Oct. 31, 2024

#465: Fred's New Frontier, Artemis Landing Zones & Ryugu's Revealing Secrets

Space Nuts #464
Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson in an engaging episode of Space Nuts as they explore significant developments in the world of astronomy and Space exploration. From Fred Watson Watson's career transition to groundbreaking...

Show Notes
Transcript

Space Nuts #464
Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson in an engaging episode of Space Nuts as they explore significant developments in the world of astronomy and Space exploration. From Fred Watson Watson's career transition to groundbreaking lunar missions, this episode is packed with stellar discussions and intriguing insights.
Episode Highlights:
- The Future of Fred Watson: Discover the next chapter in Fred Watson Watson's illustrious career as he transitions from his role as Australia's Astronomer at Large to a new position in academia. Learn how this change could amplify his influence in advocating for Australian astronomy.
- Artemis 3 Landing Sites Announced: NASA has unveiled potential landing sites for the Artemis 3 mission, marking humanity's return to the Moon since 1972. Explore the challenges and scientific potential of these lunar south pole sites.
- New Insights from Ryugu: Delve into the latest findings from the asteroid Ryugu, which may hold clues to the origins of life on Earth. Uncover how these samples could reshape our understanding of planetary formation and life's emergence.
- Titan's Mysteries Unveiled: Recent studies suggest that Saturn's moon Titan could rewrite planetary science. Learn about the unique features of Titan's surface and what they reveal about its geological history and potential for life.
For more Space Nuts, including our continually updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favourite platform.
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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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WEBVTT

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Hi there, Thanks for joining us on another episode of

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Space Nuts. My name is Andrew Uncley, your host, and

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great to have your company, as I tend to say,

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well you know, I ever say it's not great to

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have your company. You know. We're done for now. Who

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was that voice in the background. Now? We a lot

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to talk about today, and one of those things is

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the future of Fred. Yes, Fred's future it's about to change.

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Is he leaving us? Tell you in a minute, Artemis.

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Three landing sites have been announced. There are I think

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about nine of them. We're going to look at some

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new data from the asteroid Reugu, which could shed more

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light on how life ended up here. And the study

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of Titan's moon Saturn's moon Titan. They're saying it might

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rewrite planetary science. That's a biggie all coming up on

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the next episode of Space Nuts right now.

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Fifteen, Channel ten nine ignition sig Wes Space Nuts or

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three two one Space Nurse.

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Hasn't I reported? Neil Good and here he is to

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tell all Professor Fred, what's hell out bread?

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Are you doing? Andrew? Good to see you again.

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Good to see you too. My question should be how

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you doing? Because today's a big day for you.

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It is, Yes, it's a it's a day of some

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note in my life. But the story starts actually on

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the sixteenth of July nineteen seventy three when I became

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a staff astronomer at the Royal Grandwich Observatory in the

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United Kingdom, because that is when I joined the British

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Public Service, and effectively i've been there ever since except

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it switched to the Australian Public Service in twenty ten,

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so I've been a public servant Andrew for fifty one

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years and from my and it comes to an end today.

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So so my role as the nation's astronomer, the Australian

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Government's Astronomer at large, which I've had since twenty eighteen,

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so it's six years that i've been in that job.

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It's coming to an end. So I am going to

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leave the public service. I'm not leaving astronomy. I'm moving

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to a new role in one of the universities here

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in Sydney, which I'm extremely excited about. But it means

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that i'll be able to well, certainly be able to

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carry on with space. Nothing will change there. But it

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also does mean that from outside the government, when you're

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working not in the government, but you're working outside, you

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might be able to have more influence, believe it or not,

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in terms of advocating for the way we hope Australian

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astronomy will go. Getting the message out that astronomy is

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a good thing and that people like it and want

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it to be supported. All of that's easier to do

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outside the government than inside. So in that regard, it's

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a good thing. I'm sad about it. Of course, thirty

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first of October twenty twenty four is as notable as

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the sixteenth of July nineteen seventy three. Yeah, so it's

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you know what I'm I guess I'm sad about is

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the colleagues that I've worked with over the last six

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and a half years, six years and four months. A

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fabulous bunch of people. Public servants are that they're a

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breed on their own. I guess they essentially, you know,

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provide all the information that the government needs to make

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up its mind on its policies, and they are very

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very professional about it, and they're nice people. I've had

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made some great friendships with the people down in Canberra,

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which is where I've been based. Although I live in Sydney,

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so it's all been done over the internet. But yeah,

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we had a little party yesterday down I was down

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there yesterday, drove back yesterday afternoon. We had a bit

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of a celebration, some cake and nice coffee and things

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like that. And they bit me on the way. There's

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another one today actually last day. In fact, immediately after

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this podcast recording, I'll be joining my colleagues online just

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to say a virtual farewell to the ones who are

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scattered over the country. There are people in Western Australia,

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South Australia, all over the place.

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Wow. Gee, it's the end of an era, Fred, And

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I'd say congratulations, first of all for all of those

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decades in astronomy and surviving that long in the public service.

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That's a feed in itself. But I suppose the good

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news is that you are not retiring. We want to

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make that a very solid point. This is not the

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end of your astronomy career, because if it was, you'd

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go from being an astronomer at large to a large astronomer.

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Oh yes, that's probably right. So I I actually should

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just highlight one of the one of the jokes that

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one of my colleagues made quite some years ago when

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I was the new Astronomer at large, because I sent

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them a photograph. I skipped out for lunch down on

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the beach one day here in the Northern Beaches and

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came back and took to them online and said, I said,

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this is where I had lunch. And this gentleman his

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name was Bence Candreck, really nice guy. He said, oh

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you're you're the astronomer A Laplage turned it into the

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French version Astronomer on the Beach, which quite like.

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That's very funny. Yeah, And just to prove the point,

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that's not a door behind Fred. If you're watching a

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video stream, that's actually a very well disguised Malibu surfboard.

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It is a most people don't notice that.

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Oh that's why I'm in journalism. Yes, got to pick

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up on these things. Well, we wish you well, Fred,

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and there'll be more to announce down the track when

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things start shift. But yeah, it's been a wonderful, wonderful

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public service career and you should be very very proud,

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and I'm glad I was able to be a part

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of that for a few years as well.

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Nice to hear and thank you very much for that

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and I mean you and I are going to go

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on forever probably, so that's all right.

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Yeah, we're planning on a couple of billion years because

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we just so much want to see that collision between

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Andromeda and the Milky Way galaxy. So you're hanging and

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hanging on for that. Some other exciting news is and

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this sort of falls at the same time as China

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has launched a mission to test Moon bricks for their

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future base up there. The race back to the Moon

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is really ramping up. The Chinese I think of fired

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a pretty heavy volley that NASA needs to respond to.

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Well.

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I don't know if this is their response, but they've

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certainly made a major announcement they've looked at key landing

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sites for Artemus III.

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Indeed they have, yes, sir. So this is not really

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a response to anything. It's just part of the process

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that the mission planners go through when you are planning

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something as big as Artemis three, which people will remember

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is the first landing of humans on the Moon since

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nineteen seventy two, and will have four NASA astronauts walking

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around the South polar region of the Moon. That's what

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makes this challenging, Andrew, because you know, all the Apollo

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landings were in the middle latitude region of the Moon,

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where a landscape is relatively flat. There were mountains there,

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there were a few sort of highland peaks that they

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landed on, but the south pole region of the Moon

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is quite different. It's very very pop marked with craters,

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a lot of mountains, a lot of you know, evidence

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of past geological history, and of course that's one of

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the reasons why they're going there to be able to

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sample the geology of the Moon's south Pole. So the

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landing zones that have been identified, what they've done is

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they've they've sorted them out, taking into account factors and

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I'm quoting NASA here. Factors in the selection process included science, potential,

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launch window, availability, terrain suitability, you don't want to land

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on a mountaintop, communication capabilities with earth, and lighting conditions,

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so all of those things have to go in the mix.

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What was them, sorry, what was that last one? Lighting conditions?

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Yes, that's right, because you don't want to be working

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completely in the dark, and you could be if you're

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at the Moon's south pole.

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Worked out worked out okay for Pink Floyd.

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It did, Yeah, but they you know they were in

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a different universe. I think so probably will Yeah, so

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actually I might just continue the quote from NASA because

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it's a nice way of doing this. Additionally, the team

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assessed the combined trajectory capabilities of NASA's SLS, the Spence

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Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft that's the crew module,

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the equivalent of the Apollo, you know, the Apollo crew capsule,

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and the Starship HLS, which HLS is Human Landing System,

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and of course Starship is the machine that we've seen

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recently having test flights powered into orbit, in fact by

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the Falcon super heavy booster which made that spectacular landing

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last month. Is this month's being grabbed by the chopsticks.

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So all that's got to come together to ensure safe

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and accessible landing sites. The Artemis three geology team I'm

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still reading, evaluated the landing regions for their scientific prop

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with sites within each of the nine identified regions have

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the potential to provide key new insights into our understanding

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of rocky planets, lunar resources, and the history of our

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Solar system. So it's really big picture stuff and all

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of that feeds into the decision as to where you

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put the next landing site on the Moon.

