S27E112: Private Spacewalk Milestone, Starliner's Empty Return, and Philippine Fireball Frenzy

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_09]: This is SpaceTime Series 27, Episode 112, for broadcast on the 16th of September 2024.

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_09]: Coming up on SpaceTime, the first ever spacewalk by private astronauts,

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_09]: Boeing's Starliner returned safely to the Earth, but it was empty,

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_09]: and the asteroid that created a spectacular fireball over the Philippines.

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_09]: All that and more coming up on SpaceTime.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Welcome to SpaceTime with Stuart Gary.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_09]: The first ever spacewalk by a pair of commercial, non-government astronauts has been successfully completed.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_09]: The mission, using a SpaceX Dragon capsule, was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_09]: on a flight designed to monitor radiation exposure levels.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_09]: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_05]: T plus 35 seconds into the Polaris Dawn mission, flying crew onboard Dragon and Falcon 9 to new heights.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_05]: And we're throttling down in preparation for Max-Q.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_05]: Next call out, the vehicle SuperSonic.

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_05]: We're throttling back up to power, and we heard the call out, one Bravo.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_05]: That just tells the crew what would happen should they need to initiate anything.

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_05]: But right now, everybody making nominal call outs on Falcon 9.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_05]: Handback chill is underway.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_05]: The announcement lets us know we've begun the final chill of the second stage engine

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_05]: in preparation for its activity coming up at about T plus two minutes and 40 seconds.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_05]: Two minutes into flight, everything continues to look good.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_05]: We'll have in half a minute three major activities.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_05]: Shutdown of the nine Merlin 1D engines.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_05]: Stage separation.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_05]: Throttled down.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_05]: And then ignition of the second stage engine.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_05]: Throttled down.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_05]: We're holding a constant acceleration now for the crew just below four Gs.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_05]: See, we're coming up 70 kilometers, preparing for MECO.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Main engine cutoff.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Two Alpha.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_05]: Stage separation confirmed.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: As you can tell by the cheers behind us, the first stage booster now on its way to attempt landing on just read the instructions.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The first stage has not yet reached its apogee.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Now three and a half minutes into the Polaris Dawn mission.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: First stage continuing to make its way up to its apogee.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll see that altitude begin to slow down.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Dragons, SpaceX trajectory nominal.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Great news there indicating that the second stage trajectory is looking good.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Now the grid fins have deployed on the first stage.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Once again, booster is attempting to land on our drone ship.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Just read the instructions.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: The next event coming up will be the entry burn taking place around T plus seven and a half minutes.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: This burn will utilize three of the engines on the first stage that helps to slow the booster down as it reenters the Earth's atmosphere.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Dragons, SpaceX trajectory nominal.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Dragon copy.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Following the entry burn, we will see the landing burn and that'll be around T plus nine minutes.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: That one will be just a single engine burn and that will bring the booster down for a soft landing on our drone ship.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Around the same time as that, we expect to see Dragon injected into orbit.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Everything continuing to look good for second stage there.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The crew settling quite...

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Dragons, SpaceX trajectory nominal.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Dragon copy.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Crew seems pretty comfortable there at T plus six minutes.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: They're at about four G's and everything looks good.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: First stage continuing its descent back down to planet Earth.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Everything continuing to look great with the second stage engine burn there as well as the...

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Dragons, SpaceX trajectory nominal.

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Dragon copy.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We're about 30 seconds away from the first stage entry burn.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_00]: This is the first of two burns that the first stage will perform designed to help reduce the amount of drag experienced by the first stage.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Stage two FTS has saved.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, standing by for entry burn begin on the first stage.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_07]: And right on time.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_07]: The entry burn has begun.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_07]: There's three engines lit on that first stage vehicle and this is about a 29 second burn and helps slow the vehicle down as it's re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_07]: The engines have now shut down on that first stage.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_07]: That concludes the entry burn.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_07]: And the cool part about this, the stage one vehicle returning back to Earth is we get to fully utilize the atmosphere.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_07]: The atmosphere actually...

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Stage two is in thermal guidance.

