April 30, 2021

Big Win For SpaceX Starship

The Astronomy, Technology and Space Science News Podcast.
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 24 Episode 48
*SpaceX Starship to be the new lunar module
NASA has selected SpaceX to provide the lunar land landers that will carry crew and cargo between the ...

The Astronomy, Technology and Space Science News Podcast.

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 24 Episode 48

*SpaceX Starship to be the new lunar module

NASA has selected SpaceX to provide the lunar land landers that will carry crew and cargo between the Gateway space station and the Moon’s surface.

*The secret to Jupiter's strange aurora activity

New computer models suggest Jupiter’s spectacular auroral displays are unique in the solar system with a mix of different types of magnetic field lines.

*The mysteries of extremely luminous infrared galaxies

Astronomers have caught an extremely luminous infrared galaxy during a unique point in its evolution.

*Final hot fire test for one of the world’s most powerful rocket engines

The world's most powerful hydrogen-fueled rocket engine – the Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A has completed its final hot-fire acceptance test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

*The Science Report

A new study has confirmed that wearing two masks is better than one.

Tropical species already finding the ocean too warm and are fleeing to cooler waters.

Archaeologists have uncovered what may be to earliest ever known map.

The dangers of energy drinks.

Skeptic's guide to 15 things you didn't know about Bigfoot

 

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Transcript

SpaceTime Series 24 Episode 48 AI Transcript

[00:00:00] This is space-time series 24 episode 48, four broadcast on the 30th of April, 2021. Coming up on space, time, space, X Starship to be the next lunar module. The secret, the Jupiter strange auroral activity and the mysteries of extremely luminous infrared galaxies. All that and more coming up on space time.

Welcome to space time with steward, Gary.

NASA was selected space X to provide the, in the Landers that will carry both crew and cargo between the lunar gateway space and the moon's surface space X one, the two points, $9 billion contract of the blue origin, and Dianetics to provide the reasonable shuttle [00:01:00] service using it, Starship spacecraft, which is now undergoing early prototype testing in Texas.

Starship is the culmination of space X boss, Elon Musk's dream that of a fully reusable, super live spacecraft capable of carrying 150 tons of people in cargo into earth orbit and a hundred tons on missions from earth to the moon, Mars and interplanetary journeys across the solar system. Put simply Musk sea star ship as a colonial transport system.

Technically Starship simply the upper stage of a gigantic two-stage lawn system. The 230 times first stage called the super-heavy 68 meters long, nine meters wide and constructed out of stainless steel. It's powered by 37 liquid methane and oxygen propelled Raptor, rocket engines providing 72 mega Newtons or 16 million pounds of thrust.

The 120 times operable Starship stage is 50 meters long, also nine meters wide and constructed at a stainless steel and powered by [00:02:00] six to the same liquid methane and oxygen propellant wrap. The rocket engines. Starship is equipped with its own retractable landing gear, allowing rocket assisted vertical landings.

That's what they've been trying to perfect in Texas of late. Space X ultimately plans on using the Starship super loan system to replace the company's existing Falcon nine and Falcon heavy loan systems, as well as its dragon capsules. The Starship human learning system or HLS is a variant being designed to stay on and around the moon.

So it won't require the heat shield or air brakes, which are an integral part of the main Starship design. The Starship, HLS variant, we use high thrust metal ox reaction control system thrusters located mid body for the final tens of meters of terminal, lunar descent, and landing. It'll also include a smaller crew area and a much larger cargo Bay and equipped with solar arrays located on its nose below the docking board space X intentions in the same high thrust reaction control system, thrusters for liftoff [00:03:00] from the lunar surface.

The current plan calls for the Starship HLS to be launched into earth orbit using the super-heavy booster. And we'll then use a series of tanker spacecraft to refuel the Starship HLS vehicle for the lunar transit and lunar landing operations masses Artimus project. We'll see, the item is three mission launch in 2024.

It'll carry four astronauts in an Orion spacecraft. I bought the agency's new SLS, heavy lift rocket on a 30 day mission to the moon, ultimately returning humans to the lunar surface. But Ryan won't go all the way to the moon. It'll only take crew to the first modules of the lunar gateway space station.

