WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos

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<v Speaker 1>with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie podcast. Each episode offers a

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<v Speaker 1>gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for

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<v Speaker 1>unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries

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<v Speaker 1>of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful

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<v Speaker 1>slumber under the night sky.

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<v Speaker 2>Imagine for just a moment, sitting inside a cramped metal cylinder.

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<v Speaker 3>Right like a really really small submarine.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly. The bulkheads around you are just packed tight with avionics,

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<v Speaker 2>life support machinery, and the recycled air has this constant

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<v Speaker 2>mechanical drone to it. You look out a reinforced quartz

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<v Speaker 2>window and Earth is entirely gone, which.

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<v Speaker 3>Is a terrifying thought on its own.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh. Absolutely, And you've been sitting in this specific tiny

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<v Speaker 2>geometry for over six months. Every single day, high energy

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<v Speaker 2>galactic cosmic rays are passing right through the hule, just

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<v Speaker 2>threading through your cellular structure, and.

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<v Speaker 3>Your body is basically turning on itself at that point.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, because you are in continuous microgravity, right, So your osteoclasts,

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<v Speaker 2>those are the cells that break down bone tissue. They

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<v Speaker 2>are operating way faster than your osteoblast can rebuild it.

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<v Speaker 3>Your bones are literally dissolving.

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<v Speaker 2>It's brutal. Your fluid distribution has shifted upward, increasing intracranial pressure,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's actively altering the shape of your eyes. You

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<v Speaker 2>are enduring this profound, basically systemic degradation of your own

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<v Speaker 2>biology just to reach Mars.

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<v Speaker 3>It forces us to confront a really dark reality about

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<v Speaker 3>human physiology. We focus so heavily on this grand vision

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<v Speaker 3>of becoming a multiplanetary species, you know, right, But the

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<v Speaker 3>physiological toll of the commute itself is this massive barrier.

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<v Speaker 3>The human organism is exquisitely calibrated for a one G

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<v Speaker 3>environment and the protective magnetosphere of Earth.

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<v Speaker 2>We are Earthlings through and through.

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<v Speaker 3>Exactly remove those conditions for half a year and the

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<v Speaker 3>body just initiates a cascade of systemic failures.

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<v Speaker 2>So to understand exactly how we're going to fix this,

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<v Speaker 2>we have to look at the radical shift NASA is

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<v Speaker 2>aggressively pursuing. They are going after a technology that is

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<v Speaker 2>lingered between like engineering reality and myth for sixty years.

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<v Speaker 2>Nuclear propulsion, Yes, splitting atoms in space. We need to

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<v Speaker 2>understand how this technology could cut the journey to Mars

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<v Speaker 2>to just three or four months, which would make humanity

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<v Speaker 2>a true spacefaring species.

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<v Speaker 3>It's the ultimate game changer.

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<v Speaker 2>But to understand why we are taking this massive nuclear leap,

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<v Speaker 2>we first have to understand the fundamental flaw and how

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<v Speaker 2>we currently get to space.

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<v Speaker 3>Right, the old school methods.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, every single spacecraft leaves Earth by burning chemical fuel.

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<v Speaker 2>Rockets mix fuel with an oxidizer, they ignite it, and

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<v Speaker 2>they blast expanding gas through a nozzle Newton's third law

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<v Speaker 2>right right, Gas pushes down, rocket goes up.

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<v Speaker 3>Simple physics.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, let's unpack this chemical propulsion is basically like a

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<v Speaker 2>powerful kick. It's great for getting off the ground. But

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<v Speaker 2>there's a glaring flaw here. You have to bring all

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<v Speaker 2>that incredibly heavy fuel and the oxidizer with you.

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<v Speaker 3>What's fascinating here is the vicious cycle of rocket mass.

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<v Speaker 3>It is a literal mathematical trap.

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<v Speaker 2>The rocket equation right.

