Stream on demand from www.bitesz.com or www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com (both mobile friendly). Welcome to Series 19 Episode 57 - Stuart here with the Show Notes...and to see enhanced Show Notes, including photos to accompany this episode, visit http://www.bitesz.com/spacetime-show-notes *Scientists see a classical nova awaken from hibernation Astronomers have just had their first complete look at an exploding star called a Nova. Novae are the most frequent and among the brightest type of stellar explosions known. *Cassini Finds Flooded Canyons on Titan NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found deep, steep-sided canyons on Saturn's moon Titan that are flooded with liquid hydrocarbons. The findings represent the first direct evidence of the presence of liquid-filled channels on Titan, as well as the first observation of canyons hundreds of metres deep. *More evidence of ancient Martian lakes discovered in Gale Crater A new study has found that mineral veins found in Gale Crater were formed by the evaporation of ancient Martian lakes. The discovery is based on a study of the mineralogy of veins that were paths for groundwater in mudstones found at Yellowknife Bay in Gale Crater by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover. *Red Dragon update The space flight community is a buzz with rumours that SpaceX boss Elon Musk will announce the company’s long term plans for the exploration of the red planet Mars at next month’s International Astronautical Congress in Mexico. SpaceX has already announced details of its Red Dragon project to send a modified Dragon V2 capsule to land on Mars in 2018. *New satellite launched to spy on other satellites and track space debris A Delta IV rocket has successfully blasted into orbit carrying two United States Air Force Space Command spy satellites designed to study other satellites and to track space debris. As well as monitoring other spacecraft, the United States Air Force Space Command is currently tracking over 23,000 pieces of orbiting debris. *China launches first quantum encrypted satellite China has launched its new quantum satellite aboard a Long March 2D rocket. The 500 kilogram Quantum Science telecommunications Satellite – called Mozi -- after an ancient Chinese philosopher and scientist -- is designed to test quantum entanglement from a 600 kilometre high orbit -- sending messages using quantum encrypted keys between ground stations in China and Europe. *Long March 4C launches Gaofen-3 Earth Observation Satellite A Chinese Long March 4 C rocket has blasted into orbit carrying the new Gaofen-3 surveillance satellite. The spy satellite flight comes amid growing tensions over Beijing’s annexation of parts of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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