5 Space Misconceptions Most People Still Believe
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After Artemis II brought out the moon joy in people, I found that a lot of newbies to space travel had some questions about what they were seeing. This video is meant to help explain some of the basics of space travel that most people don’t know. Things like how orbital mechanics work, how gravity works in space and why the astronauts are weightless up there, how rocket engines don’t melt, and why everything just works differently in a vacuum.
Pressure Changes Everything shirts available here!
https://laughsmarter.com/collections/pressure-changes-everything
Check out these other great space creators to go deeper down the rabbit hole!
Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut
https://www.youtube.com/@EverydayAstronaut
Felix from What About It?
https://www.youtube.com/@Whataboutit
Marcus House
https://www.youtube.com/@MarcusHouse
NASA Spaceflight
https://www.youtube.com/@NASASpaceflight
And I somehow forgot to mention Scott Manley in the video! 🤦♂️
https://www.youtube.com/@scottmanley
And on the history side of things:
Amy Shira Teitel
https://www.youtube.com/@AmyShiraTeitel
Homemade Documentaries – Jackson Tyler
https://www.youtube.com/@JacksonTyler
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Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
2:40 – Misconception #1: There is no gravity in space
10:27 – Misconception #2: Space is not cold
14:30 – Misconception #3: Things move differently in a vacuum
20:30 – Misconception #4: Orbits don’t work like you think
25:14 – Honorable mention: The dark side of the moon
26:46 – Honorable mention: We landed 6 times
30:11 – Misconception #5: Rocket fuel is not just rocket fuel
34:36 – Space creators to follow
38:44 – Sponsor

@sindrehagen347
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
You have the same pressure inside your body as the air outside of it. That’s why you can’t feel the pressure. If you wish to demonstrate the air pressure you can try to make a vacuum.
@PaulB_va94
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Yup, the astronauts in the ISS are under the influence of gravity just like we are, but I got why they called it "zero g". It kind of made sense, and I could "let it go". But now "they" (NASA?) call it "micro gravity", for God only knows why. Calling it "micro gravity" makes less sense than calling it "zero g".
@notachannel7495
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Douglas Adams gave the best explanation for learning to fly (erm, orbit). To paraphrase, the trick is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
@Sb129
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
That is kinda crazy more people don't know that we went to the moon more than once. I didn't realize it was a revelation to people.
@s977382
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Great episode!
@VJS-1918
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
It’s unfortunate that you don’t have the ability to get to the point. You spend three minutes and seven seconds blabbering, talking about nothing, and wasting time, before you get to anything substantive. You seriously need to tighten up your presentation.
@michaellauck6062
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
You keep using pressure when you mean density. Its the density that dampers movement of the flag, and keeps the exhaust from flaring not the pressure. I know you know this but its driving me nuts.:p
@Eviel1n
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
30:44 If anyone wants an entertaining (sometimes horrifying) deep dive into the science and history of rocket fuel and oxidizer development, I highly reccommend the book "Ignition!" by John D. Clark. Somewhat technical (the man was an actual rocket scientist and writes out his chemical equations), but he also writes in a very clear and humorous way, so even if you're a layperson with just a bit of basic chemistry knowledge (which I am), you can follow along.
It goes over all the different kinds of mixtures they tried and some mishaps that occurred, mostly from the vantage point of American ballistic missile development in the Cold War (although it does include relevant information about space travel).
@bigwangmark
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
You made a rather silly error when talking about the blue origin capsule at 9:28 They feel zero G the moment the engines stop. They are still going up but the capsule is now slowing down at 1G and that means for the people inside they experience zero G. And then when it reaches apogee and starts falling back to earth again the continue to have zero G. It's why a short rocket ride up to space can give people so much zero G time in the capsule.
@WillieBloom
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
We all know exactly why those four astronauts were called “the most wholesome ever” and let’s not play games and pretend that the same description would be used if it was a different crew.
All I’m calling out is some people’s tendency to overdo it even without spelling it out. We see it. We get it. And it’s really tiresome. Aren’t we done with this yet?
@jbartl87
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Frankly I knew there were more than one moon landings, but even if you asked me after watching this video I still wouldn't be able to tell you how many times. I just know it's more than one.
@pzahle
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
24:30 actually your orbital velocity increase with the size of the orbit, however the length of the orbit increase more than you speed, thus you angular velocity decrease. Thats why if you need to catch up with a target i front of you, you have to decrease your orbital speed to get to a shorter (and lover) orbit, thus increasing your angular velocity to above that of your target.
@MikeD_
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
One of the many funny (or scary) things about the moon-landing deniers is they're sure they're correct but they can't answer the most basic of questions because they never do any research to answer their own questions. I no longer try. They want to believe they're in the know, when actually they know nothing at all.
@htrdchevy71
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Wow, how politically correct are you with your shirts. 😂😂😂
@jorgebarrero6484
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Tim … Felix… Marcus … NASA spaceflight … No Scott M? Missed a big one there 🤪
@MostlyPennyCat
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
0:17 um, nope, I didn't know anybody went to the moon until afterwards.
@ProtusMose
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Putting someone in Kerbal Space Program tutorials is probably the best way to teach about orbital mechanics and re-entry.
@prabhatgaur1150
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
These explanations show why i subscribed years ago due to that electron video
@roadhogg74
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
6:18 Snormula E ( formally Snormula 1 ) cars won't do 250 MPH! How can you be trusted after this? You shouldn't miss lead people they are dumb enough.
@TheEsrix
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
But the moon is made of cheese, right?
@Lobos222
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
I would argue space exposure feels cold. Humans can technically not feel warm or cold. It is more about the practical aspects of how heat is added or removed we feel it. The body sweats, pushes heat out of the body via water. The water gets on top of the skin and wind etc blows over it and it evaporates faster, you feel cooled, because the body can now push out more heat via more sweating that can get position on the skin en evaporate. Question, what happens to liquid water in space?
@michaelread539
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
I remember that NASA was afraid at that time that the public was becoming bored with space launches and moon landings.
@nickmanley7648
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
I hate when you put background noise in your videos.. makes you sound cheap and unprofessional.
@mi5iu491
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Formulan1 cars dont go 300mph bro😂😂😂
@papasmirf1280
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
If astronauts sent a long metal screen attached to a cable into a crater not in the sun and the same outside the crater the statically charged aregulith caused by the sun I wonder if could be a no maintance DC power solution.
@paulteague6837
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Farther – The farther we go in space, the further we gain knowledge.
@andrew12bravo21
June 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Great video!!