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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm anna, and today we have

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an incredible lineup of stories that showcase the cutting edge

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of space exploration and astronomical discoveries. We'll dive into a

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fascinating breakthrough regarding the mysterious dark matter in our galaxy's

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GD one stellar stream, explore China's ambitious testing of multiple

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rocket engines, and catch up with NASA's Artemus one Oriyan

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spacecraft as it returns home to Kennedy Space Center. We'll

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also look at SpaceX's upcoming launch of not one, but

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two private lunar landers, and discover how NASA is developing

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new radiation resistant computers to handle the harsh environment of space.

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It's a packed show that highlights just how quickly space

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technology and our understanding of the Cosmos continue to evolve.

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So let's get started. Let's kick the news off today

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with a quick update. Blue Origin, the space venture founded

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by Jeff Bezos, has postponed the inaugural flight of its

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new Glen rocket. The launch, initially set for early Monday

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morning at CAIS sape Canaveral, faced multiple delays due to

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technical issues and unfavorable weather conditions. An icing problem in

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a purge line crucial for the rocket's hydraulic systems was

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identified during the countdown. This, combined with high seas affecting

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the booster's planned ocean landing, led to the decision to

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stand down. The company now aims for a potential launch

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on Thursday, with a three hour window starting at one

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a m Eastern time. Standing at three hundred and twenty feet,

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the new Glen rocket is named in honor of astronaut

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John Glenn. It's designed to carry heavy payloads and features

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a reusable first stage booster, marking a significant step forward

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in Blue Origin's mission to make space travel more sustainable

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and cost effective. This mission, dubbed NNG one, is set

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to carry a prototype of the Blue Ring spacecraft, intended

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for future deep space missions. A successful launch would position

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Blue Origin as a formidable competitor in the commercial space sector,

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challenging the dominance of Elon Musk's SpaceX. While the delay

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is undoubtedly a setback, it's a reminder of the complexities

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involved in space exploration. Each challenge presents an opportunity for

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growth and innovation. As Jeff Bezos himself has emphasized gratitem

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ferocit step by step ferociously will keep you updated on

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Blue origins, progress and the rescheduled launch. Astronomers may have

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finally cracked a long standing cosmic mystery about one of

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our galaxy's most intriguing features, the GD one stellar stream.

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This ribbon like structure of stars, which stretches across our

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galaxies halo, has puzzled scientists for years due to its

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unusual patterns of gaps and spurs that seem to defy

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conventional explanations. A team led by researchers at the University

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of California Riverside has proposed an exciting solution involving dark matter,

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but not just any dark matter. Their research suggests these

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distinctive features were created by what's called a self interacting

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dark matter sub halo, a dense concentration of dark matter

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that behaves differently than the traditional cold dark matter model

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we're familiar with. What makes this discovery particularly fascinating is

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that the density needed to create these unusual patterns in

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GD one is much higher than what we'd expect from

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conventional dark matter theories. The research team found that only

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a collapsing subhilo of self interacting dark matter could achieve

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the necessary density to produce these distinctive features we observe.

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This isn't just about solving one mysterious structure in our galaxy.

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If confirmed, these findings could fundamentally change our understanding of

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dark matter itself. Remember, dark matter makes up about eighty

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five percent of all matter in the universe, yet we

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still know remarkably little about its true nature. This research

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suggests that dark matter particles might interact with each other

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through a new kind of force, rather than being completely

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invisible to one another as previously thought. The team used

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sophisticated computer simulations to model how this sell interacting dark

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matter would behave, and the results matched perfectly with the

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observed features in the GD one stream. It's like finding

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the missing piece of a puzzle that's been sitting on

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the table for years, suddenly revealing a whole new picture

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of how our galaxy works. What's particularly exciting about this

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discovery is that it opens up new ways to study

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dark matter. By looking at stellar streams like GD one,

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we might be able to better understand not just where

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dark matter is, but how it behaves and interacts with itself,

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something that could revolutionize our understanding of the universe's fundamental structure. Next,

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a little mystery from China that has set the space

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community buzzing. In a remarkable display of technological advancement, China's

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space program has taken a significant leap forward, conducting tests

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of five different rocket engines all in a single day.

