March 20, 2025

Alien Objects, Seismic Signals & Mars Missions: #505 - Investigating Cosmic Curiosities

Alien Objects, Seismic Signals & Mars Missions: #505 - Investigating Cosmic Curiosities

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Space Nuts Episode 504: Alien Objects,...

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Space Nuts Episode 504: Alien Objects, Exoplanets, and Mars Missions
In this episode of Space Nuts, host Andrew Dunkley is joined by astronomer Fred Watson and special guest Heidi Campo as they dive into the latest cosmic discoveries and ambitious space missions. From the intriguing tale of an alien object that may not be so alien after all to the confirmation of planets orbiting Barnard's Star, this episode is packed with fascinating insights and lively discussions that will pique your curiosity about the universe.
Episode Highlights:
- Alien Object Mystery: Andrew and Fred explore the story of an object that entered Earth's atmosphere, initially thought to be extraterrestrial, but later revealed to have a more terrestrial explanation involving a truck's seismic signal. The duo discusses the implications of this finding and the ongoing investigation led by Professor Avi Loeb.
- Discovery of Exoplanets: The conversation shifts to the confirmation of four sub-Earth-sized planets orbiting Barnard's Star, the closest star system to us. Andrew and Fred discuss the challenges of observing these planets and what their discovery means for the search for extraterrestrial life.
- Elon Musk and Mars Missions: The episode wraps up with an update on Elon Musk's ambitious plans for Mars colonization, including a timeline for robotic missions and the development of the humanoid robot, Optimus. Andrew and Fred discuss the feasibility of these plans and the technological advancements needed to make them a reality.
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 Music Music, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. 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
Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction and welcome
(01:30) Discussion on the alien object and its true nature
(10:15) Confirmation of planets around Barnard's Star
(20:45) Elon Musk's plans for Mars colonization
(30:00) Closing thoughts and listener engagement

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-exploring-the-cosmos--2631155/support.

 

 

WEBVTT

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Hello again, thanks for joining us. This is Space Nuts.

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I'm your host, Andrew Dunkley and always good to have

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your company.

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Coming up, we have got plenty.

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We're going to talk about an alien object that turned

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out not to be as alien as they thought It was,

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just depends who was driving. I suppose some planets have

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been found orbiting a nearby star. Can you guess which one?

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If you haven't read it in the news, you're probably wrong.

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We could be right, and starship headed to Mars, and

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if we've got time, we'll be talking about a couple

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of other things as well.

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That's all coming up on Space.

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Nuts Channel ten nine Ignition Big on Space Nuts or three.

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Two Space Nuts as when I report it. Neil's good.

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Joining us once again is Professor Fred Watson, Astronomer at Large.

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Hello Fred, Hello Andrew, excellent to see you.

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It is good to see you too.

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Nice shirt pink going with pink Pink today. Yeah, it's

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actually turned chili here in Sydney. We had thirty seven

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degrees yesterday, as I believe you did two when yeah,

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the weather report last night and today it's twenty two. Yeah.

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Well we yeah, that party.

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The pool was the perfect location for our ten year

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old grandson's party yesterday because it was a stinker here.

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We had a big blustery sutherly change overnight and it

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was fourteen when we woke up, which was so nice.

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It's so nice to have some cool.

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Weather because we have had some real rotten days this summer.

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It's been dreadful. Now, for those who are viewing us

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at the moment and for those who are listening later,

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we have another person in the mix today, and her

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name is Heidi Campo.

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Hello, Heidi, Hey, guys, how are you.

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Doing very well? It's good to have you along.

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And the reason is because I'm going away and that

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sort of dovetails with Fred just coming back from a trip,

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and we just didn't have time to double up and

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fill the time I'll be away, So you will be

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taking over the hosting chair for four or five episodes.

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So Heidi's here to just sort of play observer and

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see how it's all done. It's not complicated, because if

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it was, we just couldn't do it. So I'm sure

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you'll manage, Heidi.

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But feel free to jump in anytime you like.

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And if you're armed with plenty of dad.

