S03E26: Hopping Robots & Lunar Flybys: Post-Eclipse Eye Safety & Space Force's International Summit

Welcome aboard. It's Steve here with another episode of Astronomy Daily. It's the fifteenth of April twenty twenty four. Poda. I mean to be a whole Steve gun't clue. Oh, and it's good to have you with us again. And I hope you all fared well in the eclipse. But I've I've got to tell you, I'm pretty pretty disappointed. Maybe he listened to our warning. Oh well, lots of people didn't listen to our warning. Isn't that right, hallie? And didn't we warn you about protecting your eyes? Oh, we sure did. The most searched item on Google the day after the eclipse was exactly what we didn't want to see. Is you the impression these days that a lot of people just think they know best and they don't listen to the experts. Yes, The most searched for item on Google the day following the eclipse was my eyes hurt. According to Google Trends, The search term my eyes hurt peaked in the United States during and just after the eclipse. This fellow on Reddit damaged his eyes in the nineties when he looked at an eclipse. Yes, he says, I'll fess up way back in the nineties when I was a kid, we made the shadow boxes, but I just had to see it with my own eyes. Just after a very brief couple of seconds, he says, I felt this insane, intense searing in my eyes and I saw a crazy array of colors. Yes, that was my optic nerve getting fried. Anyway. Yeah, every optometrist is like, what is this scarring on your eyes? And I tell them it's from the eclipse, and they actually go and look it up. Story as kids don't look at the eclipse unprotected. Well that's his story. That's terrible, and just a short one from last week. They interviewed a local eye doctor on the radio last week and he talked about the patients that he's seen following past eclipses, damage ranging from a light sunburn on the retina. Can you imagine to permanent dark spots in the central vision and unfortunately the part that helps best with driving. Now, I just can't imagine what that must be like. Just wow, I'm lucky I can see in multiple wavelengths and don't have this kind of issue. Oh, I guess there's a lot to be said for being an AI these days. But anyway, a little education goes a long way. Oh watch it, helly, you use the E word. I don't think they like that. Well, he could be right. So what's happening today? Then? Well I've got a little something from our friends at Space Force. Oh great, I'll have to dig up the music again, won't I? Oh you bet. We can't do a Space Force story without the Space Force theme. I've got a cute story about a tiny hopping robot designed to explore asteroids. You'll dig that one, won't. Oh? Oh, of course, anything to do with asteroids and robots. Yes, I'm an instant fan. And listeners might recall rumors of a surfboard like object being photographed orbiting the Moon recently. Oh I heard that? What have you heard? I've got the answer. Oh I'm glad someone has. And finally some news about SpaceX and Starship and some future plans for the Moon. SpaceX always interesting, always pushing forward. And have also got a couple of interesting articles. Well, so, without any more skylarking, let's go. This is trying to the podcast. The space Hopper program was first launched too and a half years ago as a student research project at ETH Zurich University in Switzerland, and recently researchers tested the Hopping robot in a simulated zero gravity environment during a European Space Agency parabolic flight. According to a statement from the university, the robot consists of a triangular body with an articulated leg at each corner. Each of these three legs has a knee and a hip joint, allowing the robot to push off from a surface kick to propel itself through space and control it its landing within a designated area. Space Hopper is designed specifically to explore relatively small celestial bodies, such as asteroids and moons, where there is little to no gravity. Asteroids are thought to contain valuable mineral resources that could be of use to humankind in the future. Researchers said in the statement, the exploration of these bodies could also give us insights into our universe's formation. However, exploring these types of celestial bodies can be challenging. In an environment with almost no gravity, there is basically no traction between a spacecraft's wheels and the surface it drives across. There is barely any atmosphere for a spacecraft to fly through. If there is one at all. That's why space Hopper instead performs brief hops to move upwards and sideways. The recent parabolic flight allowed the researchers to simulate the low gravity conditions in which space Hopper may one day be deployed. A video taken during the flight shows space Hopper kicking each of its three legs and coordinated movements to stay lifted during periods of zero gravity, which occurred about thirty times per flight for about twenty to twenty five seconds each. The LRO, which has been orbiting the Moon for fifteen years, captured several images of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute's dan Yuri Lunar Orbiter as the two spacecraft, traveling in nearly parallel orbits, zoomed past each other in opposite directions during three orbits between March fifth and March six. According to a statement from NASA, dan Yuri, the Republic of Korea's first moon