WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:05.120 This is Spacetime Series twenty seven, Episode seven, for broadcast on the fifteenth 2 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:10.919 of January twenty twenty four. Coming up on Spacetime, NASA delays a man 3 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:16.359 returned to the lunar's surface until twenty twenty six. A successful maiden flight for 4 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:22.519 United launches new Vulcan Center rocket, and NASA's Parker's Solar Probe completes its eighteenth 5 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:29.480 close encounter with the Sun. All that and more coming up on Spacetime Welcome 6 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:51.719 to Space Time with Stuart Gary. NASA has scrubbed this year's planned Artemis two 7 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:56.920 man mission around the Moon. The agency says the flight, the first to 8 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.520 tech humans to the Moon in over fifty years, will be delayed until at 9 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.120 least September next year, in the process, pushing the return of people to 10 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:10.159 the lunar surface aboard the Atomis three mission back from December twenty twenty five until 11 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:15.040 at least September twenty twenty six. NASA has put the delays down to a 12 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.840 range of safety concerns with the Lockheed Martin built Orion spacecraft, as well as 13 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:25.840 development issues with the new Moon suits and continuing delays with SpaceX's Starship Mega rocket, 14 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:30.200 which will carry crews from the Orion spacecraft orbiting around the Moon, down 15 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.200 to the lunar surface and back up again. The twenty five day unmanned Artemis 16 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:38.680 one mission to the Moon back in November twenty twenty two appeed to go smoothly 17 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:45.439 with no serious issues disclosed at the time. However, it's now been revealed 18 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:51.200 that the Artemis one Orion capsule suffered more extensive charring damage to its ablative heat 19 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:56.560 shield during amos free re entry and was initially expected, and tests on another 20 00:01:56.599 --> 00:02:01.120 Orion spacecraft have now uncovered a designed fall with a life support systems electronics, 21 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.439 as well as a separate issue which is popped up with one of the battery 22 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.439 systems. There have also been two fouled launch attempts from its Texas star base 23 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:15.960 by SpaceX's one to twenty one meter Toll Starship, which are posing serious concerns. 24 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:21.759 Both launch failures saw the Starship super Heavy explode in the skies over the 25 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:25.159 Gulf of Mexico. A third test flight is now planned for next month, 26 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:30.719 but the longer it takes to get Starship into Earth orbit, the longer NASA 27 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:34.919 will have to wait before it can launch its Atomus three mission, and there 28 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:39.319 are other complications with Starship as well. SpaceX points out that Starship will need 29 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:44.280 to have its fuel tank refilled once it's in orbit around the Earth before it 30 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.800 heads off to the Moon. An estimated ten fuel transfers will be needed to 31 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:52.840 do the job, and so SpaceX are planning to build an orbital fuel depot. 32 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.319 And there have also been ongoing issues with the manufacture of the new EVA 33 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:01.319 spaces for you from the Lunar's surface, which developed by Houston's Axiom Space. 34 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:07.280 The Apollo eraist space suits, which we used during the late sixties and seventies 35 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.840 and are still the basis for the EVA spacesuits used by NASA today, aren't 36 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:15.800 really suitable for use on the lunar's surface. That's because they become damaged by 37 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:21.280 the ultra fine but extremely sharp lunar dust or regulars, which is the Apollo 38 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:25.639 astronauts found out became a real problem. Not only did the dust get everywhere 39 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:30.520 on the suit, clogging equipment and causing radiators to overheat, but it was 40 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:34.439 so sharp that it quite literally wore a hole in the knee on the outer 41 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:40.719 spacesuit garment. During one geological EVA NASA Administrator Bill Nilsen says the delays will 42 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:46.439 give the atemist teams more time to work through the challenges. The ten day 43 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:51.199 Artemis two mission, which includes three Americans and one Canadian astronaut, will be 44 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.439 a full scale, dressed rehearsal for Atomis three. It'll but the Earth twice 45 00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:00.360 in order to get enough speed for translunar injection, taking humans further from the 46 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:05.039 Earth than ever before into an extended lunar orbit that will result in a free 47 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:11.560 return trajectory back to Earth if successful. That'll be followed by the Artemis three 48 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:15.000 mission, which will land astronauts on the Moon's south Pole, which