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Yeah, and I'm guessing this strategic value in being on

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the North or South Pole is an ico. Therefore you

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can get water, therefore you can make rocket fuel.

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I think that's it in a nutshell, Andrew. The South

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Pole is a place where we know there is water

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ice from orbital measurements and actually the Indian spacecraft that

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was was it an Indian one I think contact with Yeah,

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it crashed into the surface and you could see water,

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the signature of water in the in the plume that

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resented from that. So yes, that's what sets it. South Pole,

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apart from the North Pole, is actually much rockier, much more,

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much more creceard, and the craters are deep enough that

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we think there is what you might call primordial water,

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water that was dumped there by comets. You know, it's

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the water that was originally in the gas cloud that

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formed the Solar system, so quite quite a legacy.

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And just what would you like to get hold of

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some of that and melt it down and have a drink.

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Well, we I think we did a discussion about that,

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didn't we about whether it will be drinkable. I'd be

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up for it, Yeah, I'd be game a bit of

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moon water. You never know what it might do to

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your insides. But hopefully I grow some some antennas or

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something like that.

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Maybe or you'll turn into cheese and.

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More already cheese.

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You know, you mentioned India and that just sort of

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prompted a memory, a thought in my mind. Hugh in

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the studio messaged me the other day. So we've picked

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up some strong audience indicators from from India. So hello

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to all our Indian listeners. Believe it or not, I

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will be in India in about a month, so I'll

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look look out for me. I'll be I'll be wearing

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this shirt. He's only got one shirt, folks, Sally shirt

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I've got. So yes, I'll be visiting several places throughout

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India while i'm over there, so that'll be lovely. But

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if you're in India, salutations, thanks for watching, and sorry

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about the cricket. Yeah they got they got hammered by

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New Zealand's right, yeah, unheard of, unheard of, and then

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they've got they've got to follow that up with a

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tour of Australia. So yeah, but we haven't won. We

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haven't won the trophy from them in quite a long time,

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so this will be a key series for both sites,

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So looking forward to that. My favorite sport to watch

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on TV is cricket.

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Yeah, love forget that.

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Yes, so Artemis three landing sites, but we still don't

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know when do we?

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Late twenty twenty six is my guess. I think for

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that crude landing late next year for Artemis two, which

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will be you know, a crude flight but warm land

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on the Moon. It will go around them, it'll do

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an Apollo eight, the Sally alone.

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Oh there it is by yeah bye, except Christmas all way,

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Christmas Christmas Day, it.

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Was it was I remember it well, yeah, nineteen sixty age, Yeah, yep.

224
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Gosh, so long ago, so long ago. Yeah. Okay, if

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you would like to look into that little story about

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00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:56.480
the Artemis two Atamis three landing sites, it's on well

227
00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.039
it's on all sorts of stories, but you can get

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00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:03.879
it at space connect online, dot com dot au. This

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is Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson.

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Broad Space Nuts.

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00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:18.240
Now, Fred, we're going to revisit the asteroid Reugu, which

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00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:21.639
we've spoken about a couple of times, but it's in

233
00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:23.799
the news again because they've been able to do a

234
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.559
bit more study on the on the stuff that was

235
00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:29.320
brought back. I think was a Japanese mission, was it not?

236
00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:30.759
Indeed?

237
00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.720
And they have found out some interesting things and it

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00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:39.120
all sort of leads to piecing together the puzzle of

239
00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:40.080
life on Earth.

240
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.120
Indeed it does, and so was Jacks of the Japanese

241
00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:50.440
Space Agency who's higher books of two mission collected samples

242
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.919
from Riugu and return them to Earth in twenty twenty.

243
00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.000
And then in fact we in Australia played the party

244
00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.639
in that the Space Agency had a role in that,

245
00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.279
because I think I'm right in saying that they returned

246
00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:04.879
to Earth not far from Boomera in South Australia.

247
00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.840
Oh that's right, now, it must have been a different

248
00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:11.879
mission where I thought we just made the sausage rolls

249
00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:13.279
for the party afterwards.

250
00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:18.480
A bit there, Okay, yeah, yes, that was a serious rex.

251
00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.039
I think that you're thinking, which was a nasubmission and

252
00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:22.120
we did make the sausages.

253
00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:22.399
Yeah.

254
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:26.879
So, but you know, twenty twenty, that's four years ago.

