August 14, 2025 • 39 mins
NASA astronaut Jim Lovell passed away at the age of 97 and his story is more than just Apollo 13. Artemis 2 is doing more preparation for a February to April launch next year. The meteorite that crashed into a Georgia home is older than Earth. And the Perseid meteor shower isn't quite done yet.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Warning. The following podcast contains an entertaining look at astronomy, physics,
and space news throughout the known universe. Listeners have been
known to learn about astronomical phenomenon, the scientific method, and
expanded vocabulary to include terms like quasar asterism and uranus. Listen,
that's your own risk.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Go ahead. When made of stars, made them stars, madies.
When made of.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Stars, you could be from high they would New Mexicomus,
where all stars? When we are made of stars.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm Wes Carol, joined by my good friend doctor Sean
Cruisin from Lamba State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Hay Sean, Wes.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
It's great to be here today.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
A sad occasion as it as it is because we
have the passing of a legend.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, this is a tough week and it was. It
was basically just right after we recorded last week's show
that ye, my friend Scott Norman, our space historian, walked
in and told me, hey, and tough day. We lost
gym lovel today.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yeah, and I mean to call him, and I mean,
you start thinking about in perspective of.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Legends.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
It's like all these astronauts are legends, you know, they
they've they've accomplished or done something that you know, most
of us at some point in our childhood went wow,
that would be great. And there's a lot of kids
today going wow, that would be great because of you know,
the Artemis mission and upcoming things. And we'll get to
Artemis in just a minute, but something that people many
(01:59):
people grow up at least at some point in their
childhood like wow, that would be really cool to do that.
And I know a number of kids teenagers that listen
to the show or know that we do the show
and they're like, I want to do that one day,
or you know, one night in particular, one of these kids,
I told him, Hey, the Space Station's going overhead tonight.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You should check it out.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
And I just sent him a text and he went
out to see it and he's like, oh, I've never
seen it before, like wow, or maybe I've seen it
and didn't know what it was, but he goes, that
could be me on there one day. In that kind
of mindset. So we're talking about people who inspire that
and have accomplished that and all of those things, and
then you got some that just kind of bubble up
to the top and they really stand out for a
(02:40):
number of different reasons, and this is one of them.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
You know, it's true. And I think about, you know,
I think about Kurt Warner as an NFL quarterback. He
was a great NFL quarterback. But there are many, many,
many great NFL quarterbacks. But Kurt Warner got a movie
made about him, right, right, Well, because he had a story.
It's really kind of the story. And sometimes, you know,
(03:06):
just we in society were inspired by these stories. I
would put Jim Lovell in the same category among the
you know, the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. He was just
another guy. I mean, you know, they're all pretty exceptional, right,
So Jim Lovell was an exceptional person. So were the
rest of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts, right, They all
were cream of the crop, top notch. Right. But why
(03:30):
did Jim Lovell get a movie made about it? Well
because he had a story. And of course we know
that story is Apollo thirteen. And yeah, so you get
Tom Hanks to play you in a in a motion picture,
No big deal.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
It just happens to everybody, No big deal, just Tom Hanks,
that's all.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So, But here's something to think about. Jim Lovell is
that Jim Lovell was a veteran of Gemini seven, Gemini twelve,
and a follow eight. And look, not everybody is you know,
is a space nerd like me. But for those people
who know what Apollo eight was, Apollo eight was the
(04:10):
first time we ever went around the backside of the Moon.
It was a big deal, right, it was. It was
a mission that required a rocket capable enough to lift
human beings out of Earth orbit and put them into
a sphere where they went around another world in the
(04:31):
Solar System for the very first time. So already Jim
Lovell was part of that mission. And yeah, that's that's
the mission where they were reading from the scriptures on
the far side of the moon and on Christmas. And
it was a tough year in nineteen sixty eight when
(04:52):
all that was taking place, and put a little bit
of save on the soul of our society there when
that happened. So he had already had that moment when
he was then asked to command what was seeming like
a routine mission at that point, I mean, Apollo thirteen,
we'd already landed on the Moon. With Apollo eleven, we'd
(05:13):
landed again on the Moon with Apollo twelve. Those guys
horsed around and told jokes when they were on the
service of the Moon. The Apollo twelve story is pretty
funny and of itself. So yeah, Paula thirteen, you know
it didn't even it wasn't even getting the news coverage
that the previous missions had gotten. It was the third
time we were going to the Moon when all of
a sudden, on the way out.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
To the Moon, it got news coverage.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Something exploded that caused news coverage. It was the side
of their spacecraft, right, And so now you have this
epic moment where not only on the ground in Houston
did need did leadership need to be established, but on
the vehicle itself. And Jim Lovell was the commander of
that Apollo thirteen mission. And again, fans, if you if
(05:59):
you have not seen the Apollo thirteen movie for a while,
of course, not everything is to the letter historically accurate,
but most of it is, and it really does portray
the situation those guys were in that were on the
Apollo thirteen mission. Go watch the movie again. It's a
good time. You know why, because we just lost the
(06:21):
real guy. We just lost Jim level this week he
was ninety seven years old and he passed away. Which hey,
after that many like four different missions, four different exposures,
the space radiation and all the hazards and difficulties that
your exposed your body to. Living to ninety seven is
a good long life, rights, So God bless him. You know,
(06:43):
he made it to that point, So good job. I
will tell you one other really almost meaningless piece of
Jim Level's career was he happened to be the keynote
speaker for the first day of the Coca Cola Space
Science Center here at Columbus, Georgia. He was the speaker
keynote speaker at the ribbon cutting ceremony when this facility
(07:05):
that I am now in charge of opened in nineteen
ninety six. So we appreciate Jim Level for his contribution
to our facility here as well as all the things
that he contributed to our nation. And you can read
a great, a great biography of Jim Level on NASA
dot gov right now. It's a tribute to him. That
(07:25):
part of that tribute has a statement from the family.
I like to just take a second read that to you.
So this is a statement from Jim Lovell's family about
his passing, it says, quote, we are saddened to announce
the passing of our beloved father, United States Navy Captain
James A. Jim level A naval pilot and officer, astronaut, leader,
and space explorer. He was ninety seven. We are enormously
(07:49):
proud of his amazing life and career accomplishments, highlighted by
his legendary leadership in pioneering human spaceflight. But to all
of us, he was dad, granddad, and the leader of
the family. Most importantly, he was our hero. We will
miss his unshakable optimism, his sense of humor, and the
(08:09):
way he made each of us feel we could do
the impossible. He was truly one of a kind. Unquote,
I will say, in addition to what the family just said,
he made the rest of us feel like we could
do the impossible too, Because once we as a nation
and as a space program went through that emergency of
(08:30):
Apollo thirteen and we're able to bring those those people
back safely to the Earth in that highly damaged spacecraft.
All the lessons that we learn from that, when we
apply those to our daily life, we really feel the
inspiration of what can be done when a technically trained
(08:51):
group of individuals get together and really go into problem
solving mode. So it's important to us even today, and
even today here at Space Science Center, we do activity
for adults. It's a team building and leadership activity. It's
also a communications activity, but we call it the Apollo
thirteen activity, and that's because we put them through a
scenario where they have to deal with ambiguity, they have
(09:15):
to deal with difficult communications issues, and they have to
figure out a different way of solving a problem that
they would normally not have to do in their everyday life.
I can't tell you more about the activity because the
rest of its secret. It's top secret, so come down
and check it out for yourselves sometime. But the important
thing is that it serves as an inspiration today. Apollo
thirteen does even today for many organizations like mine that
(09:39):
refer back to what those individuals did, both on the
ground and in the spacecraft to make sure that mission
was safe, got back home safely, and just defied the
odds of being able to make that mission into a
different kind of success.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
We often talk about the fact that you have astronauts
whose training puts them in a position where they're able
to navigate through the problem solving that you're talking about.
It's one thing to train for it, it's another thing
to experience it. It's another thing to know if we
don't work through these problems, we're going to die. I mean,
(10:21):
when you're staring that down, and you know, we've had
some other examples when you think about, you know, Neil
Armstrong realizing we're about to land in a place we're
never going to get back out, and we're going to
die on the moon if I don't take control of
this without permission. But I'm taking control of it because
I have to, and I'm about to save a couple
of lives in the process, including my own. And this
(10:45):
was another one of those examples where you know, you've
got a crew there at Apollo thirteen that is saying,
we have to figure this out, and we're on the clock.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, and you know, we we have to figure out
a solution to a problem that nobody's ever solved before.
And so again, if you watched the Apollo thirteen movie,
they were having trouble with the carbon scrubbers, the things
that purified the air, the ones that were on the
vehicle that was not exploded, were not meant for three people,
(11:18):
They were only meant for two people in a short
period of time. So they had to figure out how
to modify those scrubbers with just what was on board
so that they can make them continue to operate. They
were able to do that because a group of technicians
got together in a back room at the Johnson Space
(11:38):
Center in Houston. They threw some items on the table
and said, this is what they have to work with.
Solve this problem. And again, as you said, Wes, if
they don't solve that problem, those guys die. I mean,
it's a life or death situation. If you imagine yourself
in that situation, the stress level. How high was that
stress level? The amazing thing about that team of people
(12:00):
on the ground is that most of them were in
their twenties and had just recently graduated from college, and
they were able, in that incredibly stressful situation to solve
that problem that nobody had even thought about before within
a very short period of time, one of many problems
(12:22):
they had to solve to bring that crew back safely,
and they were able to accomplish that. Right, So it
should be a shining example to all of us of
what human beings can actually accomplish if A they're working
together and b they have the confidence to not give
up and push forward and find a solution and get
(12:46):
it done right. So yeah, it's a really important moment
in history of human beings, not just an American space
program and whatever you think about people going to the Moon,
but it's an important moment in the history of human
beings to say, we do have the capability under these
kinds of circumstances to perform at such an exceptional level
(13:09):
that we can even overcome the incredibly adverse odds that
that team of technicians had to overcome in Houston to
bring that Apollo thirteen crew home safely. Amazing stuff it is.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
You mentioned Apollo eight and you know going around the
Moon and coming back.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Hey, what do you know?
Speaker 4 (13:28):
That's kind of in the works again, also at a
time where maybe we need some Bible versus Red and
space and some healing on the planet. So NASA is
now a step closer to Artemis two Zorine spacecraft getting
ready to go, and they start fueling up. It seems
premature to fuel up. Why are we fueling up now?
This seems early in the process.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
You're fueling up now to make sure that spacecraft can
actually hold those fuels. Right, So what's happened here recently
they have taking the Orion spacecraft, which is the vehicle
that this next generation of Artemis astronauts are going to
be returning to the Moon with, and they've put it
through basically a set of tests down at the Kennedy
(14:13):
Space Center, first in what they call the Multi Payload
Processing Facility the MPPF, and then there's also another facility
called the Launch Abort System Facility. They have fueled up
the vehicle and put it under stresses and strains caused
by the coolants and the other essential fluids that are
(14:33):
kept at pressure, and they're making sure all those things
can hold. That's been done, That was done back in May,
and they're going through a series of checks over the
months here up to now. But now they're taking that vehicle,
which is still loaded up with those fuels, and they're
moving it to that second facility, the Launch Aboort System Facility,
the LASF, and at the la s F, it's now
(14:54):
going to be fitted with its emergency escape system. If
you look at the rocket, you notice on top of
the capsule a big kind of trust system that almost
looks like a radio tower, right, it looks like it's
just an open framework of trust metal. Well, that is
the emergency escape system. And what that allows to have
(15:15):
happen is imagine the capsule sitting on top of the
big rocket. They're doing everything they need to do in
the final seconds before that rocket launches, the countdown, the whatever.
But imagine at that moment there's an explosion, a fire,
a massive fuel leak that could cause an explosion, any
of those emergency scenarios faster than a human being can react.
(15:39):
They have a computer system set up to detect those
issues and fire what's called the emergency escape system. And
in that radio tower like structure, there's a second set
of rockets which is only capable of lifting the capsule
off the big rocket, and it does so immediately and
(16:00):
would in principle allow those astronauts in the capsule to
escape the larger explosion occurring below them in that massive
rocket on a launch pad eruption, or just frankly on
the way up to space. You imagine the Challenger scenario,
for instance, Challenger Space Shuttle. Challenger Space Shuttle couldn't have
this kind of a system in place, because they didn't
(16:20):
have a separate capsule where people were riding. It was
all part of one large, integrated vehicle, which is one
of the reasons why NASA has moved away from that
model and back to the capsule model, because you can
have these kinds of emergency escape systems. So anyway that's
now going to be done. All of these things are
in preparation for a launch of astronauts back around the
backside of the Moon. As West alluded two moments ago,
(16:43):
it's very similar to what Apollo eight did back in
nineteen sixty eight, and so this will be a flight
of a new vehicle with humans on board, around the
backside of the Moon. That is the Artemus two mission.
It's scheduled to be about a ten day mission, and
it's scheduled to take place no earlier than February of
twenty twenty six. You might say, well, wow, that's pretty fast. Yes,
(17:06):
it is rapid. Preparations are being made right now, so
no earlier than that date. But also this is more
impressive to me a no later date than April of
twenty twenty six, So that means in that February to
April timeframe of next year, we are very likely to
see the Artemis two mission go to space the largest
(17:31):
most powerful rocket on planet Earth, the Space Launch System
to launch that crew into space, and for that Orion
capsule to take that crew around the backside of the
Moon as a proof of concept mission that we can
do that to lead up to what is called Artemis three,
that would be the subsequent mission landing people back again
(17:52):
on the surface of the Moon. It's an incredible time frame.
By the way, the Orion capsule slated to carry one
of Wes's close personal friends, Reid Wiseman. I mean, I
think maybe that's an overstatement, but I believe you spoke
with Wiseman at one point.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, but so close personal friends, I'll
claim him.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah yeah yeah. I mean, you guys are Facebook friends
or something. RUN don't know anyway, So NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman,
Victor Glover, Christina Cook, as well as Canadian Space Agency
astronaut Jeremy Hansen. So these are set to be the
first human beings to fly around the backside of the
Moon since nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So I just want to quickly touch on this because
I think it's and I know we talk a little
bit more about what you guys do at the Cocola
Space Science Center typically at the end of the shows.
But this system that's in place now for you know,
making sure that as a as a last minute, we
have an emergency and we have to get off of
(18:53):
this rockets. It's a big transition from the baskets that
they used to use. And if you saw the movie
Men in Black three, you may have seen these particular baskets.
I know, I think, I guess there's not been four
Men in Black movies. I know that maybe the last
two might have got lost in the shuffle.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I know the first one was a mega hit, and
the second one also, I mean, they all did fine.
