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  • Aaaaaaand that's our budget gone, but here's the moon!

  • The rest of this video will be in Audiobook format.

  • I'm just kidding of course.

  • I mean, what's a budget?

  • Well NASA certainly doesn't know since the government doesn't give them any anymore,

  • but maybe that's because they left 809 objects on the moonthat's more than the number

  • of stars in the solar systemand then spent more of their budget to catalogue every single

  • one of them into this neat little list and there's nothing I love more than a good

  • document so I took a look.

  • In all, there are over 400,000 pounds worth of manmade material on the moon and that's

  • the weight measure, not the currency of course, because the Apollo program alone, which accounts

  • for only a portion of the moon trash, cost about $100 billion in today's dollars.

  • It's safe to say that if you include shipping, this is the most expensive golf ball in the

  • worlor rather, in existence.

  • This golf ball has a twin, in fact, and these two were brought by Astronaut Alan Shepard.

  • He snuck a club, which attached to a rock collector, and the two balls in his sock during

  • launch and, once he got to the moon, he teed them up.

  • His first shot was terrible, of course it didn't help that he was wearing an 180 pound

  • suit, but his second flew over 600 feet which would of course be more impressive if the

  • moon didn't have 1/6th the gravity of earth.

  • Shepard took the golf club back to earth, but both balls still lie on the lunar surface.

  • You see, during the Apollo program astronauts landed on the moon in the 33,000 pound lunar

  • module but they left the moon in the 10,300 pound ascent vehicle meaning that for each

  • mission thousands of pounds of material was left on the moon.

  • You have to fight gravity when launching from the moon so they just had to leave everything

  • unnecessary behind.

  • That includes, six Apollo descent stages, six American flags, three packs of wet wipes,

  • one bar of soap, six tongs, six throw up bags, and six gnomons, which I bet you didn't

  • know is the part of a sundial that casts the shadow, but if you did I'm sure you'll

  • contact me through every social channel possible to let me know.

  • Also on the catalogue are 100 2-dollar bills.

  • You see, during the Apollo mission most astronauts were paid around $17,000—roughly $107,000

  • today.

  • While that may seem like a lot, these astronauts were some the most highly educated, highly

  • trained individuals in existence going on some of the most dangerous and most expensive

  • missions ever undertaken.

  • You would think they should earn a bit more than a Wendy's regional manager does, and

  • they thought so too, so they supplemented their income.

  • A normal two dollar bill is worth two dollars, but a two-dollar bill flown to the moon and

  • signed by an Apollo astronaut is worth, well, $2,987.50 according to this auction so on

  • Apollo 15 astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwintwo of the most American sounding people in existencebrought

  • these 100 bills to the moon, but then they left them there, accidentally.

  • Luckily they brought over 400 stamps to the moon as well with the intention of selling

  • them on but unluckily this resulted in a big scandal that led to them loosing their jobs.

  • But now, feces, urine, and vomit, because there are 96 bags of it on the lunar surface

  • because what else are you going to dobring that with you in the tiny tin can on your

  • 2 1/2 day journey back to earth?

  • Also on the moon are nail clippers, two pairs of earplugs, and a portrait of astronaut James

  • Irwin left byastronaut James Irwin.

  • Huh.

  • But don't worry American tax payer, NASA left some more useful stuff.

  • For example, they left four retroflectors, which are essentially fancy expensive mirrors,

  • so they could measure how far the moon is from earth by timing how long it takes for

  • a laser beam to return to earth.

  • Through this, we've learned that the moon is moving away from earth by 1.5 inches each

  • year or, as scientists call it, 3.8 centimeters.

  • Along with about a dozen other experiments, the astronauts brought some somber memorials

  • to those that worked to get them there.

  • All three Apollo 1 astronauts were killed during testing and so Apollo 11 brought and

  • left their mission patch on the lunar surface.

  • The fallen astronaut memorial was later left by Apollo 15 to honor the eight astronauts

  • and six cosmonauts who died while advancing Man's quest for the moon.

  • What we do know is that whenever tourists first get to the moon, these 400,000 pounds

  • of trash will turn into some of the coolest museums in existence, but before space tourism

  • starts we need inexpensive rockets which you can learn to make with brilliant.org.

  • Ok, you're not going to learn the complete process of making cheap reusable rockets from

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