Speaker 1: Welcome listeners to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest
space and astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and today
we have a packed episode with exciting updates from across
the cosmos, from rocket launches to planetary exploration and cosmic mysteries.
We've got it all covered, So sit back, relax, and
let's dive into the fascinating world of astronomy. In exciting
news for space enthusiasts, the Federal Aviation Administration has given
SpaceX the green light to resume flights of its Falcon
nine rocket. This authorization comes after a period of grounding
following a malfunction in the rocket's second stage during a
previous mission. This authorization comes just in time for issa's
Hara mission to launch on schedule today Monday, October seventh.
This launch is set to carry the European Space Agency's
Hara spacecraft, marking a significant step forward in international space cooperation.
Hara is part of a planetary defense mission designed to
study the effects of NASA's Dart spacecraft impact on the
asteroid de MorphOS. This return to flight is crucial for SpaceX,
as the Falcon nine is their workhorse rocket, responsible for
numerous satellite deployments and cargo missions to the International Space Station.
The FAA's decision demonstrates their confidence in space ex'sibility to
address and resolve the issues that led to the earlier grounding.
As we look forward to this launch, it's worth noting
the resilience and adaptability of the space industry in overcoming
challenges and pushing forward with critical missions. However, it's not
all good news from SpaceX and NASA today. In space exploration,
even the best laid plans can sometimes be disrupted by
forces beyond our control. Such is the case with NASA's
highly anticipated Europa Clipper mission. Originally slated for liftoff on
October tenth, the five billion dollars mission has hit an
unexpected snag Hurricane Milton. The powerful storm moving eastward from
the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida's space coast, has forced
NASA and SpaceX to postpone the launch. With high winds
and heavy rain expected in the Cape Canaveral area, safety
concerns have taken precedence. While this delay may disappoint eager
scientists and space enthusiasts, there's no need to worry just yet.
The mission's launch window extends through November sixth, providing ample
opportunity for a successful lift off once the weather clears.
The Europa Clipper team is now working diligently to secure
the spacecraft and reassess launch options. We'll be keeping a
close eye on developments and hope to bring you news
of a new launch date soon. In other news today,
imagine cutting your travel time to Mars and half. That's
the promise of nuclear thermal propulsion technology currently being developed
by researchers. This innovative propulsion system harnesses the power of
nuclear fission to potentially revolutionize space travel. Unlike traditional chemical rockets,
nuclear thermal propulsion uses the incredible energy released when atoms
are split to heat a propellant, typically hydrogen, to extremely
high temperatures. This superheated propellant is then expelled from the
rocket's nozzle, generating thrust more efficiently than conventional methods. The
potential benefits are are significant. Not only could it dramatically
reduce travel time to Mars, but it could also allow
for larger payloads and more flexible mission planning. This technology
could be a game changer for future crude missions to
the Red planet. NASA and DARPA are working together on
this ambitious project, with plans to demonstrate a prototype in
space by twenty twenty seven. It's an exciting development that
could bring us one step closer to making long distance
space travel more feasible and efficient. Next up, a BEPI
Colombo update. Exciting news from our Solar System's innermost planet.
The BEPY Columbo spacecraft has recently completed another flyby of Mercury,
and the data it's collected is shedding new light on
this mysterious world. During its brief thirty minute sweep through
Mercury's magnetosphere, BEPI Colombo's instruments captured fascinating details about the
planet's magnetic field and the plasma environment surrounding it. Scientists
were able to map out various features of Mercury's magnetic landscape,
including the shock boundary between the solar wind and the magnetosphere,
as well as the horn flanking the plasma sheet. One
of the most intriguing findings was the detection of a
low latitude boundary layer with a wide range of particle energies,
something never before seen at Mercury. Researchers also observed hot
ions near the equatorial plane, hinting at the possible existence
of a ring current, a feature well understood on Earth
but still debated for Mercury. These observations are just a
taste of what's to come. When BEPI Colombo enters Mercury's
orbit in twenty twenty six, it will be able to
conduct even more detailed studies of the planet's complex environment.
The mission promises to revolutionize our understanding of Mercury's magnetic field,
its interactions with the solar wind, and the connections between
the planet's surface and its thin atmosphere. Next, a new
theory that's bound to get astronomers and space enthusiast talking.
In a fascinating new study, researchers have uncovered compelling evidence
about the origin of our galaxy's central supermassive black hole,
Sagittarius A Star. It appears that this cosmic heemuth likely
formed from a dramatic merger with another black hole approximately
nine billion years ago. This groundbreaking research, conducted by astrophysicists
at the Nevada Center for Astrophysics, sheds light on some
of Sagittarius A Star's peculiar characteristics. The black hole's rapid
spin and its misalignment with the Milky Way's angular momentum
have long puzzled scientists. Now these features make sense in
the context of a major cosmic collision. Using sophisticated simulations
and data from the Event Horizon telescope, the team modeled
various growth scenarios for Sagittarius, a star. Their result strongly
suggests that a merger with a black hole about a
quarter of its size in a highly inclined orbital configuration
could produce the spin properties we observe today. This cosmic
event not only provides evidence for the hierarchical black hole
merger theory, but also offers intriguing insights into our galaxy's
dynamic history. It seems this merger may have occurred around
the same time the Milky Way merged with the Gaya
and Celadus galaxy, painting a picture of a turbulent period
in our cosmic neighborhoods past. Finally, today, in a concerning
development for astronomers worldwide, the first satellites of China's new
Chianfon broadband constellation have been observed to be significantly brighter
than their Western counterparts. This unexpected brightness is raising alarms
in the astronomical community as it could potentially interfere with
crucial observations of the night sky. A recent study by
a group of observational astronomers found that these Chanfon satellites,
also known as thousand Sales, are visible to the naked
eye when overhead, with a brightness ranging from magnitude four
to eight. This is well above the recommended threshold of
magnitude seven set by professional astronomers to minimize interference with
major ground based observatories. Unlike some Western satellite systems that
have implemented measures to reduce their visibility, such as SpaceX's
Starlink satellites, the Chanfan satellites don't appear to incorporate any
brightness mitigation techniquesite could have significant implications for both professional
and amateur astronomical activities. As China plans to launch over
fourteen thousand of these satellites. The astronomical community is urging
for immediate action to address this issue. The hope is
that by raising awareness, early changes can be made to
the design of future Chian Fan satellites to reduce their
impact on our view of the cosmos and that brings
us to the end of today's cosmic journey. I'mna your
guide through the wonders of space on Astronomy Daily. If
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we've got something for everyone. Thanks for tuning in, and
remember keep looking up because the universe is always putting
on a show. Until next time. This is Anna signing
off from Astronomy Daily, Sunny Day Stars. Star is Star