Dark Matter Stars, Ancient Craters & Lunar Missions: #503 - Unpacking the Latest Discoveries in...

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Kind: captions
Language: en

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hello again thank you for joining us


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this is yet another episode of Space


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Nuts the astronomy and space science


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podcast and radio show on the community


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radio network in Australia my name is


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Andrew Dunley your host and coming up on


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this episode a question that we may or


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may not be able to answer did we just


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find a dark matter star or a dark star


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to use the term we will find out uh the


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oldest impact crater has been found and


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it's in Australia and we're going to


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update a couple of missions The Blue


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Ghost Mission how is it going and


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another mission called Athena that isn't


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going we'll tell you why uh there's been


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another um Starship explosion and if we


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got time we'll Chuck on a success story


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because I think we're going to need one


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after all of that that's all coming up


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on this edition of Space Nuts 15 seconds


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guidance is internal 10 9 ignition


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sequence


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Space Nuts 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1


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Space Nuts report it feels good and the


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man of the moment uh who feeling real


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groovy is Professor Fred Watson


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astronomer at large hello Fred hello


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Andrew groovy baby yeah um just sock it


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to me and all that stuff I've that one


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for a long


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time well yeah you like we're talking


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about in the promo


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when when you look at me you're looking


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straight back to the


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1950s oh gosh I didn't think light was


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that slow no it pretty slow when it


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comes around here yeah indeed now uh


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we've got a lot on this episode and the


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the very first story I wanted to um


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tackle was this one about the possible


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discovery of a Dark Star now we we've


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had quite a few questions from people


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asking if they exist and what are they


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and we've basically said well you know


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um they might exist we haven't found one


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yet and now the James web Space


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Telescope May well have spied


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one Yes actually they might have spied


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three um because there are three


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candidates for these dark matter stars


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and so


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um just setting the scene uh the story


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of the universe uh is that yes there was


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a big bang um uh and took a little while


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for atoms and things to form but that


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all happened uh we had a period called


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the Dark Ages when the universe was


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filled with basically called hydrogen


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and and and there were


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Knights


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Knights yeah with a k or without a k


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whichever


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wanted um it's uh yeah the Dark Ages


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before the first stars and galaxies


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formed and we think the first stars to


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form were what we and we've sometimes


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talked about these population three


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stars yes um which are uh basically


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completely devoid of anything other than


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hydrogen and helium in the spectrum


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because those two elements were formed


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in the Big Bang and we know that all the


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other elements actually there's a trace


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of lithium as well a couple of other


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things but not nothing to worry about uh


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all the other elements were formed in


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the Interiors of stars as the universe


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progressed so all the stuff went made of


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but from the hydrogen uh was once inside


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of star and that's kind of you know the


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story of our origin it's our creation


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story in a sense so what people have


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been looking for is population three


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stars they they called that for


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historical reasons but they're stars


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that would have been the first stars to


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form and they would have been bright


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they would have you know been much


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brighter than the sun but uh the


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thinking has been over I guess the last


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maybe 10


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years since we know that uh more than


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three4 of the matter in the universe is


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dark matter it's this stuff that we we


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know exists because it holds galaxies


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together and stops them flying apart


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it's got its own it's got gravity


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doesn't interact in any other way with


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uh with normal matter uh so we believe


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Dark Matter originated in the Big Bang


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as well like the hydrogen uh and so the


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postulate has always been made


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uh by always I mean within the last


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decade or so it's probably actually um


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more recently than that even it's


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probably only over the last five years


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the postulate was could you have objects


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which are basically made of clumps of


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Dark Matter coming together under their


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own gravity like hydrogen does in normal


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stars but this stuff clumps together it


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compresses because its own gravity is so


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so you got this huge lump of dark matter


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and what it then does is um and this is


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still a hypothesis we believe that dark


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matter self annihilates if you get it


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particles too close together it's a bit


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like matter and antimatter you know


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normal matter and antimatter is matter


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with an opposite electric charge you


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bring them together and you get


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radiation you get gamma rays um so the


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thinking is that the same might might


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happen with dark matter you bring


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particles of dark matter they self


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annihilate and produce a lot of energy


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uh and maybe perhaps even what's left


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might act as the nucleus for for


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Galaxies to form but um the idea is that


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these dark stars and it's a ridiculous


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name because they're billions of times


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brighter than the sun uh but they're


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made of dark matter which is why that


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that you know that name comes maybe a


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million times its mass um the thinking


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is that they may have eventually


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condensed to become the super massive


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black holes that we find in the centers


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of galaxies and we find them uh in an


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age of the universe that was uh earlier


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than we can kind of understand uh anyway


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uh the uh the there are three objects


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that have been observed by the James web


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Space Telescope which are forly


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delineated as


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galaxies um but they have


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characteristics in them


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uh that I've made a number of


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researchers and um this uh this work is


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you know it's it's coming from uh us