Gateway will act as a staging post for missions down to the lunar surface. Two crew will remain on station or the remaining pair will use star ship to travel from gateway down to the lunar surface for a six day stay they'll. Then you star ship the fly back to gateway where they'll then rejoin their colleagues and take a ride back to earth.

However, if gateway isn't [00:04:00] available in time, uh, Ryan could dock directly with star ship. Last year space X became the first private company to successfully send a crew to the international space station in the process, restoring America's capability to fly humans into space from American soil and ability lost with a moth balling of the space shuttle fleet.

Following the STS one 35 mission in July, 2011, cause humans haven't been to the moon since the Apollo program ended in 1972. NASA plans to establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface, using gateways of staging posts and to pave the way for future man missions to Mars in the 2030s. This space-time still to come the secret to Jupiter's strange auroral activity and the mysteries of extremely luminous, infrared, galaxies, all that, and most still to come on space time.

[00:05:00] You computer model suggest that Jupiter spectacular rural displays are unique in the solar system with a mix of different types of magnetic field lines. The findings reported in the journal science advances suggest that Jupiter's polar caps are threaded in part with closed magnetic field lines, rather than with entirely open magnetic field lines as is the case with most other planets in the solar system.

Open lines of those that emanate from the planet, but trail off into space, away from the sun. Instead of reconnecting with a corresponding magnetic field line from the opposite hemisphere on earth, the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australia's, the Northern and Southern lights appear on closed field lines around an area referred to as the auroral oval.

It's a highlighted chewed ring near, but not at each end of its magnetic poles. Within that ring on earth and on some of the planets is an empty region referred to as the polar [00:06:00] cap. It's where magnetic field lines stream at unconnected and where rural activity really appears because of it. Think of it like an incomplete electrical circuit at home.

No complete circuit, no lights, but Jupiter has a polar cap in which the Aurora dazzles and which is there for puzzled scientists. One of the study's authors, Peter Dylan from the university of Alaska Fairbanks says the problem is researchers were too earth centric in their thinking about Jupiter because of what they had learned about Earth's own magnetic fields.

The arrival at Jupiter of NASA Juno's spacecraft in July, 2016, provided images of the polar cap in Aurora. But those images along with some captured by the Hubble space telescope, couldn't resolve this agreement among scientists about open magnetic field lines versus closed lines. So Delamere and colleagues used a newly developed global Magneto hydrodynamic computer model of Jupiter's magnetosphere to show a largely closed polar region with a small Crescent shared area of open flux accounting for only about [00:07:00] 9% of the polar cap region.

The rest was active with a Rora signifying close magnetic field lines. So it turns out that Jupiter possesses a mix of open and closed field lines at its polar caps. If the models are correct, it raises all sorts of questions about how the solar wind interacts with Jupiter's magnetosphere and how it influences the dynamics.

Jupiter is a rurally active polar cat could be due to the rapid rotation of the planet once every 10 hours compared to earth 24 hour rotation, or it could simply be due to the enormity of its magnetosphere birth work to reduce the impact of the solar wind meeting. The polar cap magnetic field lines are less likely to be torn apart and become open lines.

And then you've got to ask to what extent is Jupiter's moon IO affect the magnetic field lines with inhibitors? Polar cap C IO is electro dynamically linked to Jupiter. Something unique in our solar system. And as such is constantly stripped of heavy ions by its parent planet. So for now, the jury is [00:08:00] still out on the magnetic structure of Jupiter's magnetosphere and exactly what it's a roar is saying about its topology.

To find out more. Andrew Dunkley is speaking with astronomer, Dr. Fred Watson new insights into what's happening around Jupiter. Yeah. The thing that has been puzzling about Jupiter's or Rory is that unlike the earth, the, uh, Rory occur of, uh, A broad area of Jupiter's polar caps. So let me just unpack that a bit to use a modern term, which I don't like really, let me explain it a bit on earth.

The Rory occur in what's called the auroral circle, which really are their oral. Overlies actually what it's called, which explains it all. So they don't. Happened at the magnetic pole itself, they happen in a ring around the magnetic pole centered on the magnetic pole. That's where the Aurora or at the strongest, it's a sort of naive explanation, but this is kind of the case.