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_07]: The atmosphere actually scrubs about 70% of the velocity on the vehicle.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_07]: So we use that entry burn to help slow the vehicle down.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_07]: Then we utilize the atmosphere and the drag from the atmosphere to slow the vehicle down.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_07]: And then we do have one single burn for the landing burn.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Copy, Shannon.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_07]: And next up will be CECA one.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_07]: And that is second stage engine cutoff one.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_07]: And that'll be on the second stage.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_07]: That MVAC engine will shut down and allow the vehicle with Dragon attached to coast.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_04]: MVAC shut down.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_07]: And there's that shut down.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_07]: And the landing burn on the first stage should be starting up here momentarily.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_07]: And there it is.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_07]: Landing burn has begun for...

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Dragon SpaceX nominal orb insertion.

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Dragon SpaceX launch escape system disarmed.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Copy that, SpaceX and we show the scene.

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_06]: Stage one vehicle has touched down on just three of the instructions.

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_06]: A variant here in Hawthorne.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_06]: We've also confirmed MVAC engine shut down

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_06]: and an orbital insertion of the second stage with the crew on board.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly a pretty impressive crowd for 2.30 in the morning here.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_09]: It initially launched into a 1,400 kilometer high orbit,

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_09]: high enough to take the capsule into the Van Allen radiation belt,

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_09]: which teem with high energy charged particles,

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_09]: posing a health risk to astronauts if exposed for extended periods.

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_09]: The flight plan saw the Dragon spend 10 hours in the Van Allen radiation belts

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_09]: as the crew undertook readings and monitored the surrounding space environment.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_09]: It was the furthest point humans have traveled from Earth since the days of Apollo,

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_09]: more than half a century ago,

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_09]: and over three times the orbital altitude of the International Space Station.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_09]: The elliptical orbit was then gradually reduced over the following days

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_09]: with the EVA being undertaken at an altitude of 738 kilometers.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_09]: The two-hour extravehicular activity or EVA

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_09]: developed by Polaris Dawn spacecraft commander Jared Isaacman

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_09]: and mission specialist Sarah Gillies

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_09]: was designed to perform a series of mobility tests

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_09]: on SpaceX's newly designed EVA suits, which Isaacman developed.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_09]: The mission plan saw Isaacman and Gillies each leave the capsule for around 10 minutes.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_09]: They used a specially supplied handrail system resembling a pull ladder called the Skywalker

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_09]: and a 3.6 meter long umbilical tether

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_09]: in order to keep them secured to the spacecraft

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_09]: as it orbited the planet at over 28,000 kilometers per hour.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_09]: The remaining two crew members,

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_09]: pilot Scott Pertitte and mission specialist Anna Menon,

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_09]: who also wore the new space suits,

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_09]: are now also considered spacewalkers

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_09]: as the capsule, which doesn't have a separate airlock,

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_09]: had to be depressurized for the EVA,

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_09]: thereby exposing all four to the vacuum of space.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_09]: Unlike his previous chartered SpaceX flight,

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_09]: tech entrepreneur Isaacman shared the cost of the mission with SpaceX this time round,

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_09]: which included developing and testing the new space suits,

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_09]: which are outfitted with head up displays, helmet cameras

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_09]: and advanced joint mobility systems.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_09]: This report from SpaceX.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_02]: An EVA suit is an extravehicular activity suit,

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_02]: which is a space suit that can go outside of the spacecraft to do a spacewalk.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_02]: We started with the IVA suit that we have,

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_02]: the intravehicular activity suit,

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_02]: as a kind of starting point and looked at it

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_02]: and said, what would we have to change about this to be able to support a spacewalk?

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_02]: So the first is mobility.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_02]: The crew will have to do a lot of moving around inside a dragon

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_02]: to get outside and do the spacewalk.

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_02]: We had to add in new joints and new features in the suit

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_02]: to allow them enhanced mobility while the suit's pressurized.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_08]: When a crew member is pressurized in the suit,

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_08]: the soft portions of the suit become rigid.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_08]: They need actual flexure and rotational joints

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_08]: to allow them to move around.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_08]: It's kind of like a suit of armor made of fabric.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_08]: Flexure joints to allow easy bending at the elbows and the knees,

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_08]: as well as a collapsible rotator joint that exists on the shoulder,

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_08]: which allows the suit to remain nearly fully soft,

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_08]: but when pressurized is a rotational bearing.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_01]: The difference between the IVA and EVA suit is that on the IVA suit,

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: the zipper system location is in the inseam.

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_01]: But since we needed to have lots of mobility on our EVA suit,

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_01]: that was not the preferred choice.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_01]: By moving the zipper system from the inseam to the waist,

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_01]: we mitigated risk of the stress of the zipper.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Another big element was also the thermal side of things.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_02]: The crew is obviously exposed to a much more extreme thermal environment

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_02]: during the EVA, so we want to make sure that the inside of the suit

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_02]: is comfortable for them and that as they interface with parts of the vehicle,

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_02]: that that is safe for them to touch as well.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: The EVA suit is built and designed here at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California.

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: We wanted to have something that's easy to manufacture

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: that we can handle here in-house.

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So we developed this new material, so it's fabric based.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_08]: We actually added a new layer to the suit,

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_08]: which we refer to as the Faraday layer.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_08]: And this is a conductive cage around the suit

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_08]: that shields the suit from external electric fields.

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_02]: The helmet on the EVA suit looks very similar to the IVA suit.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_02]: But it is really an all new design of that helmet.

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_02]: It's much more robust from a thermal structural perspective,

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_02]: since it will be taking more extreme temperatures.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_08]: We are really excited to introduce this new single pane visor helmet

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_08]: to the world of spacesuits.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_08]: The EVA suit visor is made of polycarbonate

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_08]: and is coated with copper and ITO or indium tin oxide.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_08]: These two coatings together reflect the sun away from the crew,

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_08]: as well as reflecting infrared heat back to the crew

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_08]: when they are facing deep space.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_08]: Our suit has a HUD or heads up display,

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_08]: which is a small display screen in the helmet,

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_08]: which is transparent, which allows the crew to see through the display

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_08]: to have unfettered access during their EVA.

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_08]: But it also provides critical telemetry to the crew.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_08]: So pressure, temperature, relative humidity.

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_02]: We're trying to improve the technology and streamline it in one way.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_02]: And at the same time, we're also trying to get it more and more

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_02]: manufacturable with each generation.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_02]: The ultimate goal is that you can put on a spacesuit

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_02]: and go out and get work done anywhere in the solar system

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_02]: and not feel like you're wearing anything more than you normally wear every day.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_09]: The five-day mission had been delayed by two weeks,

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_09]: firstly due to technical issues with the launch tower

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_09]: and then poor weather forecasts affecting the splashdown site

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_09]: off the coast of Florida.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_09]: Polaris dawns the first of three missions

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_09]: under a joint Isaacman SpaceX Polaris program.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_09]: The final mission is slated to be the first manned flight

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_09]: of SpaceX's Starship prototype,

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_09]: the interplanetary transport system SpaceX is developing

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_09]: as the key to future Martian colonisation.

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_09]: This is space time.

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_09]: Still to come, Boeing's Starliner returns safely to Earth

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_09]: and an asteroid creates a spectacular fireball

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_09]: as it enters Earth's atmosphere over the Philippines.

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_09]: All that and more still to come on space time.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_09]: Boeing's trouble-plagued Starliner spacecraft

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_09]: has returned safely to Earth, landing unmanned

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_09]: at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_09]: The decision to return without a crew on board was taken by NASA

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_09]: because of ongoing concerns about the safety of the spacecraft,

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_09]: following a series of failures involving five of Starliner's

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_09]: orbital manoeuvring system thrusters

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_09]: and a persistent series of helium leaks

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_09]: which were gradually getting worse.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_09]: NASA and Boeing issued a go to proceed with the undocking

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_09]: of the spacecraft from the International Space Station

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_09]: pending weather and operational readiness.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_09]: After Starliner undocked, it executed a powerful breakout burn

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_09]: in order to swiftly clear it from the space station

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_09]: and avoid any risk of collision.

