WEBVTT - The Big Tech Stories of 2022: To Space and BEYOND! 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.320 Welcome to Text Stuff production from I Heart Radio. Hey there, 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.760 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:19.479 I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. And how 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:23.760 the tech are you. Well, We're finally ready to wrap 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.080 up our episodes. Looking back on the big text stories 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:32.879 that unfolded during twenty two, there was so much stuff, 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:36.720 and a lot of it was really dramatic. Too much 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.800 of it was just upsetting. So today we're going to 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.840 mostly focus on cool science and tech stuff and that's 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:48.400 a big old yea. We do what we must because 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:54.680 we can. So let's start with the James Web Space Telescope. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:01:00.280 After many many delays, in fact years of delay days 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:04.480 because the telescope was originally intended to launch into space 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:09.880 way back in two thousand seven, it finally shuffled off 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:14.880 its earthly coil last Christmas, it lets slip the bonds 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:19.319 of Earth, and last Christmas, I gave you James Webb. 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:22.600 The very next day, you said, change that darn name. 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.360 Just a quick word on that. James Webb is the 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:30.080 name of a former NASA administrator. In fact, he was 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:35.319 the second ever administrator of NASA, but he had previously 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.640 served as an under Secretary of State at the you know, 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:42.720 State Department, and he served in that capacity from nineteen 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.640 to nineteen fifty two. Now, this was during a time 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:50.640 in the US known as the Lavender Scare that refers 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:54.559 to an erab an ugly era in US history when 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.800 the federal government discriminated against anyone who falls under the 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:04.240 scope of lgbt Q plus. Essentially, the government would exclude 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:08.440 or expel people that were known or suspected to not 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:14.200 be heterosexual, claiming that it was like a national security issue, 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.320 and the State Department in particular was a real target 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.639 of this kind of witch hunt. Congress launched an investigation 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.760 in nineteen fifty into the State Department, and President Eisenhower 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.320 would later sign an executive order essentially putting an exclamation 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:34.440 mark at the end of this pernicious practice. And yeah, 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:36.600 this is one of the many periods of American history 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:41.799 that are ugly and hateful, and ultimately they are self 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:47.320 defeating because you can only imagine how many qualified, dedicated 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:51.040 folks were denied employment simply because they didn't fit the 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:56.520 extremely narrow set of beliefs of a bunch of old people. Anyway, 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.440 that policy was in place when Webb took the position 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.200 of now administrator in nineteen sixty one, and in fact, 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:07.600 one NASA budget analyst named Clifford J. Norton was fired 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:12.720 because of his sexual orientation that happened in nineteen sixty three. Well, 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:17.160 because of these events and because of concerns about James 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:22.920 Webb and his potential role in perpetuating this practice, NASA 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:26.040 was pressured to conduct a research study into the matter 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:29.040 to find out what, if any involvement James Webb had 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.080 in carrying out Congress's desires at the State Department, or 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:35.880 if in fact, he was part of Norton getting fired 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.080 at NASA later on, and the investigation said that there 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.160 was no evidence to show Webb did either of those things. 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:46.840 In fact, according to their investigation, Webb purposefully limited the 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.720 amount of information that Congress could access relating to State 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.800 Department employees. And as for Norton at NASA, he was 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:59.000 fired and he was fired because he was gay, But 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.040 there was no evidence that Webb was even aware of 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:05.480 Norton being fired at all. Because keep in mind, Webb 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:09.800 was the leader of NASA, Norton was a budget analyst, 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:14.800 so it's not like nor like Webb had direct oversight 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.440 over every single employee at NASA. So the report found 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:20.880 that there was no evidence that was clearly showing Web 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:26.240 participating in the persecution of lgbt Q plus personnel. There 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:28.920 was a tiny bit of evidence suggesting that he did 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:33.480 limit Congress's reach into the State Department, potentially protecting people. 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.240 So NASA decides that it's gonna stick with the James 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:42.040 Webb name. Now, y'all, I personally don't know if James 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:46.960 Webb was a decent guy, or maybe maybe he wasn't. 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:48.839 Maybe he just had so much on his plate he 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.880 didn't worry about a policy that perhaps he didn't even 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.600 believe in. I have no clue. I just don't know. 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.440 The NASA report came from the agency's chief historian, so 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.000 it came from NASA's chief His story in You could 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:04.320 argue that, you know, the fact that it was NASA's 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.320 own chief historian might mean that it could be a 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:11.240 biased report. But anyway, that's the story behind the name 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:15.360 and the controversy around it, which flares up every now 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:17.080 and again. It's not like this is the first time 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.640 we've heard about it, but in two uh that story 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.320 did start making the rounds again. But let's get to 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:29.039 the telescope itself. Now, NASA launched the James Webb Telescope 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:33.359 in on Christmas Day, as it turns out, but it 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.840 would take the telescope a month to get to its 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:42.280 orbital point and to fully deploy, and it took more 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:45.279 months beyond that for it to actually start doing science. 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:47.880 And so all of that is really the domain of 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:52.840 twenty two baby. So one month after launch, in January two, 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.760 the telescope arrived at a point in space we call 0:05:56.120 --> 0:06:01.799 L two. The L stands for lagrange, more specifically lagrange point. 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.760 Some people may say lagrange, which is probably the more 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:11.640 correct pronunciation, but you know, I've also heard NASA folks 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:15.400 called Gemini geminy, so I guess it's all up for 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:18.880 grabs anyway. A L Grange point is a position in 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.400 space where an object will stay put relative to the 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:27.800 rest of its surroundings, like you know, a two body system. 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.400 And so it's a point in space where the gravitational 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:35.120 forces from nearby bodies like say the Sun and the 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:39.719 Earth are effectively holding the object in that part of space. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.159 It can't move away from that because it's being held 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:48.920 gravitationally by these other bodies. There are five such points 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:52.279 around the Earth or between the Earth and Sun where 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.840 an object can do this, and the one that the 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.080 James Webb Telescope is in is called L two. That's 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.440 in an orbit that's on the opposite side of the 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.080 Earth from the Sun. So, in other words, this orbit 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:08.320 is shaded from much of the Sun's light, which is 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:13.720 important for the telescope's extremely sensitive detectors when it's making observations. Uh, 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.600 it does still get some light. Otherwise it wouldn't be 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:19.720 able to collect light through its solar panels, and the 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.160 solar panels would be for decorative use only, and that 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:25.920 would be ridiculous. It is a very sensitive telescope. That 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.640 James Webb Space Telescope is about seven times more powerful 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:34.720 than the venerable Hubble Space Telescope, and it has already 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:39.840 returned some truly spectacular data, including images such as a 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.800 shot of the Pillars of Creation. This is a dust cloud. 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:47.680 There's really compelling shape to it. I'm sure you've seen 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.160 pictures of it. If not, you should look up Pillars 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:53.800 of Creation on an image search because they it really 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:58.000 is a spectacular site. We've seen some pictures of early 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.360 star formation, which is great. It's having astronomers more information 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:05.440 about how stars form. We've looked at galactic black holes 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.560 that are far across the universe from our own galaxy. 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.960 We've looked at exo planets orbiting a star, and these 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:17.520 exo plants potentially could have viable atmospheres and so could 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:22.880 possibly support life. And we're just getting started and considering 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:28.160 how complicated the telescope is. This was never a guarantee. 