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What if Majora’s Mask Made Our Moon Fall?

It would be a terrible fate, wouldn’t it? To be crushed and incinerated by a falling moon in just three day’s time. It’s a highly unlikely fate–the driving force behind the classic N64 game The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask–but it poses a fascinating thought experiment. How long would it take a moon to fall to a planet’s surface? Did Link really have 72 hours to save Termina?

In my latest episode of Because Science, I’m using astrophysics to see if a nearly 20-year-old video game is astronomically accurate — as I’m want to do. There have been many nerdy videos on the dynamics of Majora’s Mask‘s sinister moon, but all of them have used in-game estimations to see what would really happen. Instead, if we use the mass and orbital distance of our planet and our moon, we’ve have a real world comparison that we can count on.

If you take the game seriously, science says 72 hours is…almost exactly right.

After you watch the new episode, check out my last video on why you never want to land like a superhero, buy a Because Science shirt, mug, hat, or collectible pin, and follow me on Twitter or on Instagram to give me a suggestion for the next episode. Want Because Science days before anyone else? Subscribe to Alpha for early access to the show and peep my premium show The S.P.A.A.C.E. Program!

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