Major Space Water Breakthrough // Moon Mission Launch // New EHT Image

More oceans across the Solar System. The Event Horizon Telescope zooms into an active galactic nucleus. Another lunar lander sets off to the Moon.
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00:00 Intro
00:13 Mimas has an ocean
www.universetoday.com/165722/...
02:37 Eris and Makemake geothermal activity
www.swri.org/press-release/sw...
04:02 Water on asteroids
www.universetoday.com/165696/...
05:45 Intuitive Machines Odysseus lander launch
www.universetoday.com/165738/...
07:29 Testing spacesuits
www.universetoday.com/165698/...
09:28 Vote results
• NASA in Trouble // Mor...
10:11 Confirmation of JUMBOs
public.nrao.edu/news/astronom...
12:19 Lasers for the Deep Space Network
www.universetoday.com/165700/...
14:05 Weekly email newsletter
universetoday.com/newsletter
14:37 A new image from EHT
www.universetoday.com/165669/...
17:12 What happened after DART
www.universetoday.com/165690/...
18:42 More moons thoughts
Host: Fraser Cain
Producer: Anton Pozdnyakov
Editing: Artem Pozdnyakov
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You are free to use my work for any purpose you like, just mention me as the source and link back to this video.

[@richardloewen7177]

I am 67. In the books I started reading at age 9 or 10 about space, solar system ice usually meant methane and ammonia "dirty ices". The rest of the solar system was assumed to be DRY. Excepting water-bearing earth. Boy oh boy, how the view has changed! Fascinating!

[@aparnaviswanadha163]

Wow

[@Jellyman1129]

Finding geothermal activity on Eris and Makemake is huge! We just recently found acetylene on Quaoar, Gonggong, and Sedna. Geophysically speaking, dwarf planets *are* planets. They share all the same processes as their larger counterparts, and these recent discoveries continue to support that. Awesome video! 💫

[@archmage_of_the_aether]

I am also impressed, I don't even have geothermal activity anymore

[@aracelylopezpsyd5794]

If dwarf planets are planets, is there a chance we could we find dwarf aliens 👽 🥰 Makes me think of the Little Prince that lived on his tiny planet.

[@joakimlindblom8256]

Love that Mimas is back in the news! I remember as college student seeing the first close up images of Mimas come in live from Voyager, and thinking: OMG -- it's the Death Star!!

[@dr4d1s]

Thanks Frazier. I appreciate you and your team doing what you guys and gals do.

[@stuartajc8141]

* Fraser

[@waynegnarlie1]

I would like to nominate the laser com story as a story of the week. This is really amazing and is going to revolutionize our capabilities. Maybe someday soon we'll get 4K real time (with time delay) video from probes orbiting the Moon, asteroids and comets!

[@frasercain]

Bandwidth is always a limiting factor in missions.

[@jiminy_billy_bob]

You deserve a lot more subscribers and views.

[@davidmacphee3549]

I looked at that. Millions missing out. I could not agree more. Depending on devices used, Many don't even see how to Subscribe. KZbin also loves to push Auto Play. Share what you love.

[@JesseRoy-xs6qs]

Thank you for all that you all do

[@R.Instro]

As a satellite comms guy, this hybrid communications approach is a #BIGDEAL, and not just for deep space scientific data. =D

[@frasercain]

Yup. :-)

[@aurtisanminer2827]

Do you know if there any amateur radio operators experimenting with this type of comms?

[@user-li7ec3fg6h]

@@frasercain One of my children had the topic of scientifically significant developments. I immediately provided them with information about the "cat video transmission", of course also from universe today (and noticed how many media outlets barely reported anything about it. And when they did, unfortunately it was often not complete reporting. I.e. without mentioning that the lasers were also used by others... the DSN can be received. And that's good because the DSN was becoming more and more overloaded). The idea that we can now participate in a completely different way, for example overflights etc., because data transfer rates can bring images to us much faster, is great.