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:32.000 I mean, the massive eighteen solar panels had to unfold 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:35.120 as the telescope made its way to L two over 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.440 the course of a month, and just one failure would 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.920 have brought the entire mission into jeopardy or at least 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:47.199 severely limited its use. And since NASA had spent decades 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.560 and like ten billion dollars on this thing, it would 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:56.040 be really bad if things hadn't worked out. But it did, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.840 so good news there. It did have a little bit 0:08:59.880 --> 0:09:03.959 of hiccup recently, so on December seven two, just a 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:08.440 few weeks ago, several of its instruments aboard the telescope 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:13.080 went into safe mode, so that means they temporarily shut 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.960 down in order to protect delicate hardware. The source of 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:20.120 the problem turned out to be a software fault, So 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.480 this software was essentially generating errors that related to the 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:28.200 telescope's attitude control. Now, in this sense, attitude control isn't 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.680 about making sure the telescope doesn't act out like a 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.360 hormonal teenager. I wish we had that kind of attitude 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.640 control here on Earth. No, we're talking about the telescope's 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:41.920 physical orientation in space, like where it is pointed that 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.640 kind of attitude. So the software was generating an error 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.640 that suggested something was wrong with this system when nothing 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:52.560 actually was. The shutdowns affected some, but not all, of 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.160 the experiments that the telescope was involved in. Work had 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:59.520 to pause on certain projects while engineers back on Earth 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:03.640 sused what was going on. But by December twenty those 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.000 engineers had figured out a solution. They were able to 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:09.319 essentially patch the software, and now the telescope is back 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:13.040 doing science in space full time. NASA reports the telescope 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:15.600 is in great condition and the agency is working to 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:19.880 reschedule the affected projects that had to delay as the 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.640 software was glitching out. The telescope is bound to tell 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.920 us about the early stages of the universe already. It 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.199 has captured images of systems that are like only four 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:34.520 hundred million years younger than the universe itself, Like, in 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:38.679 other words, the universe comes into existence, and then these 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:43.680 systems started within four hundred million years of that. And yes, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.679 four hundred million years as an astoundingly long time on 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:51.960 our scale, right, Yes, that's that's unfathomable. However, when we 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:55.160 consider the universe is somewhere in the neighborhood of thirteen 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:59.000 point seven billion years old, it's really just a fraction 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:05.560 a moment after the big bang, uh banged. The telescope 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:09.959 is creating new possibilities in the fields of astronomy and cosmology, 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.880 and my guess is we're going to learn a ton 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.920 of fascinating stuff about our universe and by extension, our 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:21.719 own solar system in history. And that's just plain cool. Now, 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.360 sticking with NASA, we have a related topic that's been 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:28.400 somewhat controversial in multiple spheres, and I'm talking about the 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.280 Artemists program. This is NASA's plan to return to the Moon. 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.280 And to be clear, it's not just NASA. NASA's working 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.760 in conjunction with other space agencies out there, and by return, 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.520 I am including the goal of actually landing people on 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.320 the Moon's surface. This would be the first time we 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:50.040 have done that since nineteen seventy two in the Apollo 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:56.240 seventeen mission. So the Artemist program has a pretty complicated history. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.320 Back in the mid two thousand's, during the George W. 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.000 Bush and sistration in the United States, NASA initiated a 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:06.600 program called Constellation. This had the goal of returning to 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.760 the Moon, among other things. This program was linked with 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.280 a couple of related but distinct projects that were really 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.200 focused on building the next generation of spacecraft that would 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:20.400 turn out into the Orion and the Space Launch System. 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.240 Keep in mind, this was all going on while the 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:27.800 Space Shuttle was still in service, but it's retirement date 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:31.240 was coming up, So this was work that was being 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.120 done with the knowledge that the Space Shuttle program was 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.440 going to be sunset. Now when Barack Obama won the 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.560 election to president, things changed, and this frequently happens with NASA. 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:43.840 It's actually one of the really big challenges that the 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:48.439 agency faces because there's no guarantee that an incoming administration 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.319 will continue to support the efforts that were begun under 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:55.800 a previous administration. So not only do you have the 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:59.760 technical challenges of creating the spacecraft that will complete a mission, 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.760 or the engineering challenges of planning out the mission itself 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.079 and the various processes that the mission is gonna have 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:10.439 to follow. You also have the political reality that you're 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.800 funding can change dramatically year to year, depending upon the 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:17.000 makeup of Congress, and it can change even more so 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:24.280 from presidential administration to administration. Obama effectively canceled Constellation. He 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:27.439 said the program was behind schedule and it was over budget. 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.840 It was both of those things. Further, he said the 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:34.640 program was leaning too hard on the Apollo program of 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:38.120 the sixties and seventies, that the Orion spacecraft it does, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.400 I mean, essentially look like a larger version of the 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:44.120 Apollo capsule. The launch vehicle looks like an update to 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.200 the launch vehicles that we used fifty years ago, and 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.480 Obama criticized the program for lacking in innovation. A committee 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:55.840 found that Constellation, despite being over budget, was also underfunded, 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.640 and that there was no chance the program would be 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.320 able to achieve a moon land by twenty which was 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.400 one of its goals, and so rather than pouring more 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:09.280 money into this program that the administration saw as sort 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.720 of bleeding cash, Obama chose to essentially freeze it out. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.239 The focus began to shift toward commercial space companies, primarily 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.520 SpaceX as carrying the load for the near term, although 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:27.359 work would continue on developing the next generation of spacecraft 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:31.320 for NASA itself, so Oriyan and the Space Launch System 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:35.520 We're not scrapped. They continued on. And the benefit I 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.280 guess of that was that or the reason they were 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.400 able to do this, I guess was because they were not, uh, 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:47.280 intrinsically part of Constellation. Okay, this will bring us up 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.400 to two thousand seventeen, and the Artemis program it got 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:52.960 its start under the administration of Donald Trump, and it 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.160 picked up some of the threads that were dropped when 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.640 Constellation got the AX. We'll talk more about that in 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:11.760 just a moment after we come back from this quick break. So, 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.960 the Artist program is a joint effort between NASA and 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.000 other space agencies like the e s A, the European 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:23.280 Space Agency, and its main goals to establish a permanent 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.760 presence on the Moon and a lunar orbital station meant 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:31.160 to help stage further human exploration of space. So the 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.800 primary spacecraft for this mission is the Orion and the 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.800 launch vehicle is the Space Launch System or s l S. Now, 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.400 the SLS alone has been the subject of a lot 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:45.280 of controversy, mostly stemming from the contractors that NASA has 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.160 relied upon during the very long development process for this 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.160 launch system. So yeah. Another big challenge with NASA is 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:56.880 that the agency does a lot of contracting with massive 0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:02.200 aerospace companies to produce various components for stuff like spacecraft, spacesuits, 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.240 launch vehicles, that kind of thing. So it's not like 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:10.359 NASA has some sort of foundry where it just um 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:14.640 use as a massive blacksmiths who create rockets and stuff. 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:19.840 They contract with these very big companies that specialize in 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:26.160 aerospace uh technologies. So these contracts can get really expensive. 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:30.120 Sometimes individual projects will take more time than was estimated 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.280 and cost more than was estimated during the proposal phase, 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.080 and frequently NASA becomes the subject of scrutiny when various 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:41.600 analysts and journalists and politicians and others ask, hey, did 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.880 you really pick the best contractor to do this because 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:50.800 it's running over budget and behind deadline. The problem is, 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.200 we usually don't know the answer to the question is 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:56.960 this the best contractor for the job until it's too late. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.280 But yeah, NASA often gets put in the spotlight for 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.880 budget issue and contractor choices. There's always the question of 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.520 was the choice of contractor a political choice or was 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.119 it the best choice for the mission? Like there are 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.040 a lot of these issues that NASA has to contend 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:15.000 with as well. Anyway, all of this plagued the SLS 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.439 and it took years and years and years for it 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.359 to finally get to the point where they could launch 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:24.919 the darned thing. Uh So, it was first proposed to 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:28.280 launch way back in sixteen, but it took six years 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.919 to get to where NASA could actually do a a 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:36.640 full launch of the SLS, And within those six years 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.560 there were multiple launch dates that had been proposed and postponed. 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.040 It led some to question if the whole thing was 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:43.800 just going to be a bust, if it's just gonna 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:47.800 be a massive failure. But this year we finally got 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.080 a launch. Now it was meant to launch in August, 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.399 but then one of the sensors of the launch vehicle 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:56.560 indicated that part of the engine was warmer than it 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.119 should be and it put it outside the parameters of 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:03.440 safe operation, so the launch was scrubbed. NASA would try 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.920 again the following month in September, but then we got 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:09.639 word that there was some sort of hydrogen leak in 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:13.199 part of the system and that necessitated canceling that launch. 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.840 Then it got pushed October, but this time it wasn't 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:19.880 NASA's fault. We had a hurricane, actually had a couple 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:22.639 of them, but Hurricane Ian was the big one. I 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:26.160 was actually on a ship that was at sea when 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.800 Ian hit. We were supposed to return to Cape Canaveral 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:34.439 Port Canaveral, and we couldn't because of Ian, and I 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.880 was stuck at sea for a few days more than 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:41.000 was my original plan. That was exciting. But finally on 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:45.200 November sixteenth, NASA was able to launch the Space Launch 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:49.880 System the SLS, and attached to it was an oryon spacecraft. 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:54.040 Now there was no human crew aboard that capsule, but 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.480 there were some mannequins and a plush toy or two, 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.919 and it also carried a biology experiment designated Biology Experiment 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:06.480 One that aimed to study space radiations effects on fungi 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:10.320 and yeast and seeds and such, because obviously any kind 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:14.960 of prolonged human activity in space means that humans are 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:19.320 potentially going to be uh exposed to various types of 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:22.320 radiation that otherwise they'd be protected from here on Earth. 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.199 So that was the goal of that particular experiment was 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:27.960 to learn a little bit more about that. The s 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:33.119 l s successfully attained orbit. The Orion spacecraft successfully separated 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:36.280 from the launch vehicle, and it went on a twenty 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.600 six ish like twenty five and a half day long 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.720 trip that took it all the way around the back 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:46.360 side of the Moon and returned to Earth. So on Sunday, 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:51.600 December eleven two, the Orion capsule from Artemis one returned 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:55.240 to Earth. Its splashed down in the Pacific Ocean and 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.639 a Navy crew retrieved the capsule and it will be 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:04.200 transported back to UH to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.280 So that concluded the Artemis one mission. And it was 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:11.359 an enormous achievement. And yes it was an achievement that 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:16.000 had been long delayed, but it's still demonstrated this capability 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.240 that humanity can return to the Moon, and it's a 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:23.280 type of space exploration the humans just haven't engaged in 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:27.240 in fifty years, so it was a really big deal. 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:30.480 Analysts are going to look over the data from the 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:33.760 Artemis one mission and use that data to help prepare 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.560 for Artemis two. This will be the first mission in 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:41.199 the Artemis program to include a human crew aboard and 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:46.600 Orion spacecraft, but this mission will not include a lunar landing. 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.760 The mission will go into outer space and the crew 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:54.159 will pilot the Orion capsule and put it through its paces, 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.760 but it will not land on the Moon. That won't 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:00.680 happen until Artemis three. The Artemis two mission will happen 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.640 no earlier than and then Artemis three will happen at 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:08.679 some point after that, maybe as early as but I 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:12.720 would be a little cautious to put that as the 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:17.160 actual date when it will happen. As I mentioned earlier, 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:21.399 there's actually disagreement regarding whether the Artemis program is a 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:25.240 worthy use of time, money, and resources. Some would prefer 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:27.760 more of a focus on Mars rather than the Moon. 