S27E142: Martian Moon Origins, Starship's Sixth Triumph, and Earth's Ore Age Revelation

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This is Space Time, Series 27,
Episode 142, for broadcast on

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the 25th of November, 2024.
Coming up on Space Time, how the

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red planet Mars got its moons,
our full report on Starship Test

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Flight 6, and a billion year
shift in the formation of planet

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Earth's largest ore deposits.
All that and more coming up on

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Space Time.

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Welcome to Space Time with
Stuart Gary.

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A new study suggests that Mars
got its two moons, Phobos and

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Deimos, after a passing asteroid
was ripped apart by the red

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planet's gravity. The findings
reported in the journal Icarus

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are based on new supercomputer
simulations by NASA. Besides the

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Earth's Moon, Phobos and Deimos
are the only moons in our solar

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system that orbit a terrestrial
planet.

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Previous hypotheses have
suggested that the two tiny

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moons were either captured
main-built asteroids, or the

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result of a major asteroid
impact on the Martian surface,

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possibly on the planet's
northern hemisphere lowlands.

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That latter explanation better
accounts for the paths the moons

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travel today, in these circular
orbits that closely align with

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the Martian equator.

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The problem is a giant impact
usually ejects material into a

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disk that mostly stays close to
the planet, and the Martian

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Moons, especially Deimos, are
orbiting quite a bit further out

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from the planet, and so probably
formed at their current

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distance.

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The new study, using a series of
supercomputer simulations,

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suggests another option, the
destruction of an asteroid that

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ventured too close to Mars,
pushing through its Roche limit,

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where gravitational tidal
disruptions tore the asteroid

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apart. The new modelling shows
the resulting rocky fragments

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from the asteroid's destruction
would have been strewn into a

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variety of orbits around Mars.

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More than half those fragments
would have escaped the Mars

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system completely, but others
would have stayed in orbit.

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Tugged by the gravity of both
Mars and the Sun, some of these

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remaining pieces would have
collided with one another, and

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every encounter would have
further ground them down,

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turning them into even more
debris.

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Many collisions later, smaller
chunks from the former asteroid

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would have settled into a debris
disk circling the planet like a

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ring. And over time, some of
this material would eventually

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have coalesced, accreting to
ultimately form Phobos and

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Deimos.

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To assess whether this was a
realistic chain of events, the

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authors explored hundreds of
different close-encounter

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simulations, varying the
asteroid's size, spin, speed and

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distance at its closest approach
to the red planet. Now in many

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of these scenarios, enough
asteroid fragments survived and

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collided in orbit to serve as
the raw material to form the two

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moons.

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The study's lead author, Jacob
Kagaras from NASA's Ames

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Research Center in California's
Silicon Valley, says this new

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model makes different
predictions about the two

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moons'properties, and these can
be tested against standard ideas

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for this key event in Martian
history. The new hypothesis also

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allows for a more efficient
distribution of Moon-making

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material to the outer regions of
the debris disk.

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And that means a much smaller
parent asteroid could still

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deliver enough material to send
the Moon's building blocks to

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the right place. Testing
different ideas about the

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formation of the two Martian
Moons is the primary goal of the

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upcoming Martian Moons
Exploration or MMX sample return

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mission which will be led by
JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace

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Exploration Agency.

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The spacecraft will survey both
Deimos and Phobos before

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eventually collecting samples
from the surface of Phobos to

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bring back to Earth for study. A
NASA instrument aboard the

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spacecraft called MIGAIN, short
for Mars Moon Exploration with

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Gamma Rays and Neutrons, will
identify the chemical elements

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Phobos is made of and help
select sites for the sample

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collection.

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And some of these samples will
be collected by a pneumatic

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sampler also provided by NASA as
a technology demonstration

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contribution to the mission.
Understanding what the Martian

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Moons are made of, is one clue
which could distinguish between

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the moons having an asteroid
origin or a planet plus impactor

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origin.

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This is Space Time. Still to
come, SpaceX undertakes a

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successful sixth test flight of
its Starship Mega Rocket, and a

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new study shows a billion-year
shift in the formation of planet

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Earth's largest ore deposits.
All that and more still to come

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on Space Time.

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SpaceX has undertaken a
successful sixth test flight of

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its Starship Mega Rocket, with
United States President-elect

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Donald Trump joining space
ex-boss Elon Musk to witness the

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spectacular launch firsthand.

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Flight director is go for
launch.

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T-minus 20 seconds until liftoff
of Starship Flight 6.

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9, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

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We got puts in.

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Vehicle with pitch and gale
range.

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2-star Raptor, telemetry
nominal.

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2-star and 5th, avionics, power
and telemetry nominal.

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All right, we are just a little
over a minute. We're about six

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miles away, so all the sound's
still hitting us here. Hearing

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good call-outs at power,
telemetry nominal. That's flying

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straight and true. We do see all
33 Raptor engines lit up on

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telemetry screens.

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At this point, we've passed
through that point of maximum

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aerodynamic pressure, that max
Q. Now coming up in just a

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little over a minute from now is
going to be hot staging. So

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we're going to see the six
engines on the ship ignite while

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still attached to the booster.
Just before that, we'll see all

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but three center engines on the
booster shut down.

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In what we call MECO, it's most
engines cut off instead of main

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engine. A lot of our flight
controllers looking at all the

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systems around the tower. Again,
we have to send... A manual

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command. We heard the tower is
go for catch. We've heard the

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return flag is set for true.

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Dependent from setup, stage
declaration.

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All right. Hot staging
confirmed. Checked out a sick

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lit on the ship. Booster boost
back going. We heard that we are

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go for catch. Kate, Jesse, take
good reviews. Hopefully I got a

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booster coming home real soon.

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Right now it is performing the
boost back burn. Good news there

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telling us that the pressures
are.

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Inside the ship are good that is
the second stage or the upper

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portion of the vehicle yeah
booster is currently a super

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heavy is currently in its boost
back burn this boost back burn

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this boost back burn lasts just
a little bit over a minute

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however a loss of communication
with a launch tower computer at

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the bokeh chica Starbase in
Texas meant they were prevented

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from seeing a repeated the
previous test's spectacular

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super-heavy booster returning to
the launch pad and being

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captured by the launch tower's
chopstick arms.

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So instead, the first stage was
instructed to undertake a

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vertical landing at sea
splashing down in the Gulf Of

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Mexico. But all other aspects of
the flight appeared to go

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according to plan, with a hot
staging separation of the upper

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Starship orbital section from
the booster section performing

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nominally.

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The booster then undertook its
boost-back re-entry burn Using

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its underbelly heat shield to
belly flop through the

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atmosphere to burn off speed
during the re-entry and then

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flipping from the horizontal
back to the vertical at the last

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minute for a perfectly executed
landing burn and touchdown on

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the sea surface.

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Booster off or divert.

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The hot stage has been
jettisoned.

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Yes, visual confirmation of
that.

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Starhip is following a nominal
trajectory.

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The next step for booster is
going into that landing burn.

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Again, it'll light up 13 of
those engines. And then pared

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down to three engines right
before booster catch.

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All right. Now, just real quick,
we did hear the call out,

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booster offshore divert.
Unfortunately, that means that

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we are no go for the catch. Both
the tower and the vehicle, as

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well as the operators on
console, have been actively

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evaluating the commit criteria
for that return to the launch

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tower. And unfortunately, we did
not have a pass on those commit

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criteria. So we are no go for
tower catch.