255
00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:29.559
It takes a long time to analyze these samples and

256
00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:35.720
get the detail. But there is some really interesting news

257
00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:40.480
from one of the French universities actually where some of

258
00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:45.039
the researchers are based, along with some researchers from the

259
00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:49.080
Upper University in the UK, and it turns out that

260
00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.600
there are grains of something that is called HAMP.

261
00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.159
Not hemp, you preempted me.

262
00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:04.240
Yeah, yeah, and is an acronym for hydrated ammonium magnesium

263
00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:10.159
and phosphorus rich and phosphorus. Yeah, hydrated ammonium magnesium and

264
00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:14.440
phosphorus h A m p H. And it turns out

265
00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:22.480
that that is a compound that is highly soluble in water.

266
00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:27.679
And if you're trying to get nutrients into you know,

267
00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.120
living organisms that are formed on a water base, and

268
00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:34.080
all life on Earth is water based, that this is

269
00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:36.639
a really important way of doing it to have something

270
00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:42.840
that will easily dissolve. And so the suggestion is that

271
00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:48.320
we know that these asteroids like Riugu are remnants of

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00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.840
the early material of the Solar system there, you know,

273
00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:54.679
the sort of scraps of dusts that were left over

274
00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:58.600
when the planets formed, and it's the raw material of

275
00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:02.240
planets that we looking at, really, but it means that

276
00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:08.240
if they are rich in these hydrated ammonium magnesium and phosphorus,

277
00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:14.079
and that's a soluble basically a soluble thing. Maybe in

278
00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.640
the very early Earth when it was being bombarded from

279
00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:22.519
all sides by asteroidal material like this, maybe that's where

280
00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:28.000
these chemicals came from that provided nutrients for any early

281
00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:34.440
life forms. Basically as Psyitech Daily which has reported this,

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00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:37.799
as they say, creating the right conditions for life to emerge.

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00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:42.319
I might quote actually if I may, from doctor Richard Greenwood,

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00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:47.359
who's at the Open University in the UK. Richard says,

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00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:50.000
our study reveals how the building blocks of life were

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00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:53.759
likely transported from the outer Solar System to Earth. Material

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00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:58.680
returned from primitive asteroids like Riugu is providing new insights

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00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:02.680
into how our planet was transformed from a barren in

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00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:06.839
the hospitable world to a water rich oasis continuing all

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00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.799
the ingredients needed for life to emerge very nicely.

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00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:14.839
It's sort of like I always equate life to being

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always out there and potentially available if the conditions are right,

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00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:23.640
if the place is right, if everything's right, life will

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will find a way. And I back that up with

295
00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.799
you know how weeds will grow just about anywhere they

296
00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:36.000
damn alive. But it's true, like I've seen weeds growing

297
00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:38.960
in the weirdest places, but they got a foothold because

298
00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.480
the conditions were right and they found somewhere to grow.

299
00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:45.839
And I think, you know, you can take that little

300
00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:50.680
weed analogy and turn it into a planetary evolution. I

301
00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:55.240
honestly believe that. And I think everything, all the formulas

302
00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.279
that exist to create life, it exist across the universe

303
00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.160
is just a matter of finding somewhere to plant it.

304
00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:05.799
And we just happen to be one of the or

305
00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:09.559
the only place so far where we can confirm life exists.

306
00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:12.599
It's not very bright, but it's here. We are here.

307
00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.319
It's got lots of hampers, well sorry, hamp not hemp.

308
00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:18.119
A lot.

309
00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:21.440
I think you're probably right. It has to be said

310
00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:24.759
that we simply don't know whether that's the case or not.

311
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.640
But that's I think a very plausible assumption. I think

312
00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:31.839
it's a reasonable thing to assume that if the conditions

313
00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:33.160
are right, life will start.

314
00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.599
I'm just turning my fan on because it's getting quite

315
00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:40.839
warm in my office today because I think we're going

316
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.680
to hit thirty something degrees today and it's starting to

317
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:50.319
magnify through my window. Yeah, but Riugu's probably been a

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00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:56.559
keystone mission in trying to solve these riddles. Of life,

319
00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:01.799
and it keeps, as you say, it keeps coming up

320
00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:06.079
with new information the more they they study it. When

321
00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:07.880
you know, when they first got the samples back, they

322
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.119
went out's dirt and the Kitcat wrapper. So you know,

323
00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:12.720
they've come a long way in four years.

324
00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:16.279
I wonder if anybody's analyzed the KitKat wrapper that could.

325
00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:20.680
Be that, you know, that that that's more weight to

326
00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:23.920
string theory. I think maybe I would, Yes, it certainly would.

327
00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:24.240
Yes.

328
00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:27.720
Is there more to learn from rig?