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Jokes, oh perfect.

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You'll fit in nicely. And for those who may recognize

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Heidi's name, one of the podcasts in our stable is

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called reality Check the Science of Fiction, which was Heidi's podcast.

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I believe you do another podcast though, don't.

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You just reality Check?

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Yeah?

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Okay, talking to subject matter experts about the plausibility of

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sci fi concepts a little bit on hold right now

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while I'm practicing real science with some of the research

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we're doing for NASA right now. But that can be

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a conversation for the Q and A.

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Yeah, very good, all right, it was good to have

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you along.

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Now, Fred, We've got plenty of stories to deal with.

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This first one dates back a few years when something

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hit the Earth's atmosphere and it ended up splashing down

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somewhere New Papua, New Guinea. And of course, you know,

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everybody said, oh, it's an alien spaceship or parts there

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or something from an alien world. But now they've been

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studying the data and it might have been something else.

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Yeah, it's a it's a he said, she said story. Now,

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this one, because we covered this I think probably back

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in twenty twenty three. The story is that the sort

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of radar network which looks for things coming in detected

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a meteorite which went through the atmosphere in twenty fourteen,

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and that is thought to have created a seismic signal

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that led researchers to believe that the debris from that

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meteorite will be spread across the ocean floor to the

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east of Manus Island, you said, sort of north of Australia.

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And in fact that there is a team from Harvard

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led by Professor R. V. Lub whose name crops up

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quite regularly on this show. He was convinced that because

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this thing came in I think, if I remember rightly,

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it was forty seven kilometers per second, that suggests it

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may well have been an interstellar traveler, a bit like Umuamora,

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the famous interstellar asteroid that we've also talked about endlessly

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on Space Nuts. So Arvilob wanted to find debris from

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this object because he and his team believed that that

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would essentially allow us to find stuff that was from

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another solar system, and possibly, because this is his thing,

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basically engineered stuff from another solar system, it may have

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been evidence of alien life. So he set up an expedition. Basically,

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he and his team identified whereabouts on the ocean floor.

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These particles of debris from the meteorite would be based

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on the seismic signal that had been received and said

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about trolling the ocean floor with a magnet or something

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like that, basically to pick up all the ferous material,

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the iron containing material, of which they got quite a

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lot little spherules of stuff that really was a bit

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unusual in its chemistry in terms of what we find

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on Earth. And I think there was a consensus that

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the material, I mean a scientific consensus that this stuff,

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whatever it was, was extraterrestrial at least something that had

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come from beyond the Earth. Fast forward to last week

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of the week before, when we had evidence that the

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seismic signal, which purportedly had been used to determine where

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this stuff would have fallen, that seismic signal has been

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reanalyzed and it turns out that it was most likely

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not the object entering the atmosphere, but a truck going

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around the corner just outside where the seismograph is. It

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had all the hallmarks of a truck, and so you know,

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there was a bit of I think there's a publication

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to the effect that, well, this stuff probably isn't extra

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from another solar system because the seismic signal was from

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a truck, not from the meteorite. Oh my gosh. Meanwhile,

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last week ourvilobe has got another paper which is currently

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in preparation, which basically says, it doesn't matter. We found

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the stuff, and our estimate of where the meteorite would

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have landed did not come principally from the seismic signal.

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It came principally from the radar determinations. And so they

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are sticking with the story that the stuff they've found

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on the floor of the ocean is probably from another

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solar system, if not evidence of alien life, which is

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of course ovelobes touchstone.

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If I can put it back, I'm going to say

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he's probably half.

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Right, which are the first half? Yeah, I think that's right. Look,

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it's great we need people like Gavy because he always

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thinks outside the box. It's always the same side of

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the box that he thinks outside of the alien life,

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alien intelligence. But often his his remarks are taken with

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not a pinch of salt, but certainly taken with some

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skepticism is the wrong word. No, it's not skepticism by

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the by the scientific community, it would be.

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That would be accurate.

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Yeah. The big question on my mind is was it

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a Ford Ranger or a Dodge Ram the truck.

