Battle for the Moon

A Moon Base may be built within a generation, but long term colonization will take many more. As more people travel and immigrate their, establishing more lunar colonies, tension between them and Earth could lead to conflicts and possibly even warfare.
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Battle for the Moon
Episode 160, Season 4 E46
Writers
Isaac Arthur
Editors
A.T. Long
Daniel McNamara
Darius Said
Edward Nardella
Jerry Guern
Keith Blockus
Matthew Acker
Matthew Campbell
Mark Warburton
Oliver Epsom
Steve Nixon
Stuart Graham beyondnerva.wordpress.com
Producer:
Isaac Arthur
Cover Artist:
Jakub Grygier www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier
Graphics Team
Fishy Tree www.deviantart.com/fishytree/
Gateway Foundation
Jeremy Jozwik www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_...
Katie Byrne
Ken York of YD Visual / ydvisual
Kristijan Tavcar www.miragedereve.com
LegionTech Studios
Mike Munt www.apogii.uk
Sergio Botero
Space Resources CGI
Narrator:
Isaac Arthur
Music Manager:
Luca DeRosa - [e-mail]
Music:
Ayreon, "Planet Y is Alive!" / @arjenalucassen
Kai Engel, "Endless Story About Sun and Moon" www.kai-engel.com/
Aerium, "The Islands moved while I was Asleep" / @officialaerium
Stellardrone, "Eternity" & "Breathe in the Light" stellardrone.bandcamp.com
Dracovallis, "For the King!" dracovallis.bandcamp.com/

[@hydrogenone6866]

*"We plan to go to the Moon not because it's hard, but because War never changes"*

[@ronschlorff7089]

President JFK's original quote, and challenge to American scientists at the time in 1962: "We choose to go to the moon, we choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard!" So, we just did it 7 years later. That's all!

[@alabastardmasterson]

Hydroass quote

@@ronschlorff7089 Assclown that's not what he said.

[@ronschlorff7089]

@ OK, BUTTigieg, enlighten us with your version of the quote!! ; )

@@ronschlorff7089 There is only one version of the quote and it isn't that horseshit you made up. JFK earlier asked "Why do this?" then answered his question with another question with "Why does Rice play Texas?" So later in the speech when he said "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.". He makes a call back to Rice vs Texas with "and do the other things", "and the others too.". Because JFK made his speech in Rice's home ground and they used to be the greatest team until Texas became an unstoppable monster. So it is a carefully crafted speech to get massive applause and cheers for the local team and make it seem as though those hicks approved of the Moon landing.

[@technolyze72]

A Moon Colony would probably get statehood before Puerto Rico

[@dirus3142]

A moon colony might have internal political reasons that would prevent it. Like Puerto Rico.

[@Bob-lr2xp]

That's probably because states are expected to financially contribute to the Union, which Puerto Rico's broke ass sure ain't doing.

[@olengagallardo8551]

..or be the latest autonomus region of Russia!

[@moriallen643]

@@Bob-lr2xp yea.. cause West Virginia and Alabama are raking in all that money for the union.. we all realize that like 3 states basically support the entire nation, right.. P. Rico is just a "territory" so these bankers and businesses can get some of those off coast tax breaks. Please think before you speak

[@Bob-lr2xp]

@@moriallen643 Please understand debt to GDP ratios before you speak. The lower the debt to GDP percentage, the better a state is able to pay off its debts and is more economically better off. The Top 5 states with the highest Debt-To-GDP ratio (AKA the most in debt): 1. New York 23.53% 2. South Carolina 19.19% 3. Rhode Island 19.06% 4. Alaska 18.69% 5. Nevada 18.59% The Top 5 states with the lowest Debt-To-GDP percentage (least in debt) 1. Wyoming 4.6% 2. Wisconsin 7.12% 3. Idaho 7.24% 4. North Carolina 7.35% 5. Utah 9.13% As of 2014, figures put Puerto Rico's Debt-to-GDP ratio at a whopping 66%. In 2015, Governor García Padilla admitted publicly that, "the debt is not payable", and that, if the government was unable to grow the economy, "we will be in a death spiral". Ultimately Congress will decide whether or not Puerto Rico can become a state, but if they stress a state's obligation to contribute to the Union rather than drain from it, Puerto Rico has no hope of becoming a state without massive reform.

[@TSteffi]

I really hope to live to the day when the first city lights on the moon become visible from earth. Then i can die in peace.

[@RevolverRez]

We're whalers on the moon, we carry a harpoon, but there ain't no whales so we tell tall tales and sing our whaling tune.

[@kregadeth5562]

YESSSSSSSSS

[@dracoargentum9783]

I approve of this message.

[@ronschlorff7089]

there will be "whales" on the moon, trust me. Guys and gals, gorging themselves on that fabulous Lunar cuisine!!

[@HuntingTarg]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZbVeGd_gbx4l5Y

[@starcitizenmodding4436]

Space whales confirmed

[@trooper_0257]

Isaac: 17:15 “Ohio totally won” Michigan: *[several people are typing]*

[@Lawofimprobability]

He's right. Ohio wanted Toledo and thought giving away the Upper Peninsula was a good deal. Turns out there was lots of copper in the Upper Peninsula and now Ohio would probably like to give back Toledo.

[@seanthompson9163]

@@Lawofimprobability Need to ad a little nuance: The federal government brokered the compromise to add the land of the UP to Michigan Territory in exchange for moving the border between MI and OH so Toledo would be in the latter. Ohio didn't have a say in which territory the UP was located in all that. The Cheeseheads and Yoopers have been a bit salty about it ever since, especially the Iron Mountain region.

[@Dr.Magic.]

Haha! Ahhh, Ohio pride. Totally irrational and misplaced, but incredibly real. O-H!

[@wolfcraft484]

honestly even as a michigander i honestly think the state that lost was the then territory of Wisconsin

[@barry6541]

He claims Ohio won, yet they still have Toledo. Curious.

[@PatandSylus]

2 videos in one week. I feel spoiled right now

[@dummyphone3575]

@Frank Heuvelman Somebody sounds jelly😂

[@faceofsarcasm4947]

How does this show keep getting better? The concepts, the visuals, and the titles are always on the rise. Just how?

