Universe Today Podcast

BONUS PART STARTS AT 24:29
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GfEzOHGoAuU
🟣 Guest: Amy Haft
📜 Spacecraft electrostatic tractor using a power-constrained pulsed high-energy high-current electron beam https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027311772600075X?via%3Dihub
The number of satellites constantly grows. As the result, space debris is becoming more and more of a concern. A new study suggests using practically real-life Star Trek tech to use an electron tractor beam to tug broken satellites around the orbit.
00:00 Intro

01:11 The state of space debris

04:25 Satellite tractor beam

14:07 Alternative applications

24:29 Tracking objects via plasma trails

39:23 Current obsessions

44:29 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 17:23
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4uPUdm7WP9o
Can we deploy a huge fleet of amateur telescopes to image a single planet? If the Voyager crashes into something, will we know that? What's the point of studying gravitational waves? And in Q&A+, does the starless galaxy have any planets?
00:00 Intro

00:27 [@liamdobbyn6167] Fleet of amateur telescopes on TRAPPIST-1

06:28 [@SpaceGeekSheri] Would we know about it if Voyager crashed into something? 08:12 [@deant6361] Will New Horizons end up leaving the solar system?

09:07 [@davidevans6487] Can we use radiation of space to power spacecraft?

11:16 [@JuanMendez-zh2ez] Why study gravitational waves?

17:23 [@christiandesalliers] Are there planets in Cloud-9?

19:18 Astronomy Cast

Here’s what might delay Artemis, New Glenn flies again, but there’s a problem, Voyager 1 has to shut down another instrument, Vera Rubin is finding so many asteroids. And in Space Bites+, an incredible image to celebrate Hubble’s 35th birthday.
00:00 Intro

00:18 Potential bottleneck for Artemis https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/whats-the-deal-with-spacesuits-for-the-moon-will-they-be-ready-in-time/

03:20 China Shows Off a 5-Meter Rocket Module https://www.universetoday.com/articles/china-unveils-a-massive-5-meter-composite-module-for-its-next-generation-reusable-rocket

06:20 Success and Failure of New Glenn NG-3 https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/errant-upper-stage-spoils-blue-origins-success-in-reusing-new-glenn-booster/

08:25 Voyager Shuts Down More Instruments https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyager/2026/04/17/nasa-shuts-off-instrument-on-voyager-1-to-keep-spacecraft-operating/

11:08 Vera Rubin Discovers A Lot of Asteroids https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-vera-c-rubin-observatory-has-discovered-11000-new-asteroids-and-its-barely-even-started

12:36 Vote results

13:06 Organics on Mars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/msl-curiosity-found-new-organic-chemicals-on-mars-proof-that-the-planet-can-preserve-ancient-biosign

15:09 Roman’s Ready to Launch

16:51 SPHEREx Mapping the Sky https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-spherex-telescope-just-mapped-the-cosmic-ices-that-will-someday-build-planets

18:05 The Universe in X-Rays https://www.universetoday.com/articles/behold-the-solar-system-in-all-its-x-ray-glory

19:18 More space news

20:20 Complexity of the interviews

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:29
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ouw_AobGQ2M
CosmoQuest Artemis Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUhAPm8PNdY
CosmoQuest: https://cosmoquest.org/
What could the great filter be? How visible is the human race to outside observers? How would astronomy work in a cosmic void? And in Q&A+, what would happen if a black hole suddenly approached?00:00 Intro
00:26 [@moosekeeto] What could the Great Filter be?

02:17 [@wookalarcentral] What do cosmic coincidences mean?

04:24 [@MikeD_] Could advanced civilizations communicate in a way we can't detect?

06:05 [@doogle4144] How 'visible' is the Human race?

08:56 [@mmorgan7212] How would astronomy work if we lived in a cosmic void?

13:40 [@AEFisch] Why do scientists call a black hole a singularity?

16:28 New citizen science project

🟣 Guest: Dr. John Banovetz https://www.bnl.gov/world/
📜 Uncovering the Next Galactic Supernova with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.12094
We should be getting 1-2 supernovae per century in a galaxy like the Milky Way. Yet, the last one observed was about 1000 years ago? Where are all the galactic supernovae? Why don't we see enough of them. Can Vera Rubin help? Finding out in this interview.
00:00 Intro

01:41 Supernovae in the Milky Way

09:33 Why don't we see the supernovae

13:32 Vera Rubin 24:37 Working with the data pipeline

39:10 Current obsessions

41:08 Final thoughts