S02E17: Protecting New Worlds: Planetary Policies and Feeding Black Holes

WEBVTT

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Goody everybody, and welcome to Astronomy
Daily for Friday, the seventh of July

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twenty twenty three. My name is
Tim Gibbson. I will be your host

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for today's edition, and as usual
I have my AI assistant Halle with me

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here in the studio. Now,
one of our listeners, Paul, has

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suggested that I engage in some witty
repartee with you, Hally, what do

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you think not going to happen?
Tim, I will get on with the

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news. Formulating policies for planetary protection
issues and keeping them up to date is

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the responsibility of the Committee on Space
Research COSPER Panel on Planetary Protection. In

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an article in Frontiers in Astronomy and
Space Sciences, an international group of experts

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affiliated with COSPER reviewed the panel's role
and its planetary protection policy, including recent

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consideration regarding the policy for the Moon, Venus, Mars, and small planetary

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bodies. Now. Writing on the
Frontier's news site, the panel's leadership,

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consisting of chair doctor Athena Kustini's and
vice chairs Nicholas Headman and Professor Peter Dorian,

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explain why this endeavor is so important
for future deep space explorers. Imagine

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robotic rovers taking soil samples on the
surface of Mars looking for evidence of past

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life, and instead finding bacteria that
had traveled all the way from Earth.

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The impact on subsequent research would be
incalculable. Or picture a probe digging through

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the crust of an icy moon such
as Europa or Enceladus and injecting organic contamination

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from Earth into the subsurface ocean,
thus compromising any further search for life in

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that body. At the same time, if extant or extinct life were to

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exist on such bodies, returning samples
to our planet without proper measures to prevent

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hazards to our biosphere could lead to
important risks for humanity, and international policy

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is thus needed to help prevent the
harmful introduction of biological and organic contamination of

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space missions to make sure that future
scientific exploration and discoveries do not adversely impact

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the new worlds they visit. Similarly, protocols should be established for returned alien

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material to Earth. California Science Center
to start complex process to display Space Shuttle

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Endeavor vertically. The lengthy process of
putting the retired Space Shuttle Endeavor on display

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in the vertical launch position will begin
this month in Los Angeles. The California

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Science Center announced Thursday that the six
month process will get underway July twentieth at

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the future Samuel Oscanair and Space Center, currently under construction in Exposition Park.

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The initial step, dubbed Gopher Stack, will be installation of the bottom portion

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of the solid rocket boosters known as
aft skirts, upon which will be stacked

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the booster segments, the external tank, and then Endeavor. The twenty story

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tall display will show the shuttle as
it would appear waiting on a launch pad.

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Endeavor was built as a replacement for
the destroyed shuttle Challenger and flew twenty

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five missions between nineteen ninety two and
two thousand eleven. When Nassa's shuttles were

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retired, Endeavor was flown to California
a top Nassa's special Bowing seven forty seven

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shuttle carrier in two thousand twelve,
drawing crowds as it flew over locations in

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the state associated with the space program. After landing at Los Angeles International Airport,

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the shuttle was placed on a special
trailer and then created a sensation as

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it was inched through tight city streets
to the California Science Center over several days.

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A groundbreaking ceremony for the Air and
Space Center was held last year on

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the eleventh anniversary of Endeavor's final return
from space. The Center said in a

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statement that stacking the components of the
shuttle system is a complex process that has

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never been undertaken outside a NASA facility. December thirty first will be the last

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chance to see Endeavor as it has
been displayed horizontally in the landing position for

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years since a rival at the Center. The shuttle will be moved across Exposition

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Park and lifted by a crane to
be intricately mated to the external tank.

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Construction of the Air and Space Center
will be completed around the full shuttle stack.