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There's a lot of things that
need to go well in order to line

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that up. Unfortunately, today we
won't forego booster catch

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today. We have an additional
objective today to do an

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in-space relight of a Raptor
engine, which again will help us

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set us up for being able to do
deorbit burns, which is

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important for orbital flights.

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Yeah, once again, we are
attempting an offshore landing

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of the super heavy booster off
the Gulf Coast of Texas. Those

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grid fins, there are four
hypersonic grid fins. Oh, we can

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see that the landing run has
begun. This is a heavy booster.

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Same padding, 13 engines will
light. Calm down to three, just

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as we expected. Splash down.
Super heavy.

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So we'd like to confirm a water
landing once again for the super

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heavy booster.

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Meanwhile, the Starship Upper
Stage continued to climb to

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orbit, cruising halfway around
the planet before re-entering

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the atmosphere above the Indian
Ocean off the Western Australian

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coastline. The test included
reigniting one of Starship's

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Raptor engines for the first
time in space.

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It's going to attempt to do an
in-space burn. We're going to

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light one of those Raptor
engines, the sea-level ones in

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the middle, just to help
demonstrate that we can relight

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in that microgravity
environment. Really critical for

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de-orbit burns. We start to do
some orbital missions in the

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not-too-distant future. And then
following that, we'll see a ship

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entry, maybe a splashdown.

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As you guys said, we're really
going to be pushing ship on this

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one. We're... Pretty much
intentionally putting it in

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places where we expect it might
not do so great. And all that's

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to try and help us learn, see if
we're a little too conservative.

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And then maybe that opens up
more capability for when we

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start catching them.

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The next milestone is Starship
Terminal Guidance, referring to

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the upper stage. At about 8
minutes, 35 seconds or so, we

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have Ship Engine Cutoff, which
will be the cutoff of the Raptor

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engines.

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And there we just heard a call
out for SECO Ship Engine Cutoff.

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Everything continuing to look
awesome.

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Fts in place. Nominal orbit
insertion.

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There's that call out. We were
waiting for confirmation of good

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orbital insertion for ship
today.

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Ship nominal orbit. So it's on
its way around the planet.

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And trialing new heat shield
materials.

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As a reminder, one of the main
goals of today's flight test is

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for the ship to make it through
the extreme heat of reentry and

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to do so in a controlled manner.
Now, reentry is typically a

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portion of flight where we don't
have communication capability

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with the spacecraft because it's
reentering at or around orbital

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velocity, which is roughly eight
kilometers per second or about

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five miles per second.

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Now, at those speeds, yep,
pretty fast. The spacecraft is

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moving through the atmosphere
rather quickly, and that results

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in friction. And this creates a
plasma field around the vehicle.

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That. Blanket of plasma distorts
communication frequency, so it's

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not uncommon to experience brief
blackouts in communication.

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Other thermal protection
experiments saw some areas

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stripped of their heat tiles to
see whether catch mechanisms

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could be positioned there on
future flights.

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The receding tile line where we
have removed a number of heat

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shield tiles in order to test
out and push the envelope on the

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ship and demonstrate what its
capabilities are.

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We are really pushing the ship
today. The heat shield is not in

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the same configuration as it was
last flight, where we had a team

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of ship techs do just an
otherworldly task, replacing the

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entire heat shield, thousands of
tiles, installing a backup of

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LATV, and that pretty much set
us up to do a pinpoint landing

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on Flight 5.

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We did not do that with this
one. We have some backup in

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those really sensitive areas
around the flat. But this is an

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older generation heat shield.
And knowing we weren't going to

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do that, we even went and
removed some extra tiles. There

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are some missing tiles on the
nose cone where we're testing

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some backups.

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There are some steel covered
tiles in a couple of different

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spots. And there's also a whole
lot more steel of the ship

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showing. A couple hundred tiles
trimmed off the sides, and that

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's where we might have catch
fittings in the future. But

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color is starting to come in.
Looks like things are going to

230
00:12:53,300 --> 00:12:54,521
start heating up, Kate and
Jesse.

231
00:12:54,721 --> 00:12:59,483
Yeah, fun fact, Dan, we actually
removed 2,100 heat shield tiles

232
00:12:59,843 --> 00:13:03,865
from Starship in order to
basically present that necessary

233
00:13:04,145 --> 00:13:08,647
receding line. We want to test
the vehicle beyond what we think

234
00:13:08,747 --> 00:13:12,268
it is capable of carrying based
on our simulations and

235
00:13:12,288 --> 00:13:13,049
calculations.

236
00:13:13,309 --> 00:13:16,450
So once again, don't be
surprised if we see some

237
00:13:16,530 --> 00:13:20,291
wackadoodle stuff happen here.
We won't be. There are a number

238
00:13:20,291 --> 00:13:24,313
of things that we are testing
out intentionally to see. What

239
00:13:24,353 --> 00:13:25,374
the ship can take.

240
00:13:25,934 --> 00:13:28,635
Yeah, exactly. And knowing what
those limits are will really

241
00:13:28,775 --> 00:13:32,397
help us design the vehicle of
the future. Essentially,

242
00:13:32,437 --> 00:13:35,038
removing those tiles helps us
remove a lot of weight from the

243
00:13:35,058 --> 00:13:37,279
vehicle, a lot of things that
might potentially need

244
00:13:37,359 --> 00:13:38,600
refurbishment in the future.

245
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,202
And the goal is to come up with
a heat shield pattern or design

246
00:13:43,322 --> 00:13:46,664
that we don't have to refurbish.
We can just continue to use it

247
00:13:46,724 --> 00:13:50,045
over and over again. And that's
why we're... Changing some of

248
00:13:50,045 --> 00:13:53,407
those tiles and moving stuff
around, removing a lot of those

249
00:13:53,427 --> 00:13:55,449
tiles, as Kate has been
mentioning.

250
00:13:55,809 --> 00:13:58,751
Exactly. And, you know, looking
forward to the Starship

251
00:13:58,831 --> 00:14:00,952
capability of the future, we
want to be able to catch

252
00:14:01,052 --> 00:14:04,034
Starship like we do with
boosters. And so the next

253
00:14:04,054 --> 00:14:07,396
flight, we want to better
understand where we can install

254
00:14:07,516 --> 00:14:10,577
catch hardware, not necessarily
to actually do the catch, but to

255
00:14:10,657 --> 00:14:13,139
see how that hardware holds up
in those spots.

256
00:14:13,259 --> 00:14:16,401
And today's flight will help
inform, you know, does the...

257
00:14:16,885 --> 00:14:20,048
Stainless steel hold up like we
think it may based on

258
00:14:20,068 --> 00:14:22,590
experiments that we conducted on
Flight 5.

259
00:14:23,050 --> 00:14:26,393
And Starship was also programmed
to test a new, more aggressive

260
00:14:26,433 --> 00:14:29,596
descent strategy before flipping
vertically for the landing.

261
00:14:29,836 --> 00:14:33,039
Starship is at 85 kilometres.
Flaps now have control of the

262
00:14:33,039 --> 00:14:33,359
vehicle.

263
00:14:33,619 --> 00:14:37,403
The ship is beginning to
re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.

