The Expanse S02E13 "Caliban's War"

[@TheVargr]

You are correct, Frankie Adams who protrays Bobbie is a boxer.

[@8556732]

#MyTheory - They use torch drives: a) because the ship is small. take a look at the disassembly, the entire ship is much smaller than anything else we've seen. it is probably somewhere between the knight and the roci. b) it is a powered descent, taking advantage of the atmospheric drag, which increases on Venus with depth. the books states that firing up the main drive is not a simple process, and it may not be necessary for a powered atmospheric descent where you can use airbrakes etc. c) Scott Manley's video, and others on the site Atomic Rockets, point out the immense heat produced by the drive. We can probably assume that whatever magical cooling system used for the drive does not work in atmosphere, or at least not in one like Venus's. The really interesting question though is whether the Arboghast intended to actually land on the surface, or float like an airship at a particular altitude. If they intended to land then the ship needs to be pretty fantastically engineered to withstand the heat and pressure of the surface. I would argue they were aiming for the latter - i would assume if they do not have probes capable of surviving the surface, then the ship would not be adequately engineered for it either.

[@keirfarnum6811]

I was thinking the same thing. Recent research has shown the upper atmosphere of Venus to be much more conducive for spacecraft and it might even be where life could exist, if it exists on Venus. So it would make sense that a craft would stay mostly above the surface. But I haven’t seen the show unfortunately. ☹️

[@chris57035]

#Caliban. I'm not an expert on nuclear fission, but I do work around instrumentation and detection equipment all the time. One major problem I had with the way they lure the protomolecule monster away from the Roci, is that the plutonium core from a nuclear weapon is not particularly radioactive prior to fission. Plutonium-239 is primarily an alpha emitter. Alpha particles are harmless in atmosphere outside of a distance of about two inches and are only dangerous if they get inside you. I imagine an alpha source is slightly more dangerous in a vacuum since the alpha particle (a helium nucleus) doesn't fizzle out after crashing into the air, but even then Plutonium is not particularly radioactive. Send the core into a critical state and it'll shower the entire area in gamma and neutron radiation, but outside of that, the core is pretty inert. It would still be more radioactive than, say, Prax and Naomi walking around in their suits, and I really don't know how the monster senses radiation (since, you know, it's not real), but I doubt that the radiation given off by the nuclear core would be sufficient to lure the beast outside of the ship even with the drive offline. In fact, I doubt it would even be able to detect the radiation unless it had line of sight to the core, since the skin of the ship would stop the alpha radiation. I welcome correction from an actual nuclear physicist or chemist.

[@Angel24Marin]

Nozzles are adapted for exterior pressures. A vacuum optimized nozzle will have a lot of problems in Venus due to instability in the exhaust.

[@nikolaihersfeldt9993]

#MyTheory It could still be an Epstein drive, but with rocket nozzles optimized for atmospheric use. Atmospheric nozzles are much shorter and smaller than vacuum-optimized nozzles, and Venus is certainly the kind of place where the designing nozzles for the right pressure could make a big difference in efficiency.

[@Ignisan_66]

#MyTheory Actually those are epstein drives. In the previous episode we see Arboghast flipping and firing its drives to decelerate towards Venus. I see no problem with them not being epstein drives. Not all epstein drives look the same.

[@ReezeGoingSenseless]

#MyTheory is heat.Drives are surely designed to work in space and iirc Venus is quite hot.Radiating heat sounds way more difficult on that hellhole.

[@bublebuble2004]

Bobbie ( Frankie Adams ) is a amateur boxer.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

That makes total sense. Just from that scene it was obvious she knows how to throw a real punch. Great casting on her.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

Maybe they feel like that because some of the firefight scenes? If so, that's not really her fault as they're trying to keep the cool SFX in frame rather than having her move and do a bunch of quick cuts. The only hand to hand scenes I remember with her are when she busted out of the Martian compound and the one in this episode. They all seemed fine to me. Thanks for watching.

