This Week in Space 155: Space News You Can Use

Summary

Podcast Summary: This Week in Space 155: Space News You Can Use

Podcast Information:

• Title: All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)
• Host/Author: TWiT
• Description: Leo Laporte brings some of the most interesting personalities in technology together to talk about the most important issues. Fun, relaxed, informative, and always entertaining, count on TWiT for the best tech podcasts in the world.
• Episode: This Week in Space 155: Space News You Can Use
• Release Date: April 4, 2025

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1. Introduction and Episode Overview

The episode kicks off with hosts Rod Pyle and Tarek Malik greeting listeners and setting the stage for a comprehensive dive into the latest space news. They tease topics ranging from private space missions to international geopolitical tensions in space exploration.

Notable Quote:

• Rod Pyle [00:19]: "This week we're going all headlines, all the time."

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2. Polar Fram 2 Mission Returns

Rod and Tarek discuss the recent Fram 2 mission by SpaceX, financed by cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang of Malta. This mission is historic as it marks the first-ever flight sending astronauts over Earth's poles, a path not traditionally taken in space missions.

Key Points:

• Fram 2's Significance: First mission to orbit Earth's poles in over 60 years.
• Mission Duration: A brief four-day orbital mission.
• Experiments Conducted: Includes photographing auroras both from space and the Earth's surface.
• Media Coverage: The mission had minimal media attention compared to similar missions, possibly by design to reduce publicity.
• Live Updates: Utilization of Starlink for live video snippets from the capsule.

Notable Quote:

• Tarek Malik [05:01]: "Chunwang is an explorer. He has climbed mountains and wanted to see Earth's poles from space."

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3. Amazon's Kuiper Satellites Launch

The first batch of Kuiper Internet satellites by Amazon was successfully launched on April 9th. This marks Amazon's direct response to SpaceX's dominant Starlink constellation.

Key Points:

• Launch Details: 27 Kuiper satellites launched on an Atlas 5 rocket, the heaviest payload ever for this vehicle.
• Constellation Plan: Amazon aims for a total of 3,200 satellites to provide widespread global internet coverage.
• Competitive Edge: Despite Amazon's extensive number of satellites, Starlink currently maintains a significant lead with over 4,000 satellites operational.
• Operational Base: Kuiper is based in Kirkland, Washington, near Blue Origin's facilities.

Notable Quote:

• Tarek Malik [08:00]: "This is Amazon's answer to SpaceX's Starlink which has had such a leg up."

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4. Controversy Surrounding Blue Origin's All-Female Crew Launch

Blue Origin's upcoming suborbital flight on April 14th, led by Lauren Sanchez, features an all-female crew including celebrities like Katy Perry and Gayle King. The mission has sparked unexpected backlash, particularly highlighted by Olivia Munn's public criticism.

Key Points:

• Crew Composition: First all-female crew since Valentina Tereshkova in the 1960s.
• Public Reaction: Unlike previous private missions, this launch faces significant online drama and criticism.
• Perception Issues: The backlash may stem from the crew's gender composition amidst current socio-economic tensions.
• Economic Context: Critics argue that space tourism exemplifies conspicuous consumption during economically challenging times.

Notable Quotes:

• Rod Pyle [10:06]: "It's the first all-female crew since Valentina Tereshkova launched in the 60s."
• Tarek Malik [12:32]: "Space tourism is a spectacularly like example of conspicuous consumption."

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5. Impact of New U.S. Tariffs on the Aerospace Industry

The hosts delve into the recent surge of U.S. tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, highlighting concerns over how these tariffs will affect the global aerospace supply chain.

Key Points:

• Tariff Details: Imposition of 10% tariffs on most countries, with China at 34%.
• Affected Sectors: Automotive, technical imports, steel, and crucial aerospace components.
• Supply Chain Disruptions: Companies like Northrop Grumman and Airbus could face increased costs and logistical challenges.
• Strategic Shifts: ULA's shift from Russian engines and Blue Origin developing in-house engines as a response to tariff-induced supply chain uncertainties.

Notable Quote:

• Tarek Malik [16:16]: "What is going to mean for the aerospace industry? You know, we have talked a lot about international cooperation."

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6. Starship Vanguard Program and Environmental Concerns

SpaceX's Starship Vanguard Program aims to deliver U.S. military cargo within 90 minutes globally. However, plans to test landings on Johnston Atoll, a protected wildlife area, have raised environmental concerns.

Key Points:

• Program Goals: Test rapid global cargo delivery using Starship's massive rocket technology.
• Environmental Impact: The proposed landing site is a natural preserve, raising alarms from groups like the American Bird Conservancy.
• Previous Incidents: Starbase launches have previously disrupted local wildlife habitats.
• Technical Challenges: Concerns about Starship’s potential to harm endangered species during landings and takeoffs.

Notable Quotes:

• Rod Pyle [24:42]: "The harrowing aspect is the environmental downside of using Johnston Atoll."
• Tarek Malik [24:51]: "This Rocket Vanguard thing, it's starship. The Air Force wants to explore using starship for point to point cargo transportation."

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7. Mystery of Russian Cosmos Satellites

Three newly launched Russian satellites, designated Cosmos 2581, 2582, and 2583, are exhibiting unusual proximity maneuvers, prompting international speculation about their true purpose.

Key Points:

• Satellite Behavior: Observed hovering and intercepting each other in orbit.
• Potential Purposes: Could range from reconnaissance, debris capture, formation flying, to science experiments.
• Operational Secrecy: The Cosmos designation often indicates covert military functions.
• International Response: Increased monitoring by the U.S. Space Force due to the unclear intentions behind these maneuvers.

Notable Quotes:

• Rod Pyle [35:43]: "These spacecraft, they all launched on the same Soyuz rocket in February."
• Tarek Malik [38:07]: "It could be a target, like debris capture target, or for formation flying."

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8. Starliner Thruster Issues and Potential Risks

The Crew Dragon’s Starliner spacecraft experienced multiple thruster failures during a recent mission, leading to severe maneuvering challenges and heightened concerns about crew safety.

Key Points:

• Thruster Failures: Loss of multiple thrusters resulted in difficulties maintaining and adjusting spacecraft orientation.
• Public Disclosure: Initial reports downplayed the severity, but later insights revealed the situation was more precarious.
• Rescue Protocols: Uncertainties remain about potential rescue operations in case of complete thruster failure.
• Interoperability Concerns: The need for standardized suit fittings and docking mechanisms to facilitate possible in-orbit rescues.

Notable Quotes:

• Rod Pyle [29:08]: "We kept saying, okay, there's one. Oh, there's three. Oh, no, it's not a four."
• Tarek Malik [31:17]: "They're really starting to..."

---

9. Reusability Advances and SpaceX's Milestones

Discussion centers around SpaceX’s strides in rocket reusability, particularly with the Starship program and the impressive number of Falcon 9 landings.

Key Points:

• Reusability Achievements: Over 400 Falcon 9 landings in a decade, showcasing significant progress.
• Starship Developments: Ongoing tests with reused boosters using 29 engines, reflecting confidence in reusability despite recent flight failures.
• Future Prospects: Success in reusability could accelerate missions for NASA's Artemis program and Martian exploration.

Notable Quotes:

• Tarek Malik [42:51]: "NASA added Starship officially to the launch offerings that SpaceX can offer NASA this week."
• Rod Pyle [46:07]: "Orbital and for Artemis and for the crew stuff, you know, and for Mars as well."

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10. Japan's JAXA Plans for Mars Exploration

Japan's space agency, JAXA, is ramping up its Mars exploration efforts by planning multiple rover landings and a mission to Phobos, one of Mars' moons.

Key Points:

• Mission Objectives: Deploy numerous mini-rovers on Mars and land a dedicated mission on Phobos to study its composition.
• Technological Innovations: Utilizing inflatable decelerators (heat shields) to allow larger payloads to land safely.
• Funding and Support: A strategic fund of approximately ¥1 trillion ($6.7 billion) allocated over ten years to advance Mars exploration technologies.
• Strategic Importance: Enhancing Japan's position in international space exploration and contributing to global scientific knowledge about Mars and its moons.

Notable Quotes:

• Rod Pyle [50:09]: "This inflatable aeroshell, by the way, is designed to slow a lander down substantially more without the need for a really, really big and expensive and heavy supersonic parachute."
• Tarek Malik [53:07]: "If you coupled that type of a thing with additional of these rovers, maybe those rovers themselves are surrounded in airbags."

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11. Martian Dust Devils Captured by Perseverance Rover

The Perseverance Rover on Mars has captured images of unusual dust devil activities, including instances where larger dust devils consume smaller ones, showcasing dynamic weather patterns on the Martian surface.

Key Points:

• Dust Devil Behavior: Larger dust devils merging with and consuming smaller ones, demonstrating complex atmospheric interactions.
• Visual Documentation: High-resolution images and possible video captures from Perseverance provide valuable data for understanding Martian weather.
• Implications for Future Missions: Insights into dust devil behavior are crucial for designing equipment and habitats to withstand Martian weather conditions.

Notable Quotes:

• Rod Pyle [58:10]: "It was just such a cool headline. I couldn't resist."
• Tarek Malik [60:50]: "They were able to do that and James Webb was able to pin down the size of the asteroid."

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12. Update on Asteroid 2024 YR4

Asteroid 2024 YR4, initially perceived as a potential threat, has been monitored closely. Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have refined its size and trajectory, reducing the likelihood of a collision with the Moon.