264
00:14:37,683 --> 00:14:40,765
Starship is approaching the peak
heating phase of entry. We've

265
00:14:40,805 --> 00:14:44,927
got kind of the next-gen ship
lined up for Flight 7. It's got

266
00:14:45,268 --> 00:14:47,749
all of those heat shield
upgrades and everything. And one

267
00:14:47,749 --> 00:14:49,890
of the things that we're going
to be doing that's most

268
00:14:49,950 --> 00:14:52,311
interesting and one of the
reasons we wanted daylight is

269
00:14:52,351 --> 00:14:55,673
we're going to be flying pretty
aggressively as ship comes in.

270
00:14:55,893 --> 00:14:58,395
We're going to be kind of nose
down. We've done it in wind

271
00:14:58,435 --> 00:14:58,775
tunnels.

272
00:14:58,815 --> 00:15:01,857
We've done it in simulations.
You might see the flaps really

273
00:15:02,157 --> 00:15:04,498
flapping around trying to
control the vehicle. We're

274
00:15:04,538 --> 00:15:08,160
betting we might have a little
bit more capability than think

275
00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,930
in just the analysis. But...
Always a chance that bed doesn't

276
00:15:10,930 --> 00:15:13,772
pay off, but that just helps us
know, like, what are our limits.

277
00:15:13,772 --> 00:15:16,694
Oh, it's halfway through the
peak heating phase of our trip.

278
00:15:16,694 --> 00:15:18,175
Halfway there. Halfway home,
guys.

279
00:15:18,395 --> 00:15:20,617
Just like the booster, it
re-entered the Earth's

280
00:15:20,677 --> 00:15:23,399
atmosphere horizontally,
bleeding off speed with its

281
00:15:23,499 --> 00:15:26,762
underbelly heat shield, and, as
we've seen on previous flights,

282
00:15:26,942 --> 00:15:30,625
displaying stunning plasma wave
patterns as it descended through

283
00:15:30,625 --> 00:15:31,405
the atmosphere.

284
00:15:32,106 --> 00:15:34,407
Interestingly, however,
sharp-eyed viewers would have

285
00:15:34,427 --> 00:15:37,469
noticed wrinkles or creases
developing on the exposed

286
00:15:37,630 --> 00:15:41,412
surface of the hull midsection
during the descent. It wasn't a

287
00:15:41,432 --> 00:15:44,473
major issue as the underlying
structure kept the whole thing

288
00:15:44,533 --> 00:15:46,714
together, but it was an
interesting point of

289
00:15:46,754 --> 00:15:47,475
observation.

290
00:15:47,975 --> 00:15:50,837
We are also testing out new
secondary thermal protection

291
00:15:51,177 --> 00:15:54,759
materials. So basically, like if
the heat shield isn't in this

292
00:15:54,839 --> 00:15:58,061
one spot, can this other
material protect the metal is

293
00:15:58,241 --> 00:16:00,962
the thinking there. Also
checking of the ship's

294
00:16:01,002 --> 00:16:04,424
structural strength in those
areas where we're looking to add

295
00:16:04,464 --> 00:16:06,145
that ship catch hardware.

296
00:16:06,613 --> 00:16:09,595
Just to see if it survives
entry. As we've been saying,

297
00:16:10,176 --> 00:16:14,359
we've done a lot of calculations
and simulations. Similar to

298
00:16:14,379 --> 00:16:18,361
Flight 5, we are targeting the
same splashdown location in the

299
00:16:18,461 --> 00:16:22,825
Indian Ocean, but we are not
expecting to recover the

300
00:16:22,825 --> 00:16:23,225
vehicle.

301
00:16:23,705 --> 00:16:27,088
The flaps so far are looking
pretty good. We're not seeing

302
00:16:27,368 --> 00:16:28,108
any burn through.

303
00:16:28,268 --> 00:16:30,390
Once we're subsonic,
essentially, so I think that's

304
00:16:30,450 --> 00:16:34,970
about 1,200 kilometers an hour.
Once we're down below that, that

305
00:16:34,970 --> 00:16:37,494
's when we're going to kind of
dip our nose down and get that

306
00:16:37,554 --> 00:16:39,095
more aggressive angle of attack.

307
00:16:39,255 --> 00:16:42,057
Normally we're just belly flop
right into the water, pretty

308
00:16:42,117 --> 00:16:45,779
much that position, but if we're
going to be able to do return to

309
00:16:45,879 --> 00:16:49,020
launch sites, we're going to
want to be able to fly with a

310
00:16:49,020 --> 00:16:51,221
little bit more of an angle of
attack, get you a little bit

311
00:16:51,282 --> 00:16:54,503
more range as you're coming
through. And so this will be

312
00:16:54,583 --> 00:16:57,745
just a test to see quite how far
can we push it.

313
00:16:58,025 --> 00:17:00,946
But obviously, we're going to do
these kind of tests way out here

314
00:17:01,026 --> 00:17:04,748
in super remote areas before you
ever try to bring a ship back to

315
00:17:04,768 --> 00:17:07,369
a place like Starbase. Our ship
remains on a good entry

316
00:17:07,449 --> 00:17:09,810
trajectory. External
temperatures are coming down.

317
00:17:09,870 --> 00:17:13,791
That tells us that we are
through the phase of peak

318
00:17:13,972 --> 00:17:17,853
heating. So we are expecting
these temperatures to continue

319
00:17:17,913 --> 00:17:22,755
to come down. Once again, we are
targeting a soft splashdown in

320
00:17:22,735 --> 00:17:26,957
the Indian Ocean off the
northwest coast of Australia.

321
00:17:27,297 --> 00:17:31,521
And as we get down a little bit
lower, the Raptor engines are in

322
00:17:31,521 --> 00:17:34,724
their chill phase right now. So
just essentially getting them

323
00:17:34,804 --> 00:17:38,567
primed to turn on. We're going
to use those three center

324
00:17:38,627 --> 00:17:42,390
engines to do a landing flip and
then a landing burn. So we'll

325
00:17:42,431 --> 00:17:45,293
come down kind of in that
slightly pointed down belly flop

326
00:17:45,293 --> 00:17:48,796
and then fire off those engines
to flip us around and then do

327
00:17:48,856 --> 00:17:52,059
that final landing burn. All
ship has paused.

328
00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,662
We do have some heating there.
On that looks like one of the

329
00:17:55,762 --> 00:18:00,387
forward flaps on Starship. This
is to be expected. We knew that

330
00:18:00,567 --> 00:18:03,690
the vehicle would perform
differently than what we had

331
00:18:03,770 --> 00:18:07,533
seen on Flight 5. It looks like
that heating is starting to cool

332
00:18:07,593 --> 00:18:08,013
off there.

333
00:18:08,354 --> 00:18:11,477
Yeah, it's a little burn
through. Again, it is important

334
00:18:11,577 --> 00:18:16,141
to note when we start seeing
that through the ship's descent.

335
00:18:16,401 --> 00:18:19,062
As well. So like Kate was
saying, we're getting some

336
00:18:19,082 --> 00:18:22,263
really good data here. Looks
like the other flaps are doing a

337
00:18:22,283 --> 00:18:24,543
little better than the one that
has a little burn through, which

338
00:18:24,563 --> 00:18:25,844
is some good news.

339
00:18:26,304 --> 00:18:27,884
It's slowing down on stock one.

340
00:18:27,984 --> 00:18:28,784
And go ahead, Anne.

