Universe Today Podcast

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[NIAC 2023] NASA Develops Flying Saucers. Literally Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

There's an effect called photophoretic propulsion. You could have seen it in a Crookes radiometer. One of the NIAC awards of 2023 was granted to a team that hopes to use this effect to develop a propulsion system. This can allow flying in altitudes nothing else can fly and possibly even explore other worlds.

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👉 More about the NIAC grant:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2023/Photophoretic_Propulsion_Enabling_Mesosphere_Exploration/

https://bargatin.seas.upenn.edu/

00:00 Intro
01:19 Levitation in science
05:47 Coming up with a design
11:33 Testing the design
15:34 Potential applications
23:10 Challenges
28:03 Other worlds
33:18 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/BzG64g4UEHo

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[Q&A] Planet Size Limit, Solar Gravitational Lens, China's Telescopes Apr 05, 2023

Show notes

How complex must a telescope be to use the solar gravitational lens? How would we approach mining asteroids? How to detect magnetic fields outside the solar system? What is the size limit for a planet? All this and more in this week's Q&A.

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00:00 Start
00:52 [Tatooine] What is the size limit for a planet?
03:51 [Coruscant] How complex must a telescope be to use the solar gravitational lens?
08:19 [Hoth] How would we approach mining asteroids?
10:42 [Naboo] How to detect magnetic fields outside the solar system?
13:49 [Kamino] Which telescopes did China fund?
15:56 [Bespin] Will we discover what's outside of our Universe?
19:06 [Mustafar] Oumuamua: artificial or natural?
21:39 [Alderaan] Planets caught in binary stars' Lagrange points?
26:12 [Dagobah] What's my take on artificial versus organic intelligence?
28:31 [Yavin] What is my preferred answer to the Fermi Paradox?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/zLCwPNbm6WY

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[Interview] How UAE Develops Its Space Exploration Program Apr 02, 2023

Show notes

The United Arab Emirates are making good progress in space exploration. Their Hope mission is orbiting Mars since 2021. Their Rashid rover is on its way to the Moon. They are also planning a mission to the Asteroid belt.

In this interview, I'm discussing UAE's current progress as well as future missions with Mohsen Al Alwahdi, the Director of the Space Missions Department at UAE Space Agency.

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00:00 Intro
00:50 UAE's Hope mission at Mars
03:22 Science goals and results
07:14 Current state of the spacecraft
10:17 Tech for future missions
14:02 Rashid Moon rover
15:11 Next missions
18:55 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/Svtn9WACg8A

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[Space Bites] JWST Reveals Trappist-1 Data, Earth-Sized Rogue Planet, Vulcan Delay Apr 02, 2023

Show notes

We finally got JWST data about TRAPPIST-1. An Earth-sized rogue planet was found. More information about China’s plans for the Moon.

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00:00 Intro
00:13 JWST reveals Trappist-1 data
- https://www.universetoday.com/160716/finally-jwsts-data-on-the-first-trappist-1-planet-survey-says-it-sucks/
02:02 Kazakhstan Seizes Russia’s Facility at Baikonur
- https://www.universetoday.com/160720/kazakhstan-seizes-russias-launch-facility-at-baikonur/
03:53 Rogue Planets Found in Older Data
- https://www.universetoday.com/160695/a-rogue-earth-and-neptune-might-have-been-found-in-older-data/
05:55 China’s Moon Plans
- https://www.universetoday.com/160719/china-hints-at-its-goals-for-a-lunar-base/
07:50 Water in lunar Regolith
- https://www.universetoday.com/160723/china-beads-glass-moon-water/
09:46 3D Printing batteries on the Moon
- https://www.universetoday.com/160703/dont-take-batteries-to-the-moon-or-mars-3d-print-them-when-you-get-there/
11:54 Support us on Patreon
12:55 Europe's rotation
- https://www.universetoday.com/160740/europas-ice-rotates-at-a-different-speed-from-its-interior-now-we-may-know-why/
14:54 Delays for Starliner and Vulcan
17:30 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/G0o8S-T13Do

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[NIAC 2023] Fusion Reactor To Melt Through Europa's Ice Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

In this interview, I'm talking with Theresa Benyo and Lawrence Forsley from NASA. They are authors of a Lattice Confinement Fusion Reactor that got a NIAC award this year. A reactor like this could help us melt through the ice on Europa and Enceladus and have other interesting applications in space missions.