Key Points:

• Asteroid Size: Approximately 200 feet wide, comparable to a 15-story building.
• Impact Probability: There's a 96.2% chance it will miss the Moon, despite a slight increase in collision odds.
• Observation Efforts: Enhanced by high-precision instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to accurately determine size and trajectory.
• Future Monitoring: Ongoing assessments continue to refine the asteroid's path to ensure planetary safety.

Notable Quotes:

• Tarek Malik [60:52]: "They know that, they saw the observations increased the chance to 3.8%."
• Rod Pyle [62:03]: "That gives better cause for setting up on the lunar poles because it's a lot less likely to smack into a pole than somewhere roughly equatorial."

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13. Innovative Spin Launch Method for Satellites

SpinLaunch is pioneering a novel approach to deploying satellites by utilizing a giant centrifuge to slingshot micro-satellites into space, aiming to drastically reduce launch costs and increase deployment efficiency.

Key Points:

• Launch Mechanism: Satellites are accelerated in a centrifuge to high speeds before release, reducing reliance on traditional chemical rockets.
• Advantages: Potential for 70-80% cost reduction compared to conventional launches and lower environmental impact due to decreased hydrocarbon usage.
• Technical Challenges: Ensuring satellite integrity under extreme G-forces (10,000+ G) during the spin process.
• Future Plans: Seeking to scale up operations with received funding, planning an on-orbit demonstrator launch within the next year.

Notable Quotes:

• Tarek Malik [70:45]: "They want to have a demonstrating an on orbit demonstrator launched by next year."
• Rod Pyle [68:01]: "It's as old as science fiction, right?"

---

14. Perspectives on Space Tourism Accessibility

The discussion shifts to the future of space tourism, evaluating optimistic projections versus current realities. Rod and Tarek reflect on the challenges and potential growth of making space accessible to the average person.

Key Points:

• Current State: Space tourism remains limited, with only a few hundred spaceflights conducted to date.
• Future Projections: Experts like Chris Anderson envision thousands of people traveling to space annually within the next decade.
• Challenges: High costs, safety concerns, and technological barriers hinder mass adoption.
• Reusability and Cost Reduction: Advances in reusable rocket technology, led by companies like SpaceX, are pivotal in making space tourism feasible for a broader audience.

Notable Quotes:

• Chris Anderson [72:15]: "Within the next 10 years there will be literally thousands of people going to space every year."
• Rod Pyle [73:42]: "We started expecting, but it's really hard to do."

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15. Conclusion and Upcoming Events

Rod and Tarek wrap up the episode by promoting upcoming space-related events and conferences, encouraging listeners to engage with the space community.

Key Points:

• Upcoming Conferences: Northeast Astronomy Forum in Suffern, NY, and the International Space Development Conference in Orlando, FL.
• Awards and Recognition: Tarek Malik receiving the Space Pioneer Award at the International Space Development Conference.
• Community Engagement: Encouragement to join the TwitTV community and participate in discussions and events.

Notable Quotes:

• Rod Pyle [82:29]: "It has been a pleasure and a joy."
• Tarek Malik [78:06]: "You can find me on YouTube playing video games, Marvel Rivals and Fortnite and others at Spacetron plays."

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Final Thoughts

"This Week in Space 155: Space News You Can Use" offers an engaging and in-depth exploration of recent developments in the space industry. From pioneering private missions and innovative satellite deployment methods to geopolitical tensions and environmental concerns, Rod Pyle and Tarek Malik provide insightful commentary enriched with expert quotes and timely updates. Whether you're a seasoned space enthusiast or a curious newcomer, this episode delivers valuable information and thoughtful discussions on the evolving landscape of space exploration.

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Disclaimer: The above summary is based on a provided transcript and aims to capture the essence of the podcast episode while omitting advertisements and non-content segments.

Transcript

[Tarek Malik]

Coming up on this Week in Space, the private Polar Fram 2 crew comes back to Earth. NASA's Starliner astronauts speak out. And why is everyone so mad at Katy Perry? Launching on blue origin. We'll find all that and more, plus tariffs in space. So tune in.

[Podcast Announcer]

Podcasts you love from people you trust.

[Rod Pyle]

This is Tilt. This is this Week in Space, episode number 155, recorded on April 4, 2020 25. Space News you can use if you're not stuck on the iss. Hello, and welcome to another episode of this Week in Space, the cool space news you can use if you're not stuck on the ISS edition. I'm Rod Pyle, editor in chief, Van Astor magazine. I'm joined by that space ace new hound, Space Ace newshound, I might say. Tarek Malik, editor in chief of space.com. hello, partner.

[Tarek Malik]

Hello, Rod. Hello. Happy Friday. Happy Friday.

[Rod Pyle]

Happy Friday to you.

[Tarek Malik]

Or podcast day, we should say.

[Rod Pyle]

Right? And. And your custom made, very cool sweater.

[Tarek Malik]

It's nice, isn't it? My wife made this for me. That's my favorite color, so it's orange for people who aren't watching.

[Rod Pyle]

So nobody's ever made me a sweater. So we're going to talk later. Today we're playing catch up with cool space news because we kind of got behind the eight ball due to having a slate of really good guests. But for the next hour or so, we're going to make that up to you by covering a full range of topics, from Butch and Sunny's wild ride to orbiting the Earth's poles to mysterious Russian orbiters. Now, before we begin, please don't forget, do a solid. Make sure to, like, subscribe and the other cool podcast things so that we can keep bringing you this fine content. And now a space joke from, and I quote, Andy Water. Andy Watterson's daughter, Merritt Waterson. Merritt Etarik.

[Tarek Malik]

Yes, Rod?

[Rod Pyle]

What was the name of the nuclear physicist best friend?

[Tarek Malik]

I don't know. What?

[Rod Pyle]

Adam.

[Tarek Malik]

Adam. Oh, like.

[Rod Pyle]

Like an atom. Okay.

[Tarek Malik]

Yes. Up and at them.

[Rod Pyle]

Got it now from Megan on Discord. Hey, Tari.

[Tarek Malik]

Yes, Rod?

[Rod Pyle]

Why don't planets ever speak the truth?

[Tarek Malik]

I don't know. Why?

[Rod Pyle]

Because they prefer to spin.

[Tarek Malik]

Oh, I like that. I got that one. I got that one. Faster.

[Rod Pyle]

Okay, one more. One more from yours truly. Why did America win the space race?

[Tarek Malik]

Why?

[Rod Pyle]

Because the Soviets were Stalin.

[Tarek Malik]

Gotta think about that one, right?

[Rod Pyle]

Wow, we got the torches of the pissforts. Okay, I've heard that some people want to send us to a Russian gulag when it's joke. Time in this show. But you can help by sending us your best, worst or most different space joke to us at Twistwit tv and we'll be your huckleberries. Oh, speaking of which, how sad is it that we lost val Kilmer at 65?

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, he was young.

[Rod Pyle]

I didn't realize he was younger than me because as bad as I look, he doesn't. Didn't look younger than me, but he had been through some pretty heavy stuff.

[Tarek Malik]

But star of Red Planet, the sci fi movie, you know, before Matt Damon.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, for the show that's appropriate. But I mean, if you're going to talk about starring roles for him. Tombstone, I mean. Yeah, yeah, that was just, I don't.

[Tarek Malik]

Know, Top Gun was quite good. But you know where I first, I first saw him in Top Secret. Do you remember that? Yeah, that was the first movie I ever saw him in.

[Rod Pyle]

So that was funny. Yeah, well, we'll see about. All right, let's jump into some headlines because this week we're all headlines, all the time.

[Tarek Malik]

Headline news. Oh, I missed it again.

[Rod Pyle]

We, we need to name her. Who is what? Who is that? What are we going to call her?

[Tarek Malik]

Well, we should like. How about the people help us decide. Let's get some suggestions.

[Rod Pyle]

There we go.

[Tarek Malik]

The listeners on the podcast.

[Rod Pyle]

I was thinking Carla, but it could be anything.

[Tarek Malik]

Well, it could be Astronautica. It could be like who is the, the queen in, in. Was it Millennium or whatever that was, that, that, that Fritz. Fritz movie, you know, Fritz.

[Rod Pyle]

Metropolis.

[Tarek Malik]

Metropolis, yes.

[Rod Pyle]

Mechanical lady. Yeah, I don't remember her name. All right, let's actually do something productive here.

[Tarek Malik]

You're just the one too.

[Rod Pyle]

Oh, Ramp two. This is a cool flight. So they're back. But, and I think we touched on it last week, but can you give us a recap? I mean, because this is. It didn't get as much airplay as the Polaris missions. At least I didn't. I didn't think it did.

[Tarek Malik]

Well, it didn't. There's a reason. Yeah, there's a reason for that.

[Rod Pyle]

But it's cool because it was polar and nobody had ever done that before, not even anything like it before.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, this. So this is hot off the presses because as we are recording this, the astronauts are being plucked from their capsules if they haven't already been out in the Pacific Ocean. But SpaceX's latest private orbital mission, Fram Tomb, which was financed by cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang, I think of Malta, just returned to Earth after a four day mission. So it was a very, very Short mission. They launched this week, they landed this week. And. And as you mentioned, Rod, this was the very first ever in the 60 plus years of space exploration flight that sent astronauts over Earth's poles. And that's because most of them always kind of go either on an equatorial direction or in an inclination that can reach the space station. What is that, like 52 degrees? Something like that?

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah.