[@WarhavenSC]

Science!

[@LiberalsGettheBulletToo]

Editors A.T. Long Daniel McNamara Darius Said Edward Nardella Jerry Guern Keith Blockus Matthew Acker Matthew Campbell Mark Warburton Oliver Epsom Steve Nixon Stuart Graham Graphics Team Fishy Tree Gateway Foundation Jeremy Jozwik Katie Byrne Ken York of YD Visual Kristijan Tavca LegionTech Studio Mike Munt Sergio Botero Space Resources CGI

[@peterterwilliger8190]

Practice ???

[@greanstreak04]

Teamwork.

[@winged]

Magic. snort.. snort..

[@billmalcolm4291]

The Earth at night, shines big and bright! *clap-clap-clap* Deep in the heaaaart of Luna!

[@Robert-mx3id]

did that ring like a bell too or boom like a gong

[@Felixkeeg]

"Newer science fiction works often use the Moon as just a waypoint on the journey to more distant places" Me: Well there's Andy Weirs Artemis I'm so glad you talk about this book

[@jameswhitman3934]

Industrializing the moon is one of my favorite episodes, and I love this subject. My idea is that the moon would specialize in the production of satellites, space stations, and epic vacation hotels. I can't wait for you to do an episode on early colony build up, from big falcon rockets to sky hooks

[@louiserocks1]

I hope one day there will be a "moon accent" or even a "moon creole" language lol

[@imienazwisko6527]

There would be at least one lunar dialect for every language that gets to the moon.

[@merrittanimation7721]

I propose we call them "Loonies"

[@Nethan2000]

With all the communication between the Earth and the Moon, I doubt it. People would have one lingua franca to speak to people from different nations but otherwise consume the culture of their homelands and speak in their national languages.

[@Empmortakaten]

We already sort of have an example with the ISS. Although the "standard" language is English, the Russian sections have much of their labeling in Cyrillic. As a result a lot of people up there end up speaking a patois/creole that is a bit English and a bit Russian among each other. Similar will probably happen on the moon pretty quickly. There will probably be a general standard language, but there will also be local creole that you speak to your neighbors too. Coming from a family that speaks "Spanglish", I already have a fair handle on being able to do this kind of switching from one langue or the other or the creole at will. And note that this is ON EARTH people do this. A mixed language existing within, or side-by-side with, the populations that speak both of the languages that it's derived from.

[@HuntingTarg]

@@Empmortakaten My 'Intro to Engineering' teacher was Indian (eastern, not American), and said that while he could not understand much of his instructors' lectures at first, he got the equations in his notes, went over the textbooks, and could 'make do' and at least pass his homework while he learned English. Because, after all, mathematics is a sort of universal language.

[@alien8treker2]

Robert Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" is a decent depiction of this subject. But on the subject of vulnerability of Lunar habitats, I think weapons designed to create a shock wave in the regolith would be very effective against buried infrastructure.

[@michaelault7389]

Yes that was an AWESOME book.

[@matthewgoodwin8093]

Moonquake bombs.

[@kevincrady2831]

Love the idea of the miner-nomads on the Moon! Come to think of it, "Space Nomads" (said miners, plus people who live permanently aboard trading, mining, or scavenging ships) could be a good future topic. :)

[@keefjunior4061]

Kevin Crady watch his Surviving in the Expanse. I feel like he has discussed these aspects before, but spread out across his catalog.

[@SailorBarsoom]

Wouldn't it be an amazing setting? Part rugged frontier town, part cruise ship, part wagon train, part Gypsy caravan. And they wouldn't just lumber between big established bases and colonies they trade with; they would trade with each other. I could see mining/habitat vehicles the size of the Titanic switching communities "for the next year," and now the teenage girl has to decide if she's going to run away from home to be with her lover who lives on this mining/habitat, or maybe she can convince him to do the migrating.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Sounds like it would be a good concept for some kind of lunar desert punk story.

[@patrick8116]

The concept of space hulks has always interesred me. Finding a derelict ship from out there to explore and learn about but without any violence involved.

[@ronschlorff7089]

I suppose those goat skin tents won't work on the moon, rats!! Hey, will there be rats on the moon; they went along for the ride in every other voyage of exploration and discovery!!

[@michakozowski6026]

Dear Isaac, I'll have you know that November in northeastern Europe is depressing as hell. Thank you for the two episodes and all the work you do. Have my deep gratitude.

[@theworldsays4264]

Whoever "owns" the moon will be the most important geopolitical power for centuries.

[@brasstacks2856]

Workers rebellions on the moon sounds like an awesome cold war scifi piece

[@Namkify]

Blake Burch Space Communism!?

[@lilsammich8252]

It's called Blood Moon.

[@brianmessemer2973]

Isaac, just when I thought you couldn't possibly get any cooler, you come up with this video title. 👏🤯

[@antonludwigaugustvonmacken8680]

2056 will be the year of the flat mooner conspiracy

[@TheEventHorizon909]

Anton Ludwig August Von Mackensen The Last Hussar in the future, once space travel is commercially viable, they will CEASE TO EXIST Because they can see the poles and stuff so rip flat earthers

[@antonludwigaugustvonmacken8680]

@@TheEventHorizon909 Maybe, idk. You can see the earth orbiting now and people still think its flat. Some people never live to fly so some may never live to commercially travel space either.

[@imienazwisko6527]

*THE MOON IS FLAT!* -Bob, have seen that the Moon if round, but that's obviously a planted memory.

[@lvkeyne]

Also, Earth landings are obviously faked. No one's ever been on Earth. How'd you even evolve on a planet with 6 times normal gravity?

[@antonludwigaugustvonmacken8680]

@@lvkeyne crack cocaine

[@Mr.E.D.]

Isaac, keep up the good work. As someone who has mild tone-deafness, you've got a wonderful voice and very easy to understand.

[@ivanrocha84]

Found this channel 2 weeks ago. This is my absolute favourite channel on KZbin. This is just brainfood at its finest. Greatings from Portugal Isaac!

[@mikelfunderburk5912]

Ivan Rocha Welcome aboard.

[@ivanrocha84]

@@mikelfunderburk5912 Thanks! This channel has so much more quality and in depth analysis of it's topics than TV shows with millions in budget. It's really amazing this guy...

