What is the purpose of an Aircraft Carrier?
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Psst. Hey, smarty pants. I just watched a blockbuster movie. See if you can guess what it was from these sounds. Did you guess Top Gun Maverick? Great job if you got it. Did any of you see it? Wow, it sure was loud. Not that. That's just me finishing my popcorn. Psst.

Yep, that's the sound effect I was looking for. Whatever you thought of the movie, one thing's for sure, Top Gun sure makes being a fighter jet pilot look pretty cool. In fact, just being around jets looks cool. Imagine being near jets, taking off and landing every 25 seconds.

Now, imagine you're not only around jets taking off and landing, but you're also on a giant boat out at sea that has a runway for jets to take off and land on and a place for them to park. Do you know what that ship is called? Is it a plane boat, a floating runway, or an aircraft carrier?

Why it's an aircraft carrier. Of course, you kind of need to be in the Navy to be on an aircraft carrier while jet planes take off and land. And I am definitely not in the Navy. So chances are, I'll never get to experience that. Hi there. Oh, wow. It's Tom Cruise. Ha ha.

I get that a lot. The name's Tim Cruise. I'm Tom's cousin. Distant cousin. We might not actually be related. Oh. But I do know a lot about aircraft carriers. I have lived on one for years. Are you a pilot? Not quite. I work in the laundry room. But I am a bit of a maverick. I once washed an entire squadron's white socks with a red shirt and nothing got ruined. They said it couldn't be done. Ha ha ha.

Right. That's cool that you live on an aircraft carrier. Any chance you could share what you know about them with me and the Smarty Pants? Sure. What do you want to know? Well, for starters, how big is an aircraft carrier? How many people work on one, and what do they all do? And how can jets take off and land on the deck of a boat?

Hmm. Best way to answer all that would be to see it all in person. There's just one problem. The nearest aircraft carrier is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Tell you what, if you can get us on the boat, I can transport us to the Pacific. Deal. Hold on, Tim, because I feel the need. The need for speed. Get ready for the cruise of a lifetime as we get a big whiff of science and history on...

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We're on the flight deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. Wow, this thing is huge. Yep, this giant tin can is 24 stories tall and 1,100 feet long from bow to stern. That's almost four football fields end to end. Whoa. Its anchor weighs 30 tons, and so do each of its four giant propellers. Whoa.

Also, you need to put on this bright orange jacket. Ooh, it's cool looking. Yeah, but it's not for looks. It's called a float coat and it works as a life vest. Standard precaution when you're on the open seas. Absolutely. You never know what could happen. Hey, what's up there? You mean that 15-story tower? They call that the island. It's the command center for the whole ship, including the people who steer this thing and run the flight deck.

Wow, this aircraft carrier feels like its own mini-city at sea. That's right. Guess how many people live on an aircraft carrier one time. Smarty pants. Do you know? Is it 500, 3,500, or 6,000? If you said 6,000, you're right.

That means the ship's mess hall has to serve 18,000 meals every day. Yep. And they keep enough food below deck to feed all 6,000 people for two months. Whoa. Talk about a giant refrigerator. The ship is so big, there's five dentists on board. Say ah. And a team of barbers giving 1,500 haircuts a week. Yeah.

There's also a desalination plant that can turn 400,000 gallons of salt water into drinking water every single day. Uh-huh. Mentioning all that water made me have to pee. Unfortunately, there's only one bathroom. Are you serious? No. There's about 432 toilets on board. Oh, good.

So what does everyone do on the ship? Well, about half the people on board are part of the air wing, the folks who fly and maintain the jets. So about how many jets are we talking about? Smarty Pants, what do you think? Is it 20? 50? 100?

It's around 100 fighter jets. Fun fact, a single U.S. aircraft carrier has more powerful air force than 70% of the world's countries. Wow. The other half of the people on board make up the ship's company. They also keep the place running. Cooking, cleaning, doing laundry. They also maintain the ship's engines and deal with the ship's massive guns. Boom.

Smarty Pants, true or false? An aircraft carrier can't go very fast. The answer is false. The engines can produce up to 280,000 horsepower, enough to move this 90,000-ton ship 30 knots, or around 36 miles per hour. That's fast enough to outrun most submarines. Double wow. Hey, Smarty Pants, what does an aircraft carrier's engines run on? Gasoline, electricity, or nuclear power?

Surprise! Today's aircraft carriers are powered by not one, but two nuclear reactors. But if you didn't guess that, don't have a meltdown. Get it? Melt? Yeah, we don't appreciate meltdown jokes on a nuclear carrier. But to your point, the onboard nuclear reactors need to be heavily shielded to prevent a nuclear accident. The good news is, because of these reactors, an aircraft carrier only has to refuel once every 20 years. 20 years between fill-ups?

That's awesome! The nuclear reactors also supply the power boost that makes it possible for the jets to take off. Really? And by power boost you mean? The contraption that helps a jet go from zero to 160 miles per hour in just two seconds.

