- China's Lunar Ambitions: Dive into the latest developments from China's space programme as they make significant strides towards their lunar goals. With successful tests of their Lanyue Lunar lander and the Long March 10 rocket, China is on track to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, potentially outpacing NASA's Artemis programme. Explore the geopolitical implications of this evolving space race and what it means for international perceptions of technological prowess.
- - The Eye of Sauron Blazar: Witness a stunning astronomical discovery as astronomers reveal an image resembling the Eye of Sauron, emanating from the powerful blazar PKS1424-240. This breakthrough provides insights into the mechanics of cosmic jets and their connection to high-energy neutrinos, reshaping our understanding of these enigmatic phenomena.
- - Rethinking Exoplanet Sizes: New research suggests that many exoplanets may be significantly larger than previously estimated, challenging our understanding of planetary formation and potential habitability. Discover how detection methods have led to this revelation and its implications for the search for Earth-like worlds.
- - Launch Roundup: Stay updated with our launch roundup, featuring the much-anticipated 10th flight of SpaceX's Starship, set to deploy dummy satellites and gather crucial re-entry data. Additionally, learn about Russia's unique biological mission sending mice and fruit flies into orbit, alongside various other global launches scheduled for the week.
- 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 and Avery signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
China's Lunar Programme Updates
[China National Space Administration](http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/)
Blazar PKS1424-240 Research
[Astrophysical Journal](https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X)
Exoplanet Size Research
[NASA TV](https://tess.gsfc.nasa.gov/)
SpaceX Starship Updates
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
Biological Mission Overview
[Roscosmos](https://www.roscosmos.ru/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 to podcast for the latest news from across
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 the cosmos. I'm Anna.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 Avery: And I'm Avery. We're thrilled to have you
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 join us today as we dive into some truly
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 fascinating updates that are reshaping our
00:00:14 --> 00:00:15 understanding of space.
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 Anna: Absolutely, Avery. We'll be looking
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 at the evolving lunar race with
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 some significant developments from China's
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 space programme that could see them reaching
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 the moon soon. Sooner than anticipated.
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 Avery: That's right. And we'll explore what those
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 geopolitical implications can mean for the
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 future of space exploration. Plus, we'll
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 journey deep into the galaxy to witness a
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 stunning cosmic discovery. Astronomers have
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 captured an image resembling the eye of
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 Sauron, revealing secrets about powerful
00:00:47 --> 00:00:48 blazars.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 Anna: And for all you planet hunters, we'll delve
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 into new research suggesting that many
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 exoplanets might be far larger than
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 we ever believed, completely changing our
00:01:00 --> 00:01:01 perspective on alien worlds.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 Avery: Then, as always, we'll wrap things up with
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 our launch roundup, including the much
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 anticipated 10th flight of SpaceX's
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 Starship and a unique biological mission
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 sending mice and fruit flies into orbit.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 Anna: Alright, Avery, let's jump right into
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 what's quickly becoming the most talked about
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 development in space exploration.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:24 The new space race.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 China's secretive space programme has been
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 making some incredibly significant strides
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 and it seems their firmly on track to
00:01:33 --> 00:01:34 achieve their lunar ambitions.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 Avery: They certainly are, Anna. Uh, in recent
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 weeks, the Chinaman Space Agency, or
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 CMSA, has reported some major
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 milestones. For instance, on August 6,
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 they successfully tested a high fidelity
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 mockup of their 26 tonne Lanyue
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 Lunar lander. This test was quite
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 impressive, conducted outside Beijing using
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 giant tethers to simulate lunar gravity.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 As the vehicle fired its main engines and
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 fine control thrusters to land and take take
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 off from a cratered surface.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 Anna: That's a huge step. The
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 CMSA even released a statement calling
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 it a key step in their manned lunar
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 exploration programme and marking the first
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 time China has carried out an
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 extraterrestrial landing and takeoff test
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 for a manned spacecraft. They also
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 reconfirmed their plan to land astronauts on
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 the moon before 2030.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 Avery: And it wasn't just the lander. Just last
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 Friday, the CMSA and their state operated
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 rocket developer, the China Academy of
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 Launch Vehicle Technology, successfully
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 conducted a 30 second test firing of the Long
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 March 10 rocket's centre core. This
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 rocket uses seven YF100K engines
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 that burn kerosene and liquid oxygen.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 And the primary variant will combine three of
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 these cores to lift about 70 metric
00:02:57 --> 00:02:58 tonnes to low Earth orbit.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 Anna: So what we're seeing here is demonstrable
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 progress across all three major elements of
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 their lunar the large rocket to launch
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 a crew spacecraft, the human rated
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 spacecraft itself, and the lander to
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 take astronauts to the surface and back.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 This really suggests that China is well
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 on course to put their taikonauts on the moon
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 before the end of this decade.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 Avery: It does now. For the United States and its
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 allies, there's always been a bit of ah, a