[@leonmusk1040]

Yup computer scientists been working on all sorts of optical trains prepping to go optical when Moore's law starts hamstringing us which it is very close to doing@@aurtisanminer2827

[@R.Instro]

@@aurtisanminer2827 Not off-hand, but there are plenty of commercial satellite providers that would LOOOOVE to figure out how to get even as much as 10x more throughput for less power and lower frequency bandwidth used. As it is, GEO satellites (and below) are limited in the radio/microwave bands by their relatively long wavelengths and attenuation by atmospheric moisture, while optical & near-optical wavelengths are drastically limited by line of sight (clouds, haze, etc.). If there's a good way to hybridize the link to make use of the best parts of multiple useful frequency bands, that's a game-changer, and not just for deep space missions. =D

[@denispol79]

I always listen to your videos while running asteroid search on my archive of exposures. And as you were talking about Makemake - boom! It's right in the middle of the frame from 29 Dec last year. )

[@MCsCreations]

Thanks a bunch for all the news, Fraser! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@tonyportcullis488]

I'm a subscriber and I love this channel. Thanks Fraser.

[@2150dalek]

That is indeed cool news. The sooner we send a probe to drill and verify, that will be amazing.

[@unprofound]

Yes! Thank you for these videos!!!

[@ReinReads]

Water, water, everywhere

[@davidmacphee3549]

Hydrogen and Oxygen the perfect Mates ! Most common of all .

[@silencedogood7297]

Thank you for space news.

[@octavianova1300]

Small correction: the "Rs" shown in that image is actually Schwarzschild Radii (which for this black hole is about 15 AU) not solar radii! I assumed it meant solar radii too, but 1 AU is such a spectacular level of zoom that I already felt slightly incredulous about it, and then I thought about it and was like "wait a minute 0.06 ly is /definitely/ way more than 1 AU!", so I tried to see if they meant something weird like light-hours instead of lightyears, but when that didn't work I just tracked down the original paper lol.

[@tinahickson6352]

Thanks again, for all the great news.

[@Dan-Simms]

I think that once we are able to detect microbs around hydrothermal vents on other planets, we are going to start detecting them everywhere, like on every planet that has them. I believe it is going to be very common.

[@bozo5632]

But detect them how? A microbe under 10 km of ice 20 LY away... You'd need a microscope with a very very deep field of view.

[@davidmacphee3549]

Nah! God only gives a crap about Earth where the Devil hags out.

[@bakedbeings]

@@bozo5632 Their first instagram posts will start to pop off 40 years after the app went live - assuming light speed internet - and we'll have more evidence than we'll know what to do with.

[@zippythinginvention]

Chemical signature in the atmosphere.​@@bozo5632

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

@@bozo5632 Well, we'd start with the local moons, but in the end the only way to know is to go and take a sample and that is NOT going to be easy or cheap to do.

[@lyledal]

NGL, I really miss SOFIA.

[@frasercain]

Same, although Webb mostly fills the same role.

[@NM-ss7hh]

very interesting thank you!

[@emmarogers2573]

Mind = blown. Love the work you and your team are doing, Fraser. I'm curious as to what compensations (if any) the DSN technicians have to make to radio measurements now that they have the extra optical module installed?

[@Noam-Bahar]

Seeing the night sky of the moon would be phenomenal, let alone a lunar eclipse, if it manages to survive until one. Good luck, Intuitive Machines and Odysseus!

[@bozo5632]

My pet theory: Life on Earth started underground in wet micro-fissures. If that's right, then life could start on any rocky body large enough to retain a little heat in its core, enough for there to be liquid water somewhere under the surface. So there could be life on any or every planet, moon and large-ish asteroid in the solar system and universe.

[@Dan-Simms]

That's what I think, I believe it will be very common. I think that once we are able to detect those microbes, they will be everywhere.

[@davidmacphee3549]

Now, we know most suns have planets. It seemed obvious but we had no proof. Reality is infinite but very hard to get our head around that. If it can, it must. A Star is Born.

[@bozo5632]

@@davidmacphee3549 And most also have hundreds or thousands of moons, large asteroids and comets. Our solar system COULD have thousands of living worlds (including the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud).

[@bozo5632]

@@Dan-Simms I think life is fairly common even if my pet theory is wrong. But if it's right, oboy, life could be everywhere.

[@davidmacphee3549]

You bet! I hope my humor comment hasn't been deleted by YT. I know what they do.@@bozo5632

[@chris-terrell-liveactive]

One of the things I like about your channel is the combination of factual science reporting with a willingness to share the questions that fire your imagination and sense of wonder about the universe, such as what the Europan space whales and intelligent octopuses are asking about it all. Wonder and curiosity, driven by imagination, inspire exploration. Keep up the good work Fraser!

[@treefarm3288]

Thank you for the explanation of the black hole and its emissions. I read the article but it didn't. This was the most interesting item.