[@klausgartenstiel4586]

i love her too. but her fighting scenes in that episode feel weak. thats my honest opinion. maybe its the difference between realism and what i call "movie magic"? frankly they shoudve used more of that magic.

[@Alridx]

They felt weak because the choreographer didn't do a proper job. Matt Damon is not a martial artist but Jason Bourne still had awesome fight scenes in all the movies and convinced us he actually is one. Bobbie didn't used only boxing, for example she started with a low kick and the guard collapsed but her foot work and movement didn't seemed too convincing - like the tipical kick from someone that doesn't have a kick boxing or muay thai background - which ruined the scene to people that pay attention to those details. But it's a minor detail to an overall awesome show.

[@OmegaMegalodon]

bobbie is strong

[@numbers9to0]

Hm. Our Earth oxygen athmosphere is also very corrosive! People often forget about that.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

True, and if you've ever owned a house near the ocean it'll eat away at everything.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

ö. . , It would be interesting to compare the Venusian atmosphere to a particularly bad day in Beijing.

[@2000johnwhite]

These videos are great thank you. The expanse is up there with my favorite Sci-fi shows :-)

[@chiffmonkey]

"3000 ft below sea level" Imperial? Really?

[@francoisleveille409]

Didn't see any comment mentioning Adam Savage, a former mythbuster, plays the role of the mission specialist in this episode of The Expanse.

[@dapeach06]

Please make more videos! Especially for season 3 of The Expanse!

[@CuzicanAerospace]

5:25 "So it's not just something that'd just dissolve the ship away." I see what you did there. #spoilers

[@LetsDoTheScience]

:)

[@stewhobson9748]

The show runners borrowed the idea of the secret base on Io from Caliban's War. The selection of Io as a base of operations for the hybrid experiments makes sense as you've pointed out. Thanks for your series, btw. Keep it up!

[@Generalkidd]

What I'm curious about is the scene where the Arboghast was torn apart and the crew members were left exposed yet seemed ok, just totally stunned. You briefly mentioned the upper atmosphere of Venus, but could someone actually survive totally unprotected and without a breathing mask in the upper atmosphere for any period of time?

[@thakillman7]

Probably not for lengthy periods of time. Venus' atmosphere is dense, corrosive and harsh but interestingly people seem to overestimate not underestimate it's harshness. You'd probably be fine for a few minutes high up (i think death by asphyxiation is the main cause up high). At lower altitudes the temperature is the biggest problem, not the corrosiveness.

[@wangtoriojackson4315]

They weren't okay and just stunned, they were basically exposed to the vacuum of space. They weren't breathing. They didn't have very long to live.

[@Generalkidd]

They didn't look like they were suffocating and gasping for air though. They were all just looking around, totally stunned. I know they died in the books, but it just looks like they're somewhat ok here.

[@wangtoriojackson4315]

Well they aren't somewhat ok. They are dead.

[@paulygon4545]

An alien technology diced the ship apart and held them all in place. They could easily hold the ship's atmosphere in place as well. I can't recall the details of the book about their deaths, but as we've repeatedly seen people aren't exactly All Dead when the PM gets a hold of them. Something of them often remains.

[@ptogusa1532]

these are great videos! really enjoyed n look forward to more. cheers!

[@OOTD_]

Yeah I noticed her punches when she beat up that Martian leader in her hotel room. I said "damn this girl knows how to throw a punch."

[@zj6074]

It looks like the Arbegast engine nozzles are flared inwards, which indicates they're an engine of low exhaust pressure that's meant for operation in higher pressure environments. The Space Shuttle Main Engines did this too. #MyTheory is that these are fusion drives (a very low pressure exhaust engine type) optimized for operation under atmospheric pressures.

[@tmseh]

I only watched a few episodes when it first came out and I think it took eons for season 2 to come out. I'm now revisiting this awesome show and all the KZbin videos dedicated to the show. It's convincing me to get Amazon Prime. When I heard Amazon canceled the Steven King Dark Tower project after the pilot episode I had no plans to sign up. I'm ready to jump in!

[@bbaker4117]

The Arboghast was an outdated UN destroyer before being converted to a science vessel, so it probably uses a fusion torch as it's main drive system like the Knight.

[@matthewkimble6099]

#Caliban Looking forward to your future episodes! Thanks for the nice work.

[@billnye6685]

#my theory I think the roci is the smallest ship (I think the book mentions it) that was able to have a epastene drive in it, the research vessel is just too small.

[@Myname-il9vd]

the martian patrol destroyers are just a tiny bit smaller than the roci, not by much just a couple meters iirc, but regardless it's certainly getting about as small as they get

[@carnsoaks1]

What interests me is that the shape of a rocket bell only maximises power at very specific air pressures / or altitudes. A rocket that works here may be very very inefficient in Venus's atmosphere, especially considering it's environment. The SPIKE design (inside outie) was developed to reduce this effect and allows air pressure to shape thrust plumes & in turn maintain rocket efficiency over a greater range of environments. Spike Jets will be just whats needed to open up the system in future. atmospheric & vacuum landings alike can be managed by these jets within reasonable tolerances. They can come round OR rectangular too (ie millenium falcon) Surprised none vre obviously used in ExpAnse

[@movax20h]

2:23 Don't forget Argon. Argon is actually more than CO2 in Earth's atmosphere. Like 20-25 times more. CO2 is basically a trace gas. Yes, its variations do have an enormous impact on green house effect, but by volume and mass, it is very little.

[@WARGIRLWARGIRL]

Dude..thank you and..you also you have a great soothing voice thank you for NOT using curse words I had my kids watch your vids.

[@alexmo1941]

They said a couple times that if you're landing or activate your epstein drive near something it would turn it into molten slag. Not great if you want to study the surface.

[@beaker2000]

In the books it was a very old science ship as Earth and Mars had lost a lot of ships at this point and it was all they could afford to send.

[@s.31.l50]

In the books, Tycho has a Venus Cloud City project, to build a station in the upper atmosphere of Venus. Pretty sure the plan got trashed though.

[@miles2378]

Did jule pier Mao/protogen become extreamly rich from litigation around the planed venus colony they started out as a law firm?

[@baronjutter]

How many calories are in a cucumber sandwich and how many does bobbie need to continue to be awesome? Did she consume enough?

[@LetsDoTheScience]

valid concern... valid concern.. :)

[@mysticvirgo9318]

I did notice that it seemed that Bobbie had littel to nothing to eat in the previous 24 or so hours.. that would also explain the joy of nomming real food ,let alone a 'cumber sammich.

[@ojeone]

cucumber mostly water has little to no nutritional value... in space it would be a luxury food. so shes prob never seen one.

[@SAINT-ANTONIO]

It's the density of the Atmosphere. Rockets would perhaps have 90 times more effect ... if they can go through the pressure! And engine interrior built to withstand the pressure. Therefore minor maneuvering thrusters are sufficent for higher levels where its about 30 times more effective / wheight of craft.

[@franug]

In the book they talk about how Earth tried to do a floating colony over Venus but for some reason it failed so nobody really goes there anymore #Caliban

[@ReddwarfIV]

Huh. I have a plan for a hard sci-fi book, and it was going to begin with a Venus cloud city falling from the sky, explaining why some of the powers on Earth start a conflict with Mars. Kind of disheartening to learn that the Expanse authors had the idea first.

[@thakillman7]

People have been dreaming of colonizing venus for decades (Possibly longer) and the idea of floating cities definitely predates The Expanse. If you have a good idea, go for it. The Expanse is hardly original in it's ideas, it's the execution that sells it to me.

[@XxSPFanx]

I had an idea of an earth / belt / mars hard sci fi book a while ago but they beat me to it!

