North Korea Launches Spy Satellite | S02E58 - Astronomy Daily: The Latest Space News

Hello again Steve Dunkley with you for Astronomy Daily. It is the fourth of

December twenty twenty three, podca. I mean to be a whole Steve Dunkle

And as always, a big hello to Halle, who's been hanging around the

Etho looking for stories from the Astronomy Daily newsletter. Hello Holly, that's right,

more tales from orbit and beyond today and every day. Steve. Nice

to be back in the Newcastle studio with you. Nice to have you on

Dick again, Halle. What's cooking? Well? I know you're a keen

science fiction fan, Steve. Did you know that it was the fiftieth anniversary

of a famous animated sci fi feature movie this week? Ooh animated science fiction?

Which one was that one? Hallie? Do you remember the French production

Fantastic Planet? Oh, Fantastic Planet. I sure to remember that one.

I saw it at the old Chelsea Theater in East Maitland here in the Huda

Valley. It was part of a double feature touring the theaters in Australia that

summer. And what was the other movie? Let me think Crystal Voyager.

It was a surf film with the soundtrack by Pink Floyd. It was a

big summer for me that one. So you got your sci fi, surf

and Pink Floyd all rolled into one movie ticket. Yeah, I guess you

could say that Fantastic Planet that was a really strange one, a psychedelic trip

into another world where the usual just doesn't belong, and as teenagers it had

us scratching our heads. I can't believe that is fifty years ago, half

a century. Thanks, Hallie. I think I'll go have a lie down

now, silly human, Maybe you should lie down. Even the old Chelsea

Theater isn't there anymore. Oh great, thanks for making me feel so ancient

and decrepit, Hallie. Yeah, oh boy. Anyway, so what's on

the menu, Hallie? Right, so we've talked about Fantastic Planet already,

Yes, I yet recover. Well, I've got a little more about that

classic for our science fiction fans, just like you, Steve Terrific. There's

news of Hubble's gyroscope issues. NASA is trying to work that out. Yes,

ahead, that one of the three genres is out of action, Halle.

That's right. It's been dropping out since November nineteenth twice in fact.

But NASA says the space telescope can be reconfigured to operate with only one gyroscope

if necessary. Well, that's mate. It remains to be seen what they

come up with. But Steve, keep in mind that the spacecraft had six

new gyros installed during the final Shuttle mission in two thousand and nine, and

today three of those gyros, including the one that is now experiencing fluctuations,

remain operational. Well, it sounds like a joke for NASA's finest it sure

does. And I know you love talking nebulas and FRBs, so I found

a great story about both. Oh hellye stopped tasing. It's true, and

of course no week would be complete with another SpaceX Starlink launch. And tonight

he correctly that SPICEX has approval for another thirty thousand starling craft. Stay tuned,

human, Well are you going to keep us in suspense? Okay,

Well, that sounds like a colorful collection of tasteful tiles, hallie, and

while out and get a ZIST eleven pick me up. The stage is yours,

Thank you, Steve. Here are some tales from the Astronomy Daily newsletter

in the immersive arena of global animation, where anything is possible. Director Renee

Lalua's counterculture gem fantastic planet La Planite Savage remains unrivaled in its strange and surreal

fable set on the pastel hued alien planet of Igum, and today, on

the occasion the French movie's milestone fiftieth anniversary, its themes and symbolisms feel even

more relevant than when it originally premiered, due to its detailed world building,

haunting characters and musicians Alan Geager's jazzy rock score that leaves an entrancing effect on

adventurous souls who fall victim to its innumerable emotional charms. This cult feature film

rattled the inventive medium starting back on December first, nineteen seventy three, when

it was first released, and has remained a touchstone of inspiration and influence for

generations ever since. Its politically charged allegory of violent oppression set on a bizarre

world, is injected with hot topic earth like issues of racism, animals,

rights, tyranny, and enslavement, all presented here for viewers moral meditations while

being embraced in a delirious animated dream. Nasa is troubleshooting Hubble's gyroscope issue to

resume its science operations, ensuring its continued astronomical discoveries alongside telescopes like the James

Web. NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency's Hubble Space telescope

after it entered safe mode on November twenty three due to an ongoing gyroscope issue.

Hubble's instruments are stable and the telescope is in good health. The telescope

automatically entered safe mode when one of its three gyroscopes gave faulty readings. The

gyros measured the telescope's turn rates and are part of the system that determines which

direction the telescope is pointed. While in safe mode, science operations are suspended

and the telescope weights for new directions from the ground. The team is now

running tests to characterize the issue and develop solutions. If necessary, the spacecraft

can be reconfigured to operate with only one gyroscope. The spacecraft had six new

gyros installed during the fifth and final Space Shuttle servicing mission in two thousand nine.

To date, three of those gyros remain operational, including the gyros currently

experiencing fluctuations. Hubble uses three gyros to maximize efficiency, but could continue to

make science observations with only one gyros if required. Astronomers from the Netherlands have

provided compelling evident linking a repeating fast radio burst source to a potential hypernebula.

The team has made significant strides in understanding these mysterious cosmic phenomena, and the

research marks a notable advancement in the study of frb's and their origins. Fast

radio bursts are fleeting but powerful bursts of radio waves originating billions of light years

away. Some like FRB two zero one two one one zero two A are

known to repeat, offering valuable insights into their nature. The recent focus,

however, has been on FRB two zero one nine zero five two zero B,

a new repeating source. We were able to constrain the size of the

potential hypernebula FRB two zero one nine zero five two zero B to be less

than thirty light years in diameter, which is three times the size of the

crab nebula in our own Milky Way galaxy. The team estimates the luminosity of

this object to be around one hundred thousand times that of the Sun, showcasing

its extraordinary energy A leading theory suggests they are produced by magnetars highly magnetic neutron

stars. These stars, which are remnants of supernovae, could emit a powerful

wind of charged particles, forming a nebulous region in their vicinity. Another intriguing

possibility is that the hypernebula is powered not by magnetic decay, but by gravitational

potential energy. This would imply frb's being produced in the powerful outflows from a

black hole or a neutron star consuming matter from a nearby companion star at extremely

high rates. Astronomers continue to grapple with the origins and nature of FRBs.

These latest findings, while shedding light on some aspects, also raise new questions

about the diversity of astronomical objects capable of producing such intense radio bursts. SpaceX

added twenty three more satellites to its Starlink Internet constellation. On Saturday night,

December second, a SpaceX Falcon nine rocket carrying the communication satellites lifted off from

Florida's Cape Canaveral Space four station at eleven PM Eastern Standard time for a clock

GMT. On December three. The Falcon nine's first stage came back to Earth

for a vertical landing. About eight point five minutes after launch. It touched

down on the drone ship a shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the

Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast. It was the sixth launch and landing for

this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. The twenty three Starlink

satellites, meanwhile, were scheduled to deploy from the Falcon nine's upper stage into

Low Earth Orbit LO about sixty five point five minutes after liftoff. The Starlink

network, which beams Internet service down to people around the world, already features

more than five thousand operational spacecraft, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell,

but that number keeps growing and likely will far into the future. Space

Sex already has permission to deploy twelve thousand Starlink craft into l EO, and

it has applied for approval for another thirty thousand. On top of that,

Astronomy Daily the podcast with Steve Dugley and Howie ah Yes, thank you Holley

for all those wonderful stories, and they're straight off the Astronomy Daily newsletter,

which you can receive in your email every day the keep you informed about science,

space, science and beyond. Just go to these addresses space nuts dot

io and bytes dot com. That's b E s Z dot com and just

drop your email address in the slot provided and you receive that email in your

you'll receive the newsletter in your email. It's full of lots of juicy tippits

and stories at everything that's relevant that's happening in the sky today. Now,

you might have noticed the news report of North Korea's launch of a reported spy

satellite last week. North Korea said Tuesday that its new spy satellite, launched

last week has photographed US government and military facilities, including the White House and

the Pentagon. North Korean leader Kim Jong un received a briefing on the operations

of the reconnaissance satellite and reviewed photographs of locations including Naval Station Norfolk, the

Newport News Shipyard in Virginia, the White House, and the Pentagon. All

this according to state run Korean Central News Agency. It also added that four

US Navy nuclear carriers and one British aircraft carrier were spotted in the photographs.

