Feb. 5, 2026

One Million Satellites, Space Mushrooms & the Search for Martian Shorelines | Space Nuts:...

One Million Satellites, Space Mushrooms & the Search for Martian Shorelines | Space Nuts:...
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One Million Satellites, Space Mushrooms & the Search for Martian Shorelines | Space Nuts:...
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One Million Satellites, Space Mushrooms, and Martian Shorelines

In this action-packed episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson explore a variety of cosmic topics that will leave you both informed and entertained. From the ambitious plan to launch a million satellites to the intriguing discovery of Martian shorelines, this episode covers the latest in space exploration and technology.

Episode Highlights:

- One Million Satellites: Andrew and Fred dive into the shocking news of SpaceX's application to launch up to one million satellites. They discuss the implications of this vast constellation on astronomical observations and the potential challenges it poses for the night sky.

- Good News from Chile: The hosts celebrate the cancellation of a large energy project in Chile that threatened to introduce light pollution near some of the world's most significant telescopes. They commend the decision to prioritize astronomical integrity over industrial development.

- Artemis II Launch Delay: Following the latest updates on NASA's Artemis II mission, Andrew and Fred discuss a hydrogen leak that has postponed the launch. They reflect on the importance of safety in space exploration and the challenges faced by the Artemis program.

- Space Mushrooms: In a delightful twist, the hosts share a fascinating story about astronauts who grew mushrooms in space and enjoyed them upon their return. They highlight the significance of this experiment for future long-duration space missions and food sustainability.

- Perseverance Goes AI: The episode wraps up with a discussion on the Perseverance rover's recent milestone of executing its first autonomous drive on Mars, planned entirely by artificial intelligence. Andrew and Fred explore what this means for future Mars exploration and the potential benefits of AI in space missions.

- Martian Shorelines: Finally, the hosts reveal exciting new evidence of ancient shorelines on Mars, suggesting that large bodies of water once existed on the planet. This discovery expands the timeline for potential life on Mars and adds to the growing body of evidence supporting a more Earth-like past for our neighboring planet.


For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/) Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.

If you’d like to help support Space Nuts and join our growing family of insiders for commercial-free episodes and more, visit spacenutspodcast.com/about (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/about) .

Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.


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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/31531469?utm_source=youtube

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:01.910
Hello again. Thanks for joining us. This


00:00:01.920 --> 00:00:04.710
is Space Nuts. My name is Andrew Dunky.


00:00:04.720 --> 00:00:06.390
Thanks for joining us. We've got a big


00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.629
program today. It is jam-packed. We've


00:00:08.639 --> 00:00:10.870
got 27


00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:15.030
at least 27 maybe six stories. Um


00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:16.550
here's one. I I don't know if you heard


00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:19.429
the song um 1 million bicycles in


00:00:19.439 --> 00:00:21.910
Beijing. It probably wasn't a big hit,


00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.870
but now we're talking 1 million


00:00:24.880 --> 00:00:27.750
satellites in space. Yep. It's it's a


00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.669
possible thing. Uh, some good news out


00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:31.189
of Chile though. We'll talk about that.


00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:33.910
Artemus 2, not bad news. Probably not


00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.549
surprising news. A launch delay. Space


00:00:36.559 --> 00:00:39.510
mushrooms. Yes, they are real and they


00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:41.510
are very yummy. Apparently, uh,


00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:45.030
Perseverance is going AI and they have


00:00:45.040 --> 00:00:47.830
discovered or confirmed a Martian


00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:49.670
shoreline. We'll talk about all of that


00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:52.150
on this episode of Space Nuts.


00:00:52.160 --> 00:00:57.029
>> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9


00:00:57.039 --> 00:00:58.790
Ignition sequence start.


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>> Space Nuts.


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>> 5 4 3 2


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>> 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1


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>> Space Nuts.


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>> Astronauts report. It feels good.


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>> And taking a break from a little sojourn


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to a horrible part of the world in


00:01:13.119 --> 00:01:15.590
Australia is Professor Fred Watson,


00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:17.990
astronomer at large. Hello, Fred.


00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.230
>> Hello. Hello, Andrew. Greetings from


00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:21.109
Nelson Bay.


00:01:21.119 --> 00:01:23.350
>> Yeah, dreadful, dreadful place. I I


00:01:23.360 --> 00:01:25.670
spent much of my youth in Nelson Bay,


00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.550
just north of Newcastle. It's just um it


00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:30.390
was a sleepy little fishing village when


00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:33.990
I used to go there, but now it's just um


00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.910
nothing like that.


00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.590
>> Well, it's been discovered, hasn't it?


00:01:37.600 --> 00:01:39.670
That's the thing. You know, two two


00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:43.030
hours from Sydney, it's uh and what,


00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:44.950
half an hour from Newcastle. It's not


00:01:44.960 --> 00:01:46.310
really


00:01:46.320 --> 00:01:49.030
>> It's It's bound to be a target. And it's


00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:50.710
still got its charm, though. I have to


00:01:50.720 --> 00:01:52.310
say as we were talking a few minutes


00:01:52.320 --> 00:01:54.630
ago, I've been coming here for 43 years


00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.670
nearly. In fact, it is it's 43 years and


00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:00.630
uh and uh it's as you exactly as you've


00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.270
said, it's very very different, but it's


00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.749
still uh geographically it's a lovely


00:02:05.759 --> 00:02:08.869
spot with Port Stevens, this huge


00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:12.150
expanse of water uh with um you know,


00:02:12.160 --> 00:02:15.350
islands in it and uh hills all around.


00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:16.949
Really quite remarkable.


00:02:16.959 --> 00:02:19.350
>> It is lovely. Yeah. Uh I miss it a lot.


00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:20.710
The last time we were there was for a


00:02:20.720 --> 00:02:22.229
beach wedding, but that's going back a


00:02:22.239 --> 00:02:23.830
few years. But even then, it didn't look


00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.070
like the, you know, the fishing village


00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.790
that I grew up, is it?


