Moon: Industrial Complex

The Moon is gateway to space, and in the future it might serve as an industrial and mining complex fueling vast production of spaceships, rocket fuel, satellites, space stations, and colonial habitats.
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Credits:
Moon: Industrial Complex
Episode 221; Jan 16, 2020
Writers:
Isaac Arthur
Keith Blockus
Editors:
Jerry Guern
S. Kopperud
S. Graham
Produced & Narrated by
Isaac Arthur
Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier
Graphics:
Andy Nelson
Jarred Eagley
Jeremy Jozwik www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_...
Justin Dixon
Ken York / ydvisual
Kristijan Tavcar www.miragedereve.com
Sergio Botero www.artstation.com/sboterod?f...
Space Resources CGI
Tytus Grabowski
Udo Schroeter
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound epidemicsound.com/creator

[@levigriffin5553]

I need lunar retirement homes to be a thing in the next 50 years. The lower gravity would be really easy on the joints.

[@Stroon92]

Getting up there without anything better than rockets wouldn't be to good on the joints though :P

[@cezarrujan6235]

My thought exactly, close enough to play video-games with grandchildren, quiet, and back pain free

[@kevinbarber2795]

Levi Griffin But we should all be cyborgs by then, so you’d have metal joints.

[@ypop417]

I need it now LOL

[@ypop417]

@@kevinbarber2795 Willing to be a test subject

[@petersmythe6462]

"Enough time to be noticeable, and irritating." Jobs of the future: mining aluminium with a disgusting 3 second ping.

[@PunkWyrks]

I can think of a certain percentage of the population [including myself] that would be 100% satisfied with such employment. Since irritating 3 second ping is only irritating until one adapts. Then it's barely noticeable. Since it is consistent, it would become almost zen to perform the task. Where do I sign up?

[@cheynestahlhut2061]

@@PunkWyrks They may even simulate immediate affect in person so it looks instant to you but happens 3s later there.

[@MichaelDerryGameitect]

@@cheynestahlhut2061 That would make a lot of sense. A fully rigged model of the equipment plus a photogrammetry setup to model the immediate environment at regular intervals. It wouldn't be very difficult. You'd control a simulation in real time and take frequent 3 second breaks to wait for the live cam to catch up so you can verify that nothing unexpected happened. For any particularly tricky maneuvers, you could pause sending command instructions to the moon until you did it just right. Essentially, it's a custom save point. You'd just resume transmission once you've done it perfectly and wait out the delay to see if it worked.

[@PunkWyrks]

@@MichaelDerryGameitect it would be like playing ksp... Possibly with even better framerate.

[@staticgrass]

So, so long as a person uses those moments to consider an eventual reply to the most likely response to their initial statement. Then I think most people would gladly accept a quality conversation at an albeit a slower pace.

[@ACMichler]

Moon dust is a major health issue, I wonder how living on something akin to asbestos will affect the design process.

[@mjk9388]

Andrew Michler I agree. I have often wondered if that’s one of the reasons (along with radiation) that Elon Musk has wanted to pursue Neuralink. Im guessing with Neuralink a human might be able to control robots outside the habitats with just their thought. A robot could then do all the work so that you don’t have those dangers with humans being outside the habitat. At the same time, the AI that will eventually be part of Neuralink would then be learning how to control those robots by itself without a human’s conscious thought. Maybe I’m overthinking that a little, but it would be a novel approach to minimizing the danger to humans while quickly teaching AI how to control the robots.

[@ypop417]

the airlocks can be set up more like a cleaning room maybe 3 or 4 stage instead of just an airlock

[@markododa]

Also lunar dust stick because it is electrically charged, same as hair on a balloon, you could use static electricity to repell it from a suit

[@steffenjespersen247]

It is not a super big deal if you design around it. As there is no atmosphere it only moves if something kicks it up and even if that happens it will just fall straight down again. If you are only running robots you can just enclose the buildings that needs to be clean and have those robots stay inside not walking in and out dragging dust. If you wish to keep your solar-cells clean then just dont drive of fly near them, just lay a long cable.

[@bonarchy297]

Probably just some proper decontamination after coming in from an EVA should do the job.

[@StarboyXL9]

Everyone wants to colonize the moon, but nobody's talking about turning it into the largest disco ball in the universe by covering it with mirrors, or turning it into a Eucumenopolis like Nar Shadda from Star Wars. Imagine Space Vegas but its the entire moon. "What happens on Luna stays on Luna"

[@Janoha17]

"turning it into the largest disco ball in the universe by covering it with mirrors" kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4Ord3mbhpenq5Y&app=desktop

[@mathematicalcoffee2750]

The Gang Green Gang did that on Powerpuff Girls

[@boltaurelius376]

I would also like to add people born on the moon will be called 'Lunatics'

[@pho.phonic]

@Joel Gawne m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWmsY2h-aMehhNk

[@carso1500]

@@boltaurelius376 thats actually what that word originally meant

[@VAXHeadroom]

"notably lacking in delicate ecologies" - understatement of the week!! :D

[@fabianherrmann6398]

The only delicate thing there will be us and our equipment. Everything else is out to get you, radiation, temperature change and dust.