341
00:18:28,784 --> 00:18:29,545
If it stops at the top.

342
00:18:29,605 --> 00:18:32,986
The body slope remains on a good
trajectory. This is when things

343
00:18:33,206 --> 00:18:35,426
will start to get a little
interesting. So this is when

344
00:18:35,486 --> 00:18:38,727
we're moving slower than the
speed of sound. Nose slowly

345
00:18:38,867 --> 00:18:41,468
start to tip down. And we're
going to try and maintain flap

346
00:18:41,528 --> 00:18:44,349
control the whole way. But we
are just a couple of minutes

347
00:18:44,369 --> 00:18:46,975
away from... Hopefully doing a
landing flip. Landing flip and

348
00:18:46,995 --> 00:18:49,437
landing burn if the flaps can
hold together.

349
00:18:49,637 --> 00:18:52,360
This higher angle of attack,
we're intentionally doing it to

350
00:18:52,540 --> 00:18:56,844
stress those aft flaps. And that
will help inform the limits of

351
00:18:56,964 --> 00:19:00,247
flap control in order to collect
data for future landing

352
00:19:00,307 --> 00:19:00,847
profiles.

353
00:19:01,107 --> 00:19:04,230
We're looking good so far. We've
just got about five kilometers

354
00:19:04,230 --> 00:19:06,953
in altitude to go. We'll ignite
the engines when we're still

355
00:19:06,993 --> 00:19:09,855
just a couple hundred meters
over the ground. Do that flip

356
00:19:10,115 --> 00:19:11,937
and landing. Five kilometers
out.

357
00:19:13,978 --> 00:19:17,039
As with previous test flights,
Starship flipped back to

358
00:19:17,079 --> 00:19:20,741
vertical just before splashing
down on target an hour and five

359
00:19:20,801 --> 00:19:23,902
minutes after launch. The whole
thing being monitored by a

360
00:19:23,942 --> 00:19:26,964
pre-positioned SpaceX buoy
anchored nearby.

361
00:19:27,564 --> 00:19:33,126
Ship is doing great so far.
Engine relighting.

362
00:19:34,947 --> 00:19:38,729
What a great real sensation by
Starship.

363
00:19:50,138 --> 00:19:54,219
All three down to two. And the
last one. Wow.

364
00:19:54,219 --> 00:19:56,460
And we have steps last down in
the Indian Ocean.

365
00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,082
And this flight also carried
Starship's first ever biological

366
00:20:00,142 --> 00:20:04,164
payload. It was a banana hanging
all by itself in the cavernous

367
00:20:04,264 --> 00:20:08,125
payload bay. Exactly why it was
put there has been the subject

368
00:20:08,145 --> 00:20:11,679
of some speculation. A camera
did monitor it throughout the

369
00:20:11,719 --> 00:20:15,722
flight, and importantly, it
didn't explode once in space.

370
00:20:16,342 --> 00:20:19,404
So it's fair to say the payload
bay must have remained pressure

371
00:20:19,464 --> 00:20:22,346
tight throughout the mission.
This launch also marked the

372
00:20:22,366 --> 00:20:25,709
quickest turnaround so far
between test flights for what is

373
00:20:25,729 --> 00:20:29,091
the world's largest and most
powerful rocket. And it was the

374
00:20:29,151 --> 00:20:32,613
last test flight for this
specific version of Starship.

375
00:20:33,234 --> 00:20:36,596
The next test will involve an
upgraded version to Starship,

376
00:20:36,716 --> 00:20:39,058
which will have a slightly
altered design with larger fuel

377
00:20:39,138 --> 00:20:39,518
tanks.

378
00:20:40,182 --> 00:20:43,084
Now, theoretically, that could
fly next month, although an

379
00:20:43,125 --> 00:20:46,667
actual launch date is yet to be
set. Meanwhile, work's already

380
00:20:46,748 --> 00:20:49,670
underway on a future third
variant of Starship, which will

381
00:20:49,670 --> 00:20:52,612
include engines three times more
powerful than those currently

382
00:20:52,732 --> 00:20:55,755
used. That should be ready to
fly in about a year.

383
00:20:56,916 --> 00:21:00,119
The massive, gleaming
121-metre-tall stainless steel

384
00:21:00,239 --> 00:21:03,281
rocket is at the heart of Musk's
plans to develop an

385
00:21:03,361 --> 00:21:07,264
interplanetary colonial
transport vehicle, one capable

386
00:21:07,304 --> 00:21:10,427
of carrying 100 people at a
time, on missions to the Moon,

387
00:21:10,647 --> 00:21:15,090
to Mars and beyond. In fact,
using Starship, Musk hopes to

388
00:21:15,130 --> 00:21:18,433
eventually turn humanity into
the first multi-planetary

389
00:21:18,533 --> 00:21:19,153
species.

390
00:21:19,834 --> 00:21:22,876
Current plans will see NASA use
a version of Starship called the

391
00:21:23,116 --> 00:21:26,098
HLS to ferry astronauts and
equipment between the Orion

392
00:21:26,198 --> 00:21:29,540
spacecraft and the Lunar South
Pole as part of the Artemis III

393
00:21:29,620 --> 00:21:31,522
mission in September 2026.

394
00:21:32,446 --> 00:21:35,168
After that, it'll be used to
shuttle people, supplies and

395
00:21:35,168 --> 00:21:38,109
equipment between the Lunar
Gateway Space Station, once it's

396
00:21:38,170 --> 00:21:41,772
positioned in trans-lunar orbit,
and the lunar surface, helping

397
00:21:41,812 --> 00:21:45,334
maintain a permanent human
presence on the Moon. And

398
00:21:45,434 --> 00:21:49,256
Starship doesn't end there. Musk
is also planning to fly an

399
00:21:49,296 --> 00:21:53,238
unmanned version of Starship to
Mars on a test run also in 2026.

400
00:21:53,959 --> 00:21:57,281
That'll coincide with the next
Mars transfer window. That's the

401
00:21:57,321 --> 00:22:00,042
time when the orbits of the
Earth and Mars allow for

402
00:22:00,103 --> 00:22:03,205
journeys between the two planets
to be kept out at just six or

403
00:22:03,245 --> 00:22:07,729
seven months each way. SpaceX
sees Starship as the future of

404
00:22:07,709 --> 00:22:11,993
the company. Eventually, it'll
replace the current Falcon 9 and

405
00:22:12,033 --> 00:22:15,195
Falcon Heavy vehicles, as well
as the Dragon capsule.

406
00:22:15,836 --> 00:22:19,359
And one day, it may even replace
some airline services on

407
00:22:19,459 --> 00:22:23,202
point-to-point journeys between
major cities on Earth, meaning

408
00:22:23,262 --> 00:22:26,385
any point on planet Earth will
be no more than 90 minutes from

409
00:22:26,505 --> 00:22:31,184
any other point. A true glimpse
into the future. This is Space

410
00:22:31,224 --> 00:22:31,664
Time.

411
00:22:32,364 --> 00:22:35,806
Still to come, a new study has
found that Earth's largest iron

412
00:22:35,866 --> 00:22:38,988
ore deposits, found in Western
Australia's Pilbara, are about a

413
00:22:39,048 --> 00:22:42,009
billion years younger than
previously thought. And later in

414
00:22:41,989 --> 00:22:46,051
the Science Report, a new study
warns that global plastic waste

415
00:22:46,251 --> 00:22:49,693
is likely to double by the
middle of this century. All that

416
00:22:49,713 --> 00:22:52,074
and more still to come on Space
Time.

