[Space Bites+] SpaceX Go All-In On Building The Biggest Spaceport In History
BONUS STORY STARTS AT 25:06
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8eMctTM-dug
Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts
My sister's website: https://haislacollins.com/
Japan’s Phobos mission is almost ready to launch and so is Roman, NASA needs help re-inventing the wheel, why Earth is inevitable, and on Space Bites+, melting diamonds to learn more about ice giant interiors. All this and more in this week’s Space Bites.
00:00 Intro
00:17 MMX Is Ready
03:18 Possible Origin of Deimos https://www.universetoday.com/articles/marss-funky-moon-deimos-was-shaped-by-an-impact
05:36 Phobos Transit https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/perseverance-captures-another-phobos-transit/
07:09 Starship aboard https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:255286
08:40 SpaceX's $100B expansion plan https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/spacex-intends-to-invest-up-to-100-billion-in-massive-louisiana-spaceport/
10:30 Reinventing the Wheel for NASA https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/nasa-challenge-tests-wheel-designs-for-moon-base-mobility/
13:20 Skyfall Drones https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-skyfall-mars-helicopters-will-feature-a-revolutionary-antenna-design
16:45 More Leads for Dark Matter https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-distant-stream-of-stars-may-offer-new-clues-to-dark-matter
18:56 Vote results
19:34 Earth is inevitable https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-solar-system-models-show-earth-is-no-fluke
21:33 Roman's ready to launch
23:23 New image of Betelgeuse https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/audiences/alma-reveals-long-lived-hotspots-on-betelgeuses-bubbling-surface/
25:06 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/scientists-melted-a-diamond-and-cracked-a-secret-of-ice-giants
27:08 More space news
27:56 Final thoughts
Comments (13)
Why? dont you know they already have a base there?
You say that Starbase doesn't have a deep water port nearby. But Brownsville is a deep water port and is only 20 miles away
Yes, we are still waiting for the confirmation of an exoplanet with earth-like qualities, such as a one year orbit around a sun-like star.
Hi Frasier. Great episode as always. Keep doing this great work. One remark on the story about solar system simulations. You say that based on our observations, our solar system is not normal. My understanding (I don't remember if I heard it in one of your interviews or in an episode of the Startalk podcast) was that our current level of technology does not allow us to detect Earth like worlds around sunlike stars. Is my understanding incorrect?
I wish I were 17 again to live through this time of exploration!
Would helium balloons work to carry drones around Mars?
Is there going to be a patreon q and a this month?
I checked out your sister's website, and her art, one word, wow! I love the colours.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry just handed SpaceX 125,000 acres of coastal wetlands, land that serves as endangered species habitat and a natural hurricane buffer, while simultaneously gutting the environmental review process that would normally scrutinize a project this size. Landry says he's "not concerned." SpaceX already has a documented track record in Texas: Clean Water Act violations, filled-in wetlands, debris scattered across a national wildlife refuge. Now they get to do it again in Louisiana, this time with the guardrails removed before they even start. Promises to "restore the marsh" mean little when the company writing them is also the one exempted from having to prove it. On top of that, the same legislation made unauthorized entry onto the site a felony, turning what would normally be a minor trespassing charge into a serious criminal offense. That's not protection, it's a shield against anyone trying to independently witness or document what's actually happening there. This is what happens when a company has enough cash and political leverage: the rules simply bend out of the way. Ordinary citizens or small businesses would never get a felony charge written into law to protect their construction site, or watch a governor wave off endangered species concerns without blinking. Money and power buy exemptions the rest of us don't get, and this project is just the latest proof of it.
It's a ship, Frasier. With the exception of submarines, large seagoing vessels are called ships. A good way to remember this is that ships carry boats.
Betelgeuse (pronounced bay-tel-ghez) is more like slightly deflated Soccar ball, that is the explaination you were looking for, Fraser. Good show.
Happy belated birthday Frasier
Who can explain this thing for me Please follow me and tell me more about it