[@nakrinoban6394]

@@fabianherrmann6398 and the occasional space rock bombarding the surface

[@Stormblessed72]

mushrooms can grow in both 24hrs of light or dark, makes me think astronauts on the moon will be eating a lot of mushrooms

[@k.k.9378]

Moo-shrooms. Fungus-based beef replacement.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

@@k.k.9378 Nice, lots of protein and such. Bit like we should grow kangaroos (so much less methane) than cows here, or feed cows with seaweed (reduces methane burps a lot, claimed by some paper). Also, growing seaweed is so much more sustainable than growing anything on ground...

[@pipe2devnull]

"Going outside for more 'shrooms" "Dude you forgot your spacesuit" "Far out man."

[@clydecox2108]

Mushrooms are magic : )

[@matthewwaddingham1617]

In lots of sci find, everything is made of fungus. Protein for 3d meat planters, whiskey, air scrubbers, etc. Saw an article about using fungi to grow shelters for humans on mars

[@greententacle7394]

This is now one of my favorite SFIA videos because its more "down to earth"

[@girdl3]

down to ORTH!

[@k-osmonaut8807]

**looks at the moon with malicious intent**

[@rojaws1183]

Looks at the Moon with greedy intent.

[@Zer0cul0]

@@rojaws1183 Somehow that's more terrifying.

[@rojaws1183]

@@Zer0cul0 Capitalism for the win. Buy your Moon homestead today.

[@tariqahmad1371]

Proceeds to build massive rail guns

[@k-osmonaut8807]

@@rojaws1183 moon needs to become *RED*

[@ExirahxEximiris]

Ive been needing a refill of K N O W L E D G E

[@Vienna3080]

Exirah Nice pfp

[@toddberkely6791]

@@Vienna3080 Nice pfp

[@zell9058]

Watching this with my 5 day old son. I just wonder what kind of future he will see. Happy Arthursday!

[@lukasmakarios4998]

When he's your age, "space construction engineer" may be one of the possible job categories. I wish him luck. It will be a competitive pool.

[@sweetwater4583]

Hold him up and say. "Welcome to the human race." Then watch his reaction.

[@zell9058]

Sweetwater: He looked at be a little befuddled then spit up. Hmmm

[@sweetwater4583]

@@zell9058 Now that makes me smile. Have a good one.

[@ninjaman815]

His first week out of life out of 7,000

[@mjk9388]

I’m glad you mentioned power satellites as a possible option. I always wondered why that approach wasn’t mentioned in other articles and videos about this subject. Great video! This show is “Brilliant”.

[@potentiallyacommentor5648]

People are scared of energy transmission. Homes are cheaper when near high voltage lines and people think they cause all kinds of disease. Now try to convince those same people that down pointing lasers are safe.

[@nakrinoban6394]

@@potentiallyacommentor5648 microwave beams are more efficient than lasers

[@potentiallyacommentor5648]

@@nakrinoban6394 Yeah, now convince the people who think they cause cancer that a big down pointing maser is safe.

[@willyjimmy8881]

Wait 4 years. It's on the way. You're welcome.

[@mr.wookiesack]

Isaac got me into the power satellites too! Elon doesn't think thats a good idea either! But if i remember it was in reIation to beaming power to earth vs other methods achievable on the ground. I discuss this with my father and he always said no country will agree to the use of them because of the offensive potential. But maybe if its only able to beam power to the moon people would be on board.

[@steffenjespersen247]

Great video. Exactly the reasons you gave for why I think it is much more important to make remotely controlled mining/factories on the moon before we start even thinking about setting up a settlement on mars. And it would be great inspiration for universities around the world to come up with better and smarter remotely controlled drones/robots/3D printers and the like to work on the moon.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

Yeah, moondust and being hit by micrometeor is the problem. So, lavatubes, but for those you need a relaying station (adding another half a second delay) etc, also special materials used so every kg costs a lot to launch. I hope some manufacturing capacity for simple elements will be done by end of this century... oops I'm in optimistic future channel :E Anyhow, universities mostly teach you new and exciting materials, not simple ones you'd need to build stuff in the Moon. I wouldn't be surprised if some engineer (or janitor from New York - get it?) would have a good solution at home before university students.

[@peterryrfeldt8568]

"No environment to befriend" isaac arthur 2020

[@nathanbrown8680]

Environmentalists don't love plants and animals, they hate humans. Well, most of them. If they talk about terrestrial solar or wind power they hate humans. If they talk up the French power grid or regulating the climate with giant space mirrors or massive arcologies they love plants and animals. If they talk about beamed orbital power it's hard to tell, that group might just want orbital death rays.

[@tokilladaemon]

“If environmentalists believe in wind and solar they hate humans” Jeez dude it’s only January and you already dropped the shittiest take of the year

[@nicholashollis1522]

@@tokilladaemon Wind power is rather inefficient and wasteful, not to mention an eyesore that kills birds. Also, oil and other fossil fuels provide the vast majority of the earth's current power, not even including vehicles. You cannot propose reduction of fossil fuel usage without massive changes in society that have us abandon luxuries or conveniences, economic growth, and having us make immense investments at an opportunity cost. However, Nathan Brown is *woefully* wrong in dismissing solar power. Solar, hydro electric, and geothermal energy are the MOST promising energy sources available today. Solar is such a solid investment that homeowners will put panels on their roofs and sell excess power back to the grid. I predict solar and nuclear energy will be the primary energy sources in the coming decades, especially as we find better uses for recycling spent nuclear fuel. Something rarely discussed in these sort of energy discussions is there's currently no green alternative for air travel, we cannot simply ignore this, nor can we maintain modern society without air travel.

[@nathanbrown8680]

@skem Simple. Wind and Solar are environmentally destructive and are incapable of meeting the needs of the current human population. Wind turbines are devastating to wild bird populations and require extensive networks of roads for maintenance. Solar is land inefficient requiring massive habitat destruction. Both require either enormous quantities of batteries for continuous power and producing those batteries and disposing of them at the end of their useful life entails massive chemical pollution. By talking about "renewables" instead of "carbon neutral" the greens make the only way to balance the energy budget to reduce humanity to a pre-industrial lifestyle that cannot sustain anything approaching the current population. Thus people who care about both the environment and people either push nuclear power as the only available and viable non-carbon producing power source that scales beyond the limited number of hydroelectric suitable rivers, propose climate change abatement methods that don't care about carbon, or don't believe in anthropogenic climate change in the first place and thus don't consider carbon dioxide a pollutant. Since we have solutions established to all the other pollutants associated with fossil fuels they're not talking about power generation at all except to oppose wind, terrestrial solar, and new hydroelectric plants on habitat destruction or endangered bird killing grounds.

[@fabianherrmann6398]

Well if you think about space debris that is actually an enviromental concern in space. Also to avoid contamination all the stuff we shoot into deep space or that is suppose to orbit or land somewere is very carfully sterilized.

[@brandonporter6223]

I've been thinking about this for years. Thanks for making a video on the topic. Lunar industrialization is vital to humanity expanding beyond Earth.

[@InnocuousRemark]

18:45 "disgustingly simple nuclear drives" Isaac and I have different ideas about how simple nuclear engineering can get I think

[@kokofan50]

He means a simple cycle. An open cycle nuclear rocket is basically just blow gas over reactor fuel.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

That depends on how simple you can design a "nuclear lightbulb" and what you want to use for propellants. Growing massive crystalline silicon may be easy in orbital factories.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

@@kokofan50 - That would be "disgustingly" simple... and banned for use near human habitation.

[@mikepowell8611]

Pave it.

[@griffca4814]

We put a nuclear reactor on the Voyager 1. The whole of the Voyager 1 except for that one fiddily bit that sticks way out is smaller than my car. I'm sure we can easily mass produce reactors of smaller form factors.

[@joelsunny]

existential crisis mode: on

[@iseriouslycouldntfindagood2207]

*_Laughs in Exrub1a and Kurzgesagt_*

[@Nekrumorfiini1]

Transhumanists rise up!

[@tzaphkielconficturus7136]

@@iseriouslycouldntfindagood2207 Que the angry philosophy!

[@guilhermecunha3363]

Isaac, great work as always: he images are inspiring, the main audio is clear, the ambience comfortable and the content unique! Your voice also seems quite improved this year! Happy 2020, and can you do something on geothermal energy? (in Earth, underground, in rocky/similar planets)

[@1forge2rulethemall88]

It's been 2 years away on a mission trip, I am so excited to be back and see all the videos I missed :)

[@Felishamois]

Welcome back to civilian life man, wherever you may have been. Congratulations on making it so far, have some well deserved rest and very best wishes for the new year from a rando on the internet :)

[@danboone5672]

you married yet elder? lol

[@1forge2rulethemall88]

@@danboone5672 lol no

[@1forge2rulethemall88]

@@Felishamois Thank you!

[@rubix1694]

Oeumuepo Stéphanois He was in jail for homicide.

[@Lukegear]

Now this is one of those amazing episodes, because humanity has always stared at the moon and only now we contemplate using it

[@tyree9055]

Yeah, I'm surprised that they haven't built any kind of space observatory there yet. Am I wrong to think that it could be better than Hubble or James Webb, etc? 🙄🤔

[@tylersoto7465]

The moon has trillions of dollars of material to help supply earth with resources

[@feyindecay912]

Yesssss finally... I love the moon industry stuff cuz it's what we'll probably be doing first. (right? )

[@ypop417]

it is what we should have been doing since the moon landings

[@feyindecay912]

@@ypop417 I agree...