Nilsen describes 49 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:19.439 as a different moon from the Sea of Tranquility, where Apollo eleven astronauts nearl 50 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:25.720 Armstrong and buzz Aldron landed in nineteen sixty nine. The Sea of Tranquility was 51 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:30.160 relatively flat terrain. The lunar south pole, on the other hand, is 52 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:33.160 pot marked with dick craters, and because of the angle of the sunlight, 53 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:39.519 most of those craters are in total darkness. NASA says that delays shouldn't effect 54 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:42.920 the following Artemis four mission, which will be the first to use the new 55 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.600 Lunar Gateway Orbital space station. It currently remains on track for launch. In 56 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:51.439 twenty twenty eight, during NASA as Apollo era, twelve Americans walked on the 57 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:57.160 lunar surface, in the process, winning the space race and demonstrating to Moscow 58 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:02.560 that Washington held the ultimate Cold War. Today, the competition isn't the Soviet 59 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:08.000 Union, but rather China were expecting to have taker knots walking on the Moon 60 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:15.000 by twenty thirty this space time still to come. The United Launch Alliances new 61 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:20.480 Vulcan Centaur rocket undertakes a successful maiden flight, and NASA's Parker Solar Probe completes 62 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:26.160 its closest encounters so far with the Sun. All that and more still to 63 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:47.399 come on space time. The United Launch Alliances new Vulcan Centaur rocket has undertaken 64 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:54.079 a highly successful maiden flight. The new sixty two meter tall, two stage 65 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:59.279 Vulcan Centaur was initially designed to meet the design to phase out the current Russian 66 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:03.120 Idea eight engines used on the Atlas five, which are no longer being supported 67 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:09.160 by Moscow following the Western boycott of Russia in response to the Kremlins invasion of 68 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:14.560 Ukraine. It also provided the United Launch Alliance with an opportunity to replace the 69 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:19.519 heritage Delta four rocket with a new single launch system. The Vulcan's twin Blue 70 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:26.519 Origin sourced B four liquid methane and liquid oxygen powered core stage replaces the Keerrot 71 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:30.639 scene in liquid oxygen fueled I one eighties used on the Atlas five, as 72 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:34.000 well as the liquid hydrogen on liquid oxygen core stage engines used on the Delta 73 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:39.079 four, and the Vulcan core stage is designed to be fitted with up to 74 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:44.279 six strap on solid rocket boosters, depending on payload and target orbit. On 75 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.319 top of that, there's a new Centaur five upper stage. It replaces the 76 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:53.720 earlier design common Centaur and Centaur three variants which we used on the Atlas five. 77 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:59.240 The mission called CIRT one blasted off from Space Launch Complex forty one at 78 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:03.040 the Cape Canaverals Space for Space in Florida. Status JECK Go Vulcan Go Centaur 79 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:15.519 GO parents ten nine eight seven six five four three. We have ignition and 80 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:21.519 lift off of the first United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket, launching a new era 81 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:27.000 in space flight to the Moon and beyond. Just laborating two good SRBs hitting 82 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:30.759 peak pressure on the SRBs. Everything looking good. You got pitching our programs 83 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:34.319 in coming into normal rates for that event. We have good hydraulic pressure on 84 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:38.800 both engines, good chamber pressure on both engines. Everything looking good. Coming 85 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:43.079 up on sixty seconds into the flight. Everything looking good, two good engines, 86 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:46.720 two good SRBs. Body rates look good, nice and smooth, and 87 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:48.920 we've hit our first throttle point on the B fours. Everything looking good and 88 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:53.120 we have passed through MAK one. We are now supersonic, coming up on 89 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:57.079 max Q at max dynamic pressure. Everything looking good. We're rolling off on 90 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:01.160 the SRBs and we have cut off on the SRBs, coming up on jettison 91 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:05.959 and approximately thirty seconds fifteen seconds that's their p jet. P fours continue operate 92 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.879 nominally, seeing expected PU activity and the boost remains and we have separation of 93 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:13.680 both SRBs. Everything looking good. The E fours continue to operate normally. 