Today In Space

Alex gives you a play-by-play of the successful test flight of the Orion service module. Rapidly going through the highlights for today's incredible accomplishment, Alex goes through each major step, explaining different aspects of the mission as well.

Alex also shows you how to 'properly' react to this historic event, not only as an American, but as a human being.

Launch video of Orion (12/05/14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hn8qnsucwo

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Topics on today's Episode:

Orion, NASA, Test Flight, America, Lockheed Martin, Delta IV Heavy Rocket, Heat Shield, Van Allen Belt, Radiation, Re-entry, the US Navy, Plasma, Communication Black out, Drogues, Main Parachutes, supersonic, Statute Miles (3,604.2 miles), 20,000 MPH vs. 88 MPH, 1st stage, second stage, RL-10B Engine, Max Q, Launch Abort System.

SPACE LINKS:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_17
• https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/
• http://www.space.com/13566-photos-nasa-orion-space-capsule-test-flight.html?cmpid=514648
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYK_qW6qHE via @BadAstronomer

EXPLICIT MATERIAL

Today, the Orion Test Flight attempted to launch and faced several challenges during it's launch window and had to scrub the launch for 24 hours.

Alex goes over the first (scrubbed) launch of the Orion Spacecraft from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

He goes over the incidents that caused the delay. ("Higher-than-expected" winds, another boat, and "sticky" Hydrogen Valves) He tells the story of the "Four-Inch Launch" of the Mercury-Redstone 1 (MR-1)

...and gets a little too excitable about the boat that entered "restricted area".

FAN Question: How do I subscribe/set-up/use a podcast app? How does it work? ANSWER: A HOW-TO for setting up a podcast (any podcast on multiple devices) so that you can listen to it in the best way possible will be up tomorrow. Make sure to check it out

Space Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_1
• http://www.universetoday.com/116986/high-winds-technical-issues-and-a-boat-delay-orion-test-flight/
• http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2014/20141204-orion-scrub-report-sticky.html

EXPLICIT MATERIAL

This is Part 2 of the Interstellar Podcast. Alex, and his guest John, discuss the problems of having a popular "main-stream" science movie. They also make their way through trying to explain the ending too. There is more film and science to learn about as well.

Topics in Part 2:

'Her', Apollo 13, film, camera mounting, 'Gravity', field of view, Batman, Christopher Nolan, event horizon, human nature, Hans Zimmer, 'Inception'.

Space Links:

http://www.tomhanks-online.com/media/video/detail/76/apollo-13-filming-in-space

EXPLICIT MATERIAL

• SPOILER ALERT! DON'T LISTEN TO THIS IS YOU HAVEN'T/STILL WANT TO/CARE TO SEE THIS MOVIE. WE WILL RUIN IT FOR YOU.

Otherwise... Join Alex and special guest John as they talk about the movie Interstellar. They talk about their initial thoughts, comparing the movie to other great sci-fi epics; Star Wars, Star Trek, Back to the Future, Gravity, etc. Be prepared to learn a little bit about the film and the science behind the movie.

Topics from Part 1

Relativity, gravity, consequences of Space Travel, Love, Black Holes, "main-stream" science movies, Christopher Nolan, Hans Zimmer, the soundtrack, human nature, fear, Dreamchaser Shuttle, cowardice.

Space Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Chaser

http://www.sncorp.com/BusinessAreas/SpaceSystems

http://www.planetary.org/get-involved/events/2014/1202-past-life-present-life-the-future-of-solar-system-exploration.html

EXPLICIT MATERIAL

Welcome back to another week of the show! Thank you everyone who got in touch with me about the show, I really appreciate the support!

Enjoy this weeks segment!

ELGR3CO

Credit: USGS Astrogeology Science Center/Wheaton/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Ganymede (Jupiters Moon)

• What is it? What do we know about it?
• New scientific research might show it's more similar to Earth than we though

Credit: NASA

3D Printing - IN SPACE!

Credit: 3Dprint.com

• November 25th, 2014 - The first thing 3D Printed EVER in Space!

• How 3D printing will help our Astronauts pour without gravity

"Wanderers" by Erik Wernquist.

http://vimeo.com/108650530

Alex also rambles about going to the gym and good advice from a friend.

Space Links:

• http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/14404/20140502/nasa-discovers-jupiters-giant-moon-ganymede-club-sandwich-oceans-ice.htm
• Scientific paper: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063314000695
• https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jup_Ganymede
• http://vimeo.com/108650530
• http://3dprint.com/27307/3d-printed-coffee-cup/

EXPLICIT MATERIAL

• Updates on the Philae mission

CORRECTION FROM LAST WEEK: Pronunciation of the "ORION"

• Some information on why the harpoons may not have released

• What is "Flight Heritage"

Asteroids

• Some research shows we're getting hit with more asteroids than we thought

Some facts about asteroids

1. How many people have been killed by them?
2. What are they made of?
3. Where do most of the asteroids we know of come from?

Alex then goes over different ways we could "defend" ourselves from asteroids - Info on the upcoming launches Orion (12/4/14) and SpaceX CRS-5 (12/16/14)

Space links:

Philae Harpoon Failure - Suspect Fuel http://txchnologist.com/post/102624788755/philae-harpoon-failure-suspect-propellant-that

Asteroids may be more numerous than previously thought, scientists sayhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/hazardous-asteroids-may-be-more-numerous-than-previously-thought-scientists-say/2013/11/06/c022a022-46f2-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html SpaceX Rocket Tank Production | Timelapse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrR31nHCV-U&feature=youtu.be

Today, November 17, 2014, in Space! - Updates from the Philae mission - Correction from the last show: How many times Philae "bounced" vs. "touched down" - Overview of the Orion Launch System - 1st Test flight (12.4.14), overview of what to expect, etc - A few facts on why we use cones to exit atmospheres, and large wide surfaces to re-enter QUESTION OF THE WEEK: "How can we know what the Milky Way Galaxy looks like, if we are inside and have never sent anything outside the galaxy?"

EXPLICIT MATERIAL POSSIBLE

The first independent segment of "Today in Space" with Alex. Alex explains some new things for the podcast, including the intent of the new 20 min episodes and what's to come. SPACE Topics: The Antares incident for Orbcomm3 The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Incident Test Pilots 3-Stage Rockets

EXPLICIT MATERIAL POSSIBLE

Today, 11/13/2014, in Space! Alex covers the Rosetta mission and the landing of the Philae robot lander on comet 67P. He covers the mission, the after-math issues with the Philae lander. Later, he talks about the general use of the term "scientist", the difficulty of space travel, and his opinion on allowing robots to go first - then humans. Links: content via ESA http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Touchdown!_Rosetta_s_Philae_probe_lands_on_comet content via The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2014/nov/13/philae-lander-sends-picture-from-comet-video1 content via Universe Today http://www.universetoday.com/116135/get-a-look-at-philaes-first-photos/

© ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

© ESA/Rosetta/ NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

EXPLICIT MATERIAL POSSIBLE

©ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

©ESA/Rosetta/MPS forOSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

©ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR