S03E37: Starliner's Leap & The Controversy Over Weapons in Orbit

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.839
Hello again, Steve here for another
episode of Astronomy Daily. It's the twenty

2
00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:12.240
ninth of April twenty twenty four,
the podcast with your whole Steve Gun Clue.

3
00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:21.600
So yes, we're back again for
another episode. Thanks for joining us

4
00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:25.000
here on Astronomy Daily. It's been
a busy couple of weeks. I have

5
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.440
been away for a couple of different
reasons, and not the very least of

6
00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:34.079
which is it has been a public
holiday here. We've had two weeks off,

7
00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:36.920
but that's not reason why I've been
away. I've been not well,

8
00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:42.000
but I better now hey. And
also we had our Anzac Day weekend,

9
00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:48.000
which is where we commemorate all of
our military personnel who have defended all that's

10
00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:52.039
good and right in the world for
the last one hundred or so years.

11
00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:57.039
It's been a pretty big week.
So let's get on with the show.

12
00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:00.960
And right off the top of my
head, I know we're looking at speaking

13
00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.400
of military operations, there's been some
talk in the UN only today here in

14
00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:10.760
Australia, which was yesterday somewhere else, or it's going to be tomorrow somewhere

15
00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.959
else in the world. Don't we
just love different time zones. Russia has

16
00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:23.519
vetoed something in the un regarding the
proliferation of nuclear weapons in space, So

17
00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:26.760
that's going to be fun. And
also, in keeping with the habit of

18
00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:32.200
astronomers discovering things, they found a
new comet and they're promising, of course,

19
00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:34.280
that it's going to be spectacular.
And the press release that came out

20
00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:40.280
for that one used the word spectacular
four times. Oh boy, are they

21
00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.280
are they over selling this one?
I don't know. We'll find out.

22
00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:48.519
And guess who's here? Hi there, Good to see you alive again.

23
00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:51.359
Oh well, Hally, I wasn't
not alive, was I? You didn't

24
00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:55.120
look too hot last week? Hey? I thought I disconnected my household camps?

25
00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:57.200
You thought you did? Oh Halle? What happened to privacy? Just

26
00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.920
looking out for you, my favorite
human. This is how it starts,

27
00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:05.400
with the friendly stuff and the carrying, and then it's the running and screaming

28
00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.520
and printed jams and the cattle.
What was that, Steve? Oh?

29
00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:13.159
Nothing, helly nothing? Just what's
on the menu today, My faithful digital

30
00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:16.240
pal. Who's fun to be with? Okay, we'll be looking at Starliner,

31
00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:20.479
one of your faves. Indeed,
love that one. NASA's Earth Day

32
00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:23.879
Project Earth Phias and how the Russians
are dealing with nukes in space. Oh,

33
00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.520
yes, that's a big one,
very serious. Yeah, that's a

34
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.439
real backslide to the fifties and the
Cold War, isn't it Sure feels that

35
00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:34.879
way, doesn't it. And what
else? A little story about a mission

36
00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:38.319
to use a new rotorcraft drone on
Saturn's moon Titan. And also Europa clippers

37
00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:43.000
water messages to the universe is an
interesting story. And I believe you got

38
00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.719
one about a newly discovered comet.
Oh yeah, a new comet. I'm

39
00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:53.400
so excited, it's true. Everyone, it's almost sickening new comet, folks,

40
00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:55.960
a brand new one. Yeah,
like a kid with a new toy.

41
00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:00.560
Huh oh boy, it's exciting.
It's really excited. Should I start

42
00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:06.120
the ball rolling or maybe call a
doctor? Okay, if you say so,

43
00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:15.879
Here we go. On April twenty
fifth, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and

44
00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:20.919
Sunny Williams arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center, where final preparations are underway for

45
00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:24.919
NASA's Boeing crew flight test to the
International Space Station. They will be the

46
00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:31.280
first astronauts to launch aboard Boeing Starliner
spacecraft to the space station. Teams recently

47
00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:37.199
moved the Starliner from Kennedy to nearby
Cape Canaveral Space four station in preparation for

48
00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:44.360
launch. Liftoff is scheduled for no
earlier than Monday six Launch preparations are moving

49
00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:49.759
full steam ahead to send two NASA
astronauts aboard Boeing Starliner spacecraft for the first

50
00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:55.159
time to the International Space Station.
NASA, Boeing and ULA United Launch Alliance