94 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.360 We up on two minutes into the mission. We are now seventeen miles in 95 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:22.120 altitude. We just heard confirmation of solid rocket booster jettison. We have about 96 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:26.040 three minutes until we reach our next mission event. Booster engine cut off and 97 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:31.240 we see booster PU correcting towards the nomenal IMR. Everything looking good. Both 98 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.240 engines continue to pre normally, and we now weigh probably half of our lift 99 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:39.279 off weight. Everything looking good, and we fired the power valve, activating 100 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.399 the reaction control system on the upper stage. Pressures are rising as expected. 101 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:48.519 P four continues to operate normally. Vehicles continue to apply down the center of 102 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:52.799 the range track. Everything looking good. Thirty three miles in altitude, fifty 103 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:56.080 two miles down range, traveling at four thousand miles per hour. Then you 104 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:01.039 see excellent performance out of the b E four's chamber pressure, Nice and smooth. 105 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.399 Vehicles settle accelerating a little over two g's at this time, good body 106 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:11.480 rates, nice and smooth operation of the booster. Forty seven miles in altitude, 107 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:16.039 ninety five miles down range at fifty five hundred miles per hour. Engines 108 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:20.399 continue to burn normally. Everything looking good, and the vehicle now weighs one 109 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:24.320 quarter of us slipped off weight as they passed through the carbon line. Next 110 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:28.360 mark Wet. We're looking for a boot space chill down on the centaur. 111 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:33.240 Main engines. Boost remains continue to operate normally, and we've been on boot 112 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:35.840 space chill. Housing tents are dropping as expected. Coming up to the end 113 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:39.720 of the boost phase. Prost me ten seconds to BICO throttle down. In 114 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.080 preparation for BICO. We've completed boot space chill down and we have cut off. 115 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:50.159 Coming up on Fulcan Center separation. We have Vulcan Center separation. Everything 116 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:54.720 looking good coming up on the Centaur phase and experiencing a good data loss here. 117 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:00.360 We've recovered the data center. Our engines are up and running normally steady 118 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:03.879 state pressure, and we've just jettisoned the payload pairing two good break wires, 119 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:07.639 good steady state operating levels on the Centaur mainze, two good engines on the 120 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:13.080 open loop control on Center PU. This is Vulcan Mission Control at T plus 121 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:18.080 five minutes fifty seven seconds. We just heard flight commentator Rob Gannon confirm the 122 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:22.960 successful completion of the early phase of today's flight and all systems continue to operate 123 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.480 nominally. Our next event, main engine cut off will occur in about ten 124 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:30.919 minutes while we wait. I'm joined by Amanda Piquetti e LA, Director of 125 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.120 Vehicle Upgrades. Amanda, thank you so much for joining us, and I 126 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:37.759 know it's still early, but congratulations. Thank you you as well. This 127 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:41.720 is amazing. How did it feel to watch the Vulcan rocket lift off for 128 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:46.720 the first time? Oh, just absolutely amazing. I didn't expect it to 129 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:48.519 be the way it was. It's just my heart is still pounding. It 130 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:52.480 was excellent and just I'm so proud of all the work that the team did 131 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:56.320 to get where we are today. Absolutely, and developing a new rocket is 132 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:00.480 an enormous endeavor of what you were a huge part again, and we're still 133 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.559 early, but how do you imagine the whole Vulcan team is feeling right now? 134 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:05.600 I feel like they have to be the same way, you know, 135 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:09.159 smile ear to ear. I know the team is at all our sites, 136 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.879 friends and family. They've been supporting us for many years to get to where 137 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:15.480 we are, so I'm sure they are jumping up and down just like me. 138 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:18.720 It's been amazing. How is the Vulcan rocket going to change the industry? 139 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.559 Yeah, that's a great question. So Vulcan is very much based on 140 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:26.519 our heritage rockets, the Delta four and Atlas five vehicles, but we've brought 141 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:28.600 in a lot of new innovation and capabilities that are going to allow us to 142 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:33.440 even better support our war fighters, exploration as well as connecting the world. 