If the Earth were the size of a basketball and the moon a tennis ball, how far apart would they be? Diagrams that are not to scale make us think that they're closer than they really are.

An engineer came up with a plan to drop tungsten telephone poles from space - the idea has been seriously considered on multiple occasions, so we tested it. This video is sponsored by Brilliant. You can get started for free, or the first 200 people to sign up via https://brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription. Massive thanks to Archisand for building such a beautiful sandcastle. https://www.youtube.com/@GregLeBon Thanks to Inland Empire Film Services and the San Bernardino County Film Office for portions of the video shot in the County of San Bernardino. Huge thanks to John and Angie Miller for helping us with securing the shooting location and going above and beyond to make this shoot happen – http://highdesertlocations.com/ Massive thanks to Dr David Wright for the interview and providing invaluable guidance during the research for this video. Here’s a great video about space-based missile defense – https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/space-based-missile-defense-not-good-idea Massive thanks to Adam Savage for being part of this video Additional photos from NASA and ESA ▀▀▀ References: USAF. (2003). The US Air Force transformation flight plan. Preston, R., Johnson, D. J., Edwards, S. J., Miller, M. D., & Shipbaugh, C. (2002). Space weapons earth wars. Rand Corporation. Wright, D., Grego, L., & Gronlund, L. (2005). The physics of space security. A Reference Manual, Cambridge. DeBlois, B. M., Garwin, R. L., Kemp, R. S., & Marwell, J. C. (2004). Space weapons: crossing the US Rubicon. International Security, 50-84. Baucom, D. R. (2017). The Rise and Fall of Brilliant Pebbles 1. In United States Military History 1865 to the Present Day (pp. 329-376). Routledge. Hitchens, T., & Samson, V. (2004). Space-based interceptors: still not a good idea. Georgetown journal of international affairs, 21-29. National Research Council. (2012). Making sense of ballistic missile defense: An assessment of concepts and systems for US boost-phase missile defense in comparison to other alternatives. National Academies Press. Borger, J. (2005). Bush likely to back weapons in space. The Guardian, 19. ▀▀▀ Special thanks to: Bernard McGee, James Sanger, Elliot Miller, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin Jr., OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Sexton, John Kiehl, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Mike Schneider, John Bauer, Jim Buckmaster, Juan Benet, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi ▀▀▀ Written by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller, and Emily Zhang Filmed by Trenton Oliver, Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, Emily Zhang, Raquel Nuno and Eddie Lopez Animation by Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli and Jonny Hyman Edited by Trenton Oliver Slow Motion Camera: Shawn Sanders and Anthony Corrales Sandcastle Timelapse by Greg LeBon and Archisand Phantom rental from Panny Hire LA Helicopter Pilots: Rick Shuster and Cliff Fleming Helicopter Safety Officer: Ryan Hosking FPV Drone Pilots: Sammie Saing and Josh Ewalt Production Assistants: Roman Bacvic and Eddie Lopez Intern: Katie Barnshaw Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 and Getty Images Music from Epidemic Sound Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_n1FZaKzF8