00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.350
>> Uh while we're talking about different


00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.229
places, um I was having a bit of a um I


00:02:34.239 --> 00:02:36.309
don't know what you'd call it, a job at


00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:39.430
Colorado's cold weather uh on a recent


00:02:39.440 --> 00:02:42.550
episode. And um I I got a note from


00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:44.710
Michael who said um on the podcast


00:02:44.720 --> 00:02:45.990
you're concerned about the frigid


00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.390
temperatures in Colorado. Unfortunately,


00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:49.830
we've just had one of the warmest


00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.910
Decembers on record with daily highs


00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:54.550
often 10 to 15° C. That's that's a


00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:57.589
winter in do um until this weekend,


00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.670
January, uh was on track to be well


00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.869
above normal uh with highs around 7 to


00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.430
10. And to add insult to injury, our


00:03:05.440 --> 00:03:07.670
mountain snow packs are the worst on


00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:13.509
record. Uh, and while our um um USB50


00:03:13.519 --> 00:03:16.070
ski industry is getting hurt, the real


00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:17.990
problem is that they rely on melting


00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.470
snow for water and they didn't get a lot


00:03:20.480 --> 00:03:23.990
of snow this year. So, um, yeah. Uh,


00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.949
that's that's a scary one. Um, and and I


00:03:26.959 --> 00:03:28.309
I think a lot of places in the world


00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:31.350
rely on snow for, you know, the the the


00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.190
spring melt for their water supplies.


00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:35.830
So, hopefully that's just a one-off in


00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:37.350
Colorado.


00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:39.750
Um, got a lot to talk about, Fred. Let's


00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:43.350
start with this uh this


00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:45.430
news that we received uh during the


00:03:45.440 --> 00:03:47.589
week. It's it's been um highly


00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:49.110
publicized.


00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.229
Uh Elon Musk, SpaceX


00:03:52.239 --> 00:03:54.630
has put in an application to launch


00:03:54.640 --> 00:03:58.149
possibly 1 million satellites. 1


00:03:58.159 --> 00:03:59.990
million. This this is a a completely


00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.429
different project to that of um uh uh


00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:06.550
the the um internet service that he's


00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.229
that he's been working on. This this is


00:04:08.239 --> 00:04:10.789
another kettle of fish.


00:04:10.799 --> 00:04:14.309
>> It is it's an orbiting data center. Uh


00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:17.590
>> so uh in fact SpaceX has basically


00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.909
teamed up with another company, an AI


00:04:19.919 --> 00:04:23.510
company. Um and together there is this


00:04:23.520 --> 00:04:28.310
plan to launch three sorry not 300,000 a


00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:30.629
million satellites


00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.950
um between 500 kilometers and 200 2,000


00:04:34.960 --> 00:04:40.230
kilometers in altitude um and at


00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:43.830
probably quite interesting inclinations


00:04:43.840 --> 00:04:46.870
not far from the equator uh and also


00:04:46.880 --> 00:04:51.030
some uh which will be in polar orbits


00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:54.469
What's the idea? Well, you you basically


00:04:54.479 --> 00:04:57.749
harness the sun's energy uh using these


00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.390
uh these spacecraft uh in order to power


00:05:00.400 --> 00:05:04.310
your data center uh and you link them by


00:05:04.320 --> 00:05:08.230
lasers essentially optical links. Uh and


00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.350
so uh the you know the the whole thing


00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:13.749
then engages with Starlink to send the


00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:17.430
data up and down to the earth. So it's a


00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:20.550
it's a wild idea. Um, it fills


00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:23.189
astronomers with horror. Uh, because a


00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:25.749
million satellites in orbit is just


00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.390
gonna completely pollute the sky.


00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:29.430
Especially


00:05:29.440 --> 00:05:32.390
>> when you have the some of them at 2,000


00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:33.990
kilometers, which means that they're


00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.870
they're visible for in fact at some


00:05:36.880 --> 00:05:39.029
latitudes they'll be visible all night.


00:05:39.039 --> 00:05:41.990
>> Uh, so that's uh, yep, that's uh, the


00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:44.150
latest shock horror. Uh, that is a


00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:45.990
filing that has gone, I think I'm right


00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.909
in saying, to the Federal Communications


00:05:47.919 --> 00:05:51.350
Commission. Uh I don't know whether it's


00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:52.710
been filed with the International


00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:54.950
Telecommunications Union which is the


00:05:54.960 --> 00:05:58.310
only international body that uh can


00:05:58.320 --> 00:06:01.110
basically regulates um space flights.


00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.110
There are many national bodies but uh


00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.670
the only international one is the ITU.


00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:09.189
Uh I would guess they would accept it uh


00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.070
because they accepted a filing back in


00:06:12.080 --> 00:06:14.950
2020 for 300,000 satellites put in by


00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:18.309
the Rwanda government. Um, but that uh


00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:19.909
if it hasn't already, and I don't think


00:06:19.919 --> 00:06:21.830
it has yet, that will have expired


00:06:21.840 --> 00:06:22.950
because I think they've only lost


00:06:22.960 --> 00:06:25.990
launched one cubat uh rather than


00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.189
300,000. So, it might be a little bit a


00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.029
little bit like the Rwanda was something


00:06:31.039 --> 00:06:34.150
like putting your foot in the door uh to


00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:36.629
uh you know to uh to to stake a claim.


00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:38.469
But we will see what happens. It's a


00:06:38.479 --> 00:06:40.629
very interesting development and said


00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:42.230
one that scares us to death in the


00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.270
world. Yeah, certainly a divisive issue


00:06:45.280 --> 00:06:47.990
and um it's not the first time as you


00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.629
said um the year before last there were


00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:52.390
complaints about the Starlink network


00:06:52.400 --> 00:06:54.950
and you know the blinding of telescopes.


00:06:54.960 --> 00:06:56.950
Astronomers got upset about that. Uh


00:06:56.960 --> 00:06:59.350
Elon Musk has actually rejected those


00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:01.110
claims and he'd probably reject these


00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:03.270
ones too. I mean


00:07:03.280 --> 00:07:06.070
>> it has to be said he's not he hasn't


00:07:06.080 --> 00:07:09.189
really of all the the internet uh supply


00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:11.350
companies of course Starink is the the


00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:13.909
one that's most populous. They've got uh


00:07:13.919 --> 00:07:16.550
9,000 a little bit more than 9,000


00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.589
spacecraft in orbit and um SpaceX has


00:07:19.599 --> 00:07:21.589
worked with the astronomical community


00:07:21.599 --> 00:07:23.909
to try and minimize their effect of of


00:07:23.919 --> 00:07:25.430
all the companies they've been the most


00:07:25.440 --> 00:07:28.150
forthcoming. But it's hard to see how


00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:29.589
when you put it up to a million


00:07:29.599 --> 00:07:31.270
satellites, how you can reconcile that


00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:32.870
with with astronomy.