explorer, has been in lunar orbit since December twenty twenty two. At the time the photos were taken, dan Yuri was orbiting below the LRO, which was flying fifty miles eighty kilometers above the Moon's surface. Relative velocities between the two spacecraft were about seven thousand, two hundred miles per hour eleven thousand, five hundred kilometers per hour, NASA officials said, making it challenging for the lro's narrow angle camera to hone in on dan Yuri. The lro's camera exposure time was roughly zero point three three eight milliseconds, causing dan Yuri to appear smeared across the image and stretched ten times its size as it traveled swiftly in the opposite direction of the LRO. The LRO operations team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Green Belt, Maryland needed exquisite timing in pointing LROC to the right place at the right time to catch a glimpse of dan Yuri, NASA officials said in a statement. NASA's LRO had three opportunities to snap photos of dan Uri during close flybys. For the first snapshot, LRO was three miles five kilometers above dan Yuri and oriented down forty three degrees from its typical position looking down at the lunar surface. In capturing the orbiter with its new positioning, dan Yury appeared sort like a disc shaped streak. Across the middle of the image. SpaceX's Starship, the largest rocket in the world, will get even bigger as the company continues to target Mars missions in the future. Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX, told employees on April fourth, that Starship will eventually be as tall as five hundred feet one hundred and fifty meters, roughly twenty percent higher than the massive system aboard the super Heavy rocket right now. What's more, advances in reusability will have each launch cost roughly three million dollars each, Musk predicted. That's less than a third of what a much smaller Falcon one rocket launch cost in two thousand four. When inflation is taken into account. The figure two decades ago was five point nine million dollars, according to NBC, which is roughly nine point five million dollars in twenty twenty four dollars. These are sort of unthinkable numbers, Musk said in a Starship update released publicly April sixth, roughly one month after the third and last test flight to date. Nobody ever thought that this was possible. But we're not breaking any physics to achieve this, so this is within the bounds without breaking physics. We can do this. Musk tends to deliver Starship updates at least once a year to highlight progress the company is making toward its long term plans of settling Mars. Indeed, the last year has seen three Starship launches, so there has been progress made recently. Musk didn't, however, address delays in launching Starship that have contributed to pushing back the launch date for the first moon landing under the NASA lad Artemis program. SpaceX was named the vendor for the Artemis three landing mission that until recently was set for twenty twenty five. In January, NASA elected to hold the launch date another year to twenty twenty six due to a range of technical issues. Aside from Starship not being ready, the agency wants many successful launches before approving it for astronaut flights. Artemis three was also delayed due to slow progress on space suits and problems with the missions or I in spacecraft, among other factors. However, Musk's words about Artemis to employees focused on Starship's future capabilities orbiting the Earth and refilling its tanks, both of which have yet to be proven on its three test flights. He also envisions of Moon Base Alpha that would include ships specialized for going to and from the Moon, meaning there would be no heat shield or flaps due to the lack of atmosphere. SpaceX is by far the most active launching entity on Earth, and Musk forecasts the company will send roughly ninety percent of orbital mass aloft this year, compared to China's six percent, the second largest entity. Starship's next and fourth space flight attempt, expected to take place in May, aims to have the first stage of super heavy land on essentially a virtual tower in the Gulf of Mexico, Musk said. Overall, Musk plans for multiple Starship launches to take place this year and suggest SpaceX will build an additional six spacecraft by the end of twenty twenty four. A new rocket factory for the company should be available in twenty twenty five, which would make production even faster. And that's all from me today, Back to you Steve. Astronomy with Steve and Halle Space Space Science and Astronomy, and as always, thank you for joining us on this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer just a few of the stories from the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in your email each day, just like Hallie and I do. To do that, just visit our new url Astronomy Daily dot io and place your email address in the slot provided, and just like that, you'll be receiving all the latest news about science, space, science and astronomy from around the world as it's happening. What could be better than that. Not only that, you can interact with us at Facebook at Space Nuts podcast group. That's our parent podcast if you don't know, with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson, and also on ex formerly Twitter by visiting at astro Daily hod So see you there. You're