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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and

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astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and we've got an

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absolutely packed show for you today with some incredible developments

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from across the space sector. We'll be diving into Europe's

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triumphant return to space with the Vegas Sea rocket launch,

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unpacking NASA's latest timeline adjustments for their ambitious Artemis Moon missions,

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and exploring fascinating new evidence that suggests we might have

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a mysterious Planet X lurking in the outer reaches of

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our Solar system. We've also got some groundbreaking observations from

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the Hubble Space Telescope that's given us our closest ever

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look at Aquasar, plus exciting news about the Curiosity rovers

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next mission, targeting some intriguing spiderweb formations on Mars. And

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we'll round things off with crucial findings from NASA's investigation

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into the Artemis heat shield performance. So strap in for

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another fascinating journey through the latest developments in space exploration

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and astronomical discoveries. First up, some good news. Europe's space

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program has just achieved a significant milestone with the successful

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launch of the Vegas Sea rocket from the Kuru Spaceport

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in French Guiana. This marks a triumphant return to flight

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for the Italian built launcher after a two year hiatus

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following a failed mission in December twenty twenty two. The

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rocket blasted off at six twenty pm Local time, carrying

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the Sentinel one Sea satellite, a crucial component of the

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European Union's Copernicus Earth observation program. This successful launch represents

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a critical step in securing Europe's independent access to space,

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especially important given recent geopolitical challenges that have limited the

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continent's launch options. The mission's success is particularly noteworthy as

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Europe has faced several setbacks in its space program recently.

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The previous Vegas Sea failure had grounded the entire fleet

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when an anomaly destroyed two Earth imaging satellites just two

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and a half minutes into flight. This return to service

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demonstrates the resilience and determination of Europe's space sector. Looking ahead,

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Vegas C is set to play an increasingly important role

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in Europe's space strategy. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the

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EU was forced to stop using Russian Soyuz vehicles, making

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the successful operation of platforms like vegas c even more crucial.

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Starting from twenty twenty five, Italy's Avio will take over

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the marketing of Vegacy launches, marking a new chapter in

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European space operations. The Sentinel one CE satellite, now heading

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to its seven hundred kilometer orbit, will join an impressive

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constellation of Earth observation satellites, expanding our planet's most extensive

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radar imaging network. This system plays a vital role in

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monitoring our environment, from tracking the climate to supporting disaster

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response efforts. Next, some not so good news. In a

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significant announcement today, NASA has revealed further delays to its

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ambitious Artemis program, pushing back the timeline for humanity's return

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to the Moon. The next Artemis mission, which will send

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astronauts around the Moon without landing, has been rescheduled from

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September twenty twenty five to April twenty twenty six. The

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subsequent mission, aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface,

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is now targeted for mid twenty twenty seven. These delays

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stem from crucial safety considerations, particularly regarding the Orion spacecraft's

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heat shield. During the Artemis one test flight in twenty

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twenty two, the heat shield experienced unexpected cracking and partial

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erosion during re entry into Earth's atmosphere. While NASA officials

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stress that astronauts would have been safe had they been aboard,

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the agency is taking extra precautions to ensure crue safety

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for future missions. I'll have some more on this shortly. Also,

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the financial scope of the Artemis program is substantial, with

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estimated costs reaching ninety three billion dollars through twenty twenty five.

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Despite these delays, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized that the

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revised timeline still puts the United States well ahead of

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China's announced intention to land on the lunar surface by

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twenty thirty, maintaining America's leadership in space exploration. The technical

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team has decided to keep the current heat shield design

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for the next mission, but will modify the capsule's return

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trajectory to prevent similar issues future missions Beyond Artemis, The

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second will feature an upgraded heat shield design. While replacing

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the current heat shield might have provided additional safety margins,

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it would have resulted in an even longer delay of

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at least a year. These setbacks highlight the complex challenges

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of modern space exploration, but they also demonstrate NASA's unwavering

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commitment to crue safety. The Artemis program remains the flagship

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American effort to not only return humans to the Moon,

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but also to establish permanent lunar bases that will serve

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as stepping stones for eventual human missions to Mars. Next up,

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are we a step closer to solving this mystery? For decades,

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the idea of an undiscovered planet lurking in the outer

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reaches of our Solar System has captured imaginations. Now, exciting

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new research from Princeton University has significantly boosted the likelihood

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that this mysterious planet X actually exists. The studies findings

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suggest we might be closer than ever to confirming one

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of astronomy's most intriguing possibilities. The evidence comes from studying

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the orbits of objects in the outer Solar System, specifically

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trans Neptunian objects or Kuiper Belt objects. What makes this

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research particularly compelling is its expanded scope. While previous studies

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focused on just eleven of the most distant objects, the

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Princeton team's analysis included fifty one objects, providing a much

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more robust statistical foundation. The results are striking The team

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found that there's only a one in one thousand chance

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that the unusual alignment of these objects' orbits is random.

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This strongly suggests the presence of a massive body influencing

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their movements through gravitational forces. Think of it like seeing

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multiple boats all being pulled in the same direction by

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an unseen current. It's a clear sign that something significant

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is affecting their paths. The study also gives us our

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best picture yet of what Planet X might be like.

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The data suggests it's about four point four times the

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mass of Earth, making it either a super Earth or

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a mini Neptune. This hypothetical planet would follow an elliptical orbit,

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more aligned with the known planets than previously thought, though

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pinpointing its exact location remains challenging since it could be

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anywhere along its orbital path. The hunt for Planet X

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isn't just about adding another world to our Solar System map.

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If confirmed, its discovery would revolutionize our understanding of how

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our cosmic neighborhood formed and evolved. With the Versi Reuben

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Observatory coming online next year, equipped with the world's largest

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camera for astronomical observations, we might be just months away

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from finally spotting this elusive world. In a remarkable achievement,

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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has given us our closest look

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ever into the heart of a quasar, peering deeper than

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ever before into one of the universe's most energetic phenomena.

