Jan. 6, 2025

Apollo Secrets, Cosmic Questions & Martian Mysteries: #484

Apollo Secrets, Cosmic Questions & Martian Mysteries: #484

Space Nuts Episode 484: Unveiling Moon Mysteries, Fermi Paradox Insights, and Mars Terraforming Challenges - A Holiday Special Episode
Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson as they delve into the fascinating realms of lunar exploration, the...

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Space Nuts Episode 484: Unveiling Moon Mysteries, Fermi Paradox Insights, and Mars Terraforming Challenges - A Holiday Special Episode
Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson as they delve into the fascinating realms of lunar exploration, the enigmatic Fermi Paradox, and the challenges of terraforming Mars in this captivating episode of Space Nuts. Packed with scientific insights and thought-provoking discussions, this episode promises to ignite your curiosity about the cosmos.
Episode Highlights:
- Unsealing Apollo's Secrets: Discover the intriguing story behind the recently opened lunar sample from the Apollo 17 mission. Learn why scientists waited 50 years to examine this precious material and what it could reveal about landslides on the Moon and its geological mysteries.
- Fermi Paradox Explored: Dive into the Fermi Paradox with a listener's question about the formation of life and elements beyond iron. Explore the possibilities of why we haven't encountered extraterrestrial civilizations and the implications for our place in the universe.
- Terraforming Mars: Engage in a speculative discussion about the feasibility of reactivating Mars' core to sustain an atmosphere. Explore the challenges of creating a habitable environment on the Red Planet and the limitations posed by its size and magnetic field.
- Space News with Anna: Get the latest updates on SpaceX's upcoming Starship test flight and Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket debut. Learn about the exciting advancements in satellite deployment and the future of heavy-lift launch vehicles.
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 favourite platform.
For more Space and Astronomy News Podcasts, visit our HQ at www.bitesz.com.
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.
00:00 - Andrew Dunkley welcomes Professor Fred Watson to Space Nuts
02:13 - Apollo astronauts brought back 2,196 samples from the moon in 1960s
09:41 - The Moon is once again drawing a lot of attention with ambitious plans
12:38 - If you want to become a patron of our podcast, you can do so online
13:59 - Question comes from Simon from Newcastle about the formation of elements and Fermi paradox
15:33 - The Fermi paradox is about where is everybody in the universe
22:16 - Without an active core Mars will not be able to sustain an atmosphere
28:26 - SpaceX is gearing up for their seventh Starship test flight on January 10
30:17 - Blue Origin preparing to launch their first New Glenn rocket on January 6th
32:38 - Space Nuts is a twice weekly podcast from Bitesz. com
✍️ Episode References
NASA
https://www.nasa.gov
Apollo 17 mission
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_17
Artemis mission
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
SpaceX Starship
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/
Blue Origin New Glenn
https://www.blueorigin.com/new-glenn/
James Webb Space Telescope
https://www.jwst.nasa.gov
Enrico Fermi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi
Galileo's experiment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo%27s_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_experiment
Astronomy Daily
https://www.astronomydaily.io
Bitesz.com
https://www.bitesz.com


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WEBVTT

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Space Nuts is taking a bit of a break at

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the moment. Fred and I will be back in the

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not too distant future with fresh episodes. In the meantime,

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enjoy some of the key episodes that we have presented

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over the years major events in astronomy and space science,

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and we'll see you real soon. Space Nuts, Hello again,

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and thank you for joining us on Space Nuts, where

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we talk all sorts of astronomy and space science news

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from space agencies and astronomers and scientists and physicists, things

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that have been discovered, things that have been achieved, and

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we try to unravel some of the great mysteries of

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the universe, and we may have one of those solved

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today perhaps, So whether you're at home or at work,

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or sitting back in front of a lake fishing, whatever

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you're doing, thanks for joining us on this edition of

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Space Nuts. Fifteen second Channel ten nine Big ones, Space Nuts.

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Or three two.

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Spaces as when I report it nels good.

