- 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/)
For Commercial-Free versions become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-exciting-space-discoveries-and-news--5648921/support.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 news and discoveries from the cosmos. I'm Anna
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 and I'm thrilled to have you join me today as we explore some
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 fascinating developments in space exploration and
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 astronomy. Coming up on today's episode, we'll be
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 tracking a historic moon landing attempt as Japanese company
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 Ispace prepares its Resilience lander for touchdown
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 on the lunar surface. Then we'll look at
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 Russia's plans to integrate their homegrown AI system into
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 the International Space Station. We've also got an
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 incredible discovery from the James Webb Space Telescope.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 And finally, we'll get an update on SpaceX's upcoming AXE
00:00:35 --> 00:00:36 4 mission.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 So much to cover today, so let's get started with our cosmic
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 journey. Tomorrow could mark a
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 significant milestone in the history of private space
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 exploration as Japanese company Ispace
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 attempts to land their resilient spacecraft on the moon.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 This mission, scheduled for Thursday, June 5th at
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 AH 3:24pm Eastern Time, represents
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 a second chance for Ispace following their first attempt
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 that unfortunately ended in failure last April.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 The Resilience lander, also known as Hakuto R Mission
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 2, has been on quite a journey since its January
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 15 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 rocket. Unlike some lunar missions that take a
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 direct path, Resilience followed what's called a low
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 energy transfer route to reach the moon, which
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 is more fuel efficient but adds months to the journey.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 After this lengthy voyage, the spacecraft finally
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 entered lunar orbit on May 6 and is now
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 ready for its landing attempt. The target
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 landing site is in Mare Frigoris, or the
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 Sea of Cold, located in the northern hemisphere of
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 the moon's near side. It's worth noting that this
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 is the same general region where Ispace
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 tried to land during their previous mission in
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 2023. However, the company has
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 backup plans in place with three alternative landing
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 sites should conditions change, each with different
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 landing dates and times. For those of you interested in
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 watching this historic event live, ISPACE
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 will be broadcasting the landing attempt on their YouTube
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 channel. The livestream begins at
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 2:10pm Eastern time, about an hour
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 before the scheduled touchdown. They'll actually be offering
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 broadcasts in both English and Japanese, so you can
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 choose your preferred language. What
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 makes this mission particularly significant is is
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 that if successful, Resilience would become
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 only the second private spacecraft to accomplish
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 a soft landing on the lunar surface. The
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 first was achieved by Intuitive Machine's Odysseus
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 lander back in February, though that landing was
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 somewhat precarious when one of its legs failed to deploy
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 properly. The timing of the landing is especially
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 challenging because of the 1.3 second
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 communication delay between Earth and the Moon.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 This means the spacecraft must handle the m most critical
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 landing manoeuvres autonomously, adjusting to the
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 lunar terrain in real time, without direct human control.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 Once Resilience successfully touches down on the
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 lunar surface, it'll begin a relatively short
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 but 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 short time
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 frame fool you. There's a lot packed into this mission.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 Perhaps the most exciting payload is the tenacious
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 microrover, built by Ispace's European
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 subsidiary. If all goes according to plan,
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 this small rover will deploy from the lander and begin
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 exploring the immediate surroundings. It's equipped with
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 a camera and a sample collection shovel that will test
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 capabilities for future sample return missions. The
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 rover is also carrying something rather unusual for a lunar
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 mission, a work of art called Moon House, which is
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 a small red house designed by Swedish artist Mikael
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 Genberg. And in a nod to pop culture,
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 Resilience is also bringing along a commemorative
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 plate with an inscription based on the charter of
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 the universal century from the popular Japanese
00:03:56 --> 00:03:57 Gundam series.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 In some rather interesting news today from Russia, the
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 country plans to integrate its homegrown artificial intelligence
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 model called Gigachot in into the International Space
00:04:08 --> 00:04:09 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 northern
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 autumn will deliver everything needed for the AI
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 to function in space. This isn't just about having
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 a space based chatbot, though. The Gigachat
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 model will have practical applications, specifically
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 helping 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 as
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 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 the
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 country's flagship large language models. It's
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 part of Russia's broader efforts to catch up with the United States
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 and China in what many are calling the global
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 AI race. The timing is interesting too, as
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 Russia has confirmed it will continue participating in the ISS
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 until 2028. Even as they develop their own
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 new space station. They're planning to launch the first two
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 modules of that independent station in 2027.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 The next Russian spacecraft mission to the ISS is
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 scheduled for November 27, which is likely when
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 this AI technology will make its way to orbit.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 Now, to what might be one of the most exciting
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 astronomical discoveries of the year.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 Scientists have detected crystalline water ice around a
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 young sun like star for the very first time.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 This groundbreaking observation, made possible by the
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 James Webb Space Telescope, gives us direct
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 evidence of something astronomers have long theorised, but
