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Welcome to Astronomy Daily for the 29th of May 2023. We've got some interesting things for you this afternoon
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or this evening or this morning where you might be catching us. We're going to be talking about
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NASA's interesting influences on our daily life, some interesting inventions and developments that they've dumped on us over the years
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as well as something that China has been developing and has been flying over our heads for the last nine months.
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Interesting and strange.
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Yes indeed, I'm Ziohoes Steve Dunkley for this afternoon. Would you welcome
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Halle our digital reporter? Hi Halle. Hi Steve. Did you find some interesting stories for us today?
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Yes, let's get into it.
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An asteroid that may host life's building blocks will get a visit from a United Arab Emirates spacecraft about a decade from now, if all goes according to plan.
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In October 2021, the UAE announced that it plans to launch an ambitious mission to the asteroid belt in 2028.
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That mission will visit seven different space rocks and even land on one of them, an asteroid called 269 Justisha.
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Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al-Makhtum bin Rashid Al-Makhtum, the vice president and prime minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai, said in a statement that we will never cease to look ahead.
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We will never cease our efforts to develop a brighter future for our young generations.
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The EMA spacecraft will be named after the Sheik. It will be called the MBR Explorer and will visit its first asteroid in 2030
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and will follow an orbital path allowing it to pick up speed from several planets along the way.
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It's common for spacecraft to get such a gravity assists from worlds like Venus or Mars to save on fuel
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and to do side observations to test their instruments.
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After passing by six asteroids, the mission aims to touch down upon Justisha in 2034 with a small lander that it deploy.
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Justisha may have organic molecules on its surface, organics are the building blocks of the complex molecules that could form life in the right circumstances.
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The Airbus-built Arab-Sat-Bad-8 telecommunications satellite has been successfully launched from Cape Canaveral of Florida.
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Based on Airbus latest geostationary Eurostar Neo-Satellite, Bad-8 will provide connectivity for users across Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.
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The spacecraft is also equipped with a world first, Airbus Innovative Space Demonstrator Tiliot to provide space to ground optical communications at Gigabit speeds.
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The Tiliot Demonstrator payload is designed to facilitate very high-capacity optical feeder link communications,
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playing a crucial role in Airbus development of a new generation of optical communications technology in space.
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Featuring increased payload capacity and more efficient power and thermal control systems,
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Bad-8 will replace and increase Arab-Sat's capacity.
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I was wondering when we were going to see some new lunar vehicles. Here we go, Steve.
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NASA is seeking industry proposals for a next-generation LTV lunar terrain vehicle.
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That will allow astronauts to go farther and conduct more science than ever before as they explore the South Polar Region of the Moon, during Artemis missions.
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Artemis astronauts will drive to explore and sample more of the lunar surface using the LTV than they could on foot.
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NASA will contract LTV as a service from industry rather than owning the rover.
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Contracting services from industry partners allows NASA to leverage commercial innovation and provide the best value to US taxpayers,
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while achieving its human spaceflight scientific and exploration goals.
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We want to leverage industry's knowledge and innovation, combined with NASA's history of successfully operating rovers,
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to make the best possible surface rover for our astronaut crews and scientific researchers,
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said Laura Kerney, manager of NASA's Extr-Vhicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at the agency's Johnson Space Center, in Houston.
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The LTV will function like a cross between an Apollo-style lunar rover and a Mars-style uncrude rover.
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It will support phases driven by astronauts and phases as an uncrude mobile science exploration platform,
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similar to NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance Mars Rovers.
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This will enable continued performance of science even when crews are not present on the lunar surface.
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Artemis astronauts will use the LTV to traverse the lunar surface and transport scientific equipment,
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extending the distances they can cover on each moonwalk.
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And that's the short takes for today.
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Have you got something interesting and weird to share Steve?
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Yes, I did find a couple of interesting stories and this one involves the kinds of things that NASA
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have developed over the years and brought into our lives.
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I don't know why they're releasing this information.
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At the moment, I think they're trying to play catch-up with all of the millionaires out there making such wonderful headlines.
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Let's have a look at what they're saying.
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Now, although basic water filters had been in existence since the 1950s,
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it wasn't until NASA pumped resources into the research for the Apollo program.
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In 1963, modern filtration systems began to emerge and NASA led research into this area as large quantities of water,
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they say, would need to be kept uncontaminated for long periods of time.
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I wonder what they were planning.
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And they needed to keep them clean in extreme conditions.
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NASA developed a system that worked by utilizing charcoal's ability to absorb
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pollutants and particulate matter present within the water when specially treated.
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And while technically, NASA didn't invent the integrated circuit, which is credited to electrical engineer Jack Kirby in 1958,
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NASA did give us smaller and more advanced versions of it.
