Speaker 1: Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos
Speaker 1: with our soothing Bedtime Astronomy podcast. Each episode offers a
Speaker 1: gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for
Speaker 1: unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries
Speaker 1: of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful
Speaker 1: slumber under the night sky. This week in Astronomy, Blue
Speaker 1: Ghost Mission, Mars helicopter exploration and unveiling Kuiper Belt. Blue
Speaker 1: Ghost's mission ends, but its legacy lives on. The first
Speaker 1: private lunar lander to complete a fully successful mission has
Speaker 1: fallen Silent Firefly Aerospaces. Blue Ghost landers ceased operations over
Speaker 1: the weekend after spending two weeks conducting scientific experiments for NASA.
Speaker 1: Its mission came to an end as the sunset on
Speaker 1: the lunar surface, cutting off the energy supply to its
Speaker 1: solar panels. Firefly CEO Jason Kim confirmed the mission's conclusion
Speaker 1: in a post on X late Sunday night, emphasizing that
Speaker 1: while the lander had completed its task, its legacy would
Speaker 1: live on in the minds of those who followed its journey.
Speaker 1: The lander continued to function for five hours into the
Speaker 1: lunar night as planned, before finally shutting down. Firefly announced
Speaker 1: that images of the lunar sunset and glow captured by
Speaker 1: Blue Ghost would be released on Tuesday. Blue Ghost was
Speaker 1: launched from Cape Canaveral in January as part of NASA's
Speaker 1: Commercial Lunar Paload Delivery program, and successfully touched down on
Speaker 1: March second at the far northeastern edge of the Moon.
Speaker 1: It carried multiple scientific and technological instruments for NASA, including
Speaker 1: a drill and a vacuum, among others. Firefly confirmed on
Speaker 1: Monday that all ten experiments aboard the lander had functioned
Speaker 1: as intended, marking a complete success for the mission. One
Speaker 1: of the lander's notable achievements occurred late last week when
Speaker 1: it observed a total solar eclipse from the Moon's perspective,
Speaker 1: which corresponds to a total lunar eclipse as seen from Earth.
Speaker 1: With this mission, Firefly Aerospace, a Texas based company, became
Speaker 1: the first private entity to land on the Moon without
Speaker 1: tipping over or crashing, a significant milestone after several unsuccessful
Speaker 1: attempts by other private ventures in recent years. Before this achievement,
Speaker 1: successful lunar landings had only been accomplished by five nations,
Speaker 1: the United States, Russia, China, India and Japan. Firefly's success
Speaker 1: stood in contrast to the fate of another private mission
Speaker 1: that shared the same space section, Rocket Ride. A Japanese company,
Speaker 1: A Space, launched its own lunar lander on the same mission,
Speaker 1: but it is taking a much longer route to the Moon,
Speaker 1: with a planned touchdown in early June. Meanwhile, another Texas
Speaker 1: based company, Intuitive Machines, recently faced difficulties with its own
Speaker 1: lunar lander. Earlier this month. Its lander ended up lying
Speaker 1: sideways in a crater near the Moon's south pole, effectively
Speaker 1: dooming the mission. This marked the second incomplete attempt for
Speaker 1: Intuitive Machines. Although its first lander did successfully put the
Speaker 1: United States back on the Moon for the first time
Speaker 1: since the Apollo era, the landing was less than perfect
Speaker 1: and caused communication issues. With its first mission, now complete,
Speaker 1: Firefly Aerospace is already looking ahead. The company is actively
Speaker 1: developing its next lunar lander and aims to achieve at
Speaker 1: least one moon landing per year in the future. Nighthawk
Speaker 1: the next step in Mars helicopter exploration ingenuity, the small
Speaker 1: helicopter that demonstrated the feasibility of flying on another planet.
Speaker 1: Achieved a significant milestone by completing seventy two flights, sparking
Speaker 1: the imagination of space enthusiasts worldwide. However, it faced certain limitations,
Speaker 1: and NASA researchers believe they can create a better version.
Speaker 1: Two recent papers presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science
Speaker 1: Conference LPSC twent five outlined a new design for a
Speaker 1: more advanced helicopter named Nighthawk, which is still under development.
Speaker 1: This project is being led by Pascal Lee from NASA
Speaker 1: AMES and Derek Loya from the Seti Institute and Colorado
Speaker 1: Mesa Universe. Their work explores the potential use of this
Speaker 1: new helicopter on Mars, particularly in regions that are difficult
Speaker 1: to navigate with existing technology. Among the many fascinating locations
Speaker 1: on Mars, one area has garnered particular interest from explorers.