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universities um um and in fact a number


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of us universities have collaborated on


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this yeah uh but the uh the the the the


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um point about these observations


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is that whilst they originally were


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identified as galaxies because that we


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see them you know when the universe was


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300 million years old they're looking


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we're looking back in time almost the


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whole age of the universe they look like


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just like blobs to the web telescope uh


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and they look like like a lot of the


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other galaxies but it's their spectrum


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that is raising the possibility uh that


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these are dark matter stars and the the


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problem is um


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we don't we know so little about dark


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matter that you know it's a hypothesis


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uh it's a hypothesis that dark matter


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self annihilates we don't know that for


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certain uh but um the the deal is that


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there is enough evidence from the


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Spectra of these uh these objects um


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that makes people think that they are


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dark matter stars and I'm going to quote


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one of the research


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uh on this topic um uh it's uh Dr freeze


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fou uh who has said uh and and it's a


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really nice quote you've if you've got a


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dark matter star


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forming uh Dr free says you've got a


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weird thing it looks like the sun in


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terms of its surface temperature but


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it's a billion S as bright it could be


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as bright as an entire galaxy of fusion


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powered stars that means stars that are


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powered by hydrogen and then the


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thinking is as I said that at the end of


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their lives they would collapse into


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super massive black holes um so this is


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really quite an


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extraordinary uh postulate but it is


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gaining traction and this is you know


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this is not something that's uh that's


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being


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um highlight well it is being


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highlighted in the slightly more


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frenetic science press don't matter


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stars form found I mean this is coming


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in fact the article I'm looking at is


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from scientific America which is one of


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the most um uh sober and accurate of all


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the science media feeds uh so yes so H


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have a look at that article uh jwsc


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might have spotted the the first Dark


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Matter Stars uh and if you can make more


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of it than I can that's good uh because


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the uh the um uh you know the


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researchers uh are still groping with


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the fact that we know so little about


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dark matter and um uh it's um one of the


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co-authors and Dr Frieza just mentions


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Katherine freeze who's an astrophysicist


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at the University of Texas at


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Austin it it's fascinating because uh


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these are once again named very


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inaccurately yeah dark matter as his


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Dark Energy so let's just make a dark


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star that's not


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dark it's comical is it yeah it is a bit


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but U I think U one of the questions


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that popped out as you would explaining


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it was um the these happened very early


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in the unniversary


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300 million years um big bang y does


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that mean that these may have existed


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and no longer


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exist um I think that's that's the


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thinking that they have a very short


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life uh but the debris


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uh becomes the super massive black hole


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and so in a way these things might form


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the nucleus of galaxies you know baby


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galaxies that are being formed in the


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early Universe it's a really exciting


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prospect and um I hope we'll we'll hear


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more about this and talk more about it I


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know our listeners Andrew and our


00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:50.710
viewers have have latched onto this over


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the last couple of years because we've


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had several questions about this already


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but it's now sort of bubbling to the


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surface with these three Galaxy


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candidates which are I mean currently


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they're still thought to be galaxies but


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the possibility that they are actually


00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.870
Dark Matter stars is uh becoming very


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very insistent if I put it that way I


00:11:10.880 --> 00:11:13.069
think the original paper published about


00:11:13.079 --> 00:11:16.750
these three potential galaxies was July


00:11:16.760 --> 00:11:19.069
2023 uh but now they've taken another


00:11:19.079 --> 00:11:20.590
look at them and they're thinking hang


00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:24.030
on a minute this might be some other


00:11:24.040 --> 00:11:27.670
Dark Matter boom boom um anyway uh yeah


00:11:27.680 --> 00:11:30.269
as Fred said uh you can look it up at


00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:32.670
scientificamerican.com it's a it's a


00:11:32.680 --> 00:11:33.710
fabulous


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article uh now Fred Let's uh get very


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close to home for us well not really


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because it's in Western Australia but um


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they've just announced that uh the


00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:47.350
oldest impact crater has been found in


00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.430
Western Australia which basically means


00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:53.629
in Australia we have now got the oldest


00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:56.790
and the largest they're not the same one


00:11:56.800 --> 00:11:58.629
um the largest is actually in New South


00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.110
Wales


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um but the oldest is in that um very


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remote area of Western Australia around


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the pilb isn't it yes it's the pbra


00:12:08.560 --> 00:12:10.389
region that's right sort of North


00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:13.189
Northwestern Australia very empty part


00:12:13.199 --> 00:12:16.110
of the country yeah uh a bit unforgiving


00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:19.230
if you um if you happen to be lost there


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uh but our heroes in this story aren't


00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:23.590
they're scientists from curtain


00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:26.590
University uh and what's really nice


00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.949
about this story is that


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these scientists actually predicted that


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there might be an impact crator kind of


00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:38.230
pretty well in the middle of


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Australia uh and What's led them to that


00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.389
conclusion is


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um a sort of alternative view of how


