Today In Space

On this episode, which I have recorded for a third time, covers the latest on SpaceX's Starship testing as well as some news on the costs of the Commercial Crew Program for NASA's options on sending humans into space again, without the aid of Russia and their Soyuz capsule (which costs $87 million per Astronaut).

I also talk about my thoughts on WHY SpaceX is so disruptive in the Space Industry and how they make it possible to be immune to the ever-changing winds of government funding and political parties in charge.

I have recorded this multiple times because so much happened on the same day of recording, we just had to scrap it and start over. With Thanksgiving coming up next week, we've got a longer episode to help tide you over until December, when I will be in Florida capturing the CRS-19 mission for SpaceX thanks to the NASAsocial program. Enjoy your holiday America! Stay safe everyone - we'll see you in December!

If you'd like to learn more about the history of the Space Program get these two books! I've read both and highly recommend them. Here are some affiliate links for them - and we get a small portion from Amazon when you buy and it helps support the podcast. Chasing the Moon by Robert Stone and Alan Andres https://amzn.to/2L318l1

Failure is not an Option - by Gene Kranz https://amzn.to/33dcYPu

Reference Links from this week's episode:

Live footage of Starship MK1 failure courtesy of LabPadre https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1197278770203373569 Multiple Starships created to do A-B testing https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/spacex-plans-to-ab-test-its-starship-rocketship-builds/ NASA IG report for concerns and costs of commercial crew program https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-20-005.pdf Elon Sending tweet from operational prototype starlink https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1186523464712146944 How many more satellites is SpaceX planning to use vs what they originally said https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/science/spacex-starlink-satellites.html

https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/24/spacex-intends-to-offer-starlink-satellite-broadband-service-starting-in-2020/ Jack Beyers(twitter) capture of the train of starlink satellites when sun still catches them before sunset https://twitter.com/thejackbeyer/status/1194078953108987904

AMOS-6 Anomaly - TIS#097 http://www.todayinspace.net/podcast/anomaly-slc-40-falcon9-spacex-amos6-dna-space-philae?rq=TIS%23097

SpaceX & Boeing make Progress, Voyager 2's Interstellar Research | TIS#171 http://www.todayinspace.net/podcast/spacex-amp-boeing-make-progress-voyager-2s-interstellar-research-tis171/2019/11/7?rq=TIS%23171 dearMoon, SpaceX, and the BFR | Orbital News | Today In Space podcasthttps://youtu.be/EpYjUw0c6QA

On this episode I share my thoughts on an article we received from a listener (thank you Rachel!) about one of the oldest Star's in our known universe that registers as older than the universe...How is that possible? Is science not perfect? How can the magical art of science be wrong? IT'S OVER 9000??!! This brings up one of my favorite parts of science. That it is not perfect. In fact, what science does in my opinion is allow us to disseminate reality. And even then, we can only truly guess within a range of uncertainty. No, not the feeling of not knowing the answer - but scientific uncertainty. Scientific and statistical error. Always been a part of science - but we rarely talk about it, and it seems we only do when it's convenient (like when a Star can read older than the universe).

And while science can produce answers with reasonable certainty and with small tolerance - when it comes to space that error can seem unimaginably large. What's the tolerance on the age of the universe at 16 billion years? Even 1% of that is MASSIVE.

So my message for this week (that I hope comes through) is that it's more beneficial for humanity and science to say "I don't know and here's why" than to say "science is perfect, and there's no need to question it", even accidentally. If we can find a way to make science more real and practical and less like magic, we should do it.

Article - How can a star be older than the universe? https://www.space.com/how-can-a-star-be-older-than-the-universe.html?fbclid=IwAR2IlkaiE9jsVmxXyLTRXFNqJwJ9qVsHYmYP0godKv_kkWHuwWFJHIxKU1k Article - Why Old Stars Seem to Lack Lithium https://www.universetoday.com/476/why-old-stars-seem-to-lack-lithium/

Segment of Joe Rogan's new Netflix comedy special "Strange Times" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldJQc5mkuHU

Wikipedia page for the Star Methuselah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_140283

Wikipedia page on 'Methuselah' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methuselah

Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham (2014) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI

On this week's episode we review some important progress in the Commercial Crew Program as both SpaceX and Boeing have had successful tests on their human rated spacecraft. This means the rest of this year will be busy with more testing of the Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner. We also review the general details on what Voyager 2 has found since it exited the Heliosphere of our Sun and entered interstellar space (not all of it is what we expected). Boeing's CST-100 Starliner Pad Abort Test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7ZoAZuTWh0 Initial NASA Statement about success of CST-100 Test https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1191380326871977989 ULA Atlas V LVOS for Boeing Starliner https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/1191495218044055553 Interview with Starliner Crew after first test (Astronaut Mike Fincke) https://twitter.com/Commercial_Crew/status/1191363439333122050 SpaceX Multi Parachute (MK3) Dragon Test https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1191475073758064640 Commercial Crew Development (wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development All newly released Voyager 2 papers https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0942-5 Voyager 2 Results from Interstellar Space https://www.space.com/nasa-voyager-2-interstellar-space-mysteries.html?fbclid=IwAR0GKlelptj-rfIohJY3wkG-nVAU2uIOosFKTyZhRVTokcxGAlLkgbbyo58

Happy Halloween! This week was a really crazy week and pushed me mentally. But I managed to get another podcast out and accomplish a lot with so many other things going on. This is life. But I wanted to take some time to talk about what helps me get all of this done, between the podcast and AG3D printing. It's the iterative mindset. Setting yourself up to take action and learn in the process. So much of my early 20's was focused on learning everything before taking action. While I may be turning 30 soon and certainly don't feel like I have things "figured out", it's hard not to take a step back and reflect on the progress I HAVE made. Enjoy some rambling about the iterative mindset and how I expand that thought to discuss SpaceX's plans to land a Starship on the Moon by 2022. If you want to see how I made the 3D printed Iron Man Wearable Arc Reactor - here's a 3.5min time-lapse video of the whole process: https://youtu.be/fmwzp5fW4YE SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell on SpaceX timeline for Starship mission to the moon by 2022 https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/27/spacex-president-we-will-land-starship-on-moon-before-2022.html SpaceX to build cities on the Moon and Mars https://www.reddit.com/r/MarsSociety/comments/dli3dz/spacex_to_build_cities_on_mars_and_moon_lead/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

In this episode we cover some orbital news on the historic first all woman spacewalk with Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. Learn about what they accomplished on their spacewalk on the ISS, as well as a background on each Astronaut. I share my thoughts on why we don't cover ISS operations regularly on the podcast. When you've gone to school for Aerospace engineering and they retire the Space Shuttle program before you graduate, you tend to be a little cautious about what's happening today in space. I'm focused on what our next step is, as insurance, to make sure the pendulum of politics and goals for NASA don't leave us without a human presence in space. Still love the Space Station though - just have to say that out loud lol. Have a great week! Spread love - Spread Science! https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-hammock-koch/biography https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jessica-u-meir/biography Short preview of all female spacewalk https://youtu.be/cNnvYACgwrE Full Broadcast of space walk https://youtu.be/Iji5hTQ3CUo Space station blog https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/ Article about the first all female spacewalk that was cancelled from spacesuit that didn't fit https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/science/female-spacewalk-canceled.html ESA Bartolomeo https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/i/iss-bartolomeo 3/25/2019 NASA cancels first all female spacewalk (ISS Blog post) https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-updates-spacewalk-assignments-announces-final-preview-briefing

This week it's time to discuss the "Balance" in the Space Industry once again as NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein visited SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California to get an update on the progress for the Commercial Crew Program. It's the belief of this podcast that our best chance for a fantastic future in space to happen is if there is a balance between how NASA and SpaceX operate. If they can learn from each other to create a leading space industry that has deep standards and knowledge, but can design and iterate quickly with reusable spacecraft and rockets - we may see the first woman and next man on the moon in 2024 for Artemis, including boots on the surface of Mars before 2030. Have a great week! Spread Love - Spread Science Jim Bridenstein tweet https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1177711106300747777?s=20 Tim Dodd Interview w/ NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein in SpaceX HQ https://youtu.be/TU_vOt3wSDg Jim Bridenstein at SpaceX HQ https://youtu.be/DaJ0n0j-UB8 SpaceX Starship Launch Animation https://youtu.be/C8JyvzU0CXU Want to learn more about the latest from the Starship Update? (TIS#167) https://youtu.be/JRJDdOVmgbs

Finally my voice is back from this cold I've had, and I'm well enough to cover the SpaceX Starship update from Elon Musk this past week. While I highly recommend listening to the update yourself (link below), I've broken down some key concepts that I think we should all take away from the current state of Starship. There's lots of work to be done and technology to develop. But, there's also some incredible things that Starship can achieve that no other spacecraft in existence can accomplish.

The biggest concept we review this week is about orbital refueling and maxing out your mission's Delta V. Starship could be ahead of its time and allow an expanded mission capable of launching from Earth and to the Moon (and back) on a full tank of fuel, from orbit. We'll explain WHY that's important for space travel.

Have a great week! Spread Love - Spread Science Starship Update - SpaceX https://youtu.be/sOpMrVnjYeY Tim Dodd Interview w Elon Musk after Starship Update https://youtu.be/cIQ36Kt7UVg Friction Stir Welding https://youtu.be/WVxFu5HR98E?t=53 SpaceX gets $3 million to develop orbital refueling technology https://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2019/10/02/spacex-nabs-3-million-to-work-on-nasas-plan-to-get.html

Hey there Space People! Back this week for another podcast - it's been a busy week but I managed to pull one together amid the chaos! This episode is more off the cuff and me doing some Space Commentary on the Area 51 raid, my thoughts on Bob Lazar and his Joe Rogan Experience interview and the Netflix Documentary "Bob Lazar: UFOs and Flying Saucers". But to start, I wanted to talk about what the state of space politics is not even a month after the Space Command report. I'll give you a clue - I don't think it can compete with the demand of space progress for commercial and military applications. More exciting stuff to cover from SpaceX on next weeks episode... Have a great week! Spread Love - Spread Science Raptor Engines installed on Starship - Elon Musk tweet https://twitter.com/TodayInSpacepod/status/1177363106542100485?s=20 Starship Updates of Assembly (@BocaChicaGal on Twitter) https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal Updates on the State of Space Politics (@SciGuySpace) https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace Senate Bill offers $22.75 Billion for NASA in 2020 https://spacenews.com/senate-bill-offers-22-75-billion-for-nasa-in-2020/ Joe Rogan Experience - Interview with Bob Lazar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEWz4SXfyCQ

The report from Air Force Space Command came across my space radar this week, both online and in person which is usually a good indication we should talk about it here on the podcast. I sat down, read the report, and now I have some thoughts to share. Since there's a solid shot you will never take the time to actually read this report - sit back, buckle up, and get ready as we explain the 8 possible space futures according to the US Space Command that are based on the axis of Space Power: Life in Space, Money in Space, and Allied Leadership. Let's begin... Future of Space 2060: Air Force Space Command Report: https://www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/Future%20of%20Space%202060%20(5%20Sep).pdf?ver=2019-09-09-144648-380

Have a great week - don't forget to reach out if you have any questions or want a topic covered on the podcast!

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I'm back from Amsterdam and we have lots to talk about! The Chandrayaan-2 mission attempted to land on the surface of the moon but complications arose. We update you on the latest with the mission and will continue to monitor as things continue. Then we close out talking about the importance of understanding that failure is only part of the journey. The Chandrayaan-2 mission showed us a great example of how to support each other in the face of adversity.

Updates on the Chandrayaan-2 Landing https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.firstpost.com/tech/science/chandrayaan-2-can-isro-get-the-silent-possibly-broken-vikram-lander-on-the-moon-to-talk-7320881.html/amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/science/chandrayaan-lander-vikram-not-broken-lying-in-a-tilted-position-isro-official/amp_articleshow/71046231.cms

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/isro-releases-latest-photos-of-moon-craters-taken-by-chandrayaan-2/story-6WKsbxDO96UdLmtQ97v7uN.html

How to Pronounce the name of the ISRO Rover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CWTzVB3RTE

Hope you have a great week - don't forget to reach out if you have any questions or want a topic covered on the podcast!

audibletrial.com/todayinspace for a free audiobook.

Follow us @todayinspacepod on Instagram and Twitter for more space and science

Follow us @ag3dprinting on Instagram and Twitter to learn about 3D printing!

Facebook Page /TodayInSpacePodcast

todayinspace.net