The extended version also includes additional questions from Matt Williams:
https://youtu.be/decKMi2FBxk

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👉 More about the NIAC project; https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2023/Accessing_Icy_World_Oceans/

00:00 Intro
02:30 How tough is Europa's ice
04:31 Lattice confinement fusion
14:43 How the probe will look like
22:54 What's next for the NIAC project
25:57 Other applications for the reactor
31:55 Where's the upper limit for the project
37:15 Going interstellar
41:10 Behind the scenes and additional questions

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/7Idm53V687I

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[Q&A] Chat GPT for Astronomy, Microscopes on Mars, Use Cases for Starship Mar 28, 2023

Show notes

Why don't we send microscopes on space probes to search for life? How do black holes even form? Can Chat GPT or similar systems help Astronomy? How will we use Starship when it starts to fly?

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00:00 Start
01:04 [Tatooine] How can black holes even exist?
04:43 [Coruscant] How to dock to a spinning space station?
08:12 [Hoth] Why not send microscopes on space probes?
11:18 [Naboo] Where's the green screen?
13:25 [Kamino] Why didn't Mars get a Moon like the Earth?
17:04 [Bespin] How hard is it to get interviews or talk with NASA?
21:32 [Mustafar] Can Chat GPT help Astronomy?
25:24 [Alderaan] Why don't we go under to the icy moons' subsurface oceans?
28:39 [Dagobah] What will drive public interest in space in the coming years?
31:43 [Yavin] How will we use Starship?
34:46 [Mandalore] How to travel faster than light?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/rdUbuioi2TA

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[Interview] Searching for Habitable Planets at Alpha Centauri with the TOLIMAN Mission Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

We know about thousands of exoplanets by now. But it's still a mystery, whether there are planets in the Alpha Centauri binary system, which is just next door to us. My guest today, Professor Peter Tuthill, is the Mission Leader for the TOLIMAN Telescope mission, which is designed to find those answers.

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00:00 Intro
01:29 Are there planets at Alpha Centauri
08:22 How can we know they are there
11:20 TOLIMAN Telescope
30:04 JWST experiments
37:34 Next big telescopes for planet hunting
48:38 Discovering many more exoplanets
51:50 Next generation of instruments
59:05 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/jKDu4I0cLHE

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[Space Bites] iSpace At The Moon, 3D-Printer Rocket, Life Near Rogue Planets Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

iSpace reaches the Moon, Relativity Space’s 3D printed rocket fails to reach orbit, a mission will search for habitable worlds at Alpha Centauri.

🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday

☄️ EARLY ACCESS: Searching for Habitable Planets at Alpha Centauri with the TOLIMAN Mission
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/811359865

👉 NIAC 2023 Interviews:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmmM_Ft5DzAbrwzXHB8ED0rf

👉 More interviews:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmnK1xmCRad_8bn0uOcmLiIE

00:00 Intro
00:14 iSpace at Moon Orbit. Landing Comes Next
- https://www.ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=4460
02:27 Relativity Space Terran-1 Launch
05:18 More Science from DART
- https://www.universetoday.com/160683/another-look-at-the-aftermath-of-darts-impact-into-dimorphos/
07:02 Looking For Habitable Planets in Alpha Centauri
- https://www.universetoday.com/160625/a-new-mission-will-search-for-habitable-planets-at-alpha-centauri/
09:36 1,179 Previously Unknown Star Clusters
- https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10380
11:21 Interviews
12:27 Moons Orbiting Rogue Planets Could be Habitable
- https://www.mpe.mpg.de/7938315/news20230320
15:42 Mars Sunset by Ingenuity
- https://www.universetoday.com/160621/nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-sees-a-beautiful-sunset-on-mars/
17:08 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/ZmDk2XxDh4g

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[NIAC 2023] Revolutionary 100-Kilometer Space Telescope Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

There are radio wavelengths that we can't see from Earth. And to observe them from space, we need a truly huge telescope. Mary Knapp and her team proposed a project that can allow us to build such a telescope and they just recently got a NIAC grant for it.

👉 More about the NIAC award:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2023/Great_Observatory_for_Long_Wavelengths/

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00:00 Intro
01:20 Haystack Observatory
02:48 NIAC proposal for 100-km telescope
14:23 What Science Can the Telescope Do
30:36 New Approach to Space Telescopes
39:21 What's Next
41:55 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/l8NZDimTlwM

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[Interview] New Research Suggests Building Moon Infrastructure with Potato Starch Mar 22, 2023

Show notes

Scientists came up with a method to produce concrete on the Moon and Mars using potato starch. In this interview, I'm talking with Dr Aled Roberts, who is the Principle Investigator of this research.

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