WEBVTT

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Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm

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Anna. Today we're going to be diving

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headfirst into the latest and greatest news

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from across the cosmos. We've got a really

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exciting lineup for you from Honda's. Yes,

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Honda's surprising foray into rocket tests

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all the way to an exploration of the legacy,

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a very important legacy of Sally Ride.

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So buckle up, space enthusiasts. Get ready

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for your daily dose of cosmic updates. Let's

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get started.

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Alright, let's kick things off with some news

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that might surprise you. Honda, you know the

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car company has successfully launched and

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landed an experimental reusable rocket.

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That's right. They're not just making Civics

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anymore. They're also testing the waters in

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space tech. The company's R and D

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division conducted a test flight in Hokkaido,

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Japan, reaching almost 900ft.

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The aim, to demonstrate crucial technologies

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for rocket reusability, like flight stability

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during ascent and descent, as well as landing

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capabilities. Now, Honda's rocket,

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dubbed the Reusable launch vehicle, or RLV,

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is pretty small compared to SpaceX's Falcon

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9. We're talking about 20.6ft tall

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versus Falcon 9's impressive 230ft.

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But Honda is hopeful that this emerging

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rocket technology will one day be able to

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launch satellites. They're aiming to achieve

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a suborbital launch by 2029.

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It's clear that Honda's got its sights set on

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the stars. And who knows? Maybe one day we'll

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see Honda competing with the likes of SpaceX.

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In other news today, some major players in

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the European aerospace industry are in talks

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to consolidate their space divisions.

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Airbus Defence and Space. Leonardo and Thalus

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Alenia Space are considering a merger to

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create a larger, more competitive European

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space venture. This move aims to create a

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European champion in space better equipped to

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compete globally. The CEOs of these companies

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expect to make a final go, no go decision by

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the end of July. They're currently assessing

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antitrust concerns, conducting due diligence

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on finances and evaluating the potential

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value creation of such a combination.

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Now, if they decide to move forward, don't

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expect to see changes overnight. Securing the

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necessary European antitrust approvals could

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take up to two years before the combined

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venture can formally begin operations. The

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goal is to gain scale and speed by

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consolidating the business, positioning

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themselves to better compete with companies

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like SpaceX and the satellite market.

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Now let's turn our attention to the ambitious

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plans of the exploration company, yet another

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new European space player. While they're

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currently focused on developing the Nyx

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spacecraft for cargo missions, they have

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their sights Set on something even bigger.

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Human spaceflight. The exploration company

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envisions a crewed version of Nyx capable of

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carrying four or five astronauts. This isn't

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just a distant dream. They've already begun

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preliminary studies and are designing the

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interior to include features like windows and

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touchscreen displays, much like SpaceX's Crew

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Dragon. However, transforming Nyx into

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a crew rated spacecraft is a significant

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undertaking. The company estimates that it

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would take about 10 years and cost around

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1.15 billion euros to

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develop a fully crewed version. They're

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actively seeking European government support,

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particularly from the European Space Agency,

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to make this vision a reality, as the costs

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are beyond the reach of private financing

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alone.

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Now, let's look at something here on Earth.

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For a long time, scientists have wondered if

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passing stars, stellar flybys, could

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have altered Earth's climate in the past.

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It's a pretty interesting idea, right? Could

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a star zooming past our solar system actually

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mess with our planet's climate? Well,

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new research is disputing the idea that

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stellar flybys have significantly altered

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Earth's climate in the past 56 million years,

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including during a climate event called the

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Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, or

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petm. The PETM was a period

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of rapid warming with global temperatures

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rising by 5 to 8 degrees Celsius. It

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also saw a massive influx of carbon into the

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atmosphere and oceans. And scientists have

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been trying to figure out what caused it for

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years. Some researchers thought that stellar

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flybys could be the culprit. The idea is that

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a passing star could disrupt the orbits of

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the giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn,

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which could then affect Earth's orbit and

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climate. But using a, uh, comprehensive solar

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system model, scientists found no significant

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influence from passing stars. They considered

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all sorts of factors, including the positions

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of the planets, the gravitational effects of

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the sun and moon, and even the properties of

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the passing stars themselves. The

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researchers found that even when they

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simulated extremely close flybys, there was

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no significant impact on Earth's climate. So

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it seems like we can rule out stellar flybys

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as a major driver of climate change on Earth,

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at least for the past 56 million years.

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Okay, shifting gears now, National

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Geographic's new documentary, Sally takes a

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deep dive into the life of Sally Ride. You

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know, the first American woman in space. But

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it's not just about her time at NASA. The

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film also explores the private side of her

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life, which a lot of people didn't know

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about. The documentary reveals

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her nearly 30 year relationship with Tam O'

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Shaughnessy, which she kept secret for most

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of her life. It also touches upon her

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disillusionment with NASA after the

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Challenger disaster. You see, Ride

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was the only NASA employee to serve on the

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Rogers Commission investigation following the

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Challenger explosion. The documentary

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highlights how she wasn't afraid to challenge

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the status quo and she even secretly passed

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along information about the O rings to

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physicist Richard Feynman. What's really

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interesting is hearing from o' Shaughnessy

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herself. She talks about the challenges of

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being in a same sex relationship during that

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time and the pressures that Ride faced to

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keep their relationship a secret. It really

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gives you a sense of the personal sacrifices

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that she made. Ride and o'

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Shaughnessy eventually co founded an

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education and outreach programme together

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called Sally Ride Science and even co wrote

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several children's books about space science.

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It's a pretty inspiring story about breaking

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barriers both in space and in life.

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It's also a reminder of the importance of

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being true to yourself, even when it's

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difficult. The documentary is streaming on

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Hulu and Disney. Well worth a look.

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And that's all the space and astronomy news

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we have for you today on Astronomy Daily.

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This has been your host Anna uh. For the

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latest updates, a constantly updating

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newsfeed, and to listen to all our back

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episodes, make sure you visit our website at

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astronomydaily IO and don't forget to

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subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts,

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Spotify and YouTube or wherever you get your

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podcasts so you never miss an episode.

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Time for me to sign off and remind you to

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keep looking up at this wonderful universe we

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are a part of. Bye.