[@lurkst3r]

a comms relay network is super exciting for its ability to enable colonisation of our solar system and a deeper exploration of the outer planets.

[@zbyseklegindi5017]

Thank you Fraser for another awesome episode. And I have a question. Could you tell something more about asteroid 33 Polyhymnia? Some plans to observe it?

[@MrSomethingdark]

I was listening to this in the background the first few minutes and I heard what sounded like Minmus!!!

[@kevinim300]

5:14 incredible stuff

[@edwardclarke768]

Can't believe there's geothermic activity on such small body's amazing 🎉 well done scientists 👏

[@dustman96]

Wow, JWST is a very productive instrument.

[@stephenwise3635]

Yoikes, looking forward to seeing the image of our galaxy taken from the moon!! High pixelage and little interference :)

[@billmullins6833]

Water, water everywhere! Is any of it available to drink? Where did it come from? "Water on Mimas" is my vote for the week.

[@MCsCreations]

Fraser, about life out there, I'm convinced it should be almost everywhere... Because, from all we know, it's just a consequence of chemistry. Which is a consequence of physics, which... Well, you know. What I'm curious about is intelligent life. And, in a way, we aren't exactly alone even here on Earth! (Whales, dolphins... Even pigs, horses... Dogs and cats! That not to speak about our closest relatives.) My issue is that every freaking time someone raises this hypothesis... You know. 😕

[@OhSnap-kb9vr]

Sort of lends credence to "What is, was, and always will be", to look back to the beginning.

[@jongiks3457]

I got really excited when you mentioned that there's gonna be a mini observatory! Hello from AB! A question though, is there a possibility that whatever crashed with the planet billions of years ago to form Earth and the moon, it had water under it and that's why the planet cooled and that is how we got water?

[@PinataOblongata]

It was called Theia. Potentially there was water on it, but I think the current hypothesis is water is brought to all bodies via icy bombardment/meteorites.

[@AceSpadeThePikachu]

I always thought Mimus was underrated, if just for that enormous crater. I do wonder if whatever impact created it could have partially melted the moon's icy mantle and helped with the resurfacing.

[@ameliadiaz8040]

Mimas' greater impact crater's called Herschel, named in honor of its discovering astronomer along with Enceladus, William Herschel.

[@williamkelley1783]

maybe when elements are in very specific certain ratios they don't form one single dwarf star or brown dwarf, but this unique specific ratio causes the coagulating mass to form the binary brown dwarf jumbo pair thing. In other words, maybe it's an effect caused by the composition of the matter involved, like if it's a certain consistency, like.

[@MusikCassette]

QUESTION: how exactly would we extract water from regolith? my Idea is, that we grind it down, expose the fine powder to the sun light, so the sun light can drive the water out of it. And than we provide a shadowed area, where the water vaipor can freeze out. would that work?

[@obaid333]

Make-Make ... my fav cause of its name

[@lawrencecole6527]

1 bottle of water from 1 cubic meter of substrate is pretty good to my ears.

[@danielash1704]

Passing over the top or bottom of planet bodies they could get an idea of what waves ride to the poles and then they can take the frequency and group things 50:21 Hertz together in ice gas or regolith dusts off of the moon actually heats up

[@MemeticsX]

At 16:43, Fraser is saying that the 1 AU scale image is showing material being ejected. But it looks to me like the jets are not in that image (based on the "zoom in" lines connecting it and the other images). Instead, it looks like the black hole and two other objects that it's presumably feeding on. No?

[@xliquidflames]

I agree completely. The Mimas ocean is mind-blowing. In your graphics, it said the rocky crust is 20-30km thick, iirc. With the ocean locked away under a solid crust, it would not get any sunlight. Would that prevent life from forming? I know life exists in the deepest parts of Earth's oceans where there is no sunlight. But I guess I always assumed that life evolved from other life that did once receive sunlight in the distant past and as it evolved, it migrated deeper and deeper until it could survive down there. Is that right and if so, would life even be possible on a world like Mimas where the ocean has never seen the sun?

[@stuartreed37]

Afaik these are still unanswered questions :) my guess is, it's possible. Excited to find out!

[@PinataOblongata]

Sunlight is not required where you have temperature and mineral gradients around hydrothermal vents. It is more likely that life evolved away from the mutating effects of solar radiation and eventually hardened itself enough to utilise sunlight (such as in algae and plants). So basically the opposite to what you assumed. No one is ever likely to know for sure, however, it's all just best guesses from what little evidence we have.