[@TheArklyte]

@@ypop417 nope, gotta produce a dozen supercarriers at 9.5 billion each(NASA begged for 6 billion and was denied).

[@lolgamez9171]

@@TheArklyte the military industrial complex is a cancer

[@beringstraitrailway]

@Prowler Cam Why can't we put those people who build tanks now, to work building rockets?

[@antonnym214]

Nothing short of brilliant! I love your vids! All good wishes.

[@DanielGenis5000]

Thank you , my friend, for a valuable corrective to all the nonsense one reads about lunar section 8 housing, etc.! You’re a true talent!

[@sirgog]

one upside to being awake at midnight - getting to be one of the first to see a new Isaac Arthur vid

[@haman_karn]

Do you grab yourself a beer when he says to get a drink and a snack?

[@gringodavinci3352]

Industrializing the Moon was my one of my favorite episode years ago when I first subscribed. Your hard work has paid off in many aspects - for both the audience and you personally. Not scientific, but top on my list is your speech/articulation has improved > 95%. I remember (from one of the Q/As) that this was part of your plan. BTW I enjoyed the channel origin story video. Although I might be biased as I have watched every episode at least once since Year One. I enjoy exercising my imagination and critical thinking. Thank you for all the wonderful content !

[@N.M.E.]

Industrializing the Moon was 100% one of the best Episodes! Its strange... I really love the waayy long term series like civilazations at the end of time and the relatively short term like this one most!

[@sweetwater4583]

Going to the moon and creating an industry is my dream. Yet we do not have the tech to house permanently anyone in a hermetically sealed environment. However using virtual reality we can control robots and machines, but I have yet to see any competition on Earth to that end. I have only seen robots operating with out assistance, which has always bothered me.

[@N.M.E.]

@@sweetwater4583 Every evening when I look up and watch the moon rise... I start dreaming. Thats why i am currently studying material sciences, bionics and photonics at university here in germany. One day brothers and sisters... one day

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

@Jason Buford Yup, I liked the even more personal voice (though I'm non-native English speaker). None of my business though, it's his. Also I'd still like even glimpses of math formulas (but not much use repeating those, I think - like, black body radiation would've fit on this episode?). I'd still like, even extra-episode, collected math stuff and such (yes, there's brilliant etc, but about all the stuff this channel has used over the years to get newer people interested in math too!).

[@fabianherrmann6398]

@@N.M.E. Viel Erfolg!

[@BS-vm5bt]

I always thought the moon as a space port. Where you build, fuel and launch nuclear fission rockets since they are way more efficiant than regular chemical rockets.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

Yup, the problem is enriching radioisotopes there, that's what you need the economy (moon dust is notorious, need to have huge halls full of ball-bearings that have strange lubrication, and have been built deep into, say, lava tunnels to be safe from small meteoroids etc). You just can't launch fission material from Earth, sadly, one failed rocket would contaminate too much.

[@BS-vm5bt]

@@tonikotinurmi9012 Yes but we could process lunar dust to build more stable sturctures (ESA 3d printed lunar base as a example). The lunar surface has titanium, iron and many other metals on it. We could also take small amount of materials from surrounding astreoids like lead to paint the bases so we could decrease solar radeation getting in to the habitat as a example.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

@@BS-vm5bt Yes, but you still need the expensive infrastructure there in order to separate said Ti, Fe etc (I bet there is lead too, w/o too much trouble). So trouble imo is who is going to pay for that initial infrastucture. Have you been in a simple steel factory ? Now imagine all that weight moved to moon... I still think first one (name what, I don't care) will be in lavatube there.

[@mikelfunderburk5912]

Hello to all the fans and thanks to all involved in helping Isaac to bring us these great videos

[@gordonwiessner6327]

If gold were discovered there would be a hell of a traffic jam.

[@deckplate1]

Out of all the cool ideas sci fi has to offer, the moon colony is the most basic and first place to start

[@mr.wookiesack]

I wish elon musk watched this. It bothers me that he doesn't think going to the moon is a good idea. To me its the staging area for trips. Its the last stop before leaving our gravity well!

[@lukasmakarios4998]

I do think he knows that. The Moon is where we figure out how to go farther.

[@kokofan50]

Get to the moon is nearly as hard in energy terms as going to Mars, so you’re better off just going to Mars straight from Earth orbit. Launching from the moon only makes sense once the moon has been industrialized and making the equipment on the moon.

[@javierzurera986]

I was just thinking the same

[@baldingpatriot]

From what I can tell, it looks like virtually everything needed for human life found on the Moon is also present on Mars. In fact, from my research, it looks like Mars has a wider range of necessary elements compared to the Moon. I know Elon wants Mars colonization in case humanity goofs up living on Earth, so elemental composition is probably high on his list of reasons to avoid the Moon.

[@nayandusoruth2468]

@@kokofan50 , true, but going to mars will be a month's long trip, with no resupply if things go wrong. Learning to colonise space is better done on the moon for it's proximity, and the industry it will eventually support will prop up the infrastructure we need to stay in space permanently, making the moon a better option.

[@BirdTurdMemes]

The new Artemis program is really hyping me up

[@aserta]

2024 goal set + chosen candidates + new age announcement, ok. I'll give it a 30% chance of happening because of the 4 year goal.

[@bucko9423]

@@aserta 30% is a bit generous, especially considering the political climate.

[@ReezeGoingSenseless]

Trump mentioned it.Thus I give it 0.02% of anything happening.

[@alexseguin5245]

@@ReezeGoingSenseless , I would give it a decent chance of happening. There's one rocket already built and I don't think there is really any will by politician to cancel such a program once it has started.

[@joshuaalvarez7435]

Smart money is on China landing the next manned mission to the moon.

[@lonjohnson5161]

EPISODE SUGGESTION: Sci-Fi concepts that make no sense. This would be like the "Things That Never Will Exist" episode, but focused on things that exist in Sci-Fi that might be possible, but makes no sense given what we know. Isaac hinted at one of them in this episode, when he said it wouldn't make sense to grow food on the Moon to export back to Earth, which is exactly what happens in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". To be fair, we get a healthy dose of this already. Any long term viewer knows Isaac's view of how probable an interstellar war where the outcome is uncertain is. I guess what I'm asking for is instead of having this be a byproduct of the topic of the day, have it be the focus of an episode or three.

[@l0ndon429]

Amazing video and amazing production quality as always! Favourite KZbinr by far. You're next few videos are looking great too, especially crater moon cities. Thanks a ton and have a great 2020!

[@nathangriffiths2851]

If i dont see the moon caked in lights in the next few years i am gonna be angry

[@stardolphin2]

Most lighting will be underground, anyway...

[@HigherThanYou]

NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN... WAKE UP

[@HigherThanYou]

hello

[@UnknownPerson-cq3qv]

@@HigherThanYou jew

[@generalzyklon3913]

@@UnknownPerson-cq3qv Based

[@jordendarrett1725]

2050 presidential election: We're going to be taking on the moon industrial complex and stopping the endless space races!

[@jadenmist]

Really getting excited from some of your upcoming episodes.I love it when you explore the experience of what it would be like to live in some of these places. Been a subscriber of yours for a long time. You're definitely helping me to write the Sci-Fi books I've always dreamed of

[@woodrowsmith8333]

Love this channel and these videos, thank you thank you.

[@JimboTheEngineer2001]

I hope you reach 500K within the next couple of months Isaac, you deserve it :)

[@lsb2623]

ONLY THE MOONANITES SHOULD TALK ABOUT THE MOON. SO FOR THIS EPISODE ISAAC IS NOW A MOONANITE AND MAY BE ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT THE GREATEST MOON... THE MOON.

[@denisv1111]

Keep up the quality documentaries, they are so unique and very good summary of the freshest scientific discoveries and ideas!

[@joeredfield979]

That magnet rail gun ship launcher is an amazing idea to imagine.

[@maan7715]

Oh this is relevant, been waiting for this topic! Most topics are about the far future , now with the awakening new spacerace, it's actually something we might experience soon!

[@punctuationman334]

Ma An being only 14 years old makes me excited to see the future, as I may make it to the day where immortality is achieved.

[@lololman]

But can we have a giant laser on the far side of the Moon?

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Yes. Asteroid deflector. The astronomers will yelp, but they will quiet down when the big rock misses.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

Yes, and we'll need it. Radiating heat from heat-engines cold-sinks is so much tougher than in Earth (look at those huge cold-sinks = nuclear plants cooling towers) ! This probably happens at first and then at last, between wasteful nuclear usage in between. So I wouldn't be surprised if one of first large things built would be behind the moon, just a heatsink radiating away all the heat moon technology produces. Then, maybe, picking up some percentages of that to power laser to both repel/burn asteroids and such, also power spaceflight.

[@milky_wayan]

asteroid deflector? think bigger. Propulsion for lightsail craft to another solar system!

[@davidgrover5996]

Aizman, why limit ourselves to just one side? We will need them pointed at earth for fire support when the Great Cat Uprising begins.

[@evensgrey]

@@milky_wayan No, you build that inside the orbit of Mercury so you can take advantage of the higher Solar flux density to power it. It can be a LOT smaller if the power plant for it is a small fraction the size it would need to be at Earth's distance.

[@palfers1]

Bravo Isaac. Many useful topics covered here today.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Good Job! One of the best intros for setting up a sustainable base on the Moon that I've heard so far! (and I've been around since Apollo) Nice discussion of power supplies, and an interesting note about propellants and mass-drivers. Good that you said how the Moon has a bunch of whatever you would go to the asteroids for, too. But the main shortage may be carbon, as it's not superabundant in the Belt, either. Yes, it's a perfect place to source materials and modules for building habitats in orbit, and also yes, it would probably be preferable to live in orbit than on the Moon. (The same for Mars.) Excellent! A+

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

I thought there's enough CHON in the Belt to outlast some centuries ? I'm more worried about lubricants and quality centrifuges (ball bearings) manufacture in moon to make enough 1) gravity 2) nuclear material separation. You can shoot nuclear reactors there, but not all their fuel, really.