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It's often said that NASA kickstarted the microchip-dare revolution by
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buying more than 60% of America's integrated circuits throughout the 60s,
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essentially causing the industry to go into a state of mass production while few other markets existed.
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Now, these chips were destined for use as part of the navigation guidance computer systems aboard the Apollo
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and the command and lunar modules.
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Now, let's talk about one of our favorite subjects, Crash Helmets.
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NASA's development of Temporphone, foam, a shock absorbing material designed for use in various
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aircraft cushions, was also used in helmets and seats of Apollo spacecraft and helped to mitigate
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the extreme forces the astronauts were subjected to. Temporphone was released to the public sphere in the early 1980s,
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soon being picked up and utilized in medical equipment such as Temporphone mattresses and sports equipment,
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such as football helmets and, of course, motorcycle helmets.
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Now, one notable breakthrough was NASA's collaboration with a tool company, Black Endecker,
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now who would have guessed it? Into a cordless zero impact wrench, a tool that could spin bolts
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in zero gravity, presumably without spinning the astronaut in the other direction.
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The research program developed a cordless tool or a variety of tools for a variety of purposes,
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including a cordless rotary hammer drill that could be used for extracting rock from the moon surface.
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These days, its tech is common and widespread with the many tools being cordless running from a recharge
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of battery. Interestingly, it was directly from the research done by NASA in the 1960s that Black Endecker
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developed a cordless dustbuster handheld vacuum cleaner now who hasn't owned one of those.
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I just wonder whether or not yours worked any better than mine did.
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Anyone with eye glasses will appreciate this little one. It's due to NASA's research
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that space visors are now coated with diamond-like carbon coatings that are applied in thin films
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to the outside of the visor and toughen it. An offshoot of this technology is available on RayBan
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sunglasses, while Foster Grant historically bought the license to replicate early coatings to apply
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to its entire range. And while smoke detectors had been invented by Francis Robbins Opton in 1890,
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they were digestible until NASA invented a model with variable sensitivity in 1973.
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The units were installed on Skylab to detect toxic vapors on board. I wonder if they were going off.
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Well, Skylab was coming down. A couple more include a dimpled surface,
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similar to that of a golf ball, on the shuttle's external fuel tank, allowing for a more
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efficient lift to drag ratio in flight. So if we ever do see our flying cars,
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maybe they should have a dimpled surface as well. Revamped multifunctional joysticks for lunar modules
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and land aerovers allowed for greater control of the vehicles utilizing a simple control system
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and who wouldn't want one of those. Now China has finally brought its mysterious space plane
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back to Earth after a massive nine months in orbit. This is its second mission. Chinese
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State News reported that the success of this mission is a significant breakthrough in our country's
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research on reusable spacecraft technology. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese government has
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remained quiet about the craft details of its design, its capabilities and performance.
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Much actual information about the mysterious plate space plane is hazy.
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Presently, there are experts who believe that the craft is much like the Boeing X-37B,
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a US space plane that debuted in 2010. Kevin Polpeter, a research scientist at the Centre for
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Naval Analysis said that the X-37B sparked concern within the Chinese government over the
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craft's military potential. He said it's possible that this spurred the country space program,
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which is tied to its military, to start developing its own version. In a similar vein to the Boeing
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design, the Chinese space plane appears to be an unmanned vehicle and relatively small. It resembles a
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twin-tailed space shuttle style craft, but the further details are difficult to discern. It
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probably flew first in September 2020, making a short two-day stint into orbit, probably a test.
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It's most recent mission began in August 2022 when it took off on a long march to air
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rocket from northern China, the exact purpose of that mission remains unclear. According to
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the Centre for Strategic and International Studies report, the craft released an object into orbit
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sometime in October. The object apparently disappeared in January only to suddenly reappear on
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satellite tracking radar in March. Experts believe that this could indicate that the plane has some
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sort of satellite removal capability, such as a robotic arm. If that's the case, then the plane's
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primary purpose might be to repair damaged satellites or remove orbital debris. However,
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this does not rule out military capabilities, either for the Chinese space plane or for the
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X-37B. Until more details come out, however, the best we can do is speculate.
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And just like that, we've hit the end of another episode of Astronomy Daily. Thank you so much
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for joining us, really appreciate that you dropped in and lent us your ear. Don't forget to
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check out all our past episodes at spacenuts.io. You can also check out our parent podcast space
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nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson at that same address.
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Comment, say hi on the space nuts Facebook page and tell us all about what's happening in your skies.
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Yes, Hallie and I will be back next Monday and don't forget you can catch Tim on Friday and we'll
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be looking forward to seeing you again very soon. Bye for now. See you all next time.
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[Silence]