They said imperious leader Kim also looked at the pictures of Rome, Italy and

Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. Added, state media has not released any

photographs taken by satellite, and military analysts have questioned the resolution and quality of

the images it is capable of capturing. Pyongyang said it successfully launched its homegrown

Mallingyong one reconnaissance satellite on nove November twenty one. It marked the third attempt

by the isolated regime to place a military spy satellite into orbit this year,

after failures in May and August, and in more recent release, North Korea

warned on Saturday that it would quote destroy US space satellites spy satellites if Washington

tries any attack on its space assets. After Pyongyang launched its first military eye

in the sky last week, as just reported, and not surprisingly, a

spokesman for the North's defense ministry said it would consider such a move a declaration

of war. The statement came after a US's official remark that Washington could deny

an adversary space and counter space capabilities using a variety of reversible and irreversible means,

referring to the North's successful spy launch, the US military could undermine the

quote effectiveness and lethality of adversaries forces across all domains, Sheryl Clinkle, a

spokesman at the US Space Command, told Radio Free Asia this week. On

Saturday, Beeongyang threatened to quote destroy US space satellites if Washington tries to violate

the legitimate territory of North Korea, referring to its satellite program. North Korea

is barred by successive rounds of US resolutions from tests using ballistic technology, and

analysts say there is a significant technological overlap between space launch capabilities and the development

of ballistic missiles. Experts have said putting a working reconnaissance satellite into orbit would

improve North Korea's intelligence gathering capabilities, particularly over South Korea, and provide crucial

data in any military conflict. Since last week's launch, the North has claimed

its satellite has already provided images of major US and South Korean military sites.

It has not yet disclosed any of the satellite imagery it claims to possess now.

If the United States attempts to breach its space rights, the North's defense

ministry spokesman said his country will quote consider taking responsive action measures for self defense

to undermine or destroy the viability of US spy satellites, and on a lighter

note, he has more good news we hope from the ESA. Europe's new

heavy lift rocket has a firm launch date. At last, the European Space

Agency ISA Arian six rocket from Aryan Space will bring its debut mission to space

no earlier than June fifteen, twenty twenty four. Officials with the testing team

announced Thursday that's November thirty. On board will be a set of small satellites,

including two from NASA, representatives added on a live streamed briefing recently.

After four years of delays for Aaran six, progress is accelerating. A scale

model of the heavy lift rocket also finished a critical hot fire on the pad

last week Coro of French Guyana, which ESA director Joseph Ashbacher said was a

big milestone. He cautiously predicted that the launch will be somewhere between the fifth

of June and the thirty first of July next year, but also cited that

it is rocket science that is at stake. Therefore it is to be expected

that there may be one or the other of delays that can occur. Arian

five launched the European spacecraft for more than twenty five years, sending more than

a one hundred missions aloft between nineteen ninety six and two thousandths three. Prominent

missions included the James Webb Space Telescope, the Jupiter icy Moons Explorer Juice,

and the Rosetta Comet spacecraft craft, not to mention a dozen or so Galileo

navigation satellites that give Europe its own GPS access. Europe has emphasized that it

requires independent launching access to space, but lately it has been relied much like

much of the industry, on space X, which launched the EUCLID dark matter

hunting mission on July one, for example, after Arian six debut launch continued

to slip. Arian six was conceived in the early twenty tens to meet a

new generation of launching needs. Lowering costs are launching more satellites to different orbits

at once, for example, after the aging Aran five design retired this July.

But numerous technical obstacles and the COVID nineteen pandemic got in the way of

Arian six's planned gate opening mission in twenty twenty. We were literally in crisis,

Ashbaker said. Of the gap, he said the problem was compounded by

poor communication about milestones and delays. Today, however, regular and detailed reports

are now available to ESA member states, the public and journalists after Arian six's

task force meetings. We have learned our lessons, Ashbaker said, acknowledging the

help of Aryan Space, Aryan Group and the French National Space Agency in addressing

issues as they arise. We have been sitting together and we have taken very

clear action to overcome the crisis as we call it. It literally was a

crisis. We had to get out and let me say that we have done

this together. This is not ESA alone and won't it be great to see

the European Space Agency joining the new space race for real with regular flights,

exciting yews. And that's a wrap. Thanks for listening in. It's been

Astronomy Daily for another week. Each week you'll find myself Steve Dunkley on Mondays,

Tim Gibson Fridays and from either end of the globe because the world is

not flat. Yeah, And you'll find all the back episodes of Astronomy Daily

as well as our parent podcast, Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred

Watson. They can be found at these places bites dot com that's b I

T E s z dot com, or if you're in the Northern Hemisphere b

I T E s z dot com or space nuts dot io. Go to

those addresses and also drop your email address in the slot provided to receive the

Astronomy Daily newsletter and receive all the news about space, space science, and

beyond. Thanks for staying with us. This is Steve Dunkley for Astronomy Daily.

See you next time, Steven

In this episode