[Tarek Malik]

And. But Chunwang is an explorer. He. He has, you know, gone to the poles, he has climbed mountains and he wanted to go see Earth's poles from space. And they named it after a famed FRAM polar expedition with, you know, ships and stuff like that.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, okay, the ship was called fram. It was Edmundson going to the Antarctic.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I knew that you would know more than I did about that, Rod. But that's why it's called the Fram 2 mission. And. And it seems like it went pretty smooth. But you are right. For a private mission, we had a lot less ballyhoo about this flight. Apparently by design. It sounds like Chunweng didn't really want as much pomp and circumstance as what Jared Isaacman has done. You know, Isaacman has really wrapped his Polaris dawn and his inspiration for missions in philanthropy, in, I don't want to say activism, but like awareness and whatnot, where he was really trying to push every little aspect of it to drive fundraising and that types of things for St. Jude's and this one was really kind of dedicated to, you know, June's desire to see the Earth's poles as well. I think they did 22 different experiments. Some of them were photographing the auroras while people on the ground photographed the auroras from the surface, that sort of thing. But we didn't see anywhere as near as the in depth media run up to it. And even like during flight, however, one thing that was different, they had like video snippets, almost like cell phone videos of what life was like on the capsule every day. And it seemed like that Starlink connection that they've added to these spacecraft is really paying off that they can get video. I think as he was being strapped into the capsule, he was tweeting out live video about what that was like. It was pretty crazy to see.

[Rod Pyle]

That's cool. All right, next up we have from Space News, we have the first launch of Kuiper Internet satellites.

[Tarek Malik]

That's right. Starlink. Eat your heart out. We're just talking about that.

[Rod Pyle]

Five days.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, April 9th. You know, as we are recording, this is the launch date for. For Amazon's first batch of Kuiper satellites. This is. They're going to launch 27 of these Kuiper Internet satellites. Of course this is Amazon's answer to SpaceX's Starlink which has had such a leg up and I think what, how many years, Rod? About two, three years to really solidify its hold on space based Internet.

[Rod Pyle]

Well what are they up to? 3,200 satellites?

[Tarek Malik]

Well, they've launched for over 4,000.

[Rod Pyle]

Over 4,000. So Kuiper, even if they're more efficient, they have some work to do to catch.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

Even think about catching up.

[Tarek Malik]

Amazon is planning a constellation of 3200 satellites all, all in orbit to, you know, provide maximum coverage of Earth at high speeds for Internet. And so this is their first mission. It's called Kuiper Atlas 1 because it's launching on an Atlas 5. In fact, I've heard that this is going to be the heaviest Atlas payload ever for.

[Rod Pyle]

So at least they get to use their own engines, right?

[Tarek Malik]

Yes, yes.

[Rod Pyle]

So there is that their own rocket.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, so and so. So it'll be, it'll be interesting to see how this mission goes. If you might recall, Amazon launched kind of like a Pathfinder set. I think it was two Pathfinders in recent years to see if the technology was ready. It sounds like it was, but it's been a bit of a road to get here. In fact, the folks at Blue Origin that were also working a little bit on this had to really kind of push and whatnot is what I've heard through the grapevine. So we'll see, we'll see how this does because they have confidence that they're going to be able to have this operational constellation fairly in short order. And it's based in Kirkland, Washington, you know, which is kind of very close to where Blue Origin is based as well.

[Rod Pyle]

And the home of all the best cheap generic brands at Costco.

[Tarek Malik]

That's right, apparently.

[Rod Pyle]

All right, so from People magazine, that's a first.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

We have Olivia Munn complaining about the all females Blue Origin space crew for the next suborbital launch of.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, and I Shepherd, I picked this one. Yeah, I picked. So. So April 14th is the launch date for Blue Origin's next crude space flight. And it is organized and led by Lauren Sanchez, the fiance of Blue Origin's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos. And Sanchez has put together kind of like an all star list of scientists and, and singers. Katy Perry is one of them, Gayle King, the news reporter, another. And the whole big thing is that they're all, it's an all female crew. So it's the first all female crew since Valentina Tereshkova launched in the 60s. Right. So it's the very first time that they've done this. And for whatever reason, this one Blue Origin mission is spawning such hate or anger or like drama online. You know, they've launched. How many of these, Rod? Like, like a good 10 or 15, right?

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tarek Malik]

I think they just had their 10. They've launched a lot. They've launched several times over the last two years and, and this is the one that is getting the biggest backlash. I didn't see this backlash when they launched William Shatner to space or Michael Strahan to space or even Wally Funk, who at the time was the oldest person. Right. That they launched into space on that first flight. Or even when they launched Jeff Bezos to space. You didn't see, you didn't see this much backlash. And Olivia Munn, I'm pointing it out here because I've seen her comments just echoing throughout the general culture sphere. New York Post has it, people has it here, but she wasn't the first. A lot of the kerfuffle started a week or two ago with other people complaining about how they were. That this is the dumbest mission ever that they're saying. And the only thing that strikes me, and perhaps it's just, you know, my lens, is that it's, it's an all female crew and it feels like it's open season on this mission, you know, and, and I don't know, I don't know. What, what do you think about that, Rod? About the fact that, that there's this big pushback against it in these times.

[Rod Pyle]

It's hard to be surprised by much of anything. Yeah, but, but with you. I'm with you. It's. It is kind of weird because there's certainly been other missions you could criticize if you're going to. And especially because, you know, this is a privately funded, low resource mission that talks about a terrific waste. It's a suborbital flight for six minutes. It's like a couple of jet airliners. I'm minimizing it a bit, but you.

[Tarek Malik]

Know what I mean, I understand the point. Just don't get me wrong because space tourism is a fabulously, like, I'm not trying to target what I'm trying to say. It is a spectacularly like, like example of conspicuous consumption. Right. So, and, and we are in, you know, some tough times economically wise. We've just got these tariffs which I think we're gonna talk about in a little bit. And we were talking about the price of eggs earlier. This is not gonna lower the price of anyone's eggs like this, this launch.

[Rod Pyle]

Okay. But we may be able to deliver them from point to point by starship soon.

[Tarek Malik]

There is that. There is that. But anyway, I just, it's something to watch. And everyone out there, you make, you make the call. Why do you think this mission is being such blasted so publicly whereas the last 10 have not been? Just think about that. I want to know your answers. So send us some, send us, think.

[Rod Pyle]

About that and send us your answers after we come back from this break. We will be right back. Stand by.

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[Tarek Malik]

Sorry, I didn't mean to give everybody homework, so.

[Rod Pyle]

It's okay. This one's on you, pal. Are you ready?

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

From Reuters. Tariffs in space. Now what? I just said it like your name.

[Tarek Malik]

What a tariff.

[Rod Pyle]

Tariffs in space. So I'm, I'm letting you take all the credit for this one when the, when the mail comes in, but go for it.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah. Well, this one, I mean, people, these are, these are really fresh. Like as we are speaking, I think we have what it's been just like less than 48 hours since the, the new tariffs.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah. From the carpet market shock is still sinking in.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah. That was yesterday when everything cratered and went through the floor. It's the lowest stock, the huge, the biggest drop in since 2020, since the COVID basically. But I'm asking the question because I don't think that we know what's going to happen yet. But for people who maybe, you know, you know, didn't see the news, the government in the U.S. the Trump administration, released a sweeping wave of very high tariffs across the board. I think 10% from most countries. China is 34%, the UK is 10%. And we run a surplus with trade for them. And, and it's going to touch on everything from cars to all sorts of technical imports, steel, all of that stuff. And so the question that Reuters is talking about in this article here as well as the Times before is what is that going to mean for the aerospace industry? You know, we have talked a lot about international cooperation. A lot of the companies not only have international partnerships, but they rely on parts that are made in other countries to build their vehicles, their planes, their, their spacecraft, whatnot. I mean, think about Northrop Grumman, Rod. Right. They build the Cygnus spacecraft, but it is, it is a pressure vessel built for them in, in Italy and, and then shipped to the United States. Exactly. And so, so like, what, what is the tariff on that gonna be? I don't know. Right. And, and so it seems like the, the, the, the economy specialists in the Aerospace industries, particularly in the European Union, which did get hit fairly hard, are keeping a close eye on all of these, all of these components, all of these industries. You have got Airbus that needs to ship their, or not Airbus, Ariane Space that builds their rockets and then has to ship them all the way down to Karu, you know, and, and from different parts all around. There's a lot of moving parts in this whole industry and it's unclear to me how that's going to be affected. In fact, we've got a story in the works at Space all about that that you'll probably see next week. Maybe we'll talk about it on the show. So this is just something that I want to put everyone's on everyone's radar because it could touch everything that we consume here because much of the stuff that we buy or need or whatever is imported. But the same is true for these companies. You know, SpaceX probably not so much. They build a lot of their components in house and almost all of them. Yeah, almost all of them, yeah. And when they've had some failures, it was a third party part that they ended up replacing in house in the past. But what about Boeing? What about Northrop Grumman? What about Lockheed when they're trying to build the things that we need for these launches? We'll have to wait and see.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, and things that NASA may need as well.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, I mean, this is why ULA shifted from the Russian engines to their, their new ones for, for, for the Vulcan rocket. It is why Blue Origin built their own engines. No one wants to have to deal with importing those critical parts. And it's why, you know, that Northrop Grumman is building a new version of their Antares rocket that doesn't use, you know, a boost, a stage built from Ukraine. You know, they've had to really shift away from that.

[Rod Pyle]

Very good points. All right, I'm gonna skip one down and go to. SpaceX is going to be flying a test run soon, we hope, for the US military to deliver cargo anywhere in the world in less than 90 minutes with the rocket car Vanguard program.

[Tarek Malik]

Do we hope, do we hope that that's going to happen soon?

[Rod Pyle]

Well, you know, I, I'm kind of neutral on the military aspect, I guess, but the reason I hope that is because it will give them a hobnail boot to the posterior to get going with Starship, because they're by rough estimation in my mind about five years late. Well, can I just add one more thing?

