WEBVTT - Could a Spaceship Ignite an Alien Atmosphere?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, the production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogelbam Here. Let's say that someday

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<v Speaker 1>in the distant future, explorers from Earth decide to visit Jupiter,

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<v Speaker 1>the largest planet in our Solar system, and probe its mysteries.

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<v Speaker 1>At the end of their nearly two year journey, they

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<v Speaker 1>reached the giant planet, so immense that more than one thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred earths would fit inside of it. As the

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<v Speaker 1>spacecraft descends, the astronauts marvel at Jupiter's sixty seven moons,

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<v Speaker 1>so many that astronomers haven't even named them all yet.

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<v Speaker 1>They gaze and wonder at the planet's great Red Spot,

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<v Speaker 1>an immense perpetual hurricane like storm, and ponder the planet's

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<v Speaker 1>shroud of brown, yellow, red, and white clouds. But when

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<v Speaker 1>our fictional adventurers deploy the spacecraft's rocket thrusters to slow

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<v Speaker 1>their descent, something awful happens. The heat and flames from

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<v Speaker 1>the nozzles come into contact with the jovial an atmosphere,

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<v Speaker 1>which is hydrogen, and ignite it. Quickly, the Jupiter sky

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<v Speaker 1>turns into a fiery inferno. The astronauts realized that they've

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<v Speaker 1>got to get out of there quick. They just accidentally

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<v Speaker 1>ignited an entire planet's atmosphere. It might make for a

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<v Speaker 1>great premise for a science fiction thriller. In fact, the

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<v Speaker 1>idea made its way into an episode of the show

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<v Speaker 1>Star Trek Enterprise, but fortunately it's not something that will

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<v Speaker 1>ever happen in real life. Probably Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune,

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<v Speaker 1>the three immense gas giants in the Outer Solar System,

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<v Speaker 1>all have atmospheres made up of mostly hydrogen. That's a

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<v Speaker 1>chemical that one is in its gas form on Earth

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<v Speaker 1>can be explosively combustible. It's also the chemical that the

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<v Speaker 1>Sun uses for fuel. If you need an example of

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<v Speaker 1>hydrogen's flammability, consider the seven destruction of the Hindenburg airship,

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<v Speaker 1>which suddenly turned into an inferno as attempted to dock,

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<v Speaker 1>killing thirty seven people. Though the exact circumstances of the

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<v Speaker 1>disaster remain murky, the leading hypothesis is that a leaky

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<v Speaker 1>valve or broken wire caused hydrogen to leak into the

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<v Speaker 1>ship's ventilation shafts, where it was then ignited by static

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<v Speaker 1>electricity from a storm that the airship had flown through,

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<v Speaker 1>combined with an incendiary group of compounds that had been

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<v Speaker 1>used to make the skin of the Zeppelin air tight.

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<v Speaker 1>Hydrogen explosion like that of the Hindenburg could occur on Earth,

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<v Speaker 1>but not on one of the outer planets. For the

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<v Speaker 1>article this episode is based on How Stuff Works spoke

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<v Speaker 1>by email with Drake Demming, an astrology professor at the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Maryland who studied planetary atmospheres as a scientist

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<v Speaker 1>for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He said, the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of ignition you're talking about is rapid oxidation, and there

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<v Speaker 1>isn't enough free oxygen in the atmospheres of the outer

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<v Speaker 1>planets to allow that to happen. How Stuff Works also

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<v Speaker 1>spoke by email with Mark ray In, chief engineer and

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<v Speaker 1>mission director of NASA's Dawn Mission. He said oxygen is

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<v Speaker 1>the key. Combustion occurs when fuel combines with oxygen in

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<v Speaker 1>a chemical reaction that releases heat. A Jupiter and Saturn

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<v Speaker 1>have plenty of chemical fuel, as does Saturn's moon Titan,

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<v Speaker 1>which has methane in its atmosphere, but without oxygen, they

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<v Speaker 1>won't burn, and conversely, Earth's skies are similarly unlikely to

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<v Speaker 1>burn because while there's plenty of oxygen, the nitrogen that

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<v Speaker 1>makes up most of Earth's atmosphere isn't a very good fuel.

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<v Speaker 1>If it were possible to ignite the atmosphere of Jupiter,

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<v Speaker 1>it most likely would have happened by now, since the

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<v Speaker 1>planet has been hit many times by objects much bigger

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<v Speaker 1>and more energetic than a spaceship. As astronomer Phil Plate

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<v Speaker 1>has noted, the planet gets hit with something that's big

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<v Speaker 1>enough to see from Earth about once each year. The

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<v Speaker 1>most famous example is the collision between Jupiter and the

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<v Speaker 1>comet shoemaker Levy nine, which was oken by the planet's

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<v Speaker 1>intense gravity into a dozen separate hot pieces that exploded

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<v Speaker 1>with a huge release of energy. But those explosions didn't

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<v Speaker 1>cause Jupiter's atmosphere to ignite. Demming said, if an object

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<v Speaker 1>collides with Jupiter or Saturn, it will create high temperature

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<v Speaker 1>chemical reactions and localized pressure and heating. But the over

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<v Speaker 1>pressure from such an event would propagate as a shock wave,

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<v Speaker 1>expanding and cooling. So if the atmosphere is stable before

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<v Speaker 1>the collision, it isn't likely to become unstable afterwards. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>but what would it take to cause Jupiter's atmosphere to explode?

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<v Speaker 1>Raymond said, Igniting an atmosphere would require providing it with

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<v Speaker 1>an extraordinary amount of whichever ingredient it lacks, either fuel

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<v Speaker 1>or oxygen. Given how large planets are, the addition of

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<v Speaker 1>a supply from something as small as a typical or

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<v Speaker 1>even large comet or asteroid would be such a tiny

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<v Speaker 1>fraction of the total atmosphere that it would be quite insufficient,

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<v Speaker 1>Like trying to fan a huge bonfire with a single

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<v Speaker 1>gentle puff. There might be some localized combustion, but it

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<v Speaker 1>would quickly burn out, just as the fire from the

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<v Speaker 1>hydrogen in the Hindenburg Zeppelin did. Basically, it would require

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<v Speaker 1>half as much oxygen as there is hydrogen in Jupiter's atmosphere.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not likely that anybody is going to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to transport that much oxygen there to start the fire.

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<v Speaker 1>Could something like this happen somewhere that we haven't discovered yet.

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<v Speaker 1>The universe is full of possibilities, but it looks as though,

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<v Speaker 1>at least for now, a sci fi screenwriters will have

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<v Speaker 1>to come up with a more plausible storyline. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article could our spacecraft accidentally ignite

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<v Speaker 1>an alien world's entire atmosphere? On how Stuffworks dot Com.

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<v Speaker 1>Written by Patrick Jake tiger A. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcast asks

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