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I want to know what kind of track it was.

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I don't crate that. Yes, it could have been. I

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think it might have been bigger than that.

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Probably, yeah, probably she could have been one of our

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outback road trains.

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Well, that would certainly have stirred up the seismic grath definitely.

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Yeah, So tell me how this seismic data works. If

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that's what they initially detected, even though it backed them

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up the wrong tree, how do they how do they

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use seismic data to analyze where something's coming from?

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That's how it seems.

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Very very interesting.

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So it's the pressure wave basically, So when an object

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enters the solar system, sorry, it enters the atmosphere, particularly

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hurtling along at more than forty kilometers per second, then

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it creates a shockwave, and that shockwave is basically detected

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by the seismic graph probably because it shakes the building

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that the seismic graphs in. I mean, there will be

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an element of it, that shockwave hitting hitting the ground

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that stirs up the ground a bit. It is extraordinary

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how sensitive seismic graphs are. A colleague Siding Spring Observatory

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who operates as an amateur scientist that operates a seismic

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graph that can detect, you know, certainly detects explosions in

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the Hunter Valley call Field, which is about three hundred

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kilometers away, but also much much more, much more subtle

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things like trains going fast than the nearest train to

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his location at Siding Spring is about one hundred kilometers away.

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So I strongly suspect whatever the truck was, it wasn't

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doing forty five kilometers a second.

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That's what Hi do you?

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Yeah, I've got a question for you, Fred. So, I

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don't really know how this works, and I'm sure a

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lot of the listeners don't either. How is this not

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more of a common problem, Because if they picked up

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this truck and didn't know what it was, it sounds

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like there might be protocol in place for them to

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differentiate between someone walking around in the facility versus a

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vehicle versus something that's you know, truly a UFO. So

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do they normally mistaken other objects?

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Though? It's a really good point, Hidi, because you know,

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with a seismograph, people walking around it is, it's background

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interference and it happens all the time. It is a

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really good point. How did you mix up a truck

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that's probably going to go around the corner every day

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with this incoming signal? And I think there may have

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been some bad luck there, you know, picking out the

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signal that just happened to be at the right instant

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in comparison with the radar data. But I think so

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seismic signals are really interesting. You can learn a lot

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just by looking at what the trace is and in

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fact going completely off track. We had a contact, lovely

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contact in Greenland last month with scientists actually from the

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UK who did seen the seismic signal of water sloshing

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around in a fjord in Greenland that went round the

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world and lasted for nine days. And so that's telling

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you that there's a really particular kind of characteristic that

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lets you do the of a seismic signal, that lets

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you do the forensic science, as you know, as you

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could put it to work out what's happened. And maybe

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it's just bad luck that they picked up the signal

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of the truck and said this has got exactly the

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kind of trace that you would expect to come from

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an incoming body, an incoming object.

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How fascinating. And by the way, that truck driver has

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been done for speeding.

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Forty seven kilometers and sected. Yeah, it would be.

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It does remind me of another story we did once

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about what was that nailien signal that turned out to

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be a microwave oven.

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Oh well, yes, that's the great story from Parks that

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they're still embarrassed about. Hippark's radio tell this group.

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Yes, indeed, but that's a great story. It's popped up

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on a couple of websites. If you want to go

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to cosmosmagazine dot com and chase it up. There plenty

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of information and it is a really interesting story with

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all the truck driving and weirdness.

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But pushed aside.

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Bred Let's move on to our next yarn, And this

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one is really exciting because they've thought for some time

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that there's been planets orbiting a certain star and now

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they think they've found them, although this has been a

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difficult task because of the angle of observation.

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00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:22.519
I believe that's correct. Yes, that's right. So the starring

218
00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.759
question is it's well known to astronomers, but not very

219
00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:29.320
well known to the outside world. If I put it

220
00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:33.440
that way, it's Barnard's star, and it was discovered by.

221
00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:35.879
Let me guess, someone named Bernard.

222
00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:39.600
Indeed, indeed, that's right. I'm trying to remember his first name.

223
00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:42.000
I think it was Edward.

224
00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:44.559
Yes, was it I don't know, I'll look it up

225
00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:45.480
id go, No.

226
00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:49.759
Was it Edward Bernard? Can't remember Anyway, Bernard worked at

227
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.440
one of the major US observatories, and in I think

228
00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:58.279
nineteen fourteen or thereabout, certainly the early years of the

229
00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:04.799
twentieth century, he discovered this star which has and I'm

230
00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:07.559
going to use the astronomy gobbledygoop. Now, it has the

231
00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.440
highest proper motion of any other star known. And the

232
00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.519
proper motion of a star is its motion across the sky.

233
00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:19.159
It's as we see it, how fast it moves in

234
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:21.960
the sky. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's its true motion,

235
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.600
because there's probably a component towards us as well, which

236
00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:29.200
you can actually detect differently. But it was ten arc

237
00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.960
seconds a year. Remembering an arcsecond is one three than

238
00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:35.759
six hundredths of a degree. The diameter of a one

239
00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:39.320
dollar coin held up at five kilometers. That's an Australian

240
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:43.320
one dollar coin, a tiny angle and ten arc seconds

241
00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:46.639
isn't many more of them, but it's by far the

242
00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:51.639
biggest proper motion motion of a star known. It's galloping

243
00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:55.279
across the sky, and so it's been a favorite of

244
00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:59.840
astronomers for you know, ever since it was observed more

245
00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:04.480
than the century ago first identified, and astronomers, of course,

246
00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:08.279
because it's the next nearest star to the proximu centaury system,

247
00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:13.600
have looked hard for evidence of planets around it, and

248
00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:17.240
now they've found them. They found the evidence. There's been

249
00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:25.120
a few what you might call tentative measurements that have

250
00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:29.679
led people to believe that perhaps Barnard Star had planets.

251
00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:34.639
But now because of observations made if I remember rightly,

252
00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:37.759
it's the Germany North telescope, I should have checked that,

253
00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:42.679
shouldn't I. It's observations made, yes, Germany North in Hawaii.

254
00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:46.919
It's observations that have been made by that telescope have

255
00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:50.919
actually nailed it because they have a very sensitive Doppler

256
00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:54.320
wobble machine. And Doppler wobble, of course, is the name

257
00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:56.759
that we give to the way a star is pulled

258
00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:01.360
slightly out of place by the planets going around it,

259
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.200
and that pulling and pushing of a star by its

260
00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.600
own planets is something that we pick up by the

261
00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:10.240
radio lostity the velocity along the line of sight, which

262
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:14.919
I'm just talking about. So that has now been confirmed

263
00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:21.000
that there are for sub earths actually very small planets.

264
00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.039
And the point that you were making, and this is

265
00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:28.039
what makes it a bit difficult, because you get much

266
00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:32.559
more information if the planets are orbiting in a plane

267
00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:36.840
that we can see directly along, so that you have

268
00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:40.480
the planets passing in front of their star. That's what

269
00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:43.000
we call the transit method for discovering planets. But it

270
00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:45.519
also gives you much more information about the diameter of

271
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:49.039
the planets, which we don't get from the wobble technique.

272
00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:52.320
So there's still some unknowns about the density of these planets,

273
00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:56.399
but they are confirmed to be there. So last the

274
00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:01.279
big question are there exoplanets orbiting Barnard Star has been answered.

275
00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:05.559
Ah, well, that's good news, bad news for anyone living there.

276
00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:07.119
I imagine being a red dwarf.

277
00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:10.160
It is a red dwarf, that's right, which means that

278
00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:14.279
the stars are orbiting sort of within the you know,

279
00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:17.920
you know within within a region. In fact that most

280
00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:19.799
of them all but just within a few days around

281
00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:23.279
their parents' style. So they're much closer to Barnode's Star

282
00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.200
than mercury is to the Sun. And red dwarfs are

283
00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.440
bad news in that regard because they are relatively active.

284
00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:33.799
You get these flares of sub atomic particles that might

285
00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:36.079
fry anything that's on one of the planets. And I

286
00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:38.880
think I am right in saying that none of them

287
00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:42.039
are in the habitable zone bar Nod Star. That's the

288
00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:46.519
region around a red dwarf where you could have liquid water.

289
00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:51.839
Mm hmm. Well, if they did have life in that zone,

290
00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:53.680
it'd still be perilous, I imagine.

291
00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:57.759
Yes, that's right, unless it you know, who knows with

292
00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.480
extra terrestrial life. It could be they could live in

293
00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:02.079
the rocks.

294
00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:05.480
Well, that's right, they could be underground, absolutely true. And

295
00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:10.240
it was discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in nineteen six. Well,

296
00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.519
thank you, Yeah, I knew you had it right. You

297
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.640
had about forty guesses, but you got it right. It's

298
00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:18.799
all good, Okay, if you'd like to read up on that,

299
00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:23.240
they're got the wrong side up here we go noir

300
00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:27.319
Lab dot edu. Is you can read the paper on

301
00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:32.160
that discovery n ir lab dot edu. There's a Space

302
00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:35.960
Nuts Andrew Duncley here with Professor Fred Watson and Bidy Campo,

303
00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:41.240
our guest presenter. Okay, let's take a quick break from

304
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:43.759
the show to give a shout out to our sponsor,

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All right, let's get back to the show.

329
00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:22.200
Three space nuts.

330
00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:26.640
Now, well, let's get onto this story, which the popular

331
00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:32.319
press absolutely loves. It's Elon Musk, SpaceX founder headed for Mars. Well,

332
00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:36.480
not personally, although some might say we'd like to see

333
00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:41.160
that happen, but it's more about his preparation to colonize Mars,

334
00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:45.720
and they're looking at a timeline now to send a

335
00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:51.880
mission at the end of next year. That's correct, but

336
00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:55.799
not with people, not with people. Hang on a second, hid,

337
00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:59.880
he's got to leave us. Oh thanks for jumping in

338
00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:01.440
just to learn the ropes.

339
00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:03.720
I'm sure you didn't learn anything, but.

340
00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:07.279
Well, we'll catch up with you real soon and when

341
00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:13.480
you take over his host Thanks heardy see you too, Yes,

342
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:15.720
Elon off after Mars, friend.

343
00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:21.039
That's right. So you know this is Helon sort of

344
00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:27.680
mapping out his plans for for getting to Mars, which

345
00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:34.400
it has to be said, all right, I'll say unrealistically ambitious.

346
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.240
I mean, we've just had what was it, Starship eight,

347
00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:48.319
which was the eighth test launch of the Starship vehicle,

348
00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:52.680
which consists of a booster which is the Falcon Super

349
00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:57.599
Heavy with the Starship vehicle itself perchached on top. Starship

350
00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:05.799
eight the mixed success. The booster landed successfully with the

351
00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.440
what's he called the chopstick mechanism on the launch pad,

352
00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:13.039
so it returns back to its launch pad. Incredible technology,

353
00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:18.480
unbelievable stuff. But the Starship itself blew up, sorry rapid

354
00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:25.559
what was it rapid on scheduled disassembly. Yeah. So, but

355
00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:27.880
the point I was going to make was Starship nine

356
00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:32.519
is following close on its heels because Elon is happy

357
00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:38.079
to keep getting these things going until it works, as

358
00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:41.359
it did with the whole Falcon nine business when you

359
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:44.160
know they were practicing trying to bring spacecraft back to

360
00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:47.319
their launch site. Took a long time to get it right.

361
00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:53.200
Now is absolutely just standard, it's just the normal situation.

362
00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:57.000
And I think the record is now. I think it's

363
00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:00.640
twenty six flights that one Falcon nine booster has made,

364
00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:05.200
and that you know, it's such a cost cutting mechanism.

365
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:08.880
It's brilliant stuff. Anyway, going back to Starship, so.

