Europa Sample Return, Imaging Auroras, Winds of Titan | Q&A 271

[@frasercain]

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[@Graystaff]

“Winds of Titan” sounds like a great novel. File that one into memory.

[@AlaskanBallistics]

I'll buy it just for the title.

[@joshadams8761]

As an open-minded American, I enjoy your pronunciation of “lava” and do not consider it incorrect.

[@richiebricker]

Thanks for being the most stable and informative space channel. Other channels cover this or that but you are on top of everything and give it out free to the world. Without this channel my knowledge of space may be of twentyfive years ago reading Carl Sagans books about the big bang, all of these books still hold up to time by the way but weve just added layers onto it. Whether You realize it or not, You are the new Carl Sagan, teaching the world of all the wonders of the universe. I just want to thank you for being here and showing us all this cool stuff.

[@jamesgeckle489]

As soon as I decide a question is the one, the next question makes me question my decision. Keep up the good work! 🤓

[@SuperYtc1]

There are my favourite videos to fall asleep to (your Q and A videos). The soothing background music is key to this.

[@treefarm3288]

Thanks for the video. I found the description of how to retrieve samples from below Europa's ice fascinating and hopeful. Extremely complex, so not in the near future but who knows?

[@chris-terrell-liveactive]

Thanks Fraser, helpful answer on photographing auroras, I'll try those tips.

[@chrishirst671]

I can definitely agree that watching a launch in person is a whole different experience, we happened to be on holiday in Florida and on approach to Orlando the pilot announced that out of the right side window you can see the Space Shuttle on the launch pad ready for thursday's launch, so at 6AM Thursday we were on Coco Beach watching, and yes it is an incredible experience.

[@mlyssy2]

When he’s referring to the size of the solar system, it kinda brought me back to my late teens during the mid nineties when there was a certain court trial going on in the news and the big question was, “that just depends on what the definition of is is”!

[@HansMilling]

Your content is just awesome. Such quality content, great topics etc. it’s really great to follow your episodes.

[@jerryh2930]

Hi Fraser, Great question/answer sessions. On microbes from space, I remember reading "The Andromeda Stain" many years ago. I thought of that book during several of your discussions today.

[@teknophyle1]

of all the space-news I watch, the thing I find amazing is how much dust gets sucked in during those engine tests. Its an easy way to get just a hint of how much power comes out of that rocket

[@MrJdsenior]

Go see the next Artemis launch. Most launches I've seen are bottle rockets by comparison. Behind it was the Sat V. and behind that, the Shuttle. Those smaller rockets give you literally NO IDEA of what the big boys sound like. At eleven km, you could feel Artemis in your chest and in the ground. Starship, if it ever gets here, will obviously be the king, so far. That thing must sound absolutely incredible. Also, go down an octave or two from what you heard...that's Artemis. Probably not lower frequency, but a LOT more of the spectrum lies down in that location with a much bigger rocket. One of the few times the word 'awesome' was actually warranted, rather than just hyperbole.

[@zebo-the-fat]

I was lucky enough to watch a shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral, I always assumed the crackles were just the microphones overloading... but you are right, that thing crackles like nothing else in the world! A truly unforgettable experience (made even better by being unplanned... it was just a holiday at Disney with the kids, pure chance I got to see the launch!)

[@AlaskanBallistics]

Stargate is by far the best science fiction franchise. Thanks for using those planet names.

[@NismoXero]

I remember once as a child seeing the northern lights like I see now in pictures. I've been looking for that ever since. Got some amazing photos just from an iPhone but still doesn't match my childhood memory. But I am in my 40s and that was awhile ago.

[@ioresult]

Polar orbit: it's worse than that, because if you don't cancel out the 1600km/h, then you will miss the pole.

[@Vulcano7965]

The thing about (weak) auroras, especially at mid lattitudes, it's harder for the human eye to pick up the greener colours. So you either will see the red glow from one and if there are green auroras it will mostly look like a grey light cloud. But your cameras will reveal the green colour really well. That's one discrepancy between what northern lights actually look like to the human eye vs. photographs and videos.

[@jamesmnguyen]

[Cartego] You could use the lowering cable to also provide extra power or heat to help go up through the ice.

[@dougant6728]

Thank you, brother

[@X3MgamePlays]

[Belsa] That is a very interesting question. I went googling about how gravity affects the flow of time. PBS has a nice video on it.

[@davecarsley8773]

Hey, Fraser. If Vera Rubin opens and essentially finds planet 9 right away, AND it's at an advantages point in its orbit, could we save ourselves some decades by assigning New Horizons to alter its course to intercept planet 9? Or dare I say, even Voyager 1???

[@pelewads]

Goronak. One of the concerns about lunar lift offs is the amount of debris that will be thrown into orbit. Your idea that a landing pad would be made for starship would kill two birds with one stone.

[@SteveSiegelin]

If you want to learn how to use your phone for a camera to photograph the Aurora's you can do it with almost any camera or phone. Put it in professional mode, most of your camera modes have a pro mode. After you've done that play around with the iso and the shutter speed for a little while. Don't worry if you mess up and then do it all over again. Certain times if you're playing with the contrast you can't play with the iso or if you're playing with the shutter speed you can't play with the contrast on some devices. Phones are also a good way to see if your remote has good batteries or not. All infrared sensors show up in the camera so just face the remote at the camera and push the button. If you see a little purple flashing light then your battery is good

[@ReggieArford]

Cartego: You don't need to land on Europa (etc.) to collect a sample. Just do a fly-by through a geyser plume. Collect some of that, and return home adding a little more energy to escape Jupiter. Use fly-by and aerobraking to shed speed.

[@smorrow]

The plumes aren't predictably in one place like they are on Enceladus(south pole). I wonder if the eruptions can be machine-learned?

[@Thomas-gk42]

Really interesting, thank you

[@AliHSyed]

Velocity absolutely matters for time dilation 🤔

[@jonathanhughes8679]

I lived in Titusville for years , I have seen and heard thousands of them..

[@ioresult]

The Titan Dragonfly is going to be an "octo-copter". It has 8 rotors.

[@aalhard]

18:05 You just named a yet to be created Horror Movie THE WATER DOWN BELOW!😮😮😮😮 YIKES 😊

[@paulmuszynski5138]

Hello Fraser! Thank you so much for your videos! I believe the time dilation question could have been more accurately stated as "How can time dilation be caused by both acceleration (whether or not due to gravity) in General relativity, as well as relative velocity (as a fraction of c) in Special relativity?" In Special relativity, time dilation depends on reference frame, whereas in General Relativity time dilation tends to be related to time in flat space. We've all heard about the guy whizzing by in a train going near c moving in slow motion. A few months ago I found myself very curious about this topic. I ended up finding an interesting correlation: An object in a stable circular orbit at distance r from a gravitational mass experiences a gravitational time dilation that is equivalent to the relativistic time dilation observed when two objects are moving at a relative speed equaling the escape velocity of the initial object in orbit!

[@crp9985]

Anywhere in Coco beach is a good place to watch a rocket launch. There are some closer spots but they take local knowledge. Doesn't matter that much, I've been laying on the beach in Daytona with the beach shaking when a space shuttle launched. Daytona is close enough to get a decent show but I would say go for Coco. The noise and the ground shake is something to experience.

[@simvalue]

Dakara. Really loved the render of a drone flying through a lava tube. Though I guess that's possible only mars?

[@Fifthsboy]

Hey Fraser! Hi from down under, great show, congrats! Couple questions about spacex. 1) I listened to your podcast with the other two fellas about the rocket catch and you guys raised the issue of the outer engines being softened and damaged from the heat, do you think it would be possible for spacex to run the outers at like 5% just to get the coolant running through the bells? 2) There was a question in this video today about landing starship on the moon. What do you think of the idea of starship docking in earth orbit with a "landing leg" structure, taking that to the moon then bringing it back for the next one to use? That way you don't have to take it up through earth's gravity well every time. And they could use it up until they get around to building the moonzilla

[@oysteinsoreide4323]

Seeing an aurora that is all around you is the most spectacular. You really feel the scale of the thing. If it is just above the horizon in the north, it is more a meh experience.

