Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and
astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and we've got an
absolutely packed show for you today with some incredible developments
from across the space sector. We'll be diving into Europe's
triumphant return to space with the Vegas Sea rocket launch,
unpacking NASA's latest timeline adjustments for their ambitious Artemis Moon missions,
and exploring fascinating new evidence that suggests we might have
a mysterious Planet X lurking in the outer reaches of
our Solar system. We've also got some groundbreaking observations from
the Hubble Space Telescope that's given us our closest ever
look at Aquasar, plus exciting news about the Curiosity rovers
next mission, targeting some intriguing spiderweb formations on Mars. And
we'll round things off with crucial findings from NASA's investigation
into the Artemis heat shield performance. So strap in for
another fascinating journey through the latest developments in space exploration
and astronomical discoveries. First up, some good news. Europe's space
program has just achieved a significant milestone with the successful
launch of the Vegas Sea rocket from the Kuru Spaceport
in French Guiana. This marks a triumphant return to flight
for the Italian built launcher after a two year hiatus
following a failed mission in December twenty twenty two. The
rocket blasted off at six twenty pm Local time, carrying
the Sentinel one Sea satellite, a crucial component of the
European Union's Copernicus Earth observation program. This successful launch represents
a critical step in securing Europe's independent access to space,
especially important given recent geopolitical challenges that have limited the
continent's launch options. The mission's success is particularly noteworthy as
Europe has faced several setbacks in its space program recently.
The previous Vegas Sea failure had grounded the entire fleet
when an anomaly destroyed two Earth imaging satellites just two
and a half minutes into flight. This return to service
demonstrates the resilience and determination of Europe's space sector. Looking ahead,
Vegas C is set to play an increasingly important role
in Europe's space strategy. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the
EU was forced to stop using Russian Soyuz vehicles, making
the successful operation of platforms like vegas c even more crucial.
Starting from twenty twenty five, Italy's Avio will take over
the marketing of Vegacy launches, marking a new chapter in
European space operations. The Sentinel one CE satellite, now heading
to its seven hundred kilometer orbit, will join an impressive
constellation of Earth observation satellites, expanding our planet's most extensive
radar imaging network. This system plays a vital role in
monitoring our environment, from tracking the climate to supporting disaster
response efforts. Next, some not so good news. In a
significant announcement today, NASA has revealed further delays to its
ambitious Artemis program, pushing back the timeline for humanity's return
to the Moon. The next Artemis mission, which will send
astronauts around the Moon without landing, has been rescheduled from
September twenty twenty five to April twenty twenty six. The
subsequent mission, aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface,
is now targeted for mid twenty twenty seven. These delays
stem from crucial safety considerations, particularly regarding the Orion spacecraft's
heat shield. During the Artemis one test flight in twenty
twenty two, the heat shield experienced unexpected cracking and partial
erosion during re entry into Earth's atmosphere. While NASA officials
stress that astronauts would have been safe had they been aboard,
the agency is taking extra precautions to ensure crue safety
for future missions. I'll have some more on this shortly. Also,
the financial scope of the Artemis program is substantial, with
estimated costs reaching ninety three billion dollars through twenty twenty five.
Despite these delays, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized that the
revised timeline still puts the United States well ahead of
China's announced intention to land on the lunar surface by
twenty thirty, maintaining America's leadership in space exploration. The technical
team has decided to keep the current heat shield design
for the next mission, but will modify the capsule's return
trajectory to prevent similar issues future missions Beyond Artemis, The
second will feature an upgraded heat shield design. While replacing
the current heat shield might have provided additional safety margins,
it would have resulted in an even longer delay of
at least a year. These setbacks highlight the complex challenges
of modern space exploration, but they also demonstrate NASA's unwavering
commitment to crue safety. The Artemis program remains the flagship
American effort to not only return humans to the Moon,
but also to establish permanent lunar bases that will serve
as stepping stones for eventual human missions to Mars. Next up,
are we a step closer to solving this mystery? For decades,
the idea of an undiscovered planet lurking in the outer
reaches of our Solar System has captured imaginations. Now, exciting
new research from Princeton University has significantly boosted the likelihood
that this mysterious planet X actually exists. The studies findings
suggest we might be closer than ever to confirming one
of astronomy's most intriguing possibilities. The evidence comes from studying
the orbits of objects in the outer Solar System, specifically
trans Neptunian objects or Kuiper Belt objects. What makes this
research particularly compelling is its expanded scope. While previous studies
focused on just eleven of the most distant objects, the
Princeton team's analysis included fifty one objects, providing a much
more robust statistical foundation. The results are striking The team
found that there's only a one in one thousand chance
that the unusual alignment of these objects' orbits is random.
This strongly suggests the presence of a massive body influencing
their movements through gravitational forces. Think of it like seeing
multiple boats all being pulled in the same direction by
an unseen current. It's a clear sign that something significant
is affecting their paths. The study also gives us our
best picture yet of what Planet X might be like.
The data suggests it's about four point four times the
mass of Earth, making it either a super Earth or
a mini Neptune. This hypothetical planet would follow an elliptical orbit,
more aligned with the known planets than previously thought, though
pinpointing its exact location remains challenging since it could be
anywhere along its orbital path. The hunt for Planet X
isn't just about adding another world to our Solar System map.