[@jameswhitman3934]

I'm so happy you answered a long standing question of mine. I've been trying for quite some time to see if there is a decent supply of nuclear material on the moon. Very happy, but curious about your source.

[@robertgraybeard3750]

James Whitman - just do a Google Search [uranium thorium on the Moon] and [hydrogen helium on the Moon]

[@jameswhitman3934]

@@robertgraybeard3750 let's just say my Google fu isn't very strong. I think maybe I was being too precise by looking for uranium deposits on the moon. Also I remember hearing that the moon has a lack of radioactive materials from somewhere, and I think that was effecting my search. Either way I'm not sure whether you were trying to be helpful, or condescending, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say thank you.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

@@robertgraybeard3750 I state elsewhere the enriching to U-235 is the hard part imo... Inside lavatube to hide from meteors etc

[@GodWorksOut]

Happy Arthursday! 😍

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

Yes! Thank you mister Arthur. The moon rocks! *Best* wishes for the Artemis program from Iceland. 🧸🎈🐺🦋🧙‍♀️👍

[@TheLemartes]

i found this video easier to follow than the last one, better and more focused script that stays on point helps :)

[@AT-vs7ho]

Early start to the day, with an awesome video.

[@tassadar101r]

I love you

[@GingerGingie]

I do too! He's made every Thursday so great.

[@TheBasqueWasp]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing

[@greypatch8855]

Just have to say man, your videos make my week!

[@samukis272]

Thanks for the vid, Isaac. Do you present to NASA and government folks as well as to us? If you don't, maybe you should consider it. You're very good at persuading people to be optimistic about space exploration & colonisation.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

Also, where's Isaac's TED-talk ? Soon ? Not enough peer (are there?) pressure or publications in science papers, maybe ought to make a tour of his own. Like they say in usa, go big or go home - and here's a person I'd really like to see go big !

[@samukis272]

@@tonikotinurmi9012 You're right about going big. He totally should.

[@thedoruk6324]

We *all* need that *Helium-6* immeaditely! At the very least that definetly would keep the resource crisis; and immeadite Resource Wars at bay...

[@harvia8348]

Yeap

[@alexandernorman5337]

You are thinking of He-3.

[@thedoruk6324]

@@alexandernorman5337 Indeed

[@dr.catherineelizabethhalse1820]

Have you watched Iron Sky? 😄

[@thedoruk6324]

@@dr.catherineelizabethhalse1820 I think many people did :]

[@sharkylpd4]

Coffee and a snack. Time to learn. Thank you sir.

[@rupertgarcia]

I'm sooo in love with this show!!

[@phantomapprentice6749]

If you've read 'The moon is a harsh mistress' by Robert Heinlein then you know what is going to happen next..

[@Starbat88]

For now, colonizing the Moon makes MUCH more sense than colonizing Mars. Elon Musk is jumping the gun a bit. We need some serious space infrastructure in our local cis-lunar neighborhood first.

[@killroywashere1254]

Graveheart We were told by the Aliens (the Moon is ours) get off and stay off. That is why we haven't been back to the MOON!! Elon Musk knows we have been told!!! We will have to bargain with the Aliens to build a colony on the Moon. and that won't be easy.

[@Starbat88]

@@killroywashere1254 I suppose that makes sense. If some other alien civilization colonizes the moon first, do we really have the right to tell them to leave, just because the moon is in our orbit? Especially if they have been living there for generations...

[@lghammer778]

Great episode, Isaac, cheers! 😃🙏🏽🖖🏽

[@Reneza66]

Another excellent episode.

[@TheRogueRockhound]

5:02 am PST 1/16/2020. 7 views, 3 comments. No visible comments.

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

Well done! Well done indeed.🎈 How does it feel to be the first then AND even more amazingly the first now? 🎙🥁🥁

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

And I'm being told some fans on the ISS want to know who's shirts you wear and what you want to be done if you were in charge.. What you want to say to them?

[@TheRogueRockhound]

@@gumunduringigumundsson9344 Sorry for the comment I suppose?

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

@@TheRogueRockhound "Ah.. hahahaha!!" Boomed in the ISS as they read it I'm being told.. Standby.. The fans want you to stop being so modest and embrace this epic achievement that is indeed epic even if you don't see it. "No really' tell us! What you'd do and stuff" I'm told to tell you.

[@TheRogueRockhound]

@@gumunduringigumundsson9344 or " If you liked this episode by SFIA, make sure to check out the "Coexisting with Aliens series on Nebula by CuriosityStream" ^^

[@tedbreuer6927]

Try "The Expanse" series; more plausible than Star Trek/Wars... You'll enjoy all the detail of what can be possible.