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_09]: Mission managers then conducted over five hours

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_09]: of free-flying extensive checks,

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_09]: testing the thrusters needed for the crucial deorbit burn

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_09]: which would guide the capsule into its reentry path

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_09]: around 40 minutes before touchdown.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_09]: NASA's Boeing Crew Certification Mission astronauts

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_09]: Butch Wiltmore and Sunny Williams

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_09]: traveled to the space station aboard the CST-100 Starliner

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_09]: back in June for what should have been an eight day test flight.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_09]: They'll now remain on station for eight months

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_09]: as members of the Expedition 7172 crew until February next year

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_09]: when they'll return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_09]: as part of the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_09]: Starliner's departure makes room aboard the ISS

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_09]: for Crew-9's Dragon capsule Freedom.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_09]: It has a reduced crew of two instead of the normal four

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_09]: so that Williams and Wiltmore will be able to have their ride home.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_09]: For Boeing, it's all been a bittersweet lesson

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_09]: with the trouble-plagued spacecraft making a perfect landing

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_09]: under parachutes and inflated airbags to soften the touchdown.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_09]: But that follows a long string of failures.

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_09]: Back in 2014, Boeing and SpaceX were each awarded

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_09]: commercial crew contracts by NASA to develop new spacecraft

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_09]: to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_09]: SpaceX were quick to repurpose and further develop

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_09]: their Dragon cargo capsule

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_09]: which had always been designed as a manned spacecraft.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_09]: After a series of successful unmanned and then manned

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_09]: test flights to the orbiting outpost,

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_09]: SpaceX began regular crew transport flights in 2020

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_09]: as well as undertaking a series of commercial manned orbital flights

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_09]: for both space tourism and scientific missions.

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_09]: However, competitor Boeing have been experiencing

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_09]: a series of significant setbacks with their Starliner spacecraft.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_09]: The mission's first orbital test flight to the space station

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_09]: back in 2019 suffered a number of computer failures,

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_09]: the first of which saw the spacecraft commence its orbital insertion burn

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_09]: too early after the mission clock had been wrongly programmed.

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_09]: And that resulted in its orbital insertion burn taking place

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_09]: too low in altitude to reach the space station.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_09]: And while mission managers were working through that issue,

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_09]: they realized that the faulty programming would have also prevented

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_09]: Starliner from rendezvous with the space station anyway.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_09]: Had it been at the correct altitude,

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_09]: it simply wouldn't have been able to dock.

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_09]: And making matters even worse, far worse in fact,

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_09]: was the discovery that another software error

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_09]: would have caused the Starliner crew module to collide with the service module

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_09]: when it was being jettisoned before atmospheric re-entry.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_09]: The computer error would have meant that instead of moving away

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_09]: from the crew module, the program would have caused the service module

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_09]: to move forward into the crew module, crashing into it

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_09]: and destroying both spacecraft.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_09]: Starliner eventually did land safely at White Sands,

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_09]: but only after a fix was uploaded.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_09]: After a lengthy and exhaustive review process

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_09]: with more than 80 recommended changes,

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_09]: Starliner was eventually deemed safe for a second attempt

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_09]: at an unmanned orbital test flight in 2020.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_09]: However, with the rocket on the launch pad ready for flight,

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_09]: corrosion was discovered in 13 propulsion system valves,

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_09]: apparently caused by moisture interacting with the propellant.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_09]: Even though it was on the launch pad and mated to its Atlas V rocket,

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_09]: technicians attempted to resolve the issue, but were unsuccessful.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_09]: So, the entire stack was then moved back into the vehicle assembly building.

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_09]: Inspections there found the damage to be far deeper in the system than expected,

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_09]: and that resulted in the need for a complete disassembly of the propulsion system,

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_09]: meaning it had to go back to the factory.

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_09]: Finally, a second orbital test flight to the space station,

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_09]: this one somewhat more successful, took place in 2022.

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_09]: But there were still serious problems.

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_09]: Two orbital maneuvering and attitude control or OMAC thrusters

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_09]: failed during the orbital insertion burn.

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_09]: And then a couple of RCS thrusters, used to maneuver Starliner,

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_09]: also failed during the docking to the space station,

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_09]: this time due to low chamber pressure.

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_09]: And it didn't end there.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_09]: Thermal systems used to cool the spacecraft

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_09]: were showing extra cold temperatures in the cabin

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_09]: that required engineers to manage it during the docking procedure.