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<v Speaker 3>Exactly, the Silkovski rocket equation. You see. Much of a

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<v Speaker 3>rocket's launch mass isn't the payload. It's not the astronauts

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<v Speaker 3>or the shiny rovers you care about.

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<v Speaker 2>What is it? Mostly it's just.

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<v Speaker 3>The propellant required to move the propellant.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh wow, so you're carrying fuel just to carry fuel.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, for a long, ambitious journey to Mars, this limitation

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<v Speaker 3>becomes a massive, potentially insurmountable bottleneck. The specific impulse, which

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<v Speaker 3>is basically the gas mileage of a rocket for our

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<v Speaker 3>best chemical engines, hovers around four hundred and fifty.

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<v Speaker 2>Seconds, and that's the absolute limit.

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<v Speaker 3>Pretty much with chemical combustion, you are strictly bound by

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<v Speaker 3>the chemical energy stored in the molecular bonds of the

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<v Speaker 3>fuel and the oxidizer. Once you combust them, there is

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<v Speaker 3>a hard physical limit to how fast you can eject

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<v Speaker 3>that exhaust the nozzle.

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<v Speaker 2>So if chemical rockets are just this quick, incredibly heavy kick,

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<v Speaker 2>how do we actually sustain speed across millions of miles

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<v Speaker 2>of empty space?

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<v Speaker 3>That is where we enter the first of NASA's two

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<v Speaker 3>nuclear strategies, right.

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<v Speaker 2>The sprint approach. Yeah, nuclear thermal propulsion or NTP. Let's

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<v Speaker 2>break this down. It's essentially a three step process, isn't it.

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<v Speaker 3>It is. First, you have a nuclear reactor that splits

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<v Speaker 3>uranium atoms to create massive, massive amounts of heat.

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<v Speaker 2>We're talking over twenty five hundred Calvin right easily.

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<v Speaker 3>Then step two you take liquid hydrogen, which is stored

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<v Speaker 3>near absolute zero, and you pump it directly through that

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<v Speaker 3>incredibly hot reactor.

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<v Speaker 2>Core, which just sounds insanely violent.

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<v Speaker 3>It is extreme engineering. The thermal shock is mind bottling.

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<v Speaker 3>The liquid hydrogen flash boils instantly into a high.

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<v Speaker 2>Pressure gas, and then step three, that superheated gas just

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<v Speaker 2>lasts out the nozzle at extreme velocity.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, exactly, because hydrogen is the lightest element in the universe.

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<v Speaker 3>When you impart that much thermal energy into it, the

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<v Speaker 3>molecules accelerate to phenomenal speed. You effectively double your gas

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<v Speaker 3>mileage compared to chemical rockets.

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<v Speaker 2>So this is why you call it the sprint approach.

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<v Speaker 3>Right. It can reduce travel times to Mars by up

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<v Speaker 3>to twenty five percent. It turns a miserable six plus

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<v Speaker 3>month voyage into a brisk three to four month sprint.

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<v Speaker 2>And I want to point out this isn't just about impatience,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, it's about survival. A shorter trip means drastically

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<v Speaker 2>less exposure to cosmic radiation for the crew.

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<v Speaker 3>That is the critical biological factor.

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<v Speaker 2>Because galactic cosmic rays, these heavy atomic nuclei traveling at

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<v Speaker 2>near light speed. When they hit a traditional metal hull,

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<v Speaker 2>they don't just stop, No.

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<v Speaker 3>They shatter. It causes spallation. It's like a shotgun blast

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<v Speaker 3>of secondary radiation flooding the cabin. Adding thick shielding can

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<v Speaker 3>actually make it worse because you're just giving the rays

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<v Speaker 3>more material to smash into.

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<v Speaker 2>So speed is the only real shield we have.

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<v Speaker 3>Speed is your absolute best defense get out of deep

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<v Speaker 3>space as quickly as possible.

