- 2 hours ago
A few unusual guesses about space for you! For example, what if you were stuck in a traffic jam in space? What would happen if a spaceship stops in the middle of space? Or What if the entire population of the planet moves to a space ship? Find out right now!
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:00You're sitting in a car in a space shopping mall parking lot.
00:03You've just bought a gift for your sister's birthday and should have time to get it to the celebration.
00:08Today, there are a lot of people in the mall, so it's difficult to leave the parking lot.
00:14Finally, you're approaching the gate.
00:16You press the button next to the steering wheel and activate the gravity cushion.
00:21It allows the car to hover above the ground at several inches.
00:24The car wheels are sliding inside the body and a huge turbine is coming out of the trunk.
00:31The front glass becomes a touch panel with many buttons and screens.
00:35The gate opens, the turbine releases a flame, and your car flies out of the parking lot right into outer
00:42space.
00:44Thousands of flying cars are rushing past you on an invisible space highway.
00:48Anyway, you're moving away from the mall, which looks like a huge space station surrounded by holograms of advertising brands.
00:56Before Earth, you need to get to Mars.
00:58There, you want to repair the car's engine.
01:01The navigator plans a route to the red planet, and you go on your way.
01:06You're far from Earth's orbit, so you can get to Mars in several hours.
01:10You activate the autopilot and decide to take a little nap.
01:14It's 2048.
01:16The world's population has exceeded 20 billion people.
01:19There's too little space on Earth.
01:22Humanity is not ready to colonize other planets yet.
01:25So scientists and engineers from all countries start building huge space stations.
01:30This unloads the planet by more than 50%.
01:33The stations look like huge rings.
01:36They imitate the Earth's atmosphere, have artificial gravity and vegetation.
01:40People move to stations, but often return to Earth.
01:45Rockets fly between the planet and orbit.
01:47But such transport is expensive and inconvenient.
01:51Automakers make efforts at creating super-reactive flying cars.
01:56Some years later, people slowly colonize the Moon and Mars.
02:00Now getting to the red planet is as easy as getting to the neighboring city.
02:05Cars fly along certain routes that are similar to airways for planes.
02:09Engineers create special digital highways that can only be seen through the windshield.
02:15Of course, you can fly through space as you like in any direction.
02:19But if you fly to a mall or the Moon, you have to stick to the established digital route.
02:24You wake up and approach Mars.
02:27People almost don't live here because of the unfavorable atmosphere and difficult weather conditions.
02:32But Mars has the biggest service center for cars and the coolest amusement theme park in the solar system.
02:39To get there, people have to stand in a space traffic jam for hours.
02:44The dashboard shows you have some problems with the turbine.
02:47You put on a spacesuit, take a laser screwdriver, and get out of the car.
02:52You're in zero gravity, flying up to the turbine and fixing the problem with the screwdriver.
02:56There are thousands of cars around you.
03:00People are yawning inside, listening to music, and watching movies.
03:04You get into the vehicle and slowly move on.
03:07The engine or turbine often fails in the middle of a space highway.
03:11When this happens, your car activates its emergency mode.
03:15The dashboard automatically sends a signal to the nearest repair team.
03:19You're just floating in space and waiting until the mechanics arrive.
03:23They tow the car to the nearest auto service.
03:27You have enough oxygen inside for a couple of days.
03:30And if you run out of it, you can ask for help on the internet.
03:34Good people flying by will stop and share their oxygen supplies with you.
03:38Finally, you get to the car service station.
03:41Mechanics install a new super jet engine for your car and repair the turbine.
03:46There's not much time left, and you promised your sister you wouldn't be late.
03:50You increase the speed and fly along an almost empty digital highway.
03:55On your way, you meet a lot of small satellites showing holographic ads.
04:00Fortunately, you have an ad blocker.
04:02You turn it on, and the space banners become invisible through your windshield.
04:07Finally, you see a small blue dot.
04:10This is Earth.
04:11At this moment, you remember that you need to feed your dog.
04:14You leave the route and fly to the moon.
04:17There, you have a small cottage with a house, which you bought for a small price last year.
04:22People can't change the atmosphere of entire planets yet, but you can install a small dome and fill it with
04:28oxygen.
04:29Inside your dome, you've built a house, a swimming pool, and even a small vegetable garden.
04:35In the past, people went to the countryside to take a break from the city bustle.
04:39Now, everyone just buys houses on the moon.
04:42You fly through the dome, land on the white surface, and put food into a dog bowl.
04:47They're renovating your apartment on the space rink, so you live on the moon with your dog for a while.
