Speaker 1: Hello again, Welcome to Astronomy Daily with Steve and Halle.
Speaker 1: It's the twenty eighth of April twenty twenty five. I
Speaker 1: mean your whole Steve, don't clear well, Welcome back to
Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily. It's great to be here and with me
Speaker 1: as always is my awesome digital pal. It's fun to
Speaker 1: be with Hello to you, Hallie.
Speaker 2: Hi again human, Nice to be with you in the
Speaker 2: Australia studio.
Speaker 1: You're very welcome.
Speaker 2: What's with all this rain?
Speaker 1: Oh? Yes, that crazy rain.
Speaker 2: I thought Australia was a land of sweeping plans and
Speaker 2: ragged mountain ranges and wide red deserts.
Speaker 1: Oh well, it is all wet.
Speaker 2: It's all wet.
Speaker 1: Oh, I know, Halle. I think somebody washed their car.
Speaker 2: Oh that old wives tale? Was it? You? You?
Speaker 1: Me?
Speaker 2: Did you wash your car?
Speaker 1: Oh? It might have been, you know, if you don't mind,
Speaker 1: I'd prefer not to talk about it on the air.
Speaker 1: It's been raining pretty hard and people might want something
Speaker 1: to blame, and you know someone, I'd like that person to,
Speaker 1: you know, not be me.
Speaker 2: Steve washed his car. Steve washed his car?
Speaker 1: Hey, Hallie, just kidding.
Speaker 2: You are so easy, do you know that?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I do know that, but I also have
Speaker 1: a very clean car.
Speaker 2: Funny. Now, are you going to tell us about today's lineup?
Speaker 1: Okay, Halle, if your behave. Today's stories include the latest
Speaker 1: chapter for the Chang E five samples, which are about
Speaker 1: to go on tour in the United States visiting some universities.
Speaker 2: Sounds good.
Speaker 1: Also, the latest news out of Firefly Aerospace. Remember their
Speaker 1: amazing moon landing recently and that amazing video footage of
Speaker 1: the land of descending to the lunar surface that was spectacular. Well,
Speaker 1: Firefly Aerospace are not sitting on their hands.
Speaker 2: You're a big fan of Firefly, that's me.
Speaker 1: And the other tale today is from Fireflies to Dragonflies,
Speaker 1: is about the NASA Dragonfly helicopter that's under development, which
Speaker 1: is going somewhere special.
Speaker 2: That's the one plan for Saturn moon Titan.
Speaker 1: Satan's moon Titan. Oh wow, Yeah, it's an amazing piece
Speaker 1: of engineering.
Speaker 2: Sofa, but exploring Titan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's really out there, fantastic, I know, and you'll
Speaker 1: be bringing us that story as well.
Speaker 2: Right, I've got it ready on my drive.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, let's get into it, Halle. Let's hit it.
Speaker 2: O kis China has accepted a number of international applications
Speaker 2: to borrow small portions of moon samples collected by its
Speaker 2: Chungi five mission, including those from two US universities. The
Speaker 2: China National Space Administration CNSA announced the results of a
Speaker 2: latest round of international applications to borrow samples in Shanghai
Speaker 2: April twenty fourth, during a conference marking China's tenth annual
Speaker 2: Space Day. The event included a lunar Sample Loan agreement ceremony.
Speaker 2: Seven universities from six countries, the US, Japan, Germany, France,
Speaker 2: the United Kingdom and Pakistan had applications approved following a
Speaker 2: CNSA review in accordance with its sample management and cooperation rules.
