In this week's questions and answers show, I explain why most quasars are very far away, consider what would happen if you brought Pluto into the inner Solar System, and deliver the heartbreaking news of why the ISS won't be recycled. 00:00 Start 01:25 [Tatooine] Can quasars appear anywhere in the Universe? 04:35 [Coruscant] What if you brought Pluto into the inner Solar System? 07:13 [Hoth] Why can't the ISS be recycled? 11:22 [Naboo] Why don't we see objects repeating in the Universe? 13:17 [K...
Jun 21, 2022•44 min
Dr. Sonny White is a physicist and mechanical engineer. He previously worked at NASA's Eagleworks Lab testing advanced propulsion systems, and developing ideas for faster-than-light travel. He's now working with Limitless Space, founded with the vision of advancing human space exploration beyond the Solar System by the end of the 21st century. https://www.limitlessspace.org/ 🦄 Support us on Patreon 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe Free...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 8 min
FAA finally gave its approval to SpaceX for Starship launches from Boca Chica, Gaia released its third data drop, China stars continuous space presence, Perseverance finds another weird rock on Mars. 🚀 Discord Discussion Club https://discord.gg/bRxr4JTNqh 👽 Anton's video on Best Tourist Destination in Our Solar System https://youtu.be/IzCFSaQdgn8 00:00 Intro 00:25 FAA gives SpaceX permission to launch Starship https://www.universetoday.com/156312/starship-is-one-step-closer-to-flight/ 02:22 St...
Jun 20, 2022•34 min
Annika Rollock is a Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is studying next generation space habitats and recently published a paper about how future space stations can remain self-sufficient, especially when support and communication from Earth are far away. https://www.annikarollock.com/ 🦄 Support us on Patreon 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe Free: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: h...
Jun 15, 2022•46 min
In this week's questions and answers show, I explain how JWST and other telescopes see color, how images from observatories are released to the public, and how much of the sky can JWST see. Also, a bunch of non-Webb questions too. 00:00 Start 01:55 [Tatooine] How does JWST see color? 09:58 [Coruscant] How are astronomical images released to the public? 12:52 [Hoth] How does JWST handle spacedust? 14:48 [Naboo] How is JWST pointed? 16:39 [Kamino] Could dark matter be detected in specific parts of...
Jun 15, 2022•40 min
Dr. Paul Hickson is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Hickson is overseeing a team that built a telescope out of liquid mercury in India. The International Liquid Mirror Telescope is 4 meters across and built on top of a 3,000-meter mountain in India. This will prove the technology and allow for larger and larger liquid mirror telescopes on Earth (and eventually in space). https://science.ubc.ca/news/indian-ubc-astronomers-celebrate-first-light-...
Jun 14, 2022•46 min
Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra is a geologist and astrobiologist with the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. He studies the conditions that allowed life to spread across the Earth and searches for similar environments across the Universe. In a recent paper, Dr. Haqq-Misra suggests methods that we could search for technologically advanced civilizations across the Universe. https://haqqmisra.net/ https://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.00030.pdf 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.unive...
Jun 14, 2022•51 min
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Jun 14, 2022•42 min
JWST got damaged by a micrometeoroid but seems to be okay, NASA buys more Crew Dragon flights, Mars rovers see interesting stuff, ESA confirms a comet hunter, UFOs get official NASA investigations, all planets get into order in the night sky and more. Discord Discussion Club https://discord.gg/9vXZFCGKMg?event=983521001998549092 00:00 Intro 00:28 JWST’s mirror got hit and damaged by a micrometeorite https://www.universetoday.com/156219/jwst-was-recently-hit-by-a-surprisingly-large-micrometeoroid...
Jun 11, 2022•21 min
Dr. Zach Putnam is an assistant professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He's part of a team developing navigation techniques that use the signals from pulsars to always know your location, anywhere in the Solar System. https://aerospace.illinois.edu/directory/profile/zputnam 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetoday.com/ 🚀 PODCAST LINKS: ════════════════════════════════════ RSS: https://universetoday.com/audio iTune...
Jun 11, 2022•54 min
Einstein's Theory of General Relativity has been tried and tested many times, and so far, Einstein was right. But we know his theory must be incomplete, as it still doesn't integrate with quantum mechanics. Where are physicists searching next for the future of cosmology and relativity? Dr. Leah Jenks is a PhD recipient from Brown University, and will become a KICP Fellow at the University of Chicago. https://leahjenks.com 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universet...
