their gravity was strong enough to


00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:55.509
hold on to the hydrogen and helium


00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:59.590
around them and devour it. So they are


00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:01.670
in composition much more similar to the


00:10:01.680 --> 00:10:03.190
sun than the earth is because they have


00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.430
all that hydrogen and helium. But they


00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.990
are still richer in solid material than


00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.350
the sun because at their core there was


00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.190
all the solid material needed to build


00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:14.790
up before they could gather the hydrogen


00:10:14.800 --> 00:10:17.110
and helium. So they started with more


00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.269
solids effectively.


00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:20.870
The earth doesn't really have the


00:10:20.880 --> 00:10:22.550
hydrogen and helium. So all of the


00:10:22.560 --> 00:10:24.870
objects in our solar system will have


00:10:24.880 --> 00:10:27.590
the same composition as the sun in terms


00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:29.430
of the balance between carbon and


00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.069
nitrogen and iron and all these elements


00:10:32.079 --> 00:10:33.990
except for where they weren't able to


00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.069
capture those elements because they


00:10:36.079 --> 00:10:37.910
weren't massive enough. So the earth


00:10:37.920 --> 00:10:39.269
doesn't have the same compensation as


00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.590
the sun in terms of hydrogen and helium


00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.470
but it does in terms of iron, nickel,


00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.230
all those things. The balance between


00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:47.910
iron and nickel and carbon and all the


00:10:47.920 --> 00:10:50.150
rest of it are all in the same ratios as


00:10:50.160 --> 00:10:52.470
the sun. to an incredibly high


00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:54.550
precision. And that's because we all


00:10:54.560 --> 00:10:56.790
formed from the same material that quite


00:10:56.800 --> 00:10:58.230
rightly was mentioned in the question


00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:00.230
was delivered by past generation of


00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:01.590
stars that had lived and died. And


00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:02.870
that's where the whole concept that we


00:11:02.880 --> 00:11:04.949
are stardust comes from. It's the idea


00:11:04.959 --> 00:11:06.710
that all the atoms that we need to make


00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:09.350
us us other than the hydrogen atoms were


00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:11.110
cooked in the furnaces of stars long


00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.190
dead. All the carbon, the nitrogen, the


00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:15.350
oxygen, the phosphorus, all those


00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:16.630
wonderful things, calcium that


00:11:16.640 --> 00:11:18.550
contributes to our bones are all


00:11:18.560 --> 00:11:20.150
stardust from stars that died long


00:11:20.160 --> 00:11:23.110
before the solar system formed.


00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:26.470
There you are, David. Um, a very uh good


00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.110
answer that um pretty well nails it. Uh


00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.030
I I like the bit about there being more


00:11:31.040 --> 00:11:32.790
gold on Earth than there probably would


00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:34.790
be in other places. So, uh that's that


00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:36.069
was a lucky break for us.


00:11:36.079 --> 00:11:37.910
>> Absolutely.


00:11:37.920 --> 00:11:39.269
and so useful for a lot of the


00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:40.550
technology we use. Not just for those


00:11:40.560 --> 00:11:43.190
who like sparkly bangly things, but you


00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.590
know, there's a lot of those rarer type


00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:46.949
things that


00:11:46.959 --> 00:11:48.790
>> are so vital to our technological growth


00:11:48.800 --> 00:11:50.870
that are all linked to our ancient


00:11:50.880 --> 00:11:52.310
heritage.


00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:55.509
>> Yeah. Yeah. Um well, there's gold,


00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.310
there's lithium, there's there's just so


00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.590
many of them. But we've got a lithium


00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:00.870
mine just down the road from us,


00:12:00.880 --> 00:12:01.190
actually.


00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:03.990
>> And that is probably all primordial. The


00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:05.430
lithium in the universe is almost


00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:07.829
certainly almost all leftovers from the


00:12:07.839 --> 00:12:09.509
big bang.


00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.550
>> Wow, that's interesting. There you go,


00:12:12.560 --> 00:12:14.150
David. Thanks for the question. Lovely


00:12:14.160 --> 00:12:15.910
to hear from you. Hope all is well on


00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:18.470
the Sunshine Coast. This is Space Nuts


00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.230
with Andrew Dunley and Jonty, a Q&A


00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:24.629
edition.


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00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:14.230
>> Roger. Also,


00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:16.949
>> Space Nuts. And we're with Professor


00:14:16.959 --> 00:14:19.990
Jonty her today with Freda Away. Uh


00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.710
let's go to our next question. Jonty,


00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.030
this one comes from Mark.


00:14:25.040 --> 00:14:27.910
>> Hi, it's Mark from Sunny SH in the UK.


00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:29.430
I've eventually plucked up the courage


00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.670
to send in an audio question. So here


00:14:31.680 --> 00:14:34.470
goes. You quite often mention water ice


00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.389
and the possibility of turning this into


00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.550
rocket fuel. So my what do you think


00:14:38.560 --> 00:14:40.710
sort of question is when you use


00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.110
hydrogen and oxygen as a rocket fuel it


00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.430
must turn back into water ice in space.


00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:47.189
So do you think it would be possible to


00:14:47.199 --> 00:14:49.110
collect it and reuse it through the


00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.350
rocket engine again massively reducing


00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.189
the amount of fuel you would need to


00:14:53.199 --> 00:14:55.189
carry for an extended journey to say to


00:14:55.199 --> 00:14:58.310
Mars. I've sort of drawn up an idea but


00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.230
what do you think once again? Keep up


00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.110
the great work from the UK.


00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:04.710
>> Thank you Mark. It's an interesting


00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.710
idea. Uh my first thought when I first


00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.509
heard the question was um how how would


00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.389
how would you collect it? That that


00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:16.230
might be the first challenge. That would


00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:17.350
be a bit of the challenge. I mean the


00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:18.790
thing is your exhaust is being pushed


00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:20.629
out of the back of the rocket at very


00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:23.509
high speed in a very dispersed form. Now


00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.030
the rocket's going forward because


00:15:25.040 --> 00:15:26.550
you're throwing the things out the back.


00:15:26.560 --> 00:15:28.310
You've got the momentum being


00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:30.870
transferred. And it's equivalent, I


00:15:30.880 --> 00:15:33.110
guess, to you, the way I'd visualize


00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.350
this is imagining again sitting on an


00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.509
ice rink on a wheelie chair. So you've


00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:39.430
got no friction whatsoever, really


00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.750
slippy, and you're holding, normally I'd


00:15:41.760 --> 00:15:43.269
just say one medicine ball, but instead


00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:44.710
imagine that you're holding a big bag of


00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.509
short puts. You throw a short put away


00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:49.110
from you, and you'll recall in the other


00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.470
direction. You throw another shot put,


00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:51.829
and you'll speed up, and you'll move in


00:15:51.839 --> 00:15:53.189
the opposite direction to the direction


00:15:53.199 --> 00:15:55.990
your short puts are going. So that's how


00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:57.350
you'll work. And that's essentially what


00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:58.790
you're doing with a rocket. you're


00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:00.470
pushing material out of the back and


00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:02.550
you're moving the opposite way because


00:16:02.560 --> 00:16:04.230
overall the momentum is conserved


00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:05.829
between the stuff going one way and you