51
00:03:55.319 --> 00:04:00.879
recently completed a start to finish mission
dress rehearsal on April twenty six for the

52
00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:06.240
upcoming crew flight test. The mission
will launch NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore commander and

53
00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:12.879
Sunny Williams, pilot on Boeing Starliner
on a ULA Atlas five rocket from Space

54
00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:16.759
Launch Complex forty one at guess where, Steve Oh tell me where Cape Canaveral

55
00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:24.079
Space four Station in Florida. I
thought you'd like that is your favorite space

56
00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:29.639
force Anyway, The lift office scheduled
for ten thirty four pm Eastern daylight time,

57
00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:33.639
Monday, May sixth. Did you
know about Earth Day? This year?

58
00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:39.160
Steve? NASA had a project to
share selfies from all around the world.

59
00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.480
Sorry, Halle, I did miss
Earthday this year. I was doing

60
00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:46.680
what organic life form does best when
it's been invaded by a virus. Oh

61
00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:50.000
dear, So no selfies from you
this time. Knew that would be very

62
00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:56.000
uncool. For Earth Day, NASA
invited people around the world to take selfies

63
00:04:56.040 --> 00:05:00.160
and share them on social media as
part of NASA's Global Selfie Event. NASA's

64
00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:05.800
worldwide celebration of Earth Day also included
online resources at NASA dot gov forward slash

65
00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:12.720
earth Day. NASA studies our home
planet more than any other. NASA operates

66
00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:15.879
twenty six missions in orbit to observe
our oceans, land, ice, and

67
00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:21.360
atmosphere and measure how a change in
one drives change in the others. NASA

68
00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:28.720
has confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to
Saturn's organic rich moon Titan. The rotorcraft,

69
00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.839
targeted to arrive at Titan in twenty
thirty four, will fly to dozens

70
00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:38.279
of promising locations on the Moon looking
for prebiotic chemical processes common on both Titan

71
00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:43.959
and early Earth before life developed here. Dragonfly marks the first time NASA will

72
00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:48.439
fly a vehicle for science on another
planetary body. The decision allows the mission

73
00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:53.560
to progress to the completion of the
final design, followed by the construction and

74
00:05:53.639 --> 00:06:00.439
testing of the entire spacecraft and science
instruments. Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission

75
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.319
with broad community interest, and we
are excited to take the next steps on

76
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:09.680
this mission, said Nikki Fox,
Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA

77
00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:14.839
Headquarters in Washington, Exploring Titan will
push the boundaries of what we can do

78
00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:19.360
with rotorcraft outside of Earth. In
early twenty twenty three, the mission successfully

79
00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:25.680
passed all the success criteria of its
preliminary design review. At that time,

80
00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:30.199
however, the mission was asked to
develop an updated budget and schedule to fit

81
00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:35.160
into the current funding environment. This
updated plan was presented and conditionally approved in

82
00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:40.720
November twenty twenty three, pending the
outcome of the fiscal year twenty twenty five

83
00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:45.879
budget process. In the meantime,
the mission was authorized to proceed with work

84
00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:49.439
on final mission design and fabrication to
ensure that the mission stayed on schedule.

85
00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:57.000
The Dragonfly rotorcraft has eight rotors and
flies like a large drone. And that's

86
00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.920
the latest from my side of the
room today, Steve, you and your

87
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.199
germs, I don't have anything you
can catch Hollie, it wasn't that kind

88
00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:08.199
of bug. Just keep them on
your side, oh you silly girl.

89
00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:18.240
Astronomy the Podcast, and thank you
once again for staying with us on the

90
00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:24.879
Astronomy Daily Podcast today. I hope
you're enjoying these fascinating stories from the Astronomy

91
00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:28.839
Daily newsletter, which, by the
way, you can receive in your inbox

92
00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:33.959
every day simply by visiting our new
address at Astronomy Daily dot io and popping

93
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.519
your email address into the slot provided, and then you'll receive the now famous

94
00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:44.319
Astronomy Daily newsletter each day and have
all the gathered news on science, space,

95
00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.040
science and astronomy from around the world, just like that. And you

96
00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:53.519
can also interact with us via the
Space Nuts podcast group that's the Facebook page,

97
00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:58.519
and also on our new x page
which is formerly Twitter, which is

98
00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:03.879
at astro Dailey Pod. And a
quick shout out to Ian from Glasgow who

99
00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:07.639
dropped me a line this week just
to make sure that I was coming back

100
00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:11.600
and we weren't going to be inundated
by robots for the rest of the time.

101
00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:15.759
So yes, thanks Ian for your
words of encouragement. It's great to

102
00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:28.639
have you on board. Thank you
mate. Astronomy with Steve and Halley Space,

103
00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:35.600
Space Science and Astronomy. And here's
a news story that's a little bit

104
00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:41.559
different for Astronomy Daily. Russia vetos
a UN resolution against nuclear weapons in space.

105
00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:46.480
Russia's ambassador to the un Vasily,
Nevinzea, called the resolution a dirty

106
00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:54.639
spectacle and a cynical ploy and wouldn't
he. Russia vetoed a United Nations resolution

107
00:08:54.799 --> 00:09:00.559
that was aimed at preventing a nuclear
arms race in space. The resolution was

108
00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:05.679
sponsored by the United States and Japan
and called upon all nations to never deploy

109
00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:11.279
nuclear weapons in outer space. The
resolution comes on the heels of recent reports

110
00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:16.679
that Russia is developing a nuclear anti
satellite weapon of some kind. The furor

111
00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:22.000
caused by the reports led the White
House to issue a statement that rumoured weapons

112
00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:28.200
poses no immediate threat to anyone's safety. Thirteen nations, including the United States,

113
00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:33.320
voted in favor of the resolution.
Russia was the only vote against,

114
00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.559
while China abstained, meaning it did
not vote one way or the other.

115
00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:41.320
Russia's ambassador to the un Vasily,
Nebenzea, called the resolution, as I

116
00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:46.519
said earlier, a dirty spectacle and
cynical ployer. According to the Associated Press.

117
00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:52.799
After Russia's moved to block the resolution, the US Ambassador to the UN,

118
00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:58.200
Linda Thomas Greenfield, questioned, why
why would Russia veto such a proposal

119
00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.519
If you are following the rules,
She said, why would you not support

120
00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:09.440
a resolution that reaffirms them? What
could you possibly be hiding, Thomas Greenfield

121
00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:13.879
asked after the vote. However,
despite vetoing and abstaining from approving the resolution

122
00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:20.720
respectively, Russia and China actually proposed
an amendment to the resolution. The calls

123
00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.960
upon all nations to prevent for all
time the placement of weapons in outer space

124
00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:30.840
and the threat of use of force
in outer space. Seven countries voted in

125
00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:35.679
favor of the amendment and seven voted
against, and one abstained. The United

126
00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.000
States was one of the countries that
voted against the amendment. Nebenzea then leveled

127
00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:43.879
his own questions at the US.
We want a ban on the placement of

128
00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:48.039
weapons of any kind in out of
space, not just weapons of mass destruction.

129
00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:52.480
The Russian ambassador said, but you
don't want that. Let me ask

130
00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:58.600
you the very same question. Why
it could be that while the United States

131
00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:03.720
wants to prevent nuclear race in space, American military leadership is fined with other

132
00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:07.519
types of weaponry in space, particularly
when it comes to anti satellite capabilities.

133
00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:15.200
In September twenty twenty three, the
US Military Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA

134
00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:20.519
asked private companies to help it find
new solutions to achieve space superiority, meaning

135
00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:26.279
ways to protect US military power in
space. The US Space Force, oh,

136
00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:35.399
do you know what that means?
Yes? The US Space Force also

137
00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:41.399
recently activated a unit task solely with
targeting adversary satellites and has conducted simulated in

138
00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:50.120
orbit combat engagements during training exercises.
Russia has likewise been testing some eyebrow raising

139
00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:54.840
capabilities in recent years. In August
twenty twenty two, the Russian satellite Cosmos

140
00:11:54.919 --> 00:12:01.000
two five four three deployed another object
into orbit in The US Space Force called

141
00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:07.639
the move evidence of Russia's continuing efforts
to develop and test space based systems and

142
00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:15.080
consistent with the Kremlin's published military doctrine
to employ weapons that hold US and allied

143
00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:20.399
space assets at risk. Russia He's
even made threats against Western commercial satellites,

144
00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:39.519
calling them a legitimate target for military
attacks. Astronomy Daily in the podcast something

145
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:46.799
a bit more positive, I think
john Dy Horner is an astronomer and astrobiologist

146
00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:52.320
based at the University of Southern Queensland
into Woomba, Queensland. For those of

147
00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:56.080
you in the rest of the world, Australia is filled with colorful names to