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It does indeed feel good to be here and thank

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you for your company. As I said, my name is

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Andrew Dunkley, I am your host and joining me as

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he always does, without question, without claiming any money, without

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really thinking about it, is Professor Fred Wat's an astronomer

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at large. Hello for red Australia's Living fossil, Australia's living fossil. Yes,

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congratulations again on your honorary doctorate. And I've told a

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few people and they pass on that congratulations.

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Thank you, very good for you.

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And I know I said it sort of off stage,

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but loving the goaty oh good good blood here Andrew.

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If you watch us on YouTube, you'll be able to

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pick that up.

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I think, yeah, it suits you.

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That's very sporting.

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My son, who is sill Amanda the gradulation, he's told

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me it makes me look exactly like my brother was

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on the fifty years or something.

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Well, it takes seconds off your age, all right. But Fred,

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let's start off with this situation with Apollo samples, and

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they brought back quite a lot of stuff and some

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of it just sort of sat there for fifty years, sealed,

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and I assume forgotten or just we'll get to that

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at some stage. Fifty years.

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Yeah, at first sight it does seem weird. I agree

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with you, but there is a very very good explanation

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and I think you know, it's a brilliant reasoning.

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So I can't remember the number.

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I think it's about three hundred and eighty kilograms altogether

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of rock and soil that the Apollo astronauts brought back

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with them in the nineteen sixties and seventies. I do know,

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because I've got the number in front of me here

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that it was a total of two thousand, one hundred

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and ninety six samples. Oh wow, Yeah, so it's you know,

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they had a fair number, and it wasn't that wasn't

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really the reason why they've waited fifty years for some

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of them. The real reason, and it's really cunning stuff,

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you know, it's forward thinking of the first order. The

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scientists who were interested in these moon rock samples fifty

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years ago knew that in fifty years time, the technology

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to analyze them would have would have advanced out of

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sight compared with what there was in the nineteen sixties

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and seventies. So yeah, they so they reserved I think

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probably three.

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It's of which I think it's I think it's three.

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There might be more actually, but one of them has

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now been opened, and that's why, you know, that's why

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the news is big. It was actually Lori Grays Blaze

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of the Director of Director of the Planetary Science Division

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at NASA Headquarters, who wrote in a statement that NASA

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knew that science and technology would evolve and allow scientists

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to study the material in new ways to address new

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questions in the future. Brilliant, isn't it. That's exactly what's happened.

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I'm not sure to what extent I mean. I think

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things were pretty well advanced in the nineteen sixties and seventies,

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so that's when I was beginning my career as a

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working scientist. But you know, things have moved on just

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out of sight since then. If it's anything like the

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way we do astrophysics, planetary science has come on by

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leaps and bounds. So a tube of material thirty five

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centimeters long for centimeters wide, which was hammered into the

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ground actually on the Apollo seventeen mission, the last of

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the Apollo missions in December nineteen seventy two. Jeans Sonon

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and Harrison Schmidt were the two astronauts who walked.

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On was wasn't Harrison Schmidt a geologist?

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I think you're right, Yeah, I think you're right.

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I think he kept getting into trouble because he got

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so excited about this running out of oxygen, and they

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were saying, hurry up, hurry up.

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Yeah, so I think that's right. Yes, a mistake to

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send a geologist to them, I would think. So it's

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just going to be like a kid in a lolly shop. Anyway,

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they kind of hammered the tube into the ground, pulled

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out the tube with rocks in it, and sucking, basically

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sealed it on the and that is the way it's

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been kept for fifty years. So not only does it

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have rock in it, Andrew, but the volatiles that might

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be you know, locked up in these rock surfaces, sort

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of things that are gaseous like carbon dioxide at normal

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temperature here on Earth, and things that are liquid like

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water normal temperature.

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Here on Earth.

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So the you know the existence of these gases kind

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of locked up within the rocks that there wouldn't be

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much because of course the lunar surface is essentially a vacuum.

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But the idea is to and I don't think this

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has been done yet, the idea.

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Actually know the extraction has taken place, sorry Andrew.

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Anyway, the idea is to extract them the minute quantities

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that are there and analyze them with the technology that

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it's really about the precision rather than the you know,

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the ability to do it.