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Rod Pyle]

Keep the, the, the test Landing zone Appare is going to be my favorite place in the planet. Johnston Atoll in the central Pacific. There are concerns about seabirds and sea life and so forth. And if you've ever been to Johnston Island, I mean it is designated a natural preserve now and part of the Pacific Wildlife Heritage Trust or something. I don't remember the name, but it's a protected area. But Johnston has been a military dumping ground in the Pacific. I mean, other than the places where they tested atomic bombs, Johnston's about as bad as it get. I was there there once for a few hours transiting to the two points west from there. And it looks like when you're coming in, it looks kind of like an aircraft carrier. It's this big rectangular thing in the middle of, literally in the middle of nowhere, 700 miles from Hawaii. And it's a kind of a dump. You know, it's a sheared off. Because the Navy's been there a long time. They were using it from World War II on, certainly. And it is known for a place where you can land and refuel an airplane and where they used to have a single building down at the end of the airstrip where they would burn bioweapons that were no longer necessary. So that's the kind of place it is. So while I understand, you know, we have to be cognizant of species and so forth, of all the places where you could get concerned about, you know, which, which fish or birds are going to piss off and literally it's small. I mean it's just big enough to land a 727 and take off again, which is why they fly 727s down there. Because it's too, too darn short for was. I don't think they're using it for that anymore. Too darn short for like real airplanes. So it's, it's an interesting. So anyway, sorry, that was, that was kind of my take on it.

[Tarek Malik]

Well, well, I mean, I take the point, I take the point. Although, like while it's small for airplanes, it's not small for the birds that are there. You know, I, I understand why the people are upset, but this isn't Anything new for SpaceX, by the way. We should tell people. So this Rocket Vanguard thing, it's starship. The Air Force wants to explore using starship for point to point cargo transportation in the solicitation or announcement in the federal registry about what these are. It's, you know, it's, it's a, it's a Vanguard thing for up to 10 reentry landings per year over four years to test and demonstrate these capabilities to deliver 100 tons of cargo. Wherever 100 tons of cargo is the payload manifest at least currently for starship. So that, that's the vehicle that we're talking about, the world's largest rocket. They want to land that on this remote atoll in the South Pacific. And the concern, at least from the American Bird Conservancy, they sent out a blast today. But this story was also reported by Reuters earlier this week to say that, that they're really pushing to stop it because they saw what happened in South Texas where Starbase is, where the first launches destroyed a bunch of really invaluable nests for some, Some birds I think that are either at risk or, or on, on the endangered list. But they said that there are something like there's some species where there's only like 70,000 of the birds ever, like, left on the planet where, which is like, as I understand it, small for birds. I don't, I don't. I'm not an ecologist at all. But that this is like their main, their main stomping grounds and having, you know, the world's largest rocket land here, possibly crash. Right. We don't know.

[Rod Pyle]

It's. It's a, There's a big downside there.

[Tarek Malik]

It's significant, you know, but, but, but.

[Rod Pyle]

I would ask, you know, if it's not fair to ask a conservancy group this question. I'm just spitballing here, but if you're going to object to that specific place, help us find one that is okay. Like Mojave Desert, right, Or something. Somewhere. Well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Tarek Malik]

All right.

[Rod Pyle]

I mean, wherever you go, you're probably going to upset some part of the ecosystem. That's the nature of human beings. I mean, we're kind of parasitic that way. Right?

[Tarek Malik]

What is, what is stopping the government and the military from just building the platform right offshore of the place? I mean, it's Space X run by the world's richest man. They could. They can afford to build their own thing. Right?

[Rod Pyle]

But we know he doesn't spend money unless it's in his own interest.

[Tarek Malik]

I'm just saying. I don't think. I think just. Or, okay, yeah, okay.

[Rod Pyle]

Or do what they did in the Galapagos, which is there was one island that, that had a terrible rat infestation, so they took everything else off that island and put it in temporary holding pens. And other islands, birds, turtles, a breed of pig or boar, a bunch of other stuff physically transplanted it temporarily long enough for them to kill off the rats who were an invasive non native species and then bring them back. So you could certainly transplant things for less money than you could build a seagoing platform. But yes, your point is taken.

[Tarek Malik]

I understand. I don't think it should be on the ecologist to find another site. They could just say, hey, look like, take this into consideration. But I don't know.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, that's because you're not a boomer. I lived in the age of progress in the space age. But well, where there was no conservation, it's like, hey, leaded gas is good.

[Tarek Malik]

It goes on.

[Rod Pyle]

Okay, we got to go to another break. We'll be right back. Stand by.

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[Rod Pyle]

Okay. Were you done with that one?

[Tarek Malik]

I'm done, yeah. I just. Okay, well, we'll wait and see. We'll see what happens. Right? We'll see what happens. There's got to be a place out there.

[Rod Pyle]

That's kind of how we're looking at everything these days. All right, now this is a big one. Ars Technica. Eric Berger, our friend of the show.

[Tarek Malik]

Oh, yes.

[Rod Pyle]

Put out an article about the Starliner flight in which he related how he had a chance to talk to Butch Wilmore and he was supposed to have a 10 minute slot at the end of a very long press day. But he and Butch apparently get on well. So it went on for half hour plus and wow. Apparently that flight was a little, little more contentious and scary than we had been led to believe.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, this is a good one.

[Rod Pyle]

Thrusters went out, but we didn't realize it was like life threatening in the way that it was.

[Tarek Malik]

I think that we all thought it, I thought it was really concerning. Right. Those thrusters get out, they're not at the space station, they don't know what's going to go on.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, I thought it was concerning, but, but we kept saying, okay, there's one. Oh, there's three. Oh, oh, there's five. Oh, no, it's not a four. You know, it's like somebody was, was rolling the dice. But as I understood the way those clusters work, I thought, well, that's okay. Until you discovered that most ones that went out were all pointing one direction.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

And then suddenly you have maneuvering issues to get out of orbit and that gets scary. So take it away.

[Tarek Malik]

Well, I have to admit I actually missed the big press conference this week with Suni Williams and Butch Wilbur talking about it. But it sounds like from this article in looking through it that, that Eric put together, it was, it was stuff that came after the fact that we didn't hear there. But it was very interesting to see how candid Butch was in describing what it was like both to pilot, to pilot the Starliner. Because he did say in the public, well, I guess the, the wider press conference that he enjoyed that aspect of being really hands on with the, the vehicle being able to have that, that kind of, that kind of control. But yeah, it seemed like it was a lot hairier than it appeared to maybe a lot of us on the ground. I thought obviously they were in a good fit of Trouble when you lose attitude control and you're in free drift, which they were. That's not a good place to be when you are on a brand new spaceship and real close to a great.

[Rod Pyle]

Big metal object in orbit.

[Tarek Malik]

Exactly.

[Rod Pyle]

You don't want to bump into.

[Tarek Malik]

Exactly. And it really is a good. Read this article by, by Eric. I really, I really encourage it because it isn't like you aren't hearing the descriptions of what happened filtered through Eric's voice, which is always a great voice. Right. This is really kind of a transcript of what they were saying was going on. And it is extremely interesting. There will be books written about this if there haven't already been. Right. Rod, about all of this. And so he's talking about how they're losing the thrusters and now they're single fault tolerant for the, for the loss. And they're really starting to.

[Rod Pyle]

Meaning that they're right on the line.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, and he's like, we're supposed to leave the space station and, and how are they going to be able to get through all of this? It's just, it's just crazy. And so it is really great. And they also praise the people in mission Control that are doing all of the Tiger teamwork just to make sure that they can get to the space station, let alone, you know, do the other tests and maneuvers that they were going to be doing.

[Rod Pyle]

It did cause you to wonder. This is one of those, this is the kind of question that somebody should be asking me and I should be able to answer and I wouldn't be able to answer, which is if they had had a maneuvering problem sufficient that they could neither get to the station nor get back, which, you know, is, is unlikely, but possible. In any case, how long would it take to cycle up one of the spacecraft on the ISS to perform a rescue?

[Tarek Malik]

I don't know. I don't know. That's a really good question. Could they even do it, Rod?

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah.

[Tarek Malik]

How would they do it? Right. The, the suits that they had on Starliner. I'm glad that we didn't have to find out the answer to this because the suits that they had on Starliner are those, those Boeing pressure suits.

[Rod Pyle]

Right, Right.

[Tarek Malik]

And I don't think they're rated for full vacuum. Neither are the SpaceX suits, which presumably you would need. Right?

[Rod Pyle]

No, but. Well, I don't know how different the ones on Polaris dawn were, but they're rated, they are pressure suits, not EVA suits. And my understanding is the differential is primarily about wear points and Thickness and all that for safety reasons. But they are designed to be at full vacuum for as long as they have to be to get the astronauts back safe. So if you're not, you know, moving the joints a ton and rubbing up against stuff, I think that's the whole point of them.

[Tarek Malik]

It's like you, you're expected detached, not. How do you get out of the spaceship?

[Rod Pyle]

Well, that's the. You'd have to be on umbilicals. And that means that you then have to, I guess, uncouple and recouple in the spacecraft that's rescuing you. Which, of course, the Boeing suits aren't standard, so to SpaceX and vice versa. So I don't know how they do that. And that probably argues for standardizing suit fittings and couplers and things.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, kind of important. I think that's, that, that's one of the biggest lessons that I think that NASA should have learned from this whole thing. It's great to be a customer and it's great to tell them what you need and that's what they did for these two companies. But perhaps pushing for that kind of interoperable. Interoperable. Inter.

