The Space Roomba
06/19/18 • 50 min
This episode we take on a future where space junk has gotten so bad, that active spacecraft are constantly having to maneuver around it, which wastes fuel and cuts down on operation time. And humans decide to finally do something about it. But what?
Guests:
Loren Grush, science reporter at The Verge
Lisa Ruth Rand, historian of science technology and the environment.
Tiago Soares, systems engineer for ESA’s Clean Space program
Andrew Wolahan, systems engineer for ESA’s e.deorbit program
Alice Gorman, space archaeologist at Flinders University
Jill Stuart, space policy & law expert at the London School of Economics
Further Reading:
How can humans clean up our space junk?
The Space Junk Problem is About to get a Whole Lots Gnarlier
Orbital Decay: Space Junk and the Environmental History of Earth’s Planetary Borderlands
The Forgotten Cold War Plan That Put A Ring Of Copper Around The Earth
Project West Ford, NASA Repository
Japanese mission to clear up space junk ends in failure
This is what happens when a tiny piece of flying space debris hits the ISS
The Outer Space Treaty has been remarkably successful – but is it fit for the modern age?
Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The space dispatcher from the top of the episode was played by Andrew Hackard. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky. If you want to suggest a future we should take on, send us a note on Twitter, Facebook or by email at [email protected]. And if you think you’ve spotted one of the little references I’ve hidden in the episode, email us there too. If you’re right, I’ll send you something cool.
And if you want to support the show, there are a few ways you can do that too! Head to www.flashforwardpod.com/support for more about how to give. But if that’s not in the cards for you, you can head to iTunes and leave us a nice review or just tell your friends about us. Those things really do help.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode we take on a future where space junk has gotten so bad, that active spacecraft are constantly having to maneuver around it, which wastes fuel and cuts down on operation time. And humans decide to finally do something about it. But what?
Guests:
Loren Grush, science reporter at The Verge
Lisa Ruth Rand, historian of science technology and the environment.
Tiago Soares, systems engineer for ESA’s Clean Space program
Andrew Wolahan, systems engineer for ESA’s e.deorbit program
Alice Gorman, space archaeologist at Flinders University
Jill Stuart, space policy & law expert at the London School of Economics
Further Reading:
How can humans clean up our space junk?
The Space Junk Problem is About to get a Whole Lots Gnarlier
Orbital Decay: Space Junk and the Environmental History of Earth’s Planetary Borderlands
The Forgotten Cold War Plan That Put A Ring Of Copper Around The Earth
Project West Ford, NASA Repository
Japanese mission to clear up space junk ends in failure
This is what happens when a tiny piece of flying space debris hits the ISS
The Outer Space Treaty has been remarkably successful – but is it fit for the modern age?
Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The space dispatcher from the top of the episode was played by Andrew Hackard. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky. If you want to suggest a future we should take on, send us a note on Twitter, Facebook or by email at [email protected]. And if you think you’ve spotted one of the little references I’ve hidden in the episode, email us there too. If you’re right, I’ll send you something cool.
And if you want to support the show, there are a few ways you can do that too! Head to www.flashforwardpod.com/support for more about how to give. But if that’s not in the cards for you, you can head to iTunes and leave us a nice review or just tell your friends about us. Those things really do help.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode
We Are Family
With the rise in consumer DNA tests and online genealogy, people might soon have a pretty good idea where their families came from for generations. But are we putting too much faith in DNA? Can our genetic ancestry really tell us anything about ourselves? And what happens when DNA databases become playgrounds for true crime sleuths?
Guests:
Carl Zimmer, science journalist and author of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions and Potential of Heredity
Kristen V. Brown, biotechnology reporter at Bloomberg
Kim Tallbear, author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science
Clan_McCrimmon, moderator of the Lyle Stevik subreddit
Colleen Fitzpatrick and Margaret Press, cofounders of DNA Doe
Kelly Hills, cofounder of Rogue Bioethics
Further Reading:
She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions and Potential of Heredity
Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science
The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants
In an Age of Gene Editing and Surrogacy, What Does Heredity Mean?
How DNA Testing Botched My Family's Heritage, and Probably Yours, Too
DNA testing is like the 'Wild West'; should it be more tightly regulated?
DNA test kits: Consider the privacy implications
The ingenious and ‘dystopian’ DNA technique police used to hunt the ‘Golden State Killer’ suspect
The Strange Case of the Man With No Name
DNA Doe Lyle Stevik Press Release
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode
The Very Big Sick
In 1918, the Spanish flu killed four to five percent of the entire global population. Infectious disease experts all agree that another pandemic is coming. It's when, not if. But are we ready for it? Today's episode explores what happens when a pandemic strikes, what the most likely candidates are, and whether or not the world is ready.
Guests:
Ed Yong, science writer at The Atlantic
Nahid Bhadelia, assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine and the Medical Director of Special Pathogens Unit (SPU) at Boston Medical Center
Laura Spinney, science writer and author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World
Nicola Twilley, co-host of Gastropod and author of a forthcoming book on quarantine
Further Reading:
The Next Plague is Coming. Is America Ready?
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World
Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being by Harold Napoleon
Medicine’s Long, Thin Supply Chain
Predicting virus emergence amid evolutionary noise
Nebraska’s Biocontainment Unit
The Terrifying Lessons of a Pandemic Simulation
CDC Director: Why I Don’t Support A Travel Ban To Combat The Ebola Outbreak
Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism
How prepared is the world for the next epidemic? This tool shows most countries are not.
Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The voices from the future this episode were provided by Paul Krueger, Sean Raines, and Sameer Ajmani. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.
Get in touch: Twitter, Facebook, [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/flash-forward-100499/the-space-roomba-5300722"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to the space roomba on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy