Latest / Space News Today / Google’s Galactic Data Centres, Near Misses in Orbit, and Mars’ Hidden Influence

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Google’s Galactic Data Centres, Near Misses in Orbit, and Mars’ Hidden Influence · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
• 0:02
  bringing you the biggest news from
• 0:04
  across the cosmos. I'm Avery.
• 0:06
  >> And I'm Anna. It's great to have you
• 0:08
  with us. Today, we'll be looking at
• 0:10
  Google's ambitious plan to build data
• 0:12
  centers in space, a dangerously close
• 0:15
  encounter between two satellites in
• 0:17
  orbit, and a new theory that a rogue
• 0:20
  planet may have reshaped our entire
• 0:22
  solar system. Plus, we'll explore how
• 0:25
  Mars might be secretly influencing
• 0:27
  Earth's climate and celebrate an
• 0:29
  incredible new milestone for the
• 0:31
  legendary Voyager 1 spacecraft. Let's
• 0:34
  get right into it.
• 0:35
  >> Ready when you are.
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  >> So, Anna, our first story sounds like
• 0:38
  it's straight out of science fiction.
• 0:40
  Google wants to put data sensors in
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  space. It's called Project Suncatcher.
• 0:46
  >> It does have that futuristic feel, but
• 0:48
  the reasoning behind it is actually very
• 0:50
  practical. On Earth, data centers
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  consume an immense amount of electricity
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  and a huge portion of that just goes to
• 0:57
  keeping them cool.
• 0:59
  >> Right? So, the idea is in space, you've
• 1:01
  got unlimited solar power and the cold
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  vacuum is a perfect and free cooling
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  system.
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  >> That's the core concept. They envision a
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  constellation of satellites, each
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  equipped with powerful TPU chips,
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  forming a distributed data center in
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  orbit. They're planning to launch the
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  first two prototype satellites in early
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  2027 to test the idea.
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  >> But it can't be that simple. I imagine
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  space throws a few curve balls at
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  sensitive electronics.
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  >> Mhm. Several big ones. Cosmic radiation
• 1:32
  is a constant threat that can corrupt
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  data and damage hardware. Thermal
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  management is also more complex than you
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  think. You have to actively radiate heat
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  away from the sun-facing side. And I'm
• 1:44
  guessing the launch costs aren't cheap.
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  >> They're astronomical. So even if the
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  2027 demonstration is a success, Google
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  is very clear that this is just the
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  first step in a project that could take
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  decades to realize. It's a bold
• 2:00
  long-term vision.
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  >> This is a developing story, so we'll be
• 2:03
  sure to keep an eye out for updates.
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  >> Speaking of crowded skies, our next
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  story is a bit of a cautionary tale. A
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  recently launched Chinese spacecraft
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  from a Kinetic One rocket had a very
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  close pass with one of SpaceX's Starlink
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  satellites.
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  >> Okay, how close is very close when
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  you're in orbit?
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  >> The two came within 200 m of each other
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  at orbital speeds of thousands of miles
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  hour. That is an incredibly small margin
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  for error. A collision would have been
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  catastrophic.
• 2:34
  >> Wow. So, what went wrong?
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  >> SpaceX used the incident to highlight a
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  growing problem. a fundamental lack of
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  coordination and communication between
• 2:43
  different satellite operators. Low Earth
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  orbit is becoming dangerously congested.
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  >> I believe it. The number of satellites
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  has just exploded in the last few years.
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  >> It has. We're now at about 13,000
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  functional satellites, which is a huge
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  jump from just 3,400 back in 2020. Most
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  of that increase is from Starlink. And
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  don't the Starling satellites have an
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  autonomous collision avoidance system?
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  >> They do, and it performs thousands of
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  maneuvers, but the system is only as
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  good as the tracking data it has. When
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  new uncoordinated objects appear, it
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  makes the situation far more dangerous
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  for everyone. This is the exact scenario
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  that could lead to the Kesler syndrome,
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  >> where one collision creates a cloud of
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  debris, which causes more collisions,
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  creating a feedback loop until orbit is
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  unusable. Precisely. This near miss
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  serves as a stark warning. Better
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  international space traffic management
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  isn't a luxury anymore. It's a
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  necessity.
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  >> All right, let's journey from the chaos
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  of the near future back to the chaos of
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  the distant past. I love these stories.
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  A new study proposes that a rogue planet
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  may have completely rearranged our early
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  solar system.
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  >> Mhm. It's a really compelling idea that
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  tries to solve a long-standing puzzle
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  called the giant planet instability.
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  >> Okay, what's that?
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  >> Well, evidence suggests that the giant
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  planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
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  Neptune, didn't form in their current
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  stable orbits. Billions of years ago,
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  they went through a violent
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  reshuffleling with their orbits shifting
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  dramatically.
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  >> Right? And this instability event
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  explains a lot of weird things about our
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  solar system, like the structure of the
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  Kyper belt and the existence of
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  Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
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  >> Exactly. But the big question has always
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  been, what kicked it all off? This new
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  research ran simulations and found that
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  a close flyby from a wandering
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  substellar object could have been the
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  trigger. So, you mean a rogue planet or
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  something even bigger just drifted
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  through our cosmic neighborhood and
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  stirred the pot?
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  >> Essentially, yes. The simulations show
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  an object between three and 30 times the
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  mass of Jupiter. So, a super Jupiter or
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  a small brown dwarf passing through the
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  outer solar system could have provided
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  just the right gravitational nudge to
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  send the giant planets into that chaotic
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  dance that ultimately shaped the solar
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  system we see today. That is amazing to
• 5:17
  think that the layout of our home is
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  potentially the result of a chance
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  encounter with a cosmic wanderer
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  billions of years ago.
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  >> And speaking of cosmic connections, our
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  next story suggests that one of our
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  neighbors has had a much bigger
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  influence on us than we thought. It
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  turns out Mars may have been secretly
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  pulling the strings on Earth's climate
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  for eons.
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  >> Mars? But it's so much smaller than
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  Earth. How could it have such a big
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  impact? Through the subtle, persistent
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  tug of gravity, a new study analyzed
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  deep sea sediment cores, which hold a
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  record of Earth's past climate. They
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  found that the gravitational
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  interactions between Earth and Mars
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  appear to amplify long-term climate
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  rhythms here on Earth.
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  >> What kind of rhythms are we talking
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  about? Like seasons?
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  >> Much, much longer. The study focused on
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  the 100,000year cycles that are strongly
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  linked to the coming and going of our
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  ice ages. These are primarily driven by
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  predictable changes in Earth's orbit and
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  tilt known as Malinkovich cycles.
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  >> Okay, so where does Mars fit in?
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  >> The combined gravity of Earth and Mars
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  creates a sort of resonance in the solar
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  system. A grand cycle that repeats every
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  2.4 million years. This resonance
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  amplifies the effects of the Malinkovich
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  cycles, making the swings between
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  glacial and interglacial periods more
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  pronounced.
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  >> So, the red planet is helping to dictate
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  our ice ages. I always think of the sun
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  and moon as the big players, but I never
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  would have guessed Mars had a say. The
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  solar system is more interconnected than
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  I thought.
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  >> It's a beautiful reminder that no planet
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  is an island. For our final story today,
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  we're heading out of the solar system
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  and into the vastness of interstellar
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  space. The legendary spacecraft Voyager
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  1 is about to hit an absolutely
• 7:10
  staggering milestone.
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  >> This one is truly mind-bending. In
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  November of 2026, Voyager 1 will be one
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  light day from Earth.
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  >> One light day. Let's put that in
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  perspective. That means a radio signal
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  traveling at the absolute fastest speed
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  possible, the speed of light, will take
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  a full 24 hours to travel from Earth to
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  the spacecraft.
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  >> And then another 24 hours for a reply to
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  get back to us. That's a 48-hour round
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  trip just to send a command and confirm
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  it was received. The distance is almost
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  incomprehensible.
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  >> It really is. And to think it launched
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  in 1977. It's the most distant
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  human-made object still operating on
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  1970s technology.
• 7:55
  >> It's an absolute marvel of engineering.
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  It is overcome so many challenges over
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  the decades, including a very serious
• 8:03
  memory failure just recently that the
• 8:05
  team at NASA managed to diagnose and fix
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  from nearly 24 billion km away.
• 8:11
  >> That's like performing remote surgery
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  from across the solar system.
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  Unbelievable. And it's still sending
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  useful data.
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  >> It is. It's our only direct source of
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  information about the interstellar
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  medium, the space between the stars.
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  Unfortunately, its nuclear power source
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  is slowly fading. It's expected to go
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  silent for good sometime in the 2030s.
• 8:36
  >> But even then, its journey isn't over.
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  It will just keep drifting through the
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  Milky Way forever.
• 8:42
  >> Exactly. A silent ambassador carrying
• 8:45
  its golden record with the sights and
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  sounds of humanity. It will likely
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  outlast Earth itself. A true legend of
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  exploration.
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  >> And what a perfect humbling note to end
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  on. From data centers in our own
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  backyard to a lonely probe tasting the
• 9:00
  space between stars. What a day for
• 9:03
  astronomy news.
• 9:04
  >> It certainly was. To recap, we discussed
• 9:07
  Google's orbital ambitions, a traffic
• 9:10
  jam in space, a rogue planet shaking up
• 9:13
  our past, Mars' surprising influence on
• 9:16
  our climate, and Voyager 1's incredible
• 9:19
  lonely journey.
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  >> Thanks so much for joining us on
• 9:22
  Astronomy Daily. We'll be back tomorrow
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  with more news from across the universe.
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  Until then, keep looking up.
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  >> Clear skies.
• 9:32
  Stories we told.