00:16:05.839 --> 00:16:08.710
going the other. The problem with the


00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.189
rocket itself capturing its own exhaust,


00:16:11.199 --> 00:16:13.910
pumping it back in and reusing it is


00:16:13.920 --> 00:16:15.670
then you're taking that momentum and


00:16:15.680 --> 00:16:16.790
bringing it back to you, which means


00:16:16.800 --> 00:16:18.069
you're getting pulled back towards it


00:16:18.079 --> 00:16:20.790
and you'll end up having gone nowhere


00:16:20.800 --> 00:16:22.550
to some degree. So imagine now that


00:16:22.560 --> 00:16:25.509
situation with the short puts on the ice


00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.829
shrink, but instead you've got a really


00:16:27.839 --> 00:16:29.670
efficient bungee code so that when you


00:16:29.680 --> 00:16:30.949
throw them away, they bounce back and


00:16:30.959 --> 00:16:32.949
you catch them again. What'll happen is


00:16:32.959 --> 00:16:34.470
as they're moving away from you, you'll


00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:35.990
wheel away from them and then as they


00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:37.269
get pulled back towards you, you get


00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:38.389
pulled back towards them and you end up


00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:40.870
where you started from


00:16:40.880 --> 00:16:42.550
a little bit of change due to friction


00:16:42.560 --> 00:16:44.870
and loss of energy and stuff like that.


00:16:44.880 --> 00:16:46.870
So the problem I'd have with this


00:16:46.880 --> 00:16:48.790
suggestion is not actually the idea of


00:16:48.800 --> 00:16:51.910
capturing and reusing the fuel. Um, I


00:16:51.920 --> 00:16:53.350
think that will be hard because the fuel


00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.030
will get so dispersed. So, water will be


00:16:55.040 --> 00:16:56.310
scattered out there and it's just easier


00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:57.829
to go get a big lump of ice from


00:16:57.839 --> 00:16:59.509
somewhere than to try and pick up


00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.189
individual water molecules or small


00:17:01.199 --> 00:17:03.350
grains of ice, disperse over a large


00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:05.669
area. But the idea of being able to


00:17:05.679 --> 00:17:07.270
capture it from the same rocket and


00:17:07.280 --> 00:17:09.029
reuse it would get you into this problem


00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:10.710
of having to pull back material that


00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:12.630
you've pushed away, which means you'll


00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.230
be pulling yourself back to where you


00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:16.549
started from. So, you can't get away, I


00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:19.270
think, from that momentum issue there.


00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:21.110
So I think it's two different things. I


00:17:21.120 --> 00:17:23.750
think if you had the ability to instead


00:17:23.760 --> 00:17:25.669
of using hydrogen and oxygen as a fuel


00:17:25.679 --> 00:17:28.230
and burning them to be water, you could


00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:31.029
instead have a rocket fired powered by


00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.830
firing pellets of water out of the back.


00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:35.510
You could fire them at a target that


00:17:35.520 --> 00:17:38.310
captures them, collect them, and reuse


00:17:38.320 --> 00:17:39.750
those pellets for something else. But


00:17:39.760 --> 00:17:41.350
that target would get pushed around by


00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:43.510
the arriving water pellets. So you'd


00:17:43.520 --> 00:17:44.789
want to be clever with that, and you'd


00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:46.390
need to continually change its orbit and


00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:47.510
stuff.


00:17:47.520 --> 00:17:49.350
So, in theory, potentially you could


00:17:49.360 --> 00:17:50.950
gather the fuel for use on another


00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:53.430
rocket without it being the rocket


00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.669
you're flying that gathers that fuel.


00:17:55.679 --> 00:17:57.190
But in reality, you're dispersing it


00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:58.630
over such a large area that


00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.029
unfortunately it wouldn't be that


00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:02.470
practical anyway. Especially when we've


00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.470
got just huge lumps of ice floating


00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:05.669
around anyway. I mean, you and I have


00:18:05.679 --> 00:18:07.750
both been photographing a beautiful lump


00:18:07.760 --> 00:18:09.750
of ice flying through the solar system.


00:18:09.760 --> 00:18:11.909
There we go in the background.


00:18:11.919 --> 00:18:14.230
That's enough fuel for missions forever


00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.150
more if we were to go and mine there.


00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:17.830
And that's a lot more efficient to mine


00:18:17.840 --> 00:18:21.990
one big comet or asteroid for water ice


00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.230
or mine the moon for water ice than try


00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:25.830
and catch it when it's dispersed. I


00:18:25.840 --> 00:18:28.549
think so it's a really good idea.


00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:29.990
>> It's really good thinking but it's


00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.029
something that wouldn't work. I think


00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:33.350
that's the way I'd view it.


00:18:33.360 --> 00:18:35.669
>> It it'd be very complicated and as you


00:18:35.679 --> 00:18:37.830
said um trying to capture it in the ship


00:18:37.840 --> 00:18:40.150
you're actually propelling would be


00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:41.830
counterproductive.


00:18:41.840 --> 00:18:44.549
>> Yes. using another spaceship to capture


00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.830
the ice after it's been expelled


00:18:47.840 --> 00:18:49.270
uh would be difficult because it would


00:18:49.280 --> 00:18:51.190
spread out too far, but then you're


00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:55.029
using the same technology to chase the


00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.830
ice that's been spent already and


00:18:57.840 --> 00:18:59.750
spending more to get the ice back. So,


00:18:59.760 --> 00:19:02.150
it yeah, it's a catch 22. It's just


00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:04.150
going to keep going around and around.


00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:07.350
So, um yeah, it makes it a little bit


00:19:07.360 --> 00:19:09.669
difficult. Uh Mark, but uh thanks for


00:19:09.679 --> 00:19:12.390
your question. Um, that was a fun one


00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.990
actually. But, uh, yeah. Um, yeah, I


00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.590
like the way people think, but I


00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:19.909
suppose, um, just to expand on it a bit,


00:19:19.919 --> 00:19:22.950
um, there's going to come a time where


00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:24.789
using those kinds of fuels probably


00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:26.549
won't be necessary. They're developing


00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:28.710
all sorts of different kinds of engine


00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:31.830
technology. Uh, everything from solar


00:19:31.840 --> 00:19:35.990
sails to scramjets and and they don't


00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.270
use that kind of fuel.


00:19:37.280 --> 00:19:38.549
>> There's all sorts of things you could


00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.950
do. I mean again going back to the Bobby


00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:42.710
verse which I mentioned before the van


00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.110
probes going through they used kind of


00:19:45.120 --> 00:19:47.270
um ram scoops essentially initially in


00:19:47.280 --> 00:19:49.430
the book set they then move on to other


00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.830
kind of speculative sci-fi things but


00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:53.590
initially the idea of having a fusion


00:19:53.600 --> 00:19:55.750
drive where you scoop up hydrogen atoms


00:19:55.760 --> 00:19:57.190
and turn them into helium and push them


00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:00.070
out the back where in front of you you


00:20:00.080 --> 00:20:01.669
deploy a big thing that gathers the


00:20:01.679 --> 00:20:03.110
hydrogen you're moving through. This is


00:20:03.120 --> 00:20:04.870
also what they did in Tal Zero by Paul


00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.710
Anderson is, you know, you're moving


00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:08.230
really quickly. You gather hydrogen from


00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.070
in front of you and compress it like a


00:20:10.080 --> 00:20:12.150
ramjet effectively.