329
00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:32.079
I'm sure this is ongoing research. You know, we've learned

330
00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:34.799
a lot about it, not just the what it's made of,

331
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.200
but we've learned a lot about that particular class of

332
00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.319
asteroids that Ugu is a part of. It's a it's

333
00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:44.960
a rubble pile, and you know, just the images that

334
00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:48.319
came back from it showing this object shape like an

335
00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:51.279
old fashioned spinning top that was sort of like two

336
00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:56.119
cones back to back, and that now we think is

337
00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:01.000
the characteristic shape for rubble pile asteroids. So all that

338
00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:03.680
sort of thing comes from studies that have been made.

339
00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:06.160
I think that there's probably still more to come from

340
00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:08.200
the you know, from the soil samples too.

341
00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:14.799
It also suggested that UGU could be evidence of how

342
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.759
Earth's got it's water. And we've talked about this many

343
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.759
times because there's all sorts of different theories about where

344
00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:24.279
the water came from. It's possible all of them are correct,

345
00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.359
but one of them was the fact that as the

346
00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:32.079
planet came together, all of that staff already had water

347
00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:35.720
in it, which eventually leached out and became the oceans

348
00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:38.480
and the ice caps and everything else.

349
00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:40.720
I think you're right. I think it is a mixture

350
00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:44.160
of that, plus you know, comets coming in and dumping

351
00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:49.680
water into the into the environment, to the planet. Yeah,

352
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.720
So I think, and I guess what supports that is.

353
00:21:55.400 --> 00:22:01.519
We know that the isotopic ratios on Earth's water, the

354
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:06.599
ratio of normal water to heavy water quite much, most

355
00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:11.039
of the isotopic ratios in commons except in a few cases.

356
00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:15.039
So there's obviously a mixed foot, you know, a mixture

357
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.880
of foot there as well. So I think you're right.

358
00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:19.200
I think it's probably a combination.

359
00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:25.119
Interesting all right. So, yes, lots has been learned from

360
00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:28.799
asteroid Reyuga, but there's probably more to come. But it

361
00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:32.640
certainly seems that it's carrying evidence to show that we

362
00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:37.359
are here because of those kinds of collisions in the

363
00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:40.000
deep dark past. And if you'd like to read about it,

364
00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:43.839
it's as Fred said on the SYE Tech Daily website,

365
00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:54.920
space Nuts, and that story dovetails beautifully into our final story,

366
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:58.759
which is also on si Tech Daily. And this is

367
00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:04.039
some information they've uncovered about the moon Titan, which is

368
00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:08.359
one of Saturn's largest moons, and what they've found out,

369
00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:14.200
and this I'll steal straight from the headline, could rewrite

370
00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:17.079
planetary science thread. That's a big call.

371
00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:22.599
It is, yes, it's but it's really interesting results. And

372
00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:26.240
you're right, Titan is well, it's the largest of Saturn's moons.

373
00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:29.359
It's the second largest moon in the Solar System after Ganymede,

374
00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:35.480
which is Jupiter's biggest moon. So what's the story here?

375
00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:39.079
And this comes from research carried out by scientists at

376
00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:43.920
the University of Hawaii at Manoah place I know reasonably

377
00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:47.920
well from when I used to have to observe on

378
00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:53.920
the summit of mard Care back in the day. These

379
00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:00.200
scientists have noted that compared with and indeed compare with

380
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:10.119
moons like Ganymede, they Titan has fewer craters than Ganymede

381
00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:15.799
by a long shot, and also that they are the

382
00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:19.440
ones that are there, and they can only identify ninety

383
00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:22.480
of them. That's much less than Ganymede and most of

384
00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:28.920
the other moons with craters. It shows that sorry, sorry,

385
00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:31.400
of the craters and the ninety craters that have been

386
00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:34.319
found on Titan, it turns out that they are much

387
00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:39.240
shallower than what you would expect and what you find

388
00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:42.359
on other moons. So you've got few craters and the

389
00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:45.599
ones that are there are shallow. And so what these

390
00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:51.559
scientists have done is put those two facts together, and

391
00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:53.839
one of the scientists is quoted as saying, this was

392
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.119
very surprising because based on other moons, we expect to

393
00:24:57.160 --> 00:25:00.359
see many more impact craters on the surface and that

394
00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:03.200
are much deeper than what we observe on Titan. We

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00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:07.599
realized something unique to Titan must be making them become

396
00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.759

#465: Fred's New Frontier, Artemis Landing Zones & Ryugu's Revealing Secrets

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#465: Fred's New Frontier, Artemis Landing Zones & Ryugu's Revealing Secrets

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