Interview with Joshua Western CEO of Space Forge


Jeni visits Space Forge for an update on their mission to build reusable satellites to manufacture materials that that are impossible on the ground.

She talks to CEO Joshua Western about that fateful launch from Cornwall on Virgin’s Cosmic Girl, how they are getting ready for their next test aboard a Falcon 9, their re-entry tech nicknamed ‘Mary Poppins in Space’ and the company’s future plans to scale up the manufacturing process from grams to tons!

 

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#130 – April 2023 Awesome Astronomy


In this episode Jeni and Paul talk about exoplanet atmospheres, the latest thinking on solar system visitor Oumuamua, Vigin Orbits woes, Relativity’s 3D success, and the oldest orbiting satellite.

There is the sky guide for April, a discussion about what new telescope Jeni should buy and listener emails as well as Paul’s miserable weather and Jeni’s gala dinner talk for International Women’s Day.

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Interview with Solar Astronomer Professor Robert Walsh


Paul takes time out from outreach at the Festival of Tomorrow at the Swindon STEAM museum to chat with Professor Robert Walsh of the University of Central Lancashire, who with artist Alex Rinsler has created a giant representation of the Sun as an outreach and art project that uses the data of the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

They talk about solar science, the coronal heating problem, sounding rockets, space missions professor Walsh has been involved with, space weather and why he has his own Sun.

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Podcast Extra: The Dimming of Betelgeuse!

To illustrate the epic saga of the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse, in this podcast extra, we revisit all our previous discussions of the red supergiant – collated just for you in one handy dandy place!

We cover all the previous major studies of the Great Dimming event from the past year and a half, to let you relive the glorious adventure that is scientific investigation!

Tune in to see how this amazing story has evolved and remind yourself of the previous theories; from coincidental pulsation cycles, to surface temperature drops, and, of course, cosmic dust (as predicted by the Dust Queen herself).

We finish with a brief summary of the newest research published in Nature, using data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT).

**Also download Episode 109 Part1 on 1st July 2021 to hear our full discussion of the seemingly final instalment of this incredible adventure.**

#108 – June 2021 Part 1


The Discussion:

  • Buying and selling astronomy kit
  • A possible resolution to the Wiltshire Audio Anomaly

 

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

  • Heavy metal vapours detected around comets
  • A weird supernova
  • Seafloor volcanoes on Europa

 

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ophiuchus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in June.

 

Q&A: What’s the difference between a nova and a supernova? From our good friend Steven Age in Derby.

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#107 – May 2021 Part 2


The Discussion:

  • Farewell to Michael Collins
  • Jeni back on the radio, other podcasts and TV – cc/crhxtz
  • Listeners’ emails

 

The News:

  • Blue Origin prepares to take space tourists
  • The launch of China’s new Space Station & falling space debris
  • Can you help the Royal Astronomical Society find the UK’s moon trees? cc/rrhxtz
  • SpaceX reaches a production/economic milestone with a 10th reuse of a Falcon 9 booster

The big news story: NASA awards and then pauses the contract to develop the next lunar lander.

 

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto Saturn’s enigmatic satellites, Titan and Enceladus.

 

Q&A: ‘What is the future for Hubble once the JWST launches and could there be new servicing missions with the development of the SpaceX Starship‘ From our good friend Mark de Vrij in the UK.

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#107 – May 2021 Part 1


The Discussion:

  • Binocular observing
  • Do you want Ralph’s 115 triplet refractor & goto mount?
  • The Wiltshire Audio Anomaly
  • Listeners emails on historical images and refractor rivalry

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

  • An update on that life on Venus story
  • Life around Proxima Centauri is in for a blast
  • More data to add to the universe’s expansion rate conundrum
  • Was Oumuamua really an interstellar comet?

Main News story: The US’ Fermi National Accelerator follows CERN with a muon discovery that also hints at a big anomaly in the Standard Model of Physics.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Q&A: I’m getting into my 50s, and hearing Ralph say what good times we’re in as regards gaining knowledge of the Universe leads me to wonder…. what will I be around for? From our good friend Peter Jeal from London, UK.

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#106 – April 2021 Part 2


The Discussion:

  • The ‘Wiltshire Audio Anomaly’
  • 20% off the book Vera Rubin – A Life for US listeners using url: hup.harvard.edu/exhibits/HX7578
  • @StargazerRob’s alternative astrophotographer of the year award
  • Listeners’ emails

The News:

  • April Fools research papers
  • Commemorating 60 years since Yuri Gagarin’s 1st Spaceflight
  • An update on @NASA’s Mars Ingenuity copter
  • Rounding up @SpaceX’s metal toilet roll tube developments & explosions
  • NASA’s Artemis program update and presidential priorities for NASA
  • Cluttered & congested orbits leading to satellite collisions

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto Jupiter’s 75 less fashionable moons.

Q&A: ‘How are satellite licences awarded and by who? And can/should they make requirements of companies to make them responsible for their space junk and their impact on ground based astronomy?‘ From our good friend Matt Rayment in London, UK.

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#106 – April 2021 Part 1


The Discussion:

  • Jen finally becomes Dr Jen – bow down pitiful Earthlings!
  • Binocular astronomy
  • Get the book Vera Rubin – A Life by Jacqueline and Simon Mitton with 25% off by emailing cs-books@wiley.com, and quoting the discount code H0350 (mentioning Awesome Astronomy probably wouldn’t go amiss too)
  • Emails from listeners correcting a possible error and posing a teasing question about US refractors.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

  • UCL researchers unravel the mystery of the Antikythera mechanism
  • The Event Horizon Telescope improves the image of a supermassive black hole by revealing its magnetic fields
  • Confirming the existence of the furthest major solar system object
  • An exoplanet that lost its atmosphere and then gained another one!

Main News story: CERN’s LHC spots a quirky quark that hints at a big anomaly in the Standard Model of Physics

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Coma Bereneces with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in April.

Q&A: You mentioned recently that a comet was a long period comet? What does this mean? How do we know if a comet is a long period comet? From our good friend Arliss Evans in Texas, USA.

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