00:07:32.880 --> 00:07:35.270
>> No. Uh and I might add actually as we


00:07:35.280 --> 00:07:37.909
speak there is a meeting going on in in


00:07:37.919 --> 00:07:40.950
Vienna uh which uh the issue of uh what


00:07:40.960 --> 00:07:42.790
we call dark and quiet skies the idea of


00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.629
satellite constellations that will be


00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:46.950
discussed this week and then


00:07:46.960 --> 00:07:48.950
>> okay be interesting to see what comes


00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:51.029
out of that. Uh we'll leave that one


00:07:51.039 --> 00:07:52.950
there. Um but I'm sure there'll be more


00:07:52.960 --> 00:07:55.510
about it going forward maybe. Uh let's


00:07:55.520 --> 00:07:57.909
go over to Chile because we talked about


00:07:57.919 --> 00:08:01.270
a um an energy energy project that was


00:08:01.280 --> 00:08:03.110
uh being touted for that part of the


00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:04.790
world which was going to be very close


00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:06.469
to some of the most significant


00:08:06.479 --> 00:08:09.430
telescopes on earth. Uh the problem with


00:08:09.440 --> 00:08:12.309
this energy plant was it was going to be


00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:15.670
um basically the size of a small city.


00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:17.749
So the lighting would have been a major


00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:19.670
issue but that that seems to have all


00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:22.230
been scrapped.


00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:25.990
>> Uh indeed it has. So, so the the problem


00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.350
was uh you're quite right. Um there is


00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.230
there are two mountains in Chile which


00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.230
aren't notable for astronomy. They've


00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.230
both got optical telescopes. One is


00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.589
Sarah Paranel which houses the VT uh the


00:08:39.599 --> 00:08:43.750
four 8.2 2 meter uh telescopes of the of


00:08:43.760 --> 00:08:45.750
the very large telescope as it's called


00:08:45.760 --> 00:08:48.150
and about um it's about 20 kilometers


00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:50.389
away on the other side of the valley is


00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.150
a mountain called Sarah Armazone is


00:08:52.160 --> 00:08:53.670
where the biggest telescope in the world


00:08:53.680 --> 00:08:56.550
is being built 39 meter ELT or extremely


00:08:56.560 --> 00:08:58.949
large telescope and in that valley uh


00:08:58.959 --> 00:09:02.630
it's where uh the an energy company AES


00:09:02.640 --> 00:09:07.269
Andes uh they had plans for a factory to


00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.430
use solar and wind energy to make green


00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:10.310
hydrogen


00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:12.710
Uh and as exactly as you've said, it was


00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:15.030
citicized. Uh it were it filled


00:09:15.040 --> 00:09:17.509
astronomers with horror because uh it


00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.470
threatened to put light pollution into a


00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.190
region which so far has been completely


00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.190
dark and which houses perhaps the


00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:27.590
world's most productive and efficient


00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.750
telescope. Certainly when the ELT comes


00:09:29.760 --> 00:09:32.070
along, uh there is nothing to touch it


00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:33.829
anywhere else in the world. It's going


00:09:33.839 --> 00:09:35.750
to be an extraordinary instrument. Uh


00:09:35.760 --> 00:09:38.150
but it's been cancelled. the company has


00:09:38.160 --> 00:09:40.230
pulled out of the project and I think


00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.470
they've taken note of the environmental


00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.389
damage it would do to astronomy. I think


00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:45.750
that's been the reason why they've done


00:09:45.760 --> 00:09:48.870
that and so all credit to people who've


00:09:48.880 --> 00:09:51.269
used common sense to you know to


00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:53.750
progress things they'll no doubt put it


00:09:53.760 --> 00:09:56.070
somewhere else um where it might be less


00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:57.990
damaging because it is a you know it's


00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.949
an environmentally positive uh step.


00:10:00.959 --> 00:10:03.350
Green hydrogen's a great thing to have


00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:06.790
but uh but we don't want it there. No,


00:10:06.800 --> 00:10:09.750
no, but uh hopefully they will be able


00:10:09.760 --> 00:10:11.269
to put it somewhere else because it does


00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.829
sound like a a good project moving


00:10:13.839 --> 00:10:15.990
forward, but just um yeah, not not


00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.550
there. Not in that place. Um yeah,


00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:21.030
>> hats off to them for making that


00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:22.389
decision. It must have been difficult


00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.949
because that's a that's a 10 billion US


00:10:24.959 --> 00:10:26.150
project. That's


00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:26.870
>> very big. Yeah,


00:10:26.880 --> 00:10:27.750
>> that's a lot of bigies.


00:10:27.760 --> 00:10:29.990
>> I suppose that that's the ultimate nimi,


00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.630
isn't it? Uh a nimi pro process. Not in


00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:33.030
my backyard.


00:10:33.040 --> 00:10:34.870
>> Not in my backyard. We got a lot of nimi


00:10:34.880 --> 00:10:36.470
projects around here. I could tell you.


00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:37.430
>> Yes.


00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.430
>> Wind farms, solar farms, the inland


00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:42.630
rail. It's all causing um a lot of


00:10:42.640 --> 00:10:45.670
people to um get a bit nimi. This is


00:10:45.680 --> 00:10:47.990
Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley and


00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:52.550
Professor Fred Watson.


00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:54.550
>> Swift


00:10:54.560 --> 00:10:56.710
base here. The angle has landed.


00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:57.829
>> Space nets.


00:10:57.839 --> 00:11:00.230
>> Okay, Fred. Uh speaking of the boon,


00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.509
let's move our attention to Arteimus 2.


00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:05.190
that uh mission we talked about last


00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.110
week which was getting ready for its wet


00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:09.750
rehearsal and a few other tests and a


00:11:09.760 --> 00:11:13.110
few checkovers. Uh mostly things went


00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.630
well but they did find a hydrogen leak


00:11:16.640 --> 00:11:19.990
and that set them back another month.


