North Korea Launches Spy Satellite | S02E58

WEBVTT

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Hello again Steve Dunkley with you for
Astronomy Daily. It is the fourth of

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December twenty twenty three, podca.
I mean to be a whole Steve Dunkle

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And as always, a big hello
to Halle, who's been hanging around the

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Etho looking for stories from the Astronomy
Daily newsletter. Hello Holly, that's right,

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more tales from orbit and beyond today
and every day. Steve. Nice

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to be back in the Newcastle studio
with you. Nice to have you on

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Dick again, Halle. What's cooking? Well? I know you're a keen

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science fiction fan, Steve. Did
you know that it was the fiftieth anniversary

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of a famous animated sci fi feature
movie this week? Ooh animated science fiction?

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Which one was that one? Hallie? Do you remember the French production

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Fantastic Planet? Oh, Fantastic Planet. I sure to remember that one.

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I saw it at the old Chelsea
Theater in East Maitland here in the Huda

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Valley. It was part of a
double feature touring the theaters in Australia that

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summer. And what was the other
movie? Let me think Crystal Voyager.

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It was a surf film with the
soundtrack by Pink Floyd. It was a

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big summer for me that one.
So you got your sci fi, surf

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and Pink Floyd all rolled into one
movie ticket. Yeah, I guess you

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could say that Fantastic Planet that was
a really strange one, a psychedelic trip

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into another world where the usual just
doesn't belong, and as teenagers it had

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us scratching our heads. I can't
believe that is fifty years ago, half

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a century. Thanks, Hallie.
I think I'll go have a lie down

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now, silly human, Maybe you
should lie down. Even the old Chelsea

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Theater isn't there anymore. Oh great, thanks for making me feel so ancient

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and decrepit, Hallie. Yeah,
oh boy. Anyway, so what's on

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the menu, Hallie? Right,
so we've talked about Fantastic Planet already,

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Yes, I yet recover. Well, I've got a little more about that

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classic for our science fiction fans,
just like you, Steve Terrific. There's

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news of Hubble's gyroscope issues. NASA
is trying to work that out. Yes,

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ahead, that one of the three
genres is out of action, Halle.

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That's right. It's been dropping out
since November nineteenth twice in fact.

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But NASA says the space telescope can
be reconfigured to operate with only one gyroscope

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if necessary. Well, that's mate. It remains to be seen what they

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come up with. But Steve,
keep in mind that the spacecraft had six

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new gyros installed during the final Shuttle
mission in two thousand and nine, and

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today three of those gyros, including
the one that is now experiencing fluctuations,

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remain operational. Well, it sounds
like a joke for NASA's finest it sure

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does. And I know you love
talking nebulas and FRBs, so I found

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a great story about both. Oh
hellye stopped tasing. It's true, and

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of course no week would be complete
with another SpaceX Starlink launch. And tonight

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he correctly that SPICEX has approval for
another thirty thousand starling craft. Stay tuned,

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human, Well are you going to
keep us in suspense? Okay,

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Well, that sounds like a colorful
collection of tasteful tiles, hallie, and

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while out and get a ZIST eleven
pick me up. The stage is yours,

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Thank you, Steve. Here are
some tales from the Astronomy Daily newsletter

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in the immersive arena of global animation, where anything is possible. Director Renee

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Lalua's counterculture gem fantastic planet La Planite
Savage remains unrivaled in its strange and surreal

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fable set on the pastel hued alien
planet of Igum, and today, on

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the occasion the French movie's milestone fiftieth
anniversary, its themes and symbolisms feel even

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more relevant than when it originally premiered, due to its detailed world building,

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haunting characters and musicians Alan Geager's jazzy
rock score that leaves an entrancing effect on

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adventurous souls who fall victim to its
innumerable emotional charms. This cult feature film

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rattled the inventive medium starting back on
December first, nineteen seventy three, when

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it was first released, and has
remained a touchstone of inspiration and influence for

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generations ever since. Its politically charged
allegory of violent oppression set on a bizarre

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world, is injected with hot topic
earth like issues of racism, animals,

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rights, tyranny, and enslavement,
all presented here for viewers moral meditations while

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being embraced in a delirious animated dream. Nasa is troubleshooting Hubble's gyroscope issue to

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resume its science operations, ensuring its
continued astronomical discoveries alongside telescopes like the James

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Web. NASA is working to resume
science operations of the agency's Hubble Space telescope

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after it entered safe mode on November
twenty three due to an ongoing gyroscope issue.

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Hubble's instruments are stable and the telescope
is in good health. The telescope

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automatically entered safe mode when one of
its three gyroscopes gave faulty readings. The

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gyros measured the telescope's turn rates and
are part of the system that determines which

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direction the telescope is pointed. While
in safe mode, science operations are suspended

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and the telescope weights for new directions
from the ground. The team is now

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running tests to characterize the issue and
develop solutions. If necessary, the spacecraft

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can be reconfigured to operate with only
one gyroscope. The spacecraft had six new

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gyros installed during the fifth and final
Space Shuttle servicing mission in two thousand nine.