417
00:23:07,934 --> 00:23:10,576
A new study has found that
plenty of the largest iron ore

418
00:23:10,576 --> 00:23:13,358
deposits, which are found in the
Western Australian Pilbara

419
00:23:13,358 --> 00:23:15,980
region, are about a billion
years younger than what was

420
00:23:16,060 --> 00:23:19,643
previously thought. The latest
data places that massive

421
00:23:19,683 --> 00:23:24,366
deposits are between 1.1 and 1.4
billion years of age, far less

422
00:23:24,366 --> 00:23:26,968
than the 2.2 billion years
previously estimated.

423
00:23:27,589 --> 00:23:30,231
The findings are important.
Because they helped establish a

424
00:23:30,271 --> 00:23:33,132
new picture of planet Earth's
geological history at a time

425
00:23:33,132 --> 00:23:36,454
when plate tectonic upheavals
saw ancient supercontinents

426
00:23:36,514 --> 00:23:40,236
begin to break up and subduct
while new ones began forming.

427
00:23:40,896 --> 00:23:43,318
The discovery, reported in the
Journal Of The Proceedings Of

428
00:23:43,298 --> 00:23:45,719
The National Academy Of
Sciences, are based on new

429
00:23:45,819 --> 00:23:48,961
geochronology techniques which
are far more accurate at

430
00:23:49,041 --> 00:23:53,035
measuring the age of iron oxide
minerals. The new research is

431
00:23:53,115 --> 00:23:56,336
able to precisely date minerals
from banded iron formations,

432
00:23:56,476 --> 00:23:59,778
which are ancient underwater
layers of iron-rich rock, and

433
00:23:59,798 --> 00:24:02,400
which provide a significant
insight into Earth's deep

434
00:24:02,500 --> 00:24:03,680
geological past.

435
00:24:04,261 --> 00:24:06,842
The study's lead author, Liam
Courtney Davis from Curtin

436
00:24:06,922 --> 00:24:09,964
University and the University Of
Colorado Boulder, says the

437
00:24:10,124 --> 00:24:13,426
energy from this epic geological
activity likely triggered the

438
00:24:13,426 --> 00:24:16,667
production of billions of tons
of iron-rich rock across the

439
00:24:16,707 --> 00:24:17,148
Pilbara.

440
00:24:18,028 --> 00:24:21,310
Western Australia is the world's
leading producer of iron ore.

441
00:24:21,530 --> 00:24:25,694
Which is Australia's largest
export earner at $131 billion a

442
00:24:25,694 --> 00:24:29,518
year. Until now, the exact
timeline of these formations

443
00:24:29,598 --> 00:24:33,002
changing from 30% iron, as they
originally were, to more than

444
00:24:33,142 --> 00:24:35,884
60% iron, as they are today, was
unclear.

445
00:24:36,205 --> 00:24:38,928
And that hindered science's
understanding of the processes

446
00:24:38,968 --> 00:24:42,162
that led to the formation of
these huge reserves. But the

447
00:24:42,182 --> 00:24:45,324
discovery of a link between
these giant iron ore deposits

448
00:24:45,364 --> 00:24:48,625
and changes in supercontinent
cycles enhances science's

449
00:24:48,685 --> 00:24:51,226
understanding of ancient
geological processes and

450
00:24:51,266 --> 00:24:54,067
improves geologists'ability to
predict exactly where they

451
00:24:54,147 --> 00:24:55,788
should be exploring in the
future.

452
00:24:56,428 --> 00:24:59,830
By using an emerging technique
to date iron oxide minerals

453
00:24:59,870 --> 00:25:02,931
through uranium and lead isotope
analysis within the mineral

454
00:25:02,951 --> 00:25:06,113
grains, the authors were able to
directly date all the major

455
00:25:06,193 --> 00:25:09,374
banded iron formation deposits
in the Hammersley Province.

456
00:25:10,002 --> 00:25:13,225
Courtney Davis says the findings
show that these deposits formed

457
00:25:13,225 --> 00:25:16,728
in conjunction with major
tectonic events, events which

458
00:25:16,888 --> 00:25:20,611
changed planet Earth completely,
highlighting the dynamic nature

459
00:25:20,611 --> 00:25:23,514
of the planet's history and the
complexity of iron ore

460
00:25:23,554 --> 00:25:24,494
mineralisation.

461
00:25:24,695 --> 00:25:28,358
So we've been looking into
redefining what is the age of

462
00:25:28,358 --> 00:25:32,161
the mineralisation within the
banded iron formations in the

463
00:25:32,221 --> 00:25:32,641
Pilbara.

464
00:25:33,302 --> 00:25:36,465
The original banded iron
formations that were laid down

465
00:25:36,765 --> 00:25:40,847
across the Hammersley are very
old these are about 2.45 billion

466
00:25:41,168 --> 00:25:45,010
years old but for them to
actually be a mineral deposit or

467
00:25:44,990 --> 00:25:48,592
an iron ore deposit something
has to happen which transforms

468
00:25:48,652 --> 00:25:52,434
these banded iron formations
from about 40 percent iron 30

469
00:25:52,474 --> 00:25:56,576
percent iron to about 60 65
percent iron and this process

470
00:25:57,116 --> 00:26:00,418
was originally believed to have
happened around two billion

471
00:26:00,458 --> 00:26:04,860
years ago based on evidence from
other minerals in the ore which

472
00:26:05,121 --> 00:26:09,083
were not direct indicators of
the age But now at Curtin

473
00:26:09,143 --> 00:26:11,684
University, we've been
developing instruments and

474
00:26:11,704 --> 00:26:15,245
methods that have allowed us to
actually date iron minerals.

475
00:26:15,285 --> 00:26:18,907
So this is iron oxide minerals
like hematite, which are the

476
00:26:18,927 --> 00:26:22,288
minerals that make up the ore
deposits. And through dating of

477
00:26:22,308 --> 00:26:25,990
these minerals in most of the
major deposits within the

478
00:26:26,010 --> 00:26:28,871
region, we found that they're
about a billion years younger

479
00:26:28,931 --> 00:26:30,432
than we previously understood.

480
00:26:30,632 --> 00:26:32,372
Why does that matter? Why is
that important?

481
00:26:32,372 --> 00:26:35,554
So it's important because if we
want to be able to actually

482
00:26:35,654 --> 00:26:39,096
understand... Where mineral
deposits are sitting within the

483
00:26:39,136 --> 00:26:41,637
crust. And this isn't just for
iron ore, this is for all

484
00:26:41,697 --> 00:26:44,599
commodities like gold or
lithium. We need to have a

485
00:26:44,639 --> 00:26:48,821
really good grasp on how these
ore deposits form. So what was

486
00:26:48,821 --> 00:26:53,003
the tectonic setting? What were
the drivers for mineralization?

487
00:26:53,283 --> 00:26:56,805
What were the processes? So once
we can actually define how your

488
00:26:56,825 --> 00:27:00,988
deposit forms, that gives miners
and explorers a blueprint of how

489
00:27:01,208 --> 00:27:04,550
they might be able to better
adapt exploration to search for

490
00:27:04,650 --> 00:27:07,351
more of these. Deposits because
a lot of these deposits are

491
00:27:07,391 --> 00:27:10,532
dwindling in grade, especially
in the Pilbara, and we need to

492
00:27:10,712 --> 00:27:13,253
really be looking for bigger,
better deposits.