00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.750
>> Uh it's a bit like Groundhog Day, isn't


00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:23.829
it really? Cuz this is exactly what


00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:26.470
happened with Arteimus one. Uh and in


00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:27.990
fact at one point I think they took the


00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:29.990
the whole spacecraft back into the


00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.069
vehicle assembly building to to try and


00:11:32.079 --> 00:11:34.310
fix the hydrogen leaks. Uh so yes the


00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.269
wet uh the wet dress rehearsal was this


00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:40.550
past weekend uh our time uh as we are


00:11:40.560 --> 00:11:43.990
speaking today on the recording. Um and


00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.750
the hydrogen leak as I understand it is


00:11:47.760 --> 00:11:50.389
it's the place where the pipe fits into


00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:53.590
the into the tank. You know it's like on


00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:55.670
your car. It's where you stick your the


00:11:55.680 --> 00:11:59.110
fuel bowser in hose into your petrol


00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:01.030
tank. Except it's a little bit more


00:12:01.040 --> 00:12:02.790
complicated than that. But I think


00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:04.870
that's where the leak has been. And it's


00:12:04.880 --> 00:12:08.230
sufficiently it's worrying enough to the


00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.030
engineers and the administrators who are


00:12:11.040 --> 00:12:13.829
overlooking 2 that what they've done is


00:12:13.839 --> 00:12:15.829
they said well actually we need to do


00:12:15.839 --> 00:12:18.310
another wet dress rehearsal when we fix


00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.870
this problem. And that means postponing


00:12:20.880 --> 00:12:23.110
uh at the altimus 2 launch from this


00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:25.829
month which was what we hoped uh to next


00:12:25.839 --> 00:12:28.389
month which means March at the earliest.


00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:32.550
So yes uh a push uh back in uh in in the


00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:33.910
you know in the process.


00:12:33.920 --> 00:12:36.629
>> Will will they leave the launch vehicle


00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:38.550
on the pad at this stage?


00:12:38.560 --> 00:12:40.550
>> I think at the moment that's the plan.


00:12:40.560 --> 00:12:44.389
Uh I haven't heard uh any hints of it


00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:46.150
being taken back to vehicle assembly


00:12:46.160 --> 00:12:47.750
building. That's a you know it's a big


00:12:47.760 --> 00:12:50.150
pro process is a major step to have to


00:12:50.160 --> 00:12:51.910
do that. So they will certainly I think


00:12:51.920 --> 00:12:53.829
be looking at trying to fix it on the


00:12:53.839 --> 00:12:55.269
pad beforehand.


00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.509
>> Okay. And and if they can't Yeah. They


00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:59.590
might have to roll back


00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:00.069
>> Yeah.


00:13:00.079 --> 00:13:01.269
>> again.


00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:02.069
>> Again.


00:13:02.079 --> 00:13:03.910
>> But you know it's it's it's all about


00:13:03.920 --> 00:13:06.150
safety. That's the most important thing.


00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:07.590
And


00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:08.230
>> yeah,


00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.389
>> we you know they they want to get this


00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:14.310
right. So, um, it's better to be a month


00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:17.190
late or even longer than have something


00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.030
go horribly wrong, which we've certainly


00:13:19.040 --> 00:13:20.470
witnessed in the past. And we talked


00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.389
about the anniversary of Colombia last


00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.670
week. And it's, you know, those things


00:13:25.680 --> 00:13:28.790
are still strong in people's minds. You


00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:31.190
got to avoid that at all costs. So, um,


00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:32.949
yeah, hopefully they'll find find the


00:13:32.959 --> 00:13:34.870
problem. Maybe it's a poo valve that's


00:13:34.880 --> 00:13:37.750
just, you know, not


00:13:37.760 --> 00:13:40.550
>> Yeah, it could be a P valve. The real


00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:43.990
problem is hydrogen atoms are so small.


00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:44.389
>> Yeah.


00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.389
>> Uh they're the smallest of all atoms. So


00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.030
they they fit through any tiny crack. Um


00:13:49.040 --> 00:13:52.949
we had a uh at one time uh when I was


00:13:52.959 --> 00:13:54.470
working as an astronomer at Siding


00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:56.790
Spring Observatory, not far from you. Uh


00:13:56.800 --> 00:13:58.949
one of our telescopes used photographic


00:13:58.959 --> 00:14:01.990
plates back in the day. And to sensitize


00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.230
them, we called it hypersensitizing. We


00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:05.670
we actually had to bathe them in


00:14:05.680 --> 00:14:08.389
hydrogen for a period of something like


00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.110
10 hours before they were used and that


00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.670
increased their sensitivity by se


00:14:13.680 --> 00:14:17.030
several orders in fact. Uh um but the


00:14:17.040 --> 00:14:18.550
problem was keeping the hydrogen where


00:14:18.560 --> 00:14:20.870
you wanted it. It tends to leak. Uh it's


00:14:20.880 --> 00:14:23.430
it's a very leaky gas because of the


00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:24.949
small size of the atoms.


00:14:24.959 --> 00:14:26.310
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, just look at the


00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:29.110
Hindenburg. Certainly leaked there.


00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:30.310
>> Yes, that's right.


00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.670
>> Yeah. Um although didn't they figure out


00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:35.430
many many years later that it wasn't the


00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:37.590
hydrogen leaking that was the problem.


00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:41.030
It was the um ah what do they call it


00:14:41.040 --> 00:14:43.750
the stuff in the fabric um that that


00:14:43.760 --> 00:14:45.910
caused the problem. Yeah. It wasn't it


00:14:45.920 --> 00:14:47.350
wasn't actually the hydrogen that was


00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.230
the issue. It was the it was the static


00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.550
electricity in the fabric but it was the


00:14:52.560 --> 00:14:54.069
the lacquer. I think the lacquer.


00:14:54.079 --> 00:14:54.870
>> That was my


00:14:54.880 --> 00:14:55.189
>> Yeah,


00:14:55.199 --> 00:14:56.470
>> that that could be it. That was my


00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:57.750
understanding that it was static


00:14:57.760 --> 00:14:58.550
electricity.


00:14:58.560 --> 00:15:01.990
>> Yeah. different story. But yeah, Artemus


00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.509
2 still on the launch pad. U probably


00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:07.829
the schedule is March the 6th at this


00:15:07.839 --> 00:15:11.910
stage, but um maybe that will change uh


00:15:11.920 --> 00:15:14.470
depending on how the next test goes or


00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:16.310
the wet rehearsal or whatever they do.


