Gravity has always shackled industry, but orbit frees us to build in ways Earth never allowed. This episode explores the rise of orbital foundries and the industries they unlock.
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/ discord Credits: Orbital Foundries & Zero-G Manufacturing: Building in Space Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik, Ken York, Udo Schroeter Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Music Courtesy of Aerium, Stellardrone, Chris Zabriskie, and Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:24 Why Manufacture in Space? 6:15 Near-Term Zero-G Manufacturing Efforts 12:08 Mid-Term: Orbital Foundries and Industrial Expansion 18:47 Patreon 19:10 Long-Term: True Orbital Foundries and Gigascale Production 25:38 Far Future: Manufacturing Planets, Stars, and Beyond 30:10 From Tiny Threads to Stellar Foundries.
Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264
Reddit: / isaacarthur.
Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content.
SFIA Discord Server: / discord.
Credits:
Orbital Foundries & Zero-G Manufacturing: Building in Space.
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik, Ken York, Udo Schroeter.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
Music Courtesy of Aerium, Stellardrone, Chris Zabriskie, and Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.
Chapters.
0:00 Intro.
1:24 Why Manufacture in Space?
6:15 Near-Term Zero-G Manufacturing Efforts.
12:08 Mid-Term: Orbital Foundries and Industrial Expansion.
18:47 Patreon.
19:10 Long-Term: True Orbital Foundries and Gigascale Production.
25:38 Far Future: Manufacturing Planets, Stars, and Beyond.
30:10 From Tiny Threads to Stellar Foundries.
University of Warwick astronomers have uncovered the chemical fingerprint of a frozen, water-rich planetary fragment being consumed by a white dwarf star outside our solar system.
In our solar system, it is thought that comets and icy planetesimals (small solid objects in space) were responsible for delivering water to Earth. The existence of these icy objects is a requirement for the development of life on other worlds, but it is incredibly difficult to identify them outside our solar system as icy objects are small, faint and require chemical analysis.
In a study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers from Warwick, Europe and the US have found strong evidence that icy, volatile-rich bodies—capable of delivering water and the ingredients for life—exist in planetary systems beyond our own.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered the remains of a frozen, Pluto-like world being devoured by a distant white dwarf star.
This cosmic “crime scene” not only reveals the dramatic fate of planetary fragments but also strengthens the case that the ingredients for life are scattered throughout the galaxy.
Discovery of a frozen, water-rich planetary fragment.
For 24 hours a day, seven days a week since November 2000, NASA and its international partners have sustained a continuous human presence in low-Earth orbit, including at least one American – a streak that will soon reach 25 years.
When viewed in the history of spaceflight, the International Space Station is perhaps one of humanity’s most amazing accomplishments, a shining example of cooperation in space among the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia. But all good things must come to an end.
In 2030, the International Space Station will be deorbited: driven into a remote area of the Pacific Ocean.
An international collaboration of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Toronto, have detected the brightest Fast Radio Burst (FRB) to date—and have been able to pinpoint its location in a nearby galaxy by using a network of radio telescopes.
FRBs are extremely energetic flashes from distant sources from across the universe that are caused by extreme astrophysical phenomena. Yet, they remain poorly understood by scientists and are among astronomy’s most mysterious phenomena. Pinpointing their location promises to usher in a new era of discovery, allowing scientists to trace their true cosmic origins.
The new FRB signal, called FRB 20250316A and playfully nicknamed RBFLOAT (“radio brightest flash of all time”), was very precisely localized using a new FRB Outrigger array as part of the Canadian Hydrogen-Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), which has detected thousands of FRBs since 2018. These smaller versions of the CHIME instrument—located in British Columbia, Northern California and West Virginia—allow astronomers to perform very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), a technique that can pinpoint the location of FRBs with unprecedented accuracy.
NASA continues to study how autonomy will assist future exploration to the Moon, Mars, and other worlds. As exploration continues to evolve, future spacecraft swarms will one day “see” and communicate with each other autonomously, navigating new destinations more efficiently.
The success of NASA’s Starling mission extension, called Starling 1.5+, shows greater autonomy in space missions can give spacecraft a higher degree of independence, allowing them to make decisions and coordinate actions without the constant oversight of human operators. Improving this technology opens doors to operating swarms of spacecraft farther from Earth, like at the Moon or Mars, where communications are limited, and autonomy could play a critical role.