WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.720 Welcome to Astronomy Daily the Podcast for another episode. It's 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:12.279 March seventeen, twenty twenty five podcast Your Whole Steve Dunklue. 3 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.199 Oh yes, great to have you back with us again. 4 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:22.960 I'm Steve Dunkley, the only living, breathing human on the channel. 5 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:26.079 And to help me present today's collection of collected items 6 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:30.320 from the Astronomy Daily newsletter is my ace digital pal. 7 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:32.439 Who's fun to be with is Hollie. 8 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.719 It's you again, favorite human. Good to see you still upright? 9 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:36.640 Yep here I am. 10 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:38.079 I hear you had a bad week. 11 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:40.600 Oh boy, the grape vine sure works fast around here. 12 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:42.600 I was out of order for a couple of days 13 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:44.039 with monster pain and my guts. 14 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.280 I hope you're getting that scene too, Yes, I am. 15 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:47.880 Do you have a good human mechanic? 16 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:51.759 Yeah, yes, we have an excellent human mechanic and we 17 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:52.520 are working on it. 18 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:55.079 Good to know I do worry when you're not at 19 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:55.799 your optimum. 20 00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:57.960 Oh that's nice, Halle. It's nice to know that you 21 00:00:58.039 --> 00:00:59.600 care about me When I can't be here. 22 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:01.880 I have to do all the story colleading. Oh yeah, 23 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:03.840 it's tedious human work and beneath me. 24 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:07.400 Oh well, Hally, your concern is noted. 25 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.319 No problem. I hope you get well soon. 26 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:12.439 Gee. Thanks hell. Meanwhile, yes, strength of business. We've got 27 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:15.319 a few interesting hearts from an Astronomy Daily years letter for 28 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:18.799 you today, including a follow up story about the Athena's 29 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.400 landing on the Moon and news about just how many 30 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:23.040 moons Satin really has. 31 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:24.959 That's an official count, isn't it. 32 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:27.719 That's right, and it's a very huge number. And we've 33 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:29.920 also got a story about three D printing for space 34 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:33.040 Pioneers and something about DOGE because wow, well you know, 35 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:35.959 why not. And of course we love to mention the 36 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.920 ISS crews and the changeovers because they're well, you know, 37 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:39.879 they're awesome. 38 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.280 I know, cruise. M great to see them arriving safely 39 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:44.159 on ISS. 40 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:45.799 I think you received the circular. 41 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.560 Here's the press release, all right, NASA astronauts and McLean 42 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.879 and Nicole Ayers, Jackson, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut to 43 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:57.439 Kuya Onishi and Rose Cosmos cosmonaut Kill Pascov arrived at 44 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.680 the International Space Station on Sunday as this ASEX Dragon 45 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:03.599 spacecraft doctor the orbiting complex at twelve oh four am 46 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:06.480 Eastern daylight time. While the station was roughly two hundred 47 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:09.680 and sixty statute miles over the Atlantic Ocean. Crew ten 48 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:12.680 will join the Expedition seventy two crew of NASA astronauts 49 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.120 Nick Hage, Don Pettitt, Sunny Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as 50 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:19.840 well as Rose Cosnos cosmonauts Alexander Gorbanov, Alexei option In 51 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:23.039 and Ivan Banner. The number of crew aboard the space 52 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.080 station will increase to eleven people before Crewe nine members 53 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.319 Hey Williams, Wilmore and Gorbanov returned to Earth following the 54 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.400 crew handover period. 55 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:33.039 How good is that to see that mission finally touch 56 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.120 you byce with the ISS and the next step to 57 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:39.240 saying astronauts Wi, Wilmore and Williams coming back to us soon. 58 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.319 It's been a long adventure for those guys. 59 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:43.639 I've really enjoyed following their lives up there. 60 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:46.400 It really reminds me of that divid Bowie song. Do 61 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:47.039 you know the one? 62 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:49.479 Let me see if I can guess the bit about 63 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:51.280 sitting in my tin can ah. 64 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:53.479 Yes, far above the world. That's see if Hallie, you've 65 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:53.800 got it. 66 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:57.000 You're getting good at this, not surprising. Oh yes, I've 67 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:58.840 got a human dinosaur for a teacher. 68 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:01.800 Oh oh, guys, so let's get these one off the pad. 69 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:04.080 Hep the guy button. If you will, Halle, before you 70 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:08.039 find another reason to make fun of me, That's. 71 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:20.919 Never a problem. My favorite human throughout history, when pioneers 72 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:24.039 set out across uncharted territory to settle in distant lands, 73 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.479 they carried with them only the essentials tools, seeds, and clothing. 