[@onebylandtwoifbysearunifby5475]

"Proving" E.T. life by telescope is rather difficult. These is always the "well it could be some chemistry we've never seen or have any reason to believe actually works or exists.... So let'z go with that explanation because of our emotional resistance to life being not magically confined to just Earth in the entirety of the Universe." Essentially, there is always incomplete knowledge, so every other explanation cannot ever be fully eliminated (at least until we have direct visual ban telescopes and laboratory return missions).

[@TinShackVideos]

Just listened to an old Art Bell show with John Lear, and he said "No one will ever go to the moon again" (1994)....

[@ioresult]

Mimas: they didn't reinterpret surface pictures, they analysed its orbit. There was no recent resurfacing. They just calculated that the moon started melting 15 millions ago because of a recent orbital perturbation.

[@christopherconkright1317]

3:34 why would the methane on makemake be from the beginning of the universe? I mean we are t least the second star to be here. We live in a former supernova? Could the methane not have been processed then?

[@ruspj]

curious if a crazy technology allowed someone to survive a fall into a black hole what would happen first. would they eventually pass the event horizon after an insainly long time due to time dilation or would the black hole evaporate first ? i might be missing something but wouldnt the time dilation be infinate at the point of reaching the event horizon and the black hole would take a huge but finite ammount of time to evaporate? sureley the black hole would evaperate before they cross the event horizon.

[@AriasThirdOfHisName]

Hey Fraser, how come a black hole can have infinite density when it does not have infinite matter? And, since the density is infinite and the event horizon doesnt encompass the entire universe, what does that say about its effect on space-time?

[@bravo_01]

Fraser has probably watched the new Aquaman movie

[@anthonykinneen8443]

Answer me one question please. If a planet has ice, does it then not have water, this maybe having life, just we are looking in the wrong way or places

[@billyoung9538]

This is why we need to focus on the life potential of our system before we focus else where. If we find any signs of life on anything in our system then that changes the odds to find it else where drastically, but we need to do the relatively easy work first. Someone needs to focus on effectively testing these solar bodies for life.

[@CraigH999]

No, the the OG Death Star, Fraser!

[@contraplano3157]

Imagination, it is good to dream

[@CrasyFingers]

what happened to the 2nd spacecraft they sent towards the DART asteroid? i mean the one that was gonna take pictures of what happened, has it already launched? when does it get there?

[@frasercain]

That's Hera, it hasn't launched yet: www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera

[@WenColom]

Zero Chill, my man. 21:00

[@joeyd.6172]

I have a question….would light speed travel be considered a wormhole, since no time is experienced and therefore no space is traversed?

[@GIRGHGH]

Your scale representations of moons seems to imply Enceladus and Mimas are about the same size, so I'm not super surprised. I mostly just didn't know it was icey.

[@JAGzilla-ur3lh]

How do you find life on rogue planets? The old fashioned way: look. We just need to get things like Breakthrough Starshot off the ground and establish the technological infrastructure to go out into the galaxy and search. It's going to be hard, and it's going to be expensive, but it's something we have to do. If humanity has a duty, understanding our place in the universe is part of it. We need to get out there and learn.

[@FPLMikkel]

My question: Is the reason for the Fermi paradox due to Earth being unique due to its ability to support a fire? As far as I know no other planet nor moon has the right abundance of oxygen nor the right atmospheric pressure to support a fire. And given how important controlling fire was for humans to develop skills and later on the combustion engine can it even be done in other environments?

[@VIBrunazo]

Hey Fraser, this video isn't in the space bites playlist yet.

[@nissetuta]

So did it have old or new methane?

[@hawkdsl]

Life possibilities aside, having so much water all over the Solar system is key to humanity spreading throughout it. We are at the dawn of an actual "Expanse" like Solar system... Hopefully without the conflicts.

[@zippythinginvention]

I think that "water bottle" per cubic meter of regolith estimate is very optimistic. Consider the depth at which water is being deposited. Likely that's no deeper than a couple millimeters.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

Only testing will tell.

[@jennifersaar1611]

Re: JUMBOs- It''ll be interesting to see what the IAU decide to do regarding terminology. By their own definition, JUMBOs aren't technically planets. The ones in the video may be cool brown dwarves, but what happens if/when we find a Jupiter-sized pair?

[@frasercain]

The JuMBOs are down to Saturn-sized.

[@Jellyman1129]

The IAU definition was already dysfunctional as soon as it was created. The discovery of binary rogue planets is just one of *many* discoveries that continue to disprove the definition’s validity.

[@ralph3333]

11:48 So, if Jupiter's aurora is caused by solar radiation, is rogue planet aurora caused by cosmic rays?

[@MarinCipollina]

Thanks for this one, Fraser.. I should point out, regarding the parabolic flights that simulate weightlessness: It's not the weightlessness itself that promotes nausea. It's the people that feel compelled to perform somersaults in mid-air.. Those are the activities that promote nausea. IF you were to just stay still on one of those flights, perhaps you would NOT become nauseous and vomit. Another consideration is we never hear of astronauts and cosmonauts becoming sick when encountering weightlessness in space.. It's not a problem reported on the ISS either. Perhaps it's the cycling every minute or two into and out of weightlessness that can promote nausea?

[@frasercain]

I've interviewed people who've gone through it. It's the repeated shift from gravity to weightlessness that brings on the nausea. Pretty much everyone experiences it.

[@MarinCipollina]

@@frasercain That makes sense.. Sort of a higher amplitude version of sea sickness.

[@frasercain]

Or taking your relentless children to Disneyland, and they just won't let you take a break. You just get queasier and queasier until you have to sit on a bench or else you'll vomit up caramel corn.

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

There are some real gaps in your understanding. LOTS of astronauts have experienced some form of space sickness upon reaching orbit. This is what happens when you don't try and check the facts, you make assumptions that are false.

[@MarinCipollina]

@@TheEvilmooseofdoom No assumptions were made by me. The only assumptions are yours.

[@bearowlsspaceport4617]

wow

[@Silenttreatment1975]

Wouldnt water out in open space be radiated? Can Radiation be safely removed from H20?

[@frasercain]

Water doesn't become radioactive just because it has high energy particles passing through it. It would still be safe to drink.

[@bimmjim]

The elements C, O, and N are very common in the universe. .. It is not surprising that these elements will combine with the most common element, Hydrogen. Giving us the molecules of H2O, CO2, NH3 and CH4, etc.

[@unvergebeneid]

If the asteroid recaptured a lot of the material kicked up by DART, did that undo some of the push DART gave it?

[@MIN0RITY-REP0RT]

Why would it be surprising that small objects have water also? Comets do, and😮 we've known about that for a long time. But solar bombardment of regolith doesn't explain where are the bulk of the water in larger celestial objects comes from -. it's still the ongoing question....

[@Michael-kd2ny]

hey Fraser cain, if the earth is traveling 18 miles per second around the sun, and the sun is traveling 149 miles a second around the galaxy, how does this orc cloud stay with us?

[@TheEvilmooseofdoom]

It's in orbit around the sun.

[@edstauffer426]

Phase transitioning Liquid Dark Matter at the zero G barycenter of any object which releases heat.

[@davehoward22]

Some of the moons around saturn and jupitar are more interesting then the other planets in the solar system.

[@aracelylopezpsyd5794]

Doesn’t the water/ice found on asteroids lend further support to the idea that some of earths water may have arrived here via early asteroid & meteorite collisions?

[@Gunstick]

Auroras need solar wind, but it's a rogue planet withput a star. So how do these auroras form?

[@wyrmhand]

Electric Light Orchestra - Ticket To The Moon

[@Horizon-hj3yc]

The crater doesn't take up 1/3 of the size of Mimas, but 1/3 of its diameter. One compares planets by diameter, but not planet vs crater, it's a dumb thing to do.

[@ChannelRalph]

Great video, as always, Fraser. You know, I see a problem with NASA calling Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, "JUMBOS". I mean it's cute, but you mentioned they are also finding Saturn Mass Binary Objects.... and I shudder to think what they plan on calling them. It's 2024, and I don't think the logical anagram would be tasteful.😮

[@frasercain]

I had to look up the Saturn version of the acronym. Yeah, that's problematic.

[@sjanjic82]

SETI is searching radio waves, but if laser comunication is possible and more efficient, then maybe we will not see radio emissions from the other planets

[@ReinReads]

SETI started with radio wavelength s due to available tech and budgetary constraints. It has moved beyond that to include all technosignatures.

[@olorin4317]

Curious about the space nuke news. It sounds likely that it could be an EMP or laser device. Using an actual nuke on a satellite seems like overkill, but could that potentially reduce the debris risk?