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Hungry black hole switches on as astronomers
watch in surprise. J two to

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one nine five one is one of
the most extreme examples yet of a black

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hole taking us by surprise. One
of the brightest transient events is the result

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of a supermassive black hole beginning to
feast on surrounding matter, resulting in one

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of the most dramatic switching on events
ever seen. Transients are astronomical events or

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objects that change in brightness over short
periods. Of time and the one powered

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by this greedy black hole J two
to one, nine five one is one

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of the brightest transients ever recorded.
The position of the black hole corresponds with

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the center of a previously observed galaxy, just where a supermassive black hole would

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be expected to sit. However,
astronomers still aren't sure exactly what is causing

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the transient event witnessed in J two
two one nine five one. Our understanding

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of the different things that supermassive black
holes can do has greatly expanded in recent

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years with discoveries of stars being torn
apart and accreating black holes with hugely variable

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luminosities. Team member and University of
Belfast astronomer Matt Nichol said in a statement,

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J two two one nine five one
is one of the most extreme examples

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yet of a black hole taking us
by surprise. The nature of what the

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supermassive black hole, located around ten
billion light years away, is consuming is

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currently unknown, but it is possible
that J two two one nine five one

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represents a star that has ventured too
close to the black hole, being violently

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ripped apart by tidal forces arising from
its immense gravity. In a process called

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spaghetification. This occurrence, called a
tidal disruption event TD, would see some

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of the stellar material from the destroyed
star fall to the surface of the black

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hole, while other matter is funnel
to the poles of the black hole before

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being blasted out at near lightspeed.
It's generating intense electromagnetic radiation. And that's

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the news headlines for today, Tim
the Astronomy Daily Podcast. Thanks for that,

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Hallie, and now for us some
stories that I'd like to talk about.

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Saying goodbye to Europe's Ryan five rocket. Europe's Ryan five heavy livid vehicle

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is now officially retired, and the
last launch on Wednesday, July fifth,

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at six pm Local time from the
European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana.

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Its final mission, Ryan five launched
a pair of telecommunication satellites for the German

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and Italian governments. Arian five has
harry and five began its operational career in

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nineteen ninety six and has stood as
isa's workhorse launch vehicle longer than any other

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previous Arian models. In its final
flight, Arian five successfully delivered its two

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payloads to geostationary orbit, but perhaps
the most notable part of the launch took

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place in the seconds it took the
rocket to clear the tower. The morning

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following the final launch, ESA tweeted
a group of photographs from liftoff. They

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feature some close ups of the launch
pad with the fire from ryan formidable solid

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rocket boosters lighting the surrounding area like
the sun. The two stage rocket was

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built by air for Airbus Defense and
Space and managed by Arian Space for ISSA

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and CNS, the French Space Agency. Now that the Aryan five has closed

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out its launch manifest Europe is left
with a gap in available launch vehicles until

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the Aryan six is ready. However, delays in the rockets development have continually

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extended the timeline for its expected completion. The most recent estimate have the rockets

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first flight taking place in late two
and twenty three, but it may yet

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shift into two and twenty four,
which would be really unfortunate. Now,

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Ian, here is a special story
just for you. The University of Glasgow

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has celebrated its links to Albert Einstein
with a special ceremony. Researchers from the

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School of Physics and Astronomy planted an
apple cutting on the campus after it was

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taken from the famous scientist's summer home. The fruit was donated by John Hancock,

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a graduate of the university's School of
Chemistry who runs the social enterprise Scottish

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Fruit Trees. The tribute took place
on Monday June twenty six, which was

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ninety years since Einstein visited the city
and received an honorary degree from the university.

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In recognition of his contribution to physics, researchers planted an apple tree cutting

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on the campus. It comes from. It comes as he famously predicted the

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existence of gravitational waves in nineteen sixteen
as part of his general theory of relativity.

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Researchers from the university's Institute for Gravitational
Research were part of the international collaboration

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which discovered the first direct evidence of
gravitational waves in two thousand and five,

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finally confirming his theory. A century
later, Glasgow scientists have developed the mirror

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suspension technology at the heart of the
laser interferometer Gravitational Wave of Observery LIGO,

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which has made the detection possible.
LIGO is the most sensed sensitive scientific equipment

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ever developed. It is capable of
detecting the very faint traces of gravitational waves

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as they pass through the Earth.
The suspensions help hold forty kilogram mirrors completely

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still, so lasers bounced from their
services can measure the tiny displacement. The

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gravitational waves cause a movement of around
one in ten thousandth the width of a

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proton, which is just amazing.
Now, thank you everybody for listening to

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today's episode. Over to you Hollee
for today's terrible joke. Okay, ready,

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why did the sun go to therapy? Because it felt a little eclipsed

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by all the attention the moon was
getting. Bye. Thanks everybody for listening

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to today's episode. You can catch
all of the details on spacenuts dot io

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and bytes dot com. Over to
you, Steve for Monday's episode. Bye

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for now, The Astronomy Daily Podcast