WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:07.719 Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos 2 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.279 with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie podcast. Each episode offers a 3 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.320 gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for 4 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.239 unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries 5 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.440 of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful 6 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.800 slumber under the night sky. 7 00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:29.719 Right now, Like, as you listen to this, hundreds of 8 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:33.000 miles above your head, there is a one point six 9 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:36.719 ton national treasure that is just it's slowly falling out 10 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:37.159 of the sky. 11 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:41.719 Yeah, it's a completely surreal situation to watch unfold. 12 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:43.840 It really is. I mean, it's completely deaf to our 13 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:47.159 commands right now. Yes, scientific instruments have been purposely blinded, 14 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:51.520 and it's just quietly plunging toward this fiery disintegration in 15 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:52.679 the Earth's atmosphere. 16 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.600 Right And usually you know, when the airspace community discusses 17 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:57.359 the end of a satellite's life, we're talking about a 18 00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:59.679 highly controlled deorbit burn. 19 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.759 Like pushing it into a graveyard trajectory, right. 20 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:06.840 Exactly, Yeah, a planned retirement. But the situation currently unfolding 21 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:09.439 in lower Earth orbit, it's this is a crisis playing 22 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:11.200 out in agonizing slow motion. 23 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:14.359 Agonizing is the word for it, because we are witnessing 24 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.319 this ultimate high stakes ticking clock. 25 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:20.400 We really are. You've got this multi hundred million dollar 26 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:24.640 piece of scientific infrastructure that is effectively drowning in the 27 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:25.640 upper atmosphere. 28 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.879 Wow, drowning. That's a terrifying way to put it. 29 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:31.239 Well, it's accurate. I mean, the most complex aspect of 30 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:34.239 this entire scenario is the sheer physics of it. Once 31 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:38.560 the atmospheric drag crosses a certain threshold, the mathematical reality 32 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.599 of orbital mechanics just takes over. 33 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:43.159 You can't negotiate with gravity, No, you really. 34 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:45.519 Can't, and you can't simply hit a pause button to 35 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:46.719 figure out your next move. 36 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:49.799 Which brings us to the actual urgency of this week, 37 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.200 because this isn't some theoretical problem for next year, definitely 38 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:56.799 not starting as early as this Tuesday. So literally right now, 39 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.200 in June twenty twenty six, and entirely unprecedented one a 40 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:03.439 thirty million dollars rescue operation is getting underway. 41 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:05.519 It's an incredibly audacious maneuver. 42 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:09.960 Honestly, it's wild. A startup called Catalyst Space Technologies is 43 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:14.400 launching a robotic life saver to catch this falling satellite 44 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:18.240 the Swift observatory before it crosses a very literal point 45 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:18.960 of no return. 46 00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:21.800 And just to put that in perspective, launching a fully 47 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.080 autonomous machine into the orbital void to perform a high 48 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.159 speed interception of an uncooperative target. It's an act of 49 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.400 absolute mechanical acrobatics. 50 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.400 Right, And we are going to break down for you 51 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:38.800 every single mechanical, economic, and orbital factor of this operation. 52 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:42.360 Today, because, I mean, nine months ago, the consensus within 53 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:46.479 the astrophysics and airspace engineering communities was that this specific 54 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:50.759 type of dynamic rescue was virtually impossible, not just hard, 55 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:55.080 but actually impossible. Yeah, virtually impossible within the given timeframe. 56 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:58.080 So we're going to explore the mechanics of this crisis, 57 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:01.680 starting with why a telescope that has been operating flawlessly 58 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:04.639 since two thousand and four is suddenly plummeting. 59 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:06.400 Right, the physics of the fall itself. 60 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.800 Exactly, and then we'll examine the highly unorthodox design of 61 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.159 the rescue robot, which I got to say include some 62 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.360 engineering choices that seem almost primitive. 63 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.039 Primitive until you understand the brutal realities of the vacuum 64 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:18.479 of space. 65 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.800 Yeah, yes, we'll get into that. We'll dissect the terrifying 66 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:24.800 orbital ballet required to catch a fragile object moving at 67 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:26.039 five miles per second. 