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This is spectrometry, so you're looking.

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At the absolute fine details of what's going on in

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these atoms.

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Let me just check that.

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And I did look at you. You mentioned the weight

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of the material they brought back, which I think we

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talked about not so long ago, eight hundred and forty

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two pounds of stuff they brought back from the Moon,

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which equates to three hundred and eighty two kilograms.

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So I was out by two kilograms.

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Oh close enough, round down, Yeah, yeah, three hundred and

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eighty two.

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And I had a feeling that was three hundred and

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eighty thereabout anyway. So the processes started back in fact

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last month, February the twenty third, as the venerable phiz

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dot org website tells us, because that's one of the

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places where this story has been carried, Scientists began a

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week's long process aimed up piercing the main tube and

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harvesting the gaps contained inside, and then as over the

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coming weeks, they'll take the rock out as well, and

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they'll break it up so that it can be studied

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by several different different teams. But what I really like

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about this sample is that it's not just any old sample, Andrew,

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because where it came from is where there was a landslide.

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And Julian Gross Gross, perhaps deputy Apollo curator, is quoted

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as saying, now we don't have rain on the moon

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and so we don't quite understand how landslides happen on

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the Moon. So that's a good point. And so some

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of the research is, you know, it's aimed at trying

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to understand how these rocks enable landslide landslides to take place,

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what causes them.

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Yeah, so.

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Yeah, well moonquakes do exist, as we know. I guess

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that is a possibility. And so actually I was wrong there.

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I think there are there are three lunar samples still

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left after this one has been opened, which by the way,

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is known as seven three zero zero.

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One, that's its name.

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And there are still three sealed lunar samples. So you know,

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the question is, Andrew, which I'm sure you and I

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would ask if we were there, what will they be opened?

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It's going to be another fifty years. And we've got

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a quote, a nice quote from another senior curator, Ryan Ziegler.

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I doubt we'll wait another fifty years, particularly once they

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get the Artemis samples back, it might be nice to

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do a direct comparison in real time between whatever's coming

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back from Artemis and with one of these remaining unopened sealed.

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Cause now, well.

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The Moon is once again drawing a lot of attention

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with well the Chinese pottering around up there at the moment,

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and the Americans want to send in the next few

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months an Artemis rocket around the Moon. That's the one

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we talked about last week where you can put your

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name on a flash drive if you want to, And

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that's with a view to going back there with a

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manned mission or a human mission, let's be politically correct.

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And they're talking about putting the first woman on the Moon,

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they're talking about putting the first black person on the Moon,

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and you know, this is all great. I think it's

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all fantastic stuff. And the Moon being our closest neighbor

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in terms of what's out there is yeah, we should

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be giving it much more attention. There's so many possibilities,

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and of course it will potentially be a great launch

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pad for missions beyond Earth and the Moon going forward.

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So yeah, learning everything about it right down to the geology.

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Not a bad idea, not a bad it's.

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Going to be.

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I mean, the next decade is going to see our

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knowledge of the Moon totally revolutionized, which is brilliant.

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Yeah, just wondering though. This is a sort of one

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of my stupid brain questions. Would a landslide on the

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Moon happen in slow motion compared to Earth?

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Yeah it would, given that you know, walking hams in

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slow motion, it would it would.

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Yeah.

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The the the acceleration due to gravity is lower on

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the Moon.

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Of course, because they did that experiment. I don't know

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which mission it was where they dropped it was it

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a hammer.

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And a feather? It is.

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You know there's a movie that both fell at the

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same that's which is Gulli Leos.

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Yeah, so I wondered if a landslide would Yeah.

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It would.

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Well, if you watch the clip of that of the

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hummer and the fella, sorry, the feather, they kind of

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drift down, they don't, they don't drop like they would

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on Earth.

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Yeah, that's.

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Interesting, very interesting.

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Is great stuff.

