Speaker 1: Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos
Speaker 1: with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie 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. Upcoming space launches New Glen
Speaker 1: and Starship seven Blue Origin's New Glen pre launch overview.
Speaker 1: Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, has
Speaker 1: been developing the New Glen Rocket, a heavy lift vehicle
Speaker 1: named after the first American to orbit Earth, John Glenn.
Speaker 1: This rocket represents a significant step for Blue Origin as
Speaker 1: it ventures into the realm of orbital launches, aiming to
Speaker 1: disrupt the dominance of competitors like SpaceX in the commercial
Speaker 1: space sector. The New Glen Rocket is designed to be
Speaker 1: partially reusable, with a first stage that lands vertically on
Speaker 1: a sea platform, much like SpaceX's Falcon nine, but it's
Speaker 1: engineered with the capability to fly humans, reflecting Blue Origin's
Speaker 1: long term vision of making space more accessible for various missions,
Speaker 1: including human spaceflight. The rocket stands at an impressive three
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty feet tall ninety eight meters dwarfing its
Speaker 1: suborbital counterpart, New Shepherd, and is built to accommodate a
Speaker 1: wide range of payloads with its seven meter wide firing,
Speaker 1: which is larger than many competitors in the industry. The
Speaker 1: first stage is powered by seven B four engines which
Speaker 1: use liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas, offering a cleaner,
Speaker 1: more sustainable alternative to traditional kerosene based engines. These engines
Speaker 1: collectively produce around three eight million pounds of thrust at
Speaker 1: sea level, making New Glen one of the most powerful
Speaker 1: rockets in operation. The second stage uses two B three
Speaker 1: U engines optimized for vacuum conditions, which together produced two
Speaker 1: hundred and forty thousand pounds of thrust. The rocket's payload
Speaker 1: capabilities are notable, with the capacity to send forty five
Speaker 1: metric tons to low Earth orbit and thirteen metric tons
Speaker 1: to geostationary transfer orbit, positioning it as a strong contender
Speaker 1: for both commercial and governmental launches. Development of New Glen
Speaker 1: began in earnest around twenty twelve, with the public unveiling
Speaker 1: of its design in two thousand sixteen. The journey to
Speaker 1: its first launch was marked by delays. Initially targeting at
Speaker 1: twenty twenty debut, but faced with challenges such as engine
Speaker 1: development is These aspirations were repeatedly pushed back. However, with
Speaker 1: rigorous testing and milestones like the successful hot fire test
Speaker 1: of all seven four engines in December twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: Blue Origin has been pushing forward. The maiden flight of
Speaker 1: New Glen, dubbed in G one, has been scheduled for
Speaker 1: no earlier than January thirteenth, twenty twenty five, with a
Speaker 1: three hour launch window opening at one am BST. This
Speaker 1: mission will not deploy a satellite, but will instead carry
Speaker 1: the Blue Ring Pathfinder, a test version of Blue Origin's
Speaker 1: future space logistics platform, to validate its communication and operational
Speaker 1: systems from orbit to ground. The launch from Cape Canaveral
Speaker 1: Space four station's Launch Complex thirty six marks the first
Speaker 1: time this pad has been used in nearly two decades,
Speaker 1: highlighting Blue Origin's investment in a time space infrastructure. Despite
Speaker 1: the anticipation surrounding this launch, Blue Origin has tempered expectations,
Speaker 1: acknowledging that while the primary goal is to reach orbit,
Speaker 1: success is not guaranteed. The company aims to recover the
Speaker 1: first stage on a landing platform named Jacqueline in the
Speaker 1: Atlantic Ocean, an ambitious goal for a first flight, underlining
Speaker 1: their commitment to reusability to reduce the costs and environmental
Speaker 1: impact of spaceflight. This mission's outcome will be crucial for
Speaker 1: Blue Origin, not only proving the rocket's capabilities, but also
Speaker 1: setting the stage for future launches, including national security missions,
Speaker 1: Amazon's Project Kuyper, satellite deployments, and even supporting the construction
Speaker 1: of Blue Origins proposed commercial space station orbital REEF. The
Speaker 1: launch of New Glen is not just a technical milestone,
Speaker 1: but a symbolic one, showcasing Blue Origin's readiness to compete
Speaker 1: in the orbital launch market and to live up to
Speaker 1: Jeff Bezos's vision of a future where heavy industry is
Speaker 1: moved off Earth, preserving our planet while expanding human presence
Speaker 1: in space. Starship Flight seven pre launch overview. The anticipation
Speaker 1: for Starship Flight seven has been building, with SpaceX targeting
Speaker 1: a launch date of January fifteenth, twenty twenty five. After
Speaker 1: several delays attributed to weather conditions and the need for
Speaker 1: final preparations. This seventh test flight of the Starship launch
Speaker 1: system is not just another step in SpaceX's iterative process,
Speaker 1: but a significant leap towards realizing the vision of a
Speaker 1: fully reusable spacecraft capable of transporting humans and cargo to
Speaker 1: destinations like the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The vehicle for FIS.
