WEBVTT

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If you look up an image

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of the Earth and moon,

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you're gonna get a picture

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where they're quite close together.

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Something like that.

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But, in reality,

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the Earth and moon are about...

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about that far apart.

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That is the Earth and the moon to scale.

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Taking the same concept-

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but for the solar system,

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every single picture of the solar system

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that we ever encounter is not to scale.

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If you put the orbits to scale

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on a piece of paper,

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the planets become microscopic,

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and

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you won't be able to

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see them.

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There is literally not an image

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that adequately shows you

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what it actually looks like from out there.

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The only way to see a scale model of the solar system

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is to build one.

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<i>To Scale:</i>
<b>The Solar System</b>

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Welcome to Black Rock Desert.

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This is Alex,

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[Hey]

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I'm Wylie,

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he's going to be behind the camera,

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I'm gonna be probably-

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making a lot of mistakes on camera...

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We have 36 hours to measure the distances,

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trace out the orbits,

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and set up a time lapse shot

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from up on top of a nearby mountain.

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To create a scale model with an Earth

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only as big as this marble,

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you need seven miles of empty space.

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So that's why we're here.

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<i>Why did you guys come?</i>

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I don't have a job...

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[Laughing]

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At this scale,

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the Sun is a meter and a half so about...

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about that big around...

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So we are driving right now to Mercury,

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and we've arrived.

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Venus is the same size as Earth

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have the world in my pocket somewhere...

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And...

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And Earth...

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And this is Mars...

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Got a couple of robots rolling around on that one.

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Once the time lapse is ready,

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we'll drive each orbit with a light,

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hopefully you'll be able

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to tell just how big they really are.

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Onward to the outer planets...

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Jupiter...

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Saturn...

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That tiny light out there is our Sun,

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just over a mile away.

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Sun way...

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way out there now.

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And this is it,

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the edge of the solar system.

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So right now,

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it's about 7 am,

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we just woke up right before the Sun is about your rise...

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We are on Earth's orbit,

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Wylie is over there holding our Sun,

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cue the dramatic sunrise music.

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So if we've made our model correctly,

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your perspective from where Earth is on the model,

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will match your perspective

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from standing on the real Earth.

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So if you look back at the sun,

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you will see that the model sun

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and the real Sun are the exact same size.

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That's how you can tell

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that the proportions are correct.

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There are...

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24 people in the entire history of the human species-

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billions of people

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who have actually seen

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the full circle of the Earth with their own eyes.

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"Following the breakfast the astronauts"

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"went to the suit room where they donned their space suits..."

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"This is Man's attempt to get to the moon..."

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"1..."

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"0..."

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"We have liftoff..."

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"liftoff of 7:51~"

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In Earth orbit the horizon is just slightly curved.

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When you head on out to the moon,

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that horizon slowly curves around and upon itself,

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and all of a sudden you're lookin' at something

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that is very strange,

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but very very familiar...

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"Oh my god"

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"look at that picture over there..."

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"Wow is that pretty"

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You can put your thumb up,

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and you can hide the Earth behind your thumb.

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Everything that you've ever known.

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All behind your thumb.

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Not any bigger than that,

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way up there.

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It's really beautiful.

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mean you'll cry.

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That's what I really wanted to try and capture.

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We are on a marble,

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floating in the middle of nothing.

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When you come face-to-face with that,

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it's staggering...