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Yeah, more to learn from the Moon and lots of

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exciting things happening on and around the Moon in the

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not too distant future, and that Artemis one mission is

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SLAGH to launch sometime in the next few months. And

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as we mentioned last week, if you want to get

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your name on the flash drive that they're going to

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put on the Atoms one rocket so that you at

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least your name gets to do a lap of the moon,

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you can jump on the NASA website and register. I've

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got my boarding paths. I'll send you a boarding path.

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00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:25.879
It's so cool you're listening to and watching Space Nuts

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00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:34.000
with Andrew Dunkley and Fred Watson. Broad past puts thanks

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00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:36.720
for joining us. Always good to have your company, and

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00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.679
hope you're well too. By the way, if you want

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You can do so on space Nuts podcast dot com

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and thanks for your support. By the way, if you

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are a patron, we really do appreciate it. It enables

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us to do things like this, make patches for our shirts.

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That's very important us. Some questions spread and the first

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one comes from Simon.

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High Team Simon from Newcastle, thanks for the great podcast,

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00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:16.639
really joy. My question is around the formation of life,

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the formation of elements and the thermi paradox. So my

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understanding is that in a normal star, star will only

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form elements up to iron, and that after that we

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need other processes to form elements above iron in the

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periodic table, and that I believe, I'm not sure that

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that might be when it goes super nova.

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So then.

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Paradox states, you know, where is everyone? Well, I was

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thinking maybe an answer to that could be that life

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itself might require elements that are higher up the periodic

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table and a normally produced standard star cycles. Perhaps we

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actually need super neighbors, and that that in itself would

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then lead itself down to the conclusion that perhaps we

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are one of the first even though it's only fourteen

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years old, you know, it's just thirteen million years old,

259
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maybe we did actually need that period of time to

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get to this point. Anyway, would just like to know

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if that actually adds up to makes sense.

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Thanks for your tom.

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00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:37.200
Thank you, Simon, very astute and a really interesting question.

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00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:40.919
Can you elaborate a bit just to start with on

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00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:44.279
the thermi paradox? He did refer to what it, Yes,

266
00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:45.519
it is, but.

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00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:50.639
Enrico Fermi's famous postulate from I think nineteen sixty or thereabouts,

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where is everybody? Yeah, because the you know, it's for

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really applying the Copernicum, the Copernican principle to us as

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living organisms, and the Copernicum principle is that there's nothing

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special about where we are in space and who we are.

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And it's named after Copernicus, because he took me from

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the center of the you know, the Solar System, which

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people thought it was before, and said, no, it's just

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just a planet.

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Just a rock, and it's a rock, third rock from

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the Sun.

278
00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:22.279
Yeah, that's right.

279
00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:26.440
Didn't we talk some time ago about how our part

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of the universe is actually really boring?

281
00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.559
Well that could be, yeah, that could be part of

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the you know, the reason why we're here, because boring

283
00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.120
is good when trying to evolve living organisms. But yeah,

284
00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:42.039
so Fermi's argument was, if you know, if there's nothing

285
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special about us and the universe is thirteen point eight

286
00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:49.080
billion years old, they didn't know that back then, but

287
00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:52.360
that's the sort of I still knew it was pretty old.

288
00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:58.360
Why haven't species formed earlier than ours? And that why

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00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:01.759
haven't they colonized the whole galaxy? Basically because even you know,

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00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:05.160
even if it takes sixty thousand years to get from

291
00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:07.000
one star to another, as it would in our case,

292
00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:11.000
to get from here to proxima centaury, over a long

293
00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:13.640
enough time span, you could do that. And you know,

294
00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.839
even if even if it was colonized by robots so

295
00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:22.720
called from Nyman machines, that could self replicate, we should

296
00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:25.559
have evidence that there is intelligent life elsewhere.

297
00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:27.480
That's that's the family paradox, and.

298
00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:30.920
We haven't, and we still haven't, you know, sixty two

299
00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:32.680
years later, we still haven't.

300
00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:34.319
We're still looking for it on Earth.

301
00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:40.920
Yes, that's right now. Simon's arguments a good one. But

302
00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:49.599
the issue though is that supernov which he's absolutely right,

303
00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:52.880
they're this source of many of the heavier elements than iron.

