Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host Anna with today's
Speaker 1: most fascinating developments from the world of space exploration and astronomy.
Speaker 1: We have an action packed episode ahead covering some major
Speaker 1: stories that showcase just how rapidly our space capabilities continue
Speaker 1: to advance. Coming up, we'll dive into SpaceX's ambitious expansion
Speaker 1: plans in Florida, with a massive one point eight billion
Speaker 1: dollars investment that's set to transform the space coast. We'll
Speaker 1: also look at an incredibly busy launch week featuring multiple
Speaker 1: missions from various launch providers, including the highly anticipated eighth
Speaker 1: test flight of Starship. We'll check in on the International
Speaker 1: Space Station, where there have been some interesting developments with
Speaker 1: the extended stay of astronauts which Wilmore and Sunny Williams. Plus,
Speaker 1: we've got exciting news about a historic achievement on the
Speaker 1: lunar surface where NASA has successfully demonstrated GPS signal reception
Speaker 1: for the first time. And in our science segment, we'll
Speaker 1: explore some groundbreaking discoveries, including a new theory about the
Speaker 1: origin of the universe's most to energetic particles, and how
Speaker 1: a network of citizen scientists with backyard telescopes is making
Speaker 1: meaningful contributions to astronomical research. It's a reminder that we're
Speaker 1: living in an extraordinary era of space exploration, where technological
Speaker 1: breakthroughs and scientific discoveries are happening at an unprecedented pace.
Speaker 1: Let's get started with today's stories. In a major development
Speaker 1: for Florida's Space Coast, SpaceX has announced plans for a
Speaker 1: significant expansion of its starship operations. The company will invest
Speaker 1: one point eight billion dollars to construct new launch and
Speaker 1: landing infrastructure at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral
Speaker 1: Space Force Station, pending environmental approval. At the heart of
Speaker 1: this expansion is the construction of a massive new integration
Speaker 1: facility called Gigabay, which will provide over forty million cubic
Speaker 1: feet of vehicle processing space. This facility will be crucial
Speaker 1: for preparing starship vehicles for their missions to Earth, orbit,
Speaker 1: the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The economic impact of this
Speaker 1: expansion cannot be overstated. SpaceX's investment is expected to create
Speaker 1: approximately six hundred new full time jobs in the Space
Speaker 1: Coast region by twenty thirty, further cementing Florida's position as
Speaker 1: a leader in the aerospace industry. This development comes at
Speaker 1: a time when Florida's space sector is experiencing remarkable growth.
Speaker 1: The state set a new record with ninety three launches
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four, up from seventy four to twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, and this expansion suggests that trend will continue.
Speaker 1: The project represents a collaborative effort between SpaceX, Florida Commerce,
Speaker 1: the Florida Department of Transportation, and space Florida. SpaceX's Vice
Speaker 1: president of Launch, Kiko Dnceev, emphasized that this expansion is
Speaker 1: directly aligned with the company's ultimate mission of making humanity multiplanetary. Starship,
Speaker 1: being the first fully reusable launch vehicle of its kind,
Speaker 1: is designed to be the cornerstone of this ambitious goal.
Speaker 1: The expansion will complement space X's existing Starship facilities in Texas,
Speaker 1: creating a dual coast capability for the world's largest rocket system.
Speaker 1: This redundancy will be crucial for increasing launch frequency and
Speaker 1: reliability as Starship moves from testing to regular operational flights.
Speaker 1: This investment represents more than just infrastructure growth. It's a
Speaker 1: clear signal of SpaceX's long term commitment to Florida and
Speaker 1: their confidence in Starship's future role in space exploration. As
Speaker 1: the company continues to push the boundaries of what's possible
Speaker 1: in space travel, This expansion will play a vital role
Speaker 1: in turning those ambitious plans into reality. Next up, let's
Speaker 1: take a look at this week's launch schedule. It's shaping
Speaker 1: up to be an incredibly busy week in spaceflight, with
Speaker 1: multiple launches scheduled across several different launch providers. SpaceX has
Speaker 1: an ambitious schedule ahead, with no fewer than five Falcon
Speaker 1: nine launches planned. Three of these missions will carry Starlink satellites,
Speaker 1: continuing the expansion of their Global Internet constellation. The company
Speaker 1: is also scheduled to launch the fascinating SPHEREx and Punch
Speaker 1: missions for NASA this week, two telescopes that will help
Speaker 1: us better understand both the origins of our universe and
Speaker 1: the behavior of our Sun. Perhaps the most anticipated launch
Speaker 1: of the week is Starship's eighth test flight from Texas.