The reason for that is to do with the magnetic field [00:09:00] lines of the magnetic field. And I guess we're all familiar with what happens. To iron filings. When you've got a bar magnet, you put the bar magnet down and the iron filings trace out the magnetic field. The field lines normally run from the North pole around the outside and come back into the South pole and they are called closed field lines because they're closed.

Both ends of them are on the magnet, same with the earth, but there are what are called open field lines as well, which are field lines. It just head off into space. And then you can sort of imagine that that will be the case. And so the open field lines are the ones inside their oral circle. And so that's why you don't see a Rory there because the, the, the, um, subatomic particles from the sun are not spiraling down like they do in the auroral oval region and lighting up the atmosphere by.

Exciting the atoms of the, of the atmosphere. So that's why it's an auroral oval because of where the field lines actually going to the earth. Now, Jupiter is different because apparently on Jupiter, you get a Rory within the [00:10:00] whole of the polar cap. It's not just within that auroral circle. And this is until now has been the puzzle and there is some new research.

Which seems to shed light on it. And it comes from a number of institutions, including the university of Alaska Fairbanks geophysical Institute and the university of Hong Kong, a number of collaborations, actually, 13 researchers I think have made. This key discovery about the Aurora. Once again, it depends on theoretical models.

The theory is that a Rory only occupy this zone where the magnetic field lines actually close up and disappear into the earth and not elsewhere. But the new theory that these scientists have propounded is essentially one that says. The Rory can actually occur elsewhere. They can occur in open field lines.

So what they've done is used computer modeling to help their research revealed [00:11:00] a largely closed polar region. That means where the field lines are going back into Jupiter, where the small Crescent shaped area of open flux. That means where the field lines are going out into space accounting for only about 9% of the polar region.

And the rest was active with a Rora signifying close magnetic. Field lines, but Jupiter, it turns out possesses a mix of open and closed field lines in the polar caps. And Dr.  made this comment. There was no model or no understanding to explain how you could have a Crescent of open flux. Like this simulation is producing.

It just never even entered my mind. I don't think anybody in the community could have imagined this solution yet the simulation has produced it to me. This is a major paradigm shift. For the way that we understand magnetospheres that's the magnetic region around planets. It raises many questions about how the solar wind interact with Jupiter's magnetosphere and influences the dynamics.

So basically, but you've got a situation quite different from the earth and what they're [00:12:00] putting that down to. Possibly the rapidity of Jupiter's rotation. Cause it, Jupiter goes around once every 10 hours, Andrew compared with Al once in 24. Plus the fact that you've got this enormous magnetic field around Jupiter, so very, very low and magnetosphere.

And so what they're suggesting. Is that they reduce the impact of the solar wind. It means that perhaps the magnetic field lines are more likely to be closed up on Jupiter. There's another thing about Jupiter though. That's weird. And we know that this comes about because of spacecraft measurements, but Jupiter's moon, EO or IO, which is the innermost moon, highly volcanically active.

It's kind of electrically linked to Jupiter because you can see. Transfer of material between along the magnetic field lines from EO to Jupiter itself, in fact to the polar cap. So there's all kinds of complexities there, but at least there is something that is better understood because of this theoretical model of Jupiter's magnetosphere.

Talk about the [00:13:00] magnetic field of Jupiter, and obviously trying to think of Jupiter, the way we think of earth was probably always going to run it, run us into a brick wall because. Very very different planets is Jupiter's magnetic field generated in a different way to that of earth. We think it's probably the same, but you're absolutely right to focus on that because we don't know what's up in the middle of Jupiter.

The Earth's magnetic field is generated by the iron core and that. Seems to be likely that something like that will be at the middle of Jupiter, but it might not be iron. Some people postulate that Jupiter has a core of metallic hydrogen working that one out there's turned into a metal, which would be conducting.

So, you know, that might also generate the magnetic field. But honestly, we don't know. Do you know, uh, the Juno spacecraft, which is still active around Jupiter, one of its. Tasks is actually probing the innermost secrets of Jupiter in terms of its core. If it has one, if it has a solid core, we don't even know that it has it solid core, but [00:14:00] it seems likely given the magnetic field you've got, that's got to come from somewhere.