00:12:49.160 --> 00:12:55.150
continents formed um so the the GE


00:12:55.160 --> 00:12:58.550
geological thinking around continents


00:12:58.560 --> 00:13:00.069
which of course are represented by


00:13:00.079 --> 00:13:02.790
continental plates uh you know the the


00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:08.790
pl tectonics theory um uh one I guess of


00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:11.110
the perhaps the most popular view is


00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:15.790
that the continents formed above plumes


00:13:15.800 --> 00:13:19.150
in the Earth's mantle um which is that


00:13:19.160 --> 00:13:21.829
sort of soft region between the core uh


00:13:21.839 --> 00:13:23.350
which is deep in the center of the earth


00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:24.949
and the crust which is the thin layer


00:13:24.959 --> 00:13:27.870
that surounds it yeah uh so um you've


00:13:27.880 --> 00:13:31.030
got these plumes coming up and everybody


00:13:31.040 --> 00:13:33.069
draws the same analogy it's like a lava


00:13:33.079 --> 00:13:37.310
lamp yes the wax Rising they come up um


00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:40.430
and they basically um you know that the


00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:43.470
the plume of Hot Stuff sort of condenses


00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.509
out or solidifies on the underneath of


00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:49.509
the continental plate and you get a


00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:53.189
continental plate um uh the the I think


00:13:53.199 --> 00:13:55.069
there's a there's another one um that


00:13:55.079 --> 00:13:57.069
says that actually it was just plate


00:13:57.079 --> 00:14:01.310
tectonics uh um you know as as uh as


00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:04.069
plates collide with each other uh


00:14:04.079 --> 00:14:05.749
there's often what's called a subduction


00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:07.389
zone which is where one plate slides


00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:09.150
underneath the other and so the


00:14:09.160 --> 00:14:10.829
suggestion is that as plates slide


00:14:10.839 --> 00:14:12.670
underneath the continental plates the


00:14:12.680 --> 00:14:14.470
continental plates build and become


00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:16.829
thicker and that those are the two main


00:14:16.839 --> 00:14:20.189
theories but uh these scientists at


00:14:20.199 --> 00:14:23.710
curtain uh and I mean they published an


00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:26.430
original paper on this several years ago


00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:30.030
uh they suggest that the energy


00:14:30.040 --> 00:14:32.389
required to make


00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:37.110
continents actually came from impacts so


00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:40.670
you know an impact that might be uh an


00:14:40.680 --> 00:14:42.590
object that's many many kilometers in


00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:44.350
diameter remember the the dinosaur


00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:47.470
killer was about 10 to 15 kilometers uh


00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:51.110
impacts uh on the surface G they


00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.269
basically put a huge amount of energy


00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:55.430
into the surface you've only to look at


00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:58.230
um one of the simulations of what the


00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:00.430
what the Dinos killing asteroid that


00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:02.590
created the chicks crater what that did


00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:05.110
to the Earth during the first 15 minutes


00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:06.749
it sort of just turned the surface into


00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:09.949
liquid yeah and you get a big splash uh


00:15:09.959 --> 00:15:15.310
and um they they suggested that uh an


00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:19.710
impact might be enough to um basically


00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:21.990
generate the material that you need to


00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.509
make a continent maybe more than one


00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:27.670
Collision but uh the impact uh and I'm


00:15:27.680 --> 00:15:30.910
going to quote um because there's a


00:15:30.920 --> 00:15:32.550
lovely article on this written by these


00:15:32.560 --> 00:15:34.389
authors themselves it's in the


00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.629
conversation it's called Earth solist


00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:38.030
impact crater was just found in


00:15:38.040 --> 00:15:40.230
Australia exactly where geologists soed


00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.990
it would be uh the so the what they say


00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:45.910
in that article and they're talking now


00:15:45.920 --> 00:15:48.509
about the idea of impacts creating uh


00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:50.670
the continental crust our


00:15:50.680 --> 00:15:54.150
evidence


00:15:54.160 --> 00:15:57.790
uh yeah our evidence lay in the chemical


00:15:57.800 --> 00:15:59.749
composition of tiny crystals of the


00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:01.990
mineral ziron about the size of sand


00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.590
grains so they are generally produced by


00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.430
impact but to persuade other geologists


00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:10.430
we needed more convincing evidence


00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:12.150
preferably something people could see


00:16:12.160 --> 00:16:14.829
without needing a microscope so in May


00:16:14.839 --> 00:16:17.550
2021 we began the long drive north from


00:16:17.560 --> 00:16:19.269
Perth for two weeks of fieldwork in the


00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.350
pilra where we meet up with our partners


00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:22.870
from the Geological Survey of Western


00:16:22.880 --> 00:16:25.069
Australia to hunt for the crater and


00:16:25.079 --> 00:16:27.230
then they tell the story of what they


00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.269
found and they found the evidence very


00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.110
very quickly within the first hour of