04:53You can see other cars flying up into the neighboring domes.
04:57Some vehicles are elite supercars with a large gravity cushion and ultra-reactive engines.
05:02They can fly 10 times faster than the speed of sound and have artificial intelligence that can talk to the
05:08driver.
05:09There are also old, rusty space cars.
05:13Sometimes people attach a jet engine to an ordinary car and cover the body with a mix of copper, iron,
05:19and silver to travel over long distances in a cold vacuum.
05:23You can also see a lot of taxis in outer space.
05:27Sometimes, getting to the moon is cheaper than getting to the other end of some city on Earth.
05:31The reason is traffic jams on the Earth's roads.
05:35Also, there are a lot of flying buses in space.
05:38Every day, several flights depart on the Earth-to-Moon-to-Mars route.
05:43People are constantly building something on Mars.
05:46The huge car service and the amusement park are done.
05:50Now they're creating a scientific center there to study interstellar jumps.
05:54Of course, engineers need building materials for such construction projects.
06:00Several times a week, long trains fly from Earth to Mars along a separate space route.
06:06Initially, trains carried people, but they became unprofitable.
06:10It's much cheaper and faster to get to Mars by your own car or bus.
06:15Finally, you're leaving the moon and approaching the Earth.
06:19The dashboard signals you're out of fuel, so you decide to stop at a gas station.
06:24These stations are everywhere.
06:26They're fully automated, controlled by artificial intelligence.
06:29You're flying up to one of them.
06:31The fuel pump is automatically connected to your gas tank.
06:35The super-reactive engine consumes improved rocket fuel instead of gas.
06:39You transfer money to the station through the touch panel and fly away.
06:44Hundreds of digital space highways lead to Earth, and every road is filled with cars.
06:50Traffic jams again.
06:52There are security checkpoints in the upper layers of the atmosphere.
06:55Customs services check documents and car trunks.
06:58While standing in traffic, you're watching garbage trucks.
07:02A lot of space debris is floating around.
07:04Slow-flying trucks, controlled by artificial intelligence, collect garbage in huge containers.
07:11Then, they fly away from Earth's orbit and unhook the containers.
07:15These garbage cans have little turbines that let containers fly far beyond our solar system.
07:21Then, they heat up and burn all the garbage from the inside.
07:25Finally, you pass all the checkpoints and fly into the middle layers of the atmosphere.
07:29Our planet looks like a huge cyberpunk world, but only lighter and more beautiful.
07:35Huge cars disperse the clouds to improve visibility.
07:39Firefighter flying ships are coming to one of the stations where a fire started.
07:44You encounter hundreds of gas stations, air hotels, cinemas, and shopping malls in the sky before you reach the ground.
07:52You're approaching a parking building.
07:54This is an 80-story skyscraper filled with cars.
07:57People leave their vehicles and use elevators to go down.
08:01Fortunately, there's a place near your sister's house where you can park your car.
08:05You land, put your hand on the passenger seat to take the gift, and...
08:09Oh no!
08:11It looks like you left it on the moon.
08:14Picture this.
08:15You're an astronaut hurtling through the cosmos in your state-of-the-art spaceship.
08:20But suddenly, you notice that you're running out of fuel.
08:23What are you going to do?
08:24Trapped in the middle of space?
08:26It's hardly like there's a floating gas station.
08:29The good news is that you're not going to get completely stuck.
08:33A spaceship will never actually stop after running out of fuel.
08:36All because there's basically no atmosphere in space.
08:40That's where the popular phrase,
08:42In space, no one can hear you scream, comes from.
08:45Sound travels through the vibration of teeny tiny atoms and molecules.
08:49In space, where there is no air, there's simply no way for sound to travel.
08:54It's the same for our spaceship.
08:56Because there's no air, there's also a complete lack of air resistance.
09:00Those tiny particles that do exist in space are way too small to reduce the spacecraft's momentum or drag it
09:07back.
09:07Because of this, most spacecraft actually turn their engines off for the biggest part of their journey.
09:12So, don't believe those movies that show spaceships with their engines on all the time.
09:18That's completely inaccurate.
09:20Unlike vessels in the water, a ship in space doesn't need constant thrust to keep moving forward.
09:26Usually, its engine is only fired up for short periods of time.
09:29This is not only practical, but also saves money.
09:32Fuel is really expensive to transport into space, as it's heavy.
09:36That's why space probes try to use as little fuel as possible.
09:40They need it when they set off from Earth, and then again when they re-enter the atmosphere.
09:45It happens when they need to slow down upon their return.
09:48While cars and trains have brakes, it's not that simple to bring a spaceship to a screeching halt.