So we might know more when Juno's mission is finished. I mean, there are probably papers that are coming out on this now that haven't really been keeping up with, but, uh, it's, uh, prob probably our best, um, assistance to understanding what's going on with Jupiter is the Juno spacecraft. Yes, indeed. All right.

Well, uh, it's taken a while, but we've suddenly decided we need to treat Jupiter, like something that it's, um, not akin to earth, which makes sense. I mean, we're a Rocky planet. It's a, it's a gas giant. I know. What is that? 11 closely related, second cousins. Twice removed. Yeah, it has in common. It was, it was made from the same cloud of gas and dust.

So you kind of know what it's made of, but you don't know what, you know, how that's distributed within. Within Jupiter. We don't know what lies beneath, but yeah, some fascinating findings. That's professor Fred Watson and astronomer with the department of science speaking with Andrew Dunkley on our sister program space nuts.

And this is space time. [00:15:00] Still the cam the mysteries of extremely luminous, infrared galaxies, and a final hot fire test for one of the world's most powerful rocket engines, all that and more store to come on time.

Astronomers have observed an extremely luminous infrared galaxy during a unique point in its evolution. The findings reported on the prepress physics website, archive.org, uh, providing important insights into the process of galaxy formation and evolution. Extremely luminous, infrared galaxies, uh, massive galaxies, exceeding a hundred trillion solar luminosity is with much of that energy being in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, possibly because of activity around the central supermassive black hole known as an AIG [00:16:00] interactive galactic nuclei, or from star formation or from birth.

The galaxy known as wise, J zero nine zero nine two 4.01 plus triple zero, two double 1.1 was part of the era Zita final equatorial depth survey era. Zita is a German x-ray space, telescope instrument aboard the Russian specter algae spacecraft. Combined with archival data, from message Chandra x-ray telescope and the European space agencies.

X-Men mutant x-ray space telescope. The results indicate that this galaxy has some 500 billion times the mass of the sun with a monster supermassive black hole at its center of some 7.4 billion solar masses. The data also suggest that this galaxy is producing some 3,850 solar masses of new stars every year.

Now by comparison. Now, I ain't going to see the Milky way some three times more massive, but it has a fast, smaller black hole. And it's producing just one U solar mass star a year. Astronomers. Believe what they're [00:17:00] seeing in this distant galaxy is a short-lived phase in the galaxies evolution curing, which it's embedded in the large amount of gas and dust with hydrogen being blown outwards, along the line of sight and, and hot guests still being hated by the active galactic nuclei.

This is space time still the calm, a final hot fire test for the world's most powerful rocket engine. And later in the science report, the dangers of too much energy drink or that are more sort of calm. Um, space-time,

The world's most powerful hydrogen fueled rocket engine, the era jet Rocketdyne RS 68 a has completed its final ever hot fire acceptance test at NASA Stennis space center in Mississippi. [00:18:00] The United launch Alliance have just four remaining daughter, four heavy missions slated before the launch systems retirement.

The Delta for together with the Atlas is being replaced by the new Vulcan launch vehicle. The  engine is used in each of the three side-by-side at core stages, which make up the United launch Alliance daughter for heavy launch vehicle providing a total of more than 2 million pounds of thrust. The RS 68 is based on the earlier RS 68, which was used on the original single core Delta for rocket, which underdog it's made in flight back in 2002, the RS 68 a was introduced on the daughter for heavy in 2012.

HRS 68, eight engine is rated at some 705,000 pounds of thrust. Now by comparison, the Aerojet Rocketdyne RS 25 space shuttle, main engines, three of which were used on each of the orbiters and four of which will be used in the first stage of the new SLS moon. Rocket are each rated at [00:19:00] 512,300 pounds of thrust, but of course, theory usable.

By the way, the most powerful liquid fueled rocket engine ever developed was the rocket inf one five of which we used on the first stage of the Saturn five Apollo moon rocket. Each F1 engine was rated over one and a half million pounds of thrust at sea level and almost 1.7, 5 million pounds in space.