Speaker 1: This mission aims to demonstrate several crucial capabilities, including the
Speaker 1: first ever payload deployment from Starship, four Starlink satellite simulators.
Speaker 1: The super heavy booster will attempt another landing at Starbase
Speaker 1: while the spacecraft itself is targeting a splash down in
Speaker 1: the Indian Ocean. The Transporter thirteen mission rounds out SpaceX's
Speaker 1: packed schedule, carrying over forty small satellites from various customers
Speaker 1: to orbit as part of their ride share program. This
Speaker 1: mission highlights the growing accessibility of space, with launch costs
Speaker 1: starting at just three hundred thousand dollars for small satellite operators.
Speaker 1: Rocket Lab is also joining the action with their Electron
Speaker 1: rocket scheduled to launch from New Zealand. Their mission, cleverly
Speaker 1: named the Lightning god Rains, will deploy synthetic aperture radar
Speaker 1: satellites for IQPS, marking the first of eight planned launches
Speaker 1: for this customer. This intense launch cadence demonstrates just how
Speaker 1: far the space industry has come. What would have been
Speaker 1: considered an extraordinary month of launches just a few years
Speaker 1: ago is now being attempted in a single week, showcasing
Speaker 1: the rapid evolution and growing capabilities of modern spaceflight. The
Speaker 1: success of these missions will contribute to various aspects of
Speaker 1: space exploration and utilization, from expanding global communications to advancing
Speaker 1: our scientific understanding of the cosmos. It's a testament to
Speaker 1: the increasingly dynamic and capable state of the global space industry. Next,
Speaker 1: let's get an update from the International Space Station. Three
Speaker 1: NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut are preparing for their
Speaker 1: journey home aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft. But for two
Speaker 1: of them Butch Wilmore and Sunny will Williams, this mission
Speaker 1: has taken some unexpected turns. What began as an eight
Speaker 1: day mission on Boeing Starliner spacecraft has stretched into an
Speaker 1: eight month stay aboard the International Space Station. The extended
Speaker 1: duration came after technical issues with Starliner forced NASA to
Speaker 1: modify their plans. During the spacecraft's flight to the ISS,
Speaker 1: it experienced thruster problems in concerning helium leaks. This led
Speaker 1: to the decision in August to return Starliner to Earth uncrewed,
Speaker 1: leaving Wilmore and Williams to join the Crew nine mission.
Speaker 1: Their stay was further extended when SpaceX encountered development issues
Speaker 1: with their Crew Dragon spacecraft, pushing the return date out
Speaker 1: another month to March. This situation has recently attracted attention
Speaker 1: beyond the space community, becoming somewhat politicized after comments from
Speaker 1: various public figures During a news conference this week from orbit,
Speaker 1: Wilmore addressed these developments head on. He expressed respect for
Speaker 1: all parties involved, while emphasizing that politics played no role
Speaker 1: in their extended stay. As he explained, they had prepared
Speaker 1: for the possibility of a longer mission, even though the
Speaker 1: original plan was for a short stay. This kind of
Speaker 1: contingency planning, he noted, is standard practice in human spaceflight.
Speaker 1: His crewmate Sonny Williams, took the opportunity to highlight the
Speaker 1: ongoing value of the International Space Station. Drawing on her
Speaker 1: extensive experience, including helping construct the station during the Shuttle era,
Speaker 1: she described it as being in its prime. The laboratory,
Speaker 1: she explained, is operating at full capacity, with all power
Speaker 1: systems and facilities running, conducting world class science that benefits
Speaker 1: both American tax payers and international partners. This mission, while
Speaker 1: longer than initially planned, demonstrates the flexibility and resilience required
Speaker 1: in space exploration. It also showcases the importance of having
Speaker 1: multiple crew transportation options, and the continuing significance of the
Speaker 1: International Space Station as a platform for scientific research and
Speaker 1: international cooperation. Next up, NASA and the Italian Space Agency
Speaker 1: just achieved a remarkable breakthrough in space navigation. For the
Speaker 1: first time ever, they successfully received and tracked GPS signals
Speaker 1: on the lunar surface, approximately two hundred twenty five thousand
Speaker 1: miles from Earth. This historic achievement came through their Lunar
Speaker 1: GNSS Receiver Experiment, or lou Gray, which touched down on
Speaker 1: the Moon aboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Lunar Lander. The
Speaker 1: implications of this success are truly game changing for future
Speaker 1: space exploration. Until now, spacecraft navigation has relied heavily on
Speaker 1: Earth based tracking stations and on board sensors, but this
Speaker 1: demonstration proves that missions as far away as the Moon
Speaker 1: could potentially use GPS signals for autonomous navigation, significantly reducing
Speaker 1: their dependence on ground control. The experiment didn't just break
Speaker 1: records on the lunar surface. During its journey to the Moon.