143 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.720 The great thing about Vulcan is it's highly versatile, meaning we can use that 144 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:43.360 vehicle to do anything we want. Allows for affordability for anybody who needs access 145 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.840 to space. This is the first certification flight. What are the next steps 146 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:50.399 for Vulcan after this? Yeah, so with the first flight we are well 147 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.000 under the way from a certification perspective. We do have a second fight that 148 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:58.679 we'll need to do here later this year. Once that complete get completed, 149 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.720 we'll have about two months or so of post flight data testing, and then 150 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:05.840 at that point we will be certified by the US Base Force and we will 151 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:09.240 be ready to fly all their important payloads for them. Coming up on five 152 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:13.519 hundred seconds into the mission, everything's looking good. Tinuing to burn Centaur, 153 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.639 body rates right as expected, steady acceleration just under half a g, and 154 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:22.480 we are now two hundred and thirty five miles in altitude, eight hundred and 155 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:26.639 thirty six miles down range, traveling at eleven thousand, one hundred and fifty 156 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:31.399 miles per hour, continuous nominal performance from Centaur, and approaching the halfway point 157 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:33.919 of this first burn of Centaur. Everything looks good, you know. On 158 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:37.679 thousand miles down range, traveling at eleven thousand, tive hundred miles per hour. 159 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.519 This is Vulcan mission control at T plus ten minutes seven seconds. Our 160 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:46.000 next event, main engine cutoff, will occur in about five minutes. While 161 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:50.720 we wait, I'm joined by Eric Manda, part of ULA's mission design team. 162 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:52.559 Eric, thanks for joining Usmana, thanks for having me, of course. 163 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:56.240 So we're still pretty early in this fight today, but can you tell 164 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:58.600 us how the data is looking so far? Yeah? Absolutely so. I 165 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.960 just want to say that it was so I ran outside so I can watch 166 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:05.120 this thing lift off, and that was so cool after so many years of 167 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.039 development to watch this thing fly, that was fantastic. Absolutely, I bet. 168 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:11.360 Yeah. So what is the data showing us so far? Yeah? 169 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:15.480 Absolutely so. I've had a very quick look. Obviously we're very early in 170 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:18.360 the flight still, but I've taken a look at the S and B performance 171 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.240 as well as the boost performance so far, and everything looks just spot on, 172 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:26.720 just perfect. Unfortunately, we've had a lot of these systems on at 173 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:28.559 List and Delta for a long time, and so we've had a lot of 174 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.840 flight data to anchor our models, and everything is lining up just like we 175 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:35.919 would expect can you talk a little bit about why we need three burns and 176 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.879 how we use those three burns to complete our mission today. So the first 177 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:45.600 burn performs our injection into lower thorbit. Unfortunately, if we just continue that 178 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:48.039 burn from that point in time, we wouldn't necessarily be aligned with where we 179 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:50.200 need to be in order to get to the Moon. So what we do 180 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:54.399 after we get to lower thorbit is we shut those engines down, we coast 181 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:56.919 around until we get to the right spot to do that, and then we 182 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:00.480 light those engines up again. When we do that and complete the burn, 183 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:05.399 that will allow us to send the Astrobotic Paragrin Lander onto the Moon. So 184 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.919 we shut those engines down again and we are ready to do that and then 185 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:13.320 start them one more time in order to do the third burn, and that's 186 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:18.200 just going to take Celestici's Enterprise mission out to deep space. So let's talk 187 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:20.279 a little bit about where these things happen. We're going to go ahead and 188 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:26.080 shut down the main engines on the Centaur when we get about halfway across the 189 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:30.399 Atlantic Ocean, and then we're going to coast the rest of the way across 190 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:33.399 the Atlantic Ocean across Africa, and go ahead and start the engines up again, 191 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:37.600 and we get to Madagascar and that's where we'll do the second burn, 192 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:41.759 and then we coast again until we get about to pop in New Guiney, 193 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:43.639 and when we get about to over pop in New Guiney, that's where we'll 194 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.559 go ahead and do that third and final burn. The second burn will be 195 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.799 about four minutes long, and then we'll have another coast for thirty minutes before 196 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:54.679 