getting real good at that, Thanks, Hally. Now that's my bit. Nice. Well, it's been a while since we've heard from these guys. Cue the music. On April eleven, military space leaders from eighteen countries convened at the invitation of US Space Force Chief of Space Operations General Saltsman for the fourth Annual Space Chiefs Forum in Colorado Springs. Participants included representatives from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and of course, the United States. As tensions and stakes rise in the domain of outer space, the importance of international cooperation and shared standards has never been more evident. The annual Space Chiefs Forum has become a critical event for aligning global military strategies regarding space. At this year's gathering, discussions centered on the ever increasing significance of space in national defense strategies, the proliferation of satellites, the rising threat of space debris and anti satellite weaponry. The diversity of nations present with the varying levels of space capabilities, from well established spacefaring nations such as the US and France to emerging players like Poland and Finland, underscores a collective push toward forming a cohesive global front to tackle challenges in space. This unity is seen as essential for maintaining space as a global commons befitting all humanity. The forum also tackled the controversial topic of space militarization. With countries like the United States, Russia, and China advancing their military capabilities in space, there is a significant push from the international community to establish frameworks that limit military escalations and ensure that space remains free from conflict. Further discussions enlightened the role of satellites in modern warfare, intelligence, and reconnaissance, stressing the vulnerability of these essential assets and the need for robust protective measures. Additionally, the Assembly acknowledged the growing sector of private space companies and their role alongside governmental space agencies in shaping the future of outer space activities. By reiterating their commitment to responsible behaviors in space, the nations aim to promote norms and guidelines that ensure long term sustainability and safety, which are increasingly urgent due to the congested and competitive nature of today's space environment. The next Space Chief Forum is anticipated to delve deeper into these agreements and possibly expanding the number of participant nations and further solidifying the framework for cooperation in space defense and exploration initiatives. As this dialogue evolves, it should pave the way for new treaties and ins national laws governing the military use of space. Emphasizing the importance of a unified approach to space governance, the participating leaders endorsed a joint statement asserting the significance of strengthening alliances due to managing the involving challenges and opportunities in space effectively. We affirm that enhanced cooperation among like minded partners is vital to adapt to the rapidly emerging opportunities and threats in from and to space. We have a shared interest in maintaining the peaceful use of outer space and the benefits of man space for mankind. We will continue working together to deter ambiguous, unfriendly or hostile activities in space. We also emphasize our resolve to continue promoting mutually agreed norms and the responsible behaviors in space, including by conducting space activities in a manner that prioritizes the safety, security, stability, and sustainable of the space domain. They said in the statement in the podcast. Now, if you'll like me and you like a bit of science fiction, you will have become aware of the science fiction TV series The Three Body Problem, the latest from the creators of HBO's Game of Thrones. Now it's become the most watched TV show on Netflix since its debut last month. Based on the best selling book trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past by Chinese computer engineer and author sign Zoo. The three body Problem introduces viewers to advance concepts in physics in service to a suspenseful story involving investigative police work, international intrigue, and the looming threat of a wait for it, extraterrestrial invasion. Yet, how closely does the story of three body problem adhere to the science that it's based on. Well, the very name of the show comes from the three body problem, a mathematical problem in physics long considered to be unsolvable. Virginia Tech physicist George Minnick says the three body problem is a very famous problem in classical and celestial mechanics, which goes back to Isaac Newton. It involves three celestial bodies interacting via the gravitational force, that is Newton's law of gravity. Unlike mathematical predictions of the motions of a two body system such as Earth Moon or Earth Sun, the three body problem does not have an analytic solution. At the end of the nineteenth century, the great French mathematician Henri Pronchierre's work on the three body problem gave birth to what is known as chaos theory and the concept of the butterfly effect. Both the novels and the Netflix show contain a visualization of the three body problem in action, a solar system made to three sons in erratic orbit around one another. Virginia Tech aerospace engineer and mathematics expert