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The observations focused on Quasar three C two hundred and

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seventy three, which holds the distinction of being the first

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quasar ever identified back in nineteen sixty three. What makes

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this observation truly groundbreaking is Hubble's ability to overcome the

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intense glare of the quaser. Imagine trying to spot an

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ant crawling on the rim of a car headlight while

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staring directly into the beam. The Telescope Space Telescope Imaging

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spectrograph acted like a celestial coronagraph, blocking out the quasar's

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overwhelming brightness, much like the Moon blocks the Sun during

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a solar eclipse. The resulting images reveal what scientists describe

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as weird things in the quasar's immediate surroundings. Within just

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sixteen thousand light years of the central black hole, researchers

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have spotted various mysterious blobs and an L shaped filamentary structure.

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Some of these objects might be smaller galaxies being pulled

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into the quasar's monstrous black hole, providing the fuel that

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powers its incredible luminosity. The team also made fascinating discoveries

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about the quasar's jet, a massive stream of material stretching

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and astounding three hundred thousand light years across space, moving

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at nearly the speed of light. By comparing observations taking

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twenty two years apart, they found that the jet actually

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accelerates as it moves farther from the black hole. This

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unprecedented view of three C two hundred and seventy three,

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located two point five billion light years away, is helping

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bridge our understanding between what we see in radio observations

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and larger scale optical imaging. It's offering crucial insights into

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how these cosmic lighthouses interact with their host galaxies and

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shape the evolution of the universe around them. Let's change

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gears and get Amar's update. NASA's Intrepid Curiosity Rover is

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gearing up for a fascinating new chapter in its already

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remarkable mission on Mars. After successfully wrapping up its exploration

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of the getis Vallis region, where it made several significant discoveries,

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including pure sulfur crystals and ancient lake bed formations. The

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rover is now setting its sights on something truly extraordinary,

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massive spiderweb like structures that stretch across the Martian surface.

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These peculiar formations, known as the box work, span an

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incredible six to twelve miles across and represent one of

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the most intriguing geological features ever identified on Mars. While

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similar structures exist on Earth in places like wind Cave

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National Park in South Dakota, they typically only extend a

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few feet, the Martian versions dwarf their terrestrial cousins by

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orders of magnitude. The boxwork formations are believed to have

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formed through a process involving mineral rich water, much like

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their Earth counterparts. As ancient waters carrying dissolved minerals seeped

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through cracks in the Martian rock, they left behind crystalline deposits.

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Over time, as the surrounding rock eroded away, these more

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resistant mineral veins remained, creating the distinctive weblike pattern we

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see today. What makes these structures particularly exciting for scientists

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is their potential to reveal new insights about Mars's watery past.

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The minerals preserved in these ancient formations could tell us

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not just about the chemistry of Mars's ancient waters, but

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potentially about whether the environment might have once been suitable

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for microbial life. The mineral composition of these structures could

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mirror similar environments on early Earth where microorganisms thrived. Curiosity

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won't reach these remarkable features until early twenty twenty five,

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but the anticipation among the science team is already building.

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This investigation promises to add another fascinating chapter to our

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understanding of Mars's geological history and its potential for having

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once harbored life. And now some more Artemis news. After

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extensive investigation, NASA has finally uncovered the root cause of

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the unexpected heat shield damage observed during the Artemis one mission.

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The investigation revealed a fascinating technical challenge that occurred during

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the spacecraft's revolutionary skip re entry maneuver. The issue stemmed

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from gases that built up inside the heat shield's protective

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avcoat material during re entry. Normally, these gases should have

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vented and dissipated, but they became trapped, creating pressure that

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caused cracking and led to pieces of charred material breaking

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away in several locations. What's particularly interesting is that this

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phenomenon wasn't captured in pre flight testing. The ground tests

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used much higher heating rates than what the spacecraft actually

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experienced during its return. Under those more intense conditions, the

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material behaved as expected, but the actual gentler heating during

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artemis the Fort's re entry created a different reaction, slowing

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down the formation of protective char while still generating gases

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within the material. Despite these findings, there's good news for

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future missions. The investigation confirmed that even with the unexpected

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heat shield behavior, the spacecraft's internal temperature remained remarkably stable

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in the mid seventies fahrenheit. Had astronauts been aboard, they

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would have remained perfectly safe throughout the re entry process.

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NASA's engineers have already identified solutions for future missions. They

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discovered that areas of the heat shield that were naturally

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more permeable didn't experience the same cracking issues, as the

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gases could escape more easily. This insight is driving improvements

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in the manufacturing process to ensure more consistent permeability in

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future heat shields. These findings represent a perfect example of

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why we conduct uncrude test flights. They allow us to

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identify and solve potential issues before putting astronauts at risk,

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ultimately making future crude missions safer and more reliable. Up

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today's episode of Astronomy Daily, I'm Anna, and I want

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to thank you for joining me on this journey through

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the latest developments in space exploration and astronomy. Remember the

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Cosmos never stops amazing us, and we'll be back tomorrow

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with more fascinating stories from the Final Frontier. If you'd

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like to stay up to date with all things space

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and astronomy, visit us at Astronomydaily dot io, where you

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can sign up for our free daily newsletter and catch

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up on all the latest space news with our constantly

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updating news feed. While you're there, you can also listen

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to all our previous episodes. Want more space content throughout

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search for astro Daily Pod on Facebook, x, YouTube, Tumbler,

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and TikTok. Until tomorrow, keep looking up and wondering about

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the mysteries that await us in the vast expanse of

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spaced star space. The stars. The Soul Store is the

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Soul m