00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:17.670
They did want to try and do more than


00:15:17.680 --> 00:15:19.670
one. So um yeah, well, they got an


00:15:19.680 --> 00:15:22.550
opportunity. Now they have to. Um now,


00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:25.350
uh this this story I find fascinating


00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:27.110
and I think you've got a personal


00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:28.389
connection with some of the people


00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:30.629
involved in this, but they have


00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:33.110
basically grown mushrooms in space and


00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:34.710
then they brought them back and had


00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:37.350
lunch.


00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:39.350
That's right. Uh this is actually a


00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.990
friend of ours, um Sarah Webb, who's


00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.069
down in Melbourne. She's a an


00:15:44.079 --> 00:15:46.310
astrophysicist and a science


00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.550
communicator uh which is how we've


00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:50.790
worked with her in the past. But she


00:15:50.800 --> 00:15:56.150
runs uh a project uh to basically engage


00:15:56.160 --> 00:15:59.670
um with the International Space Station


00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:03.189
uh uh on behalf of school school


00:16:03.199 --> 00:16:05.910
students. Uh and so this particular


00:16:05.920 --> 00:16:09.990
project uh was designed by 12 uh by


00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.230
Sarah and and one sorry Sarah and one of


00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:15.110
her colleagues uh plus 12 high school


00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.430
students from Hailbury College in


00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.870
Melbourne uh and um a lot of help from


00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:23.350
professional mushroom growers. Uh what


00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:27.430
they did was they packaged up uh not the


00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:31.430
mushrooms themselves but the things that


00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:35.350
uh essentially act almost like the roots


00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:39.350
of the mushrooms uh which are called uh


00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.670
mascelium uh a word I didn't know


00:16:41.680 --> 00:16:43.509
because I'm not a mushroom expert. The


00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:46.310
small filaments that are essentially the


00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.389
root network of mushrooms. So that's


00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.629
what they sent up. They were in space


00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.470
for a month on the International Space


00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.310
Station. They came back again with a


00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:57.509
crew change. Um, and so what the


00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.310
researchers did uh was to essentially


00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:04.549
take these mcelium uh uh filaments and


00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:07.750
plant them and turn them into mushrooms.


00:17:07.760 --> 00:17:10.230
Uh, and it worked. Uh, it worked well.


00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.549
And so they've now written a rather nice


00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.829
conversation piece which is entitled We


00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:18.150
Ate Space Mushrooms and survived to tell


00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.549
the tale which is I think quite a nice


00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:21.189
title.


00:17:21.199 --> 00:17:23.909
>> It is rather uh I was just looking up


00:17:23.919 --> 00:17:25.829
what the most expensive mushrooms in the


00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.309
world are and they're the yatsa gamboo


00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.390
caterpillar fungus.


00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:34.710
uh and they cost $50 to $63,000


00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.909
per pound because of their rarity and


00:17:37.919 --> 00:17:39.669
apparently they've got medicinal


00:17:39.679 --> 00:17:41.830
properties and you know they grow them


00:17:41.840 --> 00:17:45.909
in the Himalayas. I've got a feeling


00:17:45.919 --> 00:17:48.390
these mushrooms which are based on the


00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.630
lion's mane mushroom.


00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:51.190
>> Yes.


00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:52.870
>> Uh would be a bit more expensive than


00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.510
that by the sound of it.


00:17:55.520 --> 00:17:57.110
>> Yeah, they might be by the time you


00:17:57.120 --> 00:17:58.870
figure in the cost of the International


00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.310
Space Station. That's right. And the


00:18:00.320 --> 00:18:03.029
lion's mane is the one um it's a species


00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:04.549
that it's actually the one that they


00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:08.630
they ate. Um it's just to put this


00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.830
project in context, it's really um you


00:18:11.840 --> 00:18:14.870
know thinking about how you might uh


00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.070
grow fresh food for astronauts on


00:18:18.080 --> 00:18:19.909
longhaul space missions.


00:18:19.919 --> 00:18:22.150
>> Uh you know, if you've got um people


00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.070
going to Mars, you're going to have six,


00:18:24.080 --> 00:18:26.070
seven, eight months in the spacecraft.


00:18:26.080 --> 00:18:29.350
Um can you uh as they say in their


00:18:29.360 --> 00:18:31.190
conversation article, how can you


00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.510
continue to nutritionally support those


00:18:33.520 --> 00:18:37.270
astronauts? Uh and uh that is


00:18:37.280 --> 00:18:39.029
essentially uh one one of the


00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.870
motivations for looking at things like


00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:44.549
growing things in space uh giving them


00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:46.470
um the check out to make sure that they


00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:50.150
don't uh turn poisonous by their zero


00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:51.669
gravity environment, things of that


00:18:51.679 --> 00:18:52.870
sort. And that's what they've done with


00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.630
this. So very nice experiment. Yeah,


00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:56.870
I've been doing a lot of research on how


00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.669
you would feed people on a on a a


00:18:59.679 --> 00:19:02.310
spaceship for a long haul mission. And


00:19:02.320 --> 00:19:05.190
that's one of the solutions uh to to


00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.870
have um basically small farms on on the


00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.110
ship. hydroponics and things like that


00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:13.270
and and grow grow your vegetables and


00:19:13.280 --> 00:19:15.270
and your fungi and


00:19:15.280 --> 00:19:17.510
>> whatever else will grow easily in space


00:19:17.520 --> 00:19:21.110
and supplement the other stuff that you


00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:23.430
have to take with you um which would be


00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.710
the proteins. But uh yeah, it's um it's


00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:31.270
a really interesting um story uh what


00:19:31.280 --> 00:19:33.750
they can do with food. I mean, if you're


00:19:33.760 --> 00:19:35.669
going to spend a year out in space or or


00:19:35.679 --> 00:19:38.549
whatever, you you can't just rely on


00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:42.789
packets of chips. And


00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:44.789
>> yeah, you you won't get out of the hatch


00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:47.270
when you get home. But um yeah,


00:19:47.280 --> 00:19:50.150
nutrition is very important and uh yeah,


00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.549
they got to get that right too uh in


00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.029
time. It's all it's not it's not an easy


00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:56.870
thing, is it? going into space when you


00:19:56.880 --> 00:19:59.750
consider all the logistics involved in


00:19:59.760 --> 00:20:03.750
in feeding and disposal of waste and um


00:20:03.760 --> 00:20:06.470
you know um all the other things that go


00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:08.710
with it. Quite quite extraordinary. But


00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:10.870
uh I wonder what they were like like um


00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.990
I um I think the report basically


00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.549
suggests that they were quite yummy.


