Q&A 155: Could We Build a Base on Mercury? And More...

[@BlackSmithTCB]

Honestly these question show episodes are the single most interesting videos I've come across and I follow alot of the space channels on here but the questions the viewers ask are extremely valid and inquisitive and your answers are so good, original, and easy to understand

[@richhagenchicago]

I enjoy your videos. In this video, Joe asked two questions: 1. Why does telescope resolving power scale with size? And 2. Why does a fainter telescope allow you to see fainter objects? I believe that you answered the 2nd question correctly and reasonably. The answer to the first question actually has to do with the properties of waves and interference. The maximum resolution actually is a function of the size of the lens or mirror. The maximum angular resolution in radians is 1.22 * wavelength / diameter of the lens aperture, where all have the same units. This sets a maximum possible resolution for an object at a given distance for a given frequency of light and a given lens aperture size. It is also why I know that a KH11 satellite (roughly 2.4 meter mirror according to observers looking back up at them) dipping into low earth orbit actually can not count the number of hairs on my head, and can not even offer me the same resolution as a drone with a much smaller camera 5 miles up.

[@cefarix]

I was about to point the same thing out. Good answer. It's a subtle but important distinction.

[@plasmaburndeath]

That was annoying the Bell somehow became un-checked and I wasn't notified about this upload, just randomly saw it on main page of youtube instead of notification area.

[@JustOneAsbesto]

9:47 Fraser, I know you watched DS9 recently. Didn't you learn anything?? Rule of Acquisition #34: War is good for business. Rule #35: Peace is good for business. From the intro of S3E15.

[@ronaldgarrison8478]

20:00 What is really amazing is that, even though no one has ever seen the Milky Way from the outside, we now have enough data to synthesize a pretty good picture by computer graphics, that I think would be hard to tell from the real thing, if you actually could see that.

[@zephyr9673]

we should defin have continued the Pioneer Voryagers galactic North South Center Anticenter virgo great attractor dipole repeller shapely and hydra cen were not studied and they should be Andromeda as well

[@BHFJohnny]

JWT takes a long time, but I think it's because of very very good reasons. I know my time schedules.

[@logiconabstractions6596]

Dude - I think Glen Shotwell would be a GREAT interview. Not an obvious match, but the more I think about it, the more I think it would be interesting.

[@frasercain]

I totally agree, she'd be fantastic.

[@Kitsaplorax]

I want to see a Martian dirigible with drones! And, I want it live streamed (well, delayed by X minutes) via a green laser to earth in 4K.

[@zephyr9673]

Land a SpaceX starship on top Olympus mons, with Rovers and insight stations with their own drones to explore and map Mars in greater detail, add robonauts to the insight landers for repairs

[@gamerxt333]

Photos or video from the top of Olympus would be something....although I read the area is large and the slopes arnt a great angle, so it probably wouldnt seem like a mountain regardless.

[@zephyr9673]

@@gamerxt333 maybe. Altitude might preclude a helicopter flyover. 30 degree slopes. A rocket glider if a balloon isn't possible. Valles Marineris is another challenging target for exploration. A starship loaded with rovers helicopters capable of moving them with a repair bay would be an amazingly complex but I believe insightful and rewarding mission. Try some balloons and legged robots with a datacenter maybe set up a camera network. Starship opens a lot of possibilities

[@AliHSyed]

@Joe asking about the Milky Way. The constellations used in astrology, (Libra, Capricorn, etc.), represent the constellation inside of which the Sun appears during that particular month. For example, from Oct 21st to Nov 21st, the Earth is passing through an area in it's orbit from where the constellation Scorpius is "behind" the Sun. The constellation in the direction of the centre of the Milky Way is Sagittarius. The Sun appears to be in this constellation from Nov 23 to Dec 21. Therefore, during the daytime in the Winter, the central bulge of the Milky Way is obscured by the super bright Sun. At night time, the Milk Way you see is the bands further from the center than we are. By the Summer time (in the Northern Hemisphere), its switched. During day time, the Sun obscures Gemini, but at night we get to see towards the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius. I hope that makes sense. And Fraser, I hope I got this right.