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.520 Some question the value of sending humans at all, and 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:36.040 we can rely more on robots and unscrewed missions. Then 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:38.480 there are critics who think going back to the Moon 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.040 is a good idea, but they don't agree with the 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:45.240 way Artemis programs process has that laid out. They don't 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:49.119 agree with that plan. As for myself, I'm actually conflicted. 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.359 I'm not really sure how to feel about it. I 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.560 do think these missions can be inspiring. I think there's 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:58.320 always benefits that emerge as a result of the work 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:01.159 that is necessary to make these mission as possible. You know, 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:03.480 engineers have to figure out how to make this work, 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:06.959 and in the process they create things that can have 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:11.040 other uses here on Earth. So we can have real 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:15.600 benefits to the advancements that people make just in order 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:19.920 to accomplish the goals of these missions. So that's good. 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:22.760 I just I don't know. I don't know how I 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:27.080 feel about Artemis, but it's I certainly want to see 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:31.480 more people inspired to pursue science and engineering and that 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:35.440 sort of thing. And there is no doubt that stories 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.439 about astronauts going back to the Moon is a really 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:43.119 inspiring story. Another great NASA story for two was the 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:46.760 success of the DART mission. You might recall that DART 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:51.680 stands for double Asteroid Redirection Test, and that this mission 0:22:51.760 --> 0:22:55.399 was to test whether or not smashing a spacecraft into 0:22:55.440 --> 0:23:01.280 something like an asteroid could divert its path sufficiently sufficiently 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:02.920 so that you can move it out of the way of, say, 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:06.000 a trajectory that would take it towards Earth. Uh. The 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:09.840 reason that this is important is that on occasion, fairly 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:16.320 sizeable stuff does smash into our planet and have catastrophic consequences. Uh. 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:20.719 You can ask the dinosaurs about that. Oh wait, you can't, 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:24.399 because they're all dead because of a celestial object that 0:23:24.480 --> 0:23:27.840 smashed into the Earth and made it uninhabitable for Donna Sawas. 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:32.480 So for years there have been folks wondering about how 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:36.560 we might be able to alter the trajectory of something 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:39.480 that otherwise could be on a collision course with the Earth, 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:42.800 and there's been a lot of proposals. Of course, you've 0:23:42.840 --> 0:23:45.560 got the Hollywood version in which we send Bruce Willis 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:48.520 up there to blow up an incoming asteroid. This, by 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:52.720 the way, would be a very bad idea because instead 0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:56.520 of one huge rock hurdling at us, you would create 0:23:56.680 --> 0:24:00.119 a bunch of slightly smaller rocks hurtling at us d 0:24:00.280 --> 0:24:03.960 like turning a bullet into a cloud of shotgun pellets. 0:24:04.760 --> 0:24:08.280 And some of those might incenterate upon entering the Earth's atmosphere, 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:09.920 but a lot of them would make it down to Earth, 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:12.440 and essentially all you would be doing is increasing the 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:15.880 surface area of impact. It would not be a good 0:24:15.880 --> 0:24:19.720 idea anyway, One of the possible solutions that is considered 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:21.720 to be a good idea is to send up a 0:24:21.760 --> 0:24:24.720 spacecraft to act as a sort of battering ram and 0:24:24.800 --> 0:24:27.680 to nudge and object like a meteor or an asteroid 0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:31.040 enough so that it doesn't hit our planet. But how 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:34.080 do you test that. You don't wait for the day 0:24:34.160 --> 0:24:37.480 when you definitely have to do something because something's heading 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:40.960 our way, because if it doesn't work, well that's bad. 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:43.480 So you need to test it in advance. So what 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:47.960 NASA did was it identified a couple of asteroids or 0:24:49.160 --> 0:24:52.920 if you prefer an asteroid, and it's quote unquote moonlit, 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:56.840 and the Dart spacecraft crashed into the moonlight, which has 0:24:56.840 --> 0:25:00.359 a name, thank you very much, it's dimorphous. So the 0:25:00.400 --> 0:25:04.320 goal was to alter dimorphoses orbit around its asteroid and 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:08.080 reduce the orbit by at least seventy three seconds. So 0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:15.520 on September twenty two, Dart makes contact with Dimorphous and 0:25:15.560 --> 0:25:18.960 then astronomers are surprised to see that the orbit did shorten, 0:25:19.040 --> 0:25:21.520 but it shortened way more than seventy three seconds. It 0:25:21.600 --> 0:25:26.160 became thirty two minutes shorter. So this was a huge success. 0:25:26.280 --> 0:25:30.760 Dart showed that using a bit of percussive maintenance, we 0:25:30.800 --> 0:25:34.200 can change the flight path of a small body in space, 0:25:34.560 --> 0:25:36.760 and that kind of knowledge can end up being really 0:25:36.800 --> 0:25:39.760 important should we detect such a small object that is 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:42.400