I'm sure they made some money, but the third one
maybe got a little loss. It may be worth revisiting
it just to check out the baskets that we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And you guys have one of.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Those baskets on display, not for Men in Black, but
from the actual.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Rocket era.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Yeah, the Space Shuttle program. We have what's called an
emergency egress basket. It is sitting in our exhibit gallery
part of the emergency egress system. And every time I
walked past that basket, I just kind of whisper to
myself Galaxy defenders, So you know, yeah, but.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Pretty cool stuff to know that that's the progress that
we've made, because at one time they had to go
dive in a basket and slide back down to earth.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
The thing's made out of canvas and steel and no
seat belts, no brakes, no airbags, none of that stuff.
They would have to get in that basket and slide
down the zip line from hades and top speed fifty
five miles per hour in a basket that is lined
with canvas, and you don't have an airbag or a
(20:27):
seat belt, and hopefully the nets at the bottom caught
you safely and then you were able to get out
of that basket and run into a bomb shelter and
pray that the bomb shelter was sufficient that when the
shuttle exploded on the launchpad, potentially that you would survive. That. Yeah,
that was their old system.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Was the other end of the cable attached to the
rocket or to the shuttle, Like what because that would
be bad? Was it bungee style or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
It was attached to the gantry, which means you had
to get out of the shuttle and run over to
the basket along like a cat and then jump in
the basket, hit a lever, slide down to the ground safely.
I hope that works out for you, but anyway, so,
but it's cool. Officially, nobody actually had to ride that
basket in an emergency, but they hung on the uh
(21:14):
on the launch tower for thirty year history of the
Space Shuttle program. Now we have one hanging out in
our exhibit gallery here at Space Science Center.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Coming up after a quick break, we're gonna talk it's
been a viral story. We're gonna talk about this really
really old meteorite that crashed into Georgia's specifically in a house.
We'll talk about that next. So this was one of
(21:52):
those stories that was on social media and the first
time you see it, as I tend to do with
most of these things that float around on social media,
I go, uh, is this real? What are we looking
at here? What's going on? Is this clickbait?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Is it all made up? What are we doing here?
What is this?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
But no, this is one of those stories that actually
is real and it did happen back in late June,
and I'll let you take it from there.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well, I would say this, you and I would have
given this a lot more attention on the Native Stars
podcast because it happened right here in our own state, right,
I mean the other part you go, is this real?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Like, what are we talking about here?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
It happened when where? But you and I happened to
not be in our home state at the time. We
were both out of the state simultaneously, in you know,
venues beyond the Great State of Georgia at the time,
and so we were, you know, we were kind of
doing podcasting in a different format at that point anyway.
So so yeah, sorry for not covering this the first time,
(22:53):
Made of Stars fans, But apparently a giant meteorite hit
a house in Georgia. So if you're just hearing that
for the first time, we're really sorry that was late
to you.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
And our defense. I was on the other side.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Of the planet and I was breathing rocky Mountain air,
So you know, sorry, sorry, sorry for you know, the
you know, the the late reporting on that story. You're like, what, yeah,
a daytime meteorite. So this thing is bright and it
was big and fast, and bright enough that people saw
it in broad daylight. So that's this was a this
(23:30):
was a really good story. We missed west, you know
it was. It was pretty good.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
It was.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yes, a bunch of a bunch of dash cams and
home security systems picked it up in the city of Atlanta,
you know, right just right up the road from where
you and I live.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
You know, so, I mean, probably should have had something
on that, except we were off doing other things. So
I will just continue to say that, you know, it was.
It was visible over a seven state area. So the
American meteor Society, which is the organization that takes the
reporting of these kinds of events that occur in the sky,
they reported event They reported having reports submitted to them
(24:06):
from seven different states. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee.
So so all all of those I'm seeing in my
show prep that it says the word Arizona. I don't know,
that's just nonsense. But anyway, they had really good I
want to skipped a lot of states. I don't know
how that one got in there, but yeah, they just
know somebody called that from Arizona. So now I saw
(24:28):
it too. I don't think you did, buddy.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Sorry, a really really good telescope.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah, so anyway, six I said seven sixth state area
because I'm discounting out of whole cloud Arizona. Anyway. So
the reporting from the American Meter Society, though, shows that
it was a pretty big event when it came in
and was daytime. Visible experts now estimate that rock had
to be about three feet in diameter and way more
than a ton. So you said three feet in diameter
(24:58):
and wait, a ton? What? Yeah, it's because it was
probably a lot of really dense material on the inside
of that thing, right, So it was a big rock.
It was a very large rock. It fragmented in the
sky and then fragments showered down over Henry County and
over the McDonagh area, which is an Atlanta suburb. One
(25:20):
of those chunks was large enough to come through a
family home in Henry County. Not only did it come
through the roof, the attic, the flashing the ceiling, the
joyce saw that stuff. It busted through the ceiling hard
enough it came through the room of the house. I
made a giant dent in the floor. So was this
(25:42):
was something that. I'm really happy no one was standing
there in that home at that time. Okay, now that
sets up the story we're actually telling today. That was
what happened back in June. Here's the story we're telling today.
USA Today reports as well as many other sites, that
it looks like that that meteor that came crashing through
that home in McDonough and Henry County was actually a
(26:06):
chunk of a bigger rock that was older than the Earth.
Now that's something that's kind of special, right. So there
was enough material found by the homeowner that they could
send some sampling of that material to the University of Georgia,
to their Department of Geology and their College of Sciences
up there, and so they were able to examine that
(26:28):
those meteor fragments and classify them, and they put out
a press release on August the eighth that said that
this piece of meteor material was something called a low
metal ordinary chondrite. Now that's just a meteor classification. So
it didn't have a lot of metals in it. It
had more chondridic material, which has a lot of what
we call volatiles in it, in other words, compounds that
(26:51):
usually vaporize as they come through the air and exposed
to heat. Well, it did do that. It's why it exploded, right,
It's why it came in as fragments. So, but it
also that material, when age dated, looks like it belongs
to a group of objects in the a very unique
group of objects in the asteroid belt. Now, i'd like
(27:13):
to read you this quote from Scott Harris, who's a
researcher at the Department of Geology at the University of Georgia.
Scott Harris says this, this particular meteor that entered the
atmosphere has a long history before it made it to
the ground of McDonogh and in ordinary in order to
totally understand that, we actually had to examine what the
(27:35):
rock is and determine what group of asteroids it belongs to.
To go on with this quote further, Harris said, it
belongs to a group of asteroids in the main asteroid
belt between Mars and Jupiter that we now think we
can tie to a breakup of a much larger asteroid
about four hundred and seventy million years ago.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
So this thing crashes into a house and like obviously
it takes them time to date it to figure out
how long this thing has been in existence, So relatively speaking,
considering this was like, you know, a month and a
half ago, it's a pretty quick turnaround to make this
(28:21):
a story again just in the age of it.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yeah, it's I'm sure it became a high priority sample.
It hit a dude's house, right, So, yeah, so they
probably cleared the they probably cleared the lab tables to
make sure they could examine this particular. Like, I know,
we had these other projects going on, but I think
that four hundred million year old dinosaur bone is gonna wait,
(28:44):
let's go ahead and get this. Let's settle this thing
that came in over Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Anyway.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
So, and the other part of this that obviously is
you know, most of the time something like this and
we talk often about when something comes into our atmosphere
just st just it's most likely to hit somewhere in
an ocean. It's going to hit water somewhere. That's most
of the planet, that's most of the coverage. So it
makes it special also in that, you know, in a
(29:11):
bad way landing in the guy's living room. But it's
the rarity of that also has some significance to it.
