97: Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years

*Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years If you tried to start a car that's been sitting in a garage for decades, you might not expect the engine to respond. But a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft successfully fired up Wednesday after 37 years without use. Voyager 1, NASA's farthest and fastest spacecraft, is the only human-made object in interstellar space, the environment between the stars. *Back to the Moon as well as to Mars and beyond The United States is returning humans to the Moon. President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1 at the White House, which is designed to refocus national space policy, with a U.S. led, integrated program involving the private sector and international partners for a human return to the Moon, followed by missions to Mars and beyond. *The night skies are getting brighter The night skies are getting brighter – and it’s our increased efforts to get rid of inefficient incandescent lighting replacing them with eco-friendly LED lights that’s become part of the problem. Between 2012 to 2016, the artificially lit area of the Earth's surface grew by 2.2 percent per year *Europe pushes ahead with new launch systems and reusable spacecraft The European Space Agency is moving forward with plans to develop new versions of its Vega rocket launch system and a new reusable capsule to take payloads into orbit and return them to the surface. *China’s busy 2017 launch manifest continues China’s 15th launch for 2017 has successfully carried Algeria’s first telecommunications satellite into orbit. *Russian spy satellite launched A Soyuz rocket carrying a secret military spy satellite has successfully blasted into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia’s far north. The launch came just a week after the failure of another Soyuz to place 19 satellites into orbit from Russia’s new Vostochny Cosmodrome. *The Science Report Scientists are keeping a close eye on a new bird flu strain developing in China. A new study says planet Earth has entered a new geological age --The Anthropocene Epoch. A snapshot of the nation’s use of illegal drugs. Scientists sequence the genetic make-up of the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger. Forget wind farms -- new climate projections warn winds will decrease across the Northern Hemisphere. Scientist may have found the ideal speed for pouring espresso into milk. For enhanced Show Notes including photos to accompany this episode, visit: http://www.bitesz.com/spacetimeshownotes Subscribe, rate and review SpaceTime at all good podcasting apps…including Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes), Google Podcasts, Stitcher, PocketCasts, Podbean, Radio Public, Tunein Radio, google play, Spreaker etc Would you prefer to have access to the special commercial free version of SpaceTime? Help support the show, subscribe at Patreon....and share in the rewards. Details at www.patreon.com/spacetimewithstuartgary Help support SpaceTime : The SpaceTime with Stuart Gary merchandise shop. Get your T-Shirts, Coffee Cups, badges, tote bag + more and help support the show. Check out the range: http://www.cafepress.com/spacetime Thank you. Plus: As a part of the SpaceTime family, you can get a free audio book of your choice, plus 30 days free access from audible.com. Just visit www.audibletrial.com/spacetime or click on the banner link at www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com Email: [email protected] Join our mailing list at http://www.bitesz.com/join-our-mailing-list  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices  See acast.com/privacy...