[@ronaldgarrison8478]

If I could interview Lonnie the way I would really want to, I would focus on why he thinks that settlements on Mars are feasible. I see the low gravity as a total show-stopper, unlike the case for all other problems. He MUST have some rationale. I'd like to know what it is.

[@foxrings]

Orbital Rings feel a lot more feasible to me. It can be constructed with low tech materials, has much greater lifting capacity, and isn't limited to ground stations around the equator. The big drawback is that the scale of the project is orders of magnitude larger than a space elevator.

[@Spedley_2142]

Telescope resolution 6:00 Resolving power (i.e. resolution) does not depend upon how many photons you catch. Magnification is often called 'angular magnification' and it relies on being able to distinguish where a photon came based on the angle it hits the lens and therefore the position it hits on the sensor. Larger telescopes make these angles larger and therefore increase resolution. There is a limit to how high you can magnify for a given telescope size based on the wavelength of light - at a certain point the angle will be less than the wavelengh (or something like that) giving noise. That is why telescopes are often used in 'pairs' as one giant mirror - the don't collect much more light but the angle between them is far greater which significantly increases resolution but doesn't permit the telescope to see fainter objects.

[@Hellridermetal]

Thanks Fraser!! lml you are the best!!!

[@larrybeckham6652]

We could have a hardy rover of Mercury, solar-powered and cruising toward the sunset at a minimum of 11 km/h - a blazing speed for a rover of today but not in the near future. Better to have twice this speed so it can go maximum cold zone and move again before the temp gets too hot, stay in the twilight zone. Need some comsat in orbit so we could phone home when Earth is below the horizon.

[@zephyr9673]

Jawa Sandcrawler that makes an equatorial road, maybe start at the polar latitudes have like RepRaps that can scale up build bigger vehicle from mining in situ

[@larrybeckham6652]

@@zephyr9673 Jawas are fictional, dude. And besides, a Jawa Sandcrawler can't function in near vacuum.

[@zephyr9673]

@@larrybeckham6652 that is true... jawa are fictional... but thats the thing with sandcrawler, in engineering you have a viable design with working Remote Control models

[@mitseraffej5812]

Suing to get your way is “ the American way “

[@Illyrien]

Okay, space elevators seems a bit unlikely, but how about Orbital Rings? I was shocked when I saw Isaac Arthurs video on the topics. It seems a vastly better design

[@jondoc7525]

You are reaching common sense keep going down the rabbit hole

[@AvyScottandFlower]

Of all my questions, ''when will JWST launch'' is the one that makes it to a show .. 😂😂😂 I literally LOL'ed - Thank you all at the UT team, great show as always :)

[@frasercain]

Someone is asking it every show. 😄

[@Jenab7]

The solar irradiance on Mercury, in addition to having the usual latitude dependence, also varies by longitude. The most irradiated longitudes are 0° and 180°, because those longitudes face the sun at alternate perihelia. The least irradiated longitudes are 90° and 270°, since those longitudes face the sun on alternate aphelia. I've heard a proposal about a Mercury colony (or colonies) inside covered trenches going around Mercury at latitudes varying from about ±72° (at longitudes 0° and 180°) to about ±55° (at longitudes 90° and 270°). The covering for the trench colonies would be mostly native regolith piled on a ceramic roof to support it. Less than a meter of regolith would be needed, according to my source. Solar energy would be abundant during the long day. Uranium and thorium can probably be found on Mercury, so fission reactors could supply energy for the long night.

[@TheSulross]

Mercury is literal Hell - the classic hot-beyond-imagination Hell on the Sun facing side, and the Dante-style frigid Hell on the opposite side (Dante's Hell is frozen at its inner most core level). IOW, Mercury is the Two Faces of Hell planet.

[@BGBTech]

One idea I have come up with recently and started wondering about (admittedly, in a sci-fi context), is if a variant of an isochronous cyclotron or similar could be used as a thruster in space. Where, say, one injects a stream of plasma into the cyclotron, which then spins it up to relativistic speeds, which is then used as the engine output (with the cyclotrons used used in counter-rotating pairs). Goal being mostly to gain thrust via relativistic effects. Probably not great in terms of thrust-to-weight, but could have a fairly high top speed and use relatively little propellant. Well, and/or use a linear particle accelerator.

[@BGBTech]

Thought about it some more, it seems likely a linear section will be needed in any case, as most of the thrust from the cyclotron portion would be in the form of torque. A linear stage would be needed (with a small phase offset relative to the cyclotron portion), in order to get much usable thrust out of the particle stream. Also partly imagining the possible use of a magnetic mirror (or penning trap) or similar as a plasma source (could be built into the center part of the cyclotron).

[@MonCappy]

Your answer on war didn't age well. ;_;

[@wrongtimeweeder1076]

Awesome video. Love your work. Very charming. I sometimes want to ask, 'how do you know so much about space?'... but I won't - i get the same q about technology :)

[@_swordfern]

Way to speak on unsung heroes 😊

[@artyompodshibyakin7730]

👍

[@Phil_AKA_ThundyUK]

When does JW go online? :)

[@foxpup]

Another great Q&A show. A lot of my favorite video-makers are publishing on LBRY/Odysee. It is something to think about since that seems to be where the growth is while KZbin censors and shadowbans itself into oblivion.

[@stevencoardvenice]

Starship looks like another spruce goose. Dont see us going back to the moon anytime soon in that thing

[@mattsfax]

Hahaha

[@shannonparkhill5557]

Question: Can you give me your opinion on the concept of a tethered ring? It seems like everyone knows about space elevators but not tethered rings. From what I can tell it looks many many times more feasible than a space elevator, and I think more people should be talking about it.

[@MrVillabolo]

Hi Fraser! On the issue of SpaceX's Starship, why can't NASA build the Sea Dragon that was designed in the 1960s? It is reusable, has a 550 ton to LEO payload capability (maybe 100 to 200T to the Moon?). It can also carry cargo up to 75 feet wide. With a 75 foot width, Sea Dragon can launch entire large space stations in one piece, already built. No need to put things together in space with all the difficulties and dangers that come with it. Also, its reusability can bring the cost of payload down to $500 per pound. Sea Dragon is simplicity incarnate and rugged as well. The simpler something is the more reliable it becomes. More reliability means greater safety. Starship is just too fragile and unsafe. It also has a complex reentry that makes things dicey. It's a pity that these designs, by rocket scientists of old, have been placed on the dusty library shelves of NASA.

[@eutopioeutopia8387]

The most plausible Mercurian habitat option would be to embed the habitats in the walls of Mercury's craters

[@frankyboy4409]

Talking about space elevators, I also don't feel like the concept is feasible for _earth_, but it make a lot more sense for bodies like the moon (low gravity, and no atmosphere messing with your tether)

[@krakhedd]

We definitely need more tech before we can make them practical, let alone commonplace, here

[@KennyG_420]

Be cool to have a hot air balloons fly by Olympus Mons, and Valles Marineris

[@MonteLogic]

Great and informative content, however, I like the background to be outside with good lighting, I understand it's extra work but it makes the shot look twice as good. thanks

[@frasercain]

Absolutely, but I'm stuck in a tiny trailer right now as we build the studio. So it's a few more months until I have a better setup. Right now I'm trying to just hold it together. 😄

[@MonteLogic]

@@frasercain Well keep on with the keeping on, brotha

[@zapfanzapfan]

Interview suggestion: Steve Squyres, he used to be PI for Spirit and Opportunity and when Oppie finally died he left Cornell University to become chief scientist at Blue Origin. Maybe he can shed some light on their plans, if he is allowed to talk. Gwynne would be awesome, Hans Koenigsmann is another at SpaceX I would like to hear more from. Can't have a successful rocket project without a German rocket scientist :-) Apparently he introduced Gwynne to Elon since they had worked together earlier.

[@jeffreyh3881]

It would be cool if you could chop up your longer Q&A show into 2-3 minute segments, kinda like Lex Fridman does with his shows. You would also get a lot more content on your channel that way

[@ocoro174]

god no

[@MrEricChima]

How do we differentiate bright stars from close stars? Surely they will appear the same in the night sky? So how do we know how far away stars really are?

[@scotttod6954]

Parallax. You measure the difference of where the star appears 6 months apart. Farther objects it gets harder and and they usually use nova events and brightness to determine.

[@redketchup356]

If finally it will happend to have JWST fully up and functional, how much it would cost to have a 2nd one working up there ? and how long would it take this time ? 10 billions for the first one... but if the next one would cost 10% of the price... if you do a median price , the cost would be lower overall

[@crp9985]

LOL, no. That's why SpaceX is taking over the space launch industry, the old school guys can't do anything for cheap. Everything is planned out in decades with cost over runs. ON purpose BTW, it's the US's government that set up the game and the old school companies play it.

[@xliquidflames]

Thank you for saying that about the Elon interview. There's so many other interesting people to talk to. I loved that video that Destin/Smarter Everyday did a while back talking to engineers behind the Parker Solar Probe. There was a Derek/Veritasium video talking to the engineers behind Ingenuity, the helicopter in Mars. Those are way more interesting to me than trying to strain to hear what Musk is rambling about over a sea of backup beepers. Some people act as if Elon is some kind of god-king and it is a little gross, honestly. Don't get me wrong. This person I'm talking about does _a lot_ to raise interest in space and educate the masses on the nuances of full flow staged combustion cycle engines. He just gets fan-girly when Elon is around. I think he was hoping it would be like Smarter Everyday's video tour of the ULA factory and interview with Tory Bruno but it just _wasn't_ .

[@AG-ig8uf]

Musk is so attention envy, I am surprised he lets anyone else from SpaceX to talk. Musk is not a rocket engineer, no matter how many times he claimed to be, he is not even any engineer at all. People have to realize he just repeats what real engineers tell in the meetings, often with mistakes. Same applies to his "knowledge" of AI or neuroscience or cars.

[@slugra7357]

Hey, a thought just popped into my brain! Would it be theoretically possible to get a glimpse outside of the observable universe if there was a third galaxy behind the one which is being already observed using galactic lensing? A double lens... 🤔

[@ibnrochd6078]

No, because it s light is outside the observable universe. It s light cannot be lensed because it doesn t ever arrive to the galaxy that will lense it and ourselves...

[@DominikJaniec]

balloons on mars, are a good idea! we could measure atmospheric streams with them, however with some holes in a data as they will sit on the ground overnight.

[@do1029ug]

Two words: dust storms

[@MattJohno2]

In my opinion Mercury is a prime mining target - It's fast moving, with no atmosphere so it's easier to distribute material to the rest of the solar system, plus, it's only going to get destroyed in a few billion years anyway, so I'd imagine if humanity(or its descendants) is around then they'd at least want to preserve a little bit of the solar system's little messenger.

[@jeffmccartney5359]

I recently listened to an interview with Andy Lapsa, STOKE Space Technologies. He had some interesting comments about commercializing space. But the person interviewing him doesn't have a strong understanding of space technologies. It would be interesting to see what you could tease out of andy.

[@rorypenstock1763]

I think you really missed the point of the 5:59 question.

[@masi416]

The question was: why is angular resolution = 1.22 * (wavelength/diameter)? I myself accepted this as a fact without realy understanding why this is true.

[@shannonparkhill5557]

Question: The Rubin observatory will have a decent but not spectacular resolution, yet its camera will have a resolution greater than any camera in history. What is the relation between telescope resolution and camera resolution?

[@rJaune]

If there was life under the water on a Hycean world, would life make enough gas to leave traces in the atmosphere?

[@rasverixxyleighraq1509]

Gravitational lensing can amplify electromagnetic radiation most commonly visible but other telescopes focus in on amplified X-ray, radio and infrared etc. What about Gravitational waves? Can they be be magnified by Gravitational lenses. How would this effect the results observed?

[@dbullhorse]

If the speed of light is the universal speed limit, and the gravity of a black hole is so strong that not even light can escape, doesn't that mean the gravitational energy of a black hole is strong enough to break the speed limit within the event horizon?

[@WilhelmDrake]

A lawsuit isn't about being treated unfairly. It's about breaking the law or the rules within which competition takes place.

[@Take_Flight465]

I don't know why there's space competition at all. If this is truly for mankind's future survival. Work together get it done.

[@ComputerGarageLLC]

Personally I would love to go up, and be a guinea pig of a sorts. I have blood clots, control by medication, this would be a great way to gain some medical knowledge. People get clots and never know they were susceptible to them. Here is a way to see if blood thinners still work in microgravity, and honestly, if it was a life or death, I'm sure SpaceX could bring be down quickly. I would take that risk!

[@zurdoremi]

yes you could build anything anywhere. Just make sure you include a comfortable bathroom in the plans.

[@kurdetwojstary]

Is there any project that you are aware of that is currently focused on getting a probe to alpha centauri? What do you think is the realistic (considering current technology) propulsion system to be used for such a mission?

[@arthurlamy5535]

No. It's not just about number of photons you can get. You can get whatever amount of photons with a small aperture telescope and you will not get the resolution.

[@Jenab7]

James Webb launches... and has a Starliner moment. Gets lost in space. Eventually crashes into Venus.

[@Psillytripper]

heyyy some FC content! hope to see more

[@Lesesmo]

What do you think about space anime? Like Space Brothers, or The Vampire Cosmonaut

[@jmacd8817]

In your answer for why bigger telescopes have better resolution, why did you skip/gloss over aperture size vs ability to discern smaller (angular size) objects?

[@Wizpopper]

Actually mercury is tidally locked and one side is in perpetual darkness while the other is in perpetual sunlight

[@ryurazu]

Wouldn't the moonbase be a very good forward base or a missle resistant/deterence measure? Just like when the Soviet saw the space shuttle in the cold war assuming where are going into a cold war 2 period?

[@PereBouSabria]

If (God forbid) Ariane rocket were to blow up, do you think they would consider building a second JWST? If so, do you think it would be cheaper? (Developing costs gone really, and perhaps they could even use some spare parts?)

[@jcollins8639]

Quick question: Isn’t Mercury tidally locked with the sun? Meaning it rotates once per orbit around the sun? Like the moon to earth?

[@jcollins8639]

One rotation is relative of course.

[@Релёкс84]

Actually it is tidally locked, but in a more complex way: it rotates around itself exaclty 3 times when it goes around the sun exactly twice. It's a 3:2 resonance, while a "true" tidal locking is a 1:1 resonance.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Mercury... yeah on the poles, in the shade...

[@ocoro174]

damn hope James Webb will work 😨 is it possible to go even larger or only if made in space?

[@DragonKingGaav]

9:49 Rule of Acquisition 34, War is good for business.

[@TheFirebird123456]

rule of acquisition 35, peace is good for business

[@damianGray]

Rule of Acquisition 36, Business is good for business.

[@rJaune]

Would Hycean worlds have any access to the Rocky surface of a planet? Or, would they just have the purest water in the Universe?

[@macjonte]

Everyone is always asking Elon musk about the future, how things are going to work. Every time it’s the same thing, he can’t answer because the details aren’t worked out yet. I would like content makers ask about current or historic details and there actually is an answer. He’s also a knowledgeable guy about business management and I think there is yet a lot to milk out his brain on this regard, but maybe not for this channel. There is a lot of info about the current machines on the ground that make other machines for falcon 9 family. How these work, how they are developed. Ground support systems. Lots of details about the history on 39A, when SpaceX took over. How the startrackers on board their spacecrafts work. How are the 2nd stage deorbit work, we still haven’t seen any footage from this. How much of the expandable part are surviving reentery, what’s his view on space trash in the ocean and his view about the ocean cleanup company. Good luck! :D

[@foxrings]

The Mercury Rover could extend his lifespan by walking away from the sunlight. Pausing to do science and taking a path that isn't straight might help the sunlight to catch up, but I think it's feasible to keep the rover alive for a couple Earth years. As long as it keeps moving, doesn't dawdle.

[@crp9985]

Without very good AI that won't happen. The rover would just hit something or get stuck if it was traveling at a high rate of speed. I would love to see a rover hauling ass across Mercury but ...........Not going to happen anytime soon.

[@duckgoesquack4514]

Me and my friend are pondering about this. We saw a movie where a guy saw a nuclear blast with a telescope. We agreed his one eye is forever gone but would it kill him, would it boil parts of his brain?

[@captaindunsel2806]

No, any damage would be limited to the eye itself, the retina or optic nerve. If he blinks fast enough it might only be temporary.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Depends on the distance, yield of the nuclear blast and diameter of the telescope. The blast will have an intrinsic brightness, mellowed by the distance squared but then concentrated by the telescope’s diameter. If the telescope was a few meters from a 10 megaton blast then the observer and telescope would be vaporized. But if a 12 kiloton blast were to be set off 100 million lightyears away and the telescope was a 3-inch refractor it’s unlikely to observe anything even with a very long exposure camera attached.

[@lyledal]

With BO suing though, it feels like it is more than "just business." Having said that, yep. They do have the right to sue. What knowledge was gained from Inspiration? I mean, honestly?

[@frasercain]

Knowledge wasn't really the point of Inspiration, but I'd say keeping 4 people alive in Crew Dragon was important knowledge gained by SpaceX. We saw that the toilet broke down, so... that needs fixing.

[@ztechrepairs]

That humanity is awesome and can raise millions of dollars for a great cause.

[@robertweidner2480]

NASA choosing Starship wasn’t so much of a surprise if you think about it… Either NASA sits back and watches Elon Musk and SpaceX goes to the Moon with Starship as all NASA employees down to the janitors cry into the coffee cups as they watch tourists from SpaceX take the first footsteps on the Moon, or… NASA offers Elon Musk a few Billion dollars to go along for the ride with SpaceX to the Moon.

[@jari2018]

Just intevjuv people that are in 80s and still alive and worked in the space industry

[@johnburr9463]

Don't forget luxury items. People in space will always pay a premium to have things that obviously cost a fortune to obtain. Vanity is human.

[@Take_Flight465]

Vanity is pointless if your talking the survival of the human race.

[@johnburr9463]

@@Take_Flight465 I agree. But I'm more than happy to make money off of the vanity of others.

[@timrobinson513]

I’ve said it before. Elon drives his company forward, Jeff holds others back. That type of competition is toxic for this industry.

[@frasercain]

This'll be a blip in the process, unless Blue Origin can prove anything substantial.

[@antonpershin998]

BO moves forward, but slower than SpaceX. That's why they win less big contracts than SpaceX. That's why they have less money, that's why they move at the speed of snail. It is a vicious cycle. That's why they resort to suing.

[@jmacd8817]

@@antonpershin998 BO has nearly unlimited funds, because Bezos has been funding it personally. Their slow pace has nothing to do with funding, but their corporate culture; gradatim ferociter; "step by step, ferociously". Sadly, this stepwise progress has been slow, and is why it too 16 unmanned New Shepherd flights before they finally put people on board. Where SpaceX is willing to fail, publicly and often, BO is the opposite.

[@AG-ig8uf]

"Elon.. Jeff.." What's with this first name calling, are they both your close friends ?

[@antonpershin998]

@@jmacd8817 I agree, they are too slow (especialy with BE-4), but BO can't just suck $$$ from Amazon forever and funding from Bezos isn't unlimited. HLS contrat isn't only about money, but also about reputation. It is very clear that HLS contract is really important to BO. And it took SpaceX more than 20 unmanned Dragons and more than 85 unmanned Falcon 9s before they finally put people on board. It's Ok to be cautios with human-rated spacecrafts.

[@dongiovanni4331]

The original lunar lander was built by Grumman.

[@tripzero0]

There does seem to be an effort to disentangle the economic knot of US and China. Then there's no excuse not to war.

[@NickPoeschek]

I was reading Eric Berger’s history of SpaceX Liftoff and it reminded me that Elon sued NASA and the US Government a couple of times over different things and still went on to win other contracts. People online have been implying that this means BO won’t ever get a government contract, but like you said, it’s the way these things work sometimes.

[@macjonte]

Space elevators are not for the earth. For moon and maybe mars it would be feasible, but on the other hand it’s easier to launch space crafts from these bodies.

[@cabezzadevaca4157]

Space elevators would not work on Earth; It is not possible; Gravity will bring it down, whatever it is. Nobody seem to address that problem. But like you said; moon and mars possible.

[@scottbrower9052]

Bezos can't stand losing. Period. Why are you trying to sugarcoat it.

[@Take_Flight465]

The difference here is Bezos does for his own pocket. Elon Does for Humanity.

[@xliquidflames]

Could there be a reverse space elevator? What if resources are gathered from space, brought to orbit, and then built into an anchor on a rigid structure lowers down into the atmosphere from a space station still in orbit? Even if it doesn't lower all the way to the ground, what if it stops at, say, 20,000 feet above the ground? Then you could take the elevator down to 20,000 ft from an orbiting space station and take a regular plane the rest of the way to the ground. I'm thinking if the drill in the Star Trek reboot that they sky dive onto.

[@masi416]

what you are looking for is a space tether or skyhook kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqLaoYSXp9d3rc0

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Manufacturing the tether in space is probably the only way we’re going to get a space elevator. The way people imagine, manufacturing the tether on Earth and then launching it runs into rocket limitations. The minimum sized tether is still hundreds of thousands of tons. It would need to be launched in chunks and spliced together in space. It would required around a thousand super-heavy rocket launches. If we’re solving the tether-splicing problem in space we might as well just manufacture it from Moon or asteroid material anyway. But the enterprise is likely a fool’s errand. The space tether will likely be made from graphene or carbon nanotubes. They need to be chemically and ISOTROPICALLY pure. If any part of it is decomposed with radiation it will weaken to the point of uselessness. There are more than enough high energy cosmic particles to ruin the tether within minutes.

[@jcollins8639]

How do you think consciousness plays a roll in astronomy? (Think about it)

[@jcollins8639]

Astronomy (aka The Universe)

[@danniles5256]

Are balloon missions possible on Mars

[@frasercain]

I talk about that later in this very episode.

[@zephyr9673]

9:43 Do you think there is a Lunar space race between China and USA? If so, who do you think will win?

[@jirihevera8450]

i checked after some years.. where has the forrest gone?

[@BHFJohnny]

I'd guess that there's no living creature capable of seeing night sky like long exposure images. You either live underground or in deep water where you don't need eyes or you live on or above surface where your eyes evolved for your star. (unless there is life going somewhere without a star and there's some wierd reason for evolution to create very sensitive eyes, which I doubt)

[@THIS---GUY]

Humans see the night sky the same as a long exposure image.. only interference from clouds or light pollution

[@damianGray]

What's annoying about the lawsuit from Blue Origin, is that they clearly have nothing. SpaceX have the better ship, are already in the prototyping phase, and came in at a super low cost. It's a no brainer who NASA was going to pick. BO had the same opportunity as every other company and messed it up and now in a show of poor sportsmanship, they're stopping progress on the Artemis mission while their case goes through, which could be months. Holding humanity back from the stars over some pettiness. You cannot tell me that Jeff Bezos is interested in anything more than his own pocketbooks and personal fame.

[@bashkillszombies]

9:44 War is great for industry. China are busting for a fight because of that.

