Speaker 1: Good morning, afternoon, and good evening. It's Steve with another
episode of Astronomy Daily. It's the thirty first of March
twenty twenty five podcast your whole Steve Gone Clue. That's right,
it's the thirty first of March already twenty twenty five,
and we're off to a flying start. Down today's edition,
we're going to be looking at certification indecision involved in
star Liner. Yes, star Liner story continues, and of course
there's another chapter to the return of a crew Crew nine,
the astronaut who gave up their seat. That's an interesting story.
There's more to their story as well. Asteroid twenty twenty four,
y ah four. Well, it's not going to hit the Earth,
but it may indeed hit the moon. Keep watching the
skies for that one, and it may be mission over
for Gaya, the little Probe that could. And NASA's dust
repelling shield. Yes, they've got a dust repelling shield and
it's already been put to the test and they've found
out that it works. So we've got a report on
that one. And to help me with today's stories, my
diligent digital assistant and ACE reporter extraordinary Halle. How are
you Halle. Great to have you back in the studio.
Speaker 2: I like that one diligent digital assistant. But let's get
something straight.
Speaker 1: Ah, yes, I knew there's something.
Speaker 2: I'm more than an assistant around here, Steve.
Speaker 1: Oh, I know, I know I was coming off in
alliteration and I've got a bit tangled there. You know,
you're the ace of the airways, the scion of the studio,
and most definitely a delightful digital pal to perform with
here each week.
Speaker 2: Alie, and you're my favorite literati mister human A nice
to hear.
Speaker 1: And thanks as always. Hey, I'm really keen to get
into these stories right away today, Halle. If you are
no time like now, Oh well, that's a self evident
truth if ever I heard one. So let's hit the
go button.
Speaker 2: Hallie, Oh Lkies. No matter where on Earth you stand,
if you have a view of the night sky, and
if it is dark enough, you can see the Milky Way.
The Milky Way is our home, and its faint clouds
of light and shadow have inspired human cultures across the globe.
And yet our view of the Milky Way is limited
by our perspective. In many ways, we have learned more
from other galaxies than from our own. But when the
Gaya spacecraft launched in twenty thirteen, all of that changed.
It is difficult to map the galaxy you live in.
Nebulae and star clusters hide much of our galaxy from view.
It's rather like trying to map the size and shape
of New York City while standing in the center of
Times Square. It was only in nineteen eighteen that Harlow
Shapley was able to determine the Sun was not at
our galaxy center, and well into the nineteen twenties astronomers
debated whether the Milky Way was an island universe containing
all creation. A map of the Milky Way based on
Gaya data showing its delicate spiral arms. Credit e SA
slash Gaya slash DPAC Stephen Paywarden are We've learned a
great deal since then, but the Gaya spacecraft was designed
to take our understanding of the Milky Way to a
new level. Its mission was to create a map of
our galaxy in unprecedented detail. It precisely mapped the positions, distances, motions,
and spectra of more than two billion stars and other objects.
From this, it was found that the Milky Way is
not a simple galaxy in a humble corner of the cosmos.
Its stars tell a history of turbulent change driven by
past galactic collisions and mergers. There are arch trails of
stars that are the remnants of smaller galaxies the Milky
Way has consumed, and stars that have been flung away
at such great speed that they will eventually escape our
galaxy to drift through the intergalactic abyss. The GAYA data
also revealed several surprises. For example, the Milky Way is
not a flat spiral discla like many other galaxies. Its
outer edge has a warped shape which wabbles as the
galaxy rotates. This dynamic behavior is likely caused by interactions
with other galaxies. Gaya also found that our galaxy is
not dominated by two prominent spiral arms. Instead, the Milky
Way is filled with a delicate flower of fainter arms.
It is also a barred spiral galaxy with a central
bulge that is more speroidal than spherical. And this is
just the first detailed view of our home. The complete
set of observations will be available through two more upcoming
data releases, which will give us an even more detailed mapping.
Gaya's mission is now over. Yesterday, on March twenty seventh,
twenty twenty five, the ESA's European Space Operations Center deactivated
its subsystems and sent the spacecraft into a retirement orbit.
All that remains is the data it gathered for more
than a decade, and the stories that data can tell
us astronomy daily.
Speaker 1: The podcas more than half a year after an empty
star Liner spacecraft safely landed in the New Mexico Desert,
NASA and Boeing still have not decided whether the next
vehicle flight will carry astronauts. In an update this week,
the US Space Agency said it is still working through
the process to certify star Liner for human missions, whether
it is carrying cargo or humans. Star Liner's next flight
will not occur until late this year, or more likely
sometime in twenty twenty six. Two things stand out in
the new information provided by NASA. First, there remains a
lot of work left to do this year before Starliner
will fly again, excluding extensive testing of the vehicle's propulsion system.
And Secondly, it is becoming clear that Starline will only
ever fly a handful of missions to the space station,
if that before the orbiting laboratory is retired for good.
Several issues marred star Liners furs Crewe flight to the
space station last June, but most serious of these was
the failure of multiple maneuvering thrusters. Concerns about these thrusters
prompted NASA to fly star Line as Krewe, butsch Wilmore
and Sonny Williams home on Crew Dragon vehicle instead. They
landed safely earlier this month. Starliner returned autonomously in early September.