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To date, three of those gyros
remain operational, including the gyros currently

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experiencing fluctuations. Hubble uses three gyros
to maximize efficiency, but could continue to

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make science observations with only one gyros
if required. Astronomers from the Netherlands have

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provided compelling evident linking a repeating fast
radio burst source to a potential hypernebula.

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The team has made significant strides in
understanding these mysterious cosmic phenomena, and the

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research marks a notable advancement in the
study of frb's and their origins. Fast

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radio bursts are fleeting but powerful bursts
of radio waves originating billions of light years

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away. Some like FRB two zero
one two one one zero two A are

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known to repeat, offering valuable insights
into their nature. The recent focus,

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however, has been on FRB two
zero one nine zero five two zero B,

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a new repeating source. We were
able to constrain the size of the

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potential hypernebula FRB two zero one nine
zero five two zero B to be less

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than thirty light years in diameter,
which is three times the size of the

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crab nebula in our own Milky Way
galaxy. The team estimates the luminosity of

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this object to be around one hundred
thousand times that of the Sun, showcasing

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its extraordinary energy A leading theory suggests
they are produced by magnetars highly magnetic neutron

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stars. These stars, which are
remnants of supernovae, could emit a powerful

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wind of charged particles, forming a
nebulous region in their vicinity. Another intriguing

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possibility is that the hypernebula is powered
not by magnetic decay, but by gravitational

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potential energy. This would imply frb's
being produced in the powerful outflows from a

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black hole or a neutron star consuming
matter from a nearby companion star at extremely

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high rates. Astronomers continue to grapple
with the origins and nature of FRBs.

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These latest findings, while shedding light
on some aspects, also raise new questions

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about the diversity of astronomical objects capable
of producing such intense radio bursts. SpaceX

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added twenty three more satellites to its
Starlink Internet constellation. On Saturday night,

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December second, a SpaceX Falcon nine
rocket carrying the communication satellites lifted off from

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Florida's Cape Canaveral Space four station at
eleven PM Eastern Standard time for a clock

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GMT. On December three. The
Falcon nine's first stage came back to Earth

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for a vertical landing. About eight
point five minutes after launch. It touched

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down on the drone ship a shortfall
of Gravitas, which was stationed in the

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Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.
It was the sixth launch and landing for

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this particular booster, according to a
SpaceX mission description. The twenty three Starlink

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satellites, meanwhile, were scheduled to
deploy from the Falcon nine's upper stage into

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Low Earth Orbit LO about sixty five
point five minutes after liftoff. The Starlink

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network, which beams Internet service down
to people around the world, already features

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more than five thousand operational spacecraft,
according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell,

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but that number keeps growing and likely
will far into the future. Space

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Sex already has permission to deploy twelve
thousand Starlink craft into l EO, and

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it has applied for approval for another
thirty thousand. On top of that,

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Astronomy Daily the podcast with Steve Dugley
and Howie ah Yes, thank you Holley

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for all those wonderful stories, and
they're straight off the Astronomy Daily newsletter,

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which you can receive in your email
every day the keep you informed about science,

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space, science and beyond. Just
go to these addresses space nuts dot

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io and bytes dot com. That's
b E s Z dot com and just

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drop your email address in the slot
provided and you receive that email in your

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00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:00.120
you'll receive the newsletter in your email. It's full of lots of juicy tippits

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and stories at everything that's relevant that's
happening in the sky today. Now,

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you might have noticed the news report
of North Korea's launch of a reported spy

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satellite last week. North Korea said
Tuesday that its new spy satellite, launched

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last week has photographed US government and
military facilities, including the White House and

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the Pentagon. North Korean leader Kim
Jong un received a briefing on the operations

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of the reconnaissance satellite and reviewed photographs
of locations including Naval Station Norfolk, the

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Newport News Shipyard in Virginia, the
White House, and the Pentagon. All

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this according to state run Korean Central
News Agency. It also added that four

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US Navy nuclear carriers and one British
aircraft carrier were spotted in the photographs.