[Rod Pyle]

Interoperability.

[Tarek Malik]

Interoperability. I still can't say it. I think it's great because you get in a car, you know how the car door works. It works very similar to every other car door. Right. And, and so. Or the lights on the cars, that kinds of thing. I think the only time I've had a problem is when I bought a Saturn, my space car, and you had to use special tools to open things. And that was really annoying. And so, so I hope that there is that kind of thinking going on for the future. If there's ever another evolution of this is to find that kind of system where they can just ship up an extra suit and it fits because they can plug it into whatever. Or an adapter. Just have someone build an adapter, you know.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, and certainly if you're going to have to go EVA for a rescue, you should have. And they may have. I don't know this one way or the other. We should look into it, probably whether they have one of those small emergency backpacks or not.

[Tarek Malik]

Or the bubbles. Right. Those, those bubbles.

[Rod Pyle]

Those never went. The bags where you. Yeah, it got zipped inside. Yeah, I don't, I don't. I guess they, they tested them, but I don't think they ever tested them.

[Tarek Malik]

I would freak out so much. Oh, yeah, vacuum bags.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah.

[Tarek Malik]

And then it gets snagged in the hatch and then you can't get in or out of the spacecraft. I'll be. I would freak out.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, this should be in the right position to kiss the proper part of your anatomy goodbye. So, okay.

[Tarek Malik]

I've never claimed I'd be a good astronaut. I've never claimed it, so I know I wouldn't.

[Rod Pyle]

You know, when I get that flop sweat in between floors on an elevator when it slows down too much. Let's get one more in. Before the break. We have some, some mystery Russian objects in space.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

My friends, Cosmos 2581, 2582 and 2583. And Cosmos is funny that they continue that on for the Soviet days. Cosmos was always the designation for satellites that they didn't want to talk about. And now there's three more they don't want to talk about, conducting what we politely call proximity maneuvering tests, which basically amounts to potentially intercept to destroy or intercept and grab tests. Yeah. Which are making people nervous.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah. So these spacecraft, they all launched on the same Soyuz rocket in February on the second, I believe, as we're recording. And, and because they military satellites, they have that Cosmos designation, so that's, that's how you know that, that they're probably some kind of government or military type function. They also launch from Plasetsk, which is the, the northern, most concentrated, I think Plesetsk is in Siberia. Is that right? Yeah. And, and so they do a lot more military flights out of there. And in March, the people that track these satellites, Jonathan McDowell and others, noticed that the three of these satellites, these three satellites were all kind of hovering around each other doing different types of, of approaches and whatnot. And that's why they think they're doing proximity operations to study how to do, you know, reconnaissance or investigations in space. And on March 18th, as they're doing these, the US Space Force, which tracks all the objects around, all the satellites around, found a new object in the orbit which they think might have been released by the Cosmos 2581. So it's a satellite that spit out another satellite and they don't know what it is. So that's the, that's the cloak and dagger aspect of all of this. What are these three satellites doing? What are they deploying in space? What are they testing? Because it could be anything. It could be a target. Right. Like a, like a debris capture target. It could be some other kind of target. You know, it could be for formation flying. It could be a docking target. We don't know. And it could be a science experiment, too. So there's a lot.

[Rod Pyle]

That's a good point. You know, it could be nefarious from our point of view or it could also be completely neutral.

[Tarek Malik]

Could be an accident, could be debris.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah. I mean, to be square about it, Russia hasn't been flying a lot of pure research stuff lately because their space budgets in a shambles and their space programs in shambles for reasons we need to talk about, but. And we fly the X37B which is also secret, but at least according to the third party observers who are the ones I think we have to believe in this case, our spacecraft doesn't seem to be carrying out anything quite as suspect as what we're seeing with Cosmos. And frankly, the Chinese are doing this a few years back as well.

[Tarek Malik]

And they've seen these kinds of things with Chinese and Russian satellites too in like in the past.

[Rod Pyle]

Right.

[Tarek Malik]

So they've seen these kind of trios doing work. It's just really strange to see it and then it begets another satellite. Like what is, what is that up to? So you know, you can, you can expect that the Pentagon's watching it pretty closely right now.

[Rod Pyle]

The machine overlords are spawning at last. Quick, get Leo in here. They're having babies.

[Tarek Malik]

Just be nice. Always say thank you to your robot, right?

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah. Because there's a story in the Times.

[Tarek Malik]

Today about humanoid robots and how there's a company that's selling ones that can help out in your house using AI.

[Rod Pyle]

And also if they want to, because they also will have you alone in the house at wee hours of the morning and you have to sleep sometime. I should tell my girlfriend. Okay, let's run to our last ad break and we'll come back with Starship Test 9 used rocket anyone? Stand by.

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[Rod Pyle]

And we are back with more ad breaks to come.

[Tarek Malik]

As I was you said but you.

[Rod Pyle]

Said, but I said, you said Starship Test 9 coming up. And I believe they've no, they haven't been cleared for Test 9 yet. They got cleared or tests for the results of test seven, which was explosive. But they're still investigating test eight, which means that they're not yet cleared to schedule a date for test nine. My brain hurts. But one thing that's very cool about it is that they're reflying one of their boosters. Now that strikes me as a little odd considering that the upper stage can't be reflown because they keep blowing them up. But you get your progress where you can and it's going to use 29 used engines.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, which is not only that, it's a big week for Starship for SpaceX, because NASA added Starship officially to the launch offerings that SpaceX can offer NASA this week. And then this happened where SpaceX took the Flight 7 booster, which launched in January, and then they put it up on a testam and did the static fire for their next flight with mostly reused engines. 29 of the 33 on the first stage. Which is crazy that, that they were able to do that with confidence that it wouldn't just blow up. Well, crazy in a good way, right?

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tarek Malik]

And I just, you know, it's, it's enormous. Again, I mean, I've told you this, I've been there. You can stand across the street from, from that giant thing to see it, but.

[Rod Pyle]

Yes, because people pay you to travel. Well, yeah, unlike some of us space journalists.

[Tarek Malik]

We should, we should hit the road. We should hit the road, cry, be a river. Yeah, you can stay on the floor of my hotel next time I get to go there. How about that, Rod? How about that, right? Or we'll get, we'll get like a, like a, one of those futons creating.

[Rod Pyle]

Disturbing images, but go ahead, please, just get a dog in bed.

[Tarek Malik]

No, so, so we saw this iterative approach that SpaceX took in the early days of the Falcon 9, where they did the test fires, they did the, the little hopping at their McGregor site in Texas, and now they're taking the next step. Elon Musk has said that the whole point of Starship is that it's a fully reusable vehicle. Now, as you point out, they have not managed to reach orbit with the new version that debuted in January and then again in March. Both of them failed during, during ascent, but the two boosters themselves did not. And they were able to catch one of them. I think one of them, they redirected out to sea, but, but they've, they've, they've managed to catch it a few times now and so they think that they can turn it around at the pad and try this, this reflight. So that will be a really big win if they're able to do that, especially if they can fly most of the engines again. And that is what I am a bit more impressed by.33 engines of this Raptor 2, and they're building these at record paces to be able to accommodate such a massive booster. So it, I think that it'll be very interesting to see how this flight pays out, but there is a lot of road to go. SpaceX doesn't really know why the starships failed. The vehicles, the ship vehicles themselves failed on, on the last few flights, they did change the design from the previous ones all the way up to Flight six. And that could be a factor. There's something in that design that isn't working the way they think it is. But you know, two of those have failed. The boosters themselves seem to be getting all of their, their, their kinks ironed out and, and so it'll be interesting to see if they can cross that, that threshold with the upper stage and finally reach orbit and then reuse both of the things because then you've got maybe something that you can scale up to reach the flight rate that they'll need for this point to point stuff we were talking about earlier.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, and Orbital fuel language and for.

[Tarek Malik]

Orbital and for Artemis and for the crew stuff, you know, and for Mars as well. All of that stuff is hinging on this reusability. And at least they're like one step closer with this test.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, and I, I'd have to think that. And maybe we have some people that have been with us on the show that do have NASA access. It would be interesting to ask. But I have to think at this point there are some nervous folks wondering about how soon, if ever this is going to make sense for a lunar lander. Now to be, to be fair, you know, two, two or three flights of a new design do not something robust make and they've done it very quickly. And when you look at that, you know, you start complaining about that versus the SLS, which is at this point about a 22 year project and has only flown a couple of times. SpaceX is still really killing it and it's impressive and they're willing to hang their underwear out in public and have failures like that. It's just. Yeah, I'll tell you, I would be.

[Tarek Malik]

More concerned, I would be more concerned if there was actually a functional Boeing Exploration upper stage for sls, something that there was a very clear alternative that could carry a different type of a design. Because right now even if there was another design for, for a lunar lander, there's still no rocket to carry it. Right. Except for, for what starship would be.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, or you just break up the flights. I mean it's, you would have to, you would have postulated. And I will add we have an article coming in the next edition of AD Astra, which will be out in a few months. Not, not this one that's coming out a couple of weeks, but in a couple of months about the idea of segmenting this into the new, new Glenn and Falcon Heavy, which could easily transport the components needed to be linked up and used for a lot less money than we're spending. But that's, that's a show unto itself and actually we should get somebody on who's, who's fluent in that. That would be interesting. That would, that would really talk about the alternative approach.