493
00:27:13,413 --> 00:27:16,535
When I think of iron, I think of
something condensing out of a

494
00:27:16,575 --> 00:27:20,997
protoplanetary nebula and then
forming the core of a planet

495
00:27:21,297 --> 00:27:25,639
around a nascent star. I then
think of something that's

496
00:27:25,899 --> 00:27:30,000
upwelled from deep within the
Earth in the form of basalt in a

497
00:27:30,041 --> 00:27:32,862
craton or something and
basically sitting in the

498
00:27:32,882 --> 00:27:36,224
lithosphere. There's a third way
iron ore can form, and that is

499
00:27:36,364 --> 00:27:38,946
it's excreted by some
microorganisms in the sea.

500
00:27:39,267 --> 00:27:43,090
Yeah, so in simplest terms, back
in the day, before there was a

501
00:27:43,110 --> 00:27:46,673
lot of oxygen in the atmosphere,
the oceans were very iron-rich,

502
00:27:46,733 --> 00:27:49,575
and a lot of that iron would
have come from hydrothermal

503
00:27:49,655 --> 00:27:53,998
vents in the ocean. So we had a
really iron-rich ocean. Then we

504
00:27:54,059 --> 00:27:57,201
had a period called the Great
Oxidation Event, which is where

505
00:27:57,341 --> 00:28:01,585
bacteria started reacting,
creating oxygen, which reacted

506
00:28:01,645 --> 00:28:03,186
with iron, and that iron then...

507
00:28:03,386 --> 00:28:07,930
Settled on sea floors to create
bands of iron. These would have

508
00:28:07,970 --> 00:28:12,595
been layers of 30 silica-rich
rocks and then layers of more

509
00:28:12,935 --> 00:28:15,638
iron-rich rocks that were
forming. And this is what we see

510
00:28:15,918 --> 00:28:20,002
in Taradini National Park today,
these nice interlayered rocks of

511
00:28:20,042 --> 00:28:25,447
silica to iron-rich material. So
those rocks are the host of what

512
00:28:25,527 --> 00:28:28,630
is being mined, but those rocks
aren't iron-rich enough.

513
00:28:28,962 --> 00:28:32,844
To actually be mined so there's
a later process which happens

514
00:28:32,884 --> 00:28:37,347
which upgrades the banded iron
formations to be a lot more iron

515
00:28:37,427 --> 00:28:40,308
rich and this is a hydro thermal
process which will basically

516
00:28:40,568 --> 00:28:43,910
leak out all that silica and
introduce more iron and

517
00:28:43,970 --> 00:28:47,652
basically concentrate iron
within certain areas of the

518
00:28:48,012 --> 00:28:51,834
pilgrim this is different from
the vast oceans of iron coming

519
00:28:51,894 --> 00:28:55,156
through great magma flows yeah
yeah completely different

520
00:28:55,196 --> 00:29:00,198
because they would be igneous
deposits You do get, in places

521
00:29:00,238 --> 00:29:03,879
like Karuna in Sweden, you do
get magmatic rocks, which are

522
00:29:03,899 --> 00:29:05,940
very iron-rich, which are mines.

523
00:29:05,980 --> 00:29:09,801
Those are called iron oxide
apatite deposits. But these are

524
00:29:10,121 --> 00:29:14,222
sedimentary deposits, which are
then silicified and then

525
00:29:14,342 --> 00:29:16,903
transformed to be more
iron-rich. So yeah, nothing to

526
00:29:16,923 --> 00:29:20,444
do with mantle upwelling or
igneous magmatic activity.

527
00:29:20,664 --> 00:29:24,405
You used a new geochronology
process in order to determine

528
00:29:24,405 --> 00:29:25,345
the age of these rocks.

529
00:29:25,845 --> 00:29:29,406
There's an instrument called a
laser ablation. Inductionally

530
00:29:29,466 --> 00:29:33,647
coupled plasma mass spectrometer
and with this instrument you can

531
00:29:33,707 --> 00:29:38,349
put in small polished pieces of
rock into the sample's chamber.

532
00:29:38,649 --> 00:29:42,690
This will then do a laser beam
down onto the sample material

533
00:29:42,810 --> 00:29:46,991
and in our case that laser beam
is about 50 microns in diameter

534
00:29:47,171 --> 00:29:51,552
that will ablate a little top
section of that mineral so in

535
00:29:51,552 --> 00:29:55,113
our case hematite it will
transport the ablated material

536
00:29:55,193 --> 00:29:58,114
to the mass spectrometer and
that mass spec will then

537
00:29:58,474 --> 00:30:01,115
separate out different elements
and isotopes.

538
00:30:01,235 --> 00:30:03,956
So what we're looking for is to
be able to measure the ratio

539
00:30:04,196 --> 00:30:07,657
between the uranium and the lead
within that tiny little bit of

540
00:30:07,637 --> 00:30:11,057
the mineral grain because
uranium decays to lead. So if we

541
00:30:11,077 --> 00:30:15,199
know the ratio of that, we can
work out what was the exact time

542
00:30:15,259 --> 00:30:17,279
that that mineral grain
crystallized.

543
00:30:17,339 --> 00:30:20,800
So this is a uranium-lead dating
technique which we've now been

544
00:30:20,860 --> 00:30:25,421
able to develop and adapt to use
with iron oxide minerals because

545
00:30:25,461 --> 00:30:29,182
previously, a lot of the time,
people dated Zircon. And other

546
00:30:29,242 --> 00:30:32,523
minerals which are more amenable
to uranium lead. So this is a

547
00:30:32,543 --> 00:30:34,684
new technique which we're
applying here, but then we're

548
00:30:34,704 --> 00:30:37,325
hoping to use in all different
types of environments.

549
00:30:37,525 --> 00:30:40,886
There was a lot of continental
shifting going on. Tectonic

550
00:30:40,946 --> 00:30:43,386
plates were moving and that
aided in this process.

551
00:30:43,686 --> 00:30:46,747
Yeah, so we've been able to
correlate the periods of the

552
00:30:46,767 --> 00:30:51,368
iron ore formation or the
economic mineralization with

553
00:30:51,448 --> 00:30:55,430
different episodes of
continental breakup and coming

554
00:30:55,470 --> 00:30:58,511
together. And we've noticed...
And it's not just with iron ore,

555
00:30:58,511 --> 00:31:00,032
it's with a lot of different
commodities.

556
00:31:00,252 --> 00:31:03,515
In Western Australia, there
seems to be a time period around

557
00:31:03,715 --> 00:31:07,238
1.3 billion years ago when
different parts of Australia

558
00:31:07,318 --> 00:31:11,261
were amalgamating into more like
the continent we see today. And

559
00:31:11,261 --> 00:31:15,185
it's this tectonic force or
drivers that provide the energy

560
00:31:15,625 --> 00:31:19,288
and hydrothermal fluid that we
need to actually transform the

561
00:31:19,308 --> 00:31:22,991
banded iron formations from just
rock into ore.

562
00:31:23,031 --> 00:31:25,973
We talk about banded iron
formations. What are they?

563
00:31:26,354 --> 00:31:26,734
These are...