00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.029
>> Yes. Um that's right. Exactly that. They


00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:20.150
were very tasty.


00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:20.549
>> Yeah.


00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:22.710
>> I wonder did do you think space changes


00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.830
the the taste of things? Well, in you


00:20:25.840 --> 00:20:27.750
know, that might be one of the um the


00:20:27.760 --> 00:20:31.029
tests that you do. You you you take uh


00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:33.110
mycelium that's been to space and


00:20:33.120 --> 00:20:36.390
mycelium that hasn't and um try try to


00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:37.909
contrast the two. I'm sure they've done


00:20:37.919 --> 00:20:38.710
that, too.


00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.870
>> Yeah, maybe. It's great story. You can


00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:44.070
read it at the conversation website. Uh


00:20:44.080 --> 00:20:46.230
yes, it's called We Ate Space Mushrooms


00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:49.029
and Survived to Tell the Tale. Love it.


00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.110
Uh this is Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley


00:20:51.120 --> 00:20:55.350
and Professor Fred Watson.


00:20:55.360 --> 00:20:57.669
We choose to go to the moon in this


00:20:57.679 --> 00:21:00.149
decade and do the other things not


00:21:00.159 --> 00:21:02.549
because they are easy but because they


00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:03.190
are hard.


00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:05.750
>> These nuts.


00:21:05.760 --> 00:21:07.350
>> Now Fred, we're going to dedicate the


00:21:07.360 --> 00:21:10.630
last section of the show to Mars. And


00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:13.270
this was uh a story that caught me a


00:21:13.280 --> 00:21:15.110
little bit by surprise. We've talked a


00:21:15.120 --> 00:21:17.430
lot about the Perseverance rover and


00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:20.710
what it's up to. Um these two stories


00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:24.230
actually involve Perseverance. Um, but


00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.549
this one, um, yeah, Perseverance has


00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:30.070
gone AI. No more no more human drivers.


00:21:30.080 --> 00:21:32.950
We've left it up to the computers.


00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.669
>> They've That's right. So, it's, um, the


00:21:35.679 --> 00:21:38.630
story is really about the first ever


00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:40.789
drive on Mars, fully planned by


00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.470
artificial intelligence.


00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:42.950
>> Wow.


00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:44.549
>> And it h happened actually at the end of


00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:47.430
last year. Um, the two demonstrations


00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:48.950
carried out on December the 8th and


00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:52.070
December the 10th last year. uh and it's


00:21:52.080 --> 00:21:55.830
all about how you plan a route across


00:21:55.840 --> 00:22:00.070
the terrain uh of Mars uh with no manual


00:22:00.080 --> 00:22:05.669
input. And so it's a a process that uh


00:22:05.679 --> 00:22:09.510
usually is is performed by humans as you


00:22:09.520 --> 00:22:11.830
might expect. People on Earth pouring


00:22:11.840 --> 00:22:15.029
over the maps that we've got the high


00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:16.950
resolution images that have been taken


00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:19.190
by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and


00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:22.230
things of that sort. Um so uh what


00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.270
they've done is given all that to the AI


00:22:25.280 --> 00:22:28.950
um u machine and said okay we want to


00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.470
get to there how do we do it and


00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.350
basically that's what they've done and


00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:39.430
it's um it there's a very nice report on


00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:43.110
this on the uh space.com website


00:22:43.120 --> 00:22:46.870
>> uh that gives us uh a map showing the


00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:50.470
planned and the actual routes that were


00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.390
taken by the Perseverance rover. Uh, and


00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:57.029
it just goes to show how close the


00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:58.870
actual route was to the planned route,


00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:00.149
which means that they, you know, they


00:23:00.159 --> 00:23:03.029
didn't encounter unexpected obstacles


00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:03.990
and things of that sort.


00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:06.549
>> Yeah, that's uh very unlike when I used


00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:07.990
to go in the car with my grandmother.


00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:10.390
She Yeah, I


00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:12.549
remember one day we turned into the


00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:14.310
highway and she was on the wrong side of


00:23:14.320 --> 00:23:16.310
the road.


00:23:16.320 --> 00:23:19.190
>> Anyway, that's not a problem on Mars.


00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:20.710
No, there there isn't a wrong side of


00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:22.950
the road on Mars. That's right. I


00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:25.590
suppose um you know getting off the your


00:23:25.600 --> 00:23:27.750
beaten track is uh but there isn't a


00:23:27.760 --> 00:23:29.270
beaten track. That's the other thing. So


00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:31.110
you're always on virgin territory when


00:23:31.120 --> 00:23:34.470
you're uh driving a spacecraft on Mars.


00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:38.149
Um I think um I think it's uh a step


00:23:38.159 --> 00:23:40.390
forward because I think there's quite a


00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:46.470
lot of uh you know work goes in uh to um


00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.230
the the the


00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:50.870
human planning of the the routes to


00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:56.230
Mars. Um it's it's uh it's a labor


00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:59.110
intensive process. Um in fact I might


00:23:59.120 --> 00:24:01.190
read a little bit from that space.com


00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:04.710
article which is really quite sums up


00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:06.710
the the whole process. Uh because Mars


00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:09.750
is an average of 150 million miles or


00:24:09.760 --> 00:24:12.070
225 million kilometers from Earth.


00:24:12.080 --> 00:24:14.070
Communication delays make realtime


00:24:14.080 --> 00:24:16.710
control impossible. For decades mission


00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:18.710
teams have instead planned daily routes


00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.430
by hand. Human drivers analyze the


00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:24.789
terrain and rover status data,


00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.430
then map out paths using way points,


00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:29.430
typically spaced no more than about 100


00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.190
meters, 330 ft apart, to avoid hazards.


