Universe Today Podcast

Did the recent streak of Starship failures change my confidence is SpaceX's future success? How can we measure the rotation of gas giant planets? Is there a chance Voyagers can make another Pale Blue Dot image? And in our Q&A+ extended version, do we have a moral obligation to spread life in the Universe?

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00:00 Start

00:28 [Tremolo Soul] Can we make another "Pale Blue Dot" image with Voyagers?

01:41 [Ammar] Can we still monitor Voyagers after they stop communicating?

03:24 [Blasty] Are science journals full of AI slop already?

05:14 [Vinny Contini] How do we measure the rotation of gas giant planets?

07:28 [wishmasterbrazen] Am I still confident about SpaceX after their last failures?

13:01 [churchdiscography] What's taking New Glenn so long?

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The first pictures from Rubin are finally here, construction begins on the LISA mission, Webb directly images a Saturn-sized exoplanet, and do pulsar have mountains? And in Space Bites+, a fast radio burst is coming from inside the Solar System.

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00:00 Intro

00:22 Vera Rubin Observatory is ONLINE

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-first-pictures-from-vera-rubin-are-here

07:49 LISA construction begins

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/lisa-construction-begins

10:22 Webb images the lightest planet so far

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/webb-directly-images-a-saturn-sized-star-in-a-nearby-system

12:08 JWST should detect exoSaturns

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/rare-conditions-can-make-double-hot-jupiters

13:36 Hot Jupiters in binary systems

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/rare-conditions-can-make-double-hot-jupiters

14:51 Vote reuslts

15:24 Mountains on pulsars

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/pulsars-could-have-tiny-mountains

17:45 First light from CODEX

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/pulsars-could-have-tiny-mountains

19:07 Hakuto-R 2 aftermath

20:38 More space news

21:56 Bonus story

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Does terraforming a tidally-locked planet make any sense? Are the images we got of our galaxy's supermassive black hole fake? Can we observe gravitational waves that came before the CMB? And in Q&A+ who is currently working on space elevators? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

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00:00 Start

00:31 [Poshact] What's the feasibility of terraforming a tidally-locked planet?

03:26 [Jay Drummond] Why it's okay for space companies to dump rockets into the ocean?

05:50 [Scott Smillie] Is the image of Sag A not real?


08:44 [Richard R] Do we expand the observable Universe if we launch a telescope 1 ly from Earth?

10:02 [michael blacktree] Can we observe gravitational waves before the CMB?

13:11 [Uğur E.] When do we start orbiting our SMBH after leaving the solar system?

15:06 [drZab] Should we be building a big spaceship in orbit?

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Why doesn't NASA remove the artefacts from JWST images? How would TRAPPIST-1 planets look from their surface? Why don't they just form space telescope lenses from liquid glass in space? And in Q&A+ what shape does the solar gravitational lens look like? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

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• 00:00 Start

• 00:29 [Highmars] How would the TRAPPIST-1 system’s planets look like if we were standing on one of the planets?

• 02:07 [Thomas O'Neill] Why doesn't NASA filter out the star artifacts from JWST photos?

• 04:07 [Finn Erikson] With the solar orbiter hitting a speed of +600.000 km/h, is a mission to the gravitanional lens from the Sun in sight?

• 06:03 [Ian Matthews] Can we view the unobservable universe by using a quadrupled gravitational lense?

• 07:47 [Coco] What will the Nancy Grace Roman telescope achieve?

• 11:01 [Blasty] Could we form lenses from liquid glass in space?

📺 VIDEO VERSION

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Solar power has its limits. Some space missions will need an alternative source of power like RTGs. How can we make them better? Which fuel is optimal for them and why? How to convert heat into electricity? Finding out in this interview.

😍 [Interview+] Bonus Part. No YT ads.

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🟣 Guest: Tyler Bernstein

https://www.zenopower.com/

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:48 What is an RTG?

• 05:43 Different isotopes

• 19:25 Possible missions

• 28:07 Stirling engines

• 33:48 Current obsessions

• 43:02 Final thougths and more interviews

📺 VIDEO VERSION

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A new mission can make solar eclipses on demand, what do supernovae and stellar flybys do to Earth’s climate, how asteroid 2024 YR4 will make the mother of all meteor showers, and Starship 36 explodes during testing. And on Space Bites+, how we could use a space elevator to extract water from Ceres.