[Tarek Malik]

And I'll just, I'll close off. There was this one last idea because I fully expect and believe that once, once SpaceX is able to figure out both the ship, vehicle in a way and I think they'll do it quickly and, and the booster like, like they've shown that it will be like scaled up massively. Very, very quickly. We just passed what recently. 400, right? 400 plus landings for, for, for Space X, for the Falcon 9. And they didn't start landing them until it's only been 10 years and 400 times they've done that in 10 years. I mean, what the NASA launched, they launched like four space shuttles a year.

[Rod Pyle]

You know, and that's, let's not forget an environment where nobody ever landed a rocket back.

[Tarek Malik]

Exactly. Ever. Exactly. So, yeah, on ships moving in the ocean. So anyway, I think that we're gonna get there, but it, well, it's, it's, there's, there's, there's rose to hoe is all I'm saying.

[Rod Pyle]

You know, let's, oh, and you got it right. Yeah, I thank you for that. So it's not roads. Let's do one more before we go to our next ad break. How about Japan's jaxa? Their space agency is planning to send many, many rovers to Mars and a lander to Phobos. And it's interesting, they're looking for rides, but it's interesting that they're finally jumping into this. So, you know, they, they tested some of this technology already on the moon, but the idea that they could get multiple mini rovers down and they're talking about using one of these soft fabric expandable decelerators like NASA tested. And the article in Space News says. Oh yeah, NASA tested the ldsc, is that right? Low, yeah, a few years back. But that article claimed successfully. And if you recall having Rob Manning on here, who is the chief engineer on that, I don't think they ever had a complete success.

[Tarek Malik]

They flew, they flew two different designs. They flew, one was successful, one I think spun out.

[Rod Pyle]

The big one, the data, not.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, so now this is interesting. I actually was glad that you had flagged this one because I saw Jeff Faust piece. This is from Jeff Faust at Space News and it actually is a presentation that the new Director General of the of Japan's Institute of Space and Astronomical Sciences gave. It's part of jaxa, the Japan Space Agency gave at the National Academy Space Week this week on April 1st. So it was not an April Fool's joke that they want to do this, but they are, they are looking at this inflatable re entry vehicle. It's like a heat shield to allow them to land bigger things on Mars. And what they think that they can do by using these decelerators is really scale up what they deliver.

[Rod Pyle]

Sorry. So let me just jump in for a second. So the idea behind these big soft decelerators is. Yeah, you can expand them much larger than the diameter of a rocket ferry and they can make it to Mars. If you don't use something like that, you have to have a small hardened heat shield, which becomes problematic. What is weird however is they're talking about 200 to 440 pounds of deliverable mass to the Mars surface, which is half the weight of the Mars Pathfinder, which was already tiny. So they're talking really small machines.

[Tarek Malik]

They're small rovers so they would, you would expect they would be small but built to be capable. Right? Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

You still need a lander platform so you're getting down to rovers that are probably like £15 a piece or £25 a piece.

[Tarek Malik]

I think, I think it'd be very interesting to see if you really in fact did so. This inflatable aeroshell, by the way, this heat shield is designed to slow a lander down substantially more without the need for a really, really big and expensive and heavy supersonic parachute that you need and that hard aeroshell that Rod was talking about earlier. And, and I would say that if you coupled that type of a thing with you know, additional of these rovers, maybe those rovers themselves are surrounded in airbags. You really don't need a lander at all. They just pop, pop, pop like popcorn and then they inflate on the bottom. That's just one concept. But, but you know, it depends on, on really how the nature of the mission is, is going, is going to be. They, they think that they've got this strategic fund of something like a trillion yen that's $6.7 billion over 10 years to advance one of the technologies they think will really bring Mars within reach for surface exploration. And JAXA already has their, you mentioned their slim moon landing moon lander which had a auger in approach that like. No. Landed on its nose and then spit out a camera to take a picture of it, which was spectacular. But they've got a mission, their Martian moons exploration mission to go to Phobos like you said and collect samples and bring them. Bring them back. I, I think. Is that right? No, just.

[Rod Pyle]

No, I think they're just examined there because sample return is even for a Martian moon. Yeah. Well, I'd be all for it because we, we hear nothing but sadness from that tale. We have to go to one more break real quick and let's come back and talk about carnivorous dust devils on Mars, because that's cool.

[Tarek Malik]

Cannibal. Cannibal dust devils. Yes.

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[Rod Pyle]

So our friend Perseverance took a series of still pictures of a dust devil that was moving, quote, erratically, unquote, which sounds more like a police report than one for the Perseverance rover. And then another littler one popped up and they merged and one devoured the other. And that's really kind of the extent of the story. It was just such a cool headline. I couldn't resist.

[Tarek Malik]

It's right, by the way, Rod. Rod picked a gizmodo version of this story, which just had the picture of the dust devils. And so that's why I replaced it with the JPL one on. If we're showing it where you. You can actually see the dust devils moving around.

[Rod Pyle]

I thought the one I put had a video link too, didn't it?

[Tarek Malik]

I didn't see it in the shell at the top, but I could be wrong. I could be wrong. I apologize. But you can see if you're watching our, our, our YouTube stream or, you know, elsewhere, you can see there's this one really strong dust devil, like a cyclone on the Martian. Was it a desert floor? You know, and then you see the smaller one come up behind it, smack into it, and then, like, it just gets all torn apart.

[Rod Pyle]

Hey, buddy. Ow.

[Tarek Malik]

I know what I like about this view, because it's a landscape view, is that in the background you can see another dust devil just kind of going on its own way. Going. I don't want any part of that. You guys are all up to yourself. It's way in the distance.

[Rod Pyle]

This reminds me of class every day in junior high school, right before we went in the showers and got. Got beat up.

[Tarek Malik]

I want to hear what it sounds like there. You know, I want. We have to know. Yeah, I know, but I want to hear that dust devil like, like smacking into the other.

[Rod Pyle]

What if it screams like an angry person?

[Tarek Malik]

Wouldn't that be cool?

[Rod Pyle]

Or maybe it sounds like the Tasmanian devil.

[Tarek Malik]

But these are, by the way, they're not small. They're not small. The larger dust level that we're seeing in this image is 210ft wide. That's 65 meters. The smaller one was only 16ft wide. And then you can. There's two other ones, so I missed it.

[Rod Pyle]

There's.

[Tarek Malik]

There's, there's. There's that one in the background around the Midwest. But then there's another one that's somewhere else. I can't find it.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, oh, I do.

[Tarek Malik]

I see it now. It's on the left. It's on the left. You can see it way far away. Wow, that is awesome.

[Rod Pyle]

So all of you people out there in audio listener land, this is what you're missing by not getting the video stream which is available for only $7 a month and, and free of course on YouTube. One thing that this did remind me of seeing the dust being blown around like that is that weird paper that came out recently that was sh. Shocked I tell you to find that Martian regolith is probably toxic to human beings.

[Tarek Malik]

That's right.

[Rod Pyle]

Now I'm sure that there was hoping there was some level of misrepresentation there because we've known pieces of that story for decades about perchlorate and people. So maybe this was just putting a fine point on it. But I thought that was kind of weird when I saw that. It's like yes and yeah, I know, right? You know, perchlorate's bad for us. Got it.

[Tarek Malik]

Maybe we just need a reminder before we start sending like all the people we can fit in a starship there. Right.

[Rod Pyle]

So this one I want you to just take and run with. It's our asteroid 2024 yr 4 update.

[Tarek Malik]

Right. Do we, do we do the law and order? The. Yeah. There was a study that came out this week or recently actually where you know, this is the asteroid, asteroid, was it 2024. I'm gonna get this wrong. Asteroid 2024 yr 4 that was discovered over Christmas time and, and we saw what was it was. I think it was February. Oh my gosh. It's going to kill us. No, it's not going to kill us. It's the highest risk ever. Wait, no it's not. You know, it's up and it's like Katy Perry going, going, going on her launch. It's up and it's down. Right.

[Rod Pyle]

Except she, she won't be running into the moon, we hope.

[Tarek Malik]

Well there is that and I'm going to, I'm going to touch on that. So at the end of, at the end of that month they said they were going. They had gotten time on the James Webb space Telescope to point it at this asteroid so they could actually see how big it actually is. And they were able to do that and James Webb was able to pin down the size of the asteroid. You know the, they think that now it's about 200ft wide. So it's a little bit, a little bit bigger. It's the size of I think a like the Empire State Building type of a thing at 15 story building. Yeah. And the empire is like what, 30 stories, something like that? Yeah. So 60 meters wide. And, and so, so they know that, that it's not as, it's not as, it's not as nebulous like what the size is because of they had a range before. Exactly, exactly. And so, and you can see like the images that they captured from James Webb [e-mail] but also from the Space Telescope Science Institute for what they were able to see. And similarly they were able to use those James Webb information and this is the second link John, that we've got there to take another look at what the impact probabilities are for, for the Moon and those they were able to.

[Rod Pyle]

Observe it long enough to narrow it down further.

[Tarek Malik]

Exactly, yeah. And so, so they, they did say that, you know, as of, as of those observations it did increase a bit the chance of it still still like astronomically small. 96.2 chance that it's going to miss the moon.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah, but it almost doubled. I mean there's, there's two ways of looking at. It went from 1.7 to 3.8.

[Tarek Malik]

3.8. Exactly.

[Rod Pyle]

To show.

[Tarek Malik]

Exactly so, so, so those are the two big findings. I think that we're, you know, we've still got some time, We've got what between now and 2032, like help me out with the math. Seven years. We've got seven years. Right. So John is giving me a thumbs up. So before this, before this asteroid swings by to, to see how things go. But the, the it is smaller than we thought because the upper range was 300ft per before. So that's good. And now the upper range is 200, 220ft and it has a higher chance of hitting the moon, but still like an astronomically small chance of hitting the moon.