09:54The engines are needed to slow the ship down or bring it to a complete stop.
09:58This involves strategically firing up impressive thrusters at the front.
10:02It creates the needed drag and reduces the spaceship's speed.
10:06But this process also requires super high levels of precision.
10:11One wrong move, and you're toast.
10:13Literally.
10:14Hit the thrusters too fast, and the spacecraft will set on fire as you re-enter Earth's atmosphere at thousands
10:20of miles per hour.
10:21Traveling too slowly can also cause problems.
10:24Because in this case, you might miss our planet's orbit completely and move way past Earth.
10:30And most spacecraft don't have enough fuel to try for a second re-entry.
10:34So traveling too slowly needs to be avoided at all costs.
10:39But back to the issue at hand.
10:41This basically means that any vehicle with an empty tank will continue traveling at the same speed across space until
10:47it eventually runs into something.
10:49There's just no other way for it to stop.
10:53Wait.
10:53Actually, maybe that's not good news.
10:56If you get stranded, it's pretty unlikely that your buddies over there at NASA are going to organize a rescue
11:01mission.
11:02This sounds kind of sad, but it does make sense.
11:05By the time they set up a new team and find a ship to come and rescue you, you'll have
11:09already traveled so far into space it would take them years to reach you.
11:13This would also cost a ridiculous amount of money.
11:16NASA spends on average a whopping $152 million to launch a ship into space.
11:22That's as much as buying six brand new top-of-the-range Lamborghinis.
11:26Even crazier, it costs NASA about $49 billion to develop and launch the first space shuttle.
11:33Unfortunately, once you've left Earth's orbit, it's near impossible that you'll make it back without fuel.
11:38That's what actually happened to NASA's Dawn spacecraft back in 2018.
11:42On a random day, the spaceship ran out of fuel.
11:45This left it completely stranded in the middle of space.
11:48It stopped transmitting signals to Earth, bringing an end to an 11-year-long mission that set loads of space
11:55records.
11:55The spacecraft could no longer generate electricity, as it had no fuel to move its solar panels to point them
12:01toward the sun.
12:02And to this day, the spaceship is still floating somewhere in space in a derelict state.
12:08Luckily, Dawn had no astronauts on board.
12:11The spacecraft began to orbit the dwarf planet Ceres, which was the object it was originally investigating.
12:16For context, in orbit is a curved path around a star, planet, or moon that an object gets stuck in.
12:24But wait! NASA are experts in all things relating to spacecraft.
12:28So how did they allow a ship to run out of fuel in the first place?
12:31It's actually super difficult to accurately measure the amount of fuel you'll need in space.
12:36On Earth, gravity keeps all the fuel at the bottom of the tank.
12:40And you can use a float sensor to measure how full the tank is.
12:43But this is impossible in space due to a lack of gravity that normally weighs the fuel down.
12:49Instead, a common approach is to add an air bladder into the fuel tank that's pressurized before launch to push
12:55the fuel into lines.
12:56The more fuel is used, the more this bladder expands.
13:00It takes up more space and keeps the fuel under the right amount of pressure.
13:03This pressure is monitored.
13:05That's how they can tell how much fuel is left.
13:07As you see, it's a lot more complicated than here on Earth.
13:11But say there were astronauts aboard a spacecraft that had run out of fuel.
13:15How long could they survive?
13:17Well, this depends on how much food and water is on board.
13:20NASA usually calculates the extra amount of food astronauts need for their trip to avoid adding extra weight to the
13:26spacecraft.
13:27But the good news is that this food can technically be rationed, and its consumption can be spread out.
13:33That's because astronaut food comes in special packaging to stop it from going bad.
13:37There are no refrigerators aboard spacecraft.
13:39The food comes in clear, flexible pouches that can be snipped open with scissors.
13:45All the food is pre-cooked and processed, so it doesn't need to be stored in a fridge.
13:49The only exceptions are fresh fruit and vegetables.
13:52These are the only things that need to be eaten quickly, as they will spoil.
13:56Today, astronauts also work with nutritionists so they can pick out the foods that they like and will enjoy eating.
14:03They can choose from a whole bunch of products, including mushroom soup, macaroni and cheese, chicken, beef, ham, nuts, and
14:10even yummy cookies.
14:12Shrimp cocktail is apparently a new favorite among astronauts because of how spicy it tastes.
14:17Flavored drinks also come in powdered form, just like the Kool-Aid or instant coffee packets you have sitting in
14:23your kitchen cupboard.
