Moon Law

Gravitational Waves were first theorized in the early 1900s, but were not directly observed until 2015 - a feat that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for three of the directors of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the team that made the observation. But what are gravitational waves, what is LIGO, and how does it work?

Planetary Protection is the the process by which we attempt to prevent cross-contamination with earth based life while exploring other planets and celestial bodies. Alan discusses the legal and ethical frameworks behind planetary protection and it’s origins in the Outer Space Treaty while Kris dismisses some of the concerns of Planetary Protection as overblown - at least for the inner solar system.

Last week Kris and Alan traveled to Long Beach, CA for Twitch’s annual convention focused on streaming & video games. This week, they share their experiences of the con and surrounding events. Hear about the games we played, the tech we saw, and Microtransactions are everywhere.

Orbital Slots, especially Geosynchronous Orbits are a limited and valuable resource. However, they’re not exactly “property” or “real estate”. We discuss how orbits are traditionally allocated, how (and why) someone might try to “steal” an orbit - and what the consequences of such a caper might be.

This week it’s all about one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated space technologies: The RTG. We discuss their design, construction and safety (and how they’ve failed in the past), why and how they are chosen for some missions, and why there’s a worldwide plutonium shortage (and what the US is going to do about it).

Last week, Elon Musk announced SpaceX’s newly redesigned plan for a large, fully reusable rocket that will take humans to the Moon, Mars, and maybe even beyond. We share our reactions to the announcement, and Kris attempts to explain how some of Elon’s plans might actually work.

This week, we try something new: A review and analysis of “The Orville”, a new Sci-Fi comedy TV series, created by and staring Seth MacFarlane. It’s no Star Trek, but then again, neither is Star Trek.

(Spoiler Warning: Discussion of episodes 1, 2 and 3 of Season 1 of The Orville)

What does James Bond have to do with the Lunar Orbiter? This week we’re talking about spy tech and spy laws from the 1950s and 1960s, in particular spy satellites, now they work, and how some technologies that were too far ahead of their time for the military later wound up in the Apollo Program.

Depending on who you ask, The Rendlesham Forest Incident is either one of the best documented UFO encounters in all of history, or it’s simply a tall tale told by a few airmen who had a spooky night in the woods. The next day, in an unrelated incident across the Atlantic, UFOs and Black Helicopters supposedly irradiated two women.

In late 2017 or early 2018, one or more privately funded and operated spacecraft will land on the moon and explore it. They’ll be competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE, a competition started almost 10 years ago (and ending soon!), that will award up to $30 million dollars in prizes for lunar exploration. Just 5 teams remain in the competition, all with a very different plan for how to conduct a robotic mission to the moon.