we have a pretty short twenty second burn for the final burn. Once we've 197 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:58.120 done that, then we've got some engineering demos we're going to do before we 198 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:03.080 finally safe the state and shut everything off. And then at about four days 199 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:09.320 later is when the center will leave the Earth Moon system and beyond find its 200 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.559 way to the deep space. Depending on its configuration, the new Vulcans Center 201 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:16.440 a launcher can carry a paillot of up to twenty seven point two tons into 202 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:22.279 Loweth orbit, fifteen point three tons in a geostationary orbit, and twelve point 203 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:28.879 one tons in the Luna transfer orbit, making it comparable with SpaceX's Falcon nine 204 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:35.240 aboard. The Vulcan's maiden flight was astrobotics Pereguine Lunar Lander Its mission, however, 205 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:39.399 wasn't nearly as successful as the vulcans. The robotic lander is separated from 206 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:45.320 the center upper stage without incident, and its avionics systems powered up and perform 207 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:50.879 nominally sending telemetry back to Astrobotics mission managers through NASA's Deep Space Network. However, 208 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:56.480 just hours later, Astrobotics began reporting technical problems, starting with what appeared 209 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:03.000 to be an inability to orient Pereguin's top mounted solar panels towards the Sun that's 210 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:07.159 needed to keep the lunar landers on board batteries charged up. Pereguine then began 211 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:14.080 to drift off course and communications were temporarily lost. Eventually, engineers were able 212 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:17.440 to re establish contact with a one thousand, two hundred and eighty three kilogram 213 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.600 Lander and were able to send instructions to keep it tilted in the right direction 214 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:26.559 to keep its solar array pointing towards the Sun. As mission managers try to 215 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.639 work out what was going wrong, they eventually traced the problem to a faulty 216 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.399 valve in part of the spacecraft's propulsion system. An image taken by one of 217 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:41.000 the onboard cameras showed the multi layer insulation badly displaced and damaged. That explained 218 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:45.120 some of the telemetry which was showing a critical loss of propellant on board the 219 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:49.279 spacecraft. In fact, judging by the loss rate, Peregune was destined to 220 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:55.200 run out of fuel within forty hours. That loss of propellant meant the mission 221 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:57.440 was doomed to fail, with a soft landing on the Moon now out of 222 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:03.000 the question. Good news was that experiments on board the lander were performing well 223 00:17:03.079 --> 00:17:07.920 and they were sending back good data. Astrobiotics were now simply committed to getting 224 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:12.319 the Pereguine as close to the Moon as possible before it loses its ability to 225 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:18.720 maintain its sunpointing position and subsequently loses all power and enters an uncontrollable tumble. 226 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:25.200 Peregon was supposed to enter Luna orbit and remain there for several weeks before committing 227 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.759 to a landing in the mid latitude region of the Moon at a place called 228 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:36.119 Sirius Visco Sitatis on February the twenty third. This space time still to come 229 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:41.319 NASAs Parkersloprobe completes its closest encounter with the Sun and later in the science report, 230 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:48.160 meteorologists have now confirmed that twenty twenty three was the hottest year ever recorded 231 00:17:48.279 --> 00:18:08.119 on planet Earth. All that and more still to come on space time messis 232 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:12.960 Parker Solar Probe has just undertaking its eighteenth close approach to the Sun, skimming 233 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:18.680 just seven point twenty six million kilometers above the visible solar surface. The close 234 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:23.960 encounter, known as perihelion, began on Christmas Eve and continued until January the 235 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.200 teid, with the spacecraft swooping down at some six hundred and thirty five thousand, 236 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:33.079 two hundred and sixty six kilometers per hour. The close approach distance matched 237 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:37.200 the record set by a park It during its previous close encounter back in September 238 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:42.599 last year. It also matched the speed record set during that encounter. Mission 239 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:48.640 managers at the JOHNS. Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel Maryland's report that the 240 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:52.160 spacecraft entered its close encarnter with the Sun in good health, with all systems 241 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:57.400 operating nominally. Following close approach, the Parker Solar Probe checked back in with 242 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:03.240 mission managers sending it state of speak in turn on January the fifth. The 243 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:07.640 spacecraft is now transmitting science data from the encounter, including the properties, structure, 244 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:12.200 and behavior of the solar wind will give you more details when they come 245 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:33.240 to hand. This space time and time. That'll take a brief look at 246 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:37.880 some of the other stories making us in science this week with a Science report. 247 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:42.839 Scientists have now confirmed that twenty twenty three was indeed the hottest gear ever 248 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:48.920 recorded on planet Earth. The findings by the European Unions Copernicus Climate Change Service, 249 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.920 which are based on both ground and satellite readings, show that the planet's 250 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:57.599 average temperature in twenty twenty three was one point four to eight degree solsius warmer 251 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:03.920 than the average for the eighties fifty to nineteen hundred pre industrial period, as 252 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:07.960 well as being the planet's hottest recorded year by a substantial margin. The new 253 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:11.079 readings also suggest that last year would have been the planet's warmest year in at 254 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:17.079 least the last one hundred thousand years. The findings are based on global temperature 255 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:22.200 records going back to eighteen fifty, and they're then checked against paleoclimatic data records 256 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:27.119 from sources such as tree rings and ice core air bubbles. Twenty twenty three 257 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:32.400 was also the first year in which every day was more than a degree celsius 258 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:36.839 hotter than pre industrial levels. With two days both in November, being two 259 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:41.359 degrees celsius warmer than pre industrial levels. Last year was also zero point one 260 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:47.039 seven degrees hotter than twenty sixteen, which was the previous hottest year on record. 261 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.160 Meteorologists say that while the arrival of an El Nina weather pattern has worse 262 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.359 than the situation, global warming caused by the use of fossil fuels and other 263 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:02.240 greenhouse gases, remains the primary cause behind the temperature increase and emissions of carbon 264 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:07.359 dioxide, the most significant greenhouse gas remain stubbornly high. For example, last 265 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:11.599 year, the concentration of carbon diox on the atmosphere rose to its highest ever 266 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:18.079 recorded level of four hundred and nineteen parts per million. The Word Meetingological Organization 267 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:23.400 says China remains the world's biggest carbon dioxide polluta, producing almost a third of 268 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:29.680 the total global output, amounting to more than ten point one million tons annually. 269 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:34.880 A team of researchers working for a company that's designed a new cancer testing 270 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:41.200 regime claimed that a six specific panel of just ten proteins can pick up eighteen 271 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.039 different early stage cancers, representing all the major organs of the human body. 272 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.400 A report in the British Medical Journal claims the team whittled down a list of 273 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:55.279 some three thousand blood plasma proteins down to the finalists of ten, which they 274 00:21:55.319 --> 00:22:00.559 see are expressed differently among the plasma of cancer patients in healthy people. The 275 00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:04.480 authors say they were able to identify ninety three percent of stage one cancers among 276 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:08.119 men in the sample group of four hundred and forty and eighty four percent of 277 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:12.599 women. An attached to editorial to the study says that while there are still 278 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:17.480 several problems in the tests that need to be addressed before it can be deployed 279 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:21.839 to the general population, this new method may be a good means of improving 280 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:29.119 current issues related to sex specific detection tests. A new study may have finally 281 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:33.240 solved the mystery disappearance of the largest of the great apes from Asia. A 282 00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:37.960 report in the journal Nature focused on the extinction of the largest ever primate, 283 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:42.960 Gacantipithecus Blackie, which went extinct at a time when other Asian great apes were 284 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.279 thriving. The new evidence, uncovered by a team of Australian, American, 285 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:52.079 and Chinese scientists, found that the largest primate to ever walk on the Earth 286 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:56.359 went extinct between two hundred and ninety five thousand and two hundred and fifteen thousand 287 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:02.480 years ago, simply because they were unable to adapt their food preferences and behaviors, 288 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:07.480 and because they were vulnerable to the changing climates which eventually sealed their fate. 289 