00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:13.430
There's all these kind of things, but


00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.990
they will all unless we get to truly


00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.310
sci-fi type things like warp drive or


00:20:18.320 --> 00:20:20.950
air drives or or whatever, which require


00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:22.390
physics to be somewhat different than


00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.110
how we currently understand it, you


00:20:25.120 --> 00:20:27.510
still have either a source of


00:20:27.520 --> 00:20:30.310
propellant, which you then get rid of


00:20:30.320 --> 00:20:32.870
out the back one way or the other, or


00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:34.950
with solar sails, you're using the


00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.230
stellar wind, and that pushes you away.


00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:40.870
Um, people who are sailors can probably


00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.390
tell you a lot more about the complexity


00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:43.990
of how you can tack into the wind and


00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.590
move across the wind. But the wind, the


00:20:45.600 --> 00:20:48.230
solar wind is incredibly tenuous


00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:49.510
compared to the wind in the Earth's


00:20:49.520 --> 00:20:50.950
atmosphere. So, you need a very, very


00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:53.190
big sail. And I think that will be


00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:56.070
somewhat limiting if you wanting to do,


00:20:56.080 --> 00:20:57.990
I guess, Star Wars style dog fight


00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.190
maneuvers. You wouldn't do that with a


00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:01.430
solar sail. So, people will pick the


00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:02.870
right technology for the kind of mission


00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.110
that they want. And that was where the


00:21:05.120 --> 00:21:07.430
Dawn mission which went to series and


00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:09.110
Juno in the asteroid belt was really


00:21:09.120 --> 00:21:11.909
interesting. So it used an ion drive


00:21:11.919 --> 00:21:14.630
where it was using I think ionized xenon


00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:17.590
and that kind of drive achieves a much


00:21:17.600 --> 00:21:19.830
much lower thrust but can operate for


00:21:19.840 --> 00:21:21.590
much much longer time. So it's very


00:21:21.600 --> 00:21:24.310
energy efficient. Um but it wouldn't be


00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:25.669
any good for getting off the surface of


00:21:25.679 --> 00:21:27.430
the earth but it's very very good for


00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:28.789
cruising around the solar system when


00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.029
you're not in a rush. And so what will


00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:32.870
happen is I think different people will


00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:35.190
have different types of drives for


00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.230
different types of scenario


00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:40.789
and choose the one that works best.


00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.789
>> Yeah. But to get off the planet at the


00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:44.870
moment, you you need rockets. There's


00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.590
there's no real other technology that


00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:49.350
will get you out there. I know they've


00:21:49.360 --> 00:21:52.710
been trying um sort of catapult


00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.549
technology u which um could deploy


00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:00.630
satellites in the future. Um, I think


00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.230
you'd need to be in the right place on


00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:04.149
the planet to take advantage of the u


00:22:04.159 --> 00:22:06.070
the rotation of the earth so that you


00:22:06.080 --> 00:22:08.149
don't have like you couldn't do it too


00:22:08.159 --> 00:22:09.909
far away from the equator, that kind of


00:22:09.919 --> 00:22:11.430
thing. But


00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:14.230
>> um at the moment uh yeah, the um the


00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.789
standard old rocket engine is uh is the


00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:18.950
best option at the moment. So, um, part


00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:20.710
of where the refueling station idea


00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:22.710
around the moon comes from, which is,


00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.230
you know, if you have to take your fuel


00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:25.510
with you, you're carrying a lot of extra


00:22:25.520 --> 00:22:26.789
weight. So, you've got to burn extra


00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:28.549
fuel to carry that fuel, which means


00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:29.830
you're carrying extra weight. So, you


00:22:29.840 --> 00:22:31.669
got to take even more fuel to burn to


00:22:31.679 --> 00:22:32.789
carry the weight of the fuel you're


00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:34.950
carrying to carry the extra fuel. And


00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:36.789
so, it becomes very inefficient very


00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:38.390
quickly. So, if instead you can have


00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.750
small launches from Earth and then


00:22:39.760 --> 00:22:41.669
refuel once you're beyond the Earth,


00:22:41.679 --> 00:22:43.909
that's a lot more effective. I mean the


00:22:43.919 --> 00:22:45.190
other thing that people have suggested


00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:46.549
long term


00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:47.909
>> as a solution to get things off the


00:22:47.919 --> 00:22:49.510
earth more cheaply are things like space


00:22:49.520 --> 00:22:53.190
elevators which are probably still far


00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:55.350
science fiction. I don't don't think we


00:22:55.360 --> 00:22:56.950
have the material science to do that nor


00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:59.029
the political will. I mean putting that


00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:00.470
in perspective just saw the announcement


00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.710
this week that the vast inland rail


00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:05.430
project that was happening in Australia


00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.110
is no longer happening because it got


00:23:07.120 --> 00:23:09.350
too expensive and it's taken too long.


00:23:09.360 --> 00:23:11.029
And if we can't build a railway between


00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:13.350
Melbourne and Brisbane, it's going to be


00:23:13.360 --> 00:23:15.990
really hard to build an elevator between


00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:17.590
low Earth orbit, well, between the


00:23:17.600 --> 00:23:19.909
Earth's surface geostationary orbit and


00:23:19.919 --> 00:23:21.430
the same distance beyond for the


00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:23.029
counterweight.


00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:26.149
>> Yeah. So, I don't happen anytime soon.


00:23:26.159 --> 00:23:28.149
>> We can't even get a tunnel under the


00:23:28.159 --> 00:23:29.909
Blue Mountains between the West and


00:23:29.919 --> 00:23:34.070
Sydney. Uh, and that's despite the fact


00:23:34.080 --> 00:23:36.390
that that road is currently closed due


00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:39.350
to a structural failure in Victoria


00:23:39.360 --> 00:23:42.230
Pass, the old convict bridge that's uh


00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.710
200 years old or something or 150 years


00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:47.190
old and it's finally given up the ghost


00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:50.470
and so they've closed the road. It's,


00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:52.149
>> you know, people have been screaming for


00:23:52.159 --> 00:23:56.630
a tunnel for decades and um, no


00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:58.310
politicians willing to spend the money


00:23:58.320 --> 00:23:59.909
because there aren't enough people.


00:23:59.919 --> 00:24:01.110
Bottom line is there aren't enough


00:24:01.120 --> 00:24:02.630
people living west of the mountains to


00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:06.070
make it worth your vote. That's really


00:24:06.080 --> 00:24:07.909
what it comes down. That's what it comes


00:24:07.919 --> 00:24:08.310
down to.


00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:09.510
>> Reminds me of the old episode of The


00:24:09.520 --> 00:24:11.190
Simpsons when I was a kid with the kind


00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:13.029
of argument about books for the kids or


00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:14.310
something. It was just the two people at


00:24:14.320 --> 00:24:16.710
the front room basically shouting but


00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:18.950
our children but taxes. But our children


00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.029
but taxes and it's this whole thing of


00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.390
everybody wants it but nobody wants to


00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.669
pay for it.


00:24:23.679 --> 00:24:26.149
>> Exactly. Yes. Uh a tunnel under the Blue


00:24:26.159 --> 00:24:27.990
Mountains would be wonderful though.


00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.710
Although um some some of the arguments


00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:32.710
against it are well it'll only save you


00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:34.470
15 minutes. I think it'll probably save


00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:36.630
you more gets pretty log jammed up over


00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:37.190
that mountain.


00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:39.190
>> We have those arguments about the Towa


00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:41.669
bypass and that's been a godsend. I mean


00:24:41.679 --> 00:24:41.990
it


00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:44.310
>> yeah I used it uh last year. Yeah it's


00:24:44.320 --> 00:24:44.870
fantastic.


00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.630
>> It fell apart and bits fell onto it


00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.350
because it contracted fairly cheaply.


00:24:49.360 --> 00:24:51.510
Um, but that has saved about half an


00:24:51.520 --> 00:24:53.269
hour from my trip down to Brisbane when


00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:55.110
I go to the airport and stuff because I


00:24:55.120 --> 00:24:57.029
don't have to go through Towa and all


00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:58.549
the freight companies use it even though


00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:01.029
the tolls are quite high because the


00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:02.470
tolls being high is a lot better than


00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:03.909
the wear and tear on their vehicles


00:25:03.919 --> 00:25:05.510
coming up the old road into Toumba and


00:25:05.520 --> 00:25:06.950
having to stop at all the traffic lights


00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:09.510
and stuff. So, it worked out for them.


00:25:09.520 --> 00:25:11.269
It's better for the TWA council because


00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:12.630
they're having to repair less potholes


00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:14.390
and they have less accidents. And it's


00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:15.750
one of those things where it was a


00:25:15.760 --> 00:25:16.950
little controversial when it was being


00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:19.510
built, but since it's set, it's been a


00:25:19.520 --> 00:25:21.350
godsend. And I'd like to think that some


00:25:21.360 --> 00:25:22.710
of these big infrastructure projects


00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:24.470
would be the same. And I mean, a space


00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:26.710
elevator would be wonderful, but you


00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:27.990
know, going to be hard to persuade


00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:29.590
people to commit to building it even


00:25:29.600 --> 00:25:31.830
when we get the technology. I think


00:25:31.840 --> 00:25:34.630
>> ah wait till there are orbiting hotels.


00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.549
That'll change everything. You wait and


00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:38.390
see.


00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:40.789
might be waiting a while. Uh, thanks


00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.549
Mark. Lovely to hear from you. This is


00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.029
Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley and


00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:49.750
Professor Jonty Hornath


00:25:49.760 --> 00:25:51.110
and I feel


00:25:51.120 --> 00:25:54.149
>> space nuts. One more question, Jonty.


00:25:54.159 --> 00:25:57.510
And this one comes from Paul.


00:25:57.520 --> 00:25:59.669
>> Good day, Gre and Andrew. Paul here from


00:25:59.679 --> 00:26:03.269
sunny Bris Vegas. I have a question and


00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:07.909
a dirty secret that I need to confess.


00:26:07.919 --> 00:26:11.029
So, I was on this flat earth group on


00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:14.230
Facebook. Yes, I know. I know. Anyway,


00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:17.750
this guy provided some AI information


00:26:17.760 --> 00:26:20.950
which was absolutely correct to contend


00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.430
that there is no way that the Aremis


00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:25.350
mission could have ever caught up to the


00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:26.870
Earth because the Earth travels a hell


00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:29.269
of a lot faster than that little


00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:32.549
spaceship. I pointed out that they


00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:35.110
didn't need to catch up to the Earth at


00:26:35.120 --> 00:26:36.710
all. They just needed to point


00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:39.510
themselves to where it was going to be


00:26:39.520 --> 00:26:43.750
and then splash down, land safely, and


00:26:43.760 --> 00:26:45.830
be applauded by everybody except for the


00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:48.230
flatearthers like him, uh, who are


00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:51.990
absolutely insensed at the moment about


00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:57.029
how it's all fake as per usual. Anyway,


00:26:57.039 --> 00:26:59.430
I told him that if he really wanted a


00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:01.430
better answer, exact answer, he really


00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.070
needed to talk to an astrophysicist. So


00:27:04.080 --> 00:27:06.630
my second question is well my first


00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:08.870
question is was I on the right track and


00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:11.669
my second question is are there any


00:27:11.679 --> 00:27:13.909
astrophysicists or any websites out


00:27:13.919 --> 00:27:17.110
there that can give us an animation of


00:27:17.120 --> 00:27:19.190
the earth


00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:22.390
going around the sun that also has uh


00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.710
the animated version of the Artemis


00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:26.710
going around the moon so that we can see


00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:29.350
the whole thing in context in terms of


00:27:29.360 --> 00:27:31.190
the solar system or at least our area of


00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:34.390
the solar system. uh it's not going to


00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.470
convince him, I'm sure, but I think it'd


00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:38.789
be pretty cool to see something like


00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:41.269
that. Anyway, thanks very much,


00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:43.510
gentlemen, for the show as always. Um,


00:27:43.520 --> 00:27:46.149
look forward to it every week and catch


00:27:46.159 --> 00:27:48.630
us later. Have a good one. You too,


00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.190
Paul. Thank you. If only we had an


00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:52.710
astrophysicist


00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:56.230
somewhere nearby. Jonty any any I know I


00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.470
know he was directing the question to


00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:02.149
Fred but he asked for an astrophysicist.


00:28:02.159 --> 00:28:04.070
>> Yeah we are legion for we are many.


00:28:04.080 --> 00:28:06.070
There's plenty of us around. It was


00:28:06.080 --> 00:28:08.310
always a thing when I was at uni of what


00:28:08.320 --> 00:28:09.669
title you use for what you're studying


00:28:09.679 --> 00:28:11.029
would depend on how bothered you were


00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:13.110
about the conversation cuz if you know


00:28:13.120 --> 00:28:14.950
if I told someone I was studying physics


00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.110
they'd very quickly edit st exit stage


00:28:17.120 --> 00:28:18.310
left. If I told them I was doing


00:28:18.320 --> 00:28:20.070
astronomy they'd stay and chat. And if I


00:28:20.080 --> 00:28:21.510
told them I was doing astrophysics


00:28:21.520 --> 00:28:23.269
they'd just look a little bit scared.


00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:27.190
Um, but I was doing all three. This is a


00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:29.830
an interesting one. I mean, I people


00:28:29.840 --> 00:28:32.870
like the flatearthers are difficult


00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:35.750
because there is no amount of truth, no


00:28:35.760 --> 00:28:37.510
amount of evidence that you can put


00:28:37.520 --> 00:28:39.029
before people who are convinced that


00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:40.549
they've been lied to.


00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:43.269
>> Um, other than talking to them gently


00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:45.590
about it. And it's like discussions of


00:28:45.600 --> 00:28:47.590
climate change I've had in the past with


00:28:47.600 --> 00:28:49.190
people who argue climate change isn't


00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:51.909
real. Arguing and fighting with people


00:28:51.919 --> 00:28:54.149
over this doesn't win hearts and minds.