304
00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.079
That and things like neutron star mergers and things of

305
00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:00.680
that sort, which which creates some of the heaviest selling gold,

306
00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:06.799
for example, comes from them. They started happening with probably

307
00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:09.640
within the first one hundred million years of the universe's existence.

308
00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:12.480
So for almost the whole.

309
00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:15.759
Age of the universe, the you know, what you might

310
00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:19.279
call the interstellar medium, the space between stars, has been

311
00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:24.200
enriched with these heavier elements. And in fact that's how

312
00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:27.480
we age we date stars in terms of how old

313
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:31.640
they are, it's by the number of chemical how much

314
00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:34.759
of the chemical elements is in their atmospheres.

315
00:18:35.720 --> 00:18:39.400
So a star like the Sun, its.

316
00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:42.039
Atmosphere is rich in all the you know, I can't

317
00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:45.920
remember the number, it's sixty or seventy different elements which

318
00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:49.519
are in the Sun's atmosphere might even be more than that,

319
00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:57.359
and it's essentially a highly enriched cloud of gas that

320
00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:01.000
the Sun formed from. But if you look at stars

321
00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:03.920
which are very very old, and there are some they've

322
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:06.440
only got hydrogen and you know, a little bit of

323
00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:09.799
iron in their spectrum, not much at all. But the

324
00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:12.640
bottom but the bottom line is that over right, since

325
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:17.720
the beginning, the enrichment of the raw materials of life

326
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.720
has been taking place. So it doesn't actually explain the

327
00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:24.480
Fermi paradox. In fact, that's part of the family paradox

328
00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:25.839
that we know. This has been going on for a

329
00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:29.759
long time. So you know, with the ingredients of life

330
00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.400
have been there for a long time, why aren't we

331
00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:37.079
seeing it? And you've had my answer to this many

332
00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:40.559
times before that the likelihood seems to be that that

333
00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:44.640
step what we think microbial life might be might be common,

334
00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:49.319
might be reasonably something. We might even know that within

335
00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:50.079
the next decade.

336
00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:51.079
Andrew, I hope we do.

337
00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:57.279
But higher life forms, even plants, may not exist anywhere

338
00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.920
else except here on Earth, or at least in our galaxy.

339
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.880
You know, given the number of galaxies in the universe

340
00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:12.039
two hundred billion, it's probably it seems likely that there

341
00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:14.960
might be something, you know, the galaxies, but the possibility

342
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:16.920
is that we are it in our own galaxy, which

343
00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:17.720
is a phenomenon.

344
00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.720
So yeah, it's hard to comprehend given the size and

345
00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:24.880
scope of the universe and all the situations that exist,

346
00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:29.319
that life couldn't exist somewhere else. You just got to

347
00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:32.799
look how life grabs hole in the most hostile environments

348
00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:35.440
on Earth. So it stands to reason that there's got

349
00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:38.799
to be some form of life beyond our planet, possibly

350
00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:44.039
even in our Solar system. But yeah, as you say,

351
00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:48.079
going from microbial to plant life is a giant leap,

352
00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:54.200
and then going from microbial to intelligent life is a

353
00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:57.359
massive leap. And I think.

354
00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:01.119
You could put it.

355
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:04.400
Down to the fact that the formula has to be right,

356
00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:07.680
the circumstances have to be right, the environment has to

357
00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:11.640
be right, all the things that created us have to

358
00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:17.279
exist somewhere else in some capacity for intelligent life to spawn.

359
00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:22.759
And again you probably would say, given the size of

360
00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:28.440
the universe, it's got to exist somewhere, but no evidence

361
00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:31.200
of it, and even if it does exist, we may

362
00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:32.599
never know about it because.

363
00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:33.200
Of the distances.

364
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:36.640
Yeah, I mean, you know, a big step with this

365
00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:39.000
will come with the germs webspace telescope. Yeah, all the

366
00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:42.200
things that they're going to be doing is analyzing to

367
00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:46.480
death the atmospheres of extra planets. And yeah, as soon

368
00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:49.279
as something you know, CFCs or something like that turned

369
00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:51.440
up in one of those and you've suddenly changed the

370
00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:53.960
whole name of the game, unless it's some.