[@potentiallyacommentor5648]

If you can get past the absurd idea of the UN controlling anything.

[@sparcer1]

Issac you are way better than first I started watching, bravo Love your vids

[@nathanwhitechurch3769]

Love this video Isaac

[@UtraVioletDreams]

Isaac you're channel contains a lot of speculation. But! It's always very well thought through. And out of tons and tons of other channel's, it's really one of a kind! Edit: I'm getting fat from all those snacks :D

[@fabianherrmann6398]

Same. Forget the moon. When is science helping me to overeat and still stay slim?

[@MadAtreides1]

27 seconds ago? what sorcery is this youtube?

[@pro126]

You should do more episodes like this these are the things that people are looking to your channel towards more close time less long time

[@Knackebrodz]

Great episode. The moon is really the next step of my interstellar empire.

[@brianofphobos8862]

Arthur, check out how much Earth light hits the moon. I believe you will be supersized.

[@biglenin7306]

Why is eleon musk so focused on Mars??? He needs to foucus on the moon!!!

[@jwadaow]

He is designing a vehicle capable of either.

[@sweetwater4583]

Playing on the decades of science fiction authors writing about mars for cash?

[@animistchannel2983]

SpaceX ships won't need the moon. They are already designed to lift what they need direct from earth to orbit, and operate directly from earth orbit to mars and back. The moon is an industrial staging area for earth-orbit-area operations, but mars is a much larger (and terraformable if you want) staging area to the entire rest of the solar system. SpaceX is going directly to the long game, because they can, while others are still basically screwing around in earth's gravity well. Both the moon and mars can be used to build O'Neill Cylinder-type habitat ships, which is the true future of space development and settlement. Once you have those, all limits are off and you can go anywhere for whatever reason you want. They go up... and they don't have to come back down. That's the mother ship from which you control your moon or mars or asteroid industrial sites, while the workers live in regular gravity, with fresh grown food, normal family lives, and just have to take workday shifts in the various weird conditions. Moon-built ships will be more likely to hang around and have service relations with the earth area. Mars-built ships will tend to expand outward into the gas giant systems and Kuiper Belt zones. There is plenty of use, and room, for many kinds and missions, and enough space companies to do them all.

[@fabianherrmann6398]

It is telling that NASA and SpaceX is aiming for Mars and ESA is focusing on a moon base concept to test equipment there and use it as a launch pad. I think it is the American fixation with being first somewhere new, which is a great motivator and fine by me. ESA has not that much money to burn through and thus rather keeps it closer to home.

[@animistchannel2983]

@Prowler Cam I think at some point people just have to take Elon at his word, that he's doing mars to make humanity a multi-planet species, that makes earth-based life cosmically harder to wipe out, and leads to a future that gives him hope, where we expand across space. That's a non-business, idealistic, star-trekkie geeky goal. If you remember his actual speech introducing the BFR/Starship, he said, "...but we have to find a way to pay for it." Since then they've made more products, more profitable support companies (like Boring & Solar), and launched StarLink. That's the earth-money they need to pay for establishing mars until it's self-sufficient.

[@guilhermecunha3363]

Also, I started reading Artemis from a previous recommendation, I havnt yet finished it but this video enhanced my imagination! Glad to be a supporter!

[@alexoest]

I'm going to watch this more than once. Much more.

[@mousefad3673]

"eternally dark bottoms"

[@reddragon2335]

*The future of humanity has entered the chat.* *North Korea still has not entered the chat.*

[@haman_k]

would be nice if you could make a series about near future projects , simulate them and calculating the costs ,analyzing details my favorite Chanel always

[@michelejames8695]

Love your videos! So interesting!!

[@starsilverinfinity]

I don't like moon dust It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.

[@ypop417]

Well quit playing in the Moon-Box

[@starsilverinfinity]

@@ypop417 But its fun!

[@alexandernorman5337]

Now where have I head that quote? Oh, yes, the first terrible Star Wars trilogy. (Well, Ep III was pretty good)

[@chrisbrandenburg3505]

I'm laying in bed watching your videos and I just had a horrible thought. Can you imagine the moment that we've discovered every species of life on Earth. Nothing more to explore. The excitement of discovering a new species gone forever I don't know why but that scares the crap out of me

[@mmmkmmmkmmmmkmmmk7779]

I love to watch and listen to your videos while I play Stellaris. Such a fantastic combo. 👍

[@wefuntw]

I really like this episode, it gives people hope! I can already feel the next giant leap of humanity, in near term!

[@paulphelps7809]

Great presentation.