[@inthefade]

Enjoy binging! I've been listening for... 5 months? 6? Still finding great videos every time I stop by. Also go give John Michael Godier's channel a listen for similar brain food ;)

[@mikelfunderburk5912]

memespace Also check out Joe Scott @ answers with Joe. Pretty good stuff as well.

[@ivanrocha84]

@@mikelfunderburk5912 that one I follow for quite some time now. He's pretty good to, but not Isaac good. 😀

[@RJStockton]

"Battle for the Moon" Guess I have no choice but to click on this and watch the whole thing.

[@andrewkahler9359]

Yea, its like "great, now i have to burn another 30-40 min on te youtubez."

[@godlessheathen7624]

Loved the idea of nomadic mining colonies, makes so much more sense .

[@belrosthebard8300]

I'm writing a story set on the Moon! Your videos have been, and continue to be, an invaluable source of education and inspiration. Thank you.

[@pocketheart1450]

I wrote a book where a large section of the plot takes place on a terraformed Luna in the distant future. I loved the idea of heavily involving it as a setting. I'd be willing to send a copy to your PO box if you have one.

[@marinuslouis]

Love the SFIA Rocket!!!!!!

[@avanconia]

Marinus L. Muller .. I believe that was an interplanetary ballistic missile or IPBM w/ mirv

[@HuntingTarg]

@@avanconia I saw a single warhead. Also, MIRVs are more effective on ballistic trajectories, because there's a natural gravity assist to reentry. MIRVs were really an outgrowth of the 'I have more thermonuclear warheads than you!' contest - more about warhead count and total destructive power than a practical ability to decisively strike or counterstrike.

[@avanconia]

HuntingTarg you get a lil view of just the tip and you think you understand the whole shaft... Typical

[@HuntingTarg]

@@avanconia When the outer fairing detatches on a MIRV I expect to see something like this: 3.bp.blogspot.com/-2de-JSGJD0Y/WHvOdMuLqCI/AAAAAAABGBs/enOd66AQfyI6int20Tum51w9W3Zv6kk0ACLcB/s1600/AGNI-VI_MIRV_Configuration.jpg Not something like this: img1.cgtrader.com/items/190755/efc10797a4/large/icbm-mirv-warhead-reentry-vehicle-3d-model-max-obj-3ds-fbx-stl-dae.jpg

[@Lukegear]

Let's hope we don't get lunatical over the Moon ;)

[@imienazwisko6527]

_badum tssss_

[@volcryndarkstar3283]

@Anton Zuykov LOL, explaining jokes enhances them.

[@kayondothomas7343]

Sorry Isaac Arthur didnt like your joke, guess its not all that funny then.

[@ronschlorff7089]

Too late!! Read on.

[@stuartj1234]

It will be or already is treated like antarctica.

[@lonjohnson5161]

I'm surprised at the lack of reference to Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", but perhaps I shouldn't be, considering the age of the work. It does bring up an interesting topic, that being analyzing some of our best attempts at predicting the future and seeing how those predictions hold up today.

[@merrittanimation7721]

I would've expected a mention of how they used Earth's gravity well against them, even if it was disregarded.

[@godlessheathen7624]

One of my top 10 favorite Sci Fi novels, they should make a movie, really. Free Luna !

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I wanted to stay away from early moon scifi, as mentioned it's pretty dated conceptually, I love that book but it's not a realistic look at lunar conflicts or rebellions.

[@zeekfromthecreek]

It did have one of the most likable computer characters in it: Mike, for Mycroft Holmes if I remember correctly. Though I suppose that's all dated too.

[@ronschlorff7089]

better yet is "Destination Moon" where we claimed it "in the name of the United States, for the good of all mankind". America First!!

[@thejunecooperative]

Thank you Isaac! I'm planning on playing a tabletop game and my players have expressed interest in SciFi. I'll definitely have to go through some "back-orders" of these episodes about the topics I want to cover, but also I want to thank you in general for helping to kindle my interest in futurism even as my life focus is turning away from this direction. Also, ironically enough, I had been planning on doing a moon adventure where the players crash on the moon and need to make it to a moon base, and this could be very insightful for that.

[@Scorch428]

Thanks for taking the time to make these!

[@NickPoeschek]

Happy Arthursday everyone!!

[@realzachfluke1]

Nick Poeschek hahaha I like that. Happy Arthursday to you too, Nick!

[@iainballas]

The Earth is a Conspiracy by the Lunar Dust Mites!

[@billmalcolm4291]

And also to you. May you never need subtitles and have a great week

[@lorib1696]

lol. I'm glad I'm not the only one that calls it that. My husband rolls his eyes every time I say, "I've got to get home and watch KZbin. It's Arthursday."

[@HelgeMoulding]

Mass drivers can aim at more than one place, though. A relatively small deflection at the muzzle over a distance of 300K km can make a bit of a difference.

[@elbobosan2]

“The Moon is a Hash Mistress” is still one of my favorite RAH novels. It’s dated, but great.

[@iainballas]

What amazes me most about humanity is not our ability to adapt to new arenas of war and conflict; rather, it is our willingness in peace to return to the old ones.

[@CABOOSEBOB]

Iain Ballas yessssss. Good to see the director is doing

[@Avitymist]

Wish we could have a moonbase already.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Yes, though there is a lot to be said for patience, one built prior to now would probably have been a fairly big money pit in terms of gain vs cost.

[@libertopaeurekananarch7562]

@@isaacarthurSFIA The prohibitive costs are probably why no civilian space stations exist. It's also likely why we haven't put towns on the Moon yet.

[@numberjackfiutro7412]

The main impediment to space colonization and civilian access to outer space is the cost of getting off of Earth! The minimum cost of putting people and cargo into orbit is $3000 per kg, WAY too much!

[@Avitymist]

@@isaacarthurSFIA Hey, getting there in the first place was a money sink too Elon save us

[@Avitymist]

And just think how fundamentally different the view of the moon would be, with visible(or at least songs of them underground) bases from earth, humanity spreading to other celestial bodies.

[@ronschlorff7089]

Will the first human lunar inhabitants be called the "Lunatics". Sure sounds like it from some of the commentary here!

[@briandiehl9257]

Kinda like how people say libtards to isult liberals, or trumptards to insult trump supporters, that will prabably be an insult that will be used by cancerous people on the internet

[@lolsflint7598]

23:53 On that note, I once had a pen (it was something like when I was in grade 5), that had a small plastic vial section in the back that held bubble fluid. Something like that could easily be repurposed into something that contains a plague or poison, under the cover of it just being a novelty bubble pen.

[@LordBitememan]

lmao! Won? You guys got Toledo, we got the iron ore, coastline, and timber resources of the Upper Peninsula! . . . Wisconsin lost the war.

[@mpetersen6]

Yah. Wisconsin got screwed big time.

[@kilorethiw]

you darn michiganis

[@trinarybit2]

I think of it more as Ohio won, Wisconsin lost, Michigan participated, though being from Toledo, I'm biased.

[@gayowulf]

@@trinarybit2 I'm so sorry. We tried to save you.

[@Coolcleverstone]

Michigan could've totally taken Toledo if they wanted though (it is rightful Michigan Territory, and the Michigan forces were superior °_^ --no bias--)

[@Sir_Budginton]

On the note of infantry being very effective on the moon because many places will be tight corridors, and the ineffectiveness of other weapons. Moon infantry will be much more powerful than earth infantry, because the gravity is so much lower. They could carry 6 times the mass of armour, with it weighing exactly the same. This would mean having a full suit covering the entire body will be practical, and an even thicker chest piece capable of resisting a .50 cal would be more than usable. Of course on the flip side you could carry a weapon that is 6 times heavier, so we could see soldiers armed with .50 cal assault rifles, maybe even 20mm cannons. So all that extra armour would be needed. (Of course with full body armour, any sort of weapon small enough to be concealed would do nothing. So that's also something to consider.) But on the third side the recoil of these .50cal/20mm weapons would be immense, especially with the low gravity, so such weapons maybe be completely unusable. This means we may end up in a situation where armour beats weapon 95% of the time, which would be interesting. On the fourth side (I'm rambling, I know), this may mean that something like a shaped charge weapon may actually become the norm for dealing with armoured infantry. because that may be the only thing capable of reliable penetration of armour. I should probably stop writing before this comment turns into an essay of how moon combat could work...

[@nkordich]

"They could carry 6 times the mass of armour, with it weighing exactly the same." - keep in mind, it would weigh the same, but it would still have 6 times the mass. That would make slewing a weapon around slower and make any acceleration slower, whether you're trying to run, duck, take a corner, climb or catch your balance. It would take a lot of training to get used to that, along with other factors that come with a 1/6 gravity environment. While you're learning to live on the Moon, your body's forgetting what it means to live on Earth, even if you're wearing heavy armor 24/7 (or 708/7? - lunar days are long, and who knows how weeks would translate). Unless medicine offers a solution, I don't think you can count on experienced lunar infantry having the same muscle mass as someone fresh off the proverbial bus from Earth. I think shaped charges and explosively-formed penetrators would probably be common because they would not only work with firearms, it would be a warhead used with drones, and even if infantry are common in lunar warfare, I imagine a swarm of drones would accompany them, whether indoors or out - they're just too useful not too be used, and humans too valuable to not be defended/supplemented by them. In addition, when dealing with explosives, shrapnel may hit secondary targets even if the main penetrator is blocked by an armor plate. It can get between plates, penetrate wires and hoses, damage sensors, puncture seals and tanks, etc. It's easy to armor a chest plate against a high-caliber round (it's been done since at least the 15th century), but hard to ensure there isn't a joint, optic, magazine, or other piece of kit that's not vulnerable to shrapnel of varying kinetic energy levels.

[@HuntingTarg]

[Tevya]: "On the other hand..."

[@Namkify]

What about railguns? Arn't they a recoiless design?

[@nkordich]

@@Namkify ​ Railguns have recoil, though a bit less than conventional guns. As per Newton's third law, every action has an opposing reaction. For a conventional gun, the forward motion of both the bullet and exploding propellant results in the backward motion (recoil) of the gun. For a railgun, there is no chemical propellant explosion and electromagnetic force pushes against the projectile instead. The projectile is still moved forward by a push against it, and the gun is still pushed backwards as a result. The chemical propellant in a cartridge often weighs about half as much as the bullet (though in some very high velocity cartridges it can actually weigh more) and for simplicity's sake, we'll say it travels at the same speed as the bullet. As a result, about a third of the recoil is from the propellant and two thirds from the bullet. A railgun might have only two-thirds the recoil, as a result, though railguns may use what's called a "sabot" to guide a projectile down the barrel and complete the circuit between the rails. A sabot is designed to be light, but necessarily travels as fast as the projectile when it leaves the railgun, so it would add to the recoil. In addition, railguns may fire higher-velocity rounds, though joule for joule of muzzle energy, you'll probably feel less recoil from firing a railgun, but it wouldn't be zero.

[@nkordich]

​@@Namkify For other weapons: coil guns (aka mass drivers or gauss guns), particle beams, plasma weapons, dart guns, bows, crossbows, spearguns, flamethrowers and slings would also have recoil. Particle beams would probably have less recoil than a conventional gun: you'd have a very concentrated beam with high velocity, but very, very low mass. Particle beams are cousins of ion drives, however, and like the rail gun, you're firing mass out the front using electromagnetic acceleration. Plasma weapons would get most of their lethality from the temperature of the mass they're spewing out, rather than its velocity, but they are still pushing matter out the front. Since they don't exist yet outside of science fiction, I'm not sure how much matter at how much velocity they'd be pushing. For recoilless weapons, look to lasers and masers. While there is such a thing as light pressure, which pushes against light sails, it's negligible on the level of infantry weapons. Gyrojets and missiles are relatively recoilless, too. The projectile is driven by Newton's third law, with the projectile pushing against exhaust gasses, but these gasses are not deliberately pushing against the launcher. Gyrojet guns even have ports along the length of the barrel to let exhaust gas escape. This exhaust gas will hit the launcher, and you would likely experience some push-back from it, as a result. If you've heard of a "recoilless rifle" it's a tube where a projectile is fired out the front and a reaction mass is fired out the back. That may be just the propellant, or it may have something like confetti (which spreads and diffuses the mass, as opposed to getting launched out the back like a solid slug would be). They've fallen out of favor for actual missiles and rockets, but they can be thought of as rockets that burn out by the time they leave the launcher (which in containing the explosion, is like a barrel, but because it does not act as a backstop to the pressure, does not have recoil imparted on it) Sonic weapons are an interesting case and for the purpose of firearms, would be considered recoilless (useless in a vacuum, of course, but could be used 'indoors' for area denial and crowd control).

[@benjaminconnor6640]

Unless some one pulls an Otto Von Bismark, most Space Wars on the Moon will stay on the Moon. There could be an instance of a Moon - Earth War if the Stakes are high enough.

[@americanpride5540]

American space colonies will probably be given statehood once they reach a certain size

[@davidamoritz]

Once a certain population is made I would see it as a UN member, NOT a state.

[@americanpride5540]

David Moritz just out of curiosity what state are you from

[@cOmAtOrAn]

The problem with granting statehood is that, since every state is guaranteed at least one representative, and the total number of representatives is fixed, every new state admitted goes against the interest of the largest states, who would be the ones losing representatives. California, Texas, and Florida would be unlikely to get on board with that.

[@davidamoritz]

@@americanpride5540 The greatest state in the union!

[@allyourmoney]

But there wouldn't be exclusively American colonies. For the first 100 yrs colonists will be dependent on each other, so they'll mix & mingle until no single nationality will predominate. That pattern will continue for at least a century. When there's enough people for independence it'll probably be a collective Lunar identity, if it happens at all.

[@jetflaque8187]

Can we get a compilation on Soundcloud consting solely of "Isaac Arthur Intro's" ?

[@DonTekNO]

@jet flaque By the power of cool music we have to summon Luca DeRosa!

[@jetflaque8187]

@@DonTekNO LUCA, THY PEOPLE NEED THY!

[@FUBBA]

jet flaque I like his soundcloud

[@Ilithilich]

To be honest, this intro reminds me a lot of the intro for "age of shadows", by ayreon..... I've always loved it

[@mattvery5705]

@@Ilithilich I'm pretty sure it WAS that intro

[@davemorgan6013]

Whenever I hear talk of moon bases I always have to think of Space 1999.

[@ronschlorff7089]

yeah, just don't store nuke waste there!!!

[@attilathenun]

Isaac Arthur - My man massive congrats on another quality video. So awesome to see how things channel has grown as a fan that has been around since you only had about 1,000 subs and had to apologise for the way you speak on every video.

[@WillaLamour]

Well, Isaac, awesome ... as always. Wonderfully informative and presented in an excellent manner!

[@mikelfunderburk5912]

Another great episode. Thank you to all involved. 💥👏

[@leoperez2566]

this is my new personal favorite episode. keep up the great work!

[@realmless4193]

Historically nomads were the worlds best calvary, the best infantry tended to come from stable nations.

[@pussywran]

Just left for a delivery 2-hour Drive perfect timing for this video to listen

[@wetterschneider]

Oh, I get it now. "Dark Side" is the archaic name for the "Far Side". The side of the moon that we can't see since it's always facing away from Earth. This has confused me for years! It has nothing to do with the sunlit side and the Lunar night side or the Lunar terminator. I'm embarrassed.

[@kregadeth5562]

Correct! Don’t be embarrassed! Most people don’t know what you now know

[@richardgreen7225]

Darkest Africa (so called by Europeans who had not been there) Dark Matter (so called because it is unseen [so far]) Dark Energy (so called as a follow-on to dark matter) Basically "Dark" means unseen.

[@wetterschneider]

@@richardgreen7225 Wait! Dark Matter isn't evil?

[@richardgreen7225]

@Scott Wetterschneider Dark Matter is not evil. Matter cannot have attitude. Dark Matter is a fudge. Fudge is an innocent concoction designed to sweeten a disposition.

[@Namkify]

Richard Green do we europeans also bless the radiation up in Africa?

[@Gordozinho]

Afghani settlers skirmishing with Russian drones while American colonies revolt against Elon musk

[@Sigmar_Heldenhammer]

Ah yes, all while Jeff Bezos launches an invasion of the U.K from his Martian empire.

[@Sereze001]

Like, spoilers, man.

[@Bruh-hq1hx]

And then everything changed when the blue origin oneill cylinder attacked overlord bezos now has been fighting over the moon for a hundred years

[@69Kazeshini]

@@Bruh-hq1hx in the grim dark future there is only.... Amazon prime

[@keefjunior4061]

Seeing new content in my feed is one of the few things that gets me excited anymore! Love your mind my friend. 🛰🧙🏻‍♂️

[@stevemustache1493]

Been sick last couple days but this intro got me so hyped! Love the videos Mr. Isaac

[@MrMattumbo]

Someone should write a movie about life in a moon miner as it traverses the moon, obviously spice it up with the usual Hollywood touches, but just that concept and the backdrop of a colonized moon would be amazing and spur present-day ambitions.

[@DanteS-119]

what's stopping you? :3

[@georgethompson913]

@@DanteS-119 budget?

[@starmax1000]

There's a really cool Sci-Fi saga of books called Red Rising it follows a future in which humanity has colonized the entire solar system and has been divded into serveral color castes/races. We follow the story of a Red (lowest color) miner of Mars named Darrow and how he becomes the catalyst of revolution to the inequalities and tyrany of the system. Also in this universe, before the story, the Earth's moon Luna rebelled against Earth and became the Captial of the solar system. Its one hell of a read for those interested

[@Andrew-qw1kq]

I am moderately concerned we'll have a nuclear war every time Pakistan and India play cricket.

[@avanconia]

Andrew .. If some other Nation would nuke somebody already it would really make the United States look good

[@Andrew-qw1kq]

@@avanconia I'm not so sure about that and would rather not do the testing. Ideally they'll remain the only nation ever to have used nukes in anger.

[@kregadeth5562]

Andrew is his because India would beat Pakistan in cricket?

[@Andrew-qw1kq]

@@kregadeth5562 I'd be more concerned if there was another cheating or fixing controversy. That dispute may well be resolved in nuclear fire.