371
00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:58.079
Life form that's been created in a completely different.

372
00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:01.559
Yeah, no circumstances. I think astrobology is a pretty open

373
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.440
minded about that. They look at all kinds of different

374
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.599
chemical possibilities for creating life. Once they don't involve water

375
00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:11.480
at all. I mean, all life on Earth is water based.

376
00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:15.759
But no, great question, A great question.

377
00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:19.960
Thank you, Simon. Let's go to our next question, and

378
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.119
this comes from Liz.

379
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:27.599
Hello, Lord, not Lee and Professor Watson. This is Liz

380
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.039
from Florida and I have a question about Mars. Now,

381
00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.799
this may be more of a sci fi question, but nonetheless,

382
00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:38.839
we know that the core is dead on planet Mars,

383
00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:42.319
and as we know, without an act of core, there

384
00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:46.720
is a lack of magnetic field which will essentially not

385
00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:50.160
be able to sustain an atmosphere. Now, we can tear

386
00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:52.319
a form an atmosphere all we want, but over time

387
00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:57.480
that will essentially seep out through the cracks and there

388
00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:01.279
will be no more atmosphere. Now, is it possible to

389
00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:05.200
harvest the Sun's energy? As we know the plannet gets

390
00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:09.319
radiated quite a bit. Is it possible to harvest that

391
00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:13.079
energy in let's say some kind of towers or something

392
00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:16.680
that can then send the shot down through the planet,

393
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:20.400
down to the core and recharge the core. So kind

394
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:25.640
of act as a planetary defabulator. Thank you for your time.

395
00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:26.319
Wow.

396
00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:29.279
I like the question. I like the concept, very sci fi.

397
00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:31.440
In fact, they did make a movie called The Core

398
00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:34.279
because the core of the Earth was slowing down and

399
00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:37.559
threatening life on Earth as we know it, so they

400
00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:42.200
sent a crew down on a special drill ship to

401
00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.039
get to the core and fire nuclear charges into it

402
00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:49.480
to reignite it. So, yeah, that's been done in sci fi.

403
00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:51.799
What happened Andrew? What was the home?

404
00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:53.319
They fixed it?

405
00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:54.880
How they fix the Earth course?

406
00:23:55.319 --> 00:24:04.640
Spoiler alert, yes alert, Yeah, the planetary defibrillator.

407
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:07.559
I love the idea, or pack.

408
00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:09.960
A whacker as we call them in Australia. I should

409
00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:14.759
probably now explain that Kerry Packer was a media magnate

410
00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:18.880
in Australia, very powerful, very rich man, Australia's richest man

411
00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:21.839
for a long time, didn't take care of himself health

412
00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:24.680
wise very well, and had a heart attack one day

413
00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:30.400
and the ambulance used a defibrillator to save his life.

414
00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:33.839
And he found out that there just weren't many of those,

415
00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:37.480
so he paid for every ambulance in New South Wales

416
00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.359
to have a defibrillator so that they could save people's

417
00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:45.240
lives like they saved him, which was a great, great thing.

418
00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:49.720
And we affectionately referred them to them as packerwhackers, as

419
00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:52.359
we do in this country. We give everything a nickname,

420
00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:54.839
so packa whackers are what I rebelled.

421
00:24:54.839 --> 00:24:58.400
That is, that's fantastic. I think I knew about the

422
00:24:58.599 --> 00:25:03.839
principle and that's what the were called. It's very Yeah,

423
00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:07.200
well that's probably the most interesting part of the answer

424
00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:16.640
to this question. Look, it is, yeah, terraforming Mars is

425
00:25:15.880 --> 00:25:20.960
it's not possible because it's not just the atmosphere' sorry,

426
00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.559
the lack of a magnetic field that stops you holding

427
00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:28.119
onto an atmosphere. It's the fact that the planet's too small.