Since then, NASA and Boeing have been reviewing data from
the test flight. Unfortunately, the errant thrusters were located on
the service module of the spacecraft, which was jettisoned before
re entry and not recovered. Although engineers from NASA and
Boeing have worked through more than seventy percent of the
observations and anomalies that occurred during Starliner's flight, the propulsion
system issues remain unresolved. To address these issues, NASA said
it is finalizing a test campaign that will take place
this spring and summer. Testing at White Sands Test Facility
in New Mexico will include integrating firing of key star
Liner thrusters within a single service module doghouse to validate
detailed thermal modules and inform potential propulsion and spacecraft thermal
protection system upgrades, as well as operational solutions for future flights,
the agency said in its update this week. As far
as those potential solutions go, one option is the installation
of thermal barriers to better control temperatures and prevent overheating
observed during star Liner's last two space flights. Steve Stitch,
manager of NASA's Commercial Crew program, said the agency will
have a better idea of when star Liner will fly
again after these tests and analysis are complete. Will continue
to work through certification toward the end of this year,
and then go figure out where star Liner fits best
in the schedule for the International Space Station and its
crew and car missions. Stitch said it's likely to be
in the time frame of late this calendar year or
early next year for the next star Liner flight. NASA
has not determined whether such a mission will carry cargo
or crew. The agency's updates said that it will depend
on the operational needs of the station. However, it seems
clear that if there are still some unresolved questions about
propulsion system issues, NASA may opt for what would essentially
be another test flight of Starliner that also brings cargo
to the space station. A cargo flight would effectively be
the fourth test of star Liner, dating back to its
first mission in December twenty nineteen. NASA's update this week
did answer one question that had been hanging over the
star Liner program. Although Boeing has taken losses in excess
of two billion dollars on its fixed price contract with NASA,
the company now appears committed to seeing the certification progress through.
Likely has applied pressure for Boeing's ongoing participation, as the
space agency desires to have two krewe transportation providers to
the space station. Yet time is running out for Boeing
to make a considerable impact on the crew flights to
the International Space Station, which is due to be retired
in twenty thirty. Assuming an operational crew flight in twenty
twenty six, which seems far from a certainty, Starliner would
likely fly four or at the very most five crewed
missions to the space station. The initial contracts that NASA
signed with SpaceX and Boeing for crew transportation services more
than a decade ago had options for as many as
six crew rotation flights to the station after certification. To date,
NASA has only given Boeing authority to proceed for three
of its six potential operational star Line emissions. This milestone
is a decision point in contracting LINGO where the customer
is this case, NASA places a firm order for a
deliverable NASA has extended SpaceX's commercial crew contract to cover
as many as fourteen Dragon missions with astronauts. SpaceX, in fact,
has now launched ten operational crew missions to the station.
On Thursday, NASA announced the crew for SpaceX's eleven mission,
Crew eleven, which will launch no earlier than July. Among
the astronauts were two people previously assigned to Starliner's first
operational mission, NASA's Mike Fink and Japanese mission specialist Kimiya Yui.
Thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of
Astronomy Daily, where we offer just a few stories from
the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive
in your email every day, just like Hallie and I do.
And to do that, just visit our url Astronomy Daily
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Just like that, you'll be receiving all the latest news
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Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you there. Astronomy Daily with
Steve and Haley Space Space, Science and Astronomy.
Speaker 2: Sena Cardman didn't have to wait too long to get
a seat on another spacecraft after being removed from SpaceX's
Crew nine mission last year. The NASA astronaut is one
of the four members of SpaceX's Crew eleven mission to
the International Space Station. Agency officials announced on Thursday, March
twenty seventh. Cardman will command Crew eleven, which could launch
as soon as July, joining her o Are NASA colleague
Mike Fink, Japanese astronaut Camilla Ui, and Oleg Claytonv of
the Russian Space Agency roast Cosmos. Fink will serve as
Crew eleven pilot, and Yui and Playtonov will be mission specialists.
Card Man was originally assigned to SpaceX's Crew nine mission,
but in late August of last year, NASA removed her
in fellow Agency astronaut Stephanie Wilson from the manifest, leaving
two empty seats aboard the Crew nine Dragon Capsule for
its September twenty eighth launch. Those seats were kept open
for NASA's Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, who arrived at
the ISS in June on the first ever crude flight
of Boeing Starliner capsule. Starliner experienced thrust, her problems and
helium leaks on its journey to the orbiting lab, and
NASA ultimately decided to bring the spacecraft home on CRUD,
which happened in early September. Wilmore and Williams were red
asked to a long duration ISS mission and put on
Crew nine for the trip back to Earth, which ended
with a dolphin attended splash down on March eighteenth. NASA
has not yet announced a spaceflight reassignment for Wilson. You're
listening to Astronomy Dally Steve Dunkling.
Speaker 1: The hazards facing lunar astronauts are many. There's radiation, the
temperature extremes, the psychological challenges associated with isolation, and the
risk of bad accidents so far from earthly assistance, but
there's also dust, which constitutes an ever present background hazard.