[@massimookissed1023]

Other than the EMP, nukes are rather underwhelming in space. There's no air to create a blast wave.

[@FleshWizard69420]

​@@massimookissed1023the radiation would be an issue as a fusion bomb is like an incredibly small supernova

[@olorin4317]

@@massimookissed1023 They will still release the energy. If nukes can be used for propulsion on a spacecraft, I'm pretty sure it could mess up a satellite. Maybe the fragmentation event would also be so extreme it would actually decrease the space debris issue compared to a kinetic attack.

[@iancooper8777]

Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

[@lydianlights]

1:31 wow europe is a lot bigger than i remember xD

[@roterotevideo]

What if those evolutionary pressures on ocean worlds causes a more efficient or different energy use compared to earth creatures. A separate linage would be completely different bar panspermia. They could have something totally different to mitochondria

[@phoule76]

are you saying that Mimas is fully operational?

[@frasercain]

It's a trap!!

[@aurtisanminer2827]

8:41 “yuck!” 😂

[@musicbro8225]

Doesn't aurora need some kind of radiation interacting with magnetic fields to exist?

[@robertmartens7839]

a third of the size? what does that mean?

[@frasercain]

Imagine you're looking at Mimas. 1/3 of what you're seeing is a crater

[@basketvector7311]

mimas is three times the size of the first death star, i looked it up.

[@nadahere]

😎Computer simulations of the impact on Didymos? LOL. I predict that, when they physically re-examine the site in the upcoming mission, a totally different outcome will be seen.😁 Also, water will be found to be more abundant in our and other solar systems. [Hint, a recent private experiment demonstrated the process. 🤓]

[@CrasyFingers]

i don't know if anyone remembers but i actually correctly guessed the reason the dart asteroid slowed down more over time as soon as they were talking about that

[@alfonsopayra]

and you are? why would we remember you between hundreds and hundreds of comments?

[@CrasyFingers]

@@alfonsopayra i'm just saying as soon as Fraser made a video when they found out it slowed down more over time i guessed the reason why

[@danielash1704]

Not so fast you'll find that ice is the key component in formations and that two types dust and water ice

[@shaunhall6834]

You can never have enough bandwidth.

[@larryfulkerson4505]

"I want your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle...."

[@davidmacphee3549]

Arnold is not permitted to run for President. Go figure.

[@defective6811]

"Please"

[@zippythinginvention]

Lol

[@leonmusk1040]

???? wtf terminator got to do with anything? And who cares about some washed up actor has he ever won a noble prize solved a great mystery of the universe Irrelevant like all artists waste of resources @@davidmacphee3549

[@joshmiller7870]

Regarding Martian colonization, I read a paper stating you could dig a tunnel into Mars, and eventually, the air pressure would increase eventually to an acceptable range. @30 kilometers, it would be equal to earth.

[@frasercain]

I wonder what the temperature would be down there? You might even find reserves of water.

[@barrelmaker3930]

That would be impossible to accomplish.

[@PinataOblongata]

@@barrelmaker3930 Why? We know how to get to Mars, we know how to dig tunnels, we can power stuff via nuclear or solar... Even the company that has the highest payload capacity is directly associated with a tunnel boring company. It wouldn't easy of cheap, but there's no technology required we don't already have, as far as I know.

[@joshmiller7870]

@frasercain Could be comfortable. I will have to dig for the paper. Also, yes. Imagine digging down and water forming a well like structure after atmospheric pressure raised enough. This intrigued me.

[@johnfruh]

Frazer, in terms of space suits in use on the ISS, I've always wondered why they bother with leggings. Obviously, astronauts can't really "walk" in space. So, what is the use of boots? what is the use of individual leggings? Legs are mostly useless in space. Why not just have a cocoon that encompasses both legs? You may argue that they need to have a way to lock legs to some attachment point. But, that can be accomplished with a locking mechanism at the bottom of the cocoon! Thoughts?

[@frasercain]

That's really interesting, I'm sure somebody considered that at some point.

[@johnfruh]

@@frasercain Well, if it had been considered, I have never ever heard of that consideration. But, even if there is a good reason to have leggings, what is the point of giving them boots with heals?

[@alfonsopayra]

QUESTION: How likely is it for an astronaut to be hit by a micrometeoroid during a spacewalk, and how dangerous could it be? Could it be lethal?

[@frasercain]

It's extremely unlikely. It's never happened yet, but it could be dangerous depending on the size of the debris.