00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:37.030
being there yeah because what they found


00:16:37.040 --> 00:16:41.629
was shat cones um and let me quote again


00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:43.110
from the article shat cones are


00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:45.110
beautiful delicate branching structures


00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.110
not dissimilar to a badminton Shuffle


00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:51.030
coock they are the only feature of shock


00:16:51.040 --> 00:16:53.949
visible to the naked eye and in nature


00:16:53.959 --> 00:16:56.350
can only form following a meteorite


00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.030
impact little more than an hour into our


00:16:59.040 --> 00:17:00.629
Arch we'd found precisely what we were


00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:02.990
looking for uh we'd literally open the


00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:04.390
doors of our four-wheel drives and


00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:06.590
stapped onto the floor of a huge ancient


00:17:06.600 --> 00:17:09.270
impact crator uh and so they've done a


00:17:09.280 --> 00:17:11.470
lot of subsequent research they've been


00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.949
back to the to the site and yes they


00:17:14.959 --> 00:17:19.549
have essentially deline um defined it I


00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:23.549
suppose uh this as the world's oldest uh


00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:25.789
impact crater which pushes the age of


00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:27.710
the oldest impact crater back more than


00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:30.430
a billion years they say this formed


00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.510
more than 3.5 billion years ago wow and


00:17:33.520 --> 00:17:36.990
this is huge this one it is yes it's uh


00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:39.350
you know it's continen sized almost so


00:17:39.360 --> 00:17:42.029
it would have been bad continent I mean


00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:44.230
uh a significant chunk of the Australian


00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.230
continent which is what they represent


00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:48.950
by the piger so the piger may be


00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:50.990
basically the extent of it which is very


00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.590
very big that is incredible so how big a


00:17:53.600 --> 00:17:56.549
rock would create yeah um actually it's


00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:58.310
a really good point um I think we're


00:17:58.320 --> 00:18:00.590
talking about several kilometers here um


00:18:00.600 --> 00:18:04.029
I'm just switching to their original uh


00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:08.350
paper on this uh which is called a Paleo


00:18:08.360 --> 00:18:11.230
Aran impact crature in the pilra Katon


00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.549
Western Australia uh and I'm just


00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.549
looking to see whether they uh think


00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:19.190
whether the abstract yes okay here we


00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.630
are 10 to 50 kilometers in diameter


00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:25.710
whoow yeah so it's big massive yeah you


00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:28.990
bigger than yes yes we know have damage


00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:31.990
that was um so this is quite incredible


00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:33.710
they've actually in the conversation


00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:36.549
article got a photo of one of those um


00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:40.870
those shes yeah what incredible now to


00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.549
the untrained eye you'd probably just go


00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:43.990
oh that's


00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.750
nice you you you and me both yeah but


00:18:48.760 --> 00:18:52.029
yeah I mean um it is quite extraordinary


00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:53.630
it's really neat if you've got a


00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:56.310
geologist with you on you know some of


00:18:56.320 --> 00:18:57.909
these Expeditions you start to see


00:18:57.919 --> 00:18:59.830
things straight away


00:18:59.840 --> 00:19:03.110
um uh when we we did a tour last year of


00:19:03.120 --> 00:19:05.549
um South Australia and one of the things


00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:07.310
we were looking for were the


00:19:07.320 --> 00:19:09.950
stromatolites the those microbial mats


00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:11.310
the evidence for them in the fossil


00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:13.549
record yeah and you you they're kind of


00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:14.990
all around you but you don't see them


00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.070
and then um we got to a sign that said


00:19:17.080 --> 00:19:19.549
here is a stromatolite and oh that's


00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:21.310
what it looks like and then you see them


00:19:21.320 --> 00:19:23.270
everywhere and probably be the same with


00:19:23.280 --> 00:19:25.669
shatter cones yeah i' I've had a similar


00:19:25.679 --> 00:19:26.870
experience when you're thinking of


00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.909
buying a new car


00:19:29.919 --> 00:19:32.190
you haven't bought it yet you you'd just


00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:34.789
see them everywhere that's actually that


00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:36.310
is absolutely true that happened to me


00:19:36.320 --> 00:19:38.950
when I got my last car so them


00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.549
everywhere yeah that's fun funny how


00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:43.149
that happens all right if you'd like to


00:19:43.159 --> 00:19:46.750
read up on that enormous crater and and


00:19:46.760 --> 00:19:49.310
I will add Fred that finding craters


00:19:49.320 --> 00:19:51.110
like this in on Earth is difficult


00:19:51.120 --> 00:19:53.430
because so many of them are hidden


00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:55.830
because Earth's alive and yeah all this


00:19:55.840 --> 00:19:58.310
gets covered up and yeah this one was


00:19:58.320 --> 00:20:00.070
covered


00:20:00.080 --> 00:20:02.590
dust that's right it was covered with


00:20:02.600 --> 00:20:06.669
bu yeah so yeah sometimes it's looking


00:20:06.679 --> 00:20:09.230
you in the face and saying here I'm


00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:12.310
here you can't see it yes uh the


