Posted on 01/28/2022 10:06:47 AM PST by Red Badger
Next week, Roland Emmerich's Moonfall opens in theaters around the world. The latest disaster movie from the director of Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012 will see a team of unlikely heroes tasked with saving the world after the Moon is knocked off its orbit by some mysterious force, sending it potentially crashing towards Earth — with all the consequences that that brings.
NASA Moon, one of the space agency's many official Twitter accounts, took to the social media platform to clarify that our natural satellite is in fact in a very stable orbit and there is no risk of it falling on our heads. "Here are a few reasons why we’re grateful the Moon is stable in its orbit (no offense @MoonfallFilm)," they wrote.
Tagging the official Moonfall account led to a rather good-natured "Twitter spat", with back and forth between the movie and NASA's other accounts that are influenced by the Moon, such as NASA Earth and NASA Ocean, jumping in for support.
You’re telling me this isn’t actually going to happen? pic.twitter.com/wYRNeg7nZM
— Moonfall (@MoonfallFilm) January 25, 2022 The good thing about it is all the science we got out of it. They highlight how the Moon influences the length of the day on Earth and how it affects the tides, crucial for so many living organisms.
The tidal interactions between Earth and the Moon are actually pushing the satellite further away from our planet, not closer. The Moon was created by the debris launched into orbit when a world the size of Mars hit Earth. The Moon actually recedes from us at a rate of 3.8 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year, but this speed has not been constant since its formation.
But let’s take the premise of the movie more seriously for a second. What would it take to bring down the Moon? Well, a lot of energy to start with. Gravity is a complicated beast but we can use the simplified approach that Isaac Newton came up with.
If you throw an apple, it would fall after a short while. But if you were really high, you could throw the apple fast enough and far enough that while falling, it would miss the ground. The apple would basically be in orbit. It’s the same with the Moon. It is constantly falling towards Earth, but it is constantly missing our planet by virtue of moving fast enough to escape, at about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) per second.
So if we were to slow down the Moon, it would begin to spiral inward and eventually hit Earth. If we wanted to bring it to a halt instantaneously, we would need 3.8×10^28 J (joules) of energy. That is a huge number. It’s equivalent to the energy that the Earth receives from the Sun in 7,000 years. Luckily, we don’t have enough rockets on Earth to launch to the Moon to make that happen, should anyone have the idea.
So you should be able to sleep well, safe in the knowledge that Moonfall can only happen in theaters and not over our heads.
Uh, shouldn’t n’ass-uh be busy fighting CLIMAGEDDON!?
we would need 3.8×10^28 J (joules) of energy. That is a huge number.
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A small black hole would put that much energy out in each second - so its quite doable.
Of course, the entire purpose of the movie is to inject man-made (I.E., MAGA-instigated) ill intent that needs a communist/fascist anti-racist, BIPOC hero to save the day, primarily from shaming every normal white (and non-white) person. At this point, it is a matter of needing to be proven the hypothesis above is correct, as this is the first I’ve ever heard of this nonsense.
Hopefully it be as laughably stupid as the Day After Tomorrow and 2012. Emmerich makes the most unintentionally funny stuff since Ed Wood. They are great for MST3K parties.
Give the task to the “Mythbusters” gang, let’s see what they come up with.🙂
Yep. And NASA does this they should leave out the unsubstantiated guesswork like this:
“The Moon was created by the debris launched into orbit when a world the size of Mars hit Earth.”
"Did suhmone suay jowls?"
Sounds like a Space: 1999 prequel.
Yes! We had an MST3K party with it. Comedy gold.
....after the Moon is knocked off its orbit by some mysterious force, sending it potentially crashing towards Earth.
NASA Spokesperson:
Since Allah is also known as the Moon god, we have top Muslim scientist working on this as we speak.
The director(s) of that movie apparently forgot which way is down when they made it...................
What kind of energy are you talking about?
Black holes don’t emit anything.
What kind of energy are you talking about? Black holes don’t emit anything.
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Actually they do - plasma steams are often emitted (numerous false color shots of galaxy centers emitting huge light year long plasma streams).
But then you’d need to have the right sort of apparatus to harness the energy of their rotation. I know were you can get one, if you are interested, for just a slight finder’s fee payable to my off-shore account.
I heard Elon Musk wanted a cameo, but decided to just crash the moon instead
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