564
00:31:26,894 --> 00:31:30,396
Sedimentary deposits and they
have a distinctive rhythmic

565
00:31:30,516 --> 00:31:35,178
banding of reddish iron and
paler silica and these elements

566
00:31:35,239 --> 00:31:39,281
were ultimately laid down on the
seafloor seasonally during the

567
00:31:39,281 --> 00:31:43,443
Great Oxidation Event when
oxygen was reacting with iron in

568
00:31:43,463 --> 00:31:46,384
the ocean then allowing it to
settle out as iron oxide

569
00:31:46,404 --> 00:31:50,106
minerals on the ocean floor
these rocks are in the Pilbara

570
00:31:50,146 --> 00:31:55,930
about 2.45 billion years old and
they're an archive between

571
00:31:56,730 --> 00:31:59,812
continents oceans and atmosphere
through time and they're the

572
00:31:59,832 --> 00:32:03,254
rocks which we now mine for iron
once they've been upgraded if

573
00:32:03,354 --> 00:32:06,496
they're younger what does that
mean other than the fact they

574
00:32:06,516 --> 00:32:09,898
were laid down more recently
well if the iron in the rock is

575
00:32:10,479 --> 00:32:14,081
younger than the actual timing
that it was laid down it means

576
00:32:14,101 --> 00:32:17,603
that there was some kind of
event which concentrated iron

577
00:32:17,703 --> 00:32:21,085
within these rocks to an
economic level which made it

578
00:32:21,445 --> 00:32:24,847
viable for the big exploration
companies to go out there and

579
00:32:24,867 --> 00:32:25,147
mine.

580
00:32:25,207 --> 00:32:27,868
And that's where the plate
tectonic movements come in. Yes.

581
00:32:27,868 --> 00:32:28,749
Where does this take us?

582
00:32:29,229 --> 00:32:33,351
For us, something interesting
would be to be able to further

583
00:32:33,431 --> 00:32:36,472
correlate this with banded iron
formations across the world,

584
00:32:36,532 --> 00:32:39,373
because they're not just in
Western Australia. There's huge

585
00:32:39,433 --> 00:32:43,235
deposits of these formations in
South Africa, Brazil, Lake

586
00:32:43,275 --> 00:32:47,036
Superior region in North
America, Ukraine, and China. So

587
00:32:47,036 --> 00:32:50,438
we really want to be able to
understand when all these

588
00:32:50,458 --> 00:32:51,278
deposits were.

589
00:32:51,458 --> 00:32:54,260
Turning into the iron ore that
we see today. And there's lots

590
00:32:54,260 --> 00:32:57,203
of different connections, like
the banded iron formations in

591
00:32:57,183 --> 00:33:00,025
the Pilbara and South Africa are
the same age. They were laid

592
00:33:00,045 --> 00:33:02,707
down at the same time when these
two countries were joined

593
00:33:02,727 --> 00:33:05,509
together as continents. So we
want to be able to work out when

594
00:33:05,710 --> 00:33:08,292
iron ore was forming across the
world, not just within the

595
00:33:08,312 --> 00:33:08,612
Pilbara.

596
00:33:08,792 --> 00:33:11,754
That's Liam Courtney-Davis from
Curtin University and the

597
00:33:11,834 --> 00:33:15,958
University Of Colorado Boulder.
This is Space Time.

598
00:33:31,752 --> 00:33:33,733
And time now to take a brief
look at some of the other

599
00:33:33,793 --> 00:33:36,475
stories making use in science
this week with the Science

600
00:33:36,516 --> 00:33:40,339
Report. A new study shows that
if you're over the age of 40,

601
00:33:40,539 --> 00:33:43,982
taking an hour-long walk every
day could add years to your

602
00:33:44,062 --> 00:33:44,482
life.

603
00:33:45,122 --> 00:33:47,885
The findings reported in the
British journal Sports Medicine

604
00:33:48,045 --> 00:33:51,287
looked at physical activity and
life expectancy, showing that if

605
00:33:51,387 --> 00:33:54,690
people over the age of 40 were
as physically active as the top

606
00:33:54,750 --> 00:33:57,873
25% of the population, they
could expect to live an extra

607
00:33:58,013 --> 00:34:01,971
five years on average. Or to put
it more simply, for every one

608
00:34:01,991 --> 00:34:05,131
hour long walk you take, it adds
an extra three hours to your

609
00:34:05,191 --> 00:34:05,572
life.

610
00:34:06,192 --> 00:34:09,533
The study also found that the
impact of exercise was greatest

611
00:34:09,533 --> 00:34:12,834
for the least active people, who
could add an extra six hours to

612
00:34:12,854 --> 00:34:16,355
their lives simply by taking
that one hour walk. The authors

613
00:34:16,435 --> 00:34:19,635
say the study proves that the
costs of physical inactivity are

614
00:34:19,755 --> 00:34:21,836
far greater than previously
thought.

615
00:34:23,376 --> 00:34:26,717
A new study has shown that
global plastic waste will double

616
00:34:26,757 --> 00:34:29,959
by the middle of the century if
humans stick. To business as

617
00:34:30,119 --> 00:34:34,321
usual. However, researchers also
found that a mix of policies

618
00:34:34,501 --> 00:34:38,944
could slash plastic waste by up
to 90%. The study reported in

619
00:34:38,924 --> 00:34:42,306
the journal Science also found
that greenhouse gas emissions

620
00:34:42,346 --> 00:34:45,268
from plastic production and
waste management are set to grow

621
00:34:45,348 --> 00:34:48,270
by at least 37% over the same
period.

622
00:34:48,951 --> 00:34:52,553
However, an intelligent mix of
policies could slash plastic

623
00:34:52,633 --> 00:34:56,427
waste by up to 90%. To reach
their conclusions, the authors

624
00:34:56,487 --> 00:34:59,288
simulated eight interventions
currently being considered by

625
00:34:59,308 --> 00:35:02,209
the United Nations Plastic
Pollutions Treaty, finding that

626
00:35:02,309 --> 00:35:05,570
implementing just four could
reduce mismanaged plastic waste

627
00:35:05,570 --> 00:35:09,372
by roughly 91% and
plastic-related emissions by a

628
00:35:09,412 --> 00:35:09,912
third.

629
00:35:11,553 --> 00:35:14,774
A new study has found that
switching to a vegan diet could

630
00:35:14,814 --> 00:35:19,216
lower your food costs by 19%. On
the other hand, switching to a

631
00:35:19,256 --> 00:35:22,718
Mediterranean diet is unlikely
to have any impact on the cost

632
00:35:22,718 --> 00:35:25,894
of your groceries. The study
reported in the Journal Of The

633
00:35:25,894 --> 00:35:29,435
American Medical Association
compared 30 people who started a

634
00:35:29,455 --> 00:35:32,776
vegan diet and 30 people who
started a Mediterranean diet.

635
00:35:33,477 --> 00:35:36,577
And they estimated their food
costs based on several three-day

636
00:35:36,677 --> 00:35:39,398
records of what the participants
ate during the study.

637
00:35:40,158 --> 00:35:42,739
Researchers found the lowered
cost of the vegan diet were

638
00:35:42,759 --> 00:35:46,420
mainly associated with savings
on meat and added fats. And

639
00:35:46,460 --> 00:35:49,701
these savings clearly outweighed
the increased spending on

640
00:35:49,741 --> 00:35:52,522
vegetables, grains, fruits and
meat alternatives.