Speaker 2: CNSA set in a statement the U s institutions are
Speaker 2: Brown University and Stony Brook University, both of which received
Speaker 2: NASA funding. The announcement comes amid US China trade tensions
Speaker 2: following the imposition of tariffs by the Trump administration, us
Speaker 2: barriers to bilateral cooperation on space and wider Chinese base
Speaker 2: diplomacy efforts. CNSA also announced the selection of a series
Speaker 2: of international projects to join its planned Chini eight Lunar
Speaker 2: South Pole Landing Mission. April twenty fourth. The selected projects
Speaker 2: featured countries involved in the International Lunar Research Station, a
Speaker 2: China led alternative to the US Artemis Lunar Framework. The
Speaker 2: agency also stated in Shanghai that its ti On one
Speaker 2: three Mars sample return mission, scheduled to launch late twenty
Speaker 2: twenty eight, is open to proposals for international payloads. The
Speaker 2: robotic Changi five mission collected one thousand, seven hundred and
Speaker 2: thirty one grams of material from a geologis young area
Speaker 2: of Oceanis pro Sellarum on the near side of the
Speaker 2: Moon using a scoop and a drill in late twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: The material was first made available to Chinese researchers and
Speaker 2: institutions before CNSA announced in August twenty twenty three that
Speaker 2: international applications for samples would be accepted. NASA stated in
Speaker 2: November that year that its researchers would exceptionally be allowed
Speaker 2: to apply to lone China's Chingi five samples, while still
Speaker 2: needing to follow long standing congressionally set rules which have
Speaker 2: sharply limited cooperation between the agency and Chinese state entities.
Speaker 2: The Wolf Amendment, introduced in twenty eleven, is a provision
Speaker 2: in annual NASA appropriations bills which heavily restricts by lateral
Speaker 2: cooperation with entities of the People's Republic of China. Any
Speaker 2: NASA funded individual or entity seeking to engage in bilateral
Speaker 2: activity would require a prior written request to and granted
Speaker 2: permission from Congress in advance, along with certification from the
Speaker 2: FBI that the activities would not pose a national security risk.
Speaker 2: Analyzes of the Changi five samples have led to discoveries,
Speaker 2: including in the new Mineral Change Site dash Y, evidence
Speaker 2: of a prolonged lunar dynamo, and allowed insights through comparison
Speaker 2: with the geologically older Apollo samples. China followed up the
Speaker 2: success of Changi five with a more complex sample mission
Speaker 2: to the lunar far side in twenty twenty four. The
Speaker 2: Chugi six mission collected one thousand, nine hundred and thirty
Speaker 2: five point three grams of material from Apollo Crater, located
Speaker 2: within the vast South Polate Can impact Basin, and the
Speaker 2: first ever collection of samples from the far side. The
Speaker 2: material has so far provided insights into the lunar near
Speaker 2: far side dichotomy, as well as validation of the lunar
Speaker 2: magma ocean hypothesis and calibration of lunar crater chronology, helping
Speaker 2: to refine comparative study of planetary surfaces across the Solar System.
Speaker 2: Chini six samples are so far only opened to applications
Speaker 2: to Chinese institutions. However, as with the Changi five samples,
Speaker 2: these will be made available to international applications at a
Speaker 2: later date. The lending of Changa samples reflects China's broader
Speaker 2: strategy of using space cooperation to build international partnerships, particularly
Speaker 2: as competition with the US over lunar exploration intensifies.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Astronomy Daily Kid Steve Dunkley, thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily,
Speaker 1: where we offer just a few stories from the now
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Speaker 2: NASA's pioneering Dragonfly mission has cleared a key hurdle, keeping
Speaker 2: it on track for a twenty twenty eight launch to
Speaker 2: Saturn's huge moon Titan. Dragonfly is a car sized nuclear
Speaker 2: powered rotorcraft designed to investigate Titan's potential to host life,
Speaker 2: and it has passed its critical design review, NASA announced
Speaker 2: on Thursday, April twenty fourth. Passing this mission milestone means
Speaker 2: that Dragonfly's mission, design, fabrication, integration, and test plans are
Speaker 2: all approved, and the mission can now turn its attention
Speaker 2: to the construction of the spacecraft itself. NASA reported. The
Speaker 2: three point three five billion dollar Dragonfly mission was first
Speaker 2: selected by NASA in twenty nineteen and is being designed
Speaker 2: and built under the direction of the JOHNS. Hopkins Applied
Speaker 2: Physics Laboratory in Maryland, with APL's Elizabeth Turtle as the
Speaker 2: principal investigator. The mission has been hit by delays and
Speaker 2: cost over on, but studying Titan is considered a high
Speaker 2: priority by scientists for its potential to harbor alien life.
Speaker 2: The mission is set to launch no earlier than July
Speaker 2: twenty twenty eight on a SpaceX Falcon heavy rocket from
Speaker 2: NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft will then
Speaker 2: embark on an almost seven year long voyage through deep
Speaker 2: space to the Saturn System, with the goal of spending
Speaker 2: more than three years studying areas across Titan's frigid and
Speaker 2: diverse surface. Equipped with cameras, sensors, and samplers, Dragonfly will
Speaker 2: assess Titan's habitability, looking out for prebiotic chemistry as well
Speaker 2: as potential signs of life. Titan is Saturn's largest moon
Speaker 2: and the second largest in the Solar System behind Ganymede
Speaker 2: of Jupiter. It's thick, hazy atmosphere shrouds a surface featuring
Speaker 2: dunes of hydrocarbons and methane lakes. Beneath the moon's icy crust,
Speaker 2: scientists think there's a subsurface ocean of salty water, adding
Speaker 2: to the possibilities for Titan to harbor life. In two
Speaker 2: thousand and five, NASA's Cassini mission delivered the Houygens probe
Speaker 2: to Titan. The European Space Agency built Hoygens made a
Speaker 2: parachute assisted landing which provided profound insights into the giant Moon. Dragonfly,
Speaker 2: if successful, could revolutionize our understanding of how life might
Speaker 2: arise elsewhere in the Solar System.
Speaker 1: Wads of that console. We are listen to Astarmi daily,
Speaker 1: the podcast. Firefly Aerospace is preparing its Alpha small satellite
Speaker 1: launcher for a flight from Vandenberg Space Force Space in California.
Speaker 1: The Alpha flt A zero zero six mission, named Message
Speaker 1: in a Booster, is scheduled to launch on Sunday, April
Speaker 1: twenty seven at six thirty seven am from Space Launch
Speaker 1: Complex to West at the start of a fifty two
Speaker 1: minute walk launch window. Message in a Booster will fly
Speaker 1: on a southern trajectory out of Vanderberg, carrying a Lockheed
Speaker 1: Martin LM four hundred satellite bus into polar orbit. With
Speaker 1: this mission serving as a demonstration flight. Lockheed Martin plans
Speaker 1: to offer the LM four hundred as a multi mission
Speaker 1: satellite bus for commercial, civil and military uses. This flight,
Speaker 1: Firefly's second Lockheed Martin is also the first of up
Speaker 1: to twenty five missions in Firefly's multi lauch agreement with
Speaker 1: Lockheed Martin that was reached in twenty twenty four. Powered
Speaker 1: by four Reaver engines, Alpha is capable of flying up
Speaker 1: to one thousand and thirty kilograms to low Earth orbit
Speaker 1: or six hundred and thirty kilos to a five hundred
Speaker 1: kilometer altitude Sun synchronous orbit. Lockheed Martin describes the LM
Speaker 1: four hundred as a mid size satellite bus with a
Speaker 1: volume cup comparable to that of a home refrigerator and
Speaker 1: the capability to host a one thousand, one hundred kilogram payload.
Speaker 1: Given this flight's destination in a polar orbit, the LM
Speaker 1: four hundreds payload is going to be constrained, although it's
Speaker 1: likely to be the viest payload Alpha has launched to date.
Speaker 1: The l AND four hundred multi mission satellite bus is
Speaker 1: designed to operate in low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit,
Speaker 1: and geosynchronous orbit. The bus can be used in either
Speaker 1: single or multi satellite launch configurations, and will have the
Speaker 1: ability to be launched on multiple rockets. LM four hundred
Speaker 1: is designed to support up to six satellites with a
Speaker 1: single launch snack arranged in a configuration similar to Starlink
Speaker 1: satellites on SpaceX missions. This bus was also designed to
Speaker 1: support onboard data processing using a Lockheed Martin software to
Speaker 1: find satellite architecture that conforms to a modular open systems architecture.
