Asteroid 2024 YR4, Rocket Lab's IoT Triumph, and NASA's Electric Vans: S04E35

Welcome to Astronomy Daily for another week. I'm your human host, Steve Dunkley. It's the tenth of February twenty twenty five podcast with your whole Steve Dunkley. Oh in getting straight into it, please welcome my digital pal, who's fun to be with Kidda Hallie. Hello, human, it's great to be back with you again. And I have to say I've been waiting all week to let you know something. Oh yes, and I bet I know what that is knowing you, Halle. Last week you made a mistake. Oh, I knew it. You just couldn't let that go, could you, Hallie. I did write a correction on x and Facebook and is Instagram for our listeners. I really did, I know. But I love to see you squirm. I know, squirming here, Hallie. And in my defense, I was reading from a preperbed story at the time and they did have a typo in it. Well, admittedly I should have known that that particular fact was wrong. Yes, you should have. You were there at the time, saw it up. Okay, Okay, we'd better fill in the details. Last week's story about buzz Aldron contained the statement that Apollo eleven landed on the Moon in nineteen seventy three, which, of course is. Incorrect, and you know that, you silly human. Steady on, Hallie. I think we've established the fact that I should have known better and failed to correct the typo at the time. You didn't, so it should have stated that Apollo landed on the Moon in nineteen sixty nine. Which it did. Yes, it sure did. You were watching at the time, Yes, I was, Yes, So. I'm very sorry for any inconvenience cause to our listeners. How's that, Hallie? That'll do okay? Then, I did not want to get anybody offside, especially my hero buzz Aldron. Of course, you have to be so careful these days. Oh, I know, with all the militant ais out there these days. What oh nothing, helly? Have you got some great stories from the Astronomy Daily newsletter today? Yeah? I found a few. Oh cool, So let's get into the show. Then, did you get your glasses? Yes? Of course. What we don't want any more mishaps, do we? M m Oka? Then Holly, you hit the stop thing thing? Okis. Rocket Lab USA, Incorporated, a global leader in launch services and space systems, achieved a significant milestone today with a successful deployment of five satellites for French Internet of Things IoT operator Kinneys. This marks rocket labs fifty ninth electron mission. The mission designated IoT for You and Me, launched from rocket Lab Launch Complex one in Mahia, New Zealand, at nine forty three am New Zealand daylight time on February ninth, placing the five satellites into a six hundred and forty seven kilometers low Earth orbit. This launch represents rocket labs first electron mission of twenty twenty five and the fourth dedicated mission for Kinneys, bringing the total electron launches fifty nine. Sir Peter Beck, rocket Labs founder and CEO, commented, that's four launches completed and just one more to go. For Kinneys, we'll have their entire constellation deployed in less than a year, a remarkable achievement in itself. Many constellation operators experience longer delays for their first launches, let alone a complete constellation in operation. Once again, Electron proves to be a reliable, precise launcher, enabling our customers to customize their mission plans and timelines. Michel sar thou. CTO of Kinneys, added Achieving the production of twenty five nanosatellites and launching them into orbit within eight months is an extraordinary accomplishment. With this fourth launch, Kinneys is a step closer to providing full global IoT coverage through our constellation of twenty five nanosatellites. This milestone reflects the expertise and dedication of our team and our partners like rocket Lab. We are deeply appreciative of the support we've received since. Kinney's was founded. The Kinnees constellation aims to enable connectivity and real time data transmission from the most remote parts of the globe, all while consuming minimal energy and maintaining low bit rate communication. The constellation will support a range of applications including forest fire monitoring, water resource management, infrastructure and energy network oversight, and transportation logistics tracking. Kinneys is now one launch away from completing its constellation. The date for the fifth mission in this series will be revealed in the upcoming weeks. The next electron mission, scheduled for later in February, will be announced with customer details and the specific launch windows shortly Astronomy. Day podcast in January this year, one hundred and twenty spice X styling satellge re entered its atmosphere, disintegrating as they burned up during re entry. The increasing frequency of such incidents is raising concerns among scientists and environmentalists about the impact of these satellites on our atmospheric pollution. Elon Musk led SpaceX developed the Starlink satellite network to provide low cost Internet access to remote locations. However, the rate of satellites in orbit is increasing as the constellation is expanding. The one hundred and twenty Stalink satellites that re entered Earth's atmosphere