A news roundup for the last two weeks or so, and one of the biggest space science stories of this decade is developing as I recorded this. The NanoGrav collaboration have identified variation in pulsar timing which are correlated, timing variations which are consistent with the gravitational radiation coming from supermassive black holes. SpaceX's Starship switches to Hot Staging King Charles III gets involved in spaceflight rules and regulation with the Astra Carta. And there's now a Manley Crater on Mercury. No Relation Follow me on Twitter for more updates: https://twitter.com/DJSnM I have a discord server where I regularly turn up: https://discord.gg/zStmKbM If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scottmanley ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWeJzkAo87A

Every time a Delta IV launches people inevitably ask if the rocket consuming fireball is supposed to happen. The answer is yes, this is caused by the rocket purging its engines with hydrogen before letting the hydrogen/oxygen mixture into the combustion chamber. But there's more to it that that of course. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-zmptK7PDE

In the Space Expo museum near Noordwijk there's the rear end of an Ariane 1 rocket, with 4 Viking engines, one of which has been carefully cut open to expose it's inner workings. I found this exhibit to be a fascinating bit of hardware and made a video on the spot. The visit to Space Expo was part of a trip to ESA's open day as a guest, and as a member of the media, there'll be more to come.... https://www.space-expo.nl/en ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbarDjfRhzs

Obsidian Orbital may be a science station on the edge of known space, but apparently someone there is willing to pay big bucks for unscrupulous pilots to ferry slaves back to known space. For all I know this could be some alien infiltration scheme, but the money is good..... very good. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rKG1XD16yw