Whoa! Why do you think the jets have to go so fast, so quickly, smarty pants? Is it because A, they're always running late, B, the runway's so short, or C, they have to merge with air traffic? The answer, of course, is B. A regular airport runway is about 2,300 feet long, almost half a mile. But on an aircraft carrier, jets only have 300 feet to play with. If they're not wheels up at that point, they'll be taking a swim in the ocean.

For a jet pilot, that's definitely the danger zone. So how do jets get up to speed like that? Do they just put the pedal to the metal? Do jets even have pedals? Nope. Nuclear reactors power special catapults that boost the jets along. Wait, did you say catapults? Like the ones medieval armies used to fling rocks at castles? Not exactly, but it's a similar principle.

See that jet getting ready to take off? Yeah. Notice how it's sitting over a narrow slit in the deck that runs the length of the ship? I do. Notice how the plane's front wheels are connected to a little gadget sitting on top of the slit? That gadget is called a shuttle. Ah, what does that do? That shuttle is connected through the slit to a catapult that sits just under the deck. Right now, the nuclear reactors below us are creating lots of high-pressure steam.

At the exact right moment, the catapult officer in the control station will release enough steam to propel the shuttle forward and literally catapult the jet right off the deck. Watch. Whoa, just like Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Uh-huh. But is Tom Cruise here teaching you about aircraft carriers? No, he's not. But Tim Cruise is. Sorry, where were we? Besides the shuttle, the deck of an aircraft carrier is tilted upwards a little to act like a launch ramp.

And it'll also steer the boat into the wind, so the extra air can give the jets more lift. Gotcha. I get how jets can take off. But me and the smarty pants had another question. Oh yeah? What is it? Drumroll. How do jets soaring through the sky super fast land? Ah, that's the real trick. And we'll hear all about it right after this quick break.

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Have you ever asked questions like, I wonder who invented toilets? Or, why do dogs wag their tails? Then have I got the thing for you. The Brains on Universe, a family of podcasts for kids and their adults. My name is Joy Dolo, and I host a funny and fabulous history show called Forever Ago. We explore the history of everything from bubblegum to how we sent messages before cell phones.

I live in New Zealand, and the Maori people there use smoke signals to send messages. There's also Brains On, a science show where we answer kids' questions like... Do plants sleep? And... Why do some people have asthma? And on the debate game show Smash Boom Best, you get to judge which is cooler, chocolate versus cheese, or Spider-Man versus Batman. ♪

What is Batman's personality? He's a rich guy. Find Forever Ago, Brains On, and Smash Boom Best wherever you get your podcasts. Or head to BrainsOn.org to learn more. Now back to Who Smarted? So tell me, Tim Cruise, how do fast-flying fighter jets land on aircraft carriers with tiny landing strips? It ain't easy. In fact, landing on a carrier jet is one of the hardest things a Navy pilot will have to do. And if it's bad weather, it's even harder.

In choppy seas, the ship's deck can move up and down 30 feet. I'm getting seasick just thinking about it. When it comes to landing on an aircraft carrier, it's all about the tail hook. That's literally a hook attached to the jet's tail. I see. Smarty Pants, how does a fighter jet's tail hook help it land? Does it A, latch onto the edge of the ship? B, latch onto another hook that sailors on board are holding? Or C, grab onto a wire on the deck?

If you said, "See? Grab onto a wire on the deck," you're flying high. When that tail hook grabs the wire, it can stop a 50,000-pound aircraft going 150 miles per hour in two seconds flat. Talk about stopping on a dime. There's actually four wires called arresting wires spread about 50 feet apart. This gives the pilot a bigger target. But just like Maverick, you want to aim for the third wire to be safe.

Nailing wire number three on the reg is the mark of a truly great pilot. What's wrong with the first wire? You never shoot for that one. It's too close to the edge of the deck. Guess wrong, and you may end up eating aircraft carrier for lunch. Noted. Hey, a jet's coming in for a landing now. Um, shouldn't he be slowing down?

Huh? When a pilot lands, they actually push their engines to full power. Why would they do that? Any guesses, smarty pants? It's because if they're unlucky to miss all four wires, they need to have enough speed to take off again. Otherwise... Makes sense. Trusty narrator, don't stand there. Whoa! Don't worry, trusty. I got you. Whew!

Thanks, Tim. Guess I learned my lesson about walking behind a jet. Yeah, that engine blast is nothing to mess with. Thank goodness for my float coat. It not only saved my life, it's also quite slimming. Can I keep it? Sure. Where next time you visit an aircraft carrier? Yeah, I think my next trip to an aircraft carrier will be from the comfort of home. Ah!

A big shout out to super fan Colton in Y Mills, Maryland. Thanks for listening to Who Smarted and telling people all the cool things you learn. That's how you make the world a smartier place.

This episode, Aircraft Carriers, was written by Steve Maverick Melcher and voiced by Taya Top Gun Garland and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hellcat Hahn. Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Captain Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Danger Zone Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Flight Deck Davis. Who

Who Smarted? was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production. Who Smarted?