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<v Speaker 2>And sprinting also widens our launch windows right like currently,

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<v Speaker 2>Earth and marks only aligned favorably every couple.

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<v Speaker 3>Of years, every twenty six months. Yeah, you're locked into

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<v Speaker 3>these slow, low energy home and transfer orbits.

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<v Speaker 2>But NTP gives us the sheer speed and flexibility to

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<v Speaker 2>launch more often, and crucially, it gives us an abort option.

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<v Speaker 2>If something goes wrong on a chemical rocket halfway there,

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<v Speaker 2>you're out of luck.

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<v Speaker 3>You're writing it all the way to Mars.

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<v Speaker 2>But with a thermal nuclear engine you actually have the

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<v Speaker 2>power to hit the brakes and return to Earth if necessary.

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<v Speaker 3>That safety margin alone makes NTP mandatory. But sprinting requires

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<v Speaker 3>a massive amount of energy and liquid hydrogen is incredibly uncooperative.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's not dense at all?

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<v Speaker 3>Is it not even a little To carry enough of it?

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<v Speaker 3>You need propellant tanks the size of office buildings, which

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<v Speaker 3>is fine for a lightweight crew capsule, but terrible for

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<v Speaker 3>hauling heavy cargo.

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<v Speaker 2>So let me play Devil's advocate here for a second.

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<v Speaker 2>If we have this incredible super fast thermal engine, why

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<v Speaker 2>are we even bothering with this second type of engine?

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<v Speaker 2>Isn't faster always better?

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<v Speaker 3>Not if you're trying to move a mountain. That brings

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<v Speaker 3>us to the second approach, Nuclear electric propulsion or ANYP

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<v Speaker 3>the marathon rudder precisely. Instead of using the reactor for

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<v Speaker 3>direct heat, it generates electricity megawatts of continuous electrical power, and.

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<v Speaker 2>This electricity powers an ion thruster.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, it accelerates charged atoms, usually a heavy inert gas

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<v Speaker 3>like xenon, out of the nozzle using electromagnetic fields.

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<v Speaker 2>But the thrust is tiny, isn't it? I mean? I

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<v Speaker 2>read that holding an ion thruster on Earth feels like

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<v Speaker 2>holding a piece of paper.

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<v Speaker 3>It is incredibly low thrust. If chemical propulsion is a

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<v Speaker 3>powerful kick, ANYP is a persistent hand on the shoulder.

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<v Speaker 2>The persistent hand on the shoulder, I like that.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a gentle push, but it is incredibly fuel efficient,

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<v Speaker 3>and it can run continuously for years.

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<v Speaker 2>It's constantly accelerating, exactly.

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<v Speaker 3>And the huge advantage here is that anyp remains highly

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<v Speaker 3>effective far away from the.

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<v Speaker 2>Sun right because usually ion thrusters use giant solar panels.

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<v Speaker 3>But due to the inverse square law, solar energy drops

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<v Speaker 3>off dramatically the further oute you go. By the time

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<v Speaker 3>you reach Mars, sunlight is less than half as intense

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<v Speaker 3>as it is at Earth.

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<v Speaker 2>So a heavy cargo tug would need solar panels the

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<v Speaker 2>size of football fields.

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<v Speaker 3>Which are fragile and heavy. A nuclear reactor entirely bypasses that.

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<v Speaker 3>It gives you massive power in total darkness.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, so how do these two distinct technologies, the sprinter

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<v Speaker 2>and the marathon runner actually look when applied to a

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<v Speaker 2>real scheduled mission.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, this isn't just theoretical anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>No, it's not. This brings us to NASA's concrete plan,

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<v Speaker 2>the Space Reactor one or sr IE Freedom mission.

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<v Speaker 3>This is the Pathfinder, targeted.

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<v Speaker 2>For launch in December twenty twenty eight. It is going

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<v Speaker 2>to be the first ever nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft.

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<v Speaker 3>It's an aggressive timeline, but it's absolutely necessary.