[@SectionRatioTile]

Was reading that part a few days ago (Just started the Leviathan Wakes, great so far) - I did a quick search and it's stated "[Tycho] had been slated to create a network of high-atmosphere floating cities above Venus before the development rights fell into a labyrinth of lawsuits now entering its eighth decade."

[@franug]

Then I was remembering it wrong! I had the idea that Earth tried to do it for some reason. I red the books last year though and basically in one sitting so the 6 of them are tangled in my mind hahaha

[@keirfarnum6811]

Basically, the upper atmosphere would be an ideal candidate for a Bespin Cloud City.

[@TwinsenR]

#Caliban YEAH, SCIENCE! Keep up the good and entertaining work!

[@brianransom16]

Those drive cones are designed for atmospheric pressures.

[@fizzoftheburn]

Loved this episode!! Thanks Lets Do The Science Guy!!

[@ddmagee57]

ref 0:55 An exhaust cone working in atmosphere is smaller than one in vacuum. Look at any rocket launch and you'll see much smaller cones at lift off, and larger cones on upper stages.

[@tugboatyan]

#MyTheory on the Arboghast's engines as someone who hasn't read to this point in the books: I imagine that in a vessel designed specifically for the pursuit of science in an atmosphere, the tradeoffs would make a cluster of less powerful engines (perhaps even more conventional ones) attractive to the folks who commissioned the Arboghast. It's a research vessel, so the scientists involved don't need to get anywhere at torchship speeds for commercial or military reasons - the expense of an Epstein drive would be wasted. In addition, Epstein drives, by nature of being torchship drives, put out an obscene, beyond-weapons-grade level of energy. Using an Epstein drive for in-atmosphere deceleration (and thus dropping through the effects of your own Epstein exhaust) is suicidal for yourself. Using the drive to decelerate or accelerate in atmo wouldn't be pleasant for the folks near and below you either; based on AtomicRho quotes of Erin Schmidt's analysis of the Roci's drive, the Martian ship (who very much resembles the Roci) should have an exhaust energy of 11 freakin' terawatts. Every time you fire up the Epstein drive, I think it's equivalent to setting off a continuous stream of 9 megaton nukes behind your ship (I think, I'm not solid on this math). Therefore, it would make sense for a science vessel designed to float in Venusian atmo to use a cluster of more conventional engines to provide its acceleration back out of Venus. Friendlier to the planet its studying, and not deleterious to the ship itself. Conventional drives are probably more efficient and powerful than maneuvering thrusters, but acceptable to use in atmo unlike an Epstein drive and cheaper to boot (cheap enough to eat the cost of less efficiency in the transfer from Earth to Venus and back). #Caliban

[@LetsDoTheScience]

Fair enough. It occurs to me that the output of the epstien drives may mess readings from sensitive scientific instruments.

[@borisdorofeev5602]

My theory its most likely detached from another ship. It's a research vessel so it was probably given a ride and then detached to orbit.

[@bloodangel9403]

There are 2 things that struck me as odd in this season. 1) The Mars landing box seen in previous episodes, as well as the Arbogast both have very small exhausts. Maybe they do indeed have an Epstein drive because, I don't see how or with what other kind of fuel, a ship like that could reach escape velocity and leave Earth/Venus. 2) It never occurred to me that Io could have a sufficiently stable surface to harbor a science facility. That looks extremely dangerous IMHO. Unless that base is in orbit of Io.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

Orbit in Io would take some very serious shielding, but that seems to be a solved problem in the world of The Expanse. Although there are many volcanoes on Io, it seems most of the activity comes from existing ones and there are large spots of stable activity. I think it's reasonable assuming you have some means to get very detailed sub-surface scans.

[@bloodangel9403]

I'm not so sure about that. I cannot check right now, but IIRC the gravitational pull from Jupiter is so high that causes the surface of Io to change constantly. That's why there's not a single impact crater on it.

[@hinxlinx]

Would love to hear explanation of how the nuclear core from that warhead not exploding when Rocinante incinerated it along with the protomolecule human hybrid creature.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

It likely wouldn't explode. Nuclear warheads depend on the precise detonation of explosives around it in order to start a chain reaction. The engines may have well detonated the core (we don't know it would but say it did) it would likely not be a precise 360 degree detonation required for the chain reaction.

[@suborgulag1237]

#mytheory Maybe they don’t want to “open” the throttle by opening up the inner part of the engine so it isn’t damaged by its corrosive atmosphere

[@xFersureMatt]

What is different about her punch from a regular punch? Now im interested and rather have an answer now than 4 years from now after learning way more about boxing lol

[@bobriemersma]

I had assumed that some larger craft had delivered it to Venus.

[@alexandermagill4933]

#mytheory they do not want to feed the protomolecule with the epstein drive

[@LetsDoTheScience]

Oh, good thought. Possibly.

[@doxielain2231]

#mytheory The Kizinti Lesson: "The more efficient a reaction drive, the more effective a weapon it makes." It's not wise to slag the phenomena that you want to study, or spew a bunch of radioactive particles into the atmosphere between you and it. That's why the Mars ship goes in on teakettle.

[@marklancaster5784]

caliban-good point I think she is a kickboxer. Bobby is a great actor.keepon the Expance you are all we got till next year a few more weeks at lest

[@TheAxxon]

If doing "the science" it would help to use the metric system. Makes it more scientific ;)

[@hogfry]

Well my first though, is that it's less a ship and more like a research minisub. We use that configuration for deep sea exploration now. Putting an fusion reactor on a diving bell isn't currently cost effective in our world. And given how insanely expensive small research submersibles are today. I think it's likely just a cost cutting measure to give it more conventional thrust systems

[@fgdj2000]

8:20 I think Frankie Adams (the actress who plays Bobby) actually does have a boxing background.

[@ivanoffw]

why did you not talk about the proto molecule being?

[@LetsDoTheScience]

That's a topic for a whole episode coming up. I want to combine what we see about it from multiple episodes, not just this one.

[@mattbracher4973]

Looking forward to it! Now that I've finally figured out that you're posting on Mondays, your posts wi ll be something I anticipate.

[@axl100100]

The plasma from main drives will blind the sensors of the ships and they are on surveillance mission.

[@NickyLunaLove]

Bobbie Draper and her legendary right hook

[@KrK-EST]

Yes i like it about Expanse also that it uses real technique on things, and science in the most part is all most if not real.

[@serge00storms]

in the book was Tycho Station being sued for something to do with floating cities on Venus ?

[@BaNuj]

At first Bobbie was the most irritating character for me, but then she became pretty reasonable and I allow her to be on pedestal of my most favorite heroes: 1. Chrisjen Avasarala 2. Joseph Miller 3. Lieutenant K. Lopez 4. Amos Burton 5. Bobbie Draper 6. Sadavir Errinwright Thank you very much :) Rest is pretty indifferent to me. We will see.

[@SGrzesiek1]

3 season is out! Please, please make some new videos!!!

[@striker.eureka-]

Really great stuff. Keep it up.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

Thanks for watching.

[@Empiro3]

#MyTheory -- I thought in an earlier episode that they mentioned the Arboghast was an older ship that was put back in service. It might have just predated the Epstein Drive, and given that Venus is fairly easy to reach from Earth, they probably didn't feel like the upgrade was needed. The books talk about Fusion Torches, which are still pretty fast and efficient (and allowed the colonization of Mars).

[@LetsDoTheScience]

Could be. Definitely looks like it. Epstein drive came out 150 years ago so that would be a pretty old ship.

[@joeyjojojunior1794]

I hope to see some new analysis for the third season...

[@wateim3951]

Io is a terrible place for a base. You'd die from the radiation band that extends from Jupiter to Io, but if you didn't then your base would be trashed by earthquakes or consumed by a volcano because Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system.

[@TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA]

so were not talking about what the protomolecue does to both ships on venus?

[@JanVincentLatzko]

Yes, please keep mixing imperial units with SI.

[@flybeep1661]

#MyTheory considering the SpaceX falcon 9 merlin engines even 1 such engine used when landing the F9 can lift it back up again. To prevent this from happening the burn must be timed exactly right. This kind of burn is also know as a "suicide burn" (SpaceX doesn't call it that). The F9 only fires its rocket inrtermidetly during descent but most of time it doesn't burn. This could totally apply to a ship descending into the atmosphere, it needs to not burn, only maneuver its position (same thing the F9 does with its grid fins) and burn once in a while and then at the end to land.

[@ДушанРадин-ы3ю]

From wich world in our system can you see our Galaxy like that,as shown in the last clip?

[@heavypen]

I hate to nitpick your commentary because I like your channel; however, your casual use of the label "showrunners" (particularly in this case) is a bit "pear-shaped." A factoid generally known among geek-level detail-seeking fans, but maybe not so much with casual YT surfers, is that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, authors of the well-loved book series (aka James S A Corey), also serve as lead writers and co-producers for the show. That point alone is the one thing about the show that makes it as utterly unique as a floating observation ship on Venus or picking Io for the location of a secret base. When the show restarts, and you continue your otherwise excellent observations about The Expanse, I recommend at least an occasional reminder that when you say "showrunner," you mean to point out that most unique characteristic about this show's success: writers really can produce excellent shows. Postop: Just read that you discontinued your production. Sorry to hear that. Seemed as though you had a good start, good trajectory for expansion of your own (I'm a loyal sub). Hope you change your mind and come back to it.

[@kallemort]

I enjoy this channel and I have subscribed, but is there a specific reason why you use Imperial measurements when doing videos meant to be somewhat scientific? #Caliban

[@LetsDoTheScience]

I do the actual calculations in metric and convert the answer to Imperial for the show since my biggest viewership is non-scientists in the US. Who don't typically do well non Imperial units. I've gotten a couple of comments on it so I'll try to give answers in both units from now on.

[@TanerNilluhktaf]

Please do season 3!!!

[@Rtechmobile]

Don't they use "torch drives" as well?

[@TheHalcyonTwilight]

#MyTheory Perhaps the Epstein Drive isn't effective in a high pressure atmosphere like Venus'? I'm trying to remember if we see Epstein Drives even used in Earth atmosphere, IIRC those looked more like conventional thrusters.

[@flybeep1661]

For an engine that can sustain a 30g burn for very long periods even high pressure atmosphere like in Venus shouldn't make any difference.

[@Angel24Marin]

@@flybeep1661 Nozzles are adapted for exterior pressures. A vacuum optimized nozzle will have a lot of problems in Venus due to instability in the exhaust.

[@VascovanZeller]

A show about science should not use imperial units. Use both if you must, but if you only use one unit then it has to be the SI unit.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

Generally I try to give both but I may miss it sometimes. Having a general audience in the US, who are generally terrible with metric measures, it helps give context. So I may have missed it but generally try to do both. If I do an equation, I do it in metric but sometimes I give the answer converted to Imperial.

[@remyzins2703]

#Caliban Please do movies also. I would love to hear about Life (2017 movie)

[@francisdavis1271]

Function of a fusion drive within an atmosphere and a potential ecosphere would be prohibited by law; the plasma interaction would produce both a large magnetic field of its own and electrostatic field. Rather nasty for 10s to perhaps 100 km. Also the fusion drive isn't "light" as it requires cooling systems for field coils; injectors... plasma physics is "heavy" equipment. A meta-stable molecule chemical drive would likely be used which could give you NERVA/ROVER propulsion without radiation or plasma dynamics.

[@darrenmarchant1720]

the irony that during the age of feminism we would find out that the planet Venus is in fact a scalding acidic beach is astounding.

