WEBVTT 0 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:03.320 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast 1 00:00:03.320 --> 00:00:05.480 bringing you the biggest news from across the 2 00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:07.280 cosmos. I'm Anna. 3 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.720 Avery: And I'm Avery. And today we're covering 4 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.280 everything from unexpected setbacks to 5 00:00:12.280 --> 00:00:13.600 groundbreaking discoveries. 6 00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:16.440 Anna: That's right on the docket. Today we'll be 7 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:18.880 discussing a significant anomaly during 8 00:00:18.880 --> 00:00:21.680 testing for SpaceX's next generation 9 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:23.120 Starship booster. 10 00:00:23.360 --> 00:00:26.240 Avery: Then we'll look at a mysterious stealth solar 11 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:28.640 storm that struck Earth without any warning. 12 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.120 We'll also dive into new research that 13 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.900 suggests ancient Mars may have been habitable 14 00:00:33.900 --> 00:00:36.220 for much longer than previously believed. 15 00:00:36.300 --> 00:00:39.140 Anna: And to round things out, we have an update on 16 00:00:39.140 --> 00:00:41.980 a Welsh startup testing a unique balloon 17 00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:44.540 assisted rocket. And we'll check in on the 18 00:00:44.540 --> 00:00:47.500 Bepi Colombo mission, which is now just one 19 00:00:47.500 --> 00:00:49.980 year away from its destination, the planet 20 00:00:49.980 --> 00:00:50.540 Mercury. 21 00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:51.820 Avery: Let's get started then. 22 00:00:51.980 --> 00:00:54.620 Anna: It's a lot to get through, so let's start 23 00:00:54.620 --> 00:00:56.620 with the big news from Starbase. 24 00:00:56.940 --> 00:00:59.020 Avery: All right, our first story is a major 25 00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:01.180 development in the Starship program. 26 00:01:01.660 --> 00:01:04.280 SpaceX has been preparing its next generation 27 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:07.240 of boosters, known as Block 3, for testing, 28 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:10.160 but they've hit a serious snag. On 29 00:01:10.160 --> 00:01:12.840 November 21, Booster 18 was 30 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:15.560 undergoing a routine gas system pressure test 31 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.040 when its liquid oxygen tank ruptured. 32 00:01:18.440 --> 00:01:21.280 Anna: Ruptured is a gentle way of putting it. From 33 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.800 the photos, it looks like a massive hole was 34 00:01:23.800 --> 00:01:25.240 torn in the side of the vehicle. 35 00:01:25.320 --> 00:01:28.200 Avery: Exactly. SpaceX confirmed the anomaly, 36 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.360 stating that no propellant was on board and 37 00:01:30.360 --> 00:01:33.150 no engines were installed yet. But the damage 38 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:35.750 is extensive. Early analysis 39 00:01:35.750 --> 00:01:38.310 suggests that a CoPV, which is a 40 00:01:38.310 --> 00:01:40.670 composite overwrapped pressure vessel, 41 00:01:41.150 --> 00:01:43.030 might have failed at the bottom of the 42 00:01:43.030 --> 00:01:43.470 booster. 43 00:01:43.550 --> 00:01:45.870 Anna: So one of those high pressure tanks likely 44 00:01:45.950 --> 00:01:46.670 exploded? 45 00:01:46.830 --> 00:01:49.470 Avery: That's the theory. It seems to have set off a 46 00:01:49.470 --> 00:01:52.470 chain reaction, blowing out other COPVs 47 00:01:52.470 --> 00:01:55.150 along a structural chine and leading to the 48 00:01:55.150 --> 00:01:58.070 main tank rupture. What's remarkable is that 49 00:01:58.070 --> 00:02:00.950 the booster didn't immediately tip over. It's 50 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:03.230 currently being held up by the new larger 51 00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:06.050 liquid MET transfer tube, and the teams are 52 00:02:06.050 --> 00:02:07.930 figuring out how to safely secure it. 53 00:02:08.330 --> 00:02:10.650 Anna: That sounds incredibly precarious. 54 00:02:11.130 --> 00:02:13.250 So what does this mean for the program's 55 00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:16.090 schedule? This was the first of the new Block 56 00:02:16.090 --> 00:02:17.130 3 boosters, right? 57 00:02:17.210 --> 00:02:19.530 Avery: It was. And this failure leaves them with 58 00:02:19.530 --> 00:02:22.290 zero completed flight ready boosters. They'll 59 00:02:22.290 --> 00:02:24.370 have to shift their focus entirely to the 60 00:02:24.370 --> 00:02:27.250 next one in line, Booster 19. It's 61 00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:29.650 definitely not the start to the Block 3 era 62 00:02:29.650 --> 00:02:31.420 that SpaceX wanted, of. 63 00:02:31.420 --> 00:02:33.780 Anna: Course, but I suppose there is a silver 64 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:34.300 lining. 65 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:36.980 Avery: There is. As frustrating as this is for them, 66 00:02:36.980 --> 00:02:39.100 it's far better that this happened during a 67 00:02:39.100 --> 00:02:41.300 ground test at their Massey site than during 68 00:02:41.300 --> 00:02:44.300 a 33 engine static fire on the launch pad, 69 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:47.460 or worse, during an actual flight. This is 70 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:49.900 why they test. They find the flaw, fix it, 71 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:51.900 and make the next vehicle stronger. 72 00:02:52.140 --> 00:02:54.260 Anna: From a, uh, failure on the ground to a 73 00:02:54.260 --> 00:02:55.820 disruption from the sky. 74 00:02:56.140 --> 00:02:58.620 Our next story is about a stealth 75 00:02:58.700 --> 00:03:01.580 solar storm that hit Earth on November 20. 76 00:03:01.740 --> 00:03:04.520 It arrived almost completely without warning 77 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:06.840 and was responsible for some beautiful 78 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:09.720 auroras seen at lower than usual latitudes. 79 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:13.120 Avery: So what makes a solar storm stealthy? I 80 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.000 usually think of them as these massive, 81 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:17.000 obvious explosions on the sun. 82 00:03:17.160 --> 00:03:19.640 Anna: That's typically the case. A regular 83 00:03:19.640 --> 00:03:22.520 coronal mass ejection, or cme, is 84 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:25.080 very visible in solar data, often 85 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.320 accompanied by a bright solar flare. 86 00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:30.490 Stealth CMEs are the opposite, and they 87 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:33.490 erupt quietly without any bright signatures. 88 00:03:33.650 --> 00:03:36.370 They tend to be faint, slow moving, and 89 00:03:36.370 --> 00:03:38.050 incredibly difficult to track. 90 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:41.090 Avery: So we often don't even know they're coming 91 00:03:41.250 --> 00:03:42.610 until they're already here. 92 00:03:42.770 --> 00:03:45.490 Anna: Exactly. That's what happened on November 93 00:03:45.490 --> 00:03:48.050 20th. Forecasters at NOAA only 94 00:03:48.050 --> 00:03:50.330 noticed it when they saw a, uh, disruption in 95 00:03:50.330 --> 00:03:53.250 the solar wind conditions around Earth. They 96 00:03:53.250 --> 00:03:56.070 called it an embedded transient. The 97 00:03:56.070 --> 00:03:58.390 magnetic field carried by the solar wind, 98 00:03:58.550 --> 00:04:00.750 which is normally around 4 to 6 99 00:04:00.750 --> 00:04:03.430 nanoteslas, briefly spiked to 18. 100 00:04:03.750 --> 00:04:06.350 Avery: That's a significant jump. And this, combined 101 00:04:06.350 --> 00:04:08.910 with a fast solar windstream from a coronal 102 00:04:08.910 --> 00:04:11.350 hole, is what likely triggered those auroras 103 00:04:11.350 --> 00:04:13.590 seen in places like Maine and Denmark. 104 00:04:13.750 --> 00:04:16.630 Anna: That's the leading hypothesis. This event 105 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:19.350 didn't trigger a major geomagnetic 106 00:04:19.350 --> 00:04:22.310 storm, thankfully, but it highlights a 107 00:04:22.310 --> 00:04:24.190 known challenge for space weather 108 00:04:24.190 --> 00:04:26.890 forecasting. A 2021 study 109 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:29.850 confirmed that these stealth eruptions 110 00:04:30.010 --> 00:04:32.930 can come from seemingly quiet regions of the 111 00:04:32.930 --> 00:04:35.730 sun, yet still pack a magnetic 112 00:04:35.730 --> 00:04:38.570 punch when they reach us. They're a 113 00:04:38.570 --> 00:04:41.050 quiet threat that scientists are working 114 00:04:41.210 --> 00:04:44.010 hard to better understand and predict. 115 00:04:44.490 --> 00:04:46.610 Avery: Next up, let's talk about a different 116 00:04:46.610 --> 00:04:49.610 approach to reaching orbit. A well, startup 117 00:04:49.610 --> 00:04:52.450 called B2Space has just completed a 118 00:04:52.450 --> 00:04:55.130 key test of its launch system, which is known 119 00:04:55.130 --> 00:04:56.330 as a raccoon. 120 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.510 Anna: A raccoon, as in a 121 00:04:59.510 --> 00:05:01.750 rocket and a balloon combined? 122 00:05:02.070 --> 00:05:05.030 Avery: Precisely. The idea is to use a large 123 00:05:05.110 --> 00:05:07.830 high altitude balloon to carry a solid fuel 124 00:05:07.830 --> 00:05:10.110 rocket up through the thickest part of the 125 00:05:10.110 --> 00:05:12.629 atmosphere. Then once it's at a very high 126 00:05:12.629 --> 00:05:15.510 altitude, the rocket launches. It saves 127 00:05:15.510 --> 00:05:17.990 a tremendous amount of fuel you'd normally 128 00:05:17.990 --> 00:05:20.110 use just to fight through that dense lower 129 00:05:20.110 --> 00:05:20.390 air. 130 00:05:20.710 --> 00:05:23.590 Anna: That's a clever concept. So what did 131 00:05:23.590 --> 00:05:25.270 this Recent test involve? 132 00:05:26.140 --> 00:05:28.740 Avery: B2Space conducted the test from the Canary 133 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:31.460 Islands. They launched the balloon carrying a 134 00:05:31.460 --> 00:05:33.460 smaller, lower powered version of their 135 00:05:33.460 --> 00:05:36.180 eventual rocket. The balloon ascended to an 136 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:38.700 altitude of 21.5 kilometers. 137 00:05:38.860 --> 00:05:41.699 That's about 70,000ft, at 138 00:05:41.699 --> 00:05:44.060 which point the rocket successfully launched. 139 00:05:44.380 --> 00:05:47.340 Anna: Incredible. Was the system reusable? 140 00:05:47.580 --> 00:05:50.460 Avery: It was. The company confirmed that all 141 00:05:50.460 --> 00:05:52.180 elements of the launch system were 142 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:54.980 successfully recovered. After the test, their 143 00:05:54.980 --> 00:05:57.330 next step is to repeat this test with a 144 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.120 larger, more powerful rocket in April 145 00:06:00.200 --> 00:06:03.200 2026. The ultimate goal is to have 146 00:06:03.200 --> 00:06:05.920 their operational system carry payloads of up 147 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.880 to 200 kg to low earth 148 00:06:08.880 --> 00:06:11.360 orbit, with the balloon releasing the rocket 149 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.736 at an even higher altitude of 35 150 00:06:13.864 --> 00:06:16.400 km. It's a fascinating and 151 00:06:16.400 --> 00:06:18.640 potentially cost effective way to serve the 152 00:06:18.640 --> 00:06:19.640 small satellite market. 153 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:22.760 Anna: From innovative launch systems to new 154 00:06:22.760 --> 00:06:25.440 discoveries on other worlds, our next 155 00:06:25.440 --> 00:06:28.200 story takes us to Mars, where new research 156 00:06:28.280 --> 00:06:31.140 is chang our understanding of the planet's 157 00:06:31.140 --> 00:06:33.860 past. Scientists at New York University, 158 00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:36.660 Abu Dhabi, have found evidence that 159 00:06:36.660 --> 00:06:39.540 ancient sand dunes inside the Gale Crater 160 00:06:39.700 --> 00:06:42.260 were gradually turned into rock by 161 00:06:42.260 --> 00:06:45.179 interacting with underground water billions 162 00:06:45.179 --> 00:06:45.940 of years ago. 163 00:06:46.260 --> 00:06:49.260 Avery: Wow. So this suggests Mars had liquid water 164 00:06:49.260 --> 00:06:50.900 for a lot longer than we thought. 165 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.820 Anna: Potentially, yes. The research team 166 00:06:53.820 --> 00:06:56.420 examined data from the Curiosity rover 167 00:06:56.740 --> 00:06:59.060 looking at a feature called the Stimson 168 00:06:59.140 --> 00:07:01.890 formation. These are what's known as 169 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:04.970 lithified formations, basically sand 170 00:07:04.970 --> 00:07:07.970 dunes that hardened into stone. The thinking 171 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:10.530 was that this probably happened 172 00:07:10.770 --> 00:07:13.490 during Mars's wet Noachian period, 173 00:07:13.730 --> 00:07:16.370 about 4 billion years ago. Okay, 174 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:19.370 so what's new here? The team determined that 175 00:07:19.370 --> 00:07:21.890 these rock formations were actually the 176 00:07:21.890 --> 00:07:24.210 product of late stage aqueous 177 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:26.970 activity. This means the water that 178 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:29.690 hardened the dunes didn't come from ancient 179 00:07:29.690 --> 00:07:32.550 floods, but from groundwater seed creeping 180 00:07:32.550 --> 00:07:34.990 from the nearby mountain, Mount Sharp. 181 00:07:35.230 --> 00:07:38.230 Much later in Mars history, they 182 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:40.950 even found minerals like gypsum, um, left 183 00:07:40.950 --> 00:07:43.790 behind, which points to this interaction with 184 00:07:43.790 --> 00:07:44.430 groundwater. 185 00:07:44.830 --> 00:07:47.750 Avery: That's a huge deal. It extends the timeline 186 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:50.550 for when Mars might have had liquid water and 187 00:07:50.550 --> 00:07:52.750 therefore been potentially habitable. 188 00:07:53.070 --> 00:07:55.710 Anna: Exactly, and it gets even more 189 00:07:55.710 --> 00:07:58.670 exciting. On Earth, similar sandstone 190 00:07:58.670 --> 00:08:01.370 deposits contain some of our planet's ocean 191 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.400 oldest evidence of life, like communities 192 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:07.080 of microorganisms. The research team 193 00:08:07.080 --> 00:08:09.560 believes that these lithified dunes in the 194 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:12.440 Gale Crater could be prime candidates for 195 00:08:12.440 --> 00:08:15.200 finding the preserved remains of ancient 196 00:08:15.200 --> 00:08:16.640 Martian bacteria. 197 00:08:16.880 --> 00:08:19.200 Avery: So this not only rewrites a bit of Mars 198 00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:22.160 geological history, but it also gives us a 199 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:24.400 fantastic new target in the search for life. 200 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:27.720 Anna: That's right. It suggests these sites 201 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:30.000 are where future missions should be looking 202 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.930 if they want to find evidence of past or, 203 00:08:33.079 --> 00:08:35.159 or even present life on Mars. 204 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:37.919 Avery: Finally, let's check in on a mission that's 205 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:39.719 been cruising through the inner solar system 206 00:08:39.959 --> 00:08:42.919 for over seven years. The joint ESA 207 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:45.839 and JAXA BepiColombo mission is now just 208 00:08:45.839 --> 00:08:47.799 one year away from arriving at its final 209 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:49.399 destination, Mercury. 210 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:52.159 Anna: It's been a Long journey. The mission has 211 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.119 already completed numerous flybys. One of 212 00:08:55.119 --> 00:08:57.959 Earth, two of Venus, and six of 213 00:08:57.959 --> 00:09:00.880 Mercury itself. Two just to slow down enough 214 00:09:00.880 --> 00:09:03.120 to be captured by the planet's gravity. 215 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.880 Avery: And even those flybys have produced great 216 00:09:05.880 --> 00:09:08.200 science. A, uh, key highlight has been the 217 00:09:08.200 --> 00:09:10.160 measurements of Mercury's magnetic 218 00:09:10.160 --> 00:09:12.240 environment. We're still trying to understand 219 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:14.600 exactly how the planet's magnetic field 220 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.520 works. And BepiColombo has already given 221 00:09:17.520 --> 00:09:20.040 us the first measurements from low over the 222 00:09:20.040 --> 00:09:22.200 Southern hemisphere, helping to build a 223 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:22.880 better map. 224 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:25.720 Anna: And of course, we've gotten some incredible 225 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:28.120 photos from the monitoring cameras, the so 226 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:29.440 called selfie cams. 227 00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:32.660 Avery: Absolutely. But the main science phase begins 228 00:09:32.660 --> 00:09:34.860 in about a year when the two spacecraft, 229 00:09:35.180 --> 00:09:37.900 ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter, or 230 00:09:37.900 --> 00:09:40.540 MPO, and JAXA's Mercury 231 00:09:40.540 --> 00:09:43.180 Magnetospheric Orbiter, known as MIO, 232 00:09:43.660 --> 00:09:46.140 finally separate and enter their own orbits. 233 00:09:46.540 --> 00:09:49.100 Anna: And this will be the first time Mercury is 234 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:51.020 studied by two spacecraft 235 00:09:51.020 --> 00:09:53.820 simultaneously. Why is that dual 236 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:54.780 approach so important? 237 00:09:55.270 --> 00:09:58.150 Avery: It gives them a huge advantage. MPO will 238 00:09:58.150 --> 00:10:00.550 orbit very close to the planet's surface, 239 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.350 while MIO will be in a larger, more 240 00:10:03.350 --> 00:10:06.030 elliptical orbit. This allows them to study 241 00:10:06.030 --> 00:10:08.670 how the solar wind interacts with Mercury's 242 00:10:08.670 --> 00:10:10.430 magnetic field from two different 243 00:10:10.430 --> 00:10:13.350 perspectives. @ the same time, MPO 244 00:10:13.350 --> 00:10:15.350 will be mapping the surface in incredible 245 00:10:15.350 --> 00:10:17.630 detail, determining its composition and 246 00:10:17.630 --> 00:10:18.150 temperature. 247 00:10:18.470 --> 00:10:20.830 Anna: And it will also get a look at those 248 00:10:20.830 --> 00:10:23.030 permanently shadowed craters at the poles, 249 00:10:23.030 --> 00:10:23.430 right? 250 00:10:23.710 --> 00:10:26.590 Avery: Yes, it will. Peering into those craters is 251 00:10:26.590 --> 00:10:29.270 one of the mission's top priorities. If there 252 00:10:29.270 --> 00:10:31.670 is water ice on Mercury, that's where we 253 00:10:31.670 --> 00:10:34.150 expect to find it. After a long cruise, 254 00:10:34.150 --> 00:10:36.550 BepiColombo is on the final stretch to 255 00:10:36.550 --> 00:10:38.950 unlocking the secrets of the solar system's 256 00:10:38.950 --> 00:10:39.950 innermost planet. 257 00:10:40.190 --> 00:10:42.910 Anna: And that is all the time we have for today. 258 00:10:43.390 --> 00:10:46.030 From setbacks at Starbase to stealth 259 00:10:46.030 --> 00:10:48.950 storms, and from raccoons to revelations on 260 00:10:48.950 --> 00:10:51.470 Mars, it's been a busy time in space. 261 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.120 Avery: It really shows how much is constantly 262 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:55.960 happening, both in our own celestial 263 00:10:55.960 --> 00:10:58.160 neighborhood and in our efforts to explore 264 00:10:58.160 --> 00:11:00.840 it. Thank you for joining us on Astronomy 265 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:01.160 Daily. 266 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:03.720 Anna: Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your 267 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:06.160 podcasts, and join us next time for another 268 00:11:06.160 --> 00:11:07.320 look at the universe. 269 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:09.800 Avery: Clear skies and keep looking up.