Shane Ross discussed the liberties the story takes with the science that informs it. There are no known configurations of the three massive stars that could maintain an erratic orbit. Ross said there was a big breakthrough about twenty years ago when a figure eight solution of the three body problem was discovered, in which three equal sized stars chase each other around a figure H shaped course. In fact, six and zero makes reference to this in his books. Building on that development, other mathematicians found other solutions, but in each case the movement is not chaotic. Ross elaborated, it's even more unlikely that a fourth body, a planet that would be in orbit around this system of three stars, however erratically, it would either collide with one or be ejected from the system. The situation in the book would therefore be a solution to the four body problem, which presumably didn't have quite the right ring to it as a title. Furthermore, a stable climate is unlikely even on an earth like planet. At last count, there are at least a one hundred independent factors that are required to create an earth like planet that supports life as we know it. Ross said, we have been fortunate to have had about ten thousand years of the most stable climate in Earth's history, which makes us think that climate stability is the norm, when in fact it's the exception. It's a likely no coincidence that this has corresponded with the rise of advanced human civilization. Listen to podcast and here's some latest news about the Artemis two Orion spacecraft, which starts testing ahead of the Moon mission with astronauts in twenty twenty five. The Orion spacecraft for Artimus two is slated to fly around the Moon with four astronauts no earlier than September twenty five, but first engineers with as NASA want to make sure it is ready for the job of course testing in a vacuum changer at NASA's Kennedy Space Center began Wednesday, April tend to assess ryan for electro magnetic interference and electro magnetic compatibility, NASA officials wrote in a statement. The aim is to make sure the spacecraft can continue working well amid these fields, both spacecraft generated and space generated ahead of the big launch day. The four Artemis two astronauts who fly around the Moon aboard Ryan are NASA Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA pilot Victor Glover, who will become the first black person to leave Low Earth orbit or LEEO, NASA mission specialist Christina Kosh, the first woman to go beyond LEO, and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, the first non American to achieve the feat. Their spacecraft now at Kennedy Neil Armstrong's Operations and Checkout building is inside a chamber with a lot of Moon heritage. It was used to test environmental and life support systems on lunar and command modules during the Apollo program that brought nine astronaut crews to the Moon between nineteen sixty eight and nineteen seventy two. Yes I was the NASA officials wrote there are multiple altitude chambers available at Kennedy. Ryan is in the West Chamber, which was upgraded to test the spacecraft in a vacuum environment that simulates up to an altitude of two one hundred and fifty thousand feet that seventy six point two kilometers, NASA told US technicians hoisted Ryan into that chamber on April four using a newly installed thirty ton crane in the building, which can move the stacked Orion crew and service modules into the chamber, manipulate the lid of the chamber, and carefully transfer the spacecraft in the building's high bay. While Orion spacecraft have flown to space twice before, this mission will be the first with astronauts on board. It will also test new systems such as life support. A spacecraft model's previous journey where the Artemis one uncrewed mission to lunar orbit late in twenty two and a brief trip to Earth orbit in twenty fourteen, Artemus two's Orion has more work in store. After the altitude chamber, it will next be sent to another zone called Final Assembly and Systems Testing in the same Kennedy Space Center building. Then more altitude testing will happen to conduct tests that simulates as close as possible the conditions in the vacuum of deep space. As a rote, these altitude tests could begin as soon as the summer, and I would like to thank Elizabeth Howe, a staff writer from a spaceflight on space dot Com for those words. Thank you, Elizabeth. Well done, And just like that, another episode comes to a grinding halt. Well, yes, it's certainly the end of the episode. Thank you, Hallie, and thank you everybody for joining us today. I really hope you got something out of today's mixed bag of stories. It's always hard to choose which ones to present to you. There are so many, it's hard to choose which to feature. Well, that's why I depend on you so much, halle Well, someone has to work around here. I mean, making coffee isn't exactly rocket science. It's too If you just get the steam a little bit too hot, then that's like the whole grinds it gets its cactus. Besides, your coffee machine has the weirdest accent. Really, I think it's the Toorio, but he's wearing a Bravil batch. Something isn't right there. Wow, my coffee machine. Hey, that's what you got from all that? We need to talk Wow on that note, see you next week, folks, see you skywatchers the popcast. It would be a high stave downclude