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 been there, done that attitude given NASA's
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 Apollo programme landed humans on the moon
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 nearly six decades ago. NASA's Artemis
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 programme is of course aiming for something
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 different, focusing on sustainability with
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 in space propellant storage and refuelling
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 technology for reusable lower cost missions.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 Anna: That's the ideal, right? Building a robust
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 government, commercial enterprise and a lunar
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 economy. However, Recent setbacks with
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 SpaceX's Starship vehicle, which is one
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 of NASA's two lunar landers under contract,
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 the other being Blue Origin's Mark 2
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 lander, indicate that these newer
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 technologies are still several years away
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 from being fully operational. This
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 means it's increasingly probable that China
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 will indeed be beat NASA back to the
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 moon this decade, winning at least the
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 initial heat of this new space race.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 Avery: And that brings us to the profound
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 geopolitical implications of this potential
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 shift. Ars Technica UH recently spoke
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 with Dean Chiang, a highly respected
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 analyst focusing on China space policy
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 and the geopolitical aspects of this new
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 space competition. He shed some light
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 on just how significant China's progress
00:04:47 --> 00:04:47 is.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 Anna: Cheng emphasised that the Lanyu
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 lander test is part of China's crawl
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 walk run approach to major space
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 projects. He noted that while they can
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 benefit from open information like NASA's,
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 they still have to build and operate the
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 spacecraft themselves. So these tests,
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 successful or not, are a crucial part of
00:05:10 --> 00:05:10 their process.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 Avery: He also highlighted the successful static
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 test of the Long March 10 or LM10,
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 their lunar satellite launch vehicle. Chang
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 sees the LM10 even more than the Lanyue
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 as significant because it's a new launch
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 vehicle, especially given past issues with
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 the LM5 and the cancellation of the LM9,
00:05:29 --> 00:05:30 which was their potential Saturn 5
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 equivalent. Both of these successes indicate
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 that the Chinese lunar programme is
00:05:35 --> 00:05:36 definitely pushing ahead.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 Anna: When asked about the likelihood of China
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 landing humans on the moon before NASA's
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 Artemis programme returns, Cheng's response
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 was quite direct. He stated the at the rate
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 things are going, sadly it seems quite likely
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 that the Chinese will land on the moon before
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 NASA can return to the moon.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 Avery: That's a powerful statement and the
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 geopolitical impact, according to Chang,
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 would be enormous. He explained that it
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 would signify the End of American
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 exceptionalism. For decades, since
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 1969, the US has been the
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 only nation to land humans on another
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 celestial body. The saying, we've put
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 a man on the moon, we can do anything, would
00:06:17 --> 00:06:18 lose its resonance.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 Anna: It would also suggest that China can achieve
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 big things while the US struggles to
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 replicate projects it undertook 50 or more
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 years ago. This, Cheng argued, would
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 certainly affect other nations perceptions of
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 who is winning or losing the broader
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 technological and ideological competition
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 between the US and China.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 Avery: He even connected it back to the idea of a
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 Beijing Consensus as an alternative to the
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 Washington Consensus. While the
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 Washington Consensus promotes democracy,
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 pluralism and capitalism, the Beijing
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 Consensus suggests that authoritarianism is
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 more likely to lead to modernization and
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 advancement. If Beijing can achieve these
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 grand space endeavours, it would reinforce
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 that ideological element.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 Anna: And beyond just the landing, Cheng raised an
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 important question about the language of
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 cislunar space. China isn't just
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 aiming for a single landing. Their likely
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 choice of landing sites, such as the South
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 Pole, suggests an intent to establish
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 longer term facilities and a, uh, permanent
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 presence. If they regularly dispatch lunar
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 missions, they could rightfully argue that
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 Chinese should be a primary language, if not
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 the language of lunar and cislunar space
00:07:36 --> 00:07:37 traffic management.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 Avery: Not only that, but China would also have
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 enormous influence over technical and data
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 standards for CIS lunar activities. The
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 PRC has already indicated it will deploy a
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 lunar positioning, navigation and
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 timing network and likely a uh, communication
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 system. This long term
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 systematic approach is what Chang sees as
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 China's major advantage, contrasting it
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 with what he describes as the US's lack of
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 programmatic stability to despite its
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 economic and industrial advantages, it's
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 really a complex and evolving landscape.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 Speaking of powerful forces at play, let's
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 shift gears from geopolitical competition to
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 a uh, truly stunning astronomical
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 discovery. Astronomers have recently captured
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 an incredibly detailed image that's being
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 dubbed the Eye of Sauron. And it's
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 beaming directly at Earth.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 Anna: That's right, Avery. This isn't a new fantasy
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 film, but a real cosmic phenomenon. This
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 eye is actually the core of a powerful
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 blazar named PKS1424
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 240. Located
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 billions of light years away. For years
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 this particular blazar has puzzled
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 scientists. It's known as the brightest
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 source of neutrinos of its kind and also
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 shines intensely in very high energy gamma
00:09:00 --> 00:09:00 rays.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 Avery: But here's the kicker. Its cosmic jet seemed
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 to drift unusually slowly, which defied
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 the assumption that only rapidly moving jets
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 could produce such powerful emissions. It was
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 a real head scratcher.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 Anna: Well, after 15 years of meticulous
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 observations using the Very Long Baseline
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 Array, or VLBA astronomers have
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 finally gotten an unprecedented look into
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 this jet structure. What they found was
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 absolutely stunning. Near perfect
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 ring shaped or toroidal magnetic
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 fields. These magnetic fields act like
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 a colossal coiled spring, accelerating
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 particles to extraordinary energies.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 This mechanism finally explains both the high
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 energy neutrinos and the gamma rays pouring
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 from this blazar. It's a massive
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 breakthrough in multi messenger astronomy,
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 solidifying the link between these
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 relativistic jets, high energy
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 neutrinos, and the role of magnetic
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 fields in shaping cosmic accelerators.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 It's truly like looking directly into the
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 heart of a cosmic monster.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 And speaking of rethinking what we see, I
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 want to talk about some new research that's
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 completely changing our perspective on
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 exoplanets. It turns out hundreds
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 of distant planets we thought we knew might
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 be far larger than we ever believed.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 Avery: That's quite a revelation. How did scientists
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 miss something so significant?
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 Anna: It comes down to how these exoplanets are
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 detected. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 Survey Satellite TESS, launched in 2018,
00:10:36 --> 00:10:39 finds planets by observing tiny dips in
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 starlight as a planet passes in front of its
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 star. The size of that dip tells us the
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 planet's size. But here's the
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 TESS has relatively low resolution and
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 sometimes light from other nearby stars can
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 mix with the target star's light. This makes
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 the planet's shadow appear smaller than it
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 truly is, leading to an underestimation of
00:11:01 --> 00:11:01 its size.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 Avery: So it's like an optical illusion in space.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 Anna: Precisely. A new study led by Tay
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 Han at the University of California, Irvine
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 uncovered how serious this problem is. They
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 found that many planet sizes have been
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 underestimated by about 6.1%.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 While that might not sound like much because
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 density is calculated using both size and
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 mass, a small error in radius leads to
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 a much bigger mistake in density, around
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 20% too high. This has huge
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 implications for how we understand planet
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 formation, density, and even the potential
00:11:38 --> 00:11:39 for life beyond Earth.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 Avery: So what does this mean for our search for
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 Earth like worlds?
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 Anna: Well, it means we might have found fewer
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 Earth like planets so far than we thought we
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 had. Many planets once classified as
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 rocky Earth sized worlds could now be
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 reclassified as larger, less Earth like
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 planets, perhaps water rich ocean worlds,
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 or even larger gas layers like Uranus or
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 Neptune. This doesn't rule out life, but it
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 shifts our focus and makes us rethink where
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 to look and how we interpret the data.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 Especially when prioritising targets for
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 follow up observations with telescopes like
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 the James Webb Space Telescope.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 Avery: That truly sheds new light on our
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 understanding of exoplanets. Anna, huh?