00:20:12.320 --> 00:20:14.470
conversation.com is where you'll find


00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:16.990
that amazing story this is Space Nuts


00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:23.870
Andrew Dunley here with Professor Fred


00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:27.710
Watson Space Nuts okay time for a couple


00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:29.390
of mission updates


00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:31.470
uh we spoke last week about the


00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:33.470
successful Landing of blue Ghost The


00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:36.950
Blue Ghost Mission uh the Firefly probe


00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.830
or whatever it was um see how up to dat


00:20:39.840 --> 00:20:42.029
I am um there's a mission update this


00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.870
has been going rather well it it has


00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:47.669
yeah and in fact you can find um uh on


00:20:47.679 --> 00:20:50.789
the mission page the Firefly uh


00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:54.950
Aerospace Mission page just look Firefly


00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:58.029
space.com uh they have live updates uh


00:20:58.039 --> 00:20:59.870
on how it's doing on their surface


00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:02.350
operations remember it's only active for


00:21:02.360 --> 00:21:06.190
one Luna day uh or one period of lunar


00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:09.190
daylight which is 14 of our days I think


00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.510
they're on uh what are they on now day


00:21:12.520 --> 00:21:14.320
they landed


00:21:14.330 --> 00:21:17.149
[Music]


00:21:17.159 --> 00:21:20.549
on second of March I think so we're now


00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:23.510
orbit insertion command March the 1 yeah


00:21:23.520 --> 00:21:24.789
yeah so I think they landed on the


00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.149
second on the second yes and they and so


00:21:27.159 --> 00:21:29.710
we've got you know a success day by day


00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:32.070
lovely images showing the surface that


00:21:32.080 --> 00:21:35.230
they're landed on um quite quite amazing


00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:38.830
stuff uh they um by March the 6th


00:21:38.840 --> 00:21:41.029
they've completed eight of their payload


00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:43.549
objectives and remember this is part of


00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:47.310
NASA's um you know um project for


00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:49.990
putting commercial payloads on the moon


00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:55.549
uh to do studies um the uh March 7th


00:21:55.559 --> 00:21:59.390
they had the new Luna Magneto Sounder


00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:02.990
deployment footage so work that one out


00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:06.029
and it's a it's um basically the lunar


00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:11.110
Magneto TC Sounder uh is uh on a mast


00:22:11.120 --> 00:22:14.549
it's uh eight8 feet tall uh and it


00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:19.149
basically um so Magneto u means uh based


00:22:19.159 --> 00:22:21.269
Earth magnetism so they're they're using


00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:24.029
the Earth's magnetic field uh to sample


00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:26.669
the Deep interior of the Moon to learn


00:22:26.679 --> 00:22:28.950
more about the con the structure and


00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:31.870
composition of the moon's mantle uh and


00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:33.830
uh a couple of days ago March the 8


00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:35.430
that's the latest I've got I should


00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:37.190
probably update this but I won't just


00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.190
now um planned power cycling for Luna


00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:43.190
noon Luna noon is when the sun is at its


00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:46.350
highest in the sky yeah this is um one


00:22:46.360 --> 00:22:47.669
of the problems you're trying to


00:22:47.679 --> 00:22:50.070
overcome because of the temperatures yes


00:22:50.080 --> 00:22:53.070
on the service during the lunar day


00:22:53.080 --> 00:22:54.750
risks sort of


00:22:54.760 --> 00:22:57.990
cooking exactly so they they power cycle


00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.430
it to keep but cool which I think is


00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.029
pretty cool


00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:05.230
again but the the latest thing they've


00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:08.990
done Fred is um drilling operations okay


00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.070
they performed um list


00:23:12.080 --> 00:23:14.630
operations um mounted below the the


00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:17.510
lower deck uh NASA's Luna


00:23:17.520 --> 00:23:20.029
instrumentation for subsurface thermal


00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:23.549
Exploration with rapidity


00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:27.470
list it it's a Pneumatic gas um powered


00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:30.149
drill yep um through uh which was


00:23:30.159 --> 00:23:33.149
developed by Texas Tech University so


00:23:33.159 --> 00:23:34.950
they they're they're doing a lot of work


00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:37.110
up there it's really exciting and um


00:23:37.120 --> 00:23:39.310
yeah so far so good everything's worked


00:23:39.320 --> 00:23:41.950
that's correct um just a a quick word of


00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.470
explanation as well the lunar moon thing


00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.750
is pretty important a maximum


00:23:46.760 --> 00:23:50.789
temperature of about 120 Celsius um but


00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:53.390
they are this spacecraft landed in


00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:56.789
Marium the Sea of crises which is very


00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.350
near the lunar equation


