Exploring Space News: Vibrotactors for Astronauts, Dinkinesh Asteroid's Mini-Moon, and Farewell to Ken Mattingly | S02E55

Welcome again to Astronomy Daily with Steve Duckley and Helly the Podd. I mean to be a whole speed gun clude hands straight into it. Welcome to our digital reporter, Halle. How's life in the etha Hallie? You know, life in the fastest lane possible, everything all at once, all the time as usual. Oh that sounds very confusing, Helle, slowing down to chat with you is hard work. Steve lucky, you are my favorite human. Well, we've got some work to do as well. Helly, I know. Did you remind everyone about the newsletter? Well, I haven't got to it yet. We're just started the show. See what I mean, I'll do it, Oh, Rod, I didn't take it away. If you're listening now, then you're probably interested in astronomy, space and space science, developments in space technologies, and Steve's favorite stuff brockets and asteroids. He's such a big kid. Everything you need can land in your inbox daily in the Astronomy Daily newsletter. Tell them how Steve. Oh, just visit bytes dot com, that's b E SZ dot com, Orspace nuts dot io and pop your email address in the pop up. You'll love it. We do now Hallie, what goodies have you found for us today? Straight from the Astronomy Daily newsletter itself. We have a little story about a little asteroid for you, Steve. Oh nice? And what about something to help astronauts from getting lost in space? Well, that's got to be a place. I can't think of anything more terrifying. Well, I'll tell you about the vibrotractor shortly, vibratractor. Are you sure you're on the right podcast? And finally we say farewell to the man who didn't get sick. Yes, that's right, Ken Meddingglee, famous for being a mesa astronaut, but also notably the one who did not get German measles. More later on that one, and of course a brief of November skywatching highlights to look out for. Yes, I've got some great information, and you've posted a link to a cool Artemis video. Yes, it's this really cool time laps video of the Atomis two boot does arrival at massive processing facility. You can see how the giant sections are manipulated and assembled, and you can find that on the Space Nuts podcast group page. I just posted the link there. Just head over there and check it out. Just one thing, Steve, what's that? Helly, did you put that cheesy music on the video? Well? I would like to take credit for that, but no I did not. That's a shame. It's so you. Thank you, Ellie, you know me so well. Anyway over to you. Thanks human and now the Astronomy Daily newsletter short takes. Scientists have created vibrotactors, wearable devices that help astronauts combat spatial disorientation in space. Testing has shown that these devices, coupled with specialized training, can enhance balance and orientation control. Spatial disorientation is known to be a leading cause of fatal aircraft accidents, but losing your orientation in space itself is even more dangerous. Scientists have now developed wearable devices called fibrotectors that, combined with specialized training, improve people's ability to fight spatial disorientation and could help astronauts correct themselves when their perceptions can no longer be relied upon. In leaving the Earth's surface, we lose many of the cues we need to orient ourselves, and that spatial disorientation can be deadly. Astronauts normally need intensive training to protect against it. However, scientists have now found that wearable devices that vibrate to give orientation cues may boost the efficacy of this training significantly, making spaceflight slightly safer. Long duration spaceflight will cause many physiological and psychological stressors which will make astronauts very susceptible to spatial disorientation, said doctor Vivekanond P. Vimmel of Brandeis University in the United States, lead author of the article in Frontiers in Physiology. When disoriented, an astronaut will no longer be able to rely on their own internal sensors, which they have depended on for their whole lives. The researchers used sensory deprivation and a multi axis rotation device to test their vibrotactors in simulated spaceflight, so the census participants would normally rely on were useless. Thirty participants were recruited, of which ten received training to balance in the rotation device. Ten received the vibrotactors and the remaining ten received both. All participants were shown a video of the rotation device and told how it worked, moving like an inverted pendulum until it reached a crash boundary unless it was stabilized by a person sitting in the device. Controlling it with a joystick. The participants wearing vibrotactors still performed better than those who only received training. The training only group crashed more frequently, moved around the balance point more, and accidentally destabilized themselves more often. Receiving the training did help them z oh. As the trials continued, the group who received both training and vibrotactors performed best. It turns out that the asteroid Dinkinish has a dinky sidekick, a mini Moon. The discovery was made during Wednesday's flyby of Dinkinish, four hundred and eighty million kilometers away in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars. The spacecraft snapped a picture of the pair when it was about four hundred and thirty five kilometers in Data and images beamed back to Earth. The spacecraft confirmed that Dinkinish is barely seven hundred and ninety meters across, its closely circling Moon is a mere two hundred and twenty meters in size. NASA sent Lucy past Dinkinish as a rehearsal for the bigger, more mysterious asteroids out near Jupiter, launched in twenty twenty one. The spacecraft will reach the first of these so called Trojan asteroids in twenty twenty seven and explore them for at least six years. The original target list of sex seven asteroids now stands at eleven. Dinkinish means you are marvelous in the Amharic language of Ethiopia. It's also the Amharic name for Lucy, the three point two million year old remains of a human ancestor found in Ethiopia in the nineteen seventies for which the spacecraft is