>> INTAKE TIME WITH ME ANDREW
HUMPHREY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT
ASTRONOMY AND PLANETARY SCIENCE
EVERYTHING FROM MY FINAL
DESTINATION, A MILLION MILES
FROM EARTH FOR TONS OF METAL,
BARRELING TOWARDS THE MOON.
AND THE MYSTERY IN THE COSMOS
THAT IS BAFFLING SCIENTIST.
FOR THIS PAST WEEK IT HAS BEEN A
BUSY ONE IN SPACE WORLD.
>> AN INTERGALACTIC MYSTERY
UNFOLDING AND EVEN SCIENTISTS
ARE SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS.
BACK IN 2018, A SPINNING OBJECT
RELEASING GIANT BURST OF ENERGY
IT WAS DISCOVERED BY SCIENTISTS
IN AUSTRALIA AT THE TIME, THOSE
BURSTS OF ENERGY WITH THE
BRIGHTEST SOURCE OF RADIO WAVES
VISIBLE FROM EARTH.
NOW ASTRONOMERS ARE TAKING
GUESSES AT WHAT IT MIGHT HAVE
BEEN?
MANY SAY IT IS LIKELY A MAGNA
TAR.
WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY LEFT OVER
AT REMNANTS OF STARS THAT HAVE
DIED.
USUALLY THEY FLARE EACH SECOND,
BUT THIS OBJECT HAS A PATTERN.
IT RELEASES ENERGY FOR ONE
MINUTE EVERY 18 MINUTES.
WHICH NO OTHER CELESTIAL OBJECT
DOES.
OTHERS BELIEVE THIS COULD BE A
SLOWLY SPINNING NEUTRON STAR.
THAT ASTRONOMERS ONLY
THEORETICALLY EXIST.
OR IT MIGHT BE SOME THING
COMPLETELY NEW, WHATEVER IT IS,
IT IS ABOUT 4,000 LIGHT-YEARS
AWAY, WHICH IS CONSIDERED CLOSE
BY IN COSMIC TERMS.
MOVING CLOSER TO THE EARTH NOW,
THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
WAS LAUNCHED OVER A MONTH AGO.
IT HAS REACHED ITS FINAL
DESTINATION ABOUT
1 MILLION MILES AWAY FROM EARTH.
DURING ITS VOYAGE, THE TELESCOPE
UNFOLDED A TENNIS COURT SIZE
SHIELD, AND A 21-FOOT GOLD
PLATED MIRROR.
NEXT, THE TELESCOPE NEEDS TO BE
PERFECTLY ALIGNED, WHILE ITS
INFRARED SENSOR GOES THROUGH A
FIVE MONTH COOLING OFF.
BEFORE IT CAN EIGHT EXPLORE
DISTANT STARS AND DARK AREAS OF
THE GALAXY.
THOSE FIRST IMAGES ARE EXPECTED
TO TRANSMIT BACK TO EARTH THIS
SUMMER.
FINALLY, AND OUT OF THIS WORLD
STORY THAT INVOLVES A GIANT
COLLISION WITH THE MOON.
IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, THIS IS
OF A SPACEX ROCKET LAUNCH IN
2015, WILL CRASH INTO THE MOON.
>> SO YOU HAVE GOT A 4-TON CHUNK
OF METAL, HITTING THE MOON AT
5,000 MILES PER HOUR.
SO IT WILL MAKE A NICE LITTLE
ARTIFICIAL CRATER.
THERE IS GOING TO BE NO SOUND OF
COURSE BECAUSE THERE IS NO AIR
ON THE MOON, SO IT WILL BE A
SILENT SMASH.
>> THE MOON’S GRAVITATIONAL PULL
OR DRAW THAT ROCKET BOOSTER END,
AND IT IS CALCULATED THE BOOSTER
WILL CRASH AROUND MARCH 4.
AN AMATEUR ASTRONOMER IT WAS THE
FIRST TO DISCOVER THE COLLISION
COURSE.
>> THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT
SOMETHING THAT IS
UNINTENTIONALLY HITTING THE
BONE.
>> WHILE IT WILL CREATE A NEW
CRATER THERE WILL NOT BE ANY
DAMAGE TO THE MOON ITSELF.
ASTRONOMERS SAY THE LEFT OVER
ROCKETT IS PART OF A GROWING
PROBLEM OF MAN-MADE SPACE JUNK.
IT IS LITTERING EARTH’S ORBIT.
AS FOR THE MOON, ASTRONOMERS
EXPECT THE IMPACT TO MAKE A
MASSIVE FLASH OF LIGHT IN A DIRT
CLOUD, BUT DO NOT EXPECT TO SEE
IT FROM EARTH.
THE IMPACT IS PREDICTED TO START
STRIKE ON THE DARK SIDE OF THE
MOON.
>> EVEN MISHAPS LIKE THAT OR NEW
DISCOVERIES TO COME WILL INSPIRE
THE ASTRONOMER AND YOUR HOME AND
IN YOUR HEART.
AS FOR THE UPDATE TO A PREVIOUS
TECH TIME STORY, AND ANOTHER
SPACE MISSION, THE PARKER SPACE
PROBE WHICH TOUCHED THE SON LAST
MONTH, IT WILL GET EVEN CLOSER
TO THE SOUND, AND PROJECT IMAGES
BACK HERE TO EARTH BY THIS TIME
NEXT MONTH.
THAT IS TECH TIME WITH ME ANDREW
HUMPHREY BACK OVER TO YOU.
>> WE REMEMBER YOU TALKING ABOUT
THAT I CAN’T WAIT TO GET THE
UPDATE NEXT MONTH.
>> EVERY TIME I SEE SOMETHING
ABOUT THE WEB TELESCOPE I CLICK
ON IT ARE TUNED INTO WHAT ANDREW
IS SAYING.
I THINK IT IS SO COOL.