[@jonathanhensley6141]

Awesome video

[@Nikarus2370]

Thing I've not seen mentioned before. I recall reading a paper in college about pressing and sintering aluminum oxides. (Basically squeeze powdered aluminum oxide down, and then hit it with some heat. Not enough to reach the melting point [which for AlO is quite high] but above a certain point, it'll bond a bit). Thought is, that well the Moon doesn't have good access to one of the most important building materials on earth, concrete. So the paper was talking about how pressed-sintered alumina blocks could be used as bulk material when laying foundations, building radiation shielding, and etcetera on the moon, with a lower power demand to fully processing the material into aluminum.

[@timesathousand]

I love how Isaac talks about the grand strategy of what projects are worth investing: moonbase vs bypass the moon vs O'Neil cylinders etc. One day I really hope our species--or at least enough of our species--are united in efforts to undertake projects like this and are investing our resources towards the most optimal payout for humanity as a whole rather than for shareholders. Isaac is one of the only things in my adult life that actually makes me hopeful that Star Fleet could one day be a real thing. Thanks dude.

[@thekaxmax]

side note: shipping H2 as ammonia is more volume-efficient than liquid H2, and because of tank differences is more mass-efficient. There is an efficient catalyst to reform it to H2 and N, and the N can be used for energy as well.

[@cnawan]

Thanks for the comparison of moon elevators vs. mass drivers Isaac. Previously I thought elevators were the way to go due to the low lunar gravity, but I forgot about that day length. :)

[@overkill246]

Perfect timing

[@Jim0i0]

Crushing it Isaac.

[@jwadaow]

...and extracting the precious minerals.

[@evensgrey]

We do have jobs where the standard work cycle is two weeks of working like hell, 12 hours a day, 14 days in a row, followed by two weeks off. This isn't easy, but some people seem to like it. This is usually things like offshore oil drilling (and firefighters, who at least in North America typically work 14 10 hour day shifts, 14 days off, 14 14-hour night shifts, 14 days off, repeat). This is rather like the situation for early Lunar installations, which will be places where you'll need to work like hell when you have the resources to do so, and just have downtime when waiting for whatever the limiting factor is (likely the energy to process the material).

[@brettschmeisser2568]

Thank you for some inspirational ideas that me and my son are using on a Lego project build, that we affectionately call Lego Space Mountain..

[@BobTheButtworm1]

Now that reusable rockets have cut launch costs, I'm super excited to see things like this start happening!

[@griffca4814]

My sister is a chemical engineer who has worked at chemical and paper-plants. All the plants she worked at had such tight energy budgets and such expansive recycling and reuse policies that they were net positives on the grid year round. Apparently industrial waste (yellow and black sludge in particular) is a hell of a fuel for generating electricity. One plant. The International Paper plant in Savannah produced so much power they couldn't sell all of it so they had to "Shutdown days" where they ran the plant at such a high level that they ran out of power causing it to automatically shut down. This was so they could get of the excess electricity they were making and couldn't sell and prevent the plant from overloading which was their largest safety concern.

[@tonikotinurmi9012]

In Finland: heating is usually by central heating (waste heat in underground pipes to houses) in towns. Some companies use this water (welding, making rolls of steel etc heavy industry) for _cooling_ so they get extra cash from energy companies for added warmth to heating peoples homes. Though they do use more electricity (I think your sister's paper plant does too) than they produce heat, it's a good way to "recycle" - was in 70's even when recycling wasn't even a thing. IDK black sludge, but not my area of expertise (uh, if I had one lol). Urea's very energy positive though afaik.

[@number1sun]

It's all about Helium-3; i've seen the movie.

[@skipkurtz2705]

Professor Arthur, you make complex issues such as these understandable to uneducated admirers of space, like me. Thank you so much. I'd rather watch your videos than science fiction, and has been my favorite genre for fifty years!

[@TheGrinningViking]

I figured out the moon braking problem, right now! Sand bags, sand bags filled with moon dust, it would be rediculously cheap and simple. Toss in a net at the end and sides to catch the bags and they will fall back into place. It'd also provide error correction for overly fast landings - though you would want not to hit the net, as it would then likely need some simple repairs.

[@doughyjoey_8742]

Just think, in 1 weeks time, that beautiful art will be transformed into a link for the "why does life exist episode"........ Much anticipated thank you Isaac!

[@cannonfodder4376]

Yet another great episode Isaac. It still puzzles me that people obsess over Mars and still ignore the Moon and its importance to Space Industrialization and learning. So much at our grasp and still not grasped.

[@williamswenson5315]

Basalt as a heat sink. I hadn't heard that one, but it makes perfect sense as it's readily available and cheap.

[@onetruekeeper]

In 2001 A Space Odyssey, the spaceship Aries 1b landed on a pad that descended into a underground hangar bay on the moon. A ship landing on the Lunar surface would be subject to solar radiation and ionized particles so it would be best to get it inside a protective structure as soon as possible.

[@brianjohnson5272]

Here's a thought for a solar array on the moon. Put it on rails. Have it move to the light, charge up to full, rail back and plug into a capacitor, then rail back to the light. It has the added benefit that if an impact near it is seen in time you rail it clear of the impact site.