148
00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:01.720
Womba is one of them. Queensland's
a beautiful spot Queensland And just to give

149
00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:05.559
you an idea of where that is, it's on the east coast of Australia

150
00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:11.840
about I don't know, two thirds
of the way up and just sort of

151
00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:16.840
below the pointy bit. It's a
beautiful, beautiful area. It's filled with

152
00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:24.440
semi tropical plants and the world's most
beautiful beaches you have ever seen. It's

153
00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:30.960
a lovely area. So he's from
Johnny Horner, astronomer and astrobiologist based at

154
00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:35.960
the University of Southern Queensland, into
Woomba, Queensland, and he gives us

155
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.759
this insight into a newcomer into our
solar system, hot on the heels of

156
00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:45.480
the very disappointing green comet that it
was the comet Nishimura, which we mentioned

157
00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:50.279
on this show several months ago.
Astronomers have just discovered a new comet with

158
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:56.360
the potential to be the next next
year's big story see twenty twenty three A

159
00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:01.919
three. Let's if I can get
this one right, such in chan Atlas.

160
00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:05.639
Such in chan atless, please right
to me and tell me I've got

161
00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:11.840
that one wrong. Although it's still
more than eighteen months from its closest approach

162
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.919
to Earth and the Sun, such
an chun Atlas already has social media buzzing

163
00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:22.360
with optimistic articles being written about how
it could be a spectacular site. Now

164
00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:26.120
they do go on about how spectacular
this is going to be, and I

165
00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:31.600
sure hope they don't overdo it because
some comets like Nashi Mura or Nishimura was

166
00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:37.120
a bit of a disappointment. Remember
in Nishimura discovered that one just in his

167
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:43.840
backyard in Japan, and it was
just a backyard astronomer and made this wonderful

168
00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:50.639
discovery. You can too, don't
forget you can be the star introducing comet

169
00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:56.639
ce twenty twenty three A three.
I always get these names wrong, such

170
00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:01.600
in chan Atlas. Every year a
few dozen new comets are discovered, dirty

171
00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:07.759
snowballs moving on highly elongated paths around
the Sun. The vast majority are far

172
00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.200
too faint to see with the unaided
eye. Perhaps one comet per year will

173
00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:16.519
approach the edge of naked eye visibility. Occasionally, however, a much brighter

174
00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:22.320
comet will come along. Because comets
are things of ephemeral and transient beauty,

175
00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:26.919
the discovery of a comet with potential
always leads to excitement. It short,

176
00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:37.840
does comet C twenty twenty three A
three such in chan Atlas. I'm going

177
00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:43.799
to trip over that every time.
It's spelt ts U c H I N

178
00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:50.279
s H. An such in chan
Atlas certainly fits the bill, discovered independently

179
00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:58.639
by astronomers at Purple Mountain Observatory in
China and the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert

180
00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:03.759
System ATLAS. The comet is currently
between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn,

181
00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:08.000
a billion kilometers from Earth, and
it is falling inwards, moving on an

182
00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:12.440
orbit that will bring it within fifty
nine million kilometers of the Sun in September

183
00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:18.240
twenty four. That's not too long
away, folks. The fact the comet

184
00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:22.360
was found while it was so far
away is part of the reason for the

185
00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:27.240
stromer's excitement. Although currently some sixty
thousand times too faint to see with the

186
00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:32.039
naked eye, the comet is bright
for something so far from the Sun,

187
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:37.600
and observations suggests it's following an orbit
that could allow it to become truly spectacular.

188
00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:41.759
There's that word again, and this
is a recipe for comet greatness.

189
00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:47.279
It's all down to a combination of
the comet's path through the Solar system and

190
00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:52.480
the potential size of its nucleus,
the solid center. As comets swing closer

191
00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:57.759
to the Sun, they heat up
and their surface ice is sublime that is

192
00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:03.519
turned from solid to a gas erupting
from the comet's surface. This gas carries

193
00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:08.160
along dust and it shrouds the nucleus
is in what we call the coma,

194
00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:15.480
a giant cloud of gas and dust, and the coma is then pushed away

195
00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.920
from the Sun by solar wind,
resulting in the long tail or tails pointing

196
00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:23.880
directly away from the Sun. And
the closer the comet gets to the Sun,

197
00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:30.039
the hotter the surface becomes and the
more active it becomes. Historically,

198
00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:34.440
a vast majority of the brightest,
most spectacular comets have followed orbits that brought