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💥 NSF's video: https://youtu.be/71AwkBt3_ts?si=Yzn_NNyumC9VakFu

💥 Scott Manley's video: https://youtu.be/0C_L-qgHsE0?si=UzpyqdtjHJDw2s4N

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00:00 Intro

00:25 Artificial solar eclipse with Proba-3

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/esas-new-mission-can-see-a-solar-eclipse-every-day

01:55 PUNCH sees a solar erruption

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-punch-mission-captured-images-of-a-huge-solar-eruption

03:08 Could stellar flybys change Earth's climate

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/have-stellar-flybys-altered-earths-climate-in-the-past

05:43 Supernovae changing Earth's climate

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/supernova-explosions-changed-earths-climate-and-shaped-humanitys-history

08:19 Mother of all meteor showers

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-potential-danger-to-satellites-due-to-ejecta-from-a-2032-lunar-impact-by-asteroid-2024-yr4

10:18 Vote results

10:57 China's Mengzhou abort test

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/china-tests-the-crew-escape-for-its-new-lunar-capsule

12:36 Honda tests a reusable rocket

https://global.honda/en/topics/2025/c_2025-06-17ceng.html

13:42 Starship explodes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71AwkBt3_ts&ab_channel=NASASpaceflight

15:46 Vera Rubin's first light

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-first-images-from-vera-rubin-are-about-to-drop

17:50 More space news

18:54 Bonus story

19:12 Vancouver island

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Can a giant asteroid knock the Moon from its orbit? How good does a telescope need to be to see the Oort cloud? What are the odds of a rogue planet hiding nearby in our Solar system? And in our extended Q&A+ version, can we be sure that we're alone in the Universe? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

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• 00:00 Start

• 00:30 [angus campbell] Could a giant meteor knock the Moon out of orbit?

• 02:19 [Liam Dobbyn] Could dark matter be just failed stars with planets?

• 04:04 [Annie Alexander] How powerful would a telescope have to be to be able to see the Oort cloud?

• 05:17 [Clint Davis] Can we artificially rotate a tidally locked planet?

• 06:17 [your average terraria player] Why does breaking light speed cause paradoxes?

• 07:47 [Correctimus] How likely is it that a rogue planet is in the Oort cloud right now?

• 09:32 [Snelwegkoek] The coolest object I've seen in a telescope

• 12:37 [Sid Remey] How to through things down from the ISS?

📺 VIDEO VERSION

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This is an interview with me for the Worldviews Podcast.

📺 VIDEO VERSION

https://youtu.be/yj0Gi7d0zm4?si=NYLERm4yquBpkqbb

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• 00:00 Introduction

• 01:25 Fraser’s upbringing into science

• 04:59 Proud career moments

• 06:01 Space misconceptions

• 09:05 Black Holes

• 11:05 From planes flying to flying into space

• 13:05 Topics Fraser has changed his mind about

• 19:35 Aliens are not real

• 29:40 Greatest space discoveries of the century

• 34:12 Discoveries on the horizon

• 38:25 The name “Fraser”

• 39:15 Smartest people Fraser has interviewed

• 40:55 How impressive astronauts are

• 43:05 Purpose and meaning in the cosmos

• 44:35 Fine tuning of the Universe

• 46:55 Multiverse theory

• 48:45 Multiverse vs dimension

• 51:45 Mount Rushmore of Scifi tv shows

• 54:30 Sci-Fi books & Creativity

• 1:00:15 What’s next for Fraser

• 1:04:30 One question for God

• 1:06:16 Closing

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We never came back to Uranus after the Voyager 2 flyby in 1986. It's time to come back. But what will it take to organise a mission to Uranus? What priorities will it have and when can it launch? Finding out in this interview.

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🟣 Guest: Dr. Amy Simon

https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/amy.a.simon

00:00 Intro

02:11 What have we learned since Voyager

05:58 Requests for the mission

15:59 Planning a modern-day mission

24:22 LUCY mission

29:38 OSIRIS-ReX

37:52 Current obsessions

40:47 Final thoughts

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This is an interview with me done by Salman Hameed @ Kainaat Astronomy in English.

Salman Hameed has a PhD in astronomy and is Charles Taylor Chair and Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, and a member of the Five College Astronomy Department (FCAD) in Massachusetts, USA. He is also the CEO of the non-profit Kainaat Studios.

You can find more information about Kainaat Studios here:

https://www.kainaatstudios.com/

🚀 YouTube episode:

https://youtu.be/99CeM9GmUqk?si=ICweyVo4TgkXdxAS

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