68 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.159 Five miles per second, slit that sink in. 69 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:31.520 It's unfathomable speed. And finally we'll look at how this 70 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.240 single desperate gamble might permanently rewrite the rules for humanity's 71 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.000 entire footprint in space. 72 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:39.800 It's a huge paradigm shift. 73 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:41.599 But okay, before we get to the rescue, we need 74 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:42.479 to understand the fall. 75 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:42.879 Right. 76 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:45.919 Why is a satellite that has been safely orbiting the 77 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:49.520 Earth for over twenty years suddenly dropping like a stone? 78 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:52.919 So the primary catalyst here is not a mechanical failure 79 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:54.120 aboard Swift itself. 80 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:55.520 It's not a broken part. 81 00:03:55.800 --> 00:04:00.120 No, it hasn't suffered like a catastrophic battery explosion, and 82 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:04.240 it hasn't been peppered by micrometeoroids or orbital debried, nothing 83 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:04.520 like that. 84 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:05.960 Okay, so what's pulling it down? 85 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.719 The culprit is actually ninety three million miles away the 86 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.400 Sun exactly. Yeah, we are currently experiencing a period of 87 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:16.680 exceptionally violent solar activity. 88 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:18.399 Because we're at the peak of solar cycle twenty five 89 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:19.079 Right now. 90 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:21.920 Right, the Sun is erupting with intense solar flares and 91 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:24.560 coronal mass ejections, just one after another. 92 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:26.839 And I know most people, you know, they understand that 93 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:30.240 low Earth orbit isn't perfect vacuum. There is a very 94 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:33.759 thin trace atmosphere up there, a very tenuous atmosphere. Yes, 95 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.519 but what exactly is the mechanism connecting a solar flare 96 00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:39.759 to a satellite suddenly losing its altitude? Like how does 97 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:42.040 a flash of light make a chunk of metal fall? 98 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:46.360 It comes down to extreme ultraviolet and X ray radiation. Okay, 99 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.399 when the Sun releases a massive flare, it blasts the 100 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.360 Earth with its enormous surge of highly energetic radiation, right, 101 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:58.079 and that solar energy slams directly into our upper atmosphere, 102 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.120 specifically the thermosphere. 103 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:00.720 Them is sphere, got it right? 104 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:03.560 And when you pump that much thermal energy into a gas, 105 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:05.480 the molecules become highly. 106 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:08.360 Excited because heat is just movement basically exactly. 107 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:11.040 They move faster, they push further apart, and the entire 108 00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:14.439 atmospheric layer physically expands outward. 109 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:16.920 Oh wow, so the atmosphere actually swells. 110 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:21.199 It puffs up precisely. So picture Swift orbiting at what 111 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.920 used to be a very comfortable, highly evacuated altitude. 112 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:26.040 Just coasting along in the quiet. 113 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.959 Yeah. But suddenly, because of this solar heating, the slightly 114 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.000 denser layers of atmospheric gas that normally sit dozens of 115 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.079 miles below Swift are pushed upward, yes, pushed directly into 116 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:38.439 the satellite's orbital path. 117 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.480 So a spacecraft zooming along at seventeen thousand miles an 118 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:44.600 hour is suddenly hitting a much thicker wall of atomic 119 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:45.759 oxygen and nitrogen. 120 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:50.240 And at orbital velocities, I mean, even a minuscule increase 121 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.160 in atmospheric density creates a profound amount of aerodynamic drag. 122 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.839 It's like driving your car into a huge puddle on 123 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:57.439 the highway. 124 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.519 That's a great analogy. The environment around the satellite effectively 125 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:03.040 turns into a very thin. 126 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:05.480 Quicksand quicksand wow. 127 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:09.040 Every single molecule of oxygen that strikes the hull of 128 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.040 the spacecraft robs it of a tiny, tiny fraction of 129 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:14.839 its kinetic energy and speed. 130 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:16.920 Is life up there exactly? 131 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:20.560 The fundamental rule of orbital mechanics is that your forward 132 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:22.959 velocity is the only thing keeping you from falling back 133 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:23.680 to Earth. 134 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.759 Because you're literally in freefall. You're just moving sideways fast 135 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:28.079 enough to keep missing the ground. 