366
00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:12.319
I was just going to say, for all his faults

367
00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:17.519
and critics, you've got to applaud him for the rapidity

368
00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:22.720
of his development process. He finds the problems, fast fixes them,

369
00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:27.359
and perfects these things in no time. It's quite remarkable.

370
00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:34.559
It is extraordinary, that's right, an extraordinary person in every way. Anyway.

371
00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:38.599
One of the reasons why he's got such haste to

372
00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:41.960
get Starship to work, well, there's two really. The main one,

373
00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:45.400
perhaps is that he's contracted to NASA for Starship to

374
00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:49.279
be the landing vehicle to get astronauts on the Moon

375
00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:54.799
for the Artemis three flight, which currently is scheduled for

376
00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:59.079
twenty twenty seven. That's got to be right to get

377
00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:04.160
these astronauts down on the surface and back again into

378
00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:06.440
an orbit that will take them back to Earth. That

379
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:10.000
is very much part of the schedule. At the moment,

380
00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:14.480
So he's got to make starship work, but at the

381
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:19.640
moment it's not doing the orbitr itself. But the other

382
00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:24.400
reason is that he wants to send a starship to

383
00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:28.039
Mars at the end of twenty twenty six. And the

384
00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:30.519
reason for that imperative is, as you and I have

385
00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:34.440
spoken about many times, the windows for launching vehicles to

386
00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:37.640
Mars come every two years and two months. The next

387
00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:40.559
one is late in twenty twenty six, and that's the

388
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:44.279
one he wants to wants to get Otherwise it will

389
00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:48.559
be twenty twenty nine, and that's you know, when the

390
00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:54.640
next window opens. So Elon is planning a robotic motion, sorry,

391
00:24:54.640 --> 00:25:00.000
a robotic flights to Mars with actually they're currently under

392
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.920
development humanoid robot which is called Optimus on board, So

393
00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:07.279
there will be a humanoid robot on this thing. He's

394
00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:11.920
talking about twenty twenty six, and perhaps a landing as

395
00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:16.880
well on Mars in twenty twenty six or it be yes,

396
00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:20.119
it will be twenty twenty seven when the landing took place.

397
00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:24.519
So that's a very very ambitious schedule. It's got to

398
00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:26.799
get the thing right so it doesn't blow up on

399
00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:31.640
launch or when it's in orbit insertion, and it would

400
00:25:31.640 --> 00:25:35.119
be a real phillip if he could actually get a

401
00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:38.160
spacecraft on its way to Mars by twenty twenty six,

402
00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:40.160
even if it wasn't the lander, even if it was

403
00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:45.960
a you know, just a flyby or even a going

404
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:51.240
into orbit scenario. So then, but then the other bit is,

405
00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.519
in fact, we've got a quote from helon which I

406
00:25:56.599 --> 00:26:03.400
might just read, will you unders to end it? Starship

407
00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:06.559
departs from Mars at the end of next year carrying Optimus.

408
00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:10.400
If those landings there, you are he's ambitious. His ambition

409
00:26:10.519 --> 00:26:14.799
is to land. If those landings go well, then human

410
00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:19.000
landings may start as soon as twenty twenty nine, because

411
00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:21.799
that's when the next window is open, although he says

412
00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:25.519
twenty thirty one is more likely, and I think twenty

413
00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:30.480
thirty five is more likely still because we still have

414
00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:35.119
so many issues to solve in terms of putting astronauts

415
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.880
into a mission that could last up to two years,

416
00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:41.759
with all the need for life support, with all the

417
00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:45.200
radiation issues, all of that. I think it is a

418
00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:48.559
very very big ask to be thinking about anything before

419
00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:49.680
the mid twenty thirties.

420
00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:50.480
Yeah, I imagine.

421
00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:50.680
So.

422
00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:53.119
I think one of the most exciting parts of this mission,

423
00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:55.839
if he can pull it off, is the Optimus robot

424
00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:59.279
otherwise known as the Tesla bot, which is in development

425
00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:05.440
or incorporated is building it. And by the way, Optimist

426
00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:14.039
comes from the TV and movie franchise Transformers, Optimist Prime

427
00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:16.920
being one of the main characters. I'm sure you've watched

428
00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:21.640
them all, Fred, just like just like I have. But yeah,

429
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:25.119
that's where the name comes from. Optimist Prime from Transformers.