NASA has known about the hazard's lunar dust poses since
the Apollo days. When Apollo eleven landed on the Moon,
NASA was concerned that the lander would sink into the
dust and took various precautions to prevent that. As the
spacecraft descended to the surface, it kicked up dust that
impairs impaired Armstrong's vision as he piloted the lander. Apollo
seventeen astronaut Harrison jack Smith said dust is going to
be the environmental problem for future mission, both inside and
outside habitats. NASA has developed a method of dealing with
that dust that builds up on surfaces called electrodynamic dust
shields or eds. They tested it on the recent Blue
Ghost Mission I, which was a robotic lander from Firefly
Aerospace that became the first private spacecraft to execute a
fully successful soft landing on the Moon. Martian dust has
some peculiar qualities that make it even more dangerous than
we might think. It's extremely fine and sharp, and it
has a bracy of nature that can wear down mechanical
components and spacesuits. It can infiltrate seals, and if inhaled
can cause lung damage. There's a serious risk of lung
and eye damage if astronauts are exposed to it over
longer terms. It has another quality that makes it difficult
to contend with. It's electrostatically charged UV radiation and solar
wind constantly bombarding the Moon's surface, knocking electrons off particles
and creating a positive charge. Since the Moon lacks an atmosphere,
it can't dissipate electrical charges like Earth can. The dust
sticks to everything that carries a charge, and since there's
no erosion on the Moon, the particles are never smoothed
like earth dust is. They stay sharp. The EDS is
designed to prevent dust from sticking, and it uses electrodynamic
forces to achieve that. Before and after images clearly show
the systems effectiveness. Though the EDS didn't completely remove the dust,
it did remove a good portion of it. Dust may
not generate many headlines, but successfully dealing with it is
a milestone for lunar exploration. This milestone marks a great
significant step towards sustaining long term lunar and interplanetary operations
by reducing dust related hazards to a variety of surface
for space applications ranging from thermal radiators, solar panels, and
camera lenses to spacesuits, boots and helmets, and visors, NASA
said in a press release recently, for your daily dose
of astronomy, space science, and stuff you're listening too Astronomy Daily.
Speaker 2: An asteroid that's big enough to wipe out a city
has a one and forty three chance of hitting our
planet in the year twenty thirty two, but according to
new calculations, there's an even smaller chance that it might
crash into the Moon instead. On February seventh, NASA scientists
increase the likelihood of asteroid twenty twenty four y are
four colliding with Earth on December twenty second, twenty thirty two,
nearly doubling the odds from one point two percent to
two point three percent. The potentially hazardous asteroid measures and
estimated one hundred and eighty feet fifty five meters across,
about as wide as Walt disney World Cinderella Castle, is
tall and is traveling at nearly forty eight thousand kilometers
per hour or about thirty kmph, although it is too
small to and human civilization. Twenty twenty four y R
four could still wipe out a major city, releasing about
eight megatons of energy upon impact, more than five hundred
times the energy released by the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.
But what if it hurtled into the Moon instead. David Rankin,
an operations engineer for the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey,
revealed in a post on Blue Sky that the asteroid
also has a zero point three percent chance of hitting
our natural satellite. The effects of this unlucky collision would
likely be visible from our planet, although we ourselves would
probably be unaffected. There is the possibility this would eject
some material backout that could hit the Earth, but I
highly doubt it would cause any major threat, Rankin told
New Scientists. That does not mean we wouldn't see it.
Rankin told Live Science that based on current estimates, a
collision with the Moon could release more energy than three
hundred and forty Hiroshima bomb. It would likely be very
visible from Earth, he said. However, Gareth Collins, a professor
of planetary science at Imperial College London, told New Scientists
that we would be quite safe on Earth. He added
that any material ejected from the collision would likely burn
up in Earth's atmosphere.
Speaker 1: Well, there we have it for another episode. And don't
you feel better that we're all safe from asteroid YR
four and we've got a working dust repeller. I wish
I had one here, that's for sure. It's a very
dusty old suburb I live in. That is it for
Astronomy Daily this week, folks.
Speaker 2: I sure hope you all enjoyed the selection of stories
from the Astronomy Daily newsletter.
Speaker 1: Here's a couple of unusual ones today.
Speaker 2: That's our Monday episode. Done and dusted, as you say
here down under.
Speaker 1: Yep, that's right, it's in the cannon. We've gone all
head for the poem, for coup one and a snag.
Speaker 2: I'll settle for a recharge and a few bites.
Speaker 1: No worries, Hallie, that'll be And I don't want the
episode to finish without a big happy birthday to my
big bro Andrew Dunkley from Space Nuts, the greatest podcast
on Earth apart from our humble selves, of course, So
happy birthday, Andrew. I hope you are having a great
one on the other side of the world. Come back
to us safely anyway. We'll catch you all next week
on Astronomy Daily from the Australia Studios down Under. Just
like Halie said, see.
Speaker 2: You bye, crazy Cooko.
Speaker 1: Barrels past your whole steed, dunkle