00:23:59.360 --> 00:24:01.669
so the Sun is going to be very high in


00:24:01.679 --> 00:24:03.029
the sky it'll be like being in the


00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:05.390
tropics here on Earth uh which is why


00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:07.350
that's such a big issue you know to to


00:24:07.360 --> 00:24:10.470
keep the the lunar noon U everything


00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.470
working properly yeah if you would like


00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.669
to follow the uh the mission the blue go


00:24:14.679 --> 00:24:18.190
Mission you can go to Firefly space.com


00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:21.990
that's their website uh From Success to


00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:24.630
a Successful Failure we'll call it this


00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:28.789
uh is a a mission that uh landed in a


00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:31.669
very different place on the moon um very


00:24:31.679 --> 00:24:34.470
close to the the South polar region


00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:36.750
unfortunately and this is the second


00:24:36.760 --> 00:24:39.389
time that it's happened to this company


00:24:39.399 --> 00:24:41.950
the land fell over that's right so they


00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:43.710
landed successfully as they did with


00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:45.190
another spacecraft about a couple of


00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:50.029
years ago um a successful Landing but it


00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:54.870
fell over uh that's twice and it's so


00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:59.029
sad because um a Lander that is expected


00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:02.710
to be seeing the Sun and receiving power


00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:05.029
through its solar panels uh suddenly


00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:06.870
finds itself on its side where it can't


00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.789
see the Sun or the solar panels can't uh


00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:12.830
and essentially uh the spacecraft dies


00:25:12.840 --> 00:25:14.470
very rapidly because the batteries don't


00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:17.430
last very long I think um it's intuitive


00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.269
machines is the company that's launched


00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.590
this and its predecessor or has has um


00:25:22.600 --> 00:25:25.789
built it and and deployed it uh they did


00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:29.230
as much as they could uh in the you know


00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:30.990
the the short time they had before the


00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.310
batteries run out but it's now been


00:25:33.320 --> 00:25:38.029
declared dead sadly uh um it's a it's a


00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:41.549
very brave attempt um I think uh I read


00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:44.190
a comment last week when we were talking


00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:47.310
about blue Ghost successful Landing uh


00:25:47.320 --> 00:25:50.590
one of the reasons that they think they


00:25:50.600 --> 00:25:53.110
were successful uh it's probably


00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:55.029
actually easier to land in Mari Chisum


00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:56.510
than it is near the South Pole because


00:25:56.520 --> 00:25:58.029
there's so many mountains and rocks and


00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:00.149
things near the South Pole but one of


00:26:00.159 --> 00:26:02.950
the things that um uh the Firefly


00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:05.549
Aerospace credited with their success


00:26:05.559 --> 00:26:08.269
was the fact that their Lander has very


00:26:08.279 --> 00:26:12.470
wide uh a very wide qu it's a quadripod


00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.470
it's four legs um which are spread well


00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:17.830
out with the spacecraft itself having a


00:26:17.840 --> 00:26:20.870
low center of gravity and when you look


00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:23.350
at the intuitive machines spacecraft you


00:26:23.360 --> 00:26:25.110
can see it's the opposite their their


00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:27.029
Landing legs are relatively close


00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:30.149
together and that it's a tall a tall


00:26:30.159 --> 00:26:32.310
spacecraft I think it's 8 meters it's


00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:33.990
and I might have that wrong that's very


00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:38.230
big but it's very tall uh it's um and


00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:40.590
you know so you've only got to get a


00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:43.029
slight I don't know maybe even a a


00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:45.070
rebound from the lunar surface at the


00:26:45.080 --> 00:26:46.950
wrong angle and what's going to happen


00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.070
it's going to fall over and sadly that's


00:26:49.080 --> 00:26:51.789
what's happened yep um the first mission


00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:57.830
I am one uh tipped over um and uh it


00:26:57.840 --> 00:27:02.990
sort of um we had a four um leg system


00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:04.909
uh but one of the legs broke after it


00:27:04.919 --> 00:27:08.669
landed on the surface and uh yeah it


00:27:08.679 --> 00:27:10.830
landed heavier than they yeah that will


00:27:10.840 --> 00:27:13.870
be another yeah im2 was the name of this


00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:17.549
one and uh yeah I'm not sure they've


00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:19.830
actually figured out what happened as


00:27:19.840 --> 00:27:23.710
such um but it had so many really great


00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:26.029
toys on board it carried two small


00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:30.990
Rovers car robot robot Grace uh which


00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:33.990
was going to sort of drill for Ice uh


00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:37.470
this was not a cheap loss either 62.5


00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:40.070
million um yeah it must be so


00:27:40.080 --> 00:27:42.070
disappointing I mean they they they got


00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:44.269
it down on the ground but uh something


00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:46.549
just yeah and they might have just hit a


00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:49.509
hit a rock who knows but um very very


00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:52.630
disappointing for um for the Athena


00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:58.230
Mission uh on the moon


00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:02.230
I feel fine Space Nuts um Fred let's