So does this guy get to keep any of this
thing or how does this work since it hit his house.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yeah, it was it was his to donate. Nice, So
he chose to donate these samples to the University of Georgia, which,
you know, good on the guy, right right, because it's
it's a fairly famous meteor strike. Since it was visible
by so many people and so many cameras and actually
damaged his house and all that kind of stuff. That's,
as you say, very newsworthy, which makes that that sample
(29:42):
even more valuable. And he went ahead and donated these
samples so they could do some kind of destructive research
up there at EGA. I say that to say they
actually have to you know, break it apart and do
chemical analysis on it, which is kind of a destructive
process to figure out what it really is. So, but
the science behind it becomes very important because the age
dating that they estimate for this group of asteroids in
(30:05):
the asteroid belt where they think this was originated from
older than the Earth four point five six billion years old.
The Earth is estimated to be only four point five
four billion years old. I mean, what's twenty you know
million years? Among friends, and it's fairly fairly long period
of time for me and my cat, but a pretty
(30:27):
short time over the history of the Solar System. So
what this tells you, though, is this, this asteroid that
fragmented into a meteor that hit this guy's house in
McDonagh formed as a part of the formation process of
the Solar System, which also formed the Earth and the
other planets. And the kind of material that is that
(30:47):
it's made out of this chondridic material chondrites. That material
is has a lot of the chemicals in it necessary
for life on the Earth to exist, which means this
is part of the progenitor series of elements in the
Solar System that made life possible on the surface of
(31:07):
the Earth. And that makes this an extraordinarily interesting piece
of sample. It's almost like the universe just said, here
have a rock from when the Solar System formed, and oh,
by the way, it's full of all the important elements
that you really need to examine to understand how our
Earth came together together with life forming materials. So that
(31:29):
gift was given to us when this chunk of space
rock went through the guy ceiling.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
And delivered to us in a place that it could
be retrieved, which is the other part of it that
obviously is important.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
More made of stars.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Right after this, let's talk about the perseid meteor shower.
(32:06):
We've gone through the prime days for this thing, but
it's not over just yet.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Now there's stuff falling right now. I mean, I don't know.
It could be some things falling out of the persons
that might go through someone's house who knows. Usually not,
as Wes said, most of that stuff statistically lands in
an ocean somewhere, which is fair game. And then even
when it falls on the ground, it doesn't usually puncture
a guy's roof and land in the living room, but
(32:34):
it could, but it can once in a while anyway,
all right, So.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
I just want to say this, like, let me just
get this out there. I want to get this established
and just get it out there. But if that's ever
going to happen to my house and I'm going to have,
you know, meet or this he's going to crash into
my house, I'm just hoping that, you know, Like, I
want to be watching something that's appropriate to it. I
(33:00):
want to feel like I'm having a real three D experience,
forty experience. So give me Armageddon you know, give me,
give me, just give me something like that in that moment.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
That's all that. I just want to put that out there, like, I.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Mean, you could watch Deep Impact, but that's so you know,
it's it's just not nearly as much fun. It kind
of you know, it's it's a downer. Yeah, it's almost
like what would really happen. It's some more accurate Go
ahead and watch Armageddon, which is nothing like what would
really happen. But it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
It is.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
It is a lot so you know, if you gonna
have to like obsessively watch some movie about something hitting
the earth over and over every night, so just in
case you can be ready to be watching that movie
when something hits your house. Yeah, I would not choose
Deep Impact, go for the more fun one.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Yea, yeah I would.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
I would choose Armageddon. It's just much more fun.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Anyway, Sorry, I just want to get that out there.
You were saying.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I was saying that that right now, there's a there's
a meteor shower happening. It's happening tonight now. So as
we're recording the show here, it did peak in the
hours of the previous night, which was August thirteenth into
the fourteenth, which is, you know, in the overnight hours,
So you missed that one. But here in Columbus, Georgia,
we were having just like torrential rains and cloudiness and
(34:13):
there was no seeing any kind of meteors. What I'm
going to say from my friends in the local area,
people around the world have been seeing these meteors coming
in from the perseed meteor shower, which typically peaks on
August twelfth, but waited an extra day this year August
thirteen into fourteen. It's not over. That's what people don't
misunderstand about meteor showers. They think, oh, I missed it. Well, no,
(34:36):
it actually lasts for weeks, right, and so you can
see percied meteor showers pretty much through the rest of
the month of August, and so so it's only one
night from the peak. Go out after midnight. It's because
of the geometry of the way the Earth rotates and
moves through the sky, meteor showers are all always viewed
best after midnight. Go out after midnight this evening, go
(34:59):
check it out. You might actually see them. If you
don't want to go out in the middle, then I
just wake up a little early before the sun rises,
you might see some persied meteor showers. If you're like, well,
I don't know where the constellation of Perseus is, how
can I look for it? Don't worry about it. It's going
to be just streaking in over any parts of the sky,
so you should be able to see them if you
want to check out just a little bit more information
(35:19):
on that. Spaceweather dot com in their archive from yesterday
talks about the peak of the percied meter showers. Go
check it out on spaceweather dot com in their archive
for August thirteenth.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Let's talk about Columbus State Universities co Cola Space Science Center,
where you can see one of those cool baskets as
seen and featured in Men in Black three.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Here come the Men in Black Galaxy Defenders. You can
just say it when you walk by the basket. When
you come to these, it don't just make you feel happy.
So yeah, you can come down and visit us at
the co Cola Space Science Center. We have that exhibit
on display. Plus we actually have meteorites, so you can
come down and actually see meteorites that fell on other
people's houses. You know, in a variety of different locations
(36:01):
including Chell You'binsk, Siberia back in twenty thirteen. We have
a fragment of that very famous skyfall. Anyway, so we
have lots of great artifacts. We have flight simulators, we
have shows in our Atmosphere Theater planetarium. We have our
Space Shuttle Odyssey flying daily on virtual trips to orbit.
You can ride on any of those engage in any
of those activities. Check out all of the hours of
(36:23):
operation for our facility on our website. Visit www dot
cc SSC dot org. Charlie Charlie SamSam Charlie dot org.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Sean and I thank you for listening, and we'll do
this again next week. Overhead Door Company of Columbus has
all of your garage door needs covered residential and commercial
service and repairs. If you need a new garage door,
you're just looking to upgrade or repair your current door,
(36:56):
Overhead Door Company of Columbus has you covered. Plus they've
got your emergent agency repairs or service covered as well.
Seven oh six three five eight forty five hundred seven
oh six three five eight forty five hundred o Dccolumbus
dot com. Get ready for dragon Con twenty twenty five
Labor Day weekend downtown Atlanta with the dragon Con Pregame
(37:19):
Show coming August twenty third and twenty fourth to a
radio station near you if you live in the State
of Georgia or one of the states near enough to
the State of Georgia to pick up a radio signal
coming from the network of stations in the State of
Georgia that'll be carrying the show, and there are many
in Alabama and Tennessee and the Carolinas that'll have a
(37:39):
chance to hear it, even down into Florida, or simply
listen to it on the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast
wherever you listen to your podcast, yes, where you're listening
to this podcast. You can also find past editions of
the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast with interviews with William Shatner,
(38:00):
the stars from Star Trek, The Walking Dead, the Marvel
Cinematic Universe, many animated stars, some of your favorite Disney stars.
Chances to hear interviews with them, and this year's dragon
Con Pregame Show will drop to the podcast on August
twenty third, and you can hear this year's interviews. It's
(38:21):
sponsored by Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center,
where doctor Sean Cruisin and I often like to discuss
the science behind the science fiction and the connections between
where science fiction sometimes leads to science science sometimes leads
to science fiction. It's just a weird connection that's already there.