[@jari2018]

Shouldnt the disappearans of the smallest black holes that actually started the universe expansion billions of years ago ? Assuming the were smaller than cars but everywhere and suddely thier gravity was gone and expansion starts

[@Jenab7]

What if the business model is extended to improper influences on lawmakers, police, and judges? Everybody could use a few extra bucks, including people who preside over legal cases. A little palm grease here and there, and suddenly the guys, who should have won, lose instead.

[@frasercain]

This is the whole point of the legal system, including suing for damages, getting the other party to pay legal expenses, etc. Remember that SpaceX sued to be able to bid on USAF contracts and won, breaking the monopoly. So, it goes both ways.

[@lucidmoses]

Is there any practical way to smelt materials in space? Gravity is a pretty big component to it.

[@frasercain]

Sure, there are a bunch of technologies that have been tested out to do it.

[@lucidmoses]

@@frasercain Maybe you could do a bit on one of them. Sure centrifuges would work for a few kilograms but for tons that's going to be tricky.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

I’d probably go with the Mond Process. Heat the asteroid or Moon material in carbon-monoxide to extract nickel. Suck away the gas, it’s now just nickel-carbonyl, and heat it a bit more to drive off the carbon-monoxide to leave pure nickel. No gravity required. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mond_process

[@lucidmoses]

@@CarFreeSegnitz Thanks for the link. Hadn't herd of that one before but a quick look shows that it requires gravity and an atmosphere. Maybe you could get that to work on Mars. Especially if you build a building around it but I'm not so sure about in space.

[@dlsjr123]

Elon Musk is the Thomas Edison of our time. And I don’t mean that as a compliment

[@12345.......]

👀🍸

[@frasercain]

Enjoy!

[@mattsfax]

😎🍻

[@macjonte]

Is James Webb the most expensive spacecraft except from Apollo? :)

[@Релёкс84]

It's less expensive than the ISS, the Space shuttle program and the entire GPS deployment program.

[@mattuk56]

Hi Fraser. Will there ever be a telescope which travels very far from Earth and turns back to look at the Earth, then see Tupac Shakur on the Earth?

[@deSloleye]

It's too late to launch that telescope to see him

[@MrT------5743]

Yeah deSloleye said this already. In order to look back in time on Earth, the telescope would have to be further away than that light from the past has reached. So you would have to send the telescope faster than light away for some time then turn it back to Earth to catch those photons.

[@deSloleye]

Besides, the telescope would be so far away and Tupac ain't that Biggie.

[@JustOneAsbesto]

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if Fraser saying there are people he'd rather interview than Elon got him an interview with Elon the very next day.

[@frasercain]

Hah, reverse psychology. 😄

[@DragonKingGaav]

No time stamps?! I want a refund!

[@frasercain]

Whoops, fixed.

[@DragonKingGaav]

@@frasercain Thanks!

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Why call a space ship after mr Tormb's book on the sport of golf? "The art of the Miss" ...weird..

[@Michael_Scott_Howard]

Jeff Bezo need only spend 4-5 billion of his $150B and truly get to orbit... Jeff chose to go small and go home... Ice cream time.

[@pumpuppthevolume]

question ...3 days in orbit payed by a billionaire friend ...would u do it sorry if u get that question a lot and u have answered it already

[@frasercain]

Yeah, I'd probably take that flight.

[@ztechrepairs]

@@frasercain Me too!!

[@pumpuppthevolume]

@@frasercain and how many youtube videos would u like to shoot from orbit :P we have to monetize space somehow lol.... I'm expecting someone like mr beast will go in orbit in the next 10 years.... which is a pretty safe bet since Tom Cruise is already scheduled to go to the ISS for shooting a movie

[@alwaysdisputin9930]

I hope my crewmates won't mind my constant flatulence. 3 days of getting gassed

[@darketnick]

do alien use mobile phone ?

[@Downloadeodeo]

No point, boys. Mercury is closer to the sun.

[@michaelmcconnell7302]

Hey Fraser, have there been any updates on Ultima Thule, or "Arrokoth"?