00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:34.870
And then these plans are sent to Mars


00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.430
via the deep space network where the


00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:42.070
rover executes them. Uh so this is uh uh


00:24:42.080 --> 00:24:44.149
really um you know a step forward. If


00:24:44.159 --> 00:24:46.470
you can get AI to do all that, then the


00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:48.470
other mission scientists could go and do


00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.269
something else like analyze uh what the


00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.669
what the sample uh you know sample


00:24:53.679 --> 00:24:55.590
gatherers are telling us about the


00:24:55.600 --> 00:24:56.789
terrain on Mars.


00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:59.990
>> Yeah. Uh it's it's a big leap forward


00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.549
really. And when you think about it, I


00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.549
mean


00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.470
they've they've done it pretty tough


00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:08.549
trying to make decisions about where to


00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:10.149
where to go and how to do it. And if you


00:25:10.159 --> 00:25:12.470
have to make a direction change, the


00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.390
time factor is like 4 minutes up to 24


00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.630
minutes to get the message to


00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:20.470
Perseverance


00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:22.149
and then you got to wait that time again


00:25:22.159 --> 00:25:23.510
for the message to come back saying,


00:25:23.520 --> 00:25:25.909
"No, we hit a rock."


00:25:25.919 --> 00:25:28.149
>> That's right. Yes. So, yeah. Exactly.


00:25:28.159 --> 00:25:29.990
So, um you know, that's why you've got


00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.310
to upload the the instructions


00:25:32.320 --> 00:25:35.430
beforehand. Um and if AI can help with


00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:36.789
that, so much the better.


00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:38.710
>> Yeah. Incredible. Yeah. I I mean you


00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:40.950
hear a lot of doom and gloom about AI


00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:43.269
from certain commentators. Uh you know


00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:45.750
it's going to be the end of humanity.


00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:48.710
That's the extreme. But it's so useful.


00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:51.029
Like even in general day-to-day stuff,


00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:53.830
uh it is so very useful. I was trying to


00:25:53.840 --> 00:25:55.350
look something up the other day and I


00:25:55.360 --> 00:25:58.070
could not get the wording right in my


00:25:58.080 --> 00:26:00.870
browser for it to look up what I wanted.


00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:02.870
It doesn't happen often like that, but


00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.830
it was driving me nuts. So, I just went


00:26:05.840 --> 00:26:08.549
to um AI mode and went, I want to know


00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:09.990
this. And it went ding, ding, ding,


00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:13.430
done. It's it's pretty impressive stuff.


00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:15.430
>> Really impressive stuff. And we're only


00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:17.350
at the very dawning of it, aren't we?


00:26:17.360 --> 00:26:19.190
Really, it's it's only in the early


00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.710
days. And uh it makes me wonder, Fred,


00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:25.430
what we can use in terms of AI as


00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:28.710
day-to-day people, what have they got


00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:33.190
going in secret, you know, in in in


00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:35.269
the dark rooms of the military and


00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:37.830
places like that. Their AI systems must


00:26:37.840 --> 00:26:39.909
be amazing.


00:26:39.919 --> 00:26:41.269
>> Yeah, that's where it really starts


00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:43.510
worrying when you let robots go off and


00:26:43.520 --> 00:26:44.470
kill people.


00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.149
>> Yeah, that'll happen one day.


00:26:46.159 --> 00:26:46.630
>> Yeah,


00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:48.789
>> I don't doubt it. But, uh, yeah,


00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.750
fantastic story about Perseverance, uh,


00:26:51.760 --> 00:26:54.310
using AI technology to find its way


00:26:54.320 --> 00:26:56.710
around and, uh, maybe it'll miss those


00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:58.630
rocks now. And you can read it at


00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.470
space.com.


00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:05.029
Still on Mars and, uh, still on the, um,


00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:08.230
Perseverance rover. Uh, this is a


00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.149
fabulous story to finish on, Fred. And


00:27:10.159 --> 00:27:12.390
this is I I think we've talked about the


00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:16.950
potential for a shoreline uh being


00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.269
suggested for Mars, but now they reckon


00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:21.750
they've actually uncovered


00:27:21.760 --> 00:27:24.870
definitive evidence of it. That's right.


00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:26.710
Yes. So you you're absolutely right.


00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:29.750
There's um uh for a long time there have


00:27:29.760 --> 00:27:32.390
been features in just in the geomapology


00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:34.470
of Mars the you know the layout of the


00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:39.990
land that uh suggest uh shorelines uh


00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.789
from this this hypothetical ocean which


00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:46.789
that the evidence is building probably


00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:48.390
covered the northern hemisphere of Mars


00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:50.710
for a long period. Uh we've talked about


00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:52.470
several stories recently that seem to be


00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:54.070
confirming that it was a large body of


00:27:54.080 --> 00:27:56.549
water rather than just a few lakes that


00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.350
came and went uh with uh with the


00:27:59.360 --> 00:28:03.990
climate. Um so but the you know we it's


00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:06.710
one thing identifying possible


00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:09.269
shorelines from orbit but it's quite


00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:12.789
another to have definitive evidence on


00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.029
the ground. And that's uh what


00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:18.389
Perseverance seems to have found now


00:28:18.399 --> 00:28:21.750
with an analysis of rocks. And we're


00:28:21.760 --> 00:28:23.909
still talking about Jezero Crater, which


00:28:23.919 --> 00:28:26.310
is where the spacecraft is. Remember,


00:28:26.320 --> 00:28:27.909
it's this crater that we believe was


00:28:27.919 --> 00:28:30.389
once full of water. And there's a a


00:28:30.399 --> 00:28:32.710
river delta on one side of it, which is


00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.510
what Perseverance is is looking at. Um


00:28:35.520 --> 00:28:38.950
but the shoreline uh hypothesis comes


00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:42.789
about uh and this is actually uh um from


00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:44.710
studies carried out by scientists at


00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:47.029
Imperial College in London. Uh what


00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:49.350
they've done is they've looked at it's


00:28:49.360 --> 00:28:51.990
an area which is called the margin unit.