Speaker 1: Nocdys Labyrinthus, or the Labyrinth of the Night. This region
Speaker 1: stands out not only because of its geological features, but
Speaker 1: also due to its strategic position. It is nestled between
Speaker 1: the massive vas Marineris Canyon to the east and the
Speaker 1: Tharsus volcanic Plateau to the west. One location within this region,
Speaker 1: nocdis Landing, has often been suggested as a possible landing
Speaker 1: site for future man missions. Doctor Blee, a prominent figure
Speaker 1: in Mars exploration and the founder of the Mars Institute,
Speaker 1: is a strong advocate for studying misintriguing area Noctus Labyrinthus
Speaker 1: offers much to explore, especially in terms of potential resources. Fraser,
Speaker 1: a researcher, discusses how this region might harbour valuable materials
Speaker 1: that could be useful for future missions, but it also
Speaker 1: presents significant challenges. The terrain here is rugged, consisting of
Speaker 1: vast dim fields, ancient lava flows, enormous boulders, and deep canyons.
Speaker 1: Such conditions would make it extremely difficult for a rover
Speaker 1: to operate effectively in the area. This is where a
Speaker 1: helicopter like Nighthawk could prove invaluable. While landing in such
Speaker 1: a challenging environment would be difficult, a helicopter could easily
Speaker 1: fly over the terrain, avoiding obstacles and landing only in
Speaker 1: safe areas. It could also capture stunning aerial imagery of
Speaker 1: the region, offering a person perspective that a rover could
Speaker 1: never achieve. However, there are several reasons why Ingenuity or
Speaker 1: similar helicopters wouldn't be suitable for this kind of mission.
Speaker 1: The first issue is that Ingenuity relies on a rover
Speaker 1: perseverance to relay communications back to Earth. In the rugged
Speaker 1: Noctus Labyrinthus, where rovers would struggle, this setup would not
Speaker 1: be practical. Another limitation of Ingenuity is its maximum altitude
Speaker 1: of about twenty five meters, which is insufficient to navigate
Speaker 1: the towering obstacles in Octus Labyrinthus, but team behind Nighthawk
Speaker 1: estimates that a minimum altitude of one hundred meters would
Speaker 1: be necessary to safely bypass the region's challenges. Additionally, the
Speaker 1: Martian atmosphere is thin, an Ingenuity lacks the thrust to
Speaker 1: fly effectively in such conditions for most of the year.
Speaker 1: It also wouldn't be able to carry a scientific payload
Speaker 1: weighing three kilograms, which is the desired weight for the
Speaker 1: Nighthawk mission. In contrast, the new Marsh Chopper being developed
Speaker 1: by NASA is designed to overcome these challenges. This standalone,
Speaker 1: SUV sized drone will be capable of carrying up to
Speaker 1: five kilograms of scientific instruments, flying up to three kilometers
Speaker 1: per day. This capability is far more suited to the
Speaker 1: needs of the Nighthawk mission. The primary goal of Nighthawk
Speaker 1: is to carry a three kilogram payload, which will include
Speaker 1: a color camera, a near infrared camera, and a neutron
Speaker 1: counter for detecting water. The Nighthawk helicopter is expected to
Speaker 1: travel a distance of about three hundred kilometers during its
Speaker 1: primary mission, conducting studies on potential water deposits and exploring
Speaker 1: the evolution of this area of Mars. Of particular interest
Speaker 1: is a light tone deposit or LTD near the Reliic Glacier,
Speaker 1: which may contain significant amounts of water, potentially much closer
Speaker 1: to the equator than the known deposits near the poles.
Speaker 1: Many missions are already planned to make use of the
Speaker 1: Mars Chopper, but Nighthawk stands out due to its thoughtful
Speaker 1: design and strong backing from NASA's top Mars scientists. Although
Speaker 1: there is no set date yet for the competition to
Speaker 1: select the new Mars Chopper, mission planners are likely to
Speaker 1: consider the Nighthawk architecture as they determine where this new
Speaker 1: drone will first be deployed. As the development of Nighthawk continues,
Speaker 1: it represents a major step forward in the exploration of Mars,
Speaker 1: offering exciting possibilities for future missions to the Red planet
Speaker 1: unveiling the Kuiper Belt. With Verirubin, the exploration of the
Speaker 1: outer Solar System is set to gain a major advantage
Speaker 1: with the upcoming operations of the Verorubin Observatory. When this
Speaker 1: powerful telescope begins its mission in late twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: it will launch a ten year survey of the sky,
Speaker 1: capturing its continuous changes and unveiling new cosmic discoveries. Among
Speaker 1: its most intriguing and challenging targets will be objects in
Speaker 1: the distant Kuiper Belt, a region beyond Neptune filled with
Speaker 1: icy remnants from the early Solar System. A team of
Speaker 1: planetary scientists led by J. J. Kavilars from Canada's Herzberg
Speaker 1: Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Center has proposed an ambitious plan
Speaker 1: to use the observatory for an intensive survey focused on
Speaker 1: tracking objects along the trajectory of the New Horizon. Spacecraft,
Speaker 1: currently located approximately sixty one astronomical units from Earth. New