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<v Speaker 2>And what's wild is its cargo. When it arrives at

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<v Speaker 2>Mars roughly a year after launch, SR one Freedom is

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<v Speaker 2>going to deploy the skyfall payload.

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<v Speaker 3>The autonomous helicopter drones.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, a whole fleet of them designed to scout the

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<v Speaker 2>margin surface. But the aerodynamics of flying on Mars it's

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<v Speaker 2>a nightmare, right.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh, it's a brutal engineering paradox. The atmosphere is about

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<v Speaker 3>one percent the density of Earth's, so you have to

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<v Speaker 3>spin the rotor blades incredibly fast to generate any lift.

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<v Speaker 2>But the speed of sound is much lower there because

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<v Speaker 2>it's cold and mostly carbon dioxide.

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<v Speaker 3>Exactly, it's around two hundred and forty meters per second.

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<v Speaker 3>So as those rotors spin faster to catch that thin air,

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<v Speaker 3>the tips of the blades approach the Martian speed of sound.

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<v Speaker 2>Which creates massive shockwaves in drag.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a very narrow, punishing aerodynamic envelope.

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<v Speaker 2>But if we connect this to the bigger picture, the

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<v Speaker 2>true purpose of SR one Freedom isn't actually just to

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<v Speaker 2>drop off these cool drones, is it.

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<v Speaker 3>No, not at all. If we connect this to the

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<v Speaker 3>bigger picture, SR one Freedom is an uncrewed. Any p

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<v Speaker 3>mission meant to prove the bus itself.

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<v Speaker 2>Prove that a space rated fission reactor can actually work.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, it has to prove that nuclear energy can provide

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<v Speaker 3>sustained high efficiency power in deep space. It's about creating

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<v Speaker 3>a regulatory precedent and activating an industrial base for future

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<v Speaker 3>nuclear fsion systems.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, waking up the supply chain, the safety protocols, all

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<v Speaker 2>of it. Because proving this technology with robots is one thing,

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<v Speaker 2>but how does this change the game for human astronauts.

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<v Speaker 3>This is where we bring everything together.

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<v Speaker 2>Because let's face it, our bodies are not built for space.

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<v Speaker 2>We talked about the bone and muscle loss, the radiation risks.

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<v Speaker 3>So we use the ultimate tag team strategy. We don't

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<v Speaker 3>just use one engine, we use both.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, this is the split mission architecture exactly.

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<v Speaker 3>Step one is the marathon. You send the heavy vital cargo,

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<v Speaker 3>the habitats, years of food supplies, life support machinery, huge

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<v Speaker 3>pressurized rovers using the highly fuel efficient nuclear electric propulsion.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, Because it doesn't matter if a carbon fiber habitat

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<v Speaker 2>takes nine months or even eighteen months to arrive, it

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't get cancer.

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<v Speaker 3>Exactly, You use the incredible efficiency of any p to

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<v Speaker 3>haul all that mass slowly, but surely you preposition everything

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<v Speaker 3>on the Martian surface.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's all just waiting there fully operational yep.

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<v Speaker 3>And once mission control confirms that the fully stock base

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<v Speaker 3>is ready, then and only then do you initiate step two.

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<v Speaker 3>You launch the human crew using nuclear thermal propulsion.

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<v Speaker 2>Because they aren't dragging thousands of tons of cargo, they

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<v Speaker 2>can just punge it.

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<v Speaker 3>They make the crossing in a brisk three to four months,

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<v Speaker 3>minimizing all those health risks, and they arrive at a

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<v Speaker 3>fully prepared infrastructure.

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<v Speaker 2>It sounds like a perfect, flawless plan. So what is

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<v Speaker 2>standing in the way of a twenty twenty eight launch reality?

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<v Speaker 3>Physics, yeah, and bureaucracy yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>So what does this all mean. We've known the physics

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<v Speaker 2>of nuclear propulsion since the Cold War. The physics are sound.