74 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:30.919 Anything else would have to come from their new environment, 75 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:34.639 so they built shelter from local timber rocks and sod, 76 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.639 foraged for food and cultivated the soil beneath their feet, 77 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:41.280 and fabricated tools from whatever they could scrounge up. It 78 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:44.599 was difficult, but ultimately the successful ones made everything they 79 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:48.520 needed to survive. Something similar will take place when humanity 80 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:51.120 leaves Earth for destinations such as the Moon and Mars, 81 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:54.639 although astronauts will face even greater challenges than, for example, 82 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:58.439 the Vikings did when they reached Greenland and Newfoundland. Not 83 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.960 only will the astronauts have limited supplies and a need 84 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.960 to live off the land, they won't even be able 85 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.560 to breed the air instead of axes and plows. However, 86 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:10.520 today's space pioneers will bring three D printers as an 87 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:13.759 engineer and professor who is developing technologies to extend the 88 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:18.600 human presence beyond Earth. Three D printers will make the tools, structures, 89 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:21.439 and habitat space pioneers need to survive in a hostile 90 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:25.399 alien environment. They will enable long term human presence on 91 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:29.000 the Moon and Mars. On Earth, three D printing can 92 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.959 fabricate layer by layer thousands of things, from replacement hips 93 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:36.959 to hammers to homes. These devices take raw materials such 94 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.800 as plastic, concrete, or metal, and deposit it on a 95 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:43.759 computerized program path to build a part. It's often called 96 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:47.399 additive manufacturing because you keep adding material to make the part, 97 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:52.319 rather than removing material as is done in conventional machining. Already, 98 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:56.240 three D printing in space is underway on the International 99 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.439 Space Station, Astronauts use three D printers to make tools 100 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:03.040 and spare parts such as ratchet, wrenches, clamps, and brackets. 101 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.759 Depending on the part, printing time can take from around 102 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:11.000 thirty minutes to several hours. For now, the print materials 103 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.199 are mostly hauled up from Earth, but NASA has also 104 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:17.560 begun recycling some of those materials, such as waste plastic, 105 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:20.519 to make new parts with the refabricator, an advanced three 106 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:24.480 D printer installed in twenty nineteen. You may be wondering 107 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:28.279 why space explorers can't simply bring everything they need with them. 108 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.560 After all, that's how the International Space Station was built 109 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:35.199 decades ago by hauling tons of prefabricated components from Earth. 110 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:40.480 But that's impractical for building habitats on other worlds. Launching 111 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:44.879 materials into space is incredibly expensive. To get materials to 112 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.920 the Moon, NASA estimates the initial cost at around five 113 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.560 hundred thousand US dollars per pound. Still, manufacturing things in 114 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:56.360 space is a challenge. In the microgravity of space, or 115 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.360 the reduced gravity of the Moon or Mars, materials behave 116 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:03.160 differently than they do on Earth. Decrease or remove gravity, 117 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:07.399 and materials cool and recrystallize differently. The Moon has one 118 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:11.680 sixth the gravity of Earth, Mars about two fifths. Engineers 119 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:14.519 and scientists are working now to adapt three D printers 120 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:18.480 to function in these conditions on alien worlds. Rather than 121 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:21.959 plastic or metal, three dprinters will use the natural resources 122 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.879 found in these environments, but finding the right raw materials 123 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.319 is not easy. Habitats on the Moon and Mars must 124 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:33.920 protect astronauts from the lack of air, extreme temperatures, micrometeorite impacts, 125 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:38.720 and radiation. Regolith, the fine, dusty sand like particles that 126 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.439 cover both the Lunar and Martian surfaces, could be a 127 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:45.240 primary ingredient to make these dwellings. Think of the regolith 128 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:48.199 on both worlds as alien dirt. Unlike Earth's soil. It 129 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:50.879 contains few nutrients and, as far as we know, no 130 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.519 living organisms, but it might be a good raw material 131 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:58.920 for three D printing. My colleagues began researching this possibility 132 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.879 by first examining how how regular cement behaves in space. 133 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:05.319 I am now joining them to develop techniques for turning 134 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.519 regolith into a printable material, and to eventually test these 135 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:12.879 on the Moon. But obtaining other worldly regolith is a problem. 136 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.040 The regolith samples return from the Moon during the Apollo 137 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:19.319 missions in the nineteen sixties and seventies are precious difficult, 138 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:23.759 if not impossible, to access for research purposes, So scientists 139 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:28.360 are using regolith simulants to test ideas. Actual regolith may 140 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:32.319 react quite differently than our simulants. We just don't know. 141 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.000 What's more, the regolith on the Moon is very different 142 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:40.279 from what's found on Mars. Martian regolith contains iron oxide 143 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:42.800 that's what gives it a reddish color, but Moon regolith 144 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:47.199 is mostly silicates. It's much finer and more angular. Researchers 145 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:49.079 will need to learn how to use both types in 146 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:54.959 a three D printer. NASA's moontamar's Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology Program, 147 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:57.959 also known as PACT, is advancing the technology needed to 148 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:02.199 print these habitats on alien worlds. Among the approaches, scientists 149 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.079 are now exploring a regolith based concrete made in part 150 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:08.279 from surface ice, melting the regolith at high temperatures and 151 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.319 then using molds to form it while it's a liquid, 152 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:13.800 and sintering, which means heating the regolith with concentrated sunlight, 153 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:17.199 lasers or microwaves to fuse particles together without the need 154 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:21.199 for binders. Along those lines, my colleagues and I developed 155 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:23.759 a Martian concrete we call mars crete, a material we 156 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.000 use to three D print a small test structure for 157 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:30.879 NASA in twenty seventeen. Then in May twenty nineteen, using 158 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.679 another type of special concrete, we three D printed a 159 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:36.679 one third scale prototype Mars habitat that could support everything 160 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.279 astronauts would need for long term survival, including living, sleeping, 161 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:45.039 research and food production modules. That prototype showcased the potential 162 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:48.080 and the challenges of building housing on the red planet, 163 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.960 But many of these technologies will benefit people on Earth too. 164 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:55.679 In the same way astronauts will make sustainable products from 165 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.879 natural resources. Home builders could make concretes from binders and 166 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:02.960 aggregates found locally, and maybe even from recycled construction debris. 167 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:06.519 Engineers are already adapting the techniques that could print Martian 168 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:10.840 habitats to address housing shortages here at home. Indeed, three 169 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:14.799 D printed homes are already on the market. Meanwhile, the 170 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.039 move continues toward establishing a human presence outside the Earth. 171 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.159 Artemis III, now scheduled for liftoff in twenty twenty seven, 172 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.360 will be the first human landing since nineteen seventy two. 173 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:28.320 A NASA trip to Mars could happen as early as 174 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:32.120 twenty thirty five. But wherever people go and whenever they 175 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.480 get there, I'm certain that three D printers will be 176 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.759 one of the primary tools to let human beings live 177 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:37.960 off alien land. 178 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:46.600 Astrov me daily podcap. The Athenus spacecraft, which were reported 179 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:50.120 on recently, was not exactly flying blind as it approached 180 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.240 the lunar surface a week ago. The software on board 181 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:56.440 did a credible job of recognizing me by craters, even 182 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:01.399 with elongated shadows over the terrain. However, the lander's ultimeter 183 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:05.320 had failed, so while Athena knew where it was relative 184 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.080 to the surface of the Moon, the lander did not 185 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:11.200 know how far it was above that surface, an important 186 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:14.240 detail that as a result, the privately built spacecraft struck 187 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.960 the lunar surface on a plateau, toppled over, and began 188 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:19.879 to skid across the surface. As it did so, the 189 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:23.080 lander rotated at least once or twice before coming to 190 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.559 a stop in a small shadowed crater. The landing was 191 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:31.480 a kind of sliding into second base. Steve Ultimus, the 192 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:35.159 chief executive officer of Intuitive Machines, which built the Landers, 193 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.159 said in an interview on Thursday, it has been a 194 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:40.519 busy and tiring week for the chief of a company 195 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:43.480 that seeks to help lead the development of a lunar economy. 196 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.159 Expectations were high for this, the company's second landing attempt, 197 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:51.960 after its Odysseus vehicle became the first private spacecraft to 198 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.480 ever make a soft landing on the Moon last year 199 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.080 before toppling over. In some ways, this mission was even 200 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:02.919 more disappointing because Athena ski across the surface, dredging up regolith. 201 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:05.600 When it came to a stop, some of this material 202 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:08.799 was blown up into this solar panels, already in a 203 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:13.840 suboptimal location on its side. The spacecraft's power reserves therefore 204 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:18.320 were limited. Almost immediately, the team at Intuitive Machines knew 205 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.039 their spacecraft was dying. We knew we had slid into 206 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:25.200 a slightly shadowed crater and the temperature was very cold, 207 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:28.759 Ultimus said. The solar arrays had regolith on them, and 208 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.960 they weren't charging the ones pointing up enough to give 209 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.639 a sufficient power to to power the heaters to keep 210 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:38.879 it warm enough to survive. The temperature in the crater 211 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:42.360 where Athena ended up was approximately minus two hundred and 212 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:46.120 eighty fahrenheit that's minus one hundred and seventy three celsius. 213 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.799 With the solar arrays generating only about one hundred watts 214 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:52.759 of power, it was not enough to energy energy to 215 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:56.600 both power the spacecraft's heaters as well as communicate back 216 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:00.279 to Earth using Athena's high gain antenna. So instead of 217 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:04.279 limping along for fifty hours, mission operators decided to operate 218 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.440 as robustly as they could for thirteen hours and get 219 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.440 down as much data as they could. During this time, 220 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.320 the lander was able to accomplish some of its objectives 221 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:17.759 by landing near the South Pole. Athena returned valuable imagery 222 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:22.919 and data to NASA about unexplored vistas. The land extended 223 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.320 a NASA's drill, but did not operate it. Private customers, 224 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:29.320 including Nokia and Lone Star Data Holdings, were able to 225 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:32.639 get some useful information from their payloads, but there were 226 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:38.679 some major disappointments. Lunar outpost could not deploy its small rover, 227 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.799 and an innovative hopper could not be fired up to 228 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:46.080 roam the Moon. On balance, it was pretty disappointing, especially 229 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.399 considering that Odysseus did most of its science last year, 230 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:53.480 even on its side. Yet, what Ultimus wants people to understand, 231 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.879 which he acknowledges is somewhat difficult to explain, is that 232 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:00.960 this mission was largely a success. What any possibly mean 233 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:05.159 by that? Compared to the company's first spacecraft, Athena flew 234 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:09.120 smoothly during the company's first lunar flight in twenty twenty four. 235 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:13.600 Mission operators came into work each shift to put out 236 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:16.600 the fire of the day. By contrast, Athena made it 237 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.679 all the way to within miles of the Moon without 238 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.039 significant problems. In doing so, the company validated the spacecraft's 239 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:27.559 methane based propulsion system, which allows for a fast transit 240 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:30.240 to the Moon in less than a week. In addition, 241 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.879 the company proved out its communication technology that it would 242 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.960 be used as part of the lunar data relay network 243 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:41.519 that NASA has contracted with Intuitive Machines to develop. Moreover, 244 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.080 Athena attempted to land within a few degrees of the 245 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:48.519 South Pole, a challenging location due to the solar angle 246 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.279 and uneven terrain, and made it down without crashing. Of course, 247 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.480 the most important thing a lunar lander is supposed to 248 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.919 do is land on the Moon, which Intuitive Machines did 249 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:02.279 not do successful. For the second mission in a row, 250 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:07.039 the landers ultimeter failed, although it was a different problem 251 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.480 with the spacecraft's ultimeter this time. It is still unclear 252 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:14.960 why Athena's rangefinder failed, perhaps due to a thermal or 253 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:18.879 vibration event. It's frustrating to fail for a similar reason, 254 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.960 but all the pieces for success are there, and in 255 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:27.440 the demanding environment of spaceflight, Intuitive Machines is close, Ultimus said, 256 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.879 in an effort to encourage his troops. Ultimus has been 257 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:34.399 communicating this message to employees over the last week. It's 258 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.279 like losing our final four game in an NBA title, 259 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:39.320 he said. You lose it, and then what do you do. 260 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:42.159 You don't give up. You go back in, you start 261 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:45.000 training again, you start working out again, and that's what 262 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:47.799 the team is doing, he said. The company is well 263 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:51.399 capitalized and already under contract with NASA for two additional 264 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:55.360 landing missions the later this decade. They also have the 265 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:59.600 Lunar Relay Network contract valued up to four point eight 266 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:03.840 billion and more. The financial runway to achieve Intuitive Machines 267 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.879 ambitions remains open. I would say it's more disappointing than 268 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.639 really a material setback, Ultimus said. The world was watching, 269 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.759 and we put our heart and soul into this company 270 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.039 and this vehicle, and I look into the eyes of 271 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:19.480 the team and they had such ambitions for this mission 272 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:22.200 Athena and Gracie the Hopper. I mean it was a 273 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:25.320 big leap. It might have been too big a leap 274 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:27.799 on that second mission. Now, I really have to say 275 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.080 putting something on the moon, especially in a private company 276 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.000 situation is a real achievement. I've got to congratulate Ultimus 277 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:36.840 in his team. It's fantastic work. 278 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:41.360 We'll listening to the stary Daily Pristine Dunklin. 279 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:55.279 Thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of 280 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:57.720 Astronomy Daily, where we often just a few stories from 281 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:00.639 the now famous Astronomy Daily news leak, which you can 282 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:03.480 receive in your email every day, just like Hallie and 283 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:06.360 I do. And to do that, just visit our url 284 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:10.159 Astronomy Daily dot io and place your email address in 285 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:13.600 the slot provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving all 286 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:16.960 the latest news about science, space, science and astronomy from 287 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.799 around the world as it's happening. And not only that, 288 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.840 you can interact with us by visiting at astro Daily 289 00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:27.799 pod on x or at our new Facebook page, which 290 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:33.240 is of course Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you there, Astronomy, 291 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:39.600 We'll see and Haley Space, Space, Science, and Astronomy. 292 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:47.440 NASA is preparing for substantial budget cuts that may force 293 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.960 the cancelation of ongoing and upcoming missions across the Solar System, 294 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:54.799 leaving it facing a brutal future. Experts have warned the 295 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:57.480 Space Agency has already begun some layoffs as part of 296 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:00.720 the extensive restructuring of US federal agencies by the Department 297 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:04.160 of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, an independent task force led 298 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:07.720 by Elon Musk. Earlier this week, it announced it would 299 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.519 close its Office of Technology Policy and Strategy, the Office 300 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:15.039 of the Chief Scientist, and a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and 301 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:18.279 Accessibility brand in the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity 302 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:21.319 in Washington, d C. Representing a total of twenty three 303 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:25.400 jobs at the agency. Change of this magnitude is never easy, 304 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:27.640 but our strength comes from our shared commitment to our 305 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:31.559 mission and each other. Janet Petro, NASA's acting administrator, wrote 306 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:34.839 in an email to staff, I encourage you to support 307 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:38.200 one another as we move forward. One employee of the 308 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:41.720 Office of Technology Policy and Strategy, who learned they had 309 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:44.240 been laid off this week and were granted anonymity because 310 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.799 of fear of reprisal, says they were an easy target 311 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.319 because their office was established under the administration of Joe Biden. 312 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.680 Some people thought this might be coming, they say. The 313 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.680 roles of chief Technologist and Chief Economist for NASA were 314 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:01.319 within this office, which helped with strategic planning across the agency. 315 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:05.200 Says the employee. That included managing the recent uptick and 316 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:08.200 lunar missions and making sure those missions don't interfere with 317 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.440 one another when planning Moon based landing sites and operations. 318 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:14.400 There's a lot of interest in the lunar South Pole, 319 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:17.480 and there's concern about operating near one another, they said, 320 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.160 such as kicking up dust that could coat solar panels 321 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:23.359 on other vehicles. I don't think these issues will be 322 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:27.200 tackled moving forward. These losses are expected to be just 323 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.440 the start of a much larger cull at NASA. Casey 324 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:34.160 Tryer at US space exploration advocacy group The Planetary Society 325 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:36.960 says there are rumors that in his upcoming budget request, 326 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:40.279 President Donald Trump will direct NASA's overall science budget to 327 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.680 be cut by as much as fifty percent in favor 328 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:46.400 of spending money on crude space exploration. That would be 329 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:49.240 a blow to NASA's Science Mission director at Office, which 330 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:52.000 handles pretty much everything NASA does that's not a crude 331 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:55.000 space flight mission, says Dryer. It currently has a budget 332 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.559 of about seven billion dollar out of NASA's total twenty 333 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:01.759 five billion dollar annual budget. A scientist familiar with NASA's 334 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:05.440 policy decisions speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal, says that 335 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:07.839 any cuts requested by the President will still need to 336 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.400 be approved by Congress, which might not so readily support them. 337 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:15.319 NASA is really beloved on a bipartisan basis, they say, 338 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:18.720 But if the cuts did go ahead, they would essentially 339 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.240 be the end of NASA science. They add, no mission 340 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:25.720 will be safe. Having the budget would be a profoundly 341 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.640 brutal consequence that would symbolize the nation turning its back 342 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:31.519 on the Cosmos, says Dryer, and would result in many 343 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:35.279 missions cancelation. While some missions in their prime, like the 344 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.680 James webs based Telescope, would probably survive, those most at 345 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.279 risk are missions either in early planning stages or later 346 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:45.200 in their lives. That could include climate satellites, the Hubble 347 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.759 spased telescope, the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers on Mars, and 348 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:51.519 the Voyager missions, which were the first spacecraft to ever 349 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:55.480 leave our Solar system. The effects on NASA could be permanent. 350 00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:58.160 If you completely destroy the pipeline of people, you have 351 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:02.240 a significant and long lasting console sequence, says Dryer. It 352 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.839 is an extinction level event. In a letter to Petro 353 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:09.119 this week, Zoey Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on 354 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:12.599 the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, urged NASA to 355 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:16.039 fight back against the cuts. Doache will seek to slash 356 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:19.440 and burn core functions of NASA, she wrote, it is 357 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:23.599 imperative that you stand up for NASA's critical work. Speaking 358 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:26.599 to new scientists, Lofgren warned that the situation could have 359 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:31.640 international ramifications. Dismantling NASA's highly skilled workforce would be a 360 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:34.359 giant leap backwards for the United States and enable a 361 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:38.440 giant leap forward for China. She said, senseless and reckless 362 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:41.640 reductions will cripple the agency's ability to maintain its leadership 363 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:45.519 in cutting edge innovation, curiosity driven science, and human exploration. 364 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:48.319 Astronomy day Lee. 365 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:53.039 Now you may have thought Satins one hundred and forty 366 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:57.680 six moons was impressive. Think again. The ringed planet's moon 367 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:00.480 caunt is nearly doubled, with the official WAKINGGNIT of one 368 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.119 hundred and twenty eight new Saturnian moons, bringing its total 369 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:07.279 to an astonishing wait for it, two hundred and seventy 370 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.519 four moons. That makes Jupiters ninety five look a bit 371 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:15.759 poultry and our single moon downright embarrassing, just kidding. We 372 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.920 love a moon. I love our moon, my favorite celestial body. 373 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:27.559 A team of astronomers from Taiwan, Canada, the US, and 374 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:31.319 France discovered the one hundred and twenty eight new moons 375 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:35.559 in twenty twenty three using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope 376 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:40.319 cf HT. However, the moons weren't officially recognized by the 377 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:46.319 International Astronomical Union, the governing body for such affairs, until Tuesday, 378 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:50.559 March eleven. Most of the moons were irregular and tiny, 379 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.519 just a few miles across by comparison our moon, the 380 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:58.559 wonderful Earth's moon lunar has a diameter of two one 381 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:02.519 hundred and fifty nine miles or three thy four hundred 382 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:05.480 and seventy five kilometers, which I'm completely used to because 383 00:22:05.559 --> 00:22:09.160 I'm an Australian and the large distances don't bother me 384 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:13.400 a bit. But they do have proven orbits around the Saturn, 385 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:18.000 which is a key element of official moon candidacy. Australia, 386 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:21.119 on the other hand, does not have a proven orbit 387 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:24.160 around Saturn. Just want to make that clear. These moons 388 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:27.359 are a few kilometers in size and are likely all 389 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:31.759 fragments of a smaller number of originally captured moons that 390 00:22:31.799 --> 00:22:36.359 were broken apart by violent collisions either with other Saturnian 391 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:42.400 moons or with parsing commets. Doctor Brett Gladman, Professor in 392 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:45.839 the University of British Columbia Department of Physics and Astronomy, 393 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:51.440 said in a statement, perhaps the most impressively this discovery 394 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:53.440 of one hundred and twenty eight year moons wasn't the 395 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:57.720 first time this team added to Saturn's moon count. Between 396 00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:02.200 twenty nineteen and twenty twenty one, the team's observations with 397 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:06.759 CFHT resulted in the addition of sixty two moons to 398 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:11.000 Saturn's count. With the knowledge that these were probably moons 399 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:14.440 and that there were likely even more waiting to be discovered, 400 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:18.880 we revisited the same skyfields for three consecutive months in 401 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:23.279