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:14.119 Measurements of the fossilized teeth have allowed paleontologists to estimate Joacandipithecus's height at around 290 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:18.799 three meters it's nine point eight feet with a mass of around two hundred to 291 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:23.599 three hundred kilograms. Back in the nineteen fifties, bigfoot enthusiasts began to hypothesize 292 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:30.039 that stories of Yeti, Yowie's and Sasquatch were actually descriptions of encarnters with relic 293 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:36.279 populations of Dagandipithecus that had somehow survived in isolation from the changing world around them. 294 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:41.480 But the most obvious problem with the Gigantipithecus Bigfoot connection theory is the simple 295 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:48.039 fact that no scientific evidence supporting Bigfoot has ever been found. A recent letter 296 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:55.440 signed by more than one hundred distinguished scientists has sought to discredit integrated information theory, 297 00:23:55.680 --> 00:24:00.799 labeling the leading hypothesis of consciousness as nothing more than sew the science. 298 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.640 However, it's two men them from a strange Skeptics points out, no hypothesis 299 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:11.519 of consciousness is currently empirically testable, so strictly speaking, no such idea is 300 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.119 scientific. It is a great debate and actually has the sounds with esoteric, 301 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:18.720 but it actually has broader implications. Now I have the prefaces we're saying, 302 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:22.640 I'm not a neurologist, I'm not practicing philosopher, fuly amateur, and I'm 303 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:25.920 not necessarily an expert on consciousness. But looking at this, there is a 304 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:30.799 debate right now about different ways of measuring and explaining what consciousness is. Generally 305 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:34.279 speaking to the view is that consciousness is how you are aware of the world 306 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.559 around you, of your role in it, and what's happening to you, 307 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:42.079 et cetera. Now, consciousness, this idea has bigger implications beyond just the 308 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:47.559 esoteric one of how the brain works. It has implications for legal issues and 309 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:51.480 all sorts of things you imagine, like fatal consciousness of the fetus of the 310 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:55.759 data before born. Does that have consciousness? That has an implication for abortions 311 00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:59.440 in medical treatments of various sorts. Do animals have consciousness? And that has 312 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:04.039 the implication for everything from laboratory testing to actually eating and using animals to plants 313 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:07.079 out consciousness. That's been suggested too, that yeah, should you be coming 314 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.400 down plants? Do they screen when you sort of pull them out of the 315 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:15.920 ground, letters screams when you cut it up? That's right? Do they? 316 00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:18.160 Oh? Yes, they do? Yes, But whether that's consciousness or 317 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:22.799 just the chemical reaction and automatic chemical reaction, okay, even as far as 318 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:26.000 suggesting that the universe have consciousness, So I'm not quite sure how we going 319 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:30.160 to I'm through that. But basically consciousness comes down to two different aspects, 320 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:33.599 as a physical one, which can be measured by neurological measurements et cetera, 321 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:37.279 sticking things to your head and measuring electrical impulses that sort of stuff, which 322 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:41.720 is pretty straightforward. And then there's a subjective measurements of consciousness, which is 323 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.359 how people suggest what they have seen, you know, for the witnessing of 324 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:48.440 activities, et cetera. Now it's a very broad area, isn't. Are 325 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:55.400 we talking about simple chemical reactions or are we talking about I guess sentience because 326 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.920 the line is very blurred between them. That's right, and that's a bit 327 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:02.519 of a contentious issue. It is as much a philosophical issue as it is 328 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:06.000 a scientific one. But anyway, the argument right now is about one particular 329 00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:11.519 theory of assessing and explaining consciousness, and it's called integrated information theory, which 330 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:17.680 is pretty dull and broad. It which is suggesting that these subjective and objective 331 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:21.400 measurements are measuring the same thing, that they are the same and they're just 332 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:23.039 different ways of looking at it. I mean, the skeptics would know that 333 00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:26.960 there is a difference between reality and how people perceive it. That we know 334 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:30.599 that witness testimony can be very dodgy, especially over a period of time. 335 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:33.720 We know that things like neurological testing through things like polygraph