Ep. 753: Why is the Moon's South Pole So Interesting?

Astronomy Cast

Science, Astronomy, Natural Sciences, Space

4.8 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Astronomy Cast Ep. 753: Why is the Moon's South Pole So Interesting? By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Apr 21, 2025. I’m sure you’ve heard that all eyes are on the Moon’s southern pole. This is where various NASA and Chinese missions are targeting. What makes this region so special and what are the special challenges that explorers will face. From TV shows to real-world missions, it seems like everyone just wants to explore the Moon's South Pole. But why? Learn here! SUPPORTED BY YOU This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos. Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm
0:02.0	Oh Thank you. I'm Astronomycast, Episode 753, why is the moon's South Pole so important?
0:55.2	Welcome to AstronomyCaster, weekly facts-based journey through the cosmos, where we help you understand not only what we know, but how we know what we know.
1:01.6	I'm Fraser Kane. I'm the publisher of the Universe Today with me, as always is Dr. Pamela Gay, a senior scientist for the Planetary Science Institute and the director of Cosmo Quest.
1:10.6	Hey, Pam Pam, how you
1:11.1	doing? I am doing well. We escaped tornadoes yet again. It is that time of year.
1:19.3	And yesterday was the second anniversary of the first starship launch, and it was super bittersweet,
1:27.2	because it was just like this this promised
1:30.9	giant telescopes in space and artemus and it's just so far behind on its deadline and one of the
1:40.2	things I realized you and I have said many times is no longer true. Because when they first
1:46.3	started on Starlink, we talked about how well with these giant rockets, they will be able to
1:51.2	just launch eight meter telescopes, no big deal, all the way into space. And it turns out that like
1:58.2	the LSST is 330 tons and Starship will only be able to launch to Leo
2:04.5	100 tons. And so it's just sort of like, I have sad. I had much sad. Oh, they could they could slim
2:12.2	down Vera Rubin and and you know put it because it won't have to be in space. I know.
2:17.6	I know. So they can probably make it work.
2:19.0	But, yeah, I mean, like, turns out rocket science is hard.
2:22.2	Turns out this stuff takes longer.
2:23.6	Turns out having a CEO who is busy doing other things is distracting for the, the objectives
2:33.0	of the company.
2:33.8	So, yeah, hopefully, maybe this time next year, we will see orbital, reusable two-stage rockets.
2:41.3	Yeah, hopefully.
	...

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