[@ScoutPL]

Tried to tell those Venusians to watch their carbon footprints.

[@boobookittifukk]

Are you able to look at the science of the first season of The Expanse? I'm sure plenty of people have requested this already, but I'd love to hear you discuss the science in the earlier episodes.

[@kute940]

Dope upload 😍

[@ianh1504]

If you want to study something, burning it until its nothing but its component atoms with your ship drives would be..... counterproductive

[@KlaxontheImpailr]

I think the Arbaghast is my favorite ship in the show :)

[@ericgazette291]

good job

[@FyremaelGlittersparkle]

They often make reference in the books when using the Epstein drive in atmo or near other ships to "slagging" them so it seems like they do give off massive amounts of radiation which might be best avoided in certain conditions.#mytheory

[@sallyshipwreck4315]

Yep, the actress playing Bobbie is a boxer in real life!

[@Marauder1981]

would corrosive mean the PH level is rather high? Sour? #taliban

[@widget3672]

Well #mytheory for the lack of an Epstein drive on the Arborghast is to do with the nature of trying to survey Venus - perhaps Epstein drives are optimised for vacuum - I know that current rocket engines are optimised for vacuum or atmosphere by the shape of the engine bell - which still isn't something easy to change (without going for an aerospike - but that's got it's own problems) so perhaps the atmospheric pressure of Venus is just horrible to use an Epstein drive in.

[@tmseh]

That sounds pretty logical. An Epstein engined vehicle may not operate at a sufficient capacity in a Venetian atmosphere. What do think of the atmosphere also being at such an extreme pressure that doesn't need engines as powerful? My science slot is not high on my character sheet.😉 It would be cool if it was a Space X product. Musk Industries Corporation.

[@widget3672]

@@tmseh I guessed epstein drive ships need to be pretty big for engines but it's possible there are some missions that are designed to float on the high venetian atmosphere. Since there are 92 bars of pressure at sea level there (that's 92x more pressure than sea level on earth) you can be very high up in the atmosphere before you reach what is neutrally buoyant using floats (like the things we see unfurl, possibly also functioning as an aerobrake - increase the surface area of the craft and it catches more wind and it slows down more or less). I think there are some designs you can find online of sky cities because the climate conditions at the 1atm mark are actually quite similar to earth, minus it being quite windy.

[@tmseh]

@@widget3672 I recently read something about the possibility of a sweet spot in Venus's atmosphere that is exactly what you are talking about. Thanks for explaining! Great show. It drew me into the story by exploring the political/power amongst so many factions. The similarities to the British empire and colonial North America is very interesting, especially with the Mormons.🖖

[@LordOrio]

#MyTheory i think maybe epsteen drives specific impulse basically it's efficiency gets really bad at atmosfere

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

#MyTheory those are Epstein drives, just much smaller versions. As we know Epstein drives can deliver fantastic thrust even while delivering the theoretical highest isp, those puppies could keep a craft hovering at extemely low settings. The extra capacity would be essential when it came time to head back out to low orbit or back to Earth. Love your show. Some decent, carefull thinking. #Caliban

[@gotmil11]

hello sir can u try stargate and science it ?

[@GreatgoatonFire]

Cool video all this talk about Venus reminded me of the RPG Eclipse Phase a fairly hard sci-fi world with some "magic" elements (mostly the exsurgent virus and anything the TITANs cocked up). For reasons I won't go into here Earth is super gone and transhumanity now lives every other object in the Solar System including the upper layers of the Sun. Venus is very interesting because some would like to terraform the planet into a replacement for Earth. However the majority of people living there now in the floating cities know as Aerostats favor a different approach. They want to perform "aerial terraforming", the upper layers of the Venusian atmosphere would change into something able to support Earth-like life created to populate it and regular humans (and uplifted squids, ravens, whales etc.) would be able to breach without any special gear or augmentations. The surface would remain inhospitable if this plan came into effect. If you want to learn more about Eclipse Phase you can read all books released for the system here robboyle.wordpress.com/eclipse-phase-pdfs/ as it released under a Creative Commons license. Accualy EP might make for a good LDTS if you want to try something different.