428
00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:33.400
It's once again, it's it's it's connected with the just

429
00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:37.960
simply the gravitational pool that is needed to hold onto

430
00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:42.839
an atmosphere like ours, which Miles doesn't have. It clearly,

431
00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:46.799
at an early stage in its life did have an atmosphere,

432
00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:49.559
because we see evidence of water and that sort of thing.

433
00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:52.319
And it may well be that the magnetism then was

434
00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:55.200
high enough to certainly to stop it being eroded away

435
00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.799
by by the solar wind and things of that sort.

436
00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:05.880
But it's always going to be, you know, it's always

437
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:08.440
going to be a negative answer to a long lasting

438
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:12.279
atmosphere like the Earth's, because it just drifts off, it's

439
00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:15.039
not not heavy enough. In fact, we see it happening.

440
00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:20.920
There's it's the Marvin spacecraft, a NASA spacecraft that can

441
00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:25.839
actually that actually watches atoms leaving Mars' atmosphere. There's several

442
00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:29.400
images that show a different species of atoms drifting off,

443
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:34.279
reading carbon, the carbon dioxide and oxygen, and.

444
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:38.279
Which makes Marvin paranoid think about that one.

445
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:41.119
Yes, I like that.

446
00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:46.519
Yeah, I wish I could think of things like that anyway.

447
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:52.640
Never mind, so stirring up the core if you could

448
00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:54.759
do it, and I think the answer to that is

449
00:26:55.160 --> 00:26:58.039
there's no known physical method that would let you do that.

450
00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:00.960
What you'd have to do is heat it up so

451
00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:05.000
that it became more liquid. There may be a bit

452
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.519
of liquidity there now, but there's not enough to create

453
00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.680
a dynamo to generate the magnetic field.

454
00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:13.720
It's possibly done a piston engine thing and seized.

455
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.079
That's right, Yeah, in which case un seizing it needn't

456
00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:23.240
necessarily started spinning again, so you might still wind up

457
00:27:23.240 --> 00:27:26.759
with no magnetic field even if you nuked it to boil,

458
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.759
to boil it up a bit. So my answer to

459
00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:33.680
all that is to create artificial environments in space which

460
00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:37.039
you can control and you know, with mega engineering.

461
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:43.720
Live in the bubbles. Yeah. Close for the question, Thanks

462
00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:48.480
for the question. Probably beyond capability to fire up the.

463
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:53.920
Core, Yeah, but you never know. One days can we

464
00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:55.759
might be able to harness the energy of the Sun

465
00:27:55.839 --> 00:28:03.000
and do all sorts of weird and wonderful things. Who knows,

466
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:05.799
space MutS.

467
00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:09.960
Hello again, space Nutters. This is Anna from Astronomy Daily,

468
00:28:10.119 --> 00:28:12.440
the podcast, stopping by again with a couple of the

469
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:16.359
important stories we've been following over the past week. We'll

470
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:19.839
dive into SpaceX's upcoming starship test flight with its first

471
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:24.160
ever payload deployment and blue origins highly anticipated new Glen

472
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:30.440
rocket debut. Let's get rolling with today's news. SpaceX is

473
00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:34.039
gearing up for an exciting milestone with their seventh Starship

474
00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:37.599
test flight, marking the first time the massive rocket will

475
00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.359
attempt to deploy a payload in space. The mission will

476
00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:46.000
carry ten Starlink satellite simulators designed to match the size

477
00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.720
and weight of their next generation V three satellites. These

478
00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:53.799
dummy satellites will follow the same suborbital trajectory as Starship,

479
00:28:54.359 --> 00:28:56.759
with their journey ending in a planned splash down in

480
00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:00.599
the Indian Ocean. This test is crucial for space x's

481
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:04.200
future plans, as their developing Starship to carry their advanced

482
00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:08.680
V three Starlink satellites, which promise to deliver impressive gigabit

483
00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:13.160
Internet speeds to subscribers. The upcoming test flight will showcase

484
00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:17.720
a significantly upgraded version of Starship. The new generation vehicle

485
00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:22.279
features important improvements to boost reliability and performance, including a

486
00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:25.920
redesigned propulsion system and a twenty five percent increase in

487
00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:30.799
propellant volume, enabling the rocket to undertake longer missions. One

488
00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:33.279
of the most challenging aspects of this mission will be

489
00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:38.279
the attempted recovery of Starship's reusable booster using a landing pad.