00:28:54.159 --> 00:28:55.830
It just gets them more entrenched. But


00:28:55.840 --> 00:28:57.269
talking to them about it and talking


00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:00.230
about why we think something is a case.


00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:01.909
This is our evidence. This is what it


00:29:01.919 --> 00:29:03.430
is.


00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:05.029
That can be a little bit more fruitful I


00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:06.310
guess. But it is really challenging. I


00:29:06.320 --> 00:29:07.430
mean especially given that we had a


00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:08.870
beautiful eclipse of the moon just a few


00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:11.029
months ago where you can see that the


00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:13.750
shadow of the earth is round.


00:29:13.760 --> 00:29:14.789
>> I mean you know


00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:16.470
>> and that's the big argument. If the if


00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:19.110
the earth was flat, the shadow at some


00:29:19.120 --> 00:29:21.990
stage would be just a a line across the


00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:22.389
moon.


00:29:22.399 --> 00:29:24.470
>> We'd see the elephants and the turtle.


00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:26.950
>> Um the other thing is if the earth was


00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:28.230
flat, the cats would have pushed


00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:29.669
everything off the edge by now.


00:29:29.679 --> 00:29:31.269
>> Yes.


00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:31.750
>> Yes,


00:29:31.760 --> 00:29:33.430
>> that's the other one. But um


00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:33.990
>> Oh god.


00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:35.990
>> In terms of Artimus,


00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.389
at the end of the day, we know it


00:29:38.399 --> 00:29:41.190
happened because we saw it. You know, I


00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:43.750
was over in Europe at the time and my


00:29:43.760 --> 00:29:46.310
colleagues at UNISQ were happily sharing


00:29:46.320 --> 00:29:47.669
their own little footage of the


00:29:47.679 --> 00:29:49.590
spacecraft that they got from our


00:29:49.600 --> 00:29:52.630
telescopes. They have no reason to lie.


00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:55.110
They have no vested interest in this.


00:29:55.120 --> 00:29:56.230
It's not like they're secretly on the


00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:58.389
payroll of NASA, ignoring the fact that


00:29:58.399 --> 00:30:01.350
if it was faked, Russia and China would


00:30:01.360 --> 00:30:03.750
be racing to tell everybody because that


00:30:03.760 --> 00:30:06.230
would be the best PR victory ever. You


00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:07.269
know, it's the same with the moon


00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:10.149
landings in 1969.


00:30:10.159 --> 00:30:11.830
>> Did anybody really really think that the


00:30:11.840 --> 00:30:13.110
Russians would have stayed quiet if


00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:15.750
there was a sniff of it being faked?


00:30:15.760 --> 00:30:19.190
>> In fact, my great grandmother


00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:21.350
always thought the Apollo landings were


00:30:21.360 --> 00:30:24.549
faked. She She absolutely refused to


00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:25.590
believe it.


00:30:25.600 --> 00:30:27.990
>> But she grew up in an era before flight.


00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:32.389
>> Yeah. So, I can understand why she would


00:30:32.399 --> 00:30:33.669
she would think that, but she just


00:30:33.679 --> 00:30:35.110
thought it was all just some sort of


00:30:35.120 --> 00:30:37.510
publicity stunt, but I don't remember


00:30:37.520 --> 00:30:39.510
what they might have been trying to get


00:30:39.520 --> 00:30:40.389
publicity for


00:30:40.399 --> 00:30:41.669
>> because they beat the Russians. I mean,


00:30:41.679 --> 00:30:42.870
that's what it was to them or beat the


00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:44.789
Soviets as it was then. Have been pulled


00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:45.669
up on that a couple times.


00:30:45.679 --> 00:30:48.389
>> It was definitely a big PR exercise in


00:30:48.399 --> 00:30:49.029
that regard.


00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:51.269
>> I had a fun PhD student who worked with


00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:54.070
me, Jake Clark, Dr. check that out. Um,


00:30:54.080 --> 00:30:55.750
gave a wonderful talk a couple of times


00:30:55.760 --> 00:30:57.269
about


00:30:57.279 --> 00:30:59.909
the moon landings in 1969 and why they


00:30:59.919 --> 00:31:01.029
couldn't have been faked because we


00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:03.909
couldn't afford it. Talking about faking


00:31:03.919 --> 00:31:05.350
it with the technology we had at the


00:31:05.360 --> 00:31:06.549
time would have actually been more


00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:08.789
expensive than going there,


00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:10.789
>> which is fairly compelling for me. I


00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:12.149
mean, there's always a joke that, you


00:31:12.159 --> 00:31:13.590
know, yeah, the moon landings were


00:31:13.600 --> 00:31:14.870
always going to be faked, but they hired


00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:16.389
Stanley Cubri to direct and he was such


00:31:16.399 --> 00:31:17.830
a perfectionist that they demanded that


00:31:17.840 --> 00:31:20.950
they do it on site. Um, which is always


00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:24.950
the old joke. Um, with Artimus 2, there


00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:27.029
is abundant evidence that it really


00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:28.950
happened. Um, you can you could with a


00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:30.710
small telescope or binoculars go outside


00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:32.950
and see the spacecraft. And I mean, you


00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:34.310
can't fake that. It's not like we're


00:31:34.320 --> 00:31:35.750
beaming thoughts into your head and if


00:31:35.760 --> 00:31:37.190
you think we are, you can wear some tin


00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:41.430
foil. That's all good. Um, in terms of


00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:43.430
the argument that the earth is going too


00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:46.149
quick for this thing to catch up, that


00:31:46.159 --> 00:31:49.830
is in the kindest interpretation of it,


00:31:49.840 --> 00:31:51.669
that is


00:31:51.679 --> 00:31:53.669
allowing common sense based on your


00:31:53.679 --> 00:31:55.669
understanding of how day-to-day life


00:31:55.679 --> 00:31:59.350
works interfere with looking at how


00:31:59.360 --> 00:32:01.350
things would move through space. I can


00:32:01.360 --> 00:32:02.950
see why you would get to that. If you


00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:05.190
think about a small child running along


00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:06.630
with a model of Arteimus in their hand


00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:08.630
and a Ferrari driving down the motorway


00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:10.630
or insert other make of car driving down


00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:12.950
the motorway at 100 km an hour, the


00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:14.389
child is not going to catch the thing


00:32:14.399 --> 00:32:16.389
because they're not quick enough. And


00:32:16.399 --> 00:32:18.389
there are limits on how fast a child can


00:32:18.399 --> 00:32:19.990
run and how fast the car can move to do


00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:22.470
with air resistance.


00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.430
It's however almost similar to saying,


00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:27.029
you know, I can't throw a ball up in the


00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:29.110
air and catch it because I'm moving at


00:32:29.120 --> 00:32:31.830
over 1,000 km an hour around the Earth.


00:32:31.840 --> 00:32:33.430
So, I'm moving too fast to catch up with


00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:35.909
that ball. Doesn't work like that cuz me


00:32:35.919 --> 00:32:37.590
and the ball are both moving at 1,000


00:32:37.600 --> 00:32:40.470
km/h. And so, it's a relative speed


00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:43.190
between us that matters. The Earth is


00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:45.029
going around the Sun at about 30 km a


00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:47.750
second. That's demonstrably true.


