Today on Astronomy Daily: SpaceX's Transporter-17 mission carried the world's first commercially built nuclear-powered satellite payload to orbit. New Zealand's Zenno Astronautics tested a thruster that runs on Earth's magnetic field instead of fuel. China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft arrived at quasi-moon Kamo'oalewa, and new evidence is upending the leading theory of where it came from. A new peer-reviewed study models the best way to nuclear-deflect a threatening asteroid. We've got an aurora alert for our Northern Hemisphere listeners ahead of a possible G1 geomagnetic storm on July 9. And we close with Jeremy Hansen, the first Canadian to fly around the Moon, stepping back from active astronaut duty.
Chapters
• 00:00 Intro
• 00:45 World's first commercial nuclear-powered satellite reaches orbit
• 03:45 New Zealand's fuel-free Supertorquer thruster passes orbital test
• 06:15 Tianwen-2 arrives at quasi-moon Kamo'oalewa
• 09:30 Best way to nuke a killer asteroid, according to new study
• 13:00 Aurora alert: G1 storm possible July 9 (Northern Hemisphere)
• 15:30 Jeremy Hansen steps back from active astronaut duty
• 18:30 Outro
Links & Sources
• astronomydaily.io — full show notes and sources
• Follow us: @AstroDailyPod