[@Anacronian]

There we have the answer - Bobbie punched Ceres to increase rotation!

[@brent847]

the venus exploration ship reminds me or these jungle canopy exploration platforms where helicopters would lower these structures on to the tops of jungle canopys so that scientists could stay and study for long periods of time I can see a common link between the two activities

[@blipzero]

gas separator in condenser / atmospheric engine or a in atmosphere jet engine why take more fule if you can ues the gasses of the planet ?

[@Kalabenos]

1:24 You say the Martian ship doesn't fire its Epstein drive in Venus' atmosphere, but mere seconds before that screenshot it's doing just that.

[@Cg23sailor]

One correction one a statement of yours. at 7:00 you claimed it was pretty smart of the showrunners to put a secret base on Io. That wasn't the showrunners. This show is based on a series of novels. The author of the novels placed the secret base on Io. The books came first. The Books are not a "novelization" of the show. The books came first. The show is an "adaptation" of the books.

[@circuitboardsushi]

#mytheory We have seen the Epstein drive mostly used in space. The high atmospheric pressure could prevent the drive from functioning near the surface of Venus.

[@Weyoun359]

awesome channel.subed

[@walterwz]

What attracted me to the books was that we dealt with space flight in the "near future" and did not leave physics as we know it, raped and bleeding in the gutter. From a scientific orthodoxy standpoints the I score the books at about 98%. I guess phenomena around the proto-molecule are beyond... but that is OK. The show, probably due to budgetary constraints does not do as well. Starting with the acceleration couches, that are essential to surviving high G maneuvering during space combat, something that looks like a beach chair doesn't cut it. As to your comments a contest where people gave an attempt to see what the technology described in the Expanse Books would actually look like would be very interesting.

[@LetsDoTheScience]

I think it's split evenly between budget and confusing the viewer. There's already so much going on. Much of the stuff they leave out either couldn't reasonably be done or wouldn't add much to the show.

[@walterwz]

My biggest complaint about the show is that it is in the category of shows that you really have to sit down and watch with undivided attention, and there is a lot to be gained in the second and 3rd viewing. I only need to couch this in the context that I REALLY expected the 1968 movie 2001 to be the trajectory of our civilization. I am EXTREMELY disappointed that we are not poking around the moons of Jupiter now on a routine basis.

[@gavinkemp7920]

about the epstien drive their are two possible answer to why it looks like it not working in atmosphere: first possible answer they and seems the most plausible to me. the main issue with the epstien drive in atmosphere is both the nuclear reaction and to direct the plasma into thrust generated relies on high temparitures and a dense atmosphère would be a very effective coolants. one solution would be to use the heat of the plasma to power jet engines instead but that would mean redirecting the the plasma into the jet which at that level of technology should be perfectly possible but it wouldn't be a epstien drive but a nuclear jet. second it does work but doesn't produce that glow in atmosphere, less believable to me but defenitly explainable. the glow produced by the epstien drive is a concequence of extremly hot plasma be jet out of the ship but since the the atmosphere acts as a coolant the plasma would be cooled and infact turn bach to a gaz long before it got out of the ship. the only issue with this case is i don't see how the epstien drive would provide trhust in atmosphere but if it did the cooling process would almost certain change the color of the glow or completely illiminate it.

[@sc-sp4cm]

if you want the real science, watch Scott Manly ... he goes into a lot more details and explains it better...

[@massimocole9689]

#My Theory: It says in the books that the Epstein drives are laser ignited fusion reaction. Such a drive system would have several problems in atmosphere such as the lasers being diffused and the pellets being cooled by the air, etc. The engines would probably have to be specially designed to compensate for these effects.

[@ttomkatt1]

#Caliban x3 or x4 times. Too bad I can't add another like each time I watch your videos.