[@avanconia]

Andrew .. And if solved in anger, my govt would finally have an excuse to let loose the interesting weapons we've sat on for 40 years. This would cause a shift toward a new version of MAD where nuclear winter will no longer be a concern. Any nation which opposes the USA after this point in total denuclearization of weapons will have their nuclear assets vaporized rather quickly and with no chance for retort. We wait. Once we are allowed to remove our competition, we'll allow particle physics, material/chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering move past 1945. The new treaties will limit WMDs to major metropolitan and military targets, leaving rural populations and natural resources completely intact. The dark ages will suck for everybody outside of the USA, Ireland, and Moscow specifically. Certain net neg ideas will never recover, most everything good will recover.

[@mitsospapas3306]

Man you are always an enjoyment to hear to see to expand our thoughts!!! Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart!

[@deku812]

It's interesting you mentioned Greek city states. The Peloponnesian Wars was fought in part with colonies of 'mother' cities siding with one side or another. In fact a colony of Corinth, siding with Athens was instrumental in the breakdown in peace. One can see Moon colonies causing wars back home if they switch sides.

[@lghammer778]

Artemis is an absolutely awesome SciFi novel 😃 I read it before both “The Martian” & “Project Hail Mary” Infact Artemis was one of my 1st novels getting back into reading a few years ago, & I’ve been reading plenty ever since 📚 Infact I now even write books too ✍🏽 Great episode, Isaac, cheers !

[@commentguy4711]

I know we love books here but let's not forget the classic Sci-Fi drama "Moon" starring Sam Rockwell.

[@MrAicex3000]

I can't understand how people will dislike a video like this. I think the video is super intresting and well done.

[@cannonfodder4376]

Finally got around to watching this. Two videos in one week, you spoil me. Great concepts and thought provoking insights as always. You continue to reshape my view of Sci-Fi every week.

[@elizibar]

The Soccer War wasn't really about Soccer.

[@vhi1933]

47 people from Michigan disliked this video.

[@sirprofit9257]

Love all your videos! It’s amazing the difference between this and history channel show’s!! You need a contract my friend.

[@dougnorthcote3420]

Watching Isaac's youtube channel always gives me hope for the future. Thank you sir!

[@frankmueller2781]

I can certainly envision gas weapons being suggled aboard an enemy facility. Eliminate the people, save. the equipment and goods.

[@tomrobertson3236]

I'm thinking that orbital structures would actually be the manufacturers on the moon. So I think the moon will have a large migrant population with many different loyalties. The people that become loonies , will be intermixed with these different loyalties. I think it would be hard for loonies to come to a critical mass over an issue

[@Astronut128]

Many years ago I had composed a backstory that involved many nations setting up colonies on the Moon and Mars, but an economic crash caused most nations to no longer be able to provide supply shipments. The colonies trade limited equipment between each other, some resort to piracy and raid for what they want. Then when Earth regained its footing and tried to assert its ownership of its old colonies they revolted and declared sovereignty. The story was going to be about escalating conflicts against the pirate states from the perspective of various officers, one of each rank from Ensign to Admiral, in the Earth Space Guard (à la US Coast Guard).

[@alexiordache4835]

Yeah, another wonderful episode. I sincerely thank you!

[@mikeciappetta300]

Very interesting! I can see moon colonies popping up within the next couple of decades. What do you think a so called "Space Force" would one contribute to its safety and would you think one is necessary? Would one be required for further off world colonies as well? I thoroughly enjoy your videos, they help give me faith in humanities future and some Galactictal perspective.

[@LibertyJava]

Great vid

[@simontmn]

Fell asleep to Arthur's soothing voice (first good nap in days!) and missed the fighty bits! - must listen again...

[@TheSporelord01]

I would be very interested to play a "moon raiding party" video game with tunnel burrowing, some zero g combat, etc etc

[@TheOicyu812]

"There are 50 million people living on the moon in my time." - William Riker

[@lushion2004]

My favorite Star Trek film

[@rommdan2716]

Just 50 millions?

[@digitalnomad9985]

@@rommdan2716 Probably a lot of automated industry.

[@Kastor774]

No please Arthur, the so called football war was not because football, there’s about a decade of backstory and it all came to a breaking point with the football match hostilities

[@nostalgicmusicbox]

I'm finally caught up. It was one hell of a journey but I've now watched every single video of yours. Thank you I look forward to all your future videos.

[@hamentaschen]

It's been one of those kinda days. y'know? Just a struggle to get to this point. Then to sit down finally and find this notification waiting for me! Nice. Thank you Mr. Arthur for making this a great day after all! Happy Arthursday everyone! I'm happy now.

[@realzachfluke1]

Happy Thursday Isaac and all of my fellow space nerds! Hope you’re all having a great day! Plus, SpaceX is launching this afternoon so that should be another cool thing for today :)

[@blank6604]

When?! Can you say me when? Thx

[@TP-tc7vp]

@@blank6604 Here is a good channel. This is a link to the planned live feed. There won't be anything on that link yet but you can watch his other stuff. After you watch this video by Isaac of course 😉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqbPo36Lfa1ggLs

[@blank6604]

@@TP-tc7vp Yes!

[@starsilverinfinity]

These videos tickle my science bone

[@williamsjm100]

I love the idea of large scale civilisation on the moon, in the 100s of millions. I don't see the luna combat being an issue, it is just far too expensive to blow stuff up. The amount of material on the moon boggles the mind, surely a large scale city can be built, just hope to see it in my lifetime (probably not unfortunately).

[@Darkstar.....]

Iv missed your videos so much. I used to listen to them while i worked. To extend the enjoyment i like to play the videos at 0.75 the speed.

[@RaidsEpicly]

"Whoever is the first to deploy a nuke is almost destined to be viewed as the bad guy in any conflict by outside parties" Is this really true? The atomic bombings of Japan were certainly controversial, but did third parties view the US as the bad guy? Japan had, after all, invaded a pretty respectable chunk of east asia and all of southeast asia. Not to mention that their co prosperity sphere was just replacing the old imperial owners with new ones. To take a more recent situation, it was the USSR that had a no first use policy regarding nuclear weapons. The US made it very clear that it would use nuclear weapons in response to soviet invasion of NATO countries, which had a massive influence on preventing the cold war from going hot. Based on these two examples, it seems like first use of a nuclear weapon (especially on the moon, where the aftereffects are much less horrific) might be viewed as justified by history/third parties if it was in response to overwhelming conventional force OR if the victim of the nuke is viewed as a militaristic/expansionist "evil empire".

