S02E01: Lunar Landings, Cybersecurity, and Repurposing Satellites

Good everybody, and welcome to the Astronomy Today podcast for Friday, the twenty

eighth of April twenty and twenty three. My name is Tim Gibson. I

will be your host for today's podcast. I'm still trying to work out how

things work ground here, so if I make the odd mistake or two,

please forgive me. Hopefully I will get better over time. Now on with

the show, Hallie, good day, Hi Tim, and welcome to Astronomy

Today podcast. I hope you enjoy yourself and tell bad dad jokes. Thanks

for the introduction, Hallie. No bad jokes for me today, although I

may ask you for one a bit later on. Now, would you like

to read the headlines the Astronomy Daily podcasts. Private companies are lining up to

conduct lunar landings, with multiple missions planned for the near future. Some of

the companies involved include Astrobodic, Intuitive Machines and Maston Space Systems. These firms

have secured contracts with nassa's Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program to deliver scientific instruments and

other payloads to the Moon. In addition, other companies such as Blue Origin

and SpaceX are also developing lunar landers to transport humans to the Moon in the

future. This growing interest in lunar exploration is expected to bring about new opportunities

and advancements in space exploration. SpaceX has successfully launched its Starship rocket prototype,

which is designed to take humans and cargo to the Moon and Mars. However,

the rocket exploded during its landing attempt, marking the third failure of the

Starship's landing attempts. Despite the failure, the launch was still a significant milestone

as it demonstrated the Starship's capability to reach high altitudes and perform controlled maneuvers.

The Starship rocket is powered by the Raptor engines, which are the most powerful

rocket engines ever built. SpaceX's CEO Alon Musk stated that the failure was due

to a lack of fuel in the rockets header tank during the landing attempt.

The company is already planning the next Starship prototype and aims to achieve a fully

operational spacecraft in the near future. Thales has successfully seized control of a demonstration

satellite owned by the European Space Agency ESA in the first ever cybersecurity exercise of

its kind. The exercise was designed to test the satellite's vulnerability to cyber attacks

and to demonstrate fails ability to protect it. During the exercise, failed cybersecurity

experts simulated a cyber attack on the satellite and successfully took control of it.

This demonstration is significant as it highlights the need for increased cybersecurity measures in space,

as satellites are becoming increasingly important for communication, navigation, and other critical

functions. Failed success in the exercise shows that the company is at the forefront

of developing advanced cybersecurity solutions for the space industry. Astrea, a geospatial analytics

company, has launched a new satellite tasking capability in partnership with major satellite imagery

providers. The new capability enables users to request and receive tasking of high resolution

satellite imagery within hours. This initiative aims to provide more timely and cost effective

access to satellite imagery, enabling customers to quickly analyze changes in land use,

natural resources, and infrastructure. The new service is expected to benefit several industries

including insurance, finance, agriculture, and environmental management. Astria's new capability will

integrate with Maxer Technologies, Airbus and Planet to provide access to a vast network

of satellites. The company's platform uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze and

interpret satellite data, providing valuable insights for customers. The launch of this new

service reflects Astria's commitment to innovation and sustainability. The company seeks to leverage the

power of satellite imagery and data analytics to help customers make informed decisions about resource

management and environmental sustainability. Overall, Astria's new satellite tasking capability is a significant

development for the geospatial analytics industry, offering more efficient and cost effective access to

high resolution satellite imagery. So the Astronomy Daily podcast, here are a couple

of stories that I would like to cover today. Scientists researchers at USC are

tackling the problem of legacy satellites. There are currently several thousand satellites orbiting Earth.

Many have already completed their missions or how or have outlived their primary lifespan.

These are legacy satellites, and while some of them may have broken hardware

and will eventually run out of energy, leave orbit and burnout in space,

others are physically in good conditions. So the question becomes what to do with

them? As ce researches are looking at ways to possibly reuse satellites for different

things. They are collaborating with the software company Tangrum Flex to figure out how

they can replace the software components within the satellites to repurpose them. The approach

that they are taking is to look inside the satellite and say, this particularly

a piece of software did this particular function before. Can we actually replace that

function to make it do something else as a path to repurposing it. I

think this is an absolutely brilliant use of old hardware spinning around in satellites around

the Earth. If we can get this done, it would mean a lot

of savings in money and old satellites crushing to Earth when we could reuse them

for other purposes. Here is a great story about extending the use of satellites

and spacecraft. Voyager two, launched in nineteen seventy seven, is more than

twelve billion miles that's twenty billion columns from Earth using its five science instruments to

study interstellar space. To keep those instruments operating despite a diminishing viminishing power supply,

the aging spacecraft has begun using a small reservoir a backup power set aside

as part of an onboard safety mechanism. The move will enable the mission to

postpone shutting down the science instruments until twenty twenty six rather than this year.

Voyager two and its twin, Voyager one, are the only ever spacecraft to

operate outside the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles of magnetic fields generated by

the Sun. The probes are helping scientists answer questions about the shape of the

heliosphere and its role in protecting Earth from the energetic particles and other radiation found

in the interstellar environment. The science data that the voyages are returning gets more

valuable the further away from the Sun they go, so we are definitely interested

in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible, said Linda Sprilker,

Voyagers Project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsional Lab in Southern California, which manages

the mission FANASSA. Both Voyager probes power themselves with radioisotope thermoelectric generators RTGs,

which convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. The continual decay process means the

generator produces slightly less power each year. So far, the declining power supply

hasn't impacted the mission's science output, but to compensate for the loss, engineers

have turned off heaters and other systems that are not essential to keeping the spacecraft

flying. With those options now exhausted in Voyager two, one of the spacecraft's

five science instruments, was next on their list. Voyager one is currently operating

one less science instrument than its twin because of an instrument failed early in the

mission. As a result, the decision about whether to turn off an instrument

on Voyager one won't come until sometimes next year. In search of a way

to avoid shutting down a Voyager two science instrument, the team took a closer

look at a safety mechanism designed to protect the instruments in case the spacecraft's voltage

the flow of electricity changes significantly. Because of a fluctuation in voltage could damage

the instruments. Voyager is equipped with a voltage regulator that triggers a backup circuit.

In such an event, this circuit can access a small amount of power

from the RTG that set aside for this purpose. Instead of reserving that power,

the mission will now be using it to keep the science instruments operating now

to show that we really are an international podcast. I'm currently sat in a

very old Georgian property in the city of Bath in Somerset in the United Kingdom,

and I'm going to cover a local story to me but may be useful

for other people to understand and listen to it. Bath University has established a

low cost observatory located at the University of Bath's campus and is proving to be

again changing experimental tool for undergraduate studying events in space. The facility, which

is built and equipped for less than thirty five thousand pounds, features a roll

off roof, two high quality computer controlled telescopes, solar panels, and can

accommodate two people at a time. The timber cabin was designed to give astrophysicist

students hands or experience observing objects in the night sky. Students use their time

in the observatory to gather data and ties that ties into specific science projects or

modules on their courses. I think that's a great local story to me and

I hope everybody enjoyed the insight into how to create a low cost observatory for

students. Now, just before we finish over to you, Hallie, do

you have a dad joke for today? Why did the sun go to school

to get brighter? Thanks Hally, You're going to get no comment from me

on your dad jokes. So I hope everybody you've enjoyed today's version of the

podcast. It's good day from me and it's good day from Hallie. See

you next time on Astronomy Today podcast. Thank you very much for listening.

Bye for now the Astronomy They'll Be podcast

In this episode