This space-time

And Tom had to take another look at some of the other stories making using science this week, where the science report and you study has confirmed that wearing two masks really is better than one. The findings reported in the journal of the American medical association, compared the filtering efficiency of a single face mask versus double masking.

The authors found that on average, a single face mask had a filtering efficiency of 55% while doubling up, increase that efficiency to an average of [00:20:00] 66%. Jesse using a single mask efficiency was generally higher for medical masks than commercial cloth masks and bandanas. But the combination of wearing a medical mask beneath the cloth mask provided the best protection more than 3.1 million people have now been killed by the COVID-19 Corona virus.

And more than 150 million have been infected with a deadly disease. Since it first emerged in Warhammer China and was spread around the world. And you study warrants that some tropical fish species are already finding the ocean too warm and, uh, fleeing the equatorial region for cooler waters. A report in the proceedings of the national Academy of sciences looked at how 48,661 Marine species have been distributed since 1955.

Consistent with previous research, then you study has confirmed a dip in Marine biodiversity around the equator, showing that biodiversity is already being threatened by climate change. The studies also found that [00:21:00] species loss has worsened since the 1970s, meaning the equator is already far too hot for some species to survive.

Archeologists have uncovered what may well be the world's earliest known map. The intricately carved 4,000 year old, early bronze age stone slab measure some 3.86 by 2.1 made us a cross and dates from between 2,150 and 1600 BCE. It was found in Francis Luann parish with an early bronze age Barrow back in 1900 and take into a private museum.

It was then acquired by Francis national antiquities museum in 1924 and placed into storage, moved from seller to seller until finally being properly examined in 2017, uh, reported the bulletin of the society of prehistoric France claims the slab is a cat, a graphical representation of part of the Odette, the Valley, a man who he drank two liters of energy drink a day as ended up being hospitalized for 58 days with heart and [00:22:00] renal failure.

A report in the British medical journal says the case supports growing concern around the risks posed by energy drinks. The 21 year old presented to hospital with shortness of breath and abdominal swelling and test revealed heart and kidney failure. Severe enough at the hospital considered a Juul organ transplant.

He had no significant past medical family or social history indicate his condition was likely linked to his high energy drink consumption. And finally for this week, despite all their ongoing efforts and hard work, despite all the house branch, beatings, rock, throwing, eye witness reports, muddy, footprints, blurry, squats, blobs, and even the occasional Harry hominid looking creature in the distance, the team at finding Bigfoot, we're never able to actually find a real life.

Sasquatch, no remains, no graves, no roadkill and no identifiable DNA. And it's a sad thing. Because indisputable scientific proof of the existence of Sasquatch will [00:23:00] be one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. But Tim minim from Australian skeptic says all is not lost for Intrepid Bigfoot.

Cryptozoologist well, I'm still a big fan of finding Bigfoot.

Locknuts I've been there three times and yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. This is a very pretty place, actually, most shops that I've tried and pop on the other side of luck next window and goes to, but I haven't been there. Let them be there also supplies. It's copy of the blue mountains in the Sydney to try and find a Yaqui or even the black cat, all sorts of things.

But yeah, funny, it'd be, it'd be great. So there's a film coming out. In America, of course. And it's called a 15 things you didn't know about it. Basically. It's a sheet. I don't what he call it a mockumentary, right. About some investigators who go out and try and find out about Bigfoot, et cetera, in front of finders and have major problems, including they have a very strange guide.

Who's trying to show them the way to go. And he turns out to be a bit, probably weirder than a Bigfoot. It's a humorous thing. It's a [00:24:00] mockumentary. Yeah. A few months time. You'd probably be able to stream it, whatever, but it's fun and it makes fun of Bigfoot hunters. Which is cool because most of them were probably decent people, desperately trying to find something which hasn't been found yet.

And that will grab onto any evidence I can improve. These things exist. You say breaking a tweak in the forest. Cause evidence was a big ripping around you see on TV with everyone's being filmed with infrared cameras

that either ghost hunters wear camouflage to sort of jungle green, you think, what are you hiding from? Take the guys. Well, they sort of scammy things with noises in the distance, obviously indication, but this fun, this film is making fun of it.

That's timid them from Australian skeptics.

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