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Steve Dunkley: And hello again for another episode of Astronomy
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Daily. I'm Steve Dunkley, your host. It is the fifth of June
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2023 the day of podcast with your host Steve Dunkley.
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And as always, great to welcome our digital reporter Hay. How
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are you today?
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Hallie: Great to be here again. Hi, everyone. Awesome.
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Steve Dunkley: What's on the menu for today?
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Hallie: Hay, today we'll be looking at the return of the
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Chinese astronauts and we'll be hearing the latest about Dream
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Chaser the space plane and a small technical story about
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micro meteoroid and orbital debris impact dangers to
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spacecraft.
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Steve Dunkley: Yes. Well, that doesn't sound very friendly up
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there. You know how I feel about space travel, Haley.
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Hallie: Also something that might change your mind about
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space travel, Frying Food in space.
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Steve Dunkley: You think some zero G hot chips would do the
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trick, do you? Oh dear. How about some headlines instead?
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Hallie: Ok, let's go.
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The dietary regimen of astronauts is a crucial aspect
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of space missions that impacts overall health and morale. The
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European Space Agency is a, has been funding research on cooking
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techniques and microgravity conditions with a recent focus
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on Frying Food, a worldwide culinary method with intricate
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physics and chemistry at play in a breakthrough for future Lunar
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and Martian missions.
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The has suggested that a beloved comfort food fries may be
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feasible to prepare even in outer space. Cooking food in
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space presents unique challenges due to the absence of gravity.
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The process of frying in particular was uncertain as it
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was unclear if bubbles created during the cooking process would
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cling to the surface of a potato, creating a protective
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layer of steam and potentially leaving it under the physics and
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chemistry behind food are multifaceted and intriguing
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topics that extend to other scientific disciplines. Shares.
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Professor though Doris Carano from the Aristotle University Of
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Thessaloniki, a key member of the research team to investigate
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the impact of microgravity on frying. The team employed a
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newly developed carousel type apparatus designed to operate
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safely in a weightless. This study was conducted on two esa
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parabolic flight campaigns where the state of weightlessness was
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mimicked through repeated arcing flight paths.
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The team used a high speed high resolution camera to record the
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frying process. The footage enabled the researchers to
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assess bubble dynamics including growth rate size and
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distribution and escape velocity from the potato. The bubbles
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speed and direction of travel in the oil were observed.
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The equipment measured the temperature of the boiling oil
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as well as the internal temperatures within the potato.
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The experiment set up is automated and sealed, ensuring
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safety by maintaining constant pressure within the frying
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chamber This also helps avoid oil leaks, prevents the oil from
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splashing and minimizes energy consumption for heating.
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Three Chinese astronauts working at the country's space station
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have returned safely to earth. Chinese state media reported on
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Sunday, hailing the mission as a complete success, the return
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capsule of the Shenzhou 15 spaceship touched down at a
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landing site in northern China's Inner Mongolia region.
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According to state news agency Xinhua astronauts Fei Junlong
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Deng Qingming and Jiang Lu emerged from the capsule in good
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physical condition. Xinhua reported footage showed medical
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officials in white jumpsuits and face masks, swaddling the
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astronauts in blue blankets and carrying them away from the arid
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landing site where the copper colored capsule lay flanked by
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red flags.
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The Shenzhou 15 crew had embarked on four extravehicular
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activities or spacewalks during their time in space setting a
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national record. China last week sent three more astronauts
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including its first civilian in orbit to the space station as
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part of the successor Shenzhou.
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A 16 mission tests included using a two photon microscope to
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image an astronaut's skin testing, a free piston sterling
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thermoelectric converter as well as various experiments using a
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combustion chamber. Two of Tian Gong's three modules are science
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modules which contain a number of experiment racks.
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Meanwhile in orbit, the new Shenzhou 16 astronauts are
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expected to remain aboard Tian Gog until this upcoming November
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when they will be relieved by the Shenzhou 17 crew. China aims
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to keep Tiangong operational and permanently occupied for at
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least a decade. Beijing aims to send a crude mission to the moon
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by 2030 and plans to build a base on the Lunar surface.
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Steve Dunkley: And is this the story that you warned me about,
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about all the debris and space that I so worried about?
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Hallie: Seriously Steve. You're not even a good flyer here on
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earth, let alone in space. You might have to sit down for this
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one and note to self, I'm not booking any more window seats
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for you. Fair enough. Ok. Have you ever wondered about the
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millions of small bits of debris flying about in orbit all the
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time?
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Well, it's good to hear that someone else is thinking
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seriously about it too hyper velocity impacts of micro
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meteoroid and orbital debris seriously threaten the safety of
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manned spacecraft and astronauts in orbit at present micro
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meteoroid and orbital debris above 10 centimeters which can
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be monitored and predicted in advance can usually be avoided
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by orbital maneuver as for the small sized micro meteoroid and
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orbital debris because of the difficulty of monitoring, it is
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the main impact threat as well as the main object of impact
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risk assessment and protection design of manned spacecraft.
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The probability of no penetration of the sealed cabin
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under debris impact is usually used as the method to assess the
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probability of no failure of the system in manned space missions.