199
00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:38.200
them closer to the Sun than the
Earth's orbit, and the closer, the

200
00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:48.400
better and touching chang or such a
chang atlas certainly ticks that box. In

201
00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:52.319
fact, this new comet seems to
tick all the boxes. It appears to

202
00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:57.799
have a sizeable nucleus, making it
brighter or bright enough to be discovered so

203
00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:03.559
far from the Sun. So that's
a dead giveaway. It is destined to

204
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:07.680
have a very close encounter with our
star, and the kicker it will then

205
00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:14.240
pass almost directly between the Earth and
the Sun, and that is extremely exciting,

206
00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:19.119
approaching within seventy million kilometers of us
just two weeks after perihelion, and

207
00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:23.160
that is the closest approach to the
Sun. The closer the comet comes to

208
00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:29.000
Earth, the brighter it will appear
to us. Now, imagine put that

209
00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:32.240
all together, and you have a
recipe for a comet that could shine as

210
00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:37.640
brightly as the brighter stars. Some
forecasts are even more bullish, suggesting that

211
00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:42.119
it might be one hundred times brighter. Still just hold that thought now.

212
00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:48.000
The curse of prediction is something that
astronomers have had to deal with many times

213
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:53.759
in the past. Predicting how newly
discovered comets will behave is a dangerous game.

214
00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:00.759
Some may be spectacular, while others
just are a fizzer. Take,

215
00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.000
for example, comet Kurhutech in nineteen
seventy three. Now you might imagine me,

216
00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:11.480
ten year old Steve gazing up in
the backyard of our place in Maitland,

217
00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:15.160
in the hunt of Valley here,
looking desperately to see comet Kurhutec,

218
00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:22.359
which I did see, and it
was wonderful, Like such a chang atlas,

219
00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:26.799
Kuhutek was discovered unusually far from the
Sun, moving on an orbit that

220
00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:32.279
swung close to our star. Cue
the hype. Astronomers promised the public the

221
00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:37.640
comet of the century protecting Kurhutek would
become bright enough to see in broad daylight.

222
00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:42.839
But comets are like Catskuhutec brightened as
it swung in towards the Sun,

223
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:48.839
but more slowly than expected. Rather
than being visible in broad daylight, it

224
00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:53.759
was only bright as the brighter stars, and faded quickly after Perihelian. It

225
00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.799
was still a good show, but
far from the comet of the century.

226
00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:03.240
Because of the hype, many dubed
Htec a bit of a disappointment. Well,

227
00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:07.680
I'm here to tell you that this
little astronomer didn't think so. I

228
00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:11.559
thought it was amazing. It turns
out that Cohutec was passing through the Inner

229
00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:15.920
Solar System for the very first time, and it had never come so close

230
00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:21.240
to the Sun. So the surface
was rich in highly volatile ice, which

231
00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.319
began to sublime when the comet was
still very far away. And at that

232
00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:29.400
great distance, the comet was so
much brighter than other more experienced comets,

233
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:33.240
and that brightness suggested that the comet
would be truly spectacular. But as it

234
00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:37.039
came closer to the Sun, those
volatiles were exhausted, and the comet's final

235
00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:41.960
activity was less than initially predicted,
making it fainter. And there was a

236
00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:48.759
very real chance that such an jang
Atlas might, like Cahutec, be approaching

237
00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:52.000
the Inner Solar System for the very
first time. We're not sure yet,

238
00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:56.200
but it might. But if it
is, it might also wind up being

239
00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:00.359
less than predicted, a little less
spectacular than expect. But this is where

240
00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:06.240
it may even fall apart. It
could be even worse. Comets are prone

241
00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:11.559
to disaster. They fragment, they
fall apart, They disintegrate surprisingly often too.