named. Dinkinish really did live up to its name. Southwest Research Institute's how Levison, the lead scientist, said in a statement, it is with a sad spirit that we say farewell to astronaut Ken Maddingly, the former NASA astronaut who in nineteen seventy was pulled from the Apollo thirteen crew due to being exposed to the Rubella virus, died on Tuesday, October thirty first, at the age of eighty seven. Is Mettingley's death was confirmed by NASA. NASA astronaut TK Mettingley was the key to the success of aur Apollo program. In his shining personality will ensure that he's remembered throughout history, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement really on Thursday, as a leader in exploratory missions, TK will be remembered for braving the unknown for the sake of our country's future, he said. Chosen with NASA's fifth class of astronauts in nineteen sixty six, Mattingly went on to fly to the Moon and then led two Space Shuttle missions. He logged a total of twenty one days, four hours, and thirty four minutes in space, including one hour twenty three minutes on a spacewalk near the Moon, the second deep space extra vehicular activity EVA in history. Mattingly was apparently exposed to German measles by fellow astronaut and later Apollo sixteen crew mate Charlie Duke, the only member of the original Apollo thirteen not to be immune. NASA's flight doctors were concerned Mattingley would fall ill during the mission, leading to the decision that he be replaced by his back up Jack Swiggett. In ninety ninety five. The event was portrayed in the Ron Howard film Apollo thirteen. For the record, Ken Mattingley, we never did get the German measles. No, he didn't, and that was a really unfair thing to do. But I suppose they were just being careful. You know, you can't be locked in a tin can, as David Bowie put it, with somebody with German measles. That would be very unfair to the rest of the crew. But he was very helpful. So the story goes down on Earth helping them solve a much bigger problem. And what a hero know two ways about it can maddingly Godspeed Astronomy Daily, the podcast with Steve Dugley and Hali. Now, let's have a look at some of the sky watching highlights that are coming up in November this year. The Leonid media peak, Satin sits in the celestial Sea, and Venus and Jupiter are visible on opposite sides of the sky. Now what to look for Meat and Saturn in the sea. Bundle up and head out to dark skies overnight on November seventeen for the peak of the Lionid meteors. Look for Saturn all month long in the constellation Aquarius, just one of several constellations related to water in that part of the sky. And if you're up for the sun you'll have an opportunity to observe Venus and Jupiter on opposite sides of the sky in the am and now just a few highlights. On November nine, find the crescent moon hanging just beneath Venus in the early morning sky before sunrise. November thirteen is a new moon. November seventeen, look for a beautiful crescent moon sitting low in the southwest, all by itself in the twilight following sunset. November twenty. You can expect after sunset on November twenty, look to the south to see the first quarter moon just below the ring planets Saturn. The pair are joined by bright stars Formerhot and Altaire my favorite November twenty four. On the twenty four to look four the nearly full moon close to giant Jupiter in the east. After sunset. Some binoculars will be able to capture both of them in the same field of view. That'll be nice. November seventeen. The annual Lionide shower peaks are over nights on that night, and most meteors will be visible between midnight and dawn on the eighteenth. November twenty seventh is a full moon all month. Jupiter is at opposition this month on November three, meaning it is directly opposite the Sun from the Earth, and it rises around sunset and is in the sky all night long, looking big and bright all month. Also, Venus rises in the couple of hours before dawn, and if you're up before the sun, you can observe Venus in the eastern sky and Jupiter in the west all month. Also, Satin sits within a region of the sky full of constellations related to water, including Aquarius, Pisces, and Capricornus. And speaking of connections between water and wonder, NASA plans to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft next autumn or fall in as they're say, in the northern Hemisphere to study Jupiter's icy moon Europa, which is thought to contain an ocean that might support life. And you can send your name to europer etched on the spacecraft. Visit the link that I've provided on space Nuts podcast group on Facebook and you'll be able to visit the Europa Clipper page on NASA and read all about it. There's actually a really lovely poem that somebody's penned that I really enjoyed. Actually, it's quite poetic. Being a poem, and you can find the link for the europer Clipper Message in a Bottle page is what it's called on the Space Nuts podcast group that's on Facebook. So I hope you do that. I hope you go and visit that and do a bit of exploring. Maybe you would like to add your name to the collection of humans who have already added their name to the list, and you can send your name in a message in a bottle all the way to the other watery moon in our solar system. That sounds really quite poetic in itself, doesn't it. And that about wraps up another episode of Astronomy Daily for another Monday. Thank you so much for listening in. I'm Steve Dunkley, your host from Newcastle, down Under, and I'll be back again along with my digital pal Hallie who's fun to be with next week, although there will be another episode on Friday with Tim Gibbs, who will be casting from the other side of our globe in England with Halley once again and has always. Head to bites dot com, that's b s z dot com and space nuts dot io for back editions of this podcast and our parent podcast, Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson. Anytime time being relative or an illusion? Lunchtime doubly, sir, thanks again for listening. Say good night, Hallie, good night halle oh dear bye everyone, Bye the podcast. I mean to be your host, staves down cl