Suicide Space Robots
Summary
This episode memorializes robotic space probes that were destroyed or left behind during exploration, including the Soviet Venera landers on Venus, NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars, and the Cassini spacecraft, which was intentionally crashed into Saturn to protect Enceladus. The host also discusses the Deep Impact mission, where a probe was sacrificed to smash into a comet, and the Voyager probes now drifting into interstellar space.
Topics discussed
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Introduction: Memorializing robotic explorers
Venera program: Probes destroyed by Venus
Mars: History of failed landings
Spirit and Opportunity: Exceeding mission plans
Cassini: Discoveries on Enceladus
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Cassini: Planetary protection and final plunge
Galileo and Juno: De-orbiting into Jupiter
Deep Impact: Smashing Comet Tempel 1
Philae: The bouncy comet lander
Voyager and Pioneer: Interstellar drifters
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Sponsor: Google Chrome
Sponsor: 23andMe
Q&A: Gecko toe pads and viewer corrections
Q&A: Quantum vacuum energy and dark energy
Q&A: Hawking radiation preview
Q&A: The EM drive and systematic errors
Q&A: Scientific dogma vs. rational skepticism
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Q&A: Why fringe ideas are usually false
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Sponsor: Cuvasier Cognac
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