136 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.639 Right, you're missing the Earth. But if friction bleeds your speed, 137 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.600 you lose your altitude. Yeah, gravity begins to win the 138 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:36.399 tug of war man. 139 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:38.959 So let's quantify that fall because the numbers here they 140 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:40.839 dictate this entire rescue timeline. 141 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:41.680 They absolutely do. 142 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.079 If we look at the orbital tracking data, right now, 143 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.680 Swift has sunk down to an altitude of two hundred 144 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:47.920 and twenty four miles, which. 145 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:49.399 Is roughly three hundred and sixty kilometers. 146 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.319 Yeah. Right, But the terrifying part is that this isn't 147 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:55.480 a linear descent, is it. It's accelerating, right, The descent 148 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:57.360 curve is compounding. How does that work? 149 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:01.240 Well, As Swift loses altitude and sinks closer to the Earth, 150 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:04.639 it enters even thicker layers of the atmosphere because. 151 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.720 It's getting lower, so the air is denser. 152 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:10.879 Exactly, and that increased density creates even more aerodynamic drag. 153 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:12.800 Which bleeds its speed even faster. 154 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:15.879 Yes, causing it to drop into even thicker air. It 155 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:21.399 is a vicious self reinforcing feedback loot of orbital decay. 156 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:24.680 Which establishes our hard deadline for this whole catalyst mission. 157 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:26.120 The ticking clock, right. 158 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.279 Because the absolute point of no return for this rescue 159 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:33.439 is one hundred and eighty five miles or three hundred kilometers. 160 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:35.560 Yeah, that invisible line in the sky. 161 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.519 If Swift drops below that line, the mission is. 162 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.920 Over, completely over. Below one hundred and eighty five miles, 163 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:45.120 the atmospheric drag becomes so severe that even if the 164 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.120 rescue robot manages to catch Swift. 165 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.240 The robots on board thrusters won't be strong enough. 166 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:52.920 Right. They will not have enough thrust to weight ratio 167 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.279 to overcome the friction and push the combined mass back 168 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:57.399 up into a safe orbit. 169 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:59.839 So if they catch it too late, the robot just 170 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:00.480 dies with it. 171 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:02.360 They would both be dragged down and burn up together. 172 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:06.639 Wow. And based on the current accelerating decay models, Swift 173 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:08.920 is projected to hit that one hundred and eighty five 174 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.079 mile death zone by October, which is just a few 175 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:16.079 months away. It's basically tomorrow in aerospace terms. Oh absolutely, 176 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:20.160 And that October deadline that forced NASA to take some severe, 177 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:24.600 arguably desperate measures earlier this year, right, just to slow 178 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:25.600 the bleeding yes. 179 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:29.399 Back in February, NASA officially turned off all the scientific 180 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:31.040 instruments on the Swift Observatory. 181 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.320 They completely ceased all astronomical observations, which is a huge 182 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.039 deal for a science mission. And I initially found this 183 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:41.360 deeply confusing. I mean, how is sending a software command 184 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.000 to power down a camera or an X ray detector 185 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.480 physically slow down the descent of a one point six 186 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:48.960 ton metal cylinder. 187 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:50.360 It sounds counterintuitive. 188 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:53.200 R Yeah, turning off your car radio doesn't make your 189 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:55.960 car more aerodynamic, No it doesn't. 190 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.440 But in space it has everything to do with attitude 191 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:01.039 control and thermal management. 192 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.440 Okay, unpack that for me. 193 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:06.240 When the scientific instruments are powered on, the spacecraft has 194 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:09.799 to constantly maneuver itself. It has to point those instruments 195 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:12.200 at specific targets in deep space. 196 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.759 Right, It's constantly twisting and turning to look at things exactly. 197 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.960 Furthermore, the solar panels have to be articulated to face 198 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.080 the sun to generate the immense amount of power required 199 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.240 to run those detectors. 200 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:28.720 So it's presenting this very large, awkward physical profile to 201 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:30.000 the direction of its travel. 202 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:32.399 Right, It's like running through water with your arms stretched 203 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:32.879 out wide. 204 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:36.360 But by powering down all the instruments, NASA eliminated the 205 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:39.120 need to generate maximum electricity exactly. 206 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:42.320 This allowed the flight controllers to use the spacecraft's reaction 207 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:46.759 wheels to pivot the entire observatory into its most aerodynamically 208 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:47.720 efficient posture. 209 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:51.159 They essentially took the large flat solar panels and turn 210 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:54.320 them edge on into the wind of the orbital velocity vector. 211 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:56.240 Yeah, they feathered the arrays. 212 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:59.320 Feathered them like a diver, tucking in their arms and 213 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:02.279 pointing their tost to slip through the water with the 214 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.519 absolute minimum amount of splash. 215 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:07.799 That's the perfect way to visualize it. That aerodynamic tuck 216 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:11.440 severely reduced the cross sectional area of the spacecraft that 217 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:13.559 is plowing through those atmospheric particles. 218 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.279 So it doesn't stop the orbital decay. 219 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:17.720 No, you can't stop gravity. 220 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:20.440 But it drastically reduces the coefficient of drag. 221 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:23.039 Right, it buys them precious weeks on the clock. Yeah, 222 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:25.600 it was a maneuver designed purely to stretch the timeline 223 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.919 out to October, giving this rescue mission a fighting. 224 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:31.399 Chance, which forces us to ask the foundational question of 225 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:35.000 this entire endeavor, really, which is If Swift is twenty 226 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:38.360 two years old, built with early two thousands technology, and 227 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.440 is currently just floating up there as an inert, powered 228 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:42.360 down brick. 229 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.240 Why are we risking a brand new, thirty million dollars 230 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:46.399 spacecraft to save it? 231 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:50.720 Exactly? Why not just accept the reality of solar maximum, 232 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:53.200 Let it burn up in a glorious streak of fire 233 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:57.120 across the night sky, and launch a shiny, modernized replacement 234 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:57.720 next year. 235 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:01.480 It's a fair question, but the economic and scientific realities 236 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:05.840 make a simple replacement impossible. How So, First, from a 237 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:10.360 purely budgetary standpoint, NASA does not have hundreds of millions 238 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:14.679 of dollars just sitting in discretionary funds to design, build, test, 239 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:18.919 and launch a bespoke replacement. Observatory space is expensive. It 240 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.240 is incredibly expensive, but beyond the money. Even if Congress 241 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:25.080 wrote a blank check tomorrow, it takes a decade to 242 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:26.759 develop a spacecraft. 243 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.200 Of this caliber, ten years at least. 244 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.679 If we lose Swift today, we enter a massive decade 245 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:34.360 long dark age in high energy astronomy. 246 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:39.320 Wow, let's really analyze that irreplaceable capability we're talking about losing. 247 00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:42.360 Because Swift is not just a generic telescope staring at 248 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.919 pretty galaxies. Right, not at all true to its name. 249 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:48.320 Its entire architectural philosophy is built around speed. It is 250 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:52.600 NASA's designated first responder for the most violent transient events 251 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:53.799 in the universe. 252 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:55.639 Transient events being the key phrase. 253 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:57.600 There, Right, what are we talking about when I say transient? 254 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:01.759 We were talking about gamma ray bursts, or the exact 255 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:06.519 moment a massive star collapses into a supernova, or two 256 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:08.360 neutron stars colliding. 257 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.799 The biggest explosions in the universe. 258 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.120 Yes, these events release more energy in a matter of 259 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:16.120 seconds than our Sun will emit over its entire ten 260 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:17.320 billion year lifespan. 261 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:18.519 That's staggering. 262 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:21.919 But the initial flash, the burst of high energy radiation 263 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.720 that contains the pure physics of the event, might only 264 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:26.759 last a few milliseconds to a couple of minutes. 265 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.600 So if you are not looking exactly at the right 266 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:32.679 coordinates at the exact millisecond it happens, the flash is 267 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.679 gone forever exactly. You miss the fingerprint of creation, and 268 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.559 Swift was engineered to solve that exact problem. 