00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:55.269
Uh interesting you it's sounds bit more


00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:57.110
like a jazz combo to me but it's the


00:28:57.120 --> 00:29:00.230
margin unit. That's the that's the the


00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.669
name of this uh geological feature. M uh


00:29:03.679 --> 00:29:07.430
and it's got a double whammy in terms of


00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:10.789
uh the way its history has evolved


00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:15.430
because uh there's there's signs of uh


00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:17.590
what's been called subsurface water


00:29:17.600 --> 00:29:22.070
activity where you've got water that is


00:29:22.080 --> 00:29:25.190
changing the characteristics of rock. Uh


00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:28.230
and the I think the thinking summarizing


00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:30.070
it very quickly and I hope I'm doing the


00:29:30.080 --> 00:29:32.389
scientist justice in doing this. Uh what


00:29:32.399 --> 00:29:34.070
you've got is basically it starts off


00:29:34.080 --> 00:29:37.430
with volcanic rock but uh that rock is


00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:41.029
then altered by water uh and turns out


00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:43.029
to have uh you know to be sort of


00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.750
carbonacious after that carbon dioxide


00:29:45.760 --> 00:29:48.389
uh rich water underground circulating


00:29:48.399 --> 00:29:51.350
underground. It it gives the a chemical


00:29:51.360 --> 00:29:53.830
alteration to the to the to the


00:29:53.840 --> 00:29:57.350
landscape underground. Um and so that's


00:29:57.360 --> 00:29:59.830
one of the things that this study has


00:29:59.840 --> 00:30:01.909
revealed that that is almost certainly


00:30:01.919 --> 00:30:05.269
what happened. But the other thing is uh


00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:08.630
the fact that they now see evidence of a


00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:12.710
shoreline in terms of the basically the


00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.110
layers the um the there there are


00:30:15.120 --> 00:30:18.630
structures in the sand sandstone which


00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:20.549
is kind of what it is. It's this altered


00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:24.149
rock um which match structures as they


00:30:24.159 --> 00:30:26.789
say typically formed by wave action on


00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:27.669
the shoreline.


00:30:27.679 --> 00:30:27.990
>> Yeah.


00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:30.870
>> Um and a lovely comment from one of the


00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:32.789
uh one of the researchers. We are


00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:35.590
looking at what was once a beach. Uh


00:30:35.600 --> 00:30:38.230
that's Alex Jones who is a PhD student


00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:40.070
at the Imperial College and he's the


00:30:40.080 --> 00:30:43.590
lead author of uh this this study.


00:30:43.600 --> 00:30:45.430
>> Yeah, it's fascinating. So


00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:47.510
>> I I think for me, Fred, the most


00:30:47.520 --> 00:30:49.830
exciting part of this story is that they


00:30:49.840 --> 00:30:52.230
are suggesting this discovery pushes


00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:54.870
back the timeline for conditions that


00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:58.630
would support life on Mars. So it g does


00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.710
that mean that the the time frame is


00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:02.310
much larger than they originally


00:31:02.320 --> 00:31:03.350
thought?


00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:05.190
>> Yes, I think that's the bottom line that


00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:06.789
you you know you you you're giving


00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:10.230
yourself a bigger window uh in which uh


00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:13.430
life could form on Mars. So yes, it's uh


00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:16.310
it is a very nice piece of work. Uh once


00:31:16.320 --> 00:31:18.470
again, it's just adding to the growing


00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:21.510
body of evidence that we we are amassing


00:31:21.520 --> 00:31:23.909
that yes, Mars once had a climate very


00:31:23.919 --> 00:31:24.870
like the Earth's.


00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:28.470
>> Yeah. And may may well have had life as


00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:30.710
a consequence of that. And now that the


00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:35.190
window is bigger, um yeah, it's I my


00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:36.870
brain is saying it's only a matter of


00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:39.909
time before we find the evidence. And


00:31:39.919 --> 00:31:41.830
whether or not there's still life on


00:31:41.840 --> 00:31:43.909
Mars, no one's dismissing that


00:31:43.919 --> 00:31:45.029
possibility either.


00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:47.830
>> No, that's that's right. Exactly.


00:31:47.840 --> 00:31:49.750
Fascinating story. You can read it at


00:31:49.760 --> 00:31:52.149
daily galaxy.com.


00:31:52.159 --> 00:31:56.710
Uh or you can do the uh geeky thing and


00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:58.070
read the paper at the Journal of


00:31:58.080 --> 00:32:01.669
Geoysical Research Planets. Uh gosh,


00:32:01.679 --> 00:32:03.190
Fred, we've uh we've covered a lot of


00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:05.110
territory and we're all done for the


00:32:05.120 --> 00:32:07.430
day. Thank you very much.


00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:09.990
Pleasure and uh great to revisit Mars


00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:11.350
again. Your favorite planet.


00:32:11.360 --> 00:32:12.950
>> Yeah, it's Well, it's got a lot to tell,


00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:14.789
hasn't it? That's that's what makes it


00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:18.230
exciting. Yeah, we've got um um so much


00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.549
going on there and there's always news


00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:22.389
almost every day coming out of Mars.


00:32:22.399 --> 00:32:24.230
Yeah. Fascinating. Thanks, Rick. We'll


00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:25.830
catch you real soon.


00:32:25.840 --> 00:32:27.509
>> That sounds great. See you soon.


00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:29.990
>> See you. Uh and uh don't forget to visit


00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.789
our website uh between episodes. You can


00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:34.870
do that at spaceodcast.com.


00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:36.470
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00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:38.389
have a look around. You can get your uh


00:32:38.399 --> 00:32:41.750
daily uh news feed through our website.


00:32:41.760 --> 00:32:43.269
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00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:46.389
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00:32:46.399 --> 00:32:48.310
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We've got everything. Uh and don't


00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:52.470
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00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:54.630
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00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:01.430
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00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:03.669
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00:33:03.679 --> 00:33:06.070
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00:33:06.080 --> 00:33:08.070
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00:33:08.080 --> 00:33:10.950
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00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:12.950
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00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:15.830
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00:33:15.840 --> 00:33:17.590
thanks to Hugh in the studio who


00:33:17.600 --> 00:33:18.870
couldn't be with us today because he's


00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:20.630
in Brisbane.


00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:22.470
That's funny for a lot of reasons that


00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:24.710
no one will understand, but um anyway,


00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:26.389
we'll leave it there. And from me,


00:33:26.399 --> 00:33:28.470
Andrew Dunley, uh thanks for your


00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:29.669
company. We'll catch you on the next


00:33:29.679 --> 00:33:31.750
episode of Space Nuts. Bye-bye.


00:33:31.760 --> 00:33:32.789
>> Space Nuts.


00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:34.870
>> You'll be listening to the Space Nuts


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