Neil deGrasse Tyson & Brian Greene Reenact a Scene from 'Gravity' at StarTalk Live

What would really have happened in the Oscar winning movie "Gravity" when George Clooney cut himself loose from Sandra Bullock? Find out in this re-enactment starring astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson as Sandra Bullock, physicist Brian Greene as George Clooney, and Eugene Mirman as "The Space Station." Co-starring Michael Ian Black as "the man with the theory" and NASA astronaut Mike Massimino as "the only guy on stage who has actually been into space." (This recently unearthed video was shot at StarTalk Live at Town Hall in NYC on Nov 4th, 2013 by Stacey Severn.)

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[StarTalk]

*Neil deGrasse Tyson & Brian Greene Reenact a Scene from "Gravity" at StarTalk Live*
_What would really have happened in the Oscar winning movie “Gravity” when George Clooney cut himself loose from Sandra Bullock? Find out in this physics-friendly re-enactment starring astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson as Sandra Bullock, physicist Brian Greene as George Clooney, and Eugene Mirman as "The Space Station." Co-starring Michael Ian Black as “the man with the theory” and NASA astronaut Mike Massimino as “the only guy on stage who has actually been into space.” (This recently unearthed video was shot at StarTalk Live at Town Hall in NYC on Nov 4th, 2013 by Stacey Severn.)_

[shanemarchan]

i wonder who could dislike neil .. hes such a humble funny individual

[NewInkFoHalo]

I was always under the impression that they were moving in a wide, slow arc, and the force pulling Kowalski out was the opposing centripetal force.

Still, good demonstration of a concept not widely known about in the lay public.

[roshaan]

+StarTalk Radio PLLLLZZZ make these videos full versions!!! we all are missing out on SO MUCH STUFF that goes un-watched just bcz no one was RECORDING IT? 21st century REALLY!?

[Nojaru]

Sandra and Clooney were actually swinging on the parachute in that scene. On the shots of Clooney, you can see the stars in the background moving slowly.

[BenjaminSteber]

Niel De-Tyson and Brian Greene
of "Gravity" did reenact a scene
With a simple tug
and a gentle hug
Showed what aught to been on screen.

[refragop]

neil, as always, just keepin it real...!!!

[steveb]

Same part of the movie I took huge issue with - especially after they had already portrayed the proper physics several times during the period in which Bullock's and Clooney's characters were tethered together. I was like: "OK - you've already showed that when they reached full extension of the tether,  they snapped back towards each other, but now the tension just remains constant and it's somehow too difficult to pull him back?"

[ChadsFat]

sandras hair sure did look good in space in the whole movie

[JimmyBoots]

The dramatic tension was enough to push Clooney away. 

[jnzkngs]

Just imagine how the movie "A Few Good Men" would have gone if Tom Cruise had yelled "You want to tell me the truth?!?! I can't handle the truth!!". Unfortunately when it comes to basic physics, mathematics,  biology, geography and history that's what more and more of the population are all but saying. Thank you for being some of the few voices in the wilderness saying it's better to tell people when they are wrong than have them believe something false.

[NotMattForman]

Well done! If only they had shown that the system was even just slighting rotating, which would have been easy, it would have been realistic. Aside from that small oversight, Gravity was a great movie.

[Evitable]

StarTalk Radio  We keep seeing clips from (what I presume is) these live star talk shows, is there any way to see the whole show?

Will we ever get to _see_ these full shows?

Will Star Talk be doing more sit down shows like this?

Why aren't these full shows posted for everyone to watch (like this one with Mike and Brian and another I saw with Buzz Aldrin!)?

WTF?

If I were to hazard a guess, it has to do with money. Everything does.

[takanara]

Actually if you watch closely, they were rotating.

[stephaniegrow]

@1:04 "he would just stay there" - not if, as with most LEO orbits, the ISS and astronauts were experiencing atmospheric drag. This is the basis for orbital decay, when LEO orbits need occasional correctional thrusts to prevent from falling into the Earth.

[zxa]

So from what I thought was that the space station was no longer in a stable orbit and was starting to fall towards earth. When this scene was played out the space station was in a impact trajectory towards earth and on the edgy of the outer atmosphere. Because the space station was much heavier it had a easier time accelerating in the atmosphere so in relative velocity it was accelerating and that was the force sandra bullok had to hold against and her foot was only able to hold her own weight. When she let go george clooney was much lighter and thus more effected by the very thin atmosphere but still enough to push him away from her 

[izaccy]

Please dont say we gonna watch the full podcast 365 days from now.

[parkjihoon]

illustrate sandra bullock tugging on george clooney.

do it.

[galenhume]

Furthermore, wouldn't the recoil of the rope they were tethered to have caused George Clooney to basically bounce back on an opposite course??

[matthiasburchardt]

So what about the fact that Clooney and Sandra were still moving away from the ISS during that scene?