Speaker 1: LUGRI set new altitude records for GPS signal reception, reaching
Speaker 1: an astounding two hundred nine thousand, nine hundred miles from
Speaker 1: Earth while in transit, and later extending that record to
Speaker 1: two hundred forty three thousand miles in lunar orbit. This
Speaker 1: means that spacecraft operating in cis lunar space. The vast
Speaker 1: region between Earth and the Moon could also benefit from
Speaker 1: this navigation capability. The Lugri payload will continue operating for
Speaker 1: fourteen days on the lunar surface, collecting data nearly continuously.
Speaker 1: This extended operation period will provide NASA and the Italian
Speaker 1: Space Agency with valuable insights into how GPS and GALILEO
Speaker 1: signals can be utilized for lunar navigation. It's particularly significant
Speaker 1: for future Artemis missions and other exploration initiatives, as it
Speaker 1: opens up new possibilities for precise positioning and navigation on
Speaker 1: and around the Moon. This breakthrough represents another crucial step
Speaker 1: in establishing the infrastructure needed for sustainable lunar exploration and
Speaker 1: eventual missions to Mars. The ability to use familiar navigation
Speaker 1: technology from Earth all the way to the Moon brings
Speaker 1: us one step closer to making space exploration more accessible
Speaker 1: and reliable. In other exciting scientific developments, researchers may have
Speaker 1: finally cracked a sixty year old cosmic mystery about the
Speaker 1: origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays, the highest energy
Speaker 1: particles known in the universe. These particles pack energies more
Speaker 1: than a million times greater than anything we can create
Speaker 1: in our most powerful particle accelerators. According to new research
Speaker 1: from New York University, these incredible cosmic rays might be
Speaker 1: created during the violent mergers of binary neutron stars. The
Speaker 1: theory suggests that just before these stellar corpses collide and
Speaker 1: form a black hole, they generate powerful magnetic outflows that
Speaker 1: accelerate particles to these extreme energies. What makes this theory
Speaker 1: particularly compelling is that it's testable through current technology, as
Speaker 1: these mergers also produce detectable gravitational waves. Speaking of astronomical discoveries,
Speaker 1: a remarkable citizen science project is revolutionized how we study
Speaker 1: the cosmos. A network of over fifteen thousand Wi Fi
Speaker 1: enabled telescopes spread across six continents is enabling amateur astronomers
Speaker 1: to make significant contributions to space research. Just this January,
Speaker 1: an astronomy enthusiast in Mexico managed to catch a glimpse
Speaker 1: of a potential Jupiter sized planet crossing in front of
Speaker 1: a distant star, all from his backyard. This global telescope
Speaker 1: network has already helped discover hundreds of asteroids, comets, and exoplanets.
Speaker 1: The system works by observing occultations brief moments when objects
Speaker 1: like asteroids or planets block the light from background stars.
Speaker 1: By measuring these events from multiple locations, scientists can determine
Speaker 1: these objects sizes, shapes, and trajectories with impressive accuracy. The
Speaker 1: network has proven invaluable for major space missions too. When
Speaker 1: NASA intentionally crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two, these citizen astronomers helped track the resulting debris cloud.
Speaker 1: While the telescope's cost can be a barrier for some,
Speaker 1: various organizations are working to make them more accessible, particularly
Speaker 1: in underrepresented regions, by donating equipment to universities and astronomy
Speaker 1: clubs worldwide. This blend of professional and amateur astronomy is
Speaker 1: transforming our understanding of the Cosmos, proving that significant scientific
Speaker 1: discoveries don't always require massive observatories or billion dollar budgets.
Speaker 1: Sometimes they can happen right in someone's backyard. Well that
Speaker 1: brings us to the end of another packed episode of
Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily. Whether it's SpaceX's ambitious expansion plans, groundbreaking missions,
Speaker 1: or citizen scientists making discoveries from their backyards, the space
Speaker 1: industry continues to amaze and inspire us with each passing day.
Speaker 1: If you want to stay up to date with all
Speaker 1: the latest developments in space and astronomy, head over to
Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily dot io. There you'll find our constantly updating
Speaker 1: news feed covering all the latest space news as it happens,
Speaker 1: plus our complete archive of past episodeisodes. For those who
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Speaker 1: This has been Anna, and I'll see you tomorrow for
Speaker 1: another journey through the fascinating world of space exploration and discovery.
Speaker 1: Until then, keep looking up Sunday star Is Start