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_09]: And during the return journey to Earth,

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_09]: one of the navigation systems dropped communications

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_09]: with the GPS satellites during re-entry.

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_09]: And once safely back on the ground,

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_09]: engineers discovered flammable insulation tape

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_09]: was being used on the spacecraft's wiring system,

[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_09]: and the parachute harnesses also required further strengthening.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_09]: Eventually, a long delayed manned orbital flight to the space station

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_09]: was finally approved for a window opening on May the 6th.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_09]: But that was then scrubbed due to an oxygen valve problem

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_09]: on the Atlas V rocket.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_09]: Subsequently, a helium leak in Starliner's service module

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_09]: further delayed the mission.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_09]: Another launch attempt on June the 1st was scrubbed,

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_09]: this time due to a ground computer hardware fault.

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_09]: In fact, it wasn't until June the 5th

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_09]: that Starliner finally launched with its crew onboard.

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_09]: But once in orbit and on approach to the space station,

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_09]: both the automated systems and astronauts taking manual control

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_09]: during the docking sequence were instructed to repeatedly fire

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_09]: the RCS thrusters.

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_09]: This was part of a stress testing program for the test flight.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_09]: But it revealed performance degradation in the thrusters,

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_09]: leading to the spacecraft's command computers

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_09]: cutting out five of the thrusters

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_09]: after assessing them as damaged and unusable.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_09]: And a persistent helium leak in the service module,

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_09]: which had been there since before the launch,

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_09]: was gradually getting worse.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_09]: The five failed thrusters were all aft-facing.

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_09]: That resulted in the loss of six degrees of freedom attitude control

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_09]: until four of the thrusters were then manually restored,

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_09]: allowing the crew to finally safely dock the capsule to the space station.

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_09]: After a series of reviews, NASA decided against

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_09]: risking the crew on the return journey,

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_09]: resulting in Boeing's decision

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_09]: to return Starliner to the ground unmanned.

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_09]: Meanwhile, strange pulsing sounds heard by astronauts

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_09]: emanating from the Starliner while it was docked to the space station

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_09]: have been explained as simple audio feedback.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_09]: The mystery noise was apparently generated by the audio configuration

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_09]: between the spacecraft and the space station.

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_09]: NASA says the space station's complex communication system

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_09]: allows multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected,

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_09]: and it's common to experience noise and feedback.

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_09]: This is space time.

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_09]: Still to come, an asteroid creates a spectacular

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_09]: fireball over the Philippines, and later in the science report,

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_09]: discovery of an antibody able to neutralise

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_09]: all known variants of SARS-CoV-2,

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_09]: the virus which causes COVID-19.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_09]: All that and more still to come on space time.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_09]: Residents in the Philippines have been treated

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_09]: to a spectacular celestial light show

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_09]: as a small asteroid ripped into Earth's atmosphere,

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_09]: burning up during its entry.

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_09]: The bright green fireball didn't cause any harm to people

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_09]: or damage to buildings on the ground,

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_09]: but it did brighten up the skies above the western Pacific Ocean

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_09]: near the Philippines island of Luzon.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_09]: Astronomers first detected the object

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_09]: just eight hours before its fiery atmospheric entry.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_09]: The asteroid, designated as 2024RW1,

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_09]: was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey,

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_09]: which is operated by the Stuart Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_09]: The NASA-funded project is run by the University of Arizona

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_09]: as part of the Spacewatch program.

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_09]: It scans the skies looking for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects.

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_09]: The European Space Agency says this was only the ninth asteroid

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_09]: ever detected before entering Earth's atmosphere.

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_09]: Astronomers quickly determined that it was going to hit the Earth,

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_09]: but at just a metre in diameter,

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_09]: wasn't likely to survive its fiery journey through Earth's atmosphere.

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_09]: Asteroids the size of 2024RW1 enter Earth's atmosphere

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_09]: roughly once every two weeks on average.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_09]: However, astronomers rarely see them coming

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_09]: because of their diminutive size.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_09]: The last such cosmic encounter was back in January.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_09]: That's where NASA scientists spotted a similar-sized asteroid

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_09]: labelled as 2024BX1 some three hours before it entered the atmosphere

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_09]: and exploded in the skies above Berlin.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_09]: That asteroid did make scientific headlines

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_09]: because it was the fastest spinning asteroid ever seen.

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_09]: Small fragments of meteors often reach the Earth's surface

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_09]: after being shattered in airbursts.

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_09]: And astronomers were able to retrieve several fragments

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_09]: from January's Berlin asteroid airburst.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_09]: From this, they were able to determine that it was a rare or bright asteroid,

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_09]: possibly up to 4.6 billion years old,

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_09]: making it as old as the solar system.

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_09]: However, the Philippines asteroid's origins are likely to remain a mystery.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_09]: That's because it airburst over the ocean

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_09]: and any surviving fragments would have fallen into the sea.

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_09]: However, astronomers should be able to retrace the asteroid's trajectory

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_09]: towards the Earth and that could reveal some more clues about its origins.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_09]: This is space-time.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_09]: I'm out to take a brief look at some of the other stories

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_09]: making news in science this week with the Science Report.

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_09]: Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have discovered an antibody

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_09]: which is able to neutralise all known variants of SARS-CoV-2,

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_09]: the virus which causes COVID-19.

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_09]: The findings published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_09]: also claims the antibody, called SC27,

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_09]: can also target more distantly related SARS-like coronaviruses

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_09]: which infect other animals.

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_09]: As part of a new study on hybrid immunity in the virus,

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_09]: the large multi-institution research team discovered an isolated,

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_09]: broadly neutralising plasma antibody known as SC27 from a single patient.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_09]: The authors then extracted the molecular sequence of the antibody,

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_09]: opening up the possibility of eventually manufacturing it

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_09]: on a larger scale for future treatments.

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_09]: During the more than four years since the discovery of COVID-19,

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_09]: the virus that causes it has evolved rapidly.

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_09]: And that's been the problem.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_09]: Each new variant has displayed different characteristics,

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_09]: many of which made them more resistant to vaccines and other treatments.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_09]: The protective antibodies bind to a part of the virus called the spike protein.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_09]: It's this spike protein which acts as an anchor point for the virus

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_09]: in order to attach to and infect cells in the body.

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_09]: By blocking the spike protein,

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_09]: the antibodies prevent this interaction and therefore prevent the infection.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_09]: The World Health Organisation says over seven million people

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_09]: have been killed by the COVID-19 coronavirus

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_09]: since it was first detected among workers

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_09]: at China's Wuhan Institute of Virology back in September 2019.

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_09]: However, a report in the Lancet Medical Journal

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_09]: estimates the true death toll from COVID-19's likely to be above 18 million,

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_09]: with over 775 million confirmed cases globally.

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_09]: A new study claims that while some species of pterosaurs

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_09]: would flap their wings in order to stay airborne, others would simply soar.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_09]: Certain birds have the ability to flap their wings to start their flight,

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_09]: and they only need to flap occasionally once they're in the air

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_09]: in order to keep them in a stable position.

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_09]: That's what researchers refer to as soaring.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_09]: Now, a report in the journal Vertebrate Paleontology

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_09]: has found remarkable and rare three-dimensional fossils

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_09]: of two different large-bodied pterosaur species

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_09]: which are in such good condition,

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_09]: scientists could scan the internal structure of their 10-metre wingspan bones.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_09]: They found that there were a series of ridges and spirals

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_09]: up and down the bones of one of the behemoths

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_09]: that resemble the structure of vulture wing bones,

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_09]: which suggest that these reptiles could also soar in a similar fashion.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_09]: Scientists have discovered that almost half of all cats

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_09]: enjoy playing fetch with their human companions.

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_09]: The findings reported in the journal PLAS One

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_09]: are based on a survey of pet owners

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_09]: that included more than 8,000 cat owners and nearly 74,000 dog owners.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_09]: Researchers asked the survey participants

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_09]: whether their pet would sometimes, frequently or always

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_09]: chase a toy that they had thrown.

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_09]: While 78% of dog owners said their dogs loved to play fetch,

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_09]: 41% of cat owners said their kitty cats also enjoyed the game.

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_09]: They found that in both cats and dogs,

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_09]: females, older pets and those with health problems

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_09]: were less likely to participate.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_09]: And the authors found that cats were more likely to play fetch

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_09]: if they lived indoors.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_09]: Scientists at Monash University have developed a new set of guidelines

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_09]: for assessing research integrity in scientific publications.

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_09]: The world's first framework reported in the Lancet Medical Journal

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_09]: uses a simple checklist system

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_09]: to help scientists and publishers assess research integrity.

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_09]: It's designed to exclude untrustworthy research

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_09]: during evidence synthesis and clinical guideline development.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_09]: Tim Mendham from A Strange Skeptic says

[00:26:19] [SPEAKER_09]: the key to the new system is transparency,

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_09]: where studies ranked by the integrity committee

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_09]: as having a moderate or high risk of integrity concerns

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_09]: are clearly documented and authors then contacted

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_09]: to highlight the identified concerns.

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_03]: The problem with academic papers is there are frauds.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_03]: There might be accidental frauds,

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_03]: there might be mistakes, honest mistakes or whatever,

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_03]: or sometimes they can be totally misleading and on purpose.

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And the issue is how to spot them and what to do about them.

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_03]: A recent study suggested there might be as many as 10,000

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_03]: research articles retracted during 2023

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_03]: and they retracted for various reasons,

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_03]: one mainly that they're wrong,

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_03]: or there's various procedural problems with them

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_03]: or concerns generally.

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_03]: So they're not all fakes, but there might just be a paper

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_03]: that needs more work and shouldn't have been published.

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_03]: But 10,000 is quite a lot.

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot of papers published every year.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_03]: The issue is keeping track of them

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_03]: and what to do if and when you see them.

[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So a group from a Australian university, Monash University in Melbourne,

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_03]: has prepared a set of what they call integrity guidelines

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_03]: for publications, for the research institutions,

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_03]: for researchers themselves to use

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_03]: to weed out those papers that might not be absolutely perfect.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_03]: They have suggested over their research,

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_03]: many as perhaps even more than 25% of clinical trials,

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_03]: and this is mainly medical areas we're looking at,

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_03]: 25% of clinical trials have clinical guidelines

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_03]: that may not be trustworthy.

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_03]: That's a lot.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Obviously there's pressure on university academics

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_03]: and people like that publish or perish.

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_03]: You have to have these papers written out there

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_03]: to show that you're doing some work,

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_03]: otherwise it might not be tenured after a while.

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_09]: What does that mean when they say guidelines that are untrustworthy?

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_09]: That means that the researchers are following the rules,

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_09]: but the rules themselves are bad.

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, yes.

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, the rules themselves are vague half the time.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_03]: The other half of the time they're not actually followed at all.

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_03]: So there might be good guidelines, but they're not being followed.

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_03]: It's an issue.

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a group that has set themselves out called

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Research Integrity in Guidelines and Edie Baines Synthesis,

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_03]: which must be one of the worst,

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_03]: most forced acronyms you can think of.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_09]: Oh no, you have not read astronomy papers.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_09]: You have no idea how bad it gets.

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_03]: It's like people think of the acronym first

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_03]: and then try and think of the words to match it.

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, always, always.

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Research Integrity in Guidelines and Edie Baines.

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_03]: So, Richard, anyway, it's a concern.

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_03]: And it always has been a concern in medical areas.

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_03]: And the whole concept, of course,

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_03]: is proving a particular scientific theory.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_03]: And part of the scientific method is to publish.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Publish your papers for peer review.

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Now you're supposed to be reviewed before they're published,

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_03]: but also when you put them out into the marketplace

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_03]: they might be reviewed generally by those people

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_03]: who read and follow the particular publication.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Does this work well? Sometimes.

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_03]: There are 10,000 retractions,

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_03]: which means that it must be working to a certain extent.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_03]: There's whistleblowers.

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Are there enough facilities within the publications?

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_03]: That's a good question. It's up to them really.

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_03]: There are obviously junky publications

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_03]: that will publish anything. They don't review it at all.

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_03]: But there are other learned publications.

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Nature is one that supposedly has a good...

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_03]: should have a good system for checking papers,

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_03]: for reviewing them.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_03]: They've been fooled as well.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_03]: The Lancet, we can probably think of some examples.

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_09]: There's quite some history there.

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_09]: They've made controversy recently

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_09]: with quoting bogus figures regarding the war in Gaza

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_09]: and nothing like getting your figures

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_09]: from a terrorist organisation for accuracy.

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_09]: And of course you can't forget Andrew Wakefield.

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, Andrew Wakefield, the anti-vaccination person

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_03]: who created a whole lot of problems

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_03]: and probably death throughout the world.

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_03]: He published a paper along with a number of other researchers

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_03]: suggesting that the MMR vaccine,

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_03]: which is the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, was dangerous.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Actually, the paper itself didn't say that specifically,

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER_03]: but he certainly says it when promoting the paper.

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_09]: The problem there of course is it took the Lancet

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_09]: years to retract it.

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, absolutely, even though it had been pointed out

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_03]: pretty quickly that there were some problems with the paper.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Certainly ethical problems as much as

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_03]: factual problems with it.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_03]: So yes, it took them a long time to finally come around

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_03]: to saying it was retracted, it was wrong,

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_03]: which was a further criticism of the Lancet there.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_03]: It took a long time, but unfortunately

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_03]: a lot of people followed and that paper got a lot of publicity,

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_03]: especially in the UK.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_03]: A lot of people stopped vaccinating.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_03]: The vaccination rates dropped dramatically,

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_03]: and kids started getting measles and things like that.

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And as we know, measles can have a serious injury

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_03]: to children especially, and can cause death.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Any suggestion that the vaccine was bad for you

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_03]: had had its own serious effect.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_03]: The fact that Wakefield was himself

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_03]: developing some vaccines is obviously beside the point

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_03]: rather than just criticising the opposition.

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_03]: He once found out, but he's still campaigning.

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_03]: He's campaigning now on the basis that he was marked.

[00:30:38] [SPEAKER_09]: Well that's his industry now, isn't it?

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_03]: That's right, yeah.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_03]: He goes around speaking to the anti-vaccination movement,

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_03]: especially in the US. He was debarred.

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_03]: He had his medical licence torn up

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_03]: in the UK because of this,

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_03]: because of the ethics of the program he did.

[00:30:50] [SPEAKER_03]: But it comes down to the back down of this fact

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_03]: of publishing papers that should have been

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_03]: spotted well before they actually

[00:30:56] [SPEAKER_03]: ever reached the printed page.

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_09]: The thing is we've got this peer review system.

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_09]: It's not perfect, but it's the best we've got.

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_09]: I mean you've got to trust your peers

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_09]: to seriously look at the work

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_09]: and then critique it as necessary.

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_09]: In journalism that's what editors do, isn't it?

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_09]: For reporters.

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Or sub-editors, they're supposed to

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_03]: check papers whether they have the staff

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_03]: to do it. That's the problem. Should there be a...

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_09]: That's the huge issue for

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_09]: researchers, isn't it?

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_09]: Is there a staff to actually carry out the peer review work?

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_09]: The peer review work is never glorious.

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_03]: No, it's often those people who actually

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_03]: peer review articles and things aren't named.

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Papers they aren't named and they're not even

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_03]: necessarily known to the researcher.

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_03]: So they're supposed to be anonymous. The peer reviewer

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_03]: is not supposed to know if they research or either, although

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER_03]: if you're in a pretty niche area you might get

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_09]: a good idea. There are occasions when

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_09]: I've written stories on

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_09]: astronomy topics. I've read the

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_09]: paper and I know there are inaccuracies

[00:31:50] [SPEAKER_09]: in the paper and I've then had to plead

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_09]: my case because what's published in the

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_09]: paper itself isn't accurate to my editor

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_09]: and luckily she

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_09]: supported me but these things happen.

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_03]: They do happen. I've seen papers

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_03]: that I've been reporting on the same one.

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I thought this is just silly. It doesn't

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_03]: follow or there's a logical problem

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_03]: with the research.

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So it happens. As you say, the

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_03]: peer review process is by no means

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_03]: perfect but it's the best we have at

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_09]: the moment. That's Tim Endham from

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_09]: Australian Skeptics

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_09]: and that's the show for now.

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