00:32:47.760 --> 00:32:49.909
Arteimus moving in orbit around the


00:32:49.919 --> 00:32:52.950
Earth is moving around the sun at 30 km


00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:55.269
a second with the Earth. It's falling


00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:57.029
with the Earth. So, it's a relative


00:32:57.039 --> 00:32:58.950
speed that matters.


00:32:58.960 --> 00:32:59.350
>> Yeah.


00:32:59.360 --> 00:33:01.590
>> Now, if I went above the Earth onto the


00:33:01.600 --> 00:33:03.990
space station, but instead of orbiting


00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:05.990
the Earth and falling with things, I was


00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.870
able to use rockets to stand still or I


00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.190
had an an imaginary hovering platform of


00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:13.350
doom that wasn't moving. I'm out of the


00:33:13.360 --> 00:33:15.350
atmosphere. If I threw a ball up in the


00:33:15.360 --> 00:33:17.029
air, it would move away from the Earth


00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:18.230
and the Earth's gravity would slow it


00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:19.509
down and pull it back and it'd fall back


00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:21.190
down to me just the same as how it does


00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:24.870
on the ground. Now, if I was in orbit


00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:26.710
around the Earth and I was stood on the


00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:28.149
International Space Station and I tossed


00:33:28.159 --> 00:33:30.230
the ball upward, it would actually start


00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:31.669
moving on a different orbit around the


00:33:31.679 --> 00:33:33.029
Earth. So, while it would move up away


00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:35.029
from me and it would move down, it would


00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:36.470
be going around the Earth on an orbit


00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:38.070
that takes slightly longer to go around


00:33:38.080 --> 00:33:39.669
the Earth than I do. So, it'd also fall


00:33:39.679 --> 00:33:41.669
behind. And that would look like wind


00:33:41.679 --> 00:33:43.590
resistance, but it's actually just a


00:33:43.600 --> 00:33:45.830
quirk of orbital mechanics in that I've


00:33:45.840 --> 00:33:48.389
put it onto a different orbit. Um,


00:33:48.399 --> 00:33:50.230
because we are both falling at the time


00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:52.630
I let go of it. So, if we imagine our


00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:54.470
flat earther jumped off a cliff, and I'm


00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:56.230
not encouraging them to, please do not


00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:58.310
do this, but imagine one jumps off a


00:33:58.320 --> 00:34:00.549
cliff while holding one of the shortputs


00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:02.389
from the previous answer without it


00:34:02.399 --> 00:34:04.710
being on a bungee cord, and they let go


00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:06.870
of the shortput. The shortput will fall


00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:08.950
with them at the same speed.


00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:10.629
It won't move away from them and come


00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:12.790
back. It will accelerate downwards in


00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:14.790
exactly the same way that they do. And


00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:17.349
they'll only diverge once air resistance


00:34:17.359 --> 00:34:19.510
takes effect depending on which of them


00:34:19.520 --> 00:34:21.510
feels more air resistance.


00:34:21.520 --> 00:34:23.589
>> It's the it's the Galileo experiment,


00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:23.990
isn't it?


00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:25.430
>> So, if you're on the space station and


00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:26.950
you throw a tennis ball up in the air,


00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:28.470
you're both actually falling, but you've


00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:29.669
changed the speed of the tennis ball's


00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:31.510
falling so it'll move away from you and


00:34:31.520 --> 00:34:33.589
not appear to come back because you're


00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:36.149
both still falling. The reason all this


00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:37.829
is relevant to Arteimus is Arteimus


00:34:37.839 --> 00:34:40.310
boosted off towards the moon at a speed


00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.389
that was not greater than the escape


00:34:42.399 --> 00:34:44.710
velocity from the earth was a speed that


00:34:44.720 --> 00:34:46.869
was high enough to get to the moon and


00:34:46.879 --> 00:34:48.470
the moon stayed it around and flung it


00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:50.389
back towards the earth but then it fell


00:34:50.399 --> 00:34:53.190
towards the earth under earth's gravity


00:34:53.200 --> 00:34:56.310
moving with insufficient sideward speed


00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:57.829
that as it fell towards the earth it


00:34:57.839 --> 00:34:59.910
would miss us. it instead was going to


00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:01.109
hit us and they controlled it with


00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:02.630
rockets and stuff so that it entered in


00:35:02.640 --> 00:35:04.150
a controlled rather than uncontrolled


00:35:04.160 --> 00:35:05.670
fashion.


00:35:05.680 --> 00:35:07.109
>> What matters is not the speed the


00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:08.790
earth's moving around the sun or the


00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:10.470
speed the sun's moving around our galaxy


00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:11.990
or the speed that the galaxy's moving


00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:14.710
through space. All that matters is the


00:35:14.720 --> 00:35:16.069
difference in speed between the Earth


00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:17.430
and the object cuz they're moving


00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:20.310
together. This thing's speed was at no


00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:22.230
time greater than the escape velocity of


00:35:22.240 --> 00:35:24.710
the Earth. So, it could never fall away


00:35:24.720 --> 00:35:26.069
from the Earth and never come back. it


00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:27.430
was always going to go up and then come


00:35:27.440 --> 00:35:29.990
down again, unless they use rockets to


00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:31.430
boost it into an orbit around the moon


00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:33.430
to shed some of that energy, which they


00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:34.950
didn't. They instead slingshoted around


00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:37.829
the moon to come back. All of that is


00:35:37.839 --> 00:35:39.750
perfectly rational and straightforward


00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:42.069
given our understanding of physics, but


00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:44.069
it doesn't necessarily fit your common


00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:46.550
sense because you think about throwing a


00:35:46.560 --> 00:35:48.150
ball out of the window of your car while


00:35:48.160 --> 00:35:49.829
your car's doing 100 km an hour and the


00:35:49.839 --> 00:35:51.109
ball will fall behind you and never


00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:54.150
catch you up. And so a lot of the


00:35:54.160 --> 00:35:57.670
arguments that flat earth believers or


00:35:57.680 --> 00:35:59.190
other people in that kind of situation


00:35:59.200 --> 00:36:02.230
make and making good faith are built on


00:36:02.240 --> 00:36:04.630
a faulty groundwork


00:36:04.640 --> 00:36:07.109
where the common sense of how they


00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:08.790
understand the world to work is not


00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:10.310
applicable to the situation they're


00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:13.270
applying it in. Um and that's true of


00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:15.910
things like you know the oceans are


00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:17.510
flat. If you put a spirit level on them


00:36:17.520 --> 00:36:18.870
they're flat. Well, it's actually that


00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:19.990
they're curved, but they're curved at


00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:21.589
such a small level that locally they


00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:22.950
look flat.


00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:24.550
>> It's a subtle difference, but it's one


00:36:24.560 --> 00:36:25.910
that's easy to miss cuz it's hard to get


00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:28.069
your head around those distances.


00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:29.910
>> In terms of the animations, I just did a


00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:31.670
quick Google search for Artemis


00:36:31.680 --> 00:36:33.829
animation of orbit, and there's some


00:36:33.839 --> 00:36:35.990
beautiful The first hit is a NASA flight


00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:39.109
with an an annotated and animated path.