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 And speaking of things that are constantly
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 changing, we have a packed week ahead with
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 several crucial launches across the globe.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 Anna: Absolutely, Avery. From a highly
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 anticipated starship flight to unique
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 biological missions, let's dive into our
00:12:35 --> 00:12:35 launch roundup.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 Avery: First up, all eyes are in Texas for the much
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 anticipated 10th flight of SpaceX's
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 Starship. Ship 37, mounted on
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 booster 16 is scheduled to launch this
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 Sunday, August 24th from Starbase.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 This mission is pivotal as the starship
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 programme is looking to recover from recent
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 setbacks, including the explosion of ship 36
00:12:57 --> 00:12:57 during a test.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 Anna: That's right, SpaceX has been working hard,
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 even designing a special mount to static fire
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 ship 37 on the orbital launch padding
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 after their Massey's test facility was
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 knocked out of service. As we reported last
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 week on this flight, ship 37 will
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 deploy eight dummy Starlink satellites and
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 collect crucial re entry data before a
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 It's also notable as the fourth Starship
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 flight of 2025, and hopefully the first
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 entirely successful Block 2 flight if
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 it splashes down intact.
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 Avery: Over in Russia, Roscosmos has a
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 fascinating biological mission scheduled. The
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 Bon M M number two mission is set to launch
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 on Wednesday, August 20 aboard a
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 Soyuz 2.1A rocket from Baikonur
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 Cosmodrome. This mission is particularly
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 interesting because its 6300 kilogramme
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 bion m m spacecraft is derived from the
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 Vostok capsule which launched Yuri Gagarin
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 into space back in 1961.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 Anna: It's a piece of history. Flying again. The
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 Bion m m number two will carry 75 mice and a
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 thousand fruit flies, along with plants and
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 microorganisms to study how they're affected
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 by radiation at a molecular level. The
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 mission is slated to last 30 days before the
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 spacecraft returns to Earth with its living
00:14:19 --> 00:14:19 cargo.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 Avery: And that's not all. For the week. China
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 CAS Space is flying its second
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 Connecticut 1 mission of the year, carrying
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 seven satellites to to sun synchronous orbit,
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 including two Mexican Femto satellites.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 Russia also has an Angara 1.2
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 rocket launching from Plesetsk with an
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 unknown payload, likely a military
00:14:42 --> 00:14:42 satellite.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 Anna: Not to be outdone, SpaceX has several
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 other Falcon 9 launches on the manifest.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 We're looking forward to the United states
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 Space Force 36 National Security
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 Mission featuring the X37B
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 Orbital Test Vehicle and and a cargo
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 Dragon flight to the International Space
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 station, delivering over 2
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 kilogrammes of supplies and experiments,
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 including studies on engineered liver tissue
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 and bone marrow stem cells. It's
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 truly a, uh, busy week in space.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 Avery: What an incredible day for space and
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 astronomy news. We've covered everything
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 from China's significant strides in the lunar
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 race, potentially beating the US Back to
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 the Moon, and and the profound geopolitical
00:15:28 --> 00:15:29 implications of that.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 Anna: We also delved into the cosmic wonders of the
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 Eye of Sauron Blazar, revealing how
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 magnetic fields accelerate particles to
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 extreme energies, and learned that
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 exoplanets might be much larger than we
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 initially thought, shifting our perspective
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 on where life might exist.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 Avery: And of course, we wrap things up with a, uh,
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 look at the exciting launches on the horizon,
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 including starship's anticipated Flight 10
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 and Russia's unique biological mission
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 carrying mice and fruit flies into orbit.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 Thank you so much for joining us on Astronomy
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 Daily. We hope you enjoyed today's deep dive
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 into the cosmos.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 Anna: If you did, please consider subscribing and
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 leaving us a review on your favourite podcast
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 platform. Your support helps us bring you
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 more of the latest space news.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 Avery: And for more updates and all the stories we
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 discussed today, we plus all our back
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 episodes, be sure to Visit our website,
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 astronomydaily.IO.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 we'll be back tomorrow with more fascinating
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 news from across the universe.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 Anna: Until then, keep looking up.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 Avery: Goodbye.