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The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation or CASSI, carried

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out these tests at two separate locations, beij and Laiwan

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County in Hebei Province. One of the most notable tests

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involved a new hydrogen oxygen engine designed for upper stage rockets.

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During its one hundred second test, firing, engineers gathered crucial

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performance data that could pave the way for future missions.

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This wasn't just any routine test. It's believed to be

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connected to China's ambitious plans for crude lunar missions, specifically

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their long March tenth launcher program. But that's not all

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that was tested that day. In Beijing, engineers put three

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different engines through their paces, a main engine, an upper

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stage engine, and a reaction in orbit control engine. While

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specific details about which rockets these engines are destined for

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remain under wraps, it's clear that China is developing multiple

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launch capabilities simultaneously. Perhaps most intriguingly, the testing day included

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a methane liquid oxygen engine at the Laiuan facility. This

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type of engine represents the cutting edge of rocket technology,

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with several Chinese companies already developing similar systems. It's worth

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noting that Cassie is working on a particularly powerful version

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for their long March ninth Mega rocket project. These tests

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signal China's commitment to developing a diverse range of rocket technologies,

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from deep space exploration vehicles to heavy lift rockets. According

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to KSC engineers, this is just the beginning. They're planning

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to conduct even more research and testing of various engine

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types for China's major space projects, suggesting we might see

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several new Chinese rockets debut in the coming year. This

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coordinated testing effort demonstrates China's growing capabilities in space technology

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and their determination to become a major player in space exploration.

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With these successful tests, they're laying the groundwork for increasingly

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ambitious missions, from lunar exploration to potential Mars voyages. Meanwhile,

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back in the States, the Artemis Ones Orion spacecraft has

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made its way back to Kennedy Space Center after completing

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an extensive eleven month testing campaign in Ohio. Now designated

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as the Orion Environmental Test Article or ETA, this spacecraft

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has already proven its worth during its historic journey around

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the Moon, but its mission to advance space exploration is

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far from over. After splashing down in the Pacific Ocean

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following its lunar adventure, the spacecraft was transported across the

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country to Florida, where it underwent its first round of modifications.

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But it was at NASA's Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio,

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where the real intensive testing took place, preparing it for

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even more challenging future missions. Now back at Kennedy's Multi

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Payload Processing Facility, engineers are gearing up for a crucial

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series of tests focusing on the spacecraft's propulsion systems. Of

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particular interest are the twelve reaction control system thrusters, which

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will undergo simulated hot fire testing. These thrusters are absolutely

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vital for controlling the spacecraft's rotation during orbit, re entry,

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and potential abort scenarios. But the testing doesn't stop there.

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The spacecraft will soon make its way to Kennedy's Space

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system's processing facility for acoustic noise demonstration tests. These evaluations

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are crucial for improving future acoustic testing procedures, benefiting both

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NASA and their primary contractor, Lockheed Martin. Perhaps most intriguingly,

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teams will be carefully removing certain pieces of hardware from

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the ETA for reusability studies. The knowledge gained from examining

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these components could prove invaluable for future Artemis missions as

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NASA continues its ambitious plans to establish a sustainable human

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presence on the Moon and eventually venture to Mars. This

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methodical testing and evaluation process demonstrates NASA's commitment to ensuring

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the safety and success of future deep space missions and

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not to be left behind. In an exciting development for

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lunar exploration, SpaceX is preparing to launch two private lunar

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landers aboard a single Falcon nine rocket from NASA's Kennedy

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Space Center. The launch window opens early Wednesday morning at

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one eleven a m Eastern time, marking what promises to

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be a busy year of missions to the Moon. The

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two spacecraft sharing this historic ride are Firefly Aerospace's Blue

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Ghost Mission IE and IE space is Resilience lander. Blue Ghost,

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part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, will carry

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scientific instruments to the lunar surface, while Resilience represents IE

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space's second attempt at achieving a successful moon landing. These

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missions will follow distinctly different trajectories. After separation from the

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Falcon nine, blue Ghost will spend about twenty five days

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in Earth orbit before initiating its journey to the Moon.