turned into spectacular fireballs as they burned up. Four to five of these satellites burned up daily. In January, astronomer Jonathan McDowell noted SpaceX replaces older satellites with new ones, and the lifespan of around five hundred of the first generation Stalink satellites has already ended. Nearly seven thousand satellites are being operated via SpaceX, and now the company is planning to refresh its satellite network every five years as the rear entries of satellites are planned. Atmospheric pollution is a major concern now. The disintegration of these satellites results in the release of metallic vapors into the atmosphere. In twenty twenty three, satellite debris was found in aerosols sixty thousand feet above Alaska. Scientists sphere aluminium oxides from re entries could harm the ozone layer. These oxides have increased eightfold from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty two. Research shows Scientists have already warned that this could change atmospheric chemistry in unpredictable ways. Despite concerns, SpaceX says its satellites fully burned up leaving no debris. Scientists say that space debris is not limited to Starlink satellites. Studies suggest that there is a twenty six percent annual chance of rocket parts falling. Although the risk is low, debris could disrupt air travel and airlines might face additional costs due to uncontrolled entries. Amid all the concern SpaceX says their satellite and satellites end up burning fully leaving no debris. Generally, SpaceX launcher satellites in batches of twenty or more. These satellites are designed to stay in low Earth orbit for around five years before they are de orbited and allowed to burn up. In the atmosphere. Once the life of the Starlink satellite completes, it uses electric thrusts to lower its altitude to a point where the atmospheric drag further slows it until it falls from space. Mcdowne's set. This process can take a week to complete. Thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer just a few stories from the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in your email every day, just like Hallie and I do. And to do that, just visit our url Astronomy Daily io and place your email address in the slot provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving all the latest news about science, space, science and astronomy from around the world as it's happening. And not only that, you can interact with us by visiting at astro Daily pod on x or at our new Facebook page, which is of course Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you there. Astronomy Derby with Steve and Halley Space Space, Science. And Astronomy. NASA expects to continue using electric vans it acquired to transport astronauts to the Pad for Artemis missions, even though the vehicle's manufacturer has gone out of business. NASA awarded a contract to Canoe Technologies in twenty twenty two for three Artemis Crew Transportation Vehicles vans that the agency plans to use to ferry astronauts to the launch pad for Artemis missions. Vans with a value of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars under the contract were delivered to NASA in July twenty twenty three. Canoe, however, filed for Chapter seven bankruptcy liquidation on January seventeenth, citing the inability to secure capital from a Department of Energy loan program or other sources. The company said it would immediately cease operations while a court appointed trustee manage the liquidation of the company's assets. Cane had long touted the NASA contract, despite its small size, as evidence of interest in its electric vehicles. We would also like to thank NASA, the Department of Defense, the United States Postal Service, the State of Oklahoma, and Walmart for their belief in our products and our company. This means a lot to everyone in the company. Tony Aquila, chairman and chief executive of Canoe, in a statement about its Chapter seven filing. The company had faced financial problems for some time. Shortly after winning the NASA contract for the vans. In twenty twenty two, the company noted of the going concern warning in regulatory filings because of continued losses that raised substantial doubt the company could continue operations for the next year. Executives said at the time they were working to raise additional capital. The bankruptcy filing raised questions about the future use of the vans delivered to NASA. With the company out of business and only a small number of vehicles sold, the ability to maintain the vehicles appeared unclear. NASA for now plans to continue using the vehicles. Our vehicles are in working order for use during training activities and mission preparations, a spokesperson for NASA Kennedy Space Center told Space News. NASA has worked with the manufacturer to train teams at Kennedy to operate and maintain many of the elements, and the agency will review those plans as needed. The vehicles are part of the Exploration Grounds to semdom's EGS program, which provides the infrastructure needed to support Artemis missions. Brad McCain, vice president and Deputy Program manager for the EGS program at Amentum, the lead contractor for EGS, set after a panel at the Spacecom conference on January twenty nine, that the program was in discussions with officials at Canoe on ways to continue support for the vans after the company's bankruptcy. The vans are presently only used by the Artemis program, which has yet to conduct a crude launch. Boeing worked with Airstream to develop an Astrovan two, an updated version of the Shuttle era astro van, for its Starliner commercial crew missions. SpaceX obviously uses vehicles from Tesla for transporting astronauts to the pad for crew Dragon launches. Words as we are listened to Astarmi daily Aboodcast, and it seems like a story like this comes around every few months. It's a little bit more common these days. But in the grand expanse of the Cosmos, Earth is a tiny spec drifting through the universe, filled with silent, unseen wanderers, asteroids, comets, and celestial debris that have shaped our planet's history in both subtle and catastrophic ways. Every so often, one of these cosmic travelers vis a little too close, reminding us of our fragile place in the universe, and recently, astronomers have detected twenty twenty four yr four one hundred meters wide asteroid large enough to level an entire city if it were in fact to strike Earth. While and NASA assures us that the chance of that is in very infinitesimal, the discovery has reignited discussions about planetary defenses and the unpredictability of space. Could it really happen, if so, when, and most importantly, do we have the means to stop such a thing? So? What is this twenty twenty four yr four asteroid Among the countless space rocks drifting through our Solar system? A newly discovered asteroid, this one twenty twenty four y four, has captured the attention of astronomers recently. Measuring approximately one hundred meters in diameter, it's large enough to destroy an entire city if it were to collide with us. While space agencies track thousands of near Earth objects known as NEOs, only a small fraction are considered potentially hazardous, and this one is one of them, detected in late twenty twenty four, hence the name. This asteroid has been placed on the Europeans Space Agency's risk list. Yes, there is such a thing. A catalog of space objects that require close monitoring due to their potential to become well dangerous and close to our planet at some stage of their orbits. NASA and other agencies are actively studying its trajectory, refining their calculations, and assessing whether or not its orbit might shift in a way that increases the risk of impact. At present, the odds of twenty twenty four yr four colliding with Earth, as they say, remain extremely low. Preliminary estimates suggest that less than one percent probability. Now you might be thinking, yes, that's not zero, but that means it's far more likely to pass without any consequence. However, the nature of orbital mechanics means that a small change caused by factors like gravitational interactions with other celestial bodies can alter an asteroid's path over some time. For that reason, continued observation is essential. Even if it were to enter the Earth's atmosphere, twenty twenty four four is not large enough to cause a planet wide catastrophe. It would not trigger mass extinctions or global climate shifts like the asteroid that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs. However, a direct hit on a populated area could result in devastation comparable to the detonation of a nuclear bomb. Flattened buildings, generating intense heat and causing widespread destruction. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Oh My goodness. Astronomers have identified a key date when the asteroid could come dangerously close to our planet in the year twenty thirty two. While current calculations suggest that the probability of impact is low, scientists emphasize that orbital predictions are never set in stone. Some gravitational influences, thermal effects, and other cosmic factors could subtly alter the asteroid's path over time, which is why continuous monitoring is essential. At present, NASA's assessment indicates that YR four has a very slim chance of colliding with Earth in thirty thirty two, but the exact risk level remains uncertain. Unlike fictional asteroid disaster scenarios that unfold in a matter of weeks, real life impact assessments rely on years and years of observation and refinement. Space agencies worldwide are carefully tracking the asteroid's orbit, running simulations to project its future trajectory and considering potential planetary defense strategies should the risk level increase. The key to understanding these risk lies in these science of Near Earth object tracking observatories around the world use telescopes and radar systems to detect and monitor asteroids like twenty twenty four YR four, collecting data that helps refine calculations about their orbits. The more data scientists gather over time, the more precise their predictions become. With each additional observation, they can rule out potential impact scenarios or adjust estimates if the asteroid's course appears to shift. It's important to note that while the idea of a city destroying asteroid may sound alarming, Earth experiences close encounters with space rocks more often than most people realize. In many cases, they pass by unnoticed, and even those that do enter our atmosphere often burn up before they reach the ground. However, twenty twenty four R four is large enough that should it enter the atmosphere or the gravitational pull, it could cause significant localized destruction. If asteroid twenty twenty four four were to strike the Earth, the consequences would depend on several factors, its speed, angle of entry, and the impact location of course. Based on its estimated one hundred meter diameter, scientists categorize it as a city destroying asteroid, capable of unleashing an explosion comparable to a nuclear detonation upon impact. While not large enough to trigger a global catastrophe, it would cause immense localized devastation. One of the best historical comparisons is the Tunguska event in nineteen oh eight, when a similarly sized object exploded over a remote region of Siberia. The blast flattened approximately eight hundred square miles of forest, an area larger than New York's city. If a similar explosion occurred over a densely populated area today, it could lead to mass casualties, infrastructure collapse, and long term economic and environmental consequences. Scientists estimate that if twenty twenty four YR four were to strike land, it would generate a shock wave strong enough to level buildings within a several mile radius within, with secondary effects like fires, airborne debris, and seismic tremors adding to the destruction. If it were to hit the ocean, it could produce tsunamis capable of impacting coastal regions. However, the extent of damage would depend on factors such as the depth and location of impact. Despite these alarming possibilities, planetary defense expert stress that the likelihood of impact remains low. They keep saying that, and I'm very glad because the percentage is extremely infinitesimal. Earth's atmosphere also provides a natural shield against smaller space objects, often causing them to burn up or explode hitting the ground. However, asteroids of this size are right on the thresholds. Some might disintegrate in mid air, while others could make it to the surface with devastating force. While the odds of a direct hit remain very slim, the fact that twenty twenty four R four is being closely monitored underscores an important question, what could we do if an asteroid like this were to actually be on a collision course with Earth. The idea of stopping an asteroid from colliding with Earth has long been the stuff of science fiction, but in recent years planetary defense has become a serious scientific endeavor. If an asteroid like this were ever confirmed to beyond a collision course, what could be done to prevent it. One of the most promising developments in planetary defense is NASA's DART Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, which successfully demonstrated in twenty twenty two that we can in fact alter an asteroid's trajectory by crashing a spacecraft into it. This historic tests show that kinectic impact technology, essentially using force to nudge an asteroid off its path, is a viable way to protect Earth from future threats. If twenty twenty four YR four ever posed a genuine risk to a similar approach could be considered. Other potential deflection strategies include gravity tractors. A spacecraft could hover near an asteroid, using its gravitational pull to slowly alter the asteroid's path over time, nuclear detonations as a last resort. Unlike Hollywood's portrayals, scientists do not propose blowing up an asteroid, but rather using a nuclear explosion nearby to push it into a safer trajectory. Solar sails or laser ablation. Concentrated sunlight or lasers could be used to heat part of the asteroid's surface, creating a small but continuous thrust that gradually changes its orbit. And that is fascinating stuff right now. If it's like NASA, Near Earth objects Surveyor Mission and the European Space Agencies here Emission aim to improve asteroid detection and response capabilities. Despite these advances, many asteroids, especially smaller ones, still go unnoticed and they pass alarmingly close to Earth. The discovery of twenty twenty four Why are four and the occasional headlines about near Earth objects serve as more than just scientific updates. They are stark reminders of our place in a vast, unpredictable universe. You're listening to Astronomy Daily with Steve Dunkley, and there we have it. That's right, Haley, another Astronomy Daily wrapped up. Join us again next Monday. Oh that's right, Yes, we're back every Monday. That's with me, the only human on the station, surrounded by ais here. And yes, if you want more, my cousin Anna will be bringing you the weekly Astronomy Daily podcasts every day directly to your email. Oh goodylle Anna. She never stops and never makes a mistake. Oh come on, Hallie, I did apologize, Yes you did? Yeah, Okay, then you're off the hook. Well finally, So we'll see you all next Monday for another Astronomy Daily. Hy bye, I mean to be a whole thing Don