Speaker 1: This mission combines a Block two Starship upper stage meln
Speaker 1: as Ship thirty three with a Block one super heavy
Speaker 1: booster Booster fourteen, illustrating both the evolution and the continuity
Speaker 1: of SpaceX's development strategy. The journey to this launch has
Speaker 1: been one of meticulous preparation and innovation. Ship thirty three,
Speaker 1: the first of its kind and operational terms, introduces a
Speaker 1: suite of upgrades over its predecessors. Its forward flaps, critical
Speaker 1: for steering during re entry, have been redesigned to reduce
Speaker 1: their exposure to the extreme heat of atmospheric reentry. These
Speaker 1: flaps are not only smaller, but also positioned closer to
Speaker 1: the tip of the vehicle, which reduces the complexity of
Speaker 1: the underlying mechanisms and simplifies the protective tiling. This design
Speaker 1: change aims to enhance the survival rate of the ship
Speaker 1: through the re entry phase that has historically been challenging
Speaker 1: for Starship prototypes. Moreover, the avionics of Ship thirty three
Speaker 1: have undergone a complete overhaul. A more powerful flight computer
Speaker 1: now resides at the heart of the ship's control systems,
Speaker 1: complemented by integrated antennas that combine starlink GNSS and backup
Speaker 1: RF communication functions. This setup promises not only better navigation,
Speaker 1: but also real time streaming of high definition video and
Speaker 1: telemetry data, offering unprecedented visibility into the spacecraft's performance. The
Speaker 1: avionics upgrade extends to inertial navigation, star tracking sensors, and
Speaker 1: smart batteries, ensuring that power and data are efficiently managed
Speaker 1: across the vehicle. The propulsion system of Ship thirty three
Speaker 1: has also seen significant enhancements. There's a twenty five percent
Speaker 1: increase in propellant volume, made possible by a redesign of
Speaker 1: the fuel feed line system for the vacuum raptor engines,
Speaker 1: alongside vacuum jacketing of feed lines to minimize heat loss.
Speaker 1: These changes are pivotal for extending mission durations and increasing
Speaker 1: the payload capacity, setting the stage for more ambitious missions
Speaker 1: in the near future. Starship Flight seven's mission profile is
Speaker 1: perhaps the most ambitious yet for the first time, SpaceX
Speaker 1: will attempt to deploy payloads in space, albeit with Starlink
Speaker 1: simulator satellites. B Simulators similar in size and weight to
Speaker 1: the next generation Starlink satellites will be deployed to test
Speaker 1: the Starship's payload deployment capabilities. The simulators will follow a
Speaker 1: suborbital trajectory re entering and splashing down in the Indian Ocean,
Speaker 1: providing critical data onto play oloinment mechanisms, re entry dynamics,
Speaker 1: and the behavior of satellites. During these phases, bi flight
Speaker 1: will also see the testing of new thermal protection systems,
Speaker 1: with Starship deliberately missing some heat shield tiles to observe
Speaker 1: how alternative materials and designs perform under the extreme conditions
Speaker 1: of re entry. The super heavy booster Booster fourteen comes
Speaker 1: with its own set of challenges and objectives. One of
Speaker 1: the Raptor engines on this booster has previously flown, marking
Speaker 1: the first instance of engine reuse in the Starship program.
Speaker 1: This step towards reusability is crucial for reducing costs and
Speaker 1: increasing the frequency of launches. After stage separation, Booster fourteen
Speaker 1: will attempt to return to the launch site where it
Speaker 1: will be caught by the chopstick arms of the launch tower,
Speaker 1: a maneuver that was successfully demonstrated in a previous This
Speaker 1: catch not only signifies progress and reusability, but also in
Speaker 1: the rapid turnaround of launch hardware. The flight will further
Speaker 1: test in space engine relight capabilities with one of Starship's
Speaker 1: Raptor engines, aiming to validate the vehicle's ability to perform
Speaker 1: orbital maneuvers or adjust its trajectory for precise landings or
Speaker 1: rendezvous in space. The data from these tests, streamed back
Speaker 1: via starlink, will allow SpaceX engineers to refine designs and
Speaker 1: operational procedures learning from each second of flight. This mission,
Speaker 1: set for January fifteenth, twenty twenty five, from Starbase, Texas,
Speaker 1: encapsulates SpaceX's philosophy of rapid iteration, where each flight builds
Speaker 1: upon the last, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in
Speaker 1: space exploration and transportation. The live streaming of the EVAs,
Speaker 1: coupled with the comprehensive data collection, will not only captivate
Speaker 1: audiences worldwide, but also contribute significantly to the scientific and
Speaker 1: engineering community's understanding of spacecraft dynamics, re entry, processes and
Speaker 1: the practicalities of space based operations. Starship Flight seven, with
Speaker 1: all its complexities and innovations, is more than a test flight.
Speaker 1: It's a bold statement of intent for the future of
Speaker 1: space travel, aimed at making the vastness of space accessible
Speaker 1: and routine to do before