Speaker 1: Horizons remains the only spacecraft traversing the Kuiper Belt, providing
Speaker 1: a unique opportunity for coordinated observations. The proposed survey, referred
Speaker 1: to as a deep drilling microsurvey, will dedicate about thirty
Speaker 1: hours of observation time at Verirubin across six separate five
Speaker 1: hour visits over the course of a year beginning in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. The goal is to determine the orbits
Speaker 1: of approximately seven hundred Kuiper Belt objects, significantly expanding the
Speaker 1: known catalog of these distant worlds. To achieve this, the
Speaker 1: team requires at least five hours of observation per night
Speaker 1: on two separate nights to construct reliable orbital arcs of
Speaker 1: the detected objects. Kavilars emphasizes that obtaining repeated observations of
Speaker 1: the same field is more valuable than simply extending the
Speaker 1: depth of a single observation, as the ability to track
Speaker 1: the movement of these distant bodies is crucial. The team's
Speaker 1: findings have been detailed in a paper available on the
Speaker 1: AR fourteen pre print server. Their proposal builds upon prior
Speaker 1: discoveries of Kuiper Belt objects, including a survey led by
Speaker 1: Wesley Fraser in twenty twenty four that identified two hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty nine trans Neptunian objects. Using data from the
Speaker 1: hyper suprimecam on the Subaru telescope, Fraser's team uncovered a
Speaker 1: surprising abundance of very faint objects beyond seventy astronomical units
Speaker 1: from the Sun. The detection of these objects may help
Speaker 1: explain previously recorded stellar occultations and data collected by the
Speaker 1: student dust counter aboard new horizons. If successful, the deep
Speaker 1: survey conducted with Verrubin will likely reveal many more such bodies,
Speaker 1: expanding our understanding of the Kuiper Belt's population. One of
Speaker 1: the key hopes for the survey is that it will
Speaker 1: identify new targets for New Horizons to study from a distance.
Speaker 1: While finding an object close enough for a near fly
Speaker 1: by encounter is unlikely, this survey will at the very
Speaker 1: least provide a valuable sample of Kuiper Belt objects that
Speaker 1: can be observed from afar. The prospect of discovering another
Speaker 1: intriguing object like Aricoth, which New Horizons flew past in
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, is particularly exciting. Many of the approximately seven
Speaker 1: hundred objects detected in the survey are expected to be
Speaker 1: binaries or contact binaries, offering valuable insight into the structure
Speaker 1: and formation of these distant worlds, even if they are
Speaker 1: not within range for direct observation by the spacecraft, their
Speaker 1: mere presence provides evidence that the Kuiper Belt is more
Speaker 1: densely populated than current models suggest. A major benefit of
Speaker 1: the Verirubin Observatory's capabilities lies in its legacy survey of
Speaker 1: space and time, which will capture repeated images of vast
Speaker 1: sections of the sky over the course of a decade.
Speaker 1: Using its powerful lsstcam mounted on the eight point three
Speaker 1: six meter Simoni Survey telescope, the observatory will collect a
Speaker 1: series of thirty second images covering nine point six square
Speaker 1: degrees at a time. By alternating between different filter bands,
Speaker 1: these observations will provide detailed and deep views of the cosmos,
Speaker 1: effectively creating the most extensive astronomical time lapse ever recorded.
Speaker 1: The sheer scale of this survey presents an opportunity for
Speaker 1: other missions, such as the Kuiper Belt Microsurvey, to take
Speaker 1: advantage of its vast data collection. The team's proposal notes
Speaker 1: that the plant cadence of LSST will lead to the
Speaker 1: discovery of an unprecedented number of small Solar system bodies,
Speaker 1: including trans Neptunian opt The ability to determine precise orbits
Speaker 1: and physical properties for these distant worlds will represent a
Speaker 1: transformative leap in our knowledge of the Solar System. The
Speaker 1: thirty hour observation window allocated to the micro survey should
Speaker 1: be sufficient to accurately determine the positions and orbits of
Speaker 1: Kuiper Belt objects. This will not only aid potential future
Speaker 1: observations by new horizons, but also provide valuable targets for
Speaker 1: upcoming spacecraft missions. Kavilar's and envisions an exciting possibility in
Speaker 1: which the deep survey conducted by ver Reubin will confirm
Speaker 1: and refine the population distribution of Kuiper Belt objects reported
Speaker 1: by Fraser. If no suitable fly by target is found
Speaker 1: within the Ruben data, the refined information could then be
Speaker 1: used to design a more precise search using the Nancy
Speaker 1: Grace Roman Space Telescope once it launches. This collaboration between
Speaker 1: different observatories and spacecraft underscores the growing ability of modern
Speaker 1: astronomy to explore even the most remote regions of the
Speaker 1: Solar System, piecing together the complex history of its formation
Speaker 1: and evolutions to get them