00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:41.030
There's a few YouTube videos. There is a


00:36:41.040 --> 00:36:43.109
Reddit link with an interactive 3D


00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:45.030
animation.


00:36:45.040 --> 00:36:47.109
There's a lot of little YouTube short


00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:49.589
videos that pop up which are not to


00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:51.670
scale because if you make things to


00:36:51.680 --> 00:36:52.950
scale, the sun and the earth and the


00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:54.950
moon are points that are one pixel


00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:57.990
across and the spaceship is a point that


00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.430
is a pixel across as well cuz nothing


00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:02.550
can be smaller than a pixel. Um there is


00:37:02.560 --> 00:37:04.230
a fabulous thing incidentally and I'm


00:37:04.240 --> 00:37:05.670
going to see if I can find it see if


00:37:05.680 --> 00:37:08.390
it's still there.


00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:10.230
There's a this great thing called if the


00:37:10.240 --> 00:37:14.790
moon were only one pixel. Um, it is. I'm


00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:16.150
going to see if the website still works


00:37:16.160 --> 00:37:18.069
cuz this is one of the great things on


00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:19.109
the internet. Here we go. I'm going to


00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:22.150
drop it into the chat window. Um, this


00:37:22.160 --> 00:37:24.390
was an effort somebody made many many


00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:25.910
long long years ago. I'll put this into


00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:27.349
the public chart which never gets used.


00:37:27.359 --> 00:37:30.230
There we go. To visualize the scale of


00:37:30.240 --> 00:37:33.430
the solar system. If you made the moon


00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:35.349
one pixel across, so the Earth will then


00:37:35.359 --> 00:37:38.310
be two or three pixels across. You can


00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:39.990
when you get bored of scrolling, you can


00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:41.430
click play. But if you open that up and


00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:44.069
then you scroll to the right to explore,


00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:46.470
you move along and then you've got the


00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:49.910
scale. One pixel is 3,500 km. So the sun


00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:52.069
is a fairly big blob. And you scroll to


00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:54.390
the right from the sun and you've got a


00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:56.230
distance at the bottom. Scroll to the


00:37:56.240 --> 00:37:57.670
right along way. We've gone 10 million


00:37:57.680 --> 00:37:59.829
km. This is this fabulous visualization


00:37:59.839 --> 00:38:03.670
to let you see how big things are. Oh,


00:38:03.680 --> 00:38:05.430
isn't that clever? How fast light


00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:08.550
travels. You can click and that's slow.


00:38:08.560 --> 00:38:11.829
It's fabulous. Now what you can do is


00:38:11.839 --> 00:38:14.230
you can skip through I need to find


00:38:14.240 --> 00:38:16.150
where there was a way to skip to the


00:38:16.160 --> 00:38:18.550
earth. Yes, at the top skip to the earth


00:38:18.560 --> 00:38:19.990
goes whiz whiz whiz whiz whiz really


00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:21.589
really quick goes past Venus comes to


00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:23.910
the earth and the moon if the moon is


00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:26.150
one pixel the earth is only two or three


00:38:26.160 --> 00:38:28.470
and you get the scale of them 8.3 light


00:38:28.480 --> 00:38:30.790
minutes out from the sun and think how


00:38:30.800 --> 00:38:33.430
far you've got to scroll to get there.


00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:34.790
>> Think with that moon being a single


00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:37.510
pixel how far it is from the earth. This


00:38:37.520 --> 00:38:39.270
is why none of those animations have


00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:41.990
things to scale because you wouldn't see


00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:43.510
the spacecraft. You wouldn't see the


00:38:43.520 --> 00:38:44.550
Earth and the Moon. They wouldn't look


00:38:44.560 --> 00:38:46.710
pretty. So, the caution there is that


00:38:46.720 --> 00:38:48.790
the animations that you see, even the


00:38:48.800 --> 00:38:50.550
beautiful NASA ones that show the flight


00:38:50.560 --> 00:38:53.829
path are not to scale and that can be


00:38:53.839 --> 00:38:55.510
misleading.


00:38:55.520 --> 00:38:57.910
That can also add to some of the


00:38:57.920 --> 00:38:59.430
arguments that this is fake cuz people


00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:01.430
say, "Well, the Earth and the Moon are


00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:02.390
much smaller than that and they're much


00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:05.190
further apart. That looks wrong." Um, so


00:39:05.200 --> 00:39:07.510
it's worth being explicit that these


00:39:07.520 --> 00:39:10.230
visualizations are definitively not to


00:39:10.240 --> 00:39:12.710
scale. Um, the one incidentally that was


00:39:12.720 --> 00:39:14.950
linked on the Reddit page looks like the


00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:16.470
dots for Earth and Moon actually are


00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:17.750
more to scale. So, I'll just drop that


00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:19.750
one in as well. Um, not sure how this


00:39:19.760 --> 00:39:21.030
works. I've not really played with it,


00:39:21.040 --> 00:39:22.630
but you can drag the orbits around. You


00:39:22.640 --> 00:39:24.470
can move them back and forward in time.


00:39:24.480 --> 00:39:26.069
You can see the in and out of plane


00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:28.870
stuff and you can move the visualization


00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:30.470
around even with the background stars,


00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:32.710
which is quite nice. Um, so that's worth


00:39:32.720 --> 00:39:34.150
a play as well. and that looks a bit


00:39:34.160 --> 00:39:36.470
more to scale and there's lots of things


00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:39.349
you can play with, but fundamentally


00:39:39.359 --> 00:39:41.829
we could see it. The hardest part for me


00:39:41.839 --> 00:39:44.069
about the small number of people who


00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:46.069
have argued that the Atimus mission


00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:48.390
didn't happen is that it's something


00:39:48.400 --> 00:39:50.069
that anybody on the planet could see so


00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:51.349
long as they own binoculars or a


00:39:51.359 --> 00:39:52.630
telescope.


00:39:52.640 --> 00:39:53.589
>> You could just point it somewhere and


00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:55.750
you could see the capsule moving there.


00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:57.349
If you really wanted at any time when


00:39:57.359 --> 00:39:59.750
the moon was above the horizon, you


00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:02.630
could track it round.


00:40:02.640 --> 00:40:04.390
And if you've got good enough gear, you


00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:07.109
can actually look at the moon and see


00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:10.230
the landing positions of some of the


00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:12.310
Apollo if you've got the gear.


00:40:12.320 --> 00:40:13.430
>> If you've got the gear, I mean, that's


00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:14.870
kind of spice satellite level. But what


00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:16.470
you can do if you've got slightly less


00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:21.190
of the gear is bounce laser pulses off


00:40:21.200 --> 00:40:23.109
the retroreflects that the astronauts


00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:25.109
left at those sites and measure the


00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:26.550
distance to the moon and measure its


00:40:26.560 --> 00:40:28.950
recession to an incredible precision.


00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:30.630
And we can only do that because people


00:40:30.640 --> 00:40:33.430
went to the moon.


00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:37.510
Yeah, absolutely. I


00:40:37.520 --> 00:40:39.829
I remember the the day that Neil


00:40:39.839 --> 00:40:42.150
Armstrong stepped on the moon. I was um


00:40:42.160 --> 00:40:46.230
sent home from school. I I I


00:40:46.240 --> 00:40:48.069
it's one of the strongest memories of my


00:40:48.079 --> 00:40:50.550
childhood. I was 7 years old and uh I'll


00:40:50.560 --> 00:40:53.349
never forget it. It was uh quite an


00:40:53.359 --> 00:40:55.990
extraordinary thing in human history.


00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:58.710
>> Inspirational. I mean, I I'm not old


00:40:58.720 --> 00:41:00.230
enough to have ever seen anybody walk on


00:41:00.240 --> 00:41:02.309
the moon. I'm hoping that'll change. But


00:41:02.319 --> 00:41:05.670
the generation of astronomers who are


00:41:05.680 --> 00:41:08.069
15, 20 years older than me, who were old


00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:09.750
enough to see the moon landings and take


00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:12.470
them in, so many people were inspired to


00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:14.710
become scientists and engineers by that.


00:41:14.720 --> 00:41:18.069
We got a whole generation of people


00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:19.750
across the sciences, across the


00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:21.829
engineering subjects that changed the


00:41:21.839 --> 00:41:25.030
world who were all inspired by seeing


00:41:25.040 --> 00:41:27.829
people walk on the moon. And it's kind


00:41:27.839 --> 00:41:29.510
of exciting to me, even ignoring the


00:41:29.520 --> 00:41:31.349
science, even ignoring the technology,


00:41:31.359 --> 00:41:32.630
that we're going to get that experience


00:41:32.640 --> 00:41:34.150
again in the coming years. If we go back


00:41:34.160 --> 00:41:35.270
there, there'll be a whole new


00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:37.190
generation who will change the world.


00:41:37.200 --> 00:41:38.950
All inspired by those people touching


00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:41.109
down and seeing it happen.


00:41:41.119 --> 00:41:43.670
>> Yes. Yes. So I was very lucky to meet


00:41:43.680 --> 00:41:46.470
one of them, Buzz Aldrin um some years


00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:49.750
ago came here because they built a right


00:41:49.760 --> 00:41:52.470
flyer at a place called Naramine just up


00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:54.390
the road from here 40 kilometers away


00:41:54.400 --> 00:41:57.030
and they took it out for a fly and he


00:41:57.040 --> 00:41:59.990
came for the occasion uh and gave a


00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:02.470
wonderful speech and uh a handful of us


00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:03.910
in the media got to interview him


00:42:03.920 --> 00:42:07.190
afterwards in a in a hanger at the same


00:42:07.200 --> 00:42:09.109
time as a helicopter decided to take


00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:09.510
off.


00:42:09.520 --> 00:42:11.589
>> Yeah, that sounds about right. He


00:42:11.599 --> 00:42:13.750
famously, you know what? You just you


00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:14.550
just go with it.


00:42:14.560 --> 00:42:16.470
>> Well, he very famously gave very short


00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:18.069
shrift to people who told him that he'd


00:42:18.079 --> 00:42:19.430
not been to the moon.


00:42:19.440 --> 00:42:21.030
>> Oh, I know.


00:42:21.040 --> 00:42:23.270
>> Uh yeah, I did actually raise that


00:42:23.280 --> 00:42:25.510
question, but gee, it was such an


00:42:25.520 --> 00:42:27.910
interesting answer.


00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:31.430
>> Yeah, fabulous. Um Paul, great question.


00:42:31.440 --> 00:42:35.510
Really enjoyed that one. And I


00:42:35.520 --> 00:42:37.829
>> I can understand your frustration, but


00:42:37.839 --> 00:42:39.829
um maybe just avoid those Facebook


00:42:39.839 --> 00:42:41.109
pages.


00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:43.270
Uh because you can't you just can't save


00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:45.510
them, my friend. Uh but good to hear


00:42:45.520 --> 00:42:47.109
from you. Uh if you've got questions for


00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:48.710
us, please send them in. Uh you can do


00:42:48.720 --> 00:42:50.230
that via our website, spacen


00:42:50.240 --> 00:42:53.829
nutspodcast.com or spacenuts.io.


00:42:53.839 --> 00:42:56.230
You can also visit us on social media.


00:42:56.240 --> 00:42:57.670
We've got the official Spacenuts


00:42:57.680 --> 00:43:00.630
Facebook page and the official uh what's


00:43:00.640 --> 00:43:03.510
the Instagram page. Uh we've also got


00:43:03.520 --> 00:43:06.630
the user group on Facebook. um the


00:43:06.640 --> 00:43:10.950
podcast uh group uh which is all it's a


00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:13.109
lot of fun. It's where people who listen


00:43:13.119 --> 00:43:15.190
get together, swap photos of stuff


00:43:15.200 --> 00:43:17.990
they've taken in space and uh ask


00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:20.870
questions and uh it is a really good


00:43:20.880 --> 00:43:23.589
group. So the Space Nuts podcast group


00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:26.630
on Facebook very much worth uh joining


00:43:26.640 --> 00:43:29.190
that one as well and hope you'll join us


00:43:29.200 --> 00:43:31.109
again real soon. And and thank you to


00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:33.270
Johnny her for filling in for Fred for


00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:35.430
the last month or so. It's been


00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:37.750
fantastic and hopefully we can get that


00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:39.510
uh photography special off the ground


00:43:39.520 --> 00:43:41.349
and get you back and have a chat about


00:43:41.359 --> 00:43:43.349
astrophotography, Jonty. That would be a


00:43:43.359 --> 00:43:43.910
real good one.


00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:46.390
>> Fingers crossed. That would be awesome.


00:43:46.400 --> 00:43:48.150
>> Yeah. All right. Catch you soon. Thank


00:43:48.160 --> 00:43:48.870
you so much.


00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:50.950
>> Later. Take care. Thank you very much.


00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:52.550
>> Professor Jonty Horner, professor of


00:43:52.560 --> 00:43:54.150
astrophysics at the University of


00:43:54.160 --> 00:43:56.150
Southern Queensland, filling in for


00:43:56.160 --> 00:43:59.430
Fred. Fred should be back uh next week


00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:01.829
or later this week. I can't I can't get


00:44:01.839 --> 00:44:03.829
my head around when it'll be. It's a


00:44:03.839 --> 00:44:06.710
time slip thing. Uh but uh yeah, thanks


00:44:06.720 --> 00:44:08.710
to Jonty for filling in and thanks to


00:44:08.720 --> 00:44:10.470
Hugh in the studio who couldn't be with


00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:14.390
us today because he's fake. Boom boom.


00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:15.990
And from me, Andrew Dunley, thanks for


00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:17.349
your company. We'll see you on the next


00:44:17.359 --> 00:44:20.069
episode of Space Nuts. Bye-bye.


00:44:20.079 --> 00:44:21.030
>> Space Nuts.


00:44:21.040 --> 00:44:23.109
>> You've been listening to the Space Nuts


00:44:23.119 --> 00:44:25.430
podcast


00:44:25.440 --> 00:44:28.390
>> available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,


00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:31.030
iHeart Radio, or your favorite podcast


00:44:31.040 --> 00:44:33.430
player. You can also stream on demand at


00:44:33.440 --> 00:44:36.309
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00:44:36.319 --> 00:44:40.760
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