430
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:29.559
But this is quite remarkable the way the way this

431
00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:35.160
is being developed. And you did say humanoid type robot,

432
00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:40.559
and it does. It does look every bit humanoid. And

433
00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:45.880
it's not just Tesla that's developing robots. Other companies have

434
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:48.319
been doing this for a long time, and we're really

435
00:27:48.359 --> 00:27:52.440
starting to get well down the road of I suppose

436
00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:55.640
we're at the beginning of the spectrum of perfection of robotics,

437
00:27:56.440 --> 00:28:01.039
independent thinking, operating robots, and that's what this is ultimately

438
00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:04.880
going to be. I think that's really exciting. Some people

439
00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:08.200
are probably scared witless because they've watched, you know, too

440
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:14.759
many science fiction films about artificial intelligence. But this, this, this,

441
00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:19.519
this could be the next giant leap in technology, and

442
00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:22.240
I think they'll pull it off. It's already starting to happen.

443
00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:26.079
So yeah, that's that's exciting news.

444
00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:30.000
Anything more to add about Elon's trip, But.

445
00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:36.400
Really, I am you know, I look, I I will

446
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.039
not be surprised if this happens, just knowing, knowing the

447
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.599
drive that Elon has to get stuff happening, stuff fixed.

448
00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:50.119
Well, you know, without people like Elon in our history,

449
00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:57.319
a lot of stuff would never have happened. And you

450
00:28:57.400 --> 00:28:59.839
can you can pinpoint people in history that have done

451
00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:04.480
eight things because they didn't listen to the detractors and

452
00:29:04.519 --> 00:29:07.319
the critics. They just said, no, I've got this idea

453
00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:09.960
and I'm going to make it work, and the way

454
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:10.559
they went.

455
00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:17.640
Yeah, I mean it's it's also now complicated by the

456
00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:23.079
you know, the the position that Elon occupies within the

457
00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:27.920
Trump administration, and we've got all sorts of concerns being

458
00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:33.000
expressed about conflicts of interest. There's a lot of stuff

459
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:40.119
happening that is counterintuitive perhaps and not necessarily going all together. Well,

460
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:44.000
and that sort of in a way clouds the issue

461
00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:52.079
because the Elon is is basically a genius and that's extraordinary.

462
00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:57.680
But it may be that that now, you know, is

463
00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:01.119
overshadowed by other things that are happening.

464
00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:06.200
Yes, and that's rather unfortunate. But when you when you

465
00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:10.440
pick sides in politics, you disenfranchise half the people you do.

466
00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:15.279
That's exactly right, and which is why Tesla's sales are falling.

467
00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.799
Yes, And like I've seen videos of people, you know,

468
00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.839
big name people, and I won't point the finger at them,

469
00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:25.279
and have already become well known through their own exploits

470
00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.440
giving away their Tesla vehicles in protest.

471
00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:31.680
Yeah.

472
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.960
Yeah, so he has kind of ostracized himself, I suppose

473
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.119
you could say, in some ways, but he probably doesn't care.

474
00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:42.279
I don't think so. No, that's right, and so let's

475
00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:43.079
see what happens.

476
00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:46.640
Yes, indeed, all right, if you'd like to read that story,

477
00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.680
it's at fizz dot org. That's p h y s

478
00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:52.559
dot org. If I double z, I don't know what

479
00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:53.200
that would.

480
00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:53.279
Take you to.

481
00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:57.000
It'll be better not to find you.

482
00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:07.000
And now I want to look MUDs a couple of

483
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:08.400
quick stories to finish up.

484
00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:13.160
Sphere X Telescope is now up and running or ready

485
00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:14.559
to get you know, it's off the planet.