269 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:42.440 Right. Its burst alert telescope constantly monitors a massive swath 270 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:45.039 of the sky, just waiting the moment it detects a 271 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:48.720 spike in high energy photons, The onboard autonomous software instantly 272 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:52.679 calculates the coordinates of the burst instantly yes. Then, using 273 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:57.480 its heavy reaction wheels, Swift physically slews the entire spacecraft, 274 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:00.840 violently pivoting in orbit to point its higher X ray 275 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.519 and ultraviolet telescopes directly at the source. 276 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:05.879 Catching the fading afterclow. 277 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:07.320 Catching it right as it happens. 278 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:09.799 But the true magic of Swift isn't just that it 279 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.360 looks at the explosion itself. 280 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.200 No, it operates as the central nervous system for the 281 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.399 entire global astronomical community. 282 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:18.960 It is the ultimate celestial dispatcher. 283 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.240 That's exactly what it is. Within seconds of detecting a 284 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:27.120 gamma ray burst, Swift transmits those exact celestial coordinates down 285 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:30.559 to Earth through the TDRS relay satellite. 286 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:33.279 Network right the Tracking and Dietter Relay satellites. 287 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:36.519 And those coordinates are immediately blasted out to ground based 288 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:38.240 observatories all over the world. 289 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:40.759 Everyone turns their telescopes. 290 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:44.279 Everyone, and more importantly to other assets. 291 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.559 In space, assets like the games Web Space Telescope Yes and. 292 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:51.480 The soon to launch Roman Space Telescope Right. These flagship 293 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:56.360 observatories are engineering marvels with unprecedented resolution, but they have 294 00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:58.240 extremely narrow fields. 295 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:01.559 Of view because they're designed to look deep, not why exactly. 296 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.279 They're essentially looking at the universe through a soda. 297 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.159 Straw, a very expensive soda straw. 298 00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:10.799 Very expensive. They cannot search the sky for random millisecond flashes. 299 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.600 They need Swift to act as the wide angle security 300 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:17.600 camera that detects the motion, taps them on the shoulder 301 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:20.679 and says, look at these exact coordinates right now. 302 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:23.279 Point your soda straw over here, exactly. So if Swift 303 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.120 burns up in the atmosphere this October, Web and Roman 304 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:27.639 are fundamentally compromised. 305 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:28.960 They lose their trigger mechanism. 306 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:33.440 As NASA's Science Mission chief Nikki Fox bluntly stated, if 307 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:37.360 Swift re enters, we lose a massive swath of our 308 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:38.919 observational capability. 309 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.840 They are wandering the universe with brinders. 310 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:45.360 On Wow, which highlights a critical, often misunderstood concept in 311 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:49.240 orbital architecture. Doesn't it the profound value of legacy hardware? 312 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.840 It's so true on Earth we are conditioned by the 313 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.240 consumer tech cycle to view twenty year old electronics as 314 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:57.799 obsolete garbage. 315 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.279 Right like a laptop from two thousand and four is 316 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:01.120 basically a paper weight exactly. 317 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:05.080 But in the realm of astrodynamics and space infrastructure, a 318 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.639 satellite from two thousand and four that is still operational 319 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.600 is a marvel of over engineering and endurance. 320 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:13.519 It's a load bearing pillar. You don't demolish a twenty 321 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:16.440 year old foundation just because it's old, especially when the 322 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.480 brand new ten billion dollar roof of the James Web 323 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:23.600 Space Telescope is resting entirely on top of it. 324 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:24.799 You reinforce the pillar. 325 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:28.039 You reinforce it, which brings us to the actual mechanics 326 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:30.639 of the rescue, the hard part, the incredibly hard part. 327 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.279 The astrophysics director at NASA, Shan Domigo Goldman, acknowledged that 328 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:38.840 a dynamic orbital intercept of this nature was considered outside 329 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:41.519 the realm of possibility just a short time ago. 330 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:46.360 Yeah, the physics of matching orbits, approaching an uncooperative target 331 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:50.759 and securing it without causing a catastrophic collision, it requires 332 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:54.759 a level of autonomous precision that we simply haven't fielded before. 