(38:42):
It's built into it. And I say it's weird, but
it's really not. It makes perfect sense.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
The two go together very well.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
Learn more about the Coca Cola Space Science Center at
CCSSC dot org. Learn more about this year's Dragon Con
the website, which is dragonc on dot org
Warning. The following podcast contains an entertaining look at astronomy, physics,
and space news throughout the known universe. Listeners have been
known to learn about astronomical phenomenon, the scientific method, and
expanded vocabulary to include terms like quasar asterism and uranus. Listen,
that's your own risk.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Go ahead. When made of stars, made them stars, madies.
When made of.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Stars, you could be from high they would New Mexicomus,
where all stars? When we are made of stars.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm Wes Carol, joined by my good friend doctor Sean
Cruisin from Lamba State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Hay Sean, Wes.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
It's great to be here today.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
A sad occasion as it as it is because we
have the passing of a legend.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, this is a tough week and it was. It
was basically just right after we recorded last week's show
that ye, my friend Scott Norman, our space historian, walked
in and told me, hey, and tough day. We lost
gym lovel today.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yeah, and I mean to call him, and I mean,
you start thinking about in perspective of.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Legends.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
It's like all these astronauts are legends, you know, they
they've they've accomplished or done something that you know, most
of us at some point in our childhood went wow,
that would be great. And there's a lot of kids
today going wow, that would be great because of you know,
the Artemis mission and upcoming things. And we'll get to
Artemis in just a minute, but something that people many
(01:59):
people grow up at least at some point in their
childhood like wow, that would be really cool to do that.
And I know a number of kids teenagers that listen
to the show or know that we do the show
and they're like, I want to do that one day,
or you know, one night in particular, one of these kids,
I told him, Hey, the Space Station's going overhead tonight.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You should check it out.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
And I just sent him a text and he went
out to see it and he's like, oh, I've never
seen it before, like wow, or maybe I've seen it
and didn't know what it was, but he goes, that
could be me on there one day. In that kind
of mindset. So we're talking about people who inspire that
and have accomplished that and all of those things, and
then you got some that just kind of bubble up
to the top and they really stand out for a
(02:40):
number of different reasons, and this is one of them.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
You know, it's true. And I think about, you know,
I think about Kurt Warner as an NFL quarterback. He
was a great NFL quarterback. But there are many, many,
many great NFL quarterbacks. But Kurt Warner got a movie
made about him, right, right, Well, because he had a story.
It's really kind of the story. And sometimes, you know,
(03:06):
just we in society were inspired by these stories. I
would put Jim Lovell in the same category among the
you know, the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. He was just
another guy. I mean, you know, they're all pretty exceptional, right,
So Jim Lovell was an exceptional person. So were the
rest of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts, right, They all
were cream of the crop, top notch. Right. But why
(03:30):
did Jim Lovell get a movie made about it? Well
because he had a story. And of course we know
that story is Apollo thirteen. And yeah, so you get
Tom Hanks to play you in a in a motion picture,
No big deal.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
It just happens to everybody, No big deal, just Tom Hanks,
that's all.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So, But here's something to think about. Jim Lovell is
that Jim Lovell was a veteran of Gemini seven, Gemini twelve,
and a follow eight. And look, not everybody is you know,
is a space nerd like me. But for those people
who know what Apollo eight was, Apollo eight was the
(04:10):
first time we ever went around the backside of the Moon.
It was a big deal, right, it was. It was
a mission that required a rocket capable enough to lift
human beings out of Earth orbit and put them into
a sphere where they went around another world in the
(04:31):
Solar System for the very first time. So already Jim
Lovell was part of that mission. And yeah, that's that's
the mission where they were reading from the scriptures on
the far side of the moon and on Christmas. And
it was a tough year in nineteen sixty eight when
(04:52):
all that was taking place, and put a little bit
of save on the soul of our society there when
that happened. So he had already had that moment when
he was then asked to command what was seeming like
a routine mission at that point, I mean, Apollo thirteen,
we'd already landed on the Moon. With Apollo eleven, we'd
(05:13):
landed again on the Moon with Apollo twelve. Those guys
horsed around and told jokes when they were on the
service of the Moon. The Apollo twelve story is pretty
funny and of itself. So yeah, Paula thirteen, you know
it didn't even it wasn't even getting the news coverage
that the previous missions had gotten. It was the third
time we were going to the Moon when all of
a sudden, on the way out.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
To the Moon, it got news coverage.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Something exploded that caused news coverage. It was the side
of their spacecraft, right, And so now you have this
epic moment where not only on the ground in Houston
did need did leadership need to be established, but on
the vehicle itself. And Jim Lovell was the commander of
that Apollo thirteen mission. And again, fans, if you if
(05:59):
you have not seen the Apollo thirteen movie for a while,
of course, not everything is to the letter historically accurate,
but most of it is, and it really does portray
the situation those guys were in that were on the
Apollo thirteen mission. Go watch the movie again. It's a
good time. You know why, because we just lost the
(06:21):
real guy. We just lost Jim level this week he
was ninety seven years old and he passed away. Which hey,
after that many like four different missions, four different exposures,
the space radiation and all the hazards and difficulties that
your exposed your body to. Living to ninety seven is
a good long life, rights, So God bless him. You know,
(06:43):
he made it to that point, So good job. I
will tell you one other really almost meaningless piece of
Jim Level's career was he happened to be the keynote
speaker for the first day of the Coca Cola Space
Science Center here at Columbus, Georgia. He was the speaker
keynote speaker at the ribbon cutting ceremony when this facility
(07:05):
that I am now in charge of opened in nineteen
ninety six. So we appreciate Jim Level for his contribution
to our facility here as well as all the things
that he contributed to our nation. And you can read
a great, a great biography of Jim Level on NASA
dot gov right now. It's a tribute to him. That
(07:25):
part of that tribute has a statement from the family.
I like to just take a second read that to you.
So this is a statement from Jim Lovell's family about
his passing, it says, quote, we are saddened to announce
the passing of our beloved father, United States Navy Captain
James A. Jim level A naval pilot and officer, astronaut, leader,
and space explorer. He was ninety seven. We are enormously
(07:49):
proud of his amazing life and career accomplishments, highlighted by
his legendary leadership in pioneering human spaceflight. But to all
of us, he was dad, granddad, and the leader of
the family. Most importantly, he was our hero. We will
miss his unshakable optimism, his sense of humor, and the
(08:09):
way he made each of us feel we could do
the impossible. He was truly one of a kind. Unquote,
I will say, in addition to what the family just said,
he made the rest of us feel like we could
do the impossible too, Because once we as a nation
and as a space program went through that emergency of
(08:30):
Apollo thirteen and we're able to bring those those people
back safely to the Earth in that highly damaged spacecraft.
All the lessons that we learn from that, when we
apply those to our daily life, we really feel the
inspiration of what can be done when a technically trained
(08:51):
group of individuals get together and really go into problem
solving mode. So it's important to us even today, and
even today here at Space Science Center, we do activity
for adults. It's a team building and leadership activity. It's
also a communications activity, but we call it the Apollo
thirteen activity, and that's because we put them through a
scenario where they have to deal with ambiguity, they have
(09:15):
to deal with difficult communications issues, and they have to
figure out a different way of solving a problem that
they would normally not have to do in their everyday life.
I can't tell you more about the activity because the
rest of its secret. It's top secret, so come down
and check it out for yourselves sometime. But the important
thing is that it serves as an inspiration today. Apollo
thirteen does even today for many organizations like mine that
(09:39):
refer back to what those individuals did, both on the
ground and in the spacecraft to make sure that mission
was safe, got back home safely, and just defied the
odds of being able to make that mission into a
different kind of success.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
We often talk about the fact that you have astronauts
whose training puts them in a position where they're able
to navigate through the problem solving that you're talking about.