Jun 08, 2022•43 min
In this week's Questions and Answers show, I answer what it would take to build a telescope as big as the Earth's orbit around the Sun, why SgrA* seems to have been rolled over on its side, and how we know the age of stars. 00:00 Start 01:50 [Tatooine] Could we have a telescope the size of Earth's orbit? 08:11 [Coruscant] Why is SgrA* rolled over on its side? 09:53 [Hoth] How do we know the age of stars? 14:19 [Naboo] Could you have a collection of smaller mirrors working together? 17:19 [Kamino...
Jun 08, 2022•39 min
NASA selects two suppliers for new spacesuits, James Webb reveals the date of first color images, JUICE moves closer to launch and a new kind of solar sail gets to next NIAC round. 00:00 Intro 00:32 First JWST images date revealed James Webb Video: https://youtu.be/tadR5fUatHo 02:01 NASA selects Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace for spacesuit contracts https://www.universetoday.com/156117/nasa-will-rent-future-spacesuits-from-longtime-supplier-and-newcomer/ 04:37 Planetary Defense Training 07:25...
Jun 03, 2022•28 min
James Webb is the most expensive and most advanced telescope in human history. Will it be worth its $10B price? What it will discover? How long will JWST last? Will it ever be serviced? All the answers are in this episode of The Big Q. 00:00 Intro 00:39 How JWST came together. 02:58 The telescope that ate astronomy. 04:36 Leading to launch. 06:08 Staying at the L2 Lagrange point. 07:09 Infrared spectrum observations. What will JWST see? 11:06 Potential targets for JWST. 15:12 What is Fraser most...
May 31, 2022•22 min
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May 30, 2022•1 hr 27 min
How did life go from single-celled to multi-celled? Dr. William Ratcliff is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences at the School of Biological Science at Georgia Tech. Dr. Ratcliff and his collaborators are working with single cells of yeast, watching them make the jump to become multi-cellular organisms. It turns out, life has done this many times in the past, and not just the jump that created the modern animals we know of today. https...
May 30, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Boeing finally completes a demo mission, scientists grow plants in lunar regolith, NASA will launch a mission to repair and refuel a satellite, space suits are leaking on the ISS again, and more. 00:00 Intro 00:27 Update on the meteor storm on May 31st https://www.universetoday.com/156008/update-on-the-potential-may-31st-tau-herculid-meteor-storm/ 03:31 Starliner OFT-2 went up to the ISS and back https://www.universetoday.com/156026/starliner-launches-successfully-but-two-of-its-thrusters-failed...
May 27, 2022•19 min
In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain what James Webb will see when it looks at SgrA*, why black holes happen to be facing towards us, and if asteroid strikes can hurl dinosaurs into space. 00:00 Start 00:59 [Tatooine] Will Webb look at SgrA*? 05:23 [Coruscant] Why are both black holes facing us? 07:16 [Hoth] Were dinosaurs hurled to space during an asteroid impact? 09:57 [Naboo] How do stars get bigger than red dwarfs? 12:36 [Kamino] Will there be new physics beyond Newton and Ei...
May 24, 2022•37 min
Dr. Ashish Goel is a Research Technologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Robotic Surface Mobility group. He has helped develop the plans to build a giant radio telescope inside a crater on the Moon, providing a pristine view to the Universe, using the Moon to block Earth's radio transmissions. https://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/who-we-are/people/ashish_goel/ 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetoday.com/ 🚀 PODCAST LINKS: ═══════════════════════...
May 20, 2022•44 min
Dr. Jonathan Jiang is the supervisor of the Aerosol and Cloud Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Jiang has contributed over 220 peer-reviewed papers in a variety of journals. Most recently, he collaborated on a paper that investigates the future of human space exploration beyond the Moon and Mars, even to the outer Solar System. https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/jjiang/ 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetoday.com/ 🚀 PODCAST LINKS: ═══════════...
May 20, 2022•57 min
Professor Stephen Sweeney works in the department of physics at the University of Surrey. He specializes in photonics, using lasers and photovoltaics for new types of communication, remote power transmission, and other concepts in space exploration. https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/stephen-sweeney 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetoday.com/ 🚀 PODCAST LINKS: ════════════════════════════════════ RSS: https://universetoday.com/audio iTunes: https://universeto...
May 20, 2022•59 min
In this week's News Bites segment, I talk about the successful launch of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, how astronomers watch a nova unfold in real time, the (not) door way on Mars, and the chance to see the greatest meteor storm in a generation. 00:00 Intro 00:41 Boeing Starliner Successful Test Launch 03:49 China Continues to Extend Its Plans for Space Programs https://www.universetoday.com/155927/china-has-a-new-human-lunar-space-program-with-plans-for-landers-orbiters-rovers-and-a-lunar-base/...
May 20, 2022•21 min
Michael Amato is an engineer at NASA and has been a member of the team behind NASA's DAVINCI spacecraft which will be launching to Venus in 2029. The spacecraft will be exploring the atmosphere of Venus with more clarity and detail than has ever been seen before, giving us a better sense about how the world became so different from Earth. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/amato-helped-keep-davinci-probe-on-track 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetod...
May 18, 2022•58 min
In this week's episode, I talk about how close to the Sun Parker Solar Probe can get, what is the smallest possible star that's turned into a red giant, why do I think aliens will need to adhere to the laws of physics, and more. Oh, and why am I so cynical? 00:00 Start 01:17 [Tatooine] Will Parker Solar Probe fly low enough to dodge prominences? 03:32 [Coruscant] What is the smallest mass star to have turned into a red giant? 06:23 [Hoth] Why do we think aliens have to adhere to the laws of phys...
May 16, 2022•35 min
We finally have the SgrA* supermassive black hole image by the Event Horizon Telescope, China announces their plans to launch a space telescope, and Russia threatens to leave the ISS. 00:00 Intro 00:20 Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole https://www.universetoday.com/155874/this-is-it-meet-the-supermassive-black-hole-at-the-heart-of-the-milky-way/ 03:48 China will launch a space telescope https://www.universetoday.com/155825/china-announces-its-new-flagship-space-telescope-mission/ 05:57 Another...
May 15, 2022•20 min
Edward Balaban is a research scientist at NASA Ames and the principal investigator of the Fluidic Telescope Experiment, or FLUTE. The idea is to create a giant lens in space out of a fluid that could maintain its shape in microgravity. The technology was recently tested during the Axiom-1 mission to the International Space Station. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/nasa-tries-new-ways-fluid-materials-to-build-giant-space-telescopes 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www...
May 11, 2022•37 min
Dr. Kevin Cannon is an assistant professor of geology and geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Cannon has been studying the properties of lunar regolith, developing techniques that could help to mitigate its dangers during long-duration lunar exploration missions. https://geology.mines.edu/project/cannon-kevin/ 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetoday.com/ 🚀 PODCAST LINKS: ════════════════════════════════════ RSS: https://universetoda...
May 11, 2022•47 min
In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain why we don't see much stuff in space unfolding in real time, how long will Musk's Tesla be a recognizable object, and what are some feasible structures we could build to help send payloads to space. 00:00 Start 03:38 [Tatooine] Why don't we see space stuff in real time? 07:40 [Coruscant] When will the Voyagers actually leave the Solar System? 09:43 [Hoth] What do I use to take notes? 12:04 [Naboo] Could we make better rocket fuel? 14:41 [Kamin...
May 11, 2022•37 min
Rocket Lab almost catches their Electron booster with a helicopter, China building an asteroid redirection mission, NASA gives out awards and astronomers find a new type of space explosions. 00:00 Intro 00:35 Rocket Lab Almost Caught a Booster with a Helicopter https://www.universetoday.com/155706/they-did-it-rocket-lab-uses-copter-to-catch-and-release-a-rocket/ 02:06 China is Building an Asteroid Deflection Mission https://www.universetoday.com/155683/china-is-building-an-asteroid-deflection-mi...
May 08, 2022•17 min
My guest today is Dr. Sam Howell, a planetary scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sam studies the interiors of icy worlds, like Europa and Enceladus and is pioneering methods to explore their subsurface oceans. https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/showell/ 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetoday.com/ 🚀 PODCAST LINKS: ════════════════════════════════════ RSS: https://universetoday.com/audio iTunes: https://universetoday.com/itunes Spotify: https...
May 05, 2022•1 hr 35 min
