To the Stars with Data: October 17 2021
Dwarf planets visualized, virtual robot training, the James Webb Space Telescope safely arrives, and more
Hello Datanauts!
I’m taking off work this week to paint my house. If anyone has any painting tips, I’d love to hear them!
I discuss a lot of exciting stuff in this week’s issue, including a brilliant visualization of our solar system’s dwarf planets, virtual robot training, the James Webb Space Telescope, fueling stations in space, and a sustainable phone.
Let’s go to the stars with data!
Thought-Provoking Data Viz
🪐 Brilliant visualization of dwarf planets
Quick hits. In this beautiful visualization, an artist compares the size of our solar system’s official and unofficial dwarf planets to other notable bodies. The artist also illustrates the dwarf planets spinning on their axes, their orbit around the sun, and even their moons. As noted at the bottom of the viz, one of the reasons dwarf planets are not considered planets is because they do not dominate their orbit—they share their orbit with other space objects.
Digging deeper. Oh boy. Get ready for some drama in the astronomy community. Other than orbiting our star and having enough gravity to be a spheroid shape, there is no clear definition of what constitutes a dwarf planet. As a result, estimates of the number of dwarf planets in our solar system range from tens to tens of thousands (the latter accounting for those we haven’t yet observed). The IAU (International Astronomical Union) currently recognizes only 5 dwarf planets: Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Makemake.
Earth News
🤖 Teaching robots to walk in a virtual obstacle course
Quick hits. Researchers created a virtual environment, “ANYMals”, to train an AI to walk on challenging terrain. Once installed in a physical robot, the AI was successfully able to navigate stairs and blocks, but could not operate at high speeds. The researchers attributed this difficulty to the difference between real-world sensors and virtual sensors. By powering their environment with specialized AI chips instead of typical computer chips, the researchers were able to train the AI 100 times faster.
Digging deeper. As I discussed last week, simulations are incredibly important. But not only for humans! Most training of AI takes place virtually. Think of AlphaGo (and its subsequent iterations), for instance. It didn’t initially spend thousands of hours sitting through thousands of games with humans; it trained itself virtually before playing Go against any opponents.
⚡ In Norway, the 37 most popular cars are hybrid or fully electric
Quick hits. According to an analysis of car sales by Motor, the Norwegian Automobile Federation’s magazine, Norway will reach 100% electric vehicle sales in April 2022. Of course, it will probably hover around 0 until the soft ban of gas-powered cars in 2025. The most popular gas-powered car, the VW Tiguan diesel, ranks 38th on the list. Fourteen of the top fifteen vehicles are completely electric, with the 15th being hybrid.
Digging deeper. Norway is far ahead of the curve! For comparison, electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles only accounted for 8.53% of car sales in the second quarter of 2021 in the United States. Part of the solution to low EV adoption is infrastructure; in order to buy EVs, consumers need to have power stations that support their vehicles (think about the ubiquity of gas stations!). Norway is paving the way on this as well, with reports from years ago of gas stations removing their pumps in favor of charging stations.
Space News
🔭 The James Webb Space Telescope arrived safely at its launch site
Quick hits. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most advanced space telescope ever built/launched by humans, has finally arrived safely at its launch site in French Guiana. There was a bit of concern over its being captured by pirates because it’s vulnerable at sea and extremely valuable. Want a bit of history on the topic? I recommend this article from The Atlantic.
Digging deeper. I know what you’re thinking: “A space telescope is ready to launch? So what?” In short, it’s a big deal because the JWST has been in the works for literal decades (since 1996, when Northrop Grumman won the JWST contract). If you’re curious to know why it took so long, I recommend The Orbital Index’s breakdown on why fixed-price contracts are so important.
Here’s a bonus video of JWST’s journey into space!
⛽ Orbit Fab to launch propellant tanker to fuel satellites in geostationary orbit
Quick hits. Orbit Fab, a space startup offering refueling services in space, plans to launch a tanker to geostationary orbit in 2022 or early 2023. The tanker will contain up to 200 pounds of hydrazine and is designed to carry the propellant for up to 15 years. Once in orbit, the company plans to ferry fuel between the tanker and operational spacecraft using “fuel shuttles”.
Digging deeper. If implemented, refueling stations will become increasingly important to our space infrastructure. Right now, satellites are essentially limited to the fuel they are launched with. If the satellite runs out of fuel, there are few options left for maneuverability. As the number of satellites launched increases, the space junk problem becomes increasingly unsustainable. Refueling satellites instead of replacing them is a much more sustainable solution.
Future-Thinking Companies
📱 Fairphone. They make sustainably produced, modular smartphones that are built to be easy to repair and upgrade. They’re also B-corp and Fairtrade Gold certified.
🔨 Space Forge. They offer “microgravity as a service”, or the ability to send payloads to space easily and cheaply and returned reliably. Similar to how you can hire a factory to manufacture products for you, you can now manufacture products in space without having to figure out how to get there!