If confirmed, its discovery would revolutionize our understanding of how
our cosmic neighborhood formed and evolved. With the Versi Reuben
Observatory coming online next year, equipped with the world's largest
camera for astronomical observations, we might be just months away
from finally spotting this elusive world. In a remarkable achievement,
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has given us our closest look
ever into the heart of a quasar, peering deeper than
ever before into one of the universe's most energetic phenomena.
The observations focused on Quasar three C two hundred and
seventy three, which holds the distinction of being the first
quasar ever identified back in nineteen sixty three. What makes
this observation truly groundbreaking is Hubble's ability to overcome the
intense glare of the quaser. Imagine trying to spot an
ant crawling on the rim of a car headlight while
staring directly into the beam. The Telescope Space Telescope Imaging
spectrograph acted like a celestial coronagraph, blocking out the quasar's
overwhelming brightness, much like the Moon blocks the Sun during
a solar eclipse. The resulting images reveal what scientists describe
as weird things in the quasar's immediate surroundings. Within just
sixteen thousand light years of the central black hole, researchers
have spotted various mysterious blobs and an L shaped filamentary structure.
Some of these objects might be smaller galaxies being pulled
into the quasar's monstrous black hole, providing the fuel that
powers its incredible luminosity. The team also made fascinating discoveries
about the quasar's jet, a massive stream of material stretching
and astounding three hundred thousand light years across space, moving
at nearly the speed of light. By comparing observations taking
twenty two years apart, they found that the jet actually
accelerates as it moves farther from the black hole. This
unprecedented view of three C two hundred and seventy three,
located two point five billion light years away, is helping
bridge our understanding between what we see in radio observations
and larger scale optical imaging. It's offering crucial insights into
how these cosmic lighthouses interact with their host galaxies and
shape the evolution of the universe around them. Let's change
gears and get Amar's update. NASA's Intrepid Curiosity Rover is
gearing up for a fascinating new chapter in its already
remarkable mission on Mars. After successfully wrapping up its exploration
of the getis Vallis region, where it made several significant discoveries,
including pure sulfur crystals and ancient lake bed formations. The
rover is now setting its sights on something truly extraordinary,
massive spiderweb like structures that stretch across the Martian surface.
These peculiar formations, known as the box work, span an
incredible six to twelve miles across and represent one of
the most intriguing geological features ever identified on Mars. While
similar structures exist on Earth in places like wind Cave
National Park in South Dakota, they typically only extend a
few feet, the Martian versions dwarf their terrestrial cousins by
orders of magnitude. The boxwork formations are believed to have
formed through a process involving mineral rich water, much like
their Earth counterparts. As ancient waters carrying dissolved minerals seeped
through cracks in the Martian rock, they left behind crystalline deposits.
Over time, as the surrounding rock eroded away, these more
resistant mineral veins remained, creating the distinctive weblike pattern we
see today. What makes these structures particularly exciting for scientists
is their potential to reveal new insights about Mars's watery past.
The minerals preserved in these ancient formations could tell us
not just about the chemistry of Mars's ancient waters, but
potentially about whether the environment might have once been suitable
for microbial life. The mineral composition of these structures could
mirror similar environments on early Earth where microorganisms thrived. Curiosity
won't reach these remarkable features until early twenty twenty five,
but the anticipation among the science team is already building.
This investigation promises to add another fascinating chapter to our
understanding of Mars's geological history and its potential for having
once harbored life. And now some more Artemis news. After
extensive investigation, NASA has finally uncovered the root cause of
the unexpected heat shield damage observed during the Artemis one mission.
The investigation revealed a fascinating technical challenge that occurred during
the spacecraft's revolutionary skip re entry maneuver. The issue stemmed
from gases that built up inside the heat shield's protective
avcoat material during re entry. Normally, these gases should have
vented and dissipated, but they became trapped, creating pressure that
caused cracking and led to pieces of charred material breaking
away in several locations. What's particularly interesting is that this
phenomenon wasn't captured in pre flight testing. The ground tests
used much higher heating rates than what the spacecraft actually
experienced during its return. Under those more intense conditions, the
material behaved as expected, but the actual gentler heating during
artemis the Fort's re entry created a different reaction, slowing
down the formation of protective char while still generating gases
within the material. Despite these findings, there's good news for
future missions. The investigation confirmed that even with the unexpected
heat shield behavior, the spacecraft's internal temperature remained remarkably stable
in the mid seventies fahrenheit. Had astronauts been aboard, they
would have remained perfectly safe throughout the re entry process.
NASA's engineers have already identified solutions for future missions. They
discovered that areas of the heat shield that were naturally
more permeable didn't experience the same cracking issues, as the
gases could escape more easily. This insight is driving improvements
in the manufacturing process to ensure more consistent permeability in
future heat shields. These findings represent a perfect example of
why we conduct uncrude test flights. They allow us to
identify and solve potential issues before putting astronauts at risk,
ultimately making future crude missions safer and more reliable. Up
today's episode of Astronomy Daily, I'm Anna, and I want
to thank you for joining me on this journey through
the latest developments in space exploration and astronomy. Remember the
Cosmos never stops amazing us, and we'll be back tomorrow
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