[@myselfandi67097]

One of my good friends is a long time employee of NASA currently working on SLS. I pointed him to the thunderf00t video and he was very thankful and receptive of the information and even asked for more. Yet apparently you are putting any mention of starship criticisms on hard ignore, no matter how cogent. I really think that deserves explanation.

[@smorrow]

Everyone thinks Starship "looks cool", am I the only one that thinks it looks like a thalidomide baby? (with those tiny wings - yes I know they aren't wings)

[@SteveSiegelin]

Another problem with cross-contamination of planets is if there is a bacteria on there and it somehow melds with the bacteria we release it could actually create a super bacteria that we can't control.

[@marknovak6498]

In parts of the of space where stars are closer than a light year, as a rule, Ort clouds must be smaller or effectively nonexistent there. The influence of the stellar wind might define the solar system better.

[@mikebear65]

Thanks for all of the great work, Fraser! I have a question. What is the consensus on how early in Earth’s history did simple life form and do you think that simple life can form easily in the universe?

[@oldtimer2662]

@Fraser Cain … Saturn V isn’t available anymore (but you might get it from a 3rd party) Maybe Artemis build would be a good background 🤔 but please 🎥 it (Scott might give you hints) Or there’s 3D options 🚀 (Marcus can point you towards things) Ohh maybe a new shelf would be a winter activity (behind your left 🤣 add a light 💡🤪) Sorry I am missing livestream (I have classes 😩🤓) 😘

[@CharlesShopsin]

Are there any satellites with retrograde equatorial orbits? I’m not sure what that would be useful for. I guess the earth would fly by twice as fast so you could photograph more stuff, quicker.

[@bbartky]

Due to geography, all of the satellites launched by Israel have been launched into retrograde orbits since the only way to avoid launching satellites over hostile territory is to launch westward over the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, the US launched NROL-39 on an Atlas V from Vandenberg in 2013 into a retrograde orbit. None of these satellites orbited _directly_ over the equator but they did cross it multiple times a day since they were in orbits inclined to the equator.

[@CharlesShopsin]

@@bbartky Thanks for the detailed answer!

[@picturesalbum4532]

Sample return from Enceladus might be easier as you would not have to land just fly through one of it's plumes but would take longer because it's twice as far away.

[@lyledal]

"Dragonfly will arrive in 2034!" *checks actuarial tables* I might not be quite dead yet!

[@cavetroll666]

thanks for video

[@kevinfeather3206]

Question for you: You regularly see images of land based telescopes with a ‘laser’ pointing out to the stars. What is the main purpose of this light, as clearly not to illuminate an object, as surely it would hamper the collection of light from a distant object? Plus if it is for targeting how exactly does that work? Many thanks

[@simjo59]

Regarding Europa, once the melting is done wouldn't the difference in pressure between the water and spatial vacuum create a geyser that might be ridden back up?

[@sakurakinomoto6195]

Most probably the water in the tube generated by the melt-throgh-probe willl refreeze immediately. There is no way back. So the probe could e.g. unroll a glass fiber in a strong cable to avoid breakdown of communication. But even then will be still a big problem left: If we find life down there, is it really a good idea to leave a big chunk of Plutonium as our first gift to extraterrestial life?

[@BabyMakR]

My vote is for Hadante.

[@marknovak6498]

I think the pressure of the ice and water through miles will be a big deal. Do we even know how much pressure to design a sample return mission?

[@mrzoinky5999]

That would be the ultimate sample return - I was thinking just scrape some of that red stuff from the cracks in the ice sheet; might be biologicals in that stuff?

[@jamesmnguyen]

It's crazy how we live during a time where rocket launches happen basically every week.

[@bigianh]

Q. We know Earth & Jupiter have radiation belts does the Sun have them too?

[@TheNordicCat]

Hey Fraser, what would be the maximum rotation the earth could handle? And how fast can stars rotate before they disintegrate?

[@stefanandersson7519]

Cartego Speaking of which - if you wanted to send a more extensive surface mission to Enceladus with a sample return, would it be possible to save some weight for the ascent vehicle by effectively riding a geiser using a big sail? 😄

[@FirestormX9]

Wait, for question 'Ardena', if the planet's spin speed were closer to zero, the vmax threshold would reduce and consequently so would the fuel burden. This would be due to the drastic change in gravity due to loss of planet momentum. And gravity adds to weight. Less weight = more acceleration. Additionally, in a closer to zero spin velocity scenario, the atmospheric resistance on the vessel would also be greatly reduced. Also due to gravity.

[@arnelilleseter4755]

The gravity change would not be drastic. It would be less than one percent even at the equator.

[@FirestormX9]

@@arnelilleseter4755 hey you're right, your response prompted me to question my statements and educate myself, which i did. I'm even more perplexed by this now, that momentum having no impact on gravity. What about the atmosphere?

[@arnelilleseter4755]

@@FirestormX9 Since the gravity wouldn't be much higher the density of the atmosphere would also be negligible. Also the atmosphere is moving with the spin of the Earth (or else we would experience extreme wind all the time) so that is also not a factor. I respect people who are willing to admit when they are wrong, and even more so if they use it to educate themselves. Never stop being curious.

[@FirestormX9]

@@arnelilleseter4755 Negligible density of the atmosphere, meaning that the planet would lose its atmosphere due to there being an insufficiency of gravitational pull? And oh well thank you for the appreciation, I just want to learn the reality, you know? Not have some incorrect version of it in my head. Gotta be self aware.

[@arnelilleseter4755]

@@FirestormX9 Sorry. I meant that the difference in the density would be negligible. Meaning it would be pretty much the same as normal. To be clear, not much would change in regard to the gravity or the atmosphere. Of course we would have other problems to deal with if the Earth stopped spinning, such as extreme heat on one side and extreme cold on the other side.

[@DaveNarn]

Did you mention the sound the Aurora makes? In the small town of Eagle River, outside of Anchorage Alaska I watched an active Aurora, shimmer like a curtain, snake and whip, all the while making snapping and crackle sounds.

[@maughan3061]

I was reading about a pretty unique problem to Aurora photography, Newtons rings, an interference pattern invoked by the camera architecture which occurs when a flat piece of glass is placed over a curved piece of glass, causing light to reflect between the two. Unique to Aurora photography because Auroras emit wavelengths from very narrow emission lines - mainly the green at 558nm from atomic Oxygen ions. One wavelength means one set of dominant Newton's rings, and so they show up especially in aurora photography. I've seen quite a few recently. Do you ever come across this effect Mr Cain?

[@SteveSiegelin]

I am so surprised that people don't know that bacteria and other things have been living on the outside of the space station for over a year now. This is why we call tardigrades immortal.

[@JefferyDollars]

But can bacteria survive the increased radiation in interplanetary space? Isnt it stronger than the radiation in LEO?

[@PeterMitchell-hp9pt]

Not positive, but I think time dilation is more dependent on velocity and not acceleration

[@hannahmenzel4638]

I have a question. :) By convention, all our maps are oriented north. If we wanted a orientation based on a more logical basis, say the direction the earth flys through the universe, which side of the map would be "up"?

[@arnelilleseter4755]

The Earth is spinning so that would change throughout the day.

[@MBSfilms77]

where do I ask Q&A questions???

[@frasercain]

You just did it.

[@MBSfilms77]

@@frasercain okay XD

[@evandarling699]

Question: wouldn't it be cheaper and more effective to send multiple rockets for a single mission like Europa? It would seem you could get more equipment and propellant up there and assemble in orbit before sending it?

[@realzachfluke1]

Hey Fraser, are you sure we're going to get conclusive answers about Titan's lakes and seas? Because I heard quite awhile ago that visiting any of them wasn't going to be part of the Dragonfly mission, an obvious bummer and a lamentable decision if true, so do you know anything about this?

[@b.r.409]

Edora- and I have a question: I have been thinking about what it would like to walk around on titan. Air density is 1.5 times of earth surface. And titan’s gravity is about 1/3, so it will be hard to stay grounded. Would it be like trying to walk around in a swimming pool?

[@MelindaGreen]

You didn't really answer the question of what causes the crackle/pop sounds of rocket launches. You only described what it feels like. I assume the cause is small localized explosions of fuel and air above the more orderly expansion and outflow of exhaust, but I am also curious about those dynamics, and how much more efficient engines could be made if it could all be perfectly smoothed out, and how the resulting sound would change. I expect ships with such engines could even be made lighter too.

[@michaelstoliker971]

Have you ever seen the Mach Diamonds in rocket exhaust? I believe that the exhaust stream is breaking the speed of sound and that is what is causing the crackling and popping. I could be wrong...

[@Fifthsboy]

Don't forget that the sound equipment is being overloaded. The sound recording suffers from clipping that is often found in amplifier equipment. Fraser was absolutely correct in that the EXPERIENCE is vastly different, but in regards to the sound recording I think he overlooked that

[@MelindaGreen]

@@Fifthsboy Yes, I think he suggested clipping was happening, and that was my assumption too. But he did say that the crackle/pop sound is there in person. We just need an explanation for it.

[@JamesCairney]

He mentioned that the exhaust plume is travelling faster than the speed of sound and the pops and crackles were interactions between these shockwaves that are caused by the plume travelling faster than the speed of sound. You lot need to listen harder.

[@TatenMcConahay]

Two questions for the question show: How difficult would a Pluto orbiter be? Could gravity assists be used to slow it back down to get into a Pluto - centric orbit? How useful would a retrograde Kuiper Belt explorer be? It could visit multiple Kuiper Belt objects by orbiting in the opposite direction.

[@donnyli0722]

Hello Fraser! If the Sun and all the planets of the solar system formed from the same cloud of stuff, why are they seemingly so different? Shouldn’t they on average be very similar? Thanks for your consideration

[@rabindramishra00]

Fraser, I am sad! Why there isn’t a probe sent to study Triton and Neptune!! 😢 Can we expect one in our lifetime? Can we crowdfund a small one?

[@omarfantinel1302]

I recently learned that black holes singularity is also the end of time. What about other dimension? If our perception were including 4/5/6… dimension plus time how would we perceive black holes?

[@adamboucher7367]

Hi Fraser. How does JWST turn and then cancel out its motion? Wouldn't the slightest drift compromise its accuracy when focusing on stars in deep space?

[@arnelilleseter4755]

It uses both reaction wheels and thrusters to adjust its orientation.

[@adamboucher7367]

@@arnelilleseter4755 thanks!

[@djvapid]

Is it possible to come to a complete stop in space? It seems as though everything is orbiting something else. Earth around the sun, the sun around the center of the galaxy (I think?) and so on…. So if it is possible, what would it be like?

[@sadderwhiskeymann]

Vote: Cartego. That's *exactly* how i imagined it would/shiuld be done. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? Given that this technology is within our grasp, doesn't involve violating existing established science, i would say definitely possible. Now, scientists get to work!!

[@jamesmnguyen]

I'd say it's more of an engineering problem than a scientific one. But I'm being pedantic.

[@sadderwhiskeymann]

@jamesmnguyen true and.. true :p

[@SteveSiegelin]

You know, I never put two light-years and two light years together and got four light-years apart 😂 kind of makes me wonder when the ort clouds start bumping into each other are we going to have to worry about a big chaotic shift. That is if the rocks ever mesh because the space is so vast in between each body and the Oort cloud

[@smorrow]

Why should Dragonfly have skids instead of a tripod? Is landing at speed an expected failure mode (or normal operation)? It has to land to phone home, I would think being on skids when there's wind would cause a wobble that would inhibit this. Was the decision informed by 30:46 and do they have to revise it due to 31:18? You could have a stabilising thrust from the prop at the wobbly corner, I suppose...

[@rrenteria]

Question: Is it possible that the Voyagers return to the Sun, or maybe to a near earth orbit, if they dont reach the solar system escape velocity?

[@overengineer7691]

How do we know the masses of planets and moons? And how do we precisely know the location of a spacecraft? Not just its distance.

[@rogerphelps9939]

If a planet has moons it's massive can be calculated from the distance and orbital period of a moon. The distance of a probe can be calculated from the two way propagation of radio waves. That together with the position in 2D on the sky gives precise position.