486
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:20.160
It is. That's that's right. It's it's launched on Tuesday

487
00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:24.960
last week. I think it's on a quite an interesting

488
00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:28.440
initial trajectory. It was a polar orbit that it went

489
00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:36.559
into to start with, and it's basically a telescope, which,

490
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.440
by the way, only has an eight inch lens on it,

491
00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:43.039
which is kind of the size of most amateur telescopes.

492
00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:47.119
But it's got the most extraordinary detectors and this curious

493
00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:51.359
heat exchange system which makes the whole thing look like

494
00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:55.119
one of those cones of silence that you put around

495
00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:59.160
dogs when they're not supposed to statch there whatever it is,

496
00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:02.160
or pull pull their stitches out from whatever's been done

497
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:05.680
to them. We had one of those for our little

498
00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:10.920
poodle when he underwent a certain operation, which he tolerated

499
00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:12.279
for less than a minute.

500
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:18.400
Yeah, I've often seen cat videos of them just basically

501
00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:22.359
beating themselves to death trying to get those things. Just

502
00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:27.400
for the record, fizz dot Org is unreachable. I fight

503
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:30.200
double Z, so I don't know what's going on there,

504
00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:32.759
but I would have thought that would be a U

505
00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:34.839
r L worth a couple a couple of bucks.

506
00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:36.319
Might be on the dark web.

507
00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:39.480
Good, And I've just looked at I just tried to

508
00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:43.480
look at it. I'm a marked man now, all right.

509
00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:47.319
Sphere x very exciting and that mapping of the universe

510
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:48.920
it's going to happen rather quickly.

511
00:32:49.400 --> 00:32:52.960
Yes, that's right, it's a it's a project. I didn't

512
00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:55.319
mention it's it's the idea is to map the universe

513
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:58.640
in because it's basically going to look at the whole sky,

514
00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:01.759
and that I think is why it's in the polar orbit.

515
00:33:01.880 --> 00:33:05.599
It maps the glow of the universe in the sense

516
00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:11.000
from galaxies and you know, the light of distant star systems.

517
00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:15.119
And one of the one of the reasons for sphere

518
00:33:15.319 --> 00:33:20.240
x is to pin down our understanding of the universe's

519
00:33:20.359 --> 00:33:23.119
first period, the ten to the minus thirty two of

520
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:26.000
a second in which it inflated by a factor of

521
00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:28.799
ten to the fifty, the epoch of inflation.

522
00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:32.880
As it's amazing and one quick one Butcher and Sunny

523
00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:36.079
nine months on the International Space Station and by the

524
00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:39.480
time this is released, they might they might be back

525
00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:39.960
on Earth.

526
00:33:40.279 --> 00:33:43.119
They might indeed, which would be great for them, would

527
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:46.880
be good to see them coming back come because we

528
00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:50.599
have had them up there since June last year.

529
00:33:50.680 --> 00:33:55.440
Yes, they're only eight and a half months late for dinner.

530
00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:00.440
I'm sure their relatives will all be delighted to see them.

531
00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:03.200
Yeah, I don't doubt it, and we wish them well.

532
00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:07.000
We're just about done, friend, Thank you very much.

533
00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:10.079
Great pleasure. Andrew, good to talk as always, and we'll

534
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:11.519
see you next time. We will.

535
00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:14.719
And thanks to Hu in the studio who turned up today.

536
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:17.880
He took time out of his efforts to map the

537
00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:18.960
universe by hand.

538
00:34:19.719 --> 00:34:22.639
And from me from me Andrew Dunkley, thanks for your company.

539
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:25.239
Oh I don't forget to visit our website and do

540
00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:28.039
a few things there or our social media Site's always

541
00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:29.079
always good fun.

542
00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:31.719
But until next time, thanks for your company.

543
00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:34.320
We'll see you on the very next episode of Space Nuts.

544
00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:34.920
Bye bye.

545
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:39.639
You'll be listening to the Space Nuts podcast.

546
00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:46.639
Available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or your favorite podcast player.

547
00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:49.960
You can also stream on demand at bites dot com.

548
00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:55.760
This has been another quality podcast production from nights dot com.
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