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They said imperious leader Kim also looked
at the pictures of Rome, Italy and

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Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.
Added, state media has not released any

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photographs taken by satellite, and military
analysts have questioned the resolution and quality of

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the images it is capable of capturing. Pyongyang said it successfully launched its homegrown

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Mallingyong one reconnaissance satellite on nove November
twenty one. It marked the third attempt

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by the isolated regime to place a
military spy satellite into orbit this year,

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after failures in May and August,
and in more recent release, North Korea

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warned on Saturday that it would quote
destroy US space satellites spy satellites if Washington

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tries any attack on its space assets. After Pyongyang launched its first military eye

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in the sky last week, as
just reported, and not surprisingly, a

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spokesman for the North's defense ministry said
it would consider such a move a declaration

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of war. The statement came after
a US's official remark that Washington could deny

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an adversary space and counter space capabilities
using a variety of reversible and irreversible means,

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referring to the North's successful spy launch, the US military could undermine the

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quote effectiveness and lethality of adversaries forces
across all domains, Sheryl Clinkle, a

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spokesman at the US Space Command,
told Radio Free Asia this week. On

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Saturday, Beeongyang threatened to quote destroy
US space satellites if Washington tries to violate

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the legitimate territory of North Korea,
referring to its satellite program. North Korea

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is barred by successive rounds of US
resolutions from tests using ballistic technology, and

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analysts say there is a significant technological
overlap between space launch capabilities and the development

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of ballistic missiles. Experts have said
putting a working reconnaissance satellite into orbit would

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improve North Korea's intelligence gathering capabilities,
particularly over South Korea, and provide crucial

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data in any military conflict. Since
last week's launch, the North has claimed

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its satellite has already provided images of
major US and South Korean military sites.

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It has not yet disclosed any of
the satellite imagery it claims to possess now.

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If the United States attempts to breach
its space rights, the North's defense

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ministry spokesman said his country will quote
consider taking responsive action measures for self defense

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to undermine or destroy the viability of
US spy satellites, and on a lighter

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note, he has more good news
we hope from the ESA. Europe's new

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heavy lift rocket has a firm launch
date. At last, the European Space

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Agency ISA Arian six rocket from Aryan
Space will bring its debut mission to space

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no earlier than June fifteen, twenty
twenty four. Officials with the testing team

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announced Thursday that's November thirty. On
board will be a set of small satellites,

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including two from NASA, representatives added
on a live streamed briefing recently.

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After four years of delays for Aaran
six, progress is accelerating. A scale

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model of the heavy lift rocket also
finished a critical hot fire on the pad

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00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:33.240
last week Coro of French Guyana,
which ESA director Joseph Ashbacher said was a

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big milestone. He cautiously predicted that
the launch will be somewhere between the fifth

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of June and the thirty first of
July next year, but also cited that

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it is rocket science that is at
stake. Therefore it is to be expected

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that there may be one or the
other of delays that can occur. Arian

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five launched the European spacecraft for more
than twenty five years, sending more than

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00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:01.080
a one hundred missions aloft between nineteen
ninety six and two thousandths three. Prominent

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00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:07.039
missions included the James Webb Space Telescope, the Jupiter icy Moons Explorer Juice,

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and the Rosetta Comet spacecraft craft,
not to mention a dozen or so Galileo

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navigation satellites that give Europe its own
GPS access. Europe has emphasized that it

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requires independent launching access to space,
but lately it has been relied much like

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much of the industry, on space
X, which launched the EUCLID dark matter

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hunting mission on July one, for
example, after Arian six debut launch continued

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to slip. Arian six was conceived
in the early twenty tens to meet a

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new generation of launching needs. Lowering
costs are launching more satellites to different orbits

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at once, for example, after
the aging Aran five design retired this July.

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But numerous technical obstacles and the COVID
nineteen pandemic got in the way of

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Arian six's planned gate opening mission in
twenty twenty. We were literally in crisis,

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Ashbaker said. Of the gap,
he said the problem was compounded by

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poor communication about milestones and delays.
Today, however, regular and detailed reports

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are now available to ESA member states, the public and journalists after Arian six's

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task force meetings. We have learned
our lessons, Ashbaker said, acknowledging the

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help of Aryan Space, Aryan Group
and the French National Space Agency in addressing

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issues as they arise. We have
been sitting together and we have taken very

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clear action to overcome the crisis as
we call it. It literally was a

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00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:40.240
crisis. We had to get out
and let me say that we have done

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this together. This is not ESA
alone and won't it be great to see

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00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:51.480
the European Space Agency joining the new
space race for real with regular flights,

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00:16:51.799 --> 00:17:03.000
exciting yews. And that's a wrap. Thanks for listening in. It's been

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00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:07.200
Astronomy Daily for another week. Each
week you'll find myself Steve Dunkley on Mondays,

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00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.559
Tim Gibson Fridays and from either end
of the globe because the world is

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00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:18.000
not flat. Yeah, And you'll
find all the back episodes of Astronomy Daily

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00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:22.240
as well as our parent podcast,
Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred

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00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:26.720
Watson. They can be found at
these places bites dot com that's b I

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00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:32.119
T E s z dot com,
or if you're in the Northern Hemisphere b

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I T E s z dot com
or space nuts dot io. Go to

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those addresses and also drop your email
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Astronomy Daily newsletter and receive all the
news about space, space science, and

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00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:52.799
beyond. Thanks for staying with us. This is Steve Dunkley for Astronomy Daily.

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See you next time, Steven