machines, which is 336 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:38.119 the live detectors, are almost useless and are certainly not recognized in most courts 337 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:42.440 because they're only measuring stress rather than truth, and they're not necessarily stress but 338 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:47.400 not necessarily great indicator of truth. So anyway, there's this debate about integrated 339 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:51.920 information theory with a letter that was written by one hundred and twenty odd scientists 340 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:56.160 recently presumably practicing neurologists or philosophers, who were saying it's sudo science, and 341 00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:00.039 the response from at least one person who has studied it says, you can't 342 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:04.400 say, you can't highlight that one as being suito science because all the theories 343 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:08.319 is their science, which is that's not on the people who are promoting consciousness 344 00:27:08.359 --> 00:27:12.039 theory wanted to hear. But there's a range of different theories. There's the 345 00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:18.000 one called global neuronal workspace theory, and there's another one called the higher order 346 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:21.640 thought theory, which is higher order thought, which is hot the hot theory. 347 00:27:21.799 --> 00:27:26.000 And there's basically what you called subse fusion agreements, which is the way 348 00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:30.720 that people identify problems and that inferences about consciousness as the experiment or does the 349 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:33.160 experiment to play a role, and all sorts of different things. Anyway, 350 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:37.480 it is a complex area, but it does have implications in the in the 351 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.440 real world. As we've said, is AI a form of consciousness? Well, 352 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:42.759 that's exactly right. That's where it comes to. That's where you get 353 00:27:42.759 --> 00:27:47.160 into this big areas and suddenly we get back to the three laws of robotic 354 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.200 which is obviously an AI issues. As I guess, the one of three 355 00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:52.599 laws that robots have to obey, you robots have to protect you, and 356 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:56.200 robots can't do anything that will hurt you. I usually power down when they 357 00:27:56.200 --> 00:28:00.359 come up, and so you know, very seriously progected. I mean imagine 358 00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:03.559 coma pace. How conscious are they and what do you do? Stem cell 359 00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:07.319 research? Is that a consciousness issue? Organoid testing as they call it, 360 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:11.839 which is often just fits to the brain put in the patridish you use that 361 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:15.599 it or something and that Yes, yes, I mean frog legs, et 362 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:19.440 cetera. Are they consciousness? They get an experiment with pig brains recently whether 363 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:25.519 they were able to get reactions which rendered the test questionable, and in fact 364 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:29.160 it's been now banned because there was an issue of that whether or not those 365 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:33.440 brains had become conscious and had achieved sentience. Again, yes it is. 366 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:36.680 I mean you could take it down to the extreme and say everything is conscious 367 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:41.720 and therefore can you do anything to anything without impinging on it consciousness rights. 368 00:28:41.880 --> 00:28:45.559 That's when you get into very interesting philosophical areas and where sort of stuff will 369 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.200 help you. It doesn't go anywhere, is it applicable? Is it useful? 370 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:52.319 And Pera's not And anyway, these people are arguing that the methods that 371 00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:55.920 are being suggested the series of consciousness, what it is, how it can 372 00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:00.799 be assessed, et cetera. Pseudoscience quite possibly will never understand consciousness. We 373 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:03.519 can might get a duplicate it with AI, et cetera. The consciousness will 374 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:08.960 also involve sort of ethical decision making, all sorts of appreciations of other people's 375 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:12.559 right, civil rights, all that sort of aspects should be coming into consciousness 376 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.799 your own right primary amongst that. Can an AI do that? I don't 377 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:19.279 know? Can you program in ethics, free laws of robotics, et cetera. 378 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:23.000 And therefore this argument, which is sounds bit esoteric and certainly complex, 379 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:45.559 that's timendum from Australian skeptics, And that's the show for now. Space Time 380 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:49.680 is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Stitcher, 381 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:56.240 Google podcast, pocket Casts, Spotify a cast, Amazon Music, bytes 382 00:29:56.279 --> 00:30:02.200 dot com, SoundCloud YouTube, your favorite podcast provider, and from space Time 383 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:07.559 with Stuart Gary dot com. Space Time's also broadcast through the National Science Foundation, 384 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:11.680 on Science Own Radio and on both iHeartRadio and tune in Radio. 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