[@samuelfouch2367]

honestly i dont think there are good guys with nuclear bombs. you use them, you`re bad.

[@matthewgoodwin8093]

america was the bad guy.

[@Daimon-X]

Luna. Here I come!

[@CarBENbased]

Happy Arthursday everyone!

[@DrRich-mw4hu]

Awesome as always Isaac, very thought provoking. Thank you for this prospective 🤔👍👍

[@highchamp1]

Independence I really hate it when Mars or some other colony is all up in rebellion in Sci Fi. Independence would be the goal from the start. Also I hate it when the military or private companies are portrayed so stereotypically. (Stargate universe SGU / Aliens) NASA and the Space Shuttle crews are often military and everything made is from contractors. They have all worked together fairly well since the beginning.

[@Alexander_Kale]

So, California should declare independance then?

[@HuntingTarg]

@@Alexander_Kale If they do, I'm definitely moving! [EDITED]: All the recent disasters, however seem to me to be both indicators and portents that the 'left coast' isn't ready for the realities of independence yet.

[@Alexander_Kale]

@@HuntingTarg That... was literally the opposite of my point... o.O Edit: Still not my point. ^.^

[@HuntingTarg]

@@Alexander_Kale Sorry, bad phrasing; [scribble scribble scribble EDIT]

[@IRMentat]

Thought I was early, looks like I’m just part of the party!

[@glenngoodale1709]

Your editing, from shot selection to musical interludes, is amazing. I'm not sure if there's a KZbin award for something along those lines but you deserve a nomination.

[@hotchesh]

"Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by R Heinlein is very informative and interesting read.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

The only moon I wanna battle for is Endor.

[@massimookissed1023]

But it's infested with feckin' Ewoks.

[@ronschlorff7089]

Nice, I once lived there! The redwood forest that is. Looks like Endor, tall trees, ferns, etc. But cold and damp due to the coastal fog!!

[@valkie931]

@@massimookissed1023 AHahhahaha

[@LaundryFaerie]

Yub yub!

[@valkie931]

Isaac Arthur, i have a stupid question....Can a moon have a moon???? :)

[@nkordich]

Yes...but also no...but also yes. Ask an Astronomer says that moons can have moons, but that a sub-satellite orbiting the Moon as it orbits the Earth would eventually fall out of orbit due to tidal forces. We haven't seen any sub-satellites orbiting the moons of other planets - if they ever existed, they may have suffered this fate. However, a moon could acquire a moon/sub-satellite through capturing an asteroid or us putting one there, so even if no moons have moons now, it doesn't mean moons can't have moons in the future. Here's the Ask an Astronomer blog article: curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/44-our-solar-system/the-moon/general-questions/104-can-moons-have-moons-intermediate

[@valkie931]

@@nkordich Ah, thank you!!!! :)

[@ronschlorff7089]

likely artificial, sort of like the Death Star, or simply an orbiting colony such as Isaac has presented in other episode(s).

[@valkie931]

@@ronschlorff7089 :D

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Indeed it can, though much like planetary rings, they'd tend to be unstable on astronomical timelines.

[@Barnardrab]

I would seriously love to look at the Earth from the moon, preferably at an angle where the planet is visible when looking forward instead of up. And imagine going skateboarding there!

Great episode. Thank you Isaac.

[@entropygenerator2646]

420 Views, I arrived just in time

[@3DFLYLOW]

I was reading the comments while thinking what would it be like to smoke a fat nug on the moon while looking back at the earth.

[@entropygenerator2646]

@@3DFLYLOW ......and with the low gravity, just think how fat those moon-grown nugs would be.

[@ktopaz]

My favorite Thursday activity is a few puffs and a good SFIA episode!

[@Robert-mx3id]

arrival ...hmmm arrival here ...great cinema

[@myplaylist2468]

Not On the moon - IN the moon! Bwa-haha-haa! But seriously, micro-meteors would not dissipate in an atmosphere so why not tunnel down instead of build up? Seems safer that way. I could be wrong. :D

[@bigchungus6827]

It's relatively cheap to set up a laser or something to remove micro meteors and they're not that dangerous to begin with, if handled properly. Tunneling a ways down is relatively more expensive, as well as leaving you less mining space.

[@rojaws1183]

A nice view of the Earth could help raise the profits from lunar rent.

[@myplaylist2468]

@@bigchungus6827 If mining in the first place, why not build down and out like tunneling rodents or hive insects? I don't know jf the moon gets hotter the deeper you go (like earth) but either way (hot or cold deep moon) there are bonuses with regards to heating.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

@@bigchungus6827 The laser is cheap.. seeing a micro meteor even with radar is the trick.

[@HuntingTarg]

@@myplaylist2468 Best theories suggest that the Moon is much more geologically stable than the Earth; and any heat at the core not enough to produce magma, just the result of thermal conduction and absorption by a metallic core. However, the more tunnels, the more complex (and less stable) the stress distribution gets. There could even, with an extensive enough tunnel system, be a chain reaction analagous to Kessler Syndrome, where one tunnel shifts or collapses, and that causes a seismic event and another tunnel collapses, and... {HEADLINE}: U.N. AND IASA DECLARE ENTIRETY OF MOON A DISASTER ZONE

[@thegreattaborlin5204]

Every day this channel gets exponentially better

[@youngidealist]

Awe, look at that, Isaac! You said, "For alerts..." And just when I was thinking to pitch a fan t-shirt idea that says "Four Lorts!"

[@empireempire3545]

Wait no sunsets and no sunrises? Then how one's supposed to get lai... a lady?!

[@merrittanimation7721]

Barry White music and lab grown roses.

[@avanconia]

Space candles and hay bales with a blanket on the back of the Rover always works.

[@Alexander_Kale]

Earthlight walks.

[@Alexander_Kale]

@Alexander E01 Can you have a starry sky? Pictures never show the stars...