641
00:35:54,330 --> 00:35:57,852
The 2024 Ben Spoon Award, the
glittering highlight of the

642
00:35:57,852 --> 00:36:00,774
Australian Skeptical Calendar,
has been awarded to the Cancer

643
00:36:00,815 --> 00:36:03,416
Council Of Western Australia for
its endorsement of the

644
00:36:03,436 --> 00:36:06,739
pseudo-medical and unscientific
practices of Reiki and

645
00:36:06,779 --> 00:36:07,659
reflexology.

646
00:36:08,340 --> 00:36:10,881
The award's presented annually
at the Australian Skeptic

647
00:36:10,962 --> 00:36:14,184
Skepticon Conference, which this
year was held in Sydney. It's

648
00:36:14,224 --> 00:36:17,206
presented to the perpetrator of
the most preposterous piece of

649
00:36:17,266 --> 00:36:20,888
paranormal or pseudo-scientific
piffle. The Western Australian

650
00:36:20,948 --> 00:36:23,010
Cancer Council is a registered
charity.

651
00:36:23,702 --> 00:36:26,503
It has the stated purpose of
working with the community to

652
00:36:26,543 --> 00:36:29,524
reduce the incidence and the
impact of cancer based on the

653
00:36:29,544 --> 00:36:32,545
most solid foundations of
evidence available.

654
00:36:33,265 --> 00:36:36,146
However, the Western Australian
Cancer Council says that

655
00:36:36,186 --> 00:36:39,667
complementary therapies such as
massage, beauty treatments and

656
00:36:39,747 --> 00:36:42,847
Reiki, used in conjunction with
conventional medical treatments,

657
00:36:43,028 --> 00:36:46,208
are increasingly considered an
important part of supportive

658
00:36:46,268 --> 00:36:49,529
care, which helps people address
a wide range of challenges

659
00:36:49,649 --> 00:36:51,330
beyond medical treatment or
cancer.

660
00:36:52,006 --> 00:36:54,707
The inclusion of Reiki, which is
a system in which the

661
00:36:54,707 --> 00:36:57,628
practitioner passes their hands
through the air over a patient,

662
00:36:57,808 --> 00:37:00,749
often without touching them,
supposedly helps balance their

663
00:37:00,809 --> 00:37:01,549
energy flows.

664
00:37:02,089 --> 00:37:04,970
And that's especially concerning
for an organisation like the

665
00:37:04,990 --> 00:37:07,591
Cancer Council, which is
designed to help people during

666
00:37:07,611 --> 00:37:10,672
and after their diagnosis for
cancer and subsequent

667
00:37:10,832 --> 00:37:12,053
evidence-based treatments.

668
00:37:12,813 --> 00:37:16,134
Tim Mendham, Executive Officer
for Australian Skeptics, says

669
00:37:16,174 --> 00:37:18,776
for an organization like the
Western Australian Cancer

670
00:37:18,796 --> 00:37:22,099
Council to endorse and add its
imprimatur to pseudoscientific

671
00:37:22,159 --> 00:37:25,202
practices in the name of
well-being is disappointing,

672
00:37:25,402 --> 00:37:27,964
especially when some elements of
the industry, such as the

673
00:37:27,984 --> 00:37:30,746
International Center For Reiki
Training, wrongly claim that

674
00:37:30,866 --> 00:37:32,488
Reiki can actually cure cancer.

675
00:37:33,268 --> 00:37:36,711
Mendham says opening the door to
pseudo and unscientific medical

676
00:37:36,771 --> 00:37:39,493
treatments in the name of
well-being is simply not

677
00:37:39,533 --> 00:37:43,337
acceptable. Reiki and
reflexology were both recently

678
00:37:43,417 --> 00:37:46,499
included in the list of
therapies no longer covered by

679
00:37:46,519 --> 00:37:47,539
the NDIS.

680
00:37:48,219 --> 00:37:51,461
Runners-up for this year's Bent
Spoon included Ellie McPherson

681
00:37:51,541 --> 00:37:53,902
for her own treatment for
cancer, and especially her

682
00:37:53,942 --> 00:37:56,863
medical consultant, Simone
Lubeshere, the latter claiming a

683
00:37:56,903 --> 00:37:59,324
string of spurious medical
qualifications.

684
00:37:59,884 --> 00:38:03,386
A dishonourable mention went to
Channel 7 News for endorsing

685
00:38:03,426 --> 00:38:07,307
astrology, weather control, and
unsubstantiated autism

686
00:38:07,367 --> 00:38:10,529
treatments. The Western
Australian Cancer Council now

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00:38:10,649 --> 00:38:13,150
joins an illustrious rogues
gallery of...

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00:38:13,290 --> 00:38:16,231
Past Bent Spoon winners,
including Walkley Award-winning

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00:38:16,291 --> 00:38:19,373
journalist and UFO proponent
Ross Coulthard, former celebrity

690
00:38:19,453 --> 00:38:22,114
chef Pete Evans, who's actually
won the award twice, the

691
00:38:22,214 --> 00:38:25,876
Australian Vaccination Network,
which opposes vaccinations, a

692
00:38:25,896 --> 00:38:30,398
psychic dentist, and both the
broadcasting networks ABC and

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00:38:30,679 --> 00:38:35,573
SBS. My, how the once great have
fallen. This is Space Time.

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00:38:51,382 --> 00:38:55,184
That's the show for now. Space
Time is available every Monday,

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00:38:55,304 --> 00:38:58,306
Wednesday and Friday through
Apple Podcasts, ITunes,

696
00:38:58,626 --> 00:39:02,992
Stitcher, Google Podcasts,
Talker Casts, Spotify. Acast,

697
00:39:03,233 --> 00:39:07,335
Amazon Music, Bytes.Com,
SoundCloud, YouTube, your

698
00:39:07,395 --> 00:39:10,577
favorite podcast download
provider, and from Spacetime

699
00:39:10,597 --> 00:39:12,058
with StuartGarry.Com.

700
00:39:12,818 --> 00:39:15,360
Spacetime's also broadcast
through the National Science

701
00:39:15,380 --> 00:39:19,342
Foundation on Science Zone Radio
and on both IHeart Radio and

702
00:39:19,462 --> 00:39:23,244
TuneIn Radio. And you can help
to support our show by visiting

703
00:39:23,244 --> 00:39:26,406
the Spacetime store for a range
of promotional merchandising

704
00:39:26,446 --> 00:39:29,348
goodies. Or by becoming a
Spacetime patron.

705
00:39:29,588 --> 00:39:32,630
Which gives you access to triple
episode commercial free versions

706
00:39:32,630 --> 00:39:35,591
of the show, as well as lots of
bonus audio content which

707
00:39:35,671 --> 00:39:39,073
doesn't go to air, access to our
exclusive Facebook group and

708
00:39:39,193 --> 00:39:43,415
other rewards. Just go to
spacetimewithstuartgary.com for

709
00:39:43,455 --> 00:39:46,877
full details. You've been
listening to Spacetime with

710
00:39:46,937 --> 00:39:47,578
Stuart Gary.

711
00:39:48,318 --> 00:39:51,039
This has been another quality
podcast production from

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00:39:51,179 --> 00:39:52,040
Bytes.Com.