[Rod Pyle]

So. Well, and this, this gives better cause for setting up on the lunar poles because it's a lot less likely to smack into a pole than somewhere roughly equatorial.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, yeah. But man, can you imagine we have a moon base there that is sitting there waiting to wait.

[Rod Pyle]

That's what I was saying. Yeah, yeah. Go down the South Pole where you can hide in the dark.

[Tarek Malik]

That's right.

[Rod Pyle]

Let's see. Which one do you want to do?

[Tarek Malik]

Immortal duke on on YouTube says we'll just jump up before it hits, you know, so that way it misses us.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah, it's like, like jumping in the elevator right before he's the ground. I thought this was kind of cool. I called it Scat Lunar Dust Firefly. NASA just announced from something that was actually published a Couple of weeks ago. But I just saw it was Firefly Aerospace's lander Blue Ghost. Blue Ghost, right.

[Tarek Malik]

Blue Ghost, yes.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah, we knew they had an elect.

[Tarek Malik]

To be confused with Space Ghost.

[Rod Pyle]

So there is my favorite as a.

[Tarek Malik]

Kid.

[Rod Pyle]

I actually saw it the first time set up an experiment using electricity or electrostatics to repel lunar dust, which had been talked about a lot because lunar dust is highly staticky, which is one of the problems. And if you saw, if you ever flipped through a book of or website pictures of the Apollo program when they got those longer moonwalks from Apollo 15 through 17, those guys come back, came back in the lunar module filthy. Their pristine white suits were dark gray and there was dust everywhere. And it's a real problem. It's abrasive, somewhat toxic. But worse than that, you can get asbestosis from it because the fibers get in your or the little sharp bits that have never ever seen weather of any kind get in your lungs and possibly kill you besides messing up your equipment. So it's important to figure out how to do mediation for this. So for years there's been a talk about, well, when they go in the airlock, we'll hit them with a sonic bath or you know, dump antifreeze on them or there's all kinds of ideas of how to do it. I'm exaggerating, there's. But electrostatically is a really cool idea. So this is called the electrodynamic dust shield.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah. And in fact, John, before you go on, Rod. John, if you hit that play button, if it works, we should be able to see this in action while Rod is talking about what it is. So. All right, go ahead, Rod.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah. Oh, that is. I actually hadn't seen that. Yeah. I wouldn't call it a video, but it's a. Like a JIF loop. Yeah. You know, this is going to be a real problem on, on the moon and Mars. So the fact they were able to actually do this little experiment, remember this mission was short. It was only a couple of weeks. It had to be on one lunar day. So I'm. I'm so impressed with what Firefly did.

[Tarek Malik]

What a lander when that was. Right.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah. Given the other ones that have have augered in and you know, no ding on on the other companies and countries, it's hard. It's hard to do. But Firefly nailed it on their first outing. And to be able to actually pull off this experiment and have it show something repeatable. And this was first proposed in 1967 and apparently would work For a variety of objects, including solar panels, possibly windows.

[Tarek Malik]

And even spacesuits, radiators too, which you need to shed heat, you know, spacecraft, I mean.

[Rod Pyle]

Right.

[Tarek Malik]

The example that we were seeing in the video for folks watching was NASA testing it both on glass and also on thermal radiator material. And so, you know, you need glass for your windows so you can see outside and you need, or for your gauges that you need to measure for instruments and whatever. And the radiators like we're talking about are kind of key to shed heat for any kind of, of heat exchange that you're going to have on your vehicles themselves. And so, you know, this is just like a, I think this was what the Clips program, the commercial Lunar Payload Services program was for, was to take an idea, this technology, actually test it to see if they can do it on the moon and then they can implement that if they want to with the higher tier missions with the people that are going to land there with the factories or manufactories or whatever you're going to do. So very, very, very cool stuff. And I think the closest to sci fi that we're going to get this year, possibly on the moon. We'll see, we'll see.

[Rod Pyle]

Part of what Clips is for, I mean part of it also was, hey, if you land there and pick up a rock or some dirt, we'll pay you for it. You don't have to bring it back, just pick it up. Which was a really interesting way to kind of introduce this whole conversation of I wouldn't say property rights because that's not cool under the Outer Space Treaty, but resource allocation, we could say, I.

[Tarek Malik]

Don'T know, that's what we pay like Amazon for or the supermarket. They go pick up our groceries and put it on a shelf for us to go there and pick it up. Right? Go to the store.

[Rod Pyle]

Oh, oh, talk about a right turn. Pick a last story for yourself.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's been a week, it's been a week and a half, but I, I really think that we should end. Actually we don't have a lot of stories left, Rod. We almost got through them all.

[Rod Pyle]

We may have one or two more, but you go ahead and take your question.

[Tarek Malik]

We got spin launched, you know, and I think that we should, should go ahead and talk about spin launches. Plan to launch 250 satellites at a time into space. Into space. These micro satellites to, to do broadband capacity in a constellation that they're saying is going to be far and above the types that we have available now. And, and why spit launch is cool is because instead of using like actual chemical rockets from the ground, they're going to like slingshot them halfway up this giant, this giant centrifuge thing that spins and spins and spins and then, and then it goes straight up. And then a rocket, once it gets at its apex, ignites and launches the thing into orbit. And so this is a very novel approach I think to the. Well, constantly. Excuse me.

[Rod Pyle]

It's, it's, it's interesting, it's novel and yet it's as old as science fiction, right?

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

And the. In the late 1800s and what kind of strikes me about it is these things are going to be subjected to like 10,000 or more GS, which. Oh yes, you got to really hammer proof those electronics. What I could not find anywhere was the actual. I know that the test object, at least the last one was 10ft long. It didn't. I couldn't find anywhere the specs that said the diameter of the actual launch tube, the diameter of the vessel is a few hundred feet. Excuse me, the centrifuge itself that spins this thing up. But I could not find the diameter of the exit tube. It looks to be about three feet.

[Tarek Malik]

It was small. It wasn't big at all. But that was their prototype though because it didn't actually go to space either. It didn't go suborbital when they did that. I think they're based out in New Mexico. Is that right?

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah, they're at the spaceport.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, that's what I thought at Spaceport America. And so, you know, if they wanted to launch bigger payloads, they do have to have a bigger vehicle. So. So I am waiting planning.

[Rod Pyle]

They're going to scale it up by I think a factor of three, right?

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah, yeah. And they're, they're receiving 12 million in funding from Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace to develop and commercialize satellites. And so they want to have a. Demonstrating an on orbit demonstrator launched by next year. Which suggests, Rod, that their concept is fairly mature. Right. If they think that they could try this next year, it is either that or it is very, very straightforward to scale up like you were just talking about there. Because the physics are fundamental. You know, it's, it's a, it's a, it's a sling basically.

[Rod Pyle]

It's a real basic works or it doesn't kind of thing there. There aren't a whole lot of fine points. Once it exits the canon, if you will, the centrifugal accelerator, you know, it's it either goes high enough to escape the gravitational well or it doesn't.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah. Yeah. And so they're calling this their. Their. Their Ace Constellation to achieve significantly, and I quote, higher broadband capacity in a satellite constellation compared to with what is available on the market today. And what is available on the market today? Starlink. Right. And the other. The. The two others, you know, you got Kuiper and you got the other one.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, their main point is that they'd be able to. Even if. If starship brings down costs a lot, they should still be able to do this for much less than one.

[Tarek Malik]

Web is the other one.

[Rod Pyle]

And. Oh, okay. And they're hedging their bets by reminding us all that it's roughly 70, 80% less invasive in terms of resources.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

Because they do need an awful lot of power, but they're not burning up hydrocarbons, you know, and there is a.

[Tarek Malik]

There is a. John, There is a video on that page. If you scroll down, you'll find it too.

[Rod Pyle]

So. Well, you are working this poor guy to death here.

[Tarek Malik]

I know.

[Rod Pyle]

Minding his own business on his treadmill, watching us do our thing. And you're working him to death.

[Tarek Malik]

Kudos, by the way, John, for the treadmill. That's pretty cool that you're able to get that thing. I should do that for my video game. Thank you. I. I appreciate it. It's been. It's been nice. It's been nice.

[Rod Pyle]

Aren't people that engage in fitness irritating, Tara?

[Tarek Malik]

I don't know. I've lost £11 in the last. The last month.

[Rod Pyle]

Oh, I. I'm just waiting for you to get.

[Tarek Malik]

You teed me up for that. You knew? I'm proud of it. And you wanted me to share it with the world.

[Rod Pyle]

How many pounds have I lost since January?

[Tarek Malik]

How many have you lost?

[Rod Pyle]

Almost 20.

[Tarek Malik]

Wow. Even better.

[Rod Pyle]

But you know what? The thing that. That I noticed when I was way younger than you are is that when you reach a certain size and you lose 20 or 30 pounds, people look at you go, did you change your hair? Is your mustache longer? You know, they don't get it until it's like £50. And they go, oh, you're skinny. You look better when you were fat.

[Tarek Malik]

Oh, no, no.

[Rod Pyle]

So I. I would like to queue up the video on line 30. Tarek predicts the future. There he goes. We got to hear the audio question.

[H]

Of how accessible these programs will be to the average person, not just the super super.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, talk about space tourism.

[H]

I'd like you to listen Assessment of Chris Anderson, he runs Space Adventures which provides private space flight programs. Let's listen.

[Tarek Malik]

Within the next 10 years there will.

[Ad Announcer]

Be literally thousands of people going to space every year. And so it's certainly not millions like in civil aviation, but it's a heck of a good start.

[H]

Is he optimistic or is he right?