It's one thing to train for it, it's another thing
to experience it. It's another thing to know if we
don't work through these problems, we're going to die. I mean,
(10:21):
when you're staring that down, and you know, we've had
some other examples when you think about, you know, Neil
Armstrong realizing we're about to land in a place we're
never going to get back out, and we're going to
die on the moon if I don't take control of
this without permission. But I'm taking control of it because
I have to, and I'm about to save a couple
of lives in the process, including my own. And this
(10:45):
was another one of those examples where you know, you've
got a crew there at Apollo thirteen that is saying,
we have to figure this out, and we're on the clock.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, and you know, we we have to figure out
a solution to a problem that nobody's ever solved before.
And so again, if you watched the Apollo thirteen movie,
they were having trouble with the carbon scrubbers, the things
that purified the air, the ones that were on the
vehicle that was not exploded, were not meant for three people,
(11:18):
They were only meant for two people in a short
period of time. So they had to figure out how
to modify those scrubbers with just what was on board
so that they can make them continue to operate. They
were able to do that because a group of technicians
got together in a back room at the Johnson Space
(11:38):
Center in Houston. They threw some items on the table
and said, this is what they have to work with.
Solve this problem. And again, as you said, Wes, if
they don't solve that problem, those guys die. I mean,
it's a life or death situation. If you imagine yourself
in that situation, the stress level. How high was that
stress level? The amazing thing about that team of people
(12:00):
on the ground is that most of them were in
their twenties and had just recently graduated from college, and
they were able, in that incredibly stressful situation to solve
that problem that nobody had even thought about before within
a very short period of time, one of many problems
(12:22):
they had to solve to bring that crew back safely,
and they were able to accomplish that. Right, So it
should be a shining example to all of us of
what human beings can actually accomplish if A they're working
together and b they have the confidence to not give
up and push forward and find a solution and get
(12:46):
it done right. So yeah, it's a really important moment
in history of human beings, not just an American space
program and whatever you think about people going to the Moon,
but it's an important moment in the history of human
beings to say, we do have the capability under these
kinds of circumstances to perform at such an exceptional level
(13:09):
that we can even overcome the incredibly adverse odds that
that team of technicians had to overcome in Houston to
bring that Apollo thirteen crew home safely. Amazing stuff it is.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
You mentioned Apollo eight and you know going around the
Moon and coming back.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Hey, what do you know?
Speaker 4 (13:28):
That's kind of in the works again, also at a
time where maybe we need some Bible versus Red and
space and some healing on the planet. So NASA is
now a step closer to Artemis two Zorine spacecraft getting
ready to go, and they start fueling up. It seems
premature to fuel up. Why are we fueling up now?
This seems early in the process.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
You're fueling up now to make sure that spacecraft can
actually hold those fuels. Right, So what's happened here recently
they have taking the Orion spacecraft, which is the vehicle
that this next generation of Artemis astronauts are going to
be returning to the Moon with, and they've put it
through basically a set of tests down at the Kennedy
(14:13):
Space Center, first in what they call the Multi Payload
Processing Facility the MPPF, and then there's also another facility
called the Launch Abort System Facility. They have fueled up
the vehicle and put it under stresses and strains caused
by the coolants and the other essential fluids that are
(14:33):
kept at pressure, and they're making sure all those things
can hold. That's been done, That was done back in May,
and they're going through a series of checks over the
months here up to now. But now they're taking that vehicle,
which is still loaded up with those fuels, and they're
moving it to that second facility, the Launch Aboort System Facility,
the LASF, and at the la s F, it's now
(14:54):
going to be fitted with its emergency escape system. If
you look at the rocket, you notice on top of
the capsule a big kind of trust system that almost
looks like a radio tower, right, it looks like it's
just an open framework of trust metal. Well, that is
the emergency escape system. And what that allows to have
(15:15):
happen is imagine the capsule sitting on top of the
big rocket. They're doing everything they need to do in
the final seconds before that rocket launches, the countdown, the whatever.
But imagine at that moment there's an explosion, a fire,
a massive fuel leak that could cause an explosion, any
of those emergency scenarios faster than a human being can react.
(15:39):
They have a computer system set up to detect those
issues and fire what's called the emergency escape system. And
in that radio tower like structure, there's a second set
of rockets which is only capable of lifting the capsule
off the big rocket, and it does so immediately and
(16:00):
would in principle allow those astronauts in the capsule to
escape the larger explosion occurring below them in that massive
rocket on a launch pad eruption, or just frankly on
the way up to space. You imagine the Challenger scenario,
for instance, Challenger Space Shuttle. Challenger Space Shuttle couldn't have
this kind of a system in place, because they didn't
(16:20):
have a separate capsule where people were riding. It was
all part of one large, integrated vehicle, which is one
of the reasons why NASA has moved away from that
model and back to the capsule model, because you can
have these kinds of emergency escape systems. So anyway that's
now going to be done. All of these things are
in preparation for a launch of astronauts back around the
backside of the Moon. As West alluded two moments ago,
(16:43):
it's very similar to what Apollo eight did back in
nineteen sixty eight, and so this will be a flight
of a new vehicle with humans on board, around the
backside of the Moon. That is the Artemus two mission.
It's scheduled to be about a ten day mission, and
it's scheduled to take place no earlier than February of
twenty twenty six. You might say, well, wow, that's pretty fast. Yes,
(17:06):
it is rapid. Preparations are being made right now, so
no earlier than that date. But also this is more
impressive to me a no later date than April of
twenty twenty six, So that means in that February to
April timeframe of next year, we are very likely to
see the Artemis two mission go to space the largest
(17:31):
most powerful rocket on planet Earth, the Space Launch System
to launch that crew into space, and for that Orion
capsule to take that crew around the backside of the
Moon as a proof of concept mission that we can
do that to lead up to what is called Artemis three,
that would be the subsequent mission landing people back again
(17:52):
on the surface of the Moon. It's an incredible time frame.
By the way, the Orion capsule slated to carry one
of Wes's close personal friends, Reid Wiseman. I mean, I
think maybe that's an overstatement, but I believe you spoke
with Wiseman at one point.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, but so close personal friends, I'll
claim him.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah yeah yeah. I mean, you guys are Facebook friends
or something. RUN don't know anyway, So NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman,
Victor Glover, Christina Cook, as well as Canadian Space Agency
astronaut Jeremy Hansen. So these are set to be the
first human beings to fly around the backside of the
Moon since nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So I just want to quickly touch on this because
I think it's and I know we talk a little
bit more about what you guys do at the Cocola
Space Science Center typically at the end of the shows.
But this system that's in place now for you know,
making sure that as a as a last minute, we
have an emergency and we have to get off of
(18:53):
this rockets. It's a big transition from the baskets that
they used to use. And if you saw the movie
Men in Black three, you may have seen these particular baskets.
I know, I think, I guess there's not been four
Men in Black movies. I know that maybe the last
two might have got lost in the shuffle.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I know the first one was a mega hit, and
the second one also, I mean, they all did fine.
I'm sure they made some money, but the third one
maybe got a little loss. It may be worth revisiting
it just to check out the baskets that we're talking about.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And you guys have one of.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Those baskets on display, not for Men in Black, but
from the actual.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Rocket era.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Yeah, the Space Shuttle program. We have what's called an
emergency egress basket. It is sitting in our exhibit gallery
part of the emergency egress system. And every time I
walked past that basket, I just kind of whisper to
myself Galaxy defenders, So you know, yeah, but.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Pretty cool stuff to know that that's the progress that
we've made, because at one time they had to go
dive in a basket and slide back down to earth.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
The thing's made out of canvas and steel and no
seat belts, no brakes, no airbags, none of that stuff.
They would have to get in that basket and slide
down the zip line from hades and top speed fifty
five miles per hour in a basket that is lined
with canvas, and you don't have an airbag or a
(20:27):
seat belt, and hopefully the nets at the bottom caught
you safely and then you were able to get out
of that basket and run into a bomb shelter and
pray that the bomb shelter was sufficient that when the
shuttle exploded on the launchpad, potentially that you would survive. That. Yeah,
that was their old system.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Was the other end of the cable attached to the
rocket or to the shuttle, Like what because that would
be bad? Was it bungee style or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
It was attached to the gantry, which means you had
to get out of the shuttle and run over to
the basket along like a cat and then jump in
the basket, hit a lever, slide down to the ground safely.
I hope that works out for you, but anyway, so,
but it's cool. Officially, nobody actually had to ride that
basket in an emergency, but they hung on the uh
(21:14):
on the launch tower for thirty year history of the
Space Shuttle program. Now we have one hanging out in
our exhibit gallery here at Space Science Center.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Coming up after a quick break, we're gonna talk it's
been a viral story. We're gonna talk about this really
really old meteorite that crashed into Georgia's specifically in a house.
We'll talk about that next. So this was one of
(21:52):
those stories that was on social media and the first
time you see it, as I tend to do with
most of these things that float around on social media,
I go, uh, is this real? What are we looking
at here? What's going on? Is this clickbait?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Is it all made up? What are we doing here?
What is this?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
But no, this is one of those stories that actually
is real and it did happen back in late June,
and I'll let you take it from there.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well, I would say this, you and I would have
given this a lot more attention on the Native Stars
podcast because it happened right here in our own state, right,
I mean the other part you go, is this real?
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Like, what are we talking about here?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
It happened when where? But you and I happened to
not be in our home state at the time. We
were both out of the state simultaneously, in you know,
venues beyond the Great State of Georgia at the time,
and so we were, you know, we were kind of
doing podcasting in a different format at that point anyway.
So so yeah, sorry for not covering this the first time,
(22:53):
Made of Stars fans, But apparently a giant meteorite hit
a house in Georgia. So if you're just hearing that
for the first time, we're really sorry that was late
to you.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
And our defense. I was on the other side.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Of the planet and I was breathing rocky Mountain air,
So you know, sorry, sorry, sorry for you know, the
you know, the the late reporting on that story. You're like, what, yeah,
a daytime meteorite. So this thing is bright and it
was big and fast, and bright enough that people saw
it in broad daylight. So that's this was a this
(23:30):
was a really good story. We missed west, you know
it was. It was pretty good.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
It was.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yes, a bunch of a bunch of dash cams and
home security systems picked it up in the city of Atlanta,
you know, right just right up the road from where
you and I live.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
You know, so, I mean, probably should have had something
on that, except we were off doing other things. So
I will just continue to say that, you know, it was.
It was visible over a seven state area. So the
American meteor Society, which is the organization that takes the
reporting of these kinds of events that occur in the sky,
they reported event They reported having reports submitted to them
(24:06):
from seven different states. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee.
So so all all of those I'm seeing in my
show prep that it says the word Arizona. I don't know,
that's just nonsense. But anyway, they had really good I
want to skipped a lot of states. I don't know
how that one got in there, but yeah, they just
know somebody called that from Arizona. So now I saw
(24:28):
it too. I don't think you did, buddy.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Sorry, a really really good telescope.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah, so anyway, six I said seven sixth state area
because I'm discounting out of whole cloud Arizona. Anyway. So
the reporting from the American Meter Society, though, shows that
it was a pretty big event when it came in
and was daytime. Visible experts now estimate that rock had
to be about three feet in diameter and way more
than a ton. So you said three feet in diameter
(24:58):
and wait, a ton? What? Yeah, it's because it was
probably a lot of really dense material on the inside
of that thing, right, So it was a big rock.
It was a very large rock. It fragmented in the
sky and then fragments showered down over Henry County and
over the McDonagh area, which is an Atlanta suburb. One
(25:20):
of those chunks was large enough to come through a
family home in Henry County. Not only did it come
through the roof, the attic, the flashing the ceiling, the
joyce saw that stuff. It busted through the ceiling hard
enough it came through the room of the house. I
made a giant dent in the floor. So was this
(25:42):
was something that. I'm really happy no one was standing
there in that home at that time. Okay, now that
sets up the story we're actually telling today. That was
what happened back in June. Here's the story we're telling today.
USA Today reports as well as many other sites, that
it looks like that that meteor that came crashing through
that home in McDonough and Henry County was actually a
(26:06):
chunk of a bigger rock that was older than the Earth.
Now that's something that's kind of special, right. So there
was enough material found by the homeowner that they could
send some sampling of that material to the University of Georgia,
to their Department of Geology and their College of Sciences
up there, and so they were able to examine that
(26:28):
those meteor fragments and classify them, and they put out
a press release on August the eighth that said that
this piece of meteor material was something called a low
metal ordinary chondrite. Now that's just a meteor classification. So
it didn't have a lot of metals in it. It
had more chondridic material, which has a lot of what
we call volatiles in it, in other words, compounds that
(26:51):
usually vaporize as they come through the air and exposed
to heat. Well, it did do that. It's why it exploded, right,
It's why it came in as fragments. So, but it
also that material, when age dated, looks like it belongs
to a group of objects in the a very unique
group of objects in the asteroid belt. Now, i'd like
(27:13):
to read you this quote from Scott Harris, who's a
researcher at the Department of Geology at the University of Georgia.
Scott Harris says this, this particular meteor that entered the
atmosphere has a long history before it made it to
the ground of McDonogh and in ordinary in order to
totally understand that, we actually had to examine what the
(27:35):
rock is and determine what group of asteroids it belongs to.
To go on with this quote further, Harris said, it
belongs to a group of asteroids in the main asteroid
belt between Mars and Jupiter that we now think we
can tie to a breakup of a much larger asteroid
about four hundred and seventy million years ago.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
So this thing crashes into a house and like obviously
it takes them time to date it to figure out
how long this thing has been in existence, So relatively speaking,
considering this was like, you know, a month and a
half ago, it's a pretty quick turnaround to make this
(28:21):
a story again just in the age of it.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yeah, it's I'm sure it became a high priority sample.
It hit a dude's house, right, So, yeah, so they
probably cleared the they probably cleared the lab tables to
make sure they could examine this particular. Like, I know,
we had these other projects going on, but I think
that four hundred million year old dinosaur bone is gonna wait,
(28:44):
let's go ahead and get this. Let's settle this thing
that came in over Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Anyway.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
So, and the other part of this that obviously is
you know, most of the time something like this and
we talk often about when something comes into our atmosphere
just st just it's most likely to hit somewhere in
an ocean. It's going to hit water somewhere. That's most
of the planet, that's most of the coverage. So it
makes it special also in that, you know, in a
(29:11):
bad way landing in the guy's living room. But it's
the rarity of that also has some significance to it.
So does this guy get to keep any of this
thing or how does this work since it hit his house.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yeah, it was it was his to donate. Nice, So
he chose to donate these samples to the University of Georgia, which,
you know, good on the guy, right right, because it's
it's a fairly famous meteor strike. Since it was visible
by so many people and so many cameras and actually
damaged his house and all that kind of stuff. That's,
as you say, very newsworthy, which makes that that sample
(29:42):
even more valuable. And he went ahead and donated these
samples so they could do some kind of destructive research
up there at EGA. I say that to say they
actually have to you know, break it apart and do
chemical analysis on it, which is kind of a destructive
process to figure out what it really is. So, but
the science behind it becomes very important because the age
dating that they estimate for this group of asteroids in
(30:05):
the asteroid belt where they think this was originated from
older than the Earth four point five six billion years old.
The Earth is estimated to be only four point five
four billion years old. I mean, what's twenty you know
million years? Among friends, and it's fairly fairly long period
of time for me and my cat, but a pretty
(30:27):
short time over the history of the Solar System. So
what this tells you, though, is this, this asteroid that
fragmented into a meteor that hit this guy's house in
McDonagh formed as a part of the formation process of
the Solar System, which also formed the Earth and the
other planets. And the kind of material that is that
(30:47):
it's made out of this chondridic material chondrites. That material
is has a lot of the chemicals in it necessary
for life on the Earth to exist, which means this
is part of the progenitor series of elements in the
Solar System that made life possible on the surface of
(31:07):
the Earth. And that makes this an extraordinarily interesting piece
of sample. It's almost like the universe just said, here
have a rock from when the Solar System formed, and oh,
by the way, it's full of all the important elements
that you really need to examine to understand how our
Earth came together together with life forming materials. So that
(31:29):
gift was given to us when this chunk of space
rock went through the guy ceiling.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
And delivered to us in a place that it could
be retrieved, which is the other part of it that
obviously is important.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
More made of stars.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Right after this, let's talk about the perseid meteor shower.
(32:06):
We've gone through the prime days for this thing, but
it's not over just yet.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Now there's stuff falling right now. I mean, I don't know.
It could be some things falling out of the persons
that might go through someone's house who knows. Usually not,
as Wes said, most of that stuff statistically lands in
an ocean somewhere, which is fair game. And then even
when it falls on the ground, it doesn't usually puncture
a guy's roof and land in the living room, but
(32:34):
it could, but it can once in a while anyway,
all right, So.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
I just want to say this, like, let me just
get this out there. I want to get this established
and just get it out there. But if that's ever
going to happen to my house and I'm going to have,
you know, meet or this he's going to crash into
my house, I'm just hoping that, you know, Like, I
want to be watching something that's appropriate to it. I
(33:00):
want to feel like I'm having a real three D experience,
forty experience. So give me Armageddon you know, give me,
give me, just give me something like that in that moment.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
That's all that. I just want to put that out there, like, I.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Mean, you could watch Deep Impact, but that's so you know,
it's it's just not nearly as much fun. It kind
of you know, it's it's a downer. Yeah, it's almost
like what would really happen. It's some more accurate Go
ahead and watch Armageddon, which is nothing like what would
really happen. But it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
It is.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
It is a lot so you know, if you gonna
have to like obsessively watch some movie about something hitting
the earth over and over every night, so just in
case you can be ready to be watching that movie
when something hits your house. Yeah, I would not choose
Deep Impact, go for the more fun one.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Yea, yeah I would.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
I would choose Armageddon. It's just much more fun.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Anyway, Sorry, I just want to get that out there.
You were saying.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I was saying that that right now, there's a there's
a meteor shower happening. It's happening tonight now. So as
we're recording the show here, it did peak in the
hours of the previous night, which was August thirteenth into
the fourteenth, which is, you know, in the overnight hours,
So you missed that one. But here in Columbus, Georgia,
we were having just like torrential rains and cloudiness and
(34:13):
there was no seeing any kind of meteors. What I'm
going to say from my friends in the local area,
people around the world have been seeing these meteors coming
in from the perseed meteor shower, which typically peaks on
August twelfth, but waited an extra day this year August
thirteen into fourteen. It's not over. That's what people don't
misunderstand about meteor showers. They think, oh, I missed it. Well, no,
(34:36):
it actually lasts for weeks, right, and so you can
see percied meteor showers pretty much through the rest of
the month of August, and so so it's only one
night from the peak. Go out after midnight. It's because
of the geometry of the way the Earth rotates and
moves through the sky, meteor showers are all always viewed
best after midnight. Go out after midnight this evening, go
(34:59):
check it out. You might actually see them. If you
don't want to go out in the middle, then I
just wake up a little early before the sun rises,
you might see some persied meteor showers. If you're like, well,
I don't know where the constellation of Perseus is, how
can I look for it? Don't worry about it. It's going
to be just streaking in over any parts of the sky,
so you should be able to see them if you
want to check out just a little bit more information
(35:19):
on that. Spaceweather dot com in their archive from yesterday
talks about the peak of the percied meter showers. Go
check it out on spaceweather dot com in their archive
for August thirteenth.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Let's talk about Columbus State Universities co Cola Space Science Center,
where you can see one of those cool baskets as
seen and featured in Men in Black three.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Here come the Men in Black Galaxy Defenders. You can
just say it when you walk by the basket. When
you come to these, it don't just make you feel happy.
So yeah, you can come down and visit us at
the co Cola Space Science Center. We have that exhibit
on display. Plus we actually have meteorites, so you can
come down and actually see meteorites that fell on other
people's houses. You know, in a variety of different locations
(36:01):
including Chell You'binsk, Siberia back in twenty thirteen. We have
a fragment of that very famous skyfall. Anyway, so we
have lots of great artifacts. We have flight simulators, we
have shows in our Atmosphere Theater planetarium. We have our
Space Shuttle Odyssey flying daily on virtual trips to orbit.
You can ride on any of those engage in any
of those activities. Check out all of the hours of
(36:23):
operation for our facility on our website. Visit www dot
cc SSC dot org. Charlie Charlie SamSam Charlie dot org.
Speaker 4 (36:33):
Sean and I thank you for listening, and we'll do
this again next week. Overhead Door Company of Columbus has
all of your garage door needs covered residential and commercial
service and repairs. If you need a new garage door,
you're just looking to upgrade or repair your current door,
(36:56):
Overhead Door Company of Columbus has you covered. Plus they've
got your emergent agency repairs or service covered as well.
Seven oh six three five eight forty five hundred seven
oh six three five eight forty five hundred o Dccolumbus
dot com. Get ready for dragon Con twenty twenty five
Labor Day weekend downtown Atlanta with the dragon Con Pregame
(37:19):
Show coming August twenty third and twenty fourth to a
radio station near you if you live in the State
of Georgia or one of the states near enough to
the State of Georgia to pick up a radio signal
coming from the network of stations in the State of
Georgia that'll be carrying the show, and there are many
in Alabama and Tennessee and the Carolinas that'll have a
(37:39):
chance to hear it, even down into Florida, or simply
listen to it on the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast
wherever you listen to your podcast, yes, where you're listening
to this podcast. You can also find past editions of
the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast with interviews with William Shatner,
(38:00):
the stars from Star Trek, The Walking Dead, the Marvel
Cinematic Universe, many animated stars, some of your favorite Disney stars.
Chances to hear interviews with them, and this year's dragon
Con Pregame Show will drop to the podcast on August
twenty third, and you can hear this year's interviews. It's
(38:21):
sponsored by Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center,
where doctor Sean Cruisin and I often like to discuss
the science behind the science fiction and the connections between
where science fiction sometimes leads to science science sometimes leads
to science fiction. It's just a weird connection that's already there.
(38:42):
It's built into it. And I say it's weird, but
it's really not. It makes perfect sense.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
The two go together very well.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
Learn more about the Coca Cola Space Science Center at
CCSSC dot org. Learn more about this year's Dragon Con
the website, which is dragonc on dot org
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