[@bobbyjones2112]

Couldn’t you just make the probe a lot bigger, maybe as big as a 5 gallon can so it’s wide enough to go back up?

[@user-pf5xq3lq8i]

If it can livestream from below the ice, there is no need to come back up..

[@jonathanhughes8679]

I’ve read that that neither place has enough carbon for neither place to have live.. is this true?

[@SteveSiegelin]

You've only been to one launch? I'm in Florida so I grew up my whole life going to the coast I watched every space shuttle launch that I could, four or five of them. I was at the first falcon 9 launch as well as the first talk and heavy launch in Florida. Hell, I'm about to make the drive to Texas to see starships but I don't think I'll be able to make flight 6:00

[@bobbyjones2112]

I’m 64. I’m gonna be long gone before any of this stuff happens dammit..lol

[@andromeda199]

Hey Fraser, potentially controversial I know, but can you talk about which US political party is best for space advancement?

[@jamessimon3433]

My question is if you do indeed descend through the ice how do you prevent refreezing of the water? Seems like an impossible task given the energy requirements.

[@wudeekfu]

Wouldn’t it be fun to send one of those ai robot dogs to the moon or mars lava tubes and use them to explore them? Loaded w experiment tools and what not. But still would be neat. Do you think that could be a thing? Or something similar? Love everything you do!

[@wudeekfu]

I guess my question is could that be a thing? Using these robot dogs like rovers and explorers

[@jamesmnguyen]

It's possible, but robotic dogs have much more moving parts, and thus potential failure points, compared to a wheeled rover. If you can accept the risk to benefit ratio, then go for it.

[@adamredwine774]

I get that we want to understand if life originated elsewhere also but honestly I wish we would intentionally shoot a bunch of hardy life at Mars. Evolution is a great innovator and I want more life!

[@morbothedestroyer5524]

I remember hearing about some i love lucy episodes returning from space after 30 years or so. I was wondering if you were to send out information in the form of high energy radio waves, and directed them at specific stars to loop around could you use space itself to store information?

[@mshepard2264]

The weather would be absolutely horrifying if the earth spun many times faster than it does

[@roqua]

13:10 And they entered the heliopause when leaving the heliosphere.

[@davesilkstone6912]

If you use a melt probe won't the water/steam created just re-freeze in the tube and seal it up again ?

[@SirLothian]

IF they do the melt method to go through the ice shell and trail a wire, would there be any risk that shear forces in the ice, or tidal action could break the wire?

[@TLH442]

Sorry Fraser The Earth is turning at ≈ 24,000 mph. Not kilometers per hour. Earth's circumference 26,000 miles, clock 24 hours so speed at the equator around 800 mph. The Earth's circumference in kilometers is 40,000 km. That yields a speed at the equator due to the rotation of the Earth of 1666 kph.

[@AlaskanBallistics]

Photographing Auroras is hard.

[@NOM-X]

Are the SPMT wheels solid rubber, or do they hold air or No2? Thanks for the episode. -NOM

[@davidguy209]

is there any sense in standardising space probes? (if for no other reason than reducing costs with mass production). i'm also wondering about sending fleets of small satellites to each planet, etc

[@agentdarkboote]

Can we see the Oort clouds of other star systems?

[@smorrow]

18:39 The questioner didn't actually specify subsurface. Is there any scientific value in surface samples? 19:40 I've seen a NASA livestream where they said it would be wireless repeaters rather than a cable. To get the sample _back_ I suppose it helps to have the cable... or a rocket, like from a nuclear sub?

[@michaelstoliker971]

What about the red contaminents on the surface of Europa? Perhaps these are the samples that we need. There is some speculation that this red coloration came up from below the ice.

[@12pentaborane]

I thought the new hypothesis was the red stuff being salt water ice exposed to particle radiation?

[@michaelstoliker971]

@@12pentaborane I have not read that paper. Links?

[@tryhardfpv5351]

Not sulphur from Io?

[@kkgt6591]

Hi Fraser, are there any plans for telescope to exclusively look for life on exo planets?

[@Sora._Cloud]

If you were to raise the orbit of earth in order to prevent the destruction from the growth of the sun, wouldn’t it come into gravitational influence with mars?