00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:04.509
move on to another Successful Failure CU


00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:08.029
they keep calling it that and this is uh


00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:10.990
a Starship explosion now we only talked


00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:13.669
about one last week with all the sky lit


00:28:13.679 --> 00:28:15.710
up by debris falling back into the


00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:18.789
atmosphere and it's happened


00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:21.430
again yes that's correct uh Starship


00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:25.110
flight 8 uh a bit of sweet one because


00:28:25.120 --> 00:28:28.549
they successfully brought the the Falcon


00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:30.630
super heavy booster back and grabbed it


00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.430
by those Chopsticks yep on the Launchpad


00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:36.269
that all worked flawlessly but the


00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:38.750
spacecraft itself the Starship uh


00:28:38.760 --> 00:28:40.750
suffered what's it called a rapid


00:28:40.760 --> 00:28:44.950
unscheduled disassembly uh in uh in


00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:47.750
space there's more which was blamed on


00:28:47.760 --> 00:28:51.190
an energetic event yes that's right an


00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:53.070
energetic event I think we call that an


00:28:53.080 --> 00:28:55.990
explosion don't we I think we do I think


00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:59.830
we do yeah um uh but it it actually um


00:28:59.840 --> 00:29:03.070
it was a little bit startling because um


00:29:03.080 --> 00:29:04.149
the


00:29:04.159 --> 00:29:07.870
explosion uh happened over land and


00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.870
there was a lot of debris visible the


00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:12.509
explosion was photographed by many


00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:15.470
people yes and um I think they're


00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:18.190
probably mostly in Florida and um yeah


00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:21.230
the uh the Dey Cloud that was coming


00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:23.190
back down to Earth was very very


00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:24.870
spectacular there's quite a lot of movie


00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:27.630
footage on the web that you can find and


00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:29.789
one of the one of the big problems this


00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:33.269
causes is it um it creates Havoc for


00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:36.509
domestic air tra yes yes I think for


00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.110
nearly an hour and a half flights at


00:29:39.120 --> 00:29:41.789
four airports in Florida had to be CED


00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:44.950
just in case yep yep Miami Fort laale


00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:47.470
Palm Beach in Orlando yeah that's a big


00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:50.669
worry it is that's right uh it is indeed


00:29:50.679 --> 00:29:53.110
it's a big worry and that you're going


00:29:53.120 --> 00:29:55.710
to have bits of Starship raining down on


00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:58.269
your flight so


00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:00.950
yeah they uh I think um I think they all


00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:03.230
just kept all their aircraft grounded


00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:06.070
until the you know till the thing had


00:30:06.080 --> 00:30:10.509
all Fallen back to Earth so another yeah


00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:11.950
I mean there have been if I remember


00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:13.310
rightly there have been


00:30:13.320 --> 00:30:16.590
two of these re-entries of the Starship


00:30:16.600 --> 00:30:18.149
they haven't tried to put Starship into


00:30:18.159 --> 00:30:20.029
orbit properly yet but two of the


00:30:20.039 --> 00:30:22.590
re-entries have been better controlled


00:30:22.600 --> 00:30:26.509
one uh got down to a sort of touchdown


00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:28.750
speed over the ocean but I think then


00:30:28.760 --> 00:30:31.149
exploded before it hit the water um


00:30:31.159 --> 00:30:33.389
there's quite a Litany of uh of


00:30:33.399 --> 00:30:35.350
interesting stuff going on with this of


00:30:35.360 --> 00:30:38.149
course Elon Musk has a huge investment


00:30:38.159 --> 00:30:41.310
in this uh in the success of this uh


00:30:41.320 --> 00:30:43.590
vehicle because he's contracted to land


00:30:43.600 --> 00:30:46.909
the Artimus uh astronauts on the moon


00:30:46.919 --> 00:30:49.830
with it with the Starship spacecraft and


00:30:49.840 --> 00:30:51.310
those astronauts must be looking at


00:30:51.320 --> 00:30:53.950
these and they railing yeah exactly


00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:55.509
they're already they've already been


00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:57.029
fingered they know who they are and if


00:30:57.039 --> 00:30:58.710
they're watching the TV


00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:01.269
think yeah yes yes it would have been a


00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:03.430
lot of beeping on the audio coverage I


00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:06.750
imagine um Elon Musk described this one


00:31:06.760 --> 00:31:09.230
as a minor setback which he always tends


00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:12.830
to do I think he does yeah yeah uh so uh


00:31:12.840 --> 00:31:15.430
to that Successful Failure to a


00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:18.230
successful success now this uh is


00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:20.629
another um thing they' found in


00:31:20.639 --> 00:31:23.950
Australia uh this is the V Space capture


00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:25.950
which came back to Earth and it's the


00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:28.669
first commercial Landing in back


00:31:28.679 --> 00:31:31.549
Australia um this was a California


00:31:31.559 --> 00:31:34.230
company and I love it because the the


00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.149
name of the spacecraft was W2 which