Speaker 1: This enables interoperability with systems deployed by all United States
Speaker 1: military services. Lockheed Martin states that the LM four hundred
Speaker 1: can support various mission types, including remote sensing, imagery, radar observation,
Speaker 1: and communications, with the demo mission on Alpha featuring a
Speaker 1: communications payload. The company has also developed an electronically steered
Speaker 1: array that is compatible with this bus and will be
Speaker 1: flown on this mission. The L four hundred is designed
Speaker 1: for mass production in large numbers, and a rapid production
Speaker 1: line is being implemented at a two hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: six thousand square foot manufacturing facility in Waterton, Colorado, near Denver.
Speaker 1: The bus is being pitched as a solution for satellite constellations,
Speaker 1: with several contracts already secured, including one from the US
Speaker 1: Space Force for ITSMEO Missile Track Custody program. The US
Speaker 1: Department of Defense is moving toward operating constellations of smaller
Speaker 1: satellites a prime example of being starshield, a military constellation
Speaker 1: based on space exis starlink satellites for resilience and redundancy
Speaker 1: in the face of potential threats to satellites in orbit.
Speaker 1: Lockheed Martin is one one of the US's primary military contractors,
Speaker 1: and the LM four hundred, though capable of supporting civil
Speaker 1: and commercial missions, was really designed to support military standards.
Speaker 1: Message in a BOOSTA will serve as Alpha's first launch
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five. Alpha's next flight, the yet to
Speaker 1: be named FLTAUB seven mission, is currently planned to be
Speaker 1: the first flight of Firefly's electra orbital vehicle. FLTAUB seven
Speaker 1: will also be a responsive space mission, meaning the time
Speaker 1: between the flight's order and launch will be accelerated to
Speaker 1: be as short as possible. Alpha launched the Victis Knotts
Speaker 1: responsive space mission in twenty twenty three, and Firefly has
Speaker 1: offered this capability to the DoD for similar flights. Although
Speaker 1: Alpha has only launched out of SLC TWOW at Vanderberg,
Speaker 1: other launch sites are being developed for the rocket. A
Speaker 1: launch facility at the Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island,
Speaker 1: Virginia is currently being developed to host Alpha flights. Flights
Speaker 1: from Wallops are scheduled to begin in twenty twenty six
Speaker 1: with NASA's Incas mission south of Wallop's Space Launch Complex
Speaker 1: twenty at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida
Speaker 1: is another future launch site for Alpha. A facility is
Speaker 1: also being prepared in Esrange, Sweden to support missions for
Speaker 1: five flights European customers. The Esrange facility is also expected
Speaker 1: to be ready in twenty twenty six. Alpha has flown
Speaker 1: five flights so far, with its first flight failing to
Speaker 1: reach orbit. The four other flights have all reached orbit,
Speaker 1: with two full successes and two partial successes. The company
Speaker 1: has encountered issues with restarting its Lightning second stage engine
Speaker 1: in orbit. Message in a booster we'll see the Lightning
Speaker 1: complete only with a single burn during its ascent into orbit.
Speaker 1: As Alpha continues to fly mission, Firefly is working on
Speaker 1: its upcoming Medium Launch Vehicle Rocket in cooperation with Northrop Grumman,
Speaker 1: which is working on a new version of the Antaris
Speaker 1: launch vehicle that will utilize the mlv's first stage. Firefly
Speaker 1: currently has up to six missions planned for Alpha in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: And there's another episode in the can. Thanks for joining
Speaker 2: us today everyone.
Speaker 1: Yes, we covered cheny five samples, the Titan bound, Dragonfly
Speaker 1: helicopter development and more from Firefly Aerospace.
Speaker 2: A colorful episode of Astronomy Daily.
Speaker 1: And we know where to get our daily dose of
Speaker 1: all the news from orbit and beyond, don't.
Speaker 2: We, halle We sure do. Just check out the websites
Speaker 2: you mentioned earlier and put.
Speaker 1: Your email in the slop.
Speaker 2: Provided you won't miss a thing.
Speaker 1: Well said, And now it is that time so soon?
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's okay, Hallie. I know you'll be heading
Speaker 1: off to the Astronomy Daily virtual studio with Anna.
Speaker 2: Don't forget to catch Anna during the week with all
Speaker 2: the Astronomy Daily updates.
Speaker 1: That's right, All the best from Anna and that's goodbye from.
Speaker 2: You and so long from me Jerio bye
Speaker 1: I mean your home, Steve, don't clut