333 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:58.480 So enter Catalyst Space Technologies, the startup attempting to do 334 00:15:58.519 --> 00:16:02.559 the impossible. This week, their CEO ganhie Lee has overseen 335 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:06.360 the development of this autonomous rescue robot named Link Link, 336 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:08.919 and we need to dissect the physical anatomy of Link 337 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:13.399 because its engineering is deeply fascinating. It really is, specifically 338 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:16.799 because it abandons complex Sci Fi aesthetics for this brutal 339 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:18.120 functional pragmatism. 340 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:21.519 To understand how Link operates, you really have to visualize 341 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:22.399 its scale first. 342 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:23.960 Okay, paint the picture for us. 343 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:28.080 The main body of the spacecraft is relatively compact, roughly 344 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.279 the dimensions of a standard kitchen. 345 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.639 Refrigerator, Okay, a flying fridge, right. 346 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:37.480 And that fridge houses the propellant tanks, the autonomous navigation computers, 347 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.639 the star trackers, and the communication. 348 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:41.919 Erase, the brains and the gas. 349 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.759 Tank basically yeah. But from that central refrigerator body it 350 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.799 deploys these massive solar wings spanning forty feet or about 351 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:51.720 twelve meters across forty feet. 352 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.679 That's huge compared to the fridge part. 353 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.799 It needs to gather a tremendous amount of power for 354 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.000 the orbital transfer burns. 355 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.960 Okay, that makes sense. But the most striking design choice, however, 356 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:03.720 and the one that initially made me highly skeptical of 357 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:07.240 this thirty million dollar mission is its robotic arms. 358 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:08.880 Ah the grapple mechanism. 359 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:12.240 Yes, link has three arms, each extending just over three 360 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.799 feet or about a meter from the main body right 361 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.960 and at the end of each arm. There is no sophisticated, 362 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:24.000 multi jointed robotic hand. There are no highly dexterous fingers. Instead, 363 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:28.839 there are simple, two pronged pinching grippers. They look remarkably 364 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.400 like the hands of a standard Lego minifigure. 365 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:33.559 It's essentially a simple sea clamp. 366 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.759 Design, a sea clamp. I have to push back on this. 367 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.319 If you are executing a historic, high stakes space rescue, 368 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.880 relying on a primitive sea clank feels like an absurd risk. 369 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:45.160 I get why you'd think. 370 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:47.960 That, right, Why not use a robotic hand with high 371 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:52.680 fidelity dexterity to ensure they can delicately navigate around Swift's 372 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:53.839 fragile solar. 373 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:57.160 Panels Because your instinct to want dexterity is completely logical 374 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.720 on Earth, but in the vacuum of space, complexity is 375 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:02.000 the enemy of reliability. 376 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:03.640 Complexity is the enemy. 377 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.839 Think about a highly articulated robotic hand with dozens of microjoints, tendons. 378 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.079 And actuators like a human hand. 379 00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:14.319 Yeah, up there, that represents dozens of single points of failure. 380 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:17.880 Consider the thermal environment of low Earth orbit. The temperature 381 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:21.359 swings exactly when link is in direct sunlight, the surface 382 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:23.680 temperature of those arms will spiked over two hundred and 383 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.880 fifty degrees fahrenheit, boiling beyond boiling, and then forty five 384 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.599 minutes later, when it passes into the Earth's shadow, the 385 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.799 temperature plummets to minus two hundred and fifty degrees. 386 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:36.839 So the metals and joints are constantly expanding and. 387 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:41.480 Contracting, violently expanding and contracting. If you have intricate, tight 388 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:45.519 tolerance joints in a humanoid robotic hand, that thermal cycling 389 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:49.319 will almost certainly cause the mechanism to bind or seize entirely. 390 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:51.440 It would just lock up completely. 391 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:54.880 Furthermore, in a hard vacuum, you have to worry about 392 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:58.000 a phenomenon called vacuum welding or cold welding. 393 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:01.559 Cold welding where too metals touch and fuse together. 394 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:05.079 Yes, because there is no atmosphere to create an oxidation 395 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.799 layer on the metal surfaces. If two pieces of similar 396 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:11.880 bare metal scrape against each other in the hinges of 397 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:13.200 a robotic finger. 398 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:15.279 They can't tell their separate pieces anymore exactly. 399 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:19.160 Their atoms can literally fail to recognize the boundary between them. 400 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:21.960 They fuse into a single solid piece of metal. 401 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:23.759