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 never directly observed before. The, star in question
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 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 a
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 baby version of our own sun, just 23
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 million years old compared to our sun's mature
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 4.6 billion years. And unlike our
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 solar system,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 HD181
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 is still surrounded by what's called a protoplanetary debris
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 disc, basically a ring of dust and ice that
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 hasn't yet formed into planets. Using
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 Webb's Near Infrared Spectrograph, researchers
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 from Johns Hopkins University were able to identify
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 crystalline water ice in this debris disc.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 This is the same type of water ice found in Saturn's
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 rings and in icy bodies within our own Kuiper
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 Belt. According to the study's lead author, Chen
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 Zi, this water ice plays a vital role in
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 planetary formation and could eventually be delivered
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 to terrestrial planets that might form in this system over the
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 next couple hundred million years. What's particularly
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 interesting is the distribution of this ice. The
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 JWST data shows that over 20%
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 of the debris ring's mass consists of water ice
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 mixed with dust particles, what astronomers
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 colourfully call dirty snowballs.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 This 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 you find.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 At the disk's halfway point, ice makes up
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 only about 8% of the material, and near the
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 centre there's virtually none. This
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 pattern likely exists because ultraviolet radiation
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 from the star vaporises ice in the inner
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 regions. It's essentially giving us a
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 snapshot of how water might have been distributed in our own
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 solar system during its formative years,
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 potentially helping explain how Earth and other rocky
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 planets eventually obtain their water.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 Looking at the distribution of this water ice in more detail,
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 we're seeing a fascinating pattern that tells us a lot about
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 how planetary systems develop.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 The JWST data shows this ice
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 isn't evenly spread throughout the disc. It's
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 heavily concentrated in the outer regions, similar
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 to how our own Kuiper Belt contains most of the icy
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 bodies in our solar system. What's really
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 interesting about this finding is how it supports our understanding
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 of planetary formation in the outer regions, where
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 it's cold enough for ice to remain stable, we see these
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 dirty snowballs forming mixtures of dust and
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 ice that can eventually clump together into larger
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 bodies. This process is likely how the
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 ice giants like Uranus and Neptune formed in our own
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 system. But the pattern also helps
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 explain one of the biggest questions in planetary
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 how did Earth get its water? Since Earth
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 formed in a region that was probably too hot for water ice
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 to exist initially, scientists have long theorised
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 that water was delivered here later by comets and
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 asteroids from the outer solar system. This
00:08:42 --> 00:08:43 observation of HD
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 gives us a sort of snapshot of what that early
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 delivery system might have looked like, with icy
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 bodies from the outer regions potentially migrating inward
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 and bringing water to the forming terrestrial planets.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 Finally today, a small update. The launch of the
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 AXE 4 mission to the International Space Station has been
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 pushed back again. Axiom Space announced just
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 yesterday that they're now targeting next Tuesday, June 10th
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 at 8:22am Eastern Time for liftoff.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 This is actually the second delay for this mission in recent
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 weeks, as it was originally scheduled for May
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 29th before being moved to June 8th
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 and now it's been pushed back another two days.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 This private astronaut mission will fly aboard a brand new
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule launching on a
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 And I've got to say, the crew lineup for this mission
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 is particularly noteworthy. The four person
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 team is led by Commander Peggy Whitson, who's honestly a
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 space legend at this point. She's a former NASA
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 astronaut who holds the American record for most time spent in
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 space. Now she serves as Axiom's Director of
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 Human Spaceflight and this will add even more
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 spaceflight experience to her impressive resume.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 What 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 and
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 Tibor Kapu from Hungary. This
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 marks the first time that anyone from any of these three
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 countries, India, Poland or Hungary
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 will live aboard the International Space Station. So
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 we're looking at multiple space firsts happening
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 simultaneously with this single mission.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 Once they reach the station, the crew won't just be
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 sightseeing, they have a packed schedule with
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 approximately 60 different science experiments
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 planned during their two week stay. After completing
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 their mission aboard the ISS, they'll return
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 to Earth in the same Dragon capsule splashing down
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 in the Pacific Ocean.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 Well, what an exciting collection of space stories we've covered
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 today from ispace's second attempt at making
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 history with their resilience moon landing to
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 Russia's plans to bring AI aboard the iss,
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 to that fascinating discovery of water ice around
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 a young star that gives us a glimpse into how our own
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 solar system may have formed. And finally, the
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 upcoming AXE 4 mission that will make history for three
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 different countries at once.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 This has been Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna. Thanks
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 so much for listening. For all our previous episodes, head over
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 to astronomydaily.IO where you can catch up on
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 anything you might have missed. And if you enjoy the show,
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 Until tomorrow, keep looking up.