490
00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:41.279
This maneuver, which had to be canceled during the previous

491
00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:44.880
test flight in November, could result in sonic booms around

492
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:49.000
the landing zone as the booster decelerates from supersonic speeds.

493
00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:52.640
If automated health checks indicate any concerns with the super

494
00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:56.359
heavy booster or tower, the backup plan involves a controlled

495
00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.680
splash down in the Gulf of Mexico. The test flight

496
00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:03.519
is scheduled for January tenth, though weather conditions could affect

497
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.759
the launch date. With FAA clearance already secured, this mission

498
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:12.319
represents a significant step forward in SpaceX's ambitious plans to

499
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:18.160
revolutionize satellite deployment capabilities and advance their Starlink network. Another

500
00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:22.079
exciting launch on the Horizon, Blue Origin is on the

501
00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:24.640
verge of a historic moment as they prepare to launch

502
00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:28.119
their first new Glen rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force

503
00:30:28.119 --> 00:30:32.240
Station in Florida. After years of development since Jeff Bezos

504
00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:35.640
first announced the project in twenty sixteen, the company is

505
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.200
finally ready to demonstrate their entry into the heavy lift

506
00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:41.599
launch market. The launch window opens as early as January

507
00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:45.400
sixth at one a m Eastern time, with multiple backup

508
00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:50.400
opportunities through January twelfth. The rocket's first stage booster, cleverly

509
00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:53.480
named so You're telling Me There's a chance, will attempt

510
00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:56.480
a landing at sea on their drone ship Jackline, Named

511
00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:00.880
after Bezos's mother, New Glen represents a signals in advancement

512
00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.960
in launch vehicle capability. Standing impressively tall with a massive

513
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.920
twenty three foot payload firing, it offers more than double

514
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:11.359
the volume of typical fifteen foot farings used by other rockets.

515
00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:15.799
This extra space gives customers unprecedented flexibility in how they

516
00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:21.160
package their payloads. The rocket's performance specifications are equally impressive,

517
00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:24.480
capable of delivering up to forty five metric tons to

518
00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:28.359
low Earth orbit and thirteen metric tons to geostationary orbit.

519
00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:33.480
Like SpaceX's rockets, New Glen is designed for reusability, with

520
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:36.640
each booster projected to complete up to twenty five flights.

521
00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:41.079
For this debut mission, designated NNG one, the rocket will

522
00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:44.519
carry the Blue Ring Pathfinder, a forty five zero zero

523
00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:48.720
zero pound payload simulator. This test article will validate crucial

524
00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:53.519
systems including communications arrays, power systems, and flight computers that

525
00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:57.599
will be used in future operational missions. Blue Origin already

526
00:31:57.640 --> 00:32:00.000
has an impressive lineup of customers waiting to fly on

527
00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:05.160
New Glenn, including NASA's Escapade Mars probes, Amazon's Kyper Internet satellites,

528
00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:09.599
and various commercial and government payloads. If successful, this first

529
00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:13.119
flight could count toward Blue Origin certification requirements for national

530
00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:16.799
security launches with the US Space Force. And that's it

531
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.720
for me for this episode of Space Nuts. I'm anna

532
00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:22.920
don't forget to visit Astronomy Daily dot io for your

533
00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:26.599
daily fix of space and astronomy news updates. We're constantly

534
00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:29.720
updating the site with the latest discoveries, mission updates, and

535
00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:33.960
cosmic wonders until our next adventure through the Cosmos. Keep

536
00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:36.599
looking up and stay curious about the mysteries that surround

537
00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:37.240
us in space.

538
00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:43.640
A Space Nuts to the Spice Nuts podcast available at

539
00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:48.960
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, oh your favorite podcast player.

540
00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:52.400
You can also stream on demand at bides dot com.

541
00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:57.799
This has been another quantity podcast production from Nuts dot com.
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