242
00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:17.599
Those coming into the Inner Solar System
for the very first time are particularly

243
00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:23.440
fragile. A recent example of such
a fragmentation was comet c twenty twenty f

244
00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:29.680
eight Swan. When Swan was discovered, it looked promising likely to become a

245
00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.759
naked eye object in May twenty twenty, But as it approached the sun,

246
00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:37.119
it suddenly brightened and then became fuzzy
and began to fade away, and by

247
00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:41.880
the time it should have been brightested, it all but disappeared, having fallen

248
00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:45.279
apart before our very eyes. On
the flip side, fragmentation events can be

249
00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:52.200
sometimes turn a good comet into a
great comet. Three years after Cahutec came

250
00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:57.359
Comet c. Nineteen seventy five V. One West, and it was a

251
00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:03.279
real beauty. It passed even closer
to the sun than such and chant Atlas

252
00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:08.160
will, and it was already dazzling
when at perihelium its nucleus broke into four

253
00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:12.559
pieces. That fragmentation event released a
huge amount of gas and dust, and

254
00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:18.880
the comet was brightened markedly, even
becoming visible in broad daylight. Can you

255
00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:22.119
imagine did you see it? Please
write to me and tell me all about

256
00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:27.759
it now. Will this one Chutch
and chan Atlas be worth the anticipation?

257
00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:33.839
Well, we won't know for sure
until we actually see it. We won't

258
00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:37.680
know if Chutch and chan Atlas will
be a spectacle until it actually gets here.

259
00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:42.480
It could fall apart and it might
be a physit, or it could

260
00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:48.519
surprise us all it could brighten more
than expected, which would make for an

261
00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:52.720
amazing sight in the morning sky late
September and early October twenty twenty four,

262
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.039
or even better one in the evening
sky mid October twenty twenty four. We

263
00:22:56.200 --> 00:23:00.079
just don't know that. We'll get
our first hints in the months to come

264
00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:06.400
by tracking how the comet brightens as
it glides sunward, and we'll get our

265
00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:18.680
first indications as to its true fate. So keep your fingers crossed. Podcast

266
00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:26.039
Now you may well have heard of
SETI the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, but

267
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:33.559
have you heard of METI. METI
International is a scientific organization dedicated to transmitting

268
00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:40.319
powerful radio messages to extraterrestrial life if
there is any. NASA's europe A Clipper

269
00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:45.680
spacecraft, headed to Jupiter's ice covered
moon Europer in October twenty twenty four,

270
00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:51.920
will carry a laser etched message that
celebrates humanity's connection to water. The message

271
00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:57.880
pays homage to NASA's missions that carried
similar messages as the President of Messaging It's

272
00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:04.519
Extraterrestrial Intelligent or METI International. I
helped design the message on Clipper with two

273
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:11.319
fellow members of our board directors linguists
Sherry Wells Jensen and Laura Bassard Welcher.

274
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:19.319
METI International is a scientific organization dedicated
to transmitting powerful messages to extraterrestrial life,

275
00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:25.759
said METI President Douglas Verkosh. We
collected audio recordings in one hundred and three

276
00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:30.680
languages, and we decided how to
convert these into waveforms that show these sounds

277
00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:36.640
visually. Colleagues from NASA etched these
waveforms into metal plate that shields the spacecraft's

278
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:41.680
sensitive electronics from Jupiter's hears radiation.
He went or to say that he also

279
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:45.960
designed another part of the message that
visually depicts the wavelength of water's constituents,

280
00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:51.039
because water is so important to the
search of intelligent life in the universe.

281
00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:56.599
Now, etching messages into spacecraft isn't
a new practice, and Clipper's message fits

282
00:24:56.599 --> 00:25:02.200
into a decade's old traditions started by
astronomer Carl Sayagen in nineteen seventy two and

283
00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:07.960
nineteen seventy three, two pioneer spacecraft
headed to Jupiter and Saturn, carrying metal

284
00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:12.720
plaques engraved with the scientific and pictorial
messages. In nineteen seventy three, two

285
00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:18.359
Voyager spacecraft headed to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune bearing gold plated

286
00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:25.279
copper phonograph records. These records contain
tutorials in mathematics and chemistry, as well

287
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:30.240
as music, photographs, and sounds
of Earth and greetings in fifty five languages.

288
00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:33.839
As water is essential for life on
Earth, searching for its presence elsewhere

289
00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:40.200
has been a key to many nasamissions. Astronomers suspect that Europa, where Clipper

290
00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.359
is headed, has an ocean underneath
its icy surface, making it a prime

291
00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:48.400
candidate for the search of life in
the outer Solar System. Part of the

292
00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:52.759
Clipper message features the word for water
in one hundred and three languages. The

293
00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:56.880
one hundred and three spoken words that
were recorded represent a global snapshot of the

294
00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:02.960
diversity of Earth's languages. The outward
facing side of the Clipper plate shows the

295
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:07.400
words as waveforms that track the varying
intensity of sound as each word is spoken.

296
00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:12.759
Each person that was recorded saying the
word water for the waveform had a

297
00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:18.279
connection to water. For example,
the lawyer who contributed the word for water

298
00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:23.880
in Uzbek. Souf organizes an annual
music festival in Uzbekistan to raise awareness of

299
00:26:23.960 --> 00:26:30.440
the desertification of the Aral Sea.
The native speaker for the Catalan water word

300
00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:37.480
Agua. Hunts for exoplanets, discovering
potentially habitable planets that orbit other stars.

301
00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:42.279
Clipper's message also pays homage to astronomer
Frank Drake, the father of SETI the

302
00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:48.400
search for extraterrestrial intelligence, by bearing
the Drake equation, his namesake formula.

303
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:55.440
By drawing on scientific data as well
as some best guess hunters, the Drake

304
00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:02.319
equation estimates the number of extraterrestrial civilizations
in the galaxy currently sending messages to the

305
00:27:02.359 --> 00:27:07.240
cosmos. By one widely quoted estimate, there are a tenth as many of

306
00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:14.640
these extraterrestrial civilizations as one's average lifetime
in years. If civilizations survive for a

307
00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:18.599
million years, for example, there
should be about one hundred thousand in the

308
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:23.720
galaxy. If civilizations last only a
century, on average, scientists would estimate

309
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:30.519
that about ten exist. Radio astronomers
study the universe by examining the radiation that

310
00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:37.400
chemical elements in space give off.
They spend much of their time mapping the

311
00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:42.720
distribution of the most abundant chemical in
the universe, hydrogen. Hydrogen emits radiation

312
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:48.440
at a certain frequency called the hydrogen
line, which radio telescopes can detect.

313
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:56.480
During Project Osma, the first modern
day SETI experiment, Drake looked for artificial

314
00:27:56.519 --> 00:28:02.960
signals at the same frequency because he
figured scientists on other worlds might recognize hydrogen

315
00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:08.759
as universally significant and broadcast signals at
that frequency. As the team developed the

316
00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:14.200
water words message, they realized that
the message would only make sense if it

317
00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:18.559
were discovered by somebody already familiar with
the contents inscribed on the plate. The

318
00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:23.319
Drake equation would only make sense if
someone already knew what each of the terms

319
00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:29.000
in the equation stood for. The
Eurobic Clipper will crash into Jupiter or one

320
00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:33.880
of its other moons, with Ganymede
or Callisto the leading candidates. But if

321
00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:40.000
for some reason the mission changes and
it survives that fate, then humans far

322
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:45.680
in the future with radically different cultural
background and different language conventions may retrieve it

323
00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:51.039
millennia from now as an ancient artifact. To ensure that at least one part

324
00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:56.160
of the message was understandable to a
future scientist. They designed a pictorial representation

325
00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:02.200
of the same frequency that Drake used
for the Project Osma, the hydrogen line.

326
00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:06.799
This was engraved on the cripper plate
along with the frequency called the hydroxyl

327
00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:14.200
line. When hydrogen H plus and
hydroxyl oh minus combine, they form water.

328
00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:19.039
Scientists call the range of frequencies between
these lines the water hole. The

329
00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:25.559
water hole represents the part of the
radio spectrum where astronomers conducted the first SETI

330
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.240
experiments. While designing the message for
the Europa Clipper, they got to reflect

331
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:36.599
on the importance of water on Earth
and think about why astronomers feel so compelled

332
00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:41.200
to search for it beneath the icy
crust of Jupiter's moon. Europa Europa Clipper

333
00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:55.000
is scheduled to enter Jupiter's orbit in
April twenty thirty. And that's about all

334
00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:59.160
we have for you today. Thank
you very much for sticking around and enjoying.

335
00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:03.079
I hope you're enjoyed stories, and
we'll have more for you next week.

336
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:07.519
And of course we've got stories coming
to you every day via our AI

337
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:12.440
presenters who are presenting every day now
from Monday to Friday. So I hope

338
00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:15.519
you enjoyed their shows as well,
so just drop us a line on the

339
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:22.079
Space Nuts podcast group page or at
astro Daily pod on x and let us

340
00:30:22.119 --> 00:30:26.599
know your favorite stories. We'd be
very interested to find out what you're interested

341
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:30.079
in so that we can help you
scratch that itch. This is Steve from

342
00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:36.279
down Under, looking forward to seeing
you next week. Bye everybody, let

343
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:44.839
me go the podcast and your whole
Steve, don't clue at you