Universe Today Podcast

Is keeping the Voyagers active a waste of money and time on the Deep Space Network? Could you play catch with a baseball-mass black hole? How confident are we in the distance ladder? And in our Q&A+ version, does it make sense to film a movie in space? Answering all that and more in this Q&A show.

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00:00 Start

00:29 [Bentation Funkiloglio] Could we play catch with a really tiny black hole?

01:24 [Aturuxo] How confident are we in the "distance ladder"?

08:03 [Pelican666] Is continuing the Voyager missions just a waste of money?

09:53 [Cooper Levesque] What will finding life in the Solar System actually mean?


12:10 [Edward] Would a microbe without DNA even be alive?

13:48 [Cooper Levesque] The topic I'm bored to cover

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The Kerbal Space Program is a fun game, but also an incredible tool for simulating a realistic space exploration program. According to a new paper, people playing the game can help develop innovative ideas that can turn into real missions, especially with the development and integration of reusable rockets like Starship and New Glenn.

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🟣 Guest: Rodrigo Schmitt

https://rodrigo-schmitt.github.io/

📜 Design of space systems and operational mission architectures using sandbox games

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576525002048

00:00 Intro

01:14 KSP as a learning tool

12:26 Why is KSP useful for mission planning

21:17 From gamers to mission architects

22:54 Useful mods for KSP

25:08 Alternatives to KSP

26:52 Gaming meta and AI

33:22 Current obsessions

37:00 Final thoughts

📺 VIDEO VERSION

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The official NASA cuts are here. Several missions reach big milestones. The Solar Gravitational Lens will be challenging to use, and in our special bonus version on Patreon, [Space Bites+] an additional story about New Horizons scanning the clouds of hydrogen around the Solar System.

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• 00:00 Intro

• 00:19 NASA budget cuts are official
  
  

  • https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-white-house-releases-its-2026-budget-request-for-nasa-cuts-to-sls-gateway-and-orion

• 03:31 Milestones for Dragonfly and Roman
  
  

  • https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/dragonfly/2025/04/24/nasas-dragonfly-passes-critical-design-review/

  • https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/key-portion-of-nasas-roman-space-telescope-clears-thermal-vacuum-test/

• 05:22 Satellite occultations
  
  

  • https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.03474

• 06:34 Complications with SGL
  
  

  • https://www.universetoday.com/articles/using-the-solar-gravitational-lens-will-be-extremely-difficult

• 09:27 Vote results

• 10:09 Hakuto-R 2 arrives at Moon orbit
  
  

  • https://www.universetoday.com/articles/ispaces-resilience-enters-lunar-orbit-itll-try-to-land-in-early-june

• 11:32 Rogue binary planets
  
  

  • https://www.universetoday.com/articles/free-floating-binary-planets-cant-last-long

• 13:09 Strange object on the edge of the Milky Way
  
  

  • https://www.universetoday.com/articles/its-either-the-milky-ways-farthest-known-star-cluster-or-the-smallest-known-galaxy

• 14:30 Guide to Space

• 15:50 Space Bites+

• 16:09 Importance of keeping up space missions

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⚖️ LICENSE

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Which evidence will be a definite smoking gun when it comes to finding extraterrestrial life? Why is a Dyson sphere more realistic than warp drives? Will America ever adopt the metric system? And in our Q&A+ version, will China be collaborating with other nations in space? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

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🚀 [Overtime] Even more Q&As

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• 00:00 Start

• 00:32 [Ross] What will be a sufficient enough evidence of life on another world?

• 06:07 [Mikael Biilmann] Will North America ever switch to the metric system?

• 08:11 [LeMonkDog] Why is a Dyson sphere considered more rational than FTL travel?

• 12:34 [Conspiracy_Theory_Enthusiast] Are there any filters that help cope with light pollution?

📺 VIDEO VERSION

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Vera Rubin Telescope (aka LSST) is finally ready. We're expecting first light in the coming months. It will find Planet 9 (if it exists), discover thousands of new asteroids, millions of new supernovae and will change the way we do astronomy with its surveys of the night sky. Here's how it will do all that.

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• 00:00 Intro

• 01:25 What's happening with Vera Rubin

• 08:20 What will Vera Rubin be able to see

• 23:35 Northern Rubin Wen?
  

• 30:23 Survey telescopes

• 45:50 Light pollution and satellite constellations

• 50:18 Current obsessions

• 52:54 Final thoughts

📺 VIDEO VERSION

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📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter

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🎧 PODCASTS

Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/

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[email protected]

⚖️ LICENSE

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

Support Universe Today Podcast

Support Universe Today Podcast

Support Universe Today Podcast

Support Universe Today Podcast