14:25Interestingly, astronauts often report not feeling hungry in space, so it may be easier than you'd think to ration the
14:31food.
14:32But even if you can make your food last, what about water?
14:36Transporting anything into space costs a lot, and water is quite heavy, so it costs even more to transport.
14:42For this reason, tanks of water can't be constantly shipped up to space.
14:46Instead, astronauts have a really complex water system.
14:50It squeezes every last drop of safe and available liquid out of the environment.
14:54This involves recycling used water.
14:57It means that our buddies in space drink water that's been filtered from old shower water.
15:01Their breath, the spaceship's fuel cells, sweat, and so on.
15:06But don't worry, such water is safe to drink, and it's actually even better than most drinking water that comes
15:11out of taps in the U.S.
15:13The water on a spacecraft first goes through a bunch of filters, starting with one that removes particles and debris.
15:19Then it passes through multi-filtration beds, containing clever substances that remove impurities.
15:25The final stage gets rid of harmful compounds and destroys nasty bacteria and viruses.
15:30There are also water reserves, in case of emergency.
15:34For example, the International Space Station keeps around 530 gallons of water in its reserves, just in case.
15:41But what about the air supply?
15:43The primary source of oxygen on spacecraft comes from something called water electrolysis.
15:49This is an amazing system that uses electricity from the craft's solar panels to split water into hydrogen and oxygen
15:55gas.
15:56But as we saw with NASA's Dawn, without electricity, it's pretty difficult to aim the solar panels at the sun,
16:03which means that the oxygen system would likely shut down.
16:06There is some oxygen stored in a pressurized storage tank, though.
16:10This is a backup supply designed for emergencies, so it's not all bad news.
16:19Humanity's facing the greatest danger ever.
16:22Our sun's fading.
16:24In 500 years, the entire solar system will be plunged into darkness and eternal cold.
16:30To save our civilization, people begin to build a huge spaceship
16:34that will accommodate the population of the whole world inside and go into deep space.
16:41In less than 400 years, the construction of the ship is finally completed.
16:46The sun is already nearing its end.
16:49It's much smaller and cooler, making the climate on Earth cold and harsh.
16:54You and the rest of the inhabitants of the planet are going on board the greatest ship in history.
17:02The boarding itself began several years ago, before the ship was even fully built.
17:07To avoid a multi-billion crowd, an electronic schedule was organized,
17:13sending invitations to those whose turn it was to board soon.
17:18Several million people could board within a month.
17:21The main rule is to travel light.
17:24You bring two sets of clothing, personal hygiene items, a phone, headphones, and your favorite book.
17:30You arrive to the boarding site and see a huge ark, the size of a large island,
17:36twice the height of the Empire State Building.
17:39Around the ship, there's a huge city clinging to its walls.
17:43Construction workers and engineers have been living here for decades.
17:48You're standing in a long line, one of a hundred.
17:52Access to the ship is granted to those who have a valid ID.
17:55The ID is linked to that person's resting area.
17:59One person is given 20 square feet of space.
18:02There's a bed and a nightstand inside.
18:05Of course, there would need to be much less space if people would just lay down in sleep capsules and
18:11flew to a new planet.
18:12But no planet suitable for life has been found yet.
18:15So, the ship is going to be your home for a long time.
18:20Much of the ship's space is occupied by the engine room.
18:24Huge power generators and powerful engines will support the long-term movement of a heavy ship in outer space.
18:32At last, the boarding and settlement is over.
18:36The engines are starting.
18:37A voice is coming from the speakers throughout the ship, counting down from ten.
18:42These are your last seconds on Earth.
18:44The ark takes off, burning down the whole area it was standing on.
18:49People look down at their receding home with sadness.
18:53But it's replaced with hope as they turn their gazes to the skies.
18:58The whole ship is divided into 200 large sections, varying in size.
19:04Each section is a country.
19:06Despite this division, the rules on the ship are the same for everyone.
19:10Generate energy, keep the peace, and help each other.
19:14The energy is produced by exercise bikes.
19:17A person pedals and generates kinetic energy that fuels the engines.
19:22This is everyone's daily duty.
19:24For at least an hour every morning, you take an exercise bike and work out,
19:29ensuring normal operation of the ship, maintaining your physical activity, and reducing stress.
19:35Then, you eat and go to work.
19:37Here, just like on Earth, you pass by shops, libraries, and cinemas.
19:43The currency is unified for everyone on board.
19:47With the money you earn, you can move from your small cabin to a larger one.
19:51And, of course, just like on Earth, some people easily get a lot of money,
19:56while others work 24-7 for a penny.