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<v Speaker 2>Why are we only targeting this now? And why is

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<v Speaker 2>December twenty twenty eight considered incredibly ambitious?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, the push really started aggressively when Jared Isaacman took

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<v Speaker 3>over as the agency's chief back in December twenty twenty five.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, he made this his absolute priority.

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<v Speaker 3>She fundamentally believes this technology will truly unlock human kind's

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<v Speaker 3>ability to explore among the stars. But enthusiasm doesn't rewrite

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<v Speaker 3>the laws of thermodynamics.

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<v Speaker 2>That it definitely doesn't.

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<v Speaker 3>The monumental engineering and regulatory hurdles are sobering, and any

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<v Speaker 3>PECE spacecraft requires flawless integration of a reactor, massive shielding,

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<v Speaker 3>heat management, power conversion, radiators, electric thrusters, just an unbelievable

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<v Speaker 3>amount of tech and fault tolerance. Because in space convection

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<v Speaker 3>doesn't exist. You have to reject the massive waste heat

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<v Speaker 3>from the reactor as infrared radiation.

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<v Speaker 2>Wait, so the reactor heat could literally melt the other

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<v Speaker 2>components oh easily.

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<v Speaker 3>If the heat management system fails, that thermal energy will

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<v Speaker 3>travel right through the chassis and physically melt the avionics

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<v Speaker 3>and the payload.

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<v Speaker 2>That is terrifying.

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<v Speaker 3>And you have the radiation environment created by your own

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<v Speaker 3>power source. You need rad hardened microchips that won't suffer

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<v Speaker 3>from single event upsets where a rogue neutron literally flips

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<v Speaker 3>a zeri to a one and crashes your flight computer.

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<v Speaker 2>So you need computers that can autonomously heal themselves. Because

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<v Speaker 2>the communication light the late of Mars means Earth can't

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<v Speaker 2>help been real time.

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<v Speaker 3>Exactly, And look at the historical track record. Making this safe, affordable,

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<v Speaker 3>and able to pass regulatory safety standards is brutal.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean the US has only ever launched one

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<v Speaker 2>fission reactor into.

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<v Speaker 3>Orbit, yes, NAP ten, a way back in nineteen.

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<v Speaker 2>Sixty five, and it only ran for what forty three days?

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<v Speaker 3>Forty three days before a voltage regulator failed and shut

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<v Speaker 3>the whole thing down. Since then, we've only used RTGs

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<v Speaker 3>radioisotope thermoelectric generators on things like the Curiosity rover.

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<v Speaker 2>But those just use passive K heat. They don't split atoms.

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<v Speaker 3>Right, they produce a tiny trickle of power to jump

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<v Speaker 3>from that to a No, it's about breaking down the

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<v Speaker 3>barriers of deep space entirely.

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<v Speaker 2>Think about it. If we successfully tamed the power of

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<v Speaker 2>a nuclear reactor to push this across the void, turning

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<v Speaker 2>an expedition of pure survival into a routine three month commute,

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<v Speaker 2>where does the boundary of human territory actually stop?

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<v Speaker 3>If Mars is just three months away, the outer Solar

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<v Speaker 3>system open up.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly what becomes our next impossible destination? Could we use

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<v Speaker 2>this to haul submarines to Jupiter's moon Europa, or set

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<v Speaker 2>up atmospheric processing plants on Titan.

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<v Speaker 3>The asteroid belt becomes a viable logistical hub instead of

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<v Speaker 3>just a deep space anomaly.

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<v Speaker 2>The systems we're forcing into existence for this twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 2>eight window are the exact same engines that will turn

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<v Speaker 2>us into a true deep space civilization. So thank you

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<v Speaker 2>for joining us on this exploration of the future of

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<v Speaker 2>space travel. Keep your eyes on the stars, and definitely

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<v Speaker 2>keep your eyes on the launch pads. In December twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty eight,