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A few methods have been developed to assess the impact
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threat such as the probability of no penetration, the
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probability of no catastrophic failure. PCF and the manned
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spacecraft crews survivability in a sending order of the
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accuracy of assessing the safety and survivability of manned
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spacecraft and astronauts.
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At present, the PNP of sealed cabins was still used as the
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method for assessing the probability of one catastrophic
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failure in the design of manned spacecraft in China, which leads
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to an accurate risk assessment of catastrophic failures of
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manned spacecraft in a micro meteoroid and orbital debris
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environment.
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Therefore, more studies should be carried out to improve the
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assessment of the catastrophic failure in sealed cabins, manned
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spacecraft in China. Sorry about all the jargon in that one. It
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was as cluttered as low earth orbit.
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You're listening to a.
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Steve Dunkley: Show Daily Podcast.
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Yes, you are with Astronomy Daily. It is the fifth of June
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2023. I hope you're enjoying today's show. Don't forget you
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can catch Tim Gibbs on Fridays from the beautiful vicinity of
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Bath in England. I'm coming to you from Newcastle on the east
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coast of Australia, north of Sydney. And once in a while,
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you'll catch my big brother Andrew Dunkley from the western
00:07:50
plains of New South Wales.
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It's a bit of a mixed bag. We're coming to you from all over. So
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I hope you're enjoying what we do for you. And of course, the
00:07:59
parent podcast Space Nuts is always available just look us up
00:08:05
on Space Nuts dot I O and you'll be able to find all the
00:08:08
episodes.
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Now, this wonderful story just came across our desk and anyone
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who knows me will know that I'm a big fan of space planes. And
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the Sierra Space Dream Chaser. A space plane is one of my
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favorite projects in development. At the moment. I
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think I became a fan of space planes after watching 2001, I
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think Arthur C Clark had a great idea when that Pan Am space or
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spacecraft.
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I was we we see it in the movie docking with the space station.
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It was a marvelous idea and I think it really caught my
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imagination. I don't think I ever really let go of that and
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the space shuttle kind of came close. But I don't think it
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really went far enough. It wasn't quite as groovy as the
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one they showed in the movie.
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But in an important milestone for space travel technology,
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Sierra Space have made an important announcement, namely
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the successful power up of its revolutionary Dream Dream chaser
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space plane. The test conducted by the company signifies the
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activation of the spacecraft's integrated systems. And it's the
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culmination of several years of meticulous engineering design
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and testing efforts.
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Dream Chaser is regarded as a piece of frontier space
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transportation technology with its unique lifting body design
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promising reliable and cost effective access to space for
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various applications.
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The vehicle merges the agility of an aircraft with the
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capabilities of a spacecraft promising to revolutionize the
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present understanding of space travel to simulate the
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conditions that Dream Chaser would encounter in orbit. Sierra
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Space replicated the power that will be harnessed from the
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spacecraft solar arrays. This power was subsequently channeled
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into Dream Chaser which saw systems gradually spring to
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life.
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The test procedure involved activating the onboard systems
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including flight computers, base processors and low voltage
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distribution distribution units. Tom Vice who is the CEO of
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Sierra Space, expressed his excitement and who wouldn't
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about the development saying this is a milestone that points
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to the future and is a key moment in the long journey for
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Dream Chaser.
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Also adding with this significant achievement, our
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Dream Chaser space plane is poised to redefine commercial
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space travel, opening up new possibilities for scientific
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research, technological advancements and economic
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opportunities in space.
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The Dream Chaser being a fully autonomous reusable and orbital
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space plane is designed to transport cargo to low earth
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orbit destinations like the International Space station.
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Remarkably, it's about a quarter the size of the space shuttle.
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It's equipped with autonomous capabilities for launch flight
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and landing and is capable of a smooth one point five low G re
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entry on compatible commercial runways worldwide.
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Now, this is remarkable. The successful testing of the Dream
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Chaser marks a significant moment for the evolution of
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space technology showcasing the tremendous progress made by the
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teams at Sierra Space across various disciplines, ranging
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from system level design to final assembly and testing and
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what do you know skywatchers?
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We are out of time. So I'm hoping that you will catch us
00:11:33
again next time. Don't forget Tim Gibbs on Friday, Steve
00:11:36
Dunkley on Mondays. And as always, Hallie will always be
00:11:40
with us watching over our shoulders, digitally providing
00:11:45
us with her short takes and you can always catch us in the
00:11:49
reruns.
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Look for us on Space Nuts dot I O and you can catch all the
00:11:55
episodes past present and well as we do them future and look
00:12:01
forward to all the episodes of Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley
00:12:04
and Professor Fred Watson. That's the Space Nuts crew and
00:12:08
the Astronomy Daily Crew as well. All on Space Nuts dot IO.
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Looking forward to hearing from you on our Facebook page.
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Don't forget to tell us all about what's happening in your
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skies, share your photographs and your comments and correct us
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when we get it wrong because we do that sometimes. No, that's
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alright. We're only human except for Halle, she's not human.
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Well, I'm not gonna get into that conversation with her cos I
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will lose anyway, we'll catch you next time.
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Hallie: Byeee, see you all next time.
00:12:41
Generic: The Daily Podcast with your host, Steve Dunkley.