- Historic Moon Landing Attempt: Join us as we track the significant moon landing attempt by Japanese company Ispace with their Resilience lander, set to touch down on June 5th. This mission represents a second chance for Ispace after a previous failure, and if successful, Resilience will become only the second private spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.
- Russia's AI Integration into the ISS: Discover Russia's plans to integrate their homegrown AI system, Gigachat, into the International Space Station. This AI will assist cosmonauts in processing satellite imagery, enhancing their capabilities as Russia continues its participation in the ISS until 2028.
- Groundbreaking Discovery of Water Ice: Explore the exciting discovery made by the James Webb Space Telescope, which detected crystalline water ice around the young star HD181327. This finding provides direct evidence of water's role in planetary formation and offers insights into how our own solar system may have developed.
- Update on SpaceX's AXE 4 Mission: Get the latest on the delayed AXE 4 mission to the ISS, now scheduled for June 10th. This mission will feature a historic crew, including astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary, marking a significant milestone for international collaboration in space exploration.
For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Astronomy Daily
01:10 - Historic moon landing attempt by Ispace
10:00 - Russia's AI integration into the ISS
15:30 - Discovery of water ice around HD181327
20:00 - Update on SpaceX's AXE 4 mission
✍️ Episode References
Ispace Resilience Mission Details
[ISPACE](https://ispace-inc.com/)
Russia's Gigachat AI Information
[Roscosmos](https://www.roscosmos.ru/)
James Webb Space Telescope Findings
[NASA JWST](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/main/index.html)
AXE 4 Mission Updates
[Axiom Space](https://www.axiomspace.com/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your
00:00:02 --> 00:00:03 source for the latest news and discoveries
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 from the cosmos. I'm Anna and I'm thrilled to
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 have you join me today as we explore some
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 fascinating developments in space exploration
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 and astronomy. Coming up on today's episode,
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 we'll be tracking a historic moon landing
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 attempt as Japanese company Ispace prepares
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 its Resilience lander for touchdown on the
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 lunar surface. Then we'll look at Russia's
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 plans to integrate their homegrown AI system
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 into the International Space Station. We've
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 also got an incredible discovery from the
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 James Webb Space Telescope. And finally,
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 we'll get an update on SpaceX's upcoming AXE
00:00:35 --> 00:00:36 4 mission.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 So much to cover today, so let's get started
00:00:38 --> 00:00:39 with our cosmic journey.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 Tomorrow could mark a significant milestone
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 in the history of private space exploration
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 as Japanese company Ispace attempts to land
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 their resilient spacecraft on the moon.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 This mission, scheduled for Thursday, June
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 5th at AH 3:24pm Eastern Time,
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 represents a second chance for Ispace
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 following their first attempt that
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 unfortunately ended in failure last April.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 The Resilience lander, also known as Hakuto R
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 Mission 2, has been on quite a journey since
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 its January 15 launch aboard a SpaceX
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 Falcon 9 rocket. Unlike some lunar
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 missions that take a direct path, Resilience
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 followed what's called a low energy transfer
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 route to reach the moon, which is more fuel
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 efficient but adds months to the journey.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 After this lengthy voyage, the spacecraft
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 finally entered lunar orbit on May 6 and
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 is now ready for its landing attempt.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 The target landing site is in Mare Frigoris,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 or the Sea of Cold, located in the northern
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 hemisphere of the moon's near side. It's
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 worth noting that this is the same general
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 region where Ispace tried to land during
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 their previous mission in 2023.
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 However, the company has backup plans in
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 place with three alternative landing sites
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 should conditions change, each with different
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 landing dates and times. For those of you
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 interested in watching this historic event
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 live, ISPACE will be broadcasting the
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 landing attempt on their YouTube channel. The
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 livestream begins at 2:10pm Eastern time,
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 about an hour before the scheduled touchdown.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 They'll actually be offering broadcasts in
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 both English and Japanese, so you can choose
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 your preferred language. What makes this
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 mission particularly significant is is that
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 if successful, Resilience would become only
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 the second private spacecraft to accomplish a
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 soft landing on the lunar surface. The first
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 was achieved by Intuitive Machine's Odysseus
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 lander back in February, though that landing
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 was somewhat precarious when one of its legs
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 failed to deploy properly. The timing of the
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 landing is especially challenging because of
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 the 1.3 second communication delay
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 between Earth and the Moon. This means the
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 spacecraft must handle the m most critical
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 landing manoeuvres autonomously, adjusting to
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 the lunar terrain in real time, without
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 direct human control. Once Resilience
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 successfully touches down on the lunar
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 surface, it'll begin a relatively short but
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 intense mission. The lander is designed to
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 operate for about two weeks, essentially one
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 lunar day before the harsh lunar night brings
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 operations to an end. But don't let that
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 short time frame fool you. There's a lot
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 packed into this mission. Perhaps the most
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 exciting payload is the tenacious microrover,
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 built by Ispace's European subsidiary.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 If all goes according to plan, this small
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 rover will deploy from the lander and begin
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 exploring the immediate surroundings. It's
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 equipped with a camera and a sample
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 collection shovel that will test capabilities
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 for future sample return missions. The rover
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 is also carrying something rather unusual for
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 a lunar mission, a work of art called Moon
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 House, which is a small red house designed by
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. And in a
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 nod to pop culture, Resilience is also
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 bringing along a commemorative plate with an
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 inscription based on the charter of the
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 universal century from the popular Japanese
00:03:56 --> 00:03:57 Gundam series.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 In some rather interesting news today from
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 Russia, the country plans to integrate its
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 homegrown artificial intelligence model
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 called Gigachot in into the International
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 Space Station's IT systems.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 Roscosmos chief Dmitri Bakanov announced
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 that the next mission to the ISS this
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 northern autumn will deliver everything
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 needed for the AI to function in space.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 This isn't just about having a space based
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 chatbot, though. The Gigachat model will have
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 practical applications, specifically helping
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 cosmonauts process satellite imagery.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 According to Bakanov, it'll increase the
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 maximum resolution from 1 metre per pixel to
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 to half a metre per pixel, which he described
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 as direct assistance for the cosmonauts.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 Gigachat was developed by Spurbank,
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Russia's largest bank, and represents one of
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 the country's flagship large language models.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 It's part of Russia's broader efforts to
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 catch up with the United States and China in
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 what many are calling the global AI race.
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 The timing is interesting too, as Russia has
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 confirmed it will continue participating in
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 the ISS until 2028. Even as they
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 develop their own new space station. They're
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 planning to launch the first two modules of
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 that independent station in 2027.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 The next Russian spacecraft mission to the
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 ISS is scheduled for November 27,
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 which is likely when this AI technology will
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 make its way to orbit.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:21 Now, to what might be one of the most
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 exciting astronomical discoveries of the
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 year. Scientists have detected crystalline
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 water ice around a young sun like star for
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 the very first time. This groundbreaking
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 observation, made possible by the James Webb
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 Space Telescope, gives us direct evidence of
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 something astronomers have long theorised,
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 but never directly observed before. The, star
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 in question is called
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 HD181327,
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 and it's located about 155 light years away
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 from us. What makes this discovery so
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 fascinating is that this star is essentially
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 a baby version of our own sun, just
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 23 million years old compared to our sun's
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 mature 4.6 billion years. And unlike
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 our solar system,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 HD181
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 is still surrounded by what's called a
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 protoplanetary debris disc, basically a
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 ring of dust and ice that hasn't yet formed
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 into planets. Using Webb's Near
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 Infrared Spectrograph, researchers from Johns
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 Hopkins University were able to identify
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 crystalline water ice in this debris disc.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 This is the same type of water ice found in
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 Saturn's rings and in icy bodies within our
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 own Kuiper Belt. According to the study's
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 lead author, Chen Zi, this water ice
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 plays a vital role in planetary formation and
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 could eventually be delivered to terrestrial
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 planets that might form in this system over
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 the next couple hundred million years. What's
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 particularly interesting is the distribution
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 of this ice. The JWST data
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 shows that over 20% of the debris ring's mass
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 consists of water ice mixed with dust
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 particles, what astronomers colourfully call
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 dirty snowballs. This
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 composition is remarkably similar to our own
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 Kuiper Belt, and there's a clear pattern.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 The closer you get to the star, the less ice
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 you find. At the disk's halfway
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 point, ice makes up only about 8% of the
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 material, and near the centre there's
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 virtually none. This pattern likely
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 exists because ultraviolet radiation from the
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 star vaporises ice in the inner
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 regions. It's essentially giving us a
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 snapshot of how water might have been
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 distributed in our own solar system during
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 its formative years, potentially helping
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 explain how Earth and other rocky planets
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 eventually obtain their water. Looking
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 at the distribution of this water ice in more
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 detail, we're seeing a fascinating pattern
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 that tells us a lot about how planetary
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 systems develop. The
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 JWST data shows this ice
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 isn't evenly spread throughout the disc. It's
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 heavily concentrated in the outer regions,
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 similar to how our own Kuiper Belt contains
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 most of the icy bodies in our solar system.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 What's really interesting about this finding
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 is how it supports our understanding of
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 planetary formation in the outer regions,
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 where it's cold enough for ice to remain
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 stable, we see these dirty snowballs forming
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 mixtures of dust and ice that can eventually
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 clump together into larger bodies.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 This process is likely how the ice giants
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 like Uranus and Neptune formed in our own
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 system. But the pattern also helps
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 explain one of the biggest questions in
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 planetary how did Earth get
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 its water? Since Earth formed in a region
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 that was probably too hot for water ice to
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 exist initially, scientists have long
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 theorised that water was delivered here later
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 by comets and asteroids from the outer solar
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 system. This observation of HD
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 gives us a sort of snapshot of what that
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 early delivery system might have looked like,
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 with icy bodies from the outer regions
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 potentially migrating inward and bringing
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 water to the forming terrestrial planets.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 Finally today, a small update. The launch of
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 the AXE 4 mission to the International Space
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 Station has been pushed back again. Axiom
00:09:07 --> 00:09:08 Space announced just yesterday that they're
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 now targeting next Tuesday, June 10th at
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 8:22am Eastern Time for liftoff.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 This is actually the second delay for this
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 mission in recent weeks, as it was originally
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 scheduled for May 29th before being moved
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 to June 8th and now it's been pushed back
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 another two days. This private
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 astronaut mission will fly aboard a brand new
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule launching on a
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Centre in
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 Florida. And I've got to say, the
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 crew lineup for this mission is particularly
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 noteworthy. The four person team is led by
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 Commander Peggy Whitson, who's honestly a
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 space legend at this point. She's a former
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 NASA astronaut who holds the American record
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 for most time spent in space. Now she serves
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 as Axiom's Director of Human Spaceflight and
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 this will add even more spaceflight
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 experience to her impressive resume. What
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 makes this mission truly historic though, is
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 the rest of the crew. The pilot is
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 Subhanshu Shukla of India and the mission
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 specialists are Slavosz Usnansky from Poland
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 This marks the first time that anyone from
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 any of these three countries, India, Poland
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 or Hungary will live aboard the International
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 Space Station. So we're looking at multiple
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 space firsts happening simultaneously with
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 this single mission. Once they reach the
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 station, the crew won't just be sightseeing,
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 they have a packed schedule with
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 approximately 60 different science
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 experiments planned during their two week
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 stay. After completing their mission aboard
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 the ISS, they'll return to Earth in the same
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 Dragon capsule splashing down in the Pacific
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 Ocean. Well, what
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 an exciting collection of space stories we've
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 covered today from ispace's second attempt at
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 making history with their resilience moon
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 landing to Russia's plans to bring AI
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 aboard the iss, to that fascinating
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 discovery of water ice around a young star
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 that gives us a glimpse into how our own
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 solar system may have formed. And finally,
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 the upcoming AXE 4 mission that will make
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 history for three different countries at
00:11:10 --> 00:11:11 once.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 This has been Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 Thanks so much for listening. For all our
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 previous episodes, head over to
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 astronomydaily.IO where you can catch up on
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 anything you might have missed. And if you
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 enjoy the show, please subscribe on Apple
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 get your podcasts. Until tomorrow, keep
00:11:30 --> 00:11:30 looking up.