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After another twenty days, including four days of transit and

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sixteen days in lunar orbit, it will attempt to touch

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down in Merrichrisium, the Sea of Crises. Once on the surface,

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it will conduct two weeks of scientific operations before capturing

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one final dramatic image of the lunar sunset. Resilience, on

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the other hand, will take a more gradual approach, spending

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four to five months reaching its destination. This extended timeline

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reflects lessons learned from Icepace's first mission, which reached lunar

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orbit but unfortunately crashed during its landing attempt last April.

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The spacecraft features significant upgrades to both hardware and software,

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aiming to succeed where its predecessor fell short. The mission's

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target is Mare Frigoris, the Sea of Cold in the

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Moon's northern hemisphere. There, it will deploy a small rover

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named Tenacius, which will collect lunar dust samples as part

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of a NASA contract. This careful, milestone based approach demonstrates

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I Space's commitment to achieving the first successful private Japanese

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landing on the Moon. These launches kick off what promises

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to be an extraordinarily active year for lunar exploration, with

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multiple missions planned by various companies and space agencies. From

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Intuitive Machines upcoming IM two mission to Blue Origins development

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of their lunar lander. We're witnessing the dawn of a

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new era in commercial lunar exploration. Computers have become absolutely

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essential for space exploration, but they face a serious challenge

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that we don't have to worry about here on Earth. Radiation.

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While our planet's magnetic field and atmosphere protect our electronics

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from harmful radiation, spacecraft computers have to cope with direct

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exposure to high energy particles from the Sun and cosmic rays.

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The effects can be severe. Even a single blast of

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radiation can cause what scientists call a single event effect,

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potentially corrupting data or causing system crashes that could jeopardize

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entire missions. That's why NASA is now testing an innovative solution,

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the Radiation Tolerant Computer, or RATYPC for short. This remarkable

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piece of technology is scheduled for its first real world

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test aboard the upcoming Blue Ghost lunar mission. What makes

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the rad PC special is its ability to monitor and

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repair itself in real time. It uses special processors called

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programmable gait arrays that can detect when they've been struck

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by radiation and automatically fix any damage without interrupting normal operations.

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The system also includes radiation sensors or docimeters that will

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continuously measure radiation levels during the journey to the moon.

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This will provide valuable data about how radiation levels change

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as spacecraft move through Earth's magnetosphere and into deep space,

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as well as detailed information about radiation conditions at the

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landing site. If successful, the rad PC could revolutionize space computing.

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Its self healing capabilities could make future spacecraft computers far

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more resilient and reliable, especially for long duration missions where

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radiation exposure is inevitable. This kind of advancement is crucial

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as we push further into space, whether it's establishing a

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permanent presence on the Moon or eventually sending humans to Mars.

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And that brings us to the end of today's episode

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of Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna and I've loved sharing these

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fascinating stories about space exploration and discovery with you. From

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dark matter mysteries to innovative space computers. It's incredible to

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see how our understanding of the cosmos continues to evolve.

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If you want to stay up to date with all

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the latest developments in space and astronomy, head over to

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our website at Astronomy Daily dot io. There you'll find

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our constantly updating newsfeed and can listen to all our

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previous episodes whenever you like, and don't forget to join

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our growing community on social media. You can find us

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as astro Daily Pod on Facebook, x, Tumblr, YouTube, YouTube music,

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and TikTok. We love hearing your thoughts and questions about

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the fascinating universe we live in. Until next time, keep

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looking up and wondering about the mysteries that await us

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in the vast expanse of space. So yeah,