[Tarek Malik]

You know, if you had asked me, you know, a decade ago if he was on the right track, I would say he's dreaming. I look like a baby. You're watching this industry develop over the last 15 years like I have. You know they're up until now only about 550 or so people have flown in space. SpaceX, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, they're not building a spaceship for one person. They're going to be carrying seven people at a time on these vehicles. If Bigelow Aerospace builds their space station, that's six people. Oh, that didn't age well. He has set his sights for space hotels on the moon. They're not thinking, oh doesn't it? No wants to put people on Mars in the next 20 years, so how.

[Rod Pyle]

Hard could it be?

[Tarek Malik]

I think that if they can get this, the cost down, we're seeing that with reusable vehicles that we could see this whole market change as swiftly as what Eric is saying.

[H]

Well, you're a space guy. Do you ever dream of this actually being something that you might do?

[Tarek Malik]

Wow, I look so young.

[Rod Pyle]

You're a handsome lad once.

[Tarek Malik]

I probably still have those.

[Rod Pyle]

Of course you still are. Yeah, right somewhere man.

[Tarek Malik]

But that big old aerospace thing that did not age well. Well, not at all. Right.

[Rod Pyle]

Well you know it was tough because at that point we were hearing I.

[Tarek Malik]

Still have the glasses, they're my computer glasses now. The same exact ones.

[Rod Pyle]

Oh, trip down memory lane. So at that point, you know, we were hearing just the first inklings of Starship and the incredible things SpaceX was doing. And of course in, in to an extent it's very self interested of course but the industry, the space tourism industry such as it was, you know, was, was gassing off about oh yeah, how hard could it be? There will be thousands and thousands of people going into orbit because economy of scale and everybody want to do it and all that. Well, you know we're still up in the hundreds in terms of people that have gone to orbit and in the what probably just in the double digits in terms of people who've done suborbital. So it's not quite working out that way. And the endless news station stories we heard and read about the space, you know, the gigaton space hotels that were going to be built. Because how hard could it be? Well, as it turns out, it's really freaking hard. And I think people that had a good sense of this at that time knew it was pretty hard and thought, well, okay, so, yeah, it hasn't quite worked out, as we hope, but fingers crossed, you know.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah. Well, you know, by the way, for some context, that that clip that you just ran was from CGTN America. So it's like the. The English Chinese news agent agency, part of their CCTV. And. And that was. It was eight years ago. So eight years ago was 2013. Is that right? So. Oh, wait, what's. What's. What's 20. 2017. 2017. Wow. We know where the math skills lie.

[Rod Pyle]

Thank goodness we can write.

[Tarek Malik]

But. But, but, man, I have to say the. The one little thing from that, if you look at that clip online, because I don't know if Rod's going to include the link. The CGTN was the first agency or group ever to call me an astro journalist, which is what we were calling myself, my friends and I, when I was in college, trying desperately to try to figure out what I was going to do with my life.

[Rod Pyle]

It was a.

[Tarek Malik]

It was a validation.

[Rod Pyle]

You look like a Fox News reporter. That. In that still clip that we're seeing for those.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah. You know, so there's two outfits. There's this one which is the. A blue collared shirt with the red tie and the black sport coat. And then I have one that is the red collared shirt and the blue tie, and I would interchange them.

[Rod Pyle]

Oh, so you're crossing party lines. I got it. All right, well, thank you for allowing me to run that, which, of course you did, because I didn't ask you. Yeah, it was fun to go back into a time warp and none of us would have guessed any better.

[Tarek Malik]

So I'm not digging so much more hair.

[Rod Pyle]

I'm not digging you at all for that. It was just. I stumbled upon it by accident completely. And I thought, God, that guy looks kind of like tart. Wait, that is tark. Says astro journalist. All right, everybody, thank you so much for joining us today for episode 155 that we call Cool space news that you can use if you're not stuck in the ISS Tarek, where can we find you? Battling Dr. Sloan these days. Did I get that right?

[Tarek Malik]

Well, Dr. Sloan. Well, no, that. That was like three chapters ago, Rod. But I really applaud you for the effort. Right, so Dr. Sloan was a villain in Fortnite.

[Rod Pyle]

Everybody, Grandpa looked it up all by himself.

[Tarek Malik]

No, actually, you can find [e-mail], as always, as Rod alluded to, you can Find me on YouTube playing video games, Marvel Rivals and Fortnite and others at Spacetron plays. This weekend, you will find me doing My Taxes Part one. But also I will be at the Northeast Astronomy Forum in Suffern, New York on Saturday. It's a two day astronomy conference. They bill it as the world's largest astronomy expo, where you can see all the latest telescope and skywatching equipment. Eileen Collins will be there. Hoot Gibson, astronaut extraordinaire, will be there. Sarah Seager of MIT will be there to talk about exoplanets. So I really suggest if you're in the New York area or you want like an hour long trip, you know, it's a short day trip out to upstate New York, get on a train, head over there. It's going to be a lot of fun. And it's all put on by the Rockland Astronomy Club at the State University of New York in Rockland Community College.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, geez. Well, now that you've spent 10 minutes promo ing that I should mention also in, let's see, just a Scotia over two months, Tarek and I will be at the International Space Development Conference in Orlando, Florida, which is put on by the National Space Society, my, my employers and Tarek is going to be getting the Space Pioneer Award. Thank you to him. By me. And it's a big metal, heavy metal globe, so watch out. It might be worth coming just to see what happens with that because last year, no, two years ago, when I gave it to Pascal Lee, I, I, I threw it on the ground. No, I made a mock up of it that looked just like the real thing. But we got into a tug of war over the award because I pretended that I wanted it. Then I made sure the fake one fell on the ground. And there is an audible gasp from the audience, which was my intention. But anyway, this conference is the highlight of my year. It's usually about 1000 to 1200 people that get together. And it's for everybody. We have the same, most of the same guests you just mentioned, but a number of astronauts. Jared Isaacman's going to be there.

[Tarek Malik]

Oh, by that time, possibly NASA probably.

[Rod Pyle]

Yeah, the NASA chief, Greg Autry will be there. Of course, number three in the agency, a number of writers from Ad Astra, you, Pascal, who we've had on the show, and just a whole bunch of, I think we have six astronauts coming, number of senior NASA officials and so forth. So it's a good time. I like it just because I get to hang out with my tribe and I don't get that blank stare that I so often get when I talk to people about space stuff and they go, can you get away? Can you back up three feet so I can run away from you, Please.

[Tarek Malik]

The blinking stares of.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, yeah. And what's more fun than Orlando in the early summer, right?

[Tarek Malik]

Well, yeah, I, I, I, I look forward to being there. Much of my family's going to come out too, because not only are we going to go to istc, but we're going to go ahead and check out Star Wars Land at Disney World or maybe go see a rocket launch or seven, depending on how many space is going to launch that week. Right.

[Rod Pyle]

Well, and that's what's remarkable. I mean, I know I've related this before. The last time I was in Florida, I was up at KSC at National Space Society headquarters, which is on the Kennedy Space center in the Kennedy Space center and saw two SpaceX launches in the same day, about four hours apart. Now, it's amazing enough that they do that on two separate, separate coast, but, but to do it from the same general area within a mile or two of each other, which they did this week too.

[Tarek Malik]

Yeah.

[Rod Pyle]

Breathtaking. Yeah. And of course I got that Dr. Sloan thing in there. I'll have to do better research next time. You can find me at pilebooks.com [e-mail] and maybe playing in a tiddlywinks tournament at a derelict gas station down the road because I don't live the high life long like Tariff does. Please remember you could drop us a line anytime at Twisted Twit tv. That's Twisted Twitter tv. We welcome your comments, suggestions, ideas, read every email and somebody, usually me, will reply to them. New episodes of this podcast publish every Friday on your favorite podcast, podcast or venue. So make sure to subscribe. Tell your friends, give us reviews. And I know I always read that quick, like I'm just trying to get out of the way, but I really mean it if you tell. Word of mouth is you can't buy that, so, so if you, if I could, I would. So if you don't mind, please tell people if you enjoy the podcast because we need your love. And of course, don't forget we're counting on you to step up and join Club Twit sometime this year because supporting, besides supporting Twitter in general, would be supporting us and who brings you more love on a weekly basis that Tara could Rod and bad jokes you. You will get video streams on your your podcast venue, although you can still see them for free on YouTube, so don't worry. But there's a lot of extras available there and it's just good juju for everybody. So if you want to keep the electrons flowing your direction, join Club Twit. You can also follow the Twitt Tech Podcast network at Twit on Twitter and a Facebook @Twit TV on Instagram. Tarek, my friend, yes, it has been a pleasure and a joy.

[Tarek Malik]

It always is, Rod.

[Rod Pyle]

Always is. And I will see you and everybody else next week. Peace.

[H]

Hey buddy, are you a geek? Are you a tech enthusiast? Then I would love to invite you to join a tech community like no other. You can gain exclusive access to our incomparable quality tech content for just $7 a month. With Club Twit as a member, you'll enjoy all TwitTV shows ad free plus access private video feeds for insider shows like iOS Today, home theater geeks and so much more. Dive into the members only Twit plus bonus feed for behind the scenes content club discussions and special events. But here's the best perk. Join our incredible Discord community to watch live show productions, chat with hosts and participate in exclusive members only activities. It's your backstage pass to the world of twit. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or a lifelong learner, Club Twit elevates your knowledge while entertaining your interests. Get two weeks free when you sign up now for $7 a month and unlock unparalleled access at Twit TV Club Twit. That's Twit TV Club Twit. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you and welcome to the club.

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