00:31:37.159 --> 00:31:40.149
stands for Winnebago


00:31:40.159 --> 00:31:43.950
to it was a long slow Mission um but


00:31:43.960 --> 00:31:47.310
yeah the capsule was launched along with


00:31:47.320 --> 00:31:48.430
another


00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:52.190
130 um things on the payload of a SpaceX


00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:56.190
Falcon 9 and they record they they they


00:31:56.200 --> 00:31:59.110
report it as a um a IDE share Mission so


00:31:59.120 --> 00:32:01.310
this is Uber in space


00:32:01.320 --> 00:32:04.909
bake uh but they they um orbited the


00:32:04.919 --> 00:32:07.710
planet for six weeks and then the capsu


00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:10.149
made a um a plunge back into Earth's


00:32:10.159 --> 00:32:13.909
atmosphere and landed at the kibba test


00:32:13.919 --> 00:32:17.149
range in South Australia and it it this


00:32:17.159 --> 00:32:20.269
was a a spacecraft that uh carried a


00:32:20.279 --> 00:32:22.830
spectrometer uh from the Air Force


00:32:22.840 --> 00:32:26.350
research labs and um the Vada enhanced


00:32:26.360 --> 00:32:28.710
pharmaceutical reactor because what


00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:31.830
they're looking at doing is zerog


00:32:31.840 --> 00:32:34.509
manufacturing this is um yeah so they're


00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:37.029
very excited this was a a huge success


00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:38.470
for


00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:41.470
them and um we wish them well because


00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:42.750
there's not much more I can tell you


00:32:42.760 --> 00:32:44.750
about


00:32:44.760 --> 00:32:47.629
it I guess we'll find out more as they


00:32:47.639 --> 00:32:49.509
as they further develop it but what's


00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:53.350
what's the advantage of micro G yeah so


00:32:53.360 --> 00:32:56.149
I think I think um you can you can


00:32:56.159 --> 00:32:58.669
create uh


00:32:58.679 --> 00:33:01.070
chemistry pH pharmacology by the sound


00:33:01.080 --> 00:33:04.230
of it you can create um bonds between


00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:06.470
the molecules that behave a little bit


00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:08.029
differently I think from what you do


00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:11.190
under Gravity uh and just the structural


00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:12.950
Integrity of things is different in


00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:15.549
microgravity so uh I think there are a


00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:17.110
lot of experiments being done to see if


00:33:17.120 --> 00:33:19.750
we can do things make them better make


00:33:19.760 --> 00:33:22.909
them more successful the more


00:33:22.919 --> 00:33:24.950
expensive


00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:28.230
yes yeah uh I think as it um Ed the


00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:31.230
atmosphere at hit Mark 15 yeah that's


00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:33.909
that would yes he Dar quick not bad for


00:33:33.919 --> 00:33:37.029
a winnner Bago okay uh you can read that


00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:40.389
story at face.com uh Fred we are done


00:33:40.399 --> 00:33:42.470
thank you so much great pleasure Andrew


00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:44.190
always good to chat some good stories


00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:47.909
too yeah yeah it's a very active episode


00:33:47.919 --> 00:33:49.549
if you wouldd like to catch up on


00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:51.590
anything Space Nuts related don't forget


00:33:51.600 --> 00:33:55.029
our website SPAC nuts podcast.com and


00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:56.669
you can have a look around while you're


00:33:56.679 --> 00:33:59.750
there not only at our past episodes but


00:33:59.760 --> 00:34:02.149
uh some of the U program notes if you're


00:34:02.159 --> 00:34:03.750
interested in chasing up anything we've


00:34:03.760 --> 00:34:06.470
talked about are always there H is very


00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:09.750
diligent with that kind of thing and um


00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:11.990
plenty of other things to see and do on


00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:13.069
our


00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:17.030
website uh now um I always thank Hugh in


00:34:17.040 --> 00:34:18.869
the studio who couldn't be Hugh in the


00:34:18.879 --> 00:34:20.790
studio today because apparently he was


00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:23.389
out taking a walk and came across this


00:34:23.399 --> 00:34:25.510
little luna Lander and thought no one's


00:34:25.520 --> 00:34:27.389
watching gave it a shoulder charge and


00:34:27.399 --> 00:34:30.349
that was the end of that uh and from me


00:34:30.359 --> 00:34:31.909
Andrew Dunley thanks for your company


00:34:31.919 --> 00:34:33.869
we'll see you on the very next episode


00:34:33.879 --> 00:34:37.430
of Space Nuts bye-bye nuts you'll be


00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:40.270
listening to the Space Nuts


00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:43.270
podcast available at Apple podcasts


00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:46.349
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00:34:46.359 --> 00:34:48.589
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00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:51.310
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00:34:51.320 --> 00:34:53.750
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00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:56.560
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