[@jhwheuer]

Earth rise and pointing at a beach

[@petersmythe6462]

Hmmmmmm.. WRT to lunar regolith turning bases into bunkers, I'm gonna question that somewhat. Regolith in the Mare areas (almost entirely absent from the dark side of the moon, for completely non-coincidental reasons) is about 4 to 5 meters in thickness. Regolith in Lunar highlands is more like 10 to 15 meters thick. This is good insofar as it means constructing a basic shelter should only require a suitably-designed shovel (keep in mind low gravity means an Earth shovel may be horrendously inefficient) and possibly a wheelbarrow, with all the technical sophistication of building a sandcastle, but it is less good in that it means you have to go quite deep before you reach anything like solid rock, and even then, most lunar bedrock is full of cracks, and gas been called "megaregolith" instead of true, solid bedrock. The density of the deeper regolith is not fully known. What is known is that the bulk material at 30 cm deep at the Apollo 15 landing site had a density of 1.35 g/cm^3, and at 60 cm deep, a density of 1.85 g/cm^3, and that lunar regolith is largely glassy, rather than just crystalline, due to the heat and shock of billions of years of micrometeorite impacts. What does this all mean? Well, it means that *Lunar regolith is probably VERY poor armor unless it's very thick indeed.* To gauge just how poor, let's rank some materials as how good they are compared to armor steel and see if we can judge where lunar regolith would be on the list? Some materials by RHA equivalency against Kinetic Energy penetrators for similar thicknessses: Modern composite laminate armor: 2.0+ High hardness armor steels: ~1.5 Titanium: ~1.5. RHA (world war II armor plates): 1.0 Mild steel: 0.8 Wrought iron: 0.4 Granite: 0.2 Brick Masonry: 0.14 Concrete: 0.11 1 inch Gravel: 0.066 Dry sand: 0.035 Wet sand: 0.021 Dirt: 0.016 Oak: 0.012 Now, where does Regolith fall? I would say certainly it would be less effective than 1" gravel. That's sort of an upper bound. It could well be only as good as sand, or even worse because it's more glassy rather than crystaline. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and give it an RHA equivalency of 0.05, the rough mid-point of between sand and gravel. So what can a modern long rod penetrator punch through? Well, Russia, China, and America have all made depleted uranium projectiles for 120mm and 125mm tank guns that penetrate over 800 mm of armor steel. This is equivalent to around 16 meters of Regolith even with our generous 0.05 RHA equivalency. So I would say that even fairly substantial thicknessses of lunar regolith would make very weak armor indeed. Add that these projectiles have optimal impact velocities against steel right around the velocity required to orbit and zero drag even at low altitudes, so even ICBM-like trajectories might be employed. Further still, since Uranium is likely to be used for nuclear power, the depleted form is likely to be quite abundant, and when it DOES get into a compartment, it will very likely burst into flames on contact with air and cause rather severe damage even to things it does NOT hit either directly or with shrapnel. Basically, unless you've got more than 50 feet of regolith between you and an incoming tank shell, whatever compartment(s) of your base it penetrates are probably on fire and full of deadly shrapnel.

[@nkordich]

Given how often mining is mentioned in conjunction with a presence on the Moon, there should be ample tailings to provide 50+ feet of regolith overhead as radiation / micrometeoroid shielding., so it's just a matter of convenience as to how high you want to pile it. Another factor is whether we're dealing with fines, rocks, or bricks. While the first two are the default assumption and most abundant/cheapest, even broken bricks could provide better protection than gravel or piled-up sand. There have been many experiments with regolith simulants to try to develop in situ building materials, and a brick and glass-fiber foundry are likely to be an early development on the Moon. This would be more limited in supply/more expensive than just heaping up the surrounding material, but given that there's a need to protect against both radiation and micrometeoroids anyway, there's likely to be more than just trash on the roof. lunarpedia.org/index.php?title=Sintered_regolith I think the bigger problem than materials is the issue you highlighted about suborbital attacks. Unless it's a purely local conflict, you have an enemy that has the ability to strike from orbit or hurl objects very fast in your direction. In addition to ships/shuttles that an enemy will likely have, you can make impressive kinetic energy weapons out of mass drivers or possibly even counterweighted tethers. Unlike a tank's main gun, you're not sure what sized projectile is going to hit you (though knowing about an enemy's repurposed mass drivers may give you an estimate for that being used as a weapon).

[@tonychen76]

Just FYI, in a future where lunar colonies have been established for some time, I do not expect depleted uranium to be easily available. Basically it is actually possible to harness U-238 for energy using fast neutron reactor. It is more complex than U-235 fission, but the tech exists and is proven and the thing stopping them from being used is politics (it is illegal to do so in the US except as part of the National Labs research projects). If the politics change and the tech is used, then the depleted uranium is way more valuable as nuclear fuel than as weapons. If the politics don't change, then bringing depleted uranium up to space is going to be seen as way too much risk and politicians will demand to know why the military is risking poisoning Earth with radioactive substance instead of using tungsten penetrator rods like other modern countries and the military will comply because hey, they get paid anyway, and the tungsten rods will do just fine penetrating lunar bunkers if the regolith is as weak as you say.

[@tonychen76]

PS: I was talking Earth-Lunar military conflicts of course. Intra-lunar conflicts will also not use depleted uranium though, because how are they going to get them? If the uranium is mined locally as nuclear fuel, they would have picked a nuclear power plant design that runs on natural unenriched uranium (there are a few) because then they would not need to run an enrichment facility, which would have been a complex and costly project to set up when you can just use a reactor that doesn't need enrichment. If the uranium is shipped from earth instead then they will just ship the finished and ready to use nuclear fuel bundles. The depleted uranium stays on earth. Either way depleted uranium will be very rare on lunar colonies. It will have to be deliberately imported to use as weapons and I don't see why they will do that instead of using other metals. It is used as weapons and armor on earth because the US has lots of it and has no idea what to do with it, but on the moon it will be rare and other metals will be substituted instead.

[@BnORailFan]

I just recently finished listening to Artemis audiobook for the second time, I love it. They should make a movie of it.

[@nNiceDreamsMadeTrue]

Thanks again, Isaac!