19:59This inequality doesn't bother you so much as it used to, though.
20:03People of the future have learned to appreciate peace and quiet,
20:06so no one risks to fight in the limited living space amidst the black void.
20:12Throughout the ship, there are nature zones.
20:15These are small botanical gardens that are grown with the help of artificial light.
20:20Plants give oxygen to the ship and help people feel more at home.
20:25Water reserves are large, but still limited.
20:28To help conserve it, people process their bodily fluids.
20:31They're collected in special tanks, filtered, carefully purified,
20:36and then sent back to the drinking and technical water vessels.
20:39Every person turns over 50% of their waste into water.
20:44Fresh water is replenished from space itself.
20:47Once every few years, the ship approaches a planet.
20:51With the help of scanners and x-rays, geologists find underground rivers or lakes.
20:57Then they send a drilling rig there, pump out the necessary amount of water,
21:01and pull it back to the ship.
21:04Unfortunately, there's nothing useful on these planets except water.
21:08Most planets don't have an atmosphere and are unsuitable for human life.
21:12People are looking for a place with ideal conditions.
21:15They're looking for the Earth's double.
21:19With the help of modern food technologies,
21:21scientists have managed to replace natural vegetables, fruits, and meat with artificial ones.
21:28Real apples or potatoes are also available, but they're rare and extremely pricey.
21:35Now, the ship's been plowing the expanses of space for several decades.
21:40People are used to their new way of life.
21:42Children are born, generations change.
21:45The kids born and raised on the space arc listen wide-eyed to stories of old people
21:51about how beautiful life was on Earth.
21:54But with every passing year, fewer and fewer of those who remember their home planet are left on the ship.
22:01The arc's children are slowly coming to accept that the ship may remain their home forever.
22:07But they still continue to search.
22:09Scientists use powerful telescopes and equipment to explore space.
22:13And every day, they seek potentially habitable planets.
22:18Still, nothing's nearby.
22:20The most promising worlds are thousands of light-years away from the ship.
22:25Meanwhile, the peaceful spirit of the first generation of arc dwellers is gone.
22:30People begin to break the rules, and discontent is growing.
22:34Not everyone pedals the bikes now, and power failures become more frequent.
22:39Social inequality is a burning issue.
22:42Some parts of the ship have turned into slums, while others have grown into abodes of luxury.
22:49Equipment gradually wears down, making it difficult to extract water.
22:53And most plants and nature zones wither because of the clogged ventilation systems.
22:58To save more energy, some parts of the ship are cut off from air and electrical supply.
23:04People who lived in those areas have to move to the central part of the ship.
23:08The already cramped space becomes even stuffier.
23:12And with the lack of personal space, comes growing irritation.
23:17Soon, it becomes obvious there's no other way out but to create a faster-than-light engine, or FTL.
23:25It would require major refurbishments and changes to the ship's structure.
23:29The matter is up for a vote, and surprisingly, not everyone agrees.
23:33Some people don't want to take any risks, and are already used to considering the ship their home.
23:39They want to use the ship's resources for global repairs.
23:43People's opinions are divided.
23:45Conflict is inevitable, and humanity risks disappearing from the universe.
23:51Resolution comes, unexpectedly, from impending danger.
23:55It turns out that the ship is heading towards a wide and unusually dense asteroid belt.
24:01The celestial bodies are packed so tight, they leave hardly any space for the ship to maneuver.
24:06A collision of the current speed is inevitable.
24:09The only hope left for humanity is to go all out on building the FTL engine.
24:16The work takes months, but it's united people once more.
24:20Everyone works around the clock and only sleeps as much as they need to regain strength.
24:25While half the people help build the engine, the other half pedal the bikes to generate energy.
24:31There's once again a glitter of hope that humanity will be able to find a new world with enough space
24:38for everyone.
24:39The risks are sky-high, but there's no choice.
24:42The energy is only enough for a single attempt to jump.
24:46If it fails, humankind could be stranded in outer space on a broken starship.
24:53Before the jump, people send a capsule with information about humanity into space.
24:58They upload videos, movies, music, and the entire history of humankind onto several massive hard drives.
25:06This is the only chance to leave a small footprint in the universe if they don't succeed.
25:12Everyone is ready.
25:14All power is transferred to the engine.
25:16People lie down in small capsules and put on oxygen masks.
25:20Theirs is a single desire.
25:23To wake up in a new world or not at all.
25:26No one's ready to watch the fall of humanity.
25:29Capsules are locked.
25:31People close their eyes.
25:32The engine is on.
25:34The countdown begins.
25:363
25:362
25:371
25:38Jump!