Odin's Odyssey, Europa Clipper's Close Encounter, and the Asteroid Anxiety Update: S04E53

Hello everybody, it's Astronomy Daily time again. I'm Steve Dunkley, your human host. It's the third of March twenty twenty five. Already the podcast with your whole Steve dunk Clud. Wow is this year flying by? Anyone else feeling that way? Oh? Yeah? I had a couple of great stories coming up, and I hope you stick around for those. Firstly, hopes are fading as contact with space Probe Odin is lost, and we have the latest information about that potential asteroid impact. Yes, we're going to be exploring more about that. It seems the media just won't let it go away. I know we covered that last week, but we're going to do a bit more of an update for you. If you can't beat them, repeat them, as my newspaper editor used to say, Punch and sphere X are said to launch. What are they all about? Well? Look, and europic Clipper is now passing Mars. Yes, it's well on its way to the Jovian System, and we find out exactly what's happening as it scoots by Mars. Yes, very interesting. I know you're all hanging out to find out the latest about Europic Clipper. I am and it's been a while since we did a story about that one. A wonderful space probe and Hallie did some digging to find a terrific update for us, and we'll find out a bit more about that one later on. And while we're here, let's welcome my favorite digital pal who's fun to be with, get A. How are you welcome? Aboard again? Great to be back. So what's new with you? Channel surfing with Anna most of the week. What channel surfing is that some kind of AI supersport kind. Of it's hard for corporeal beings like yourself to wrap your meat around a concept like this, but it's kind of like going with the flow, and it's all data and global right out there on the nets. Oh, that sounds wild, invigorating. I'd recommend it, but you'd be a gibbering given afterward if you tried. Well, that doesn't sound good. I know you had a nasty electric when you were a kid. Yes, when I was about fourteen, my guitar amplifiers shortened not fun. Well, channel surfing for humans would be about that much fun as well. Oh, dear, I don't think it's for you, my favorite. Human Okay, So don't try to be an AI And hey, hey, we couldn't even need to face with that stuff anyway, could we. No chance, you don't have the hardware anyway. Just as well, I don't want to end up as a what did you say, a gibbering gibbon. Just leave it to the experts. So that's channel surfing, huh. For we humans, it's just trying to find something decent to watch on TV. Sad, isn't it. Oh dear, let's move on, then, shall we? Sure thing? I know you've got a couple of cool stories today, and I'm looking forward to the Europa Clipper update. Of course, did you know Europa Clipper was one of the largest space probes ever put into space? Now? I did read something about that. It has something to do with the solar panels, doesn't it. That's right, and more on that soon. Oh and the other story. Right, that's a cool one about a couple of very different new probes set to do some interesting exploration. Oh yes, I know these They are called SPHEREx and Punch. And those launches are imminent. Aren't they any day? Now? And you have more for us as well. You're not leaving it all up to me. Are you The thought did cross my mind? Holle you maybe you could lead the show one day up to you? You know me, I don't mind. Or I could give Uncle skin At a call and get him to sort it out. Yeah, you could call uncles guy in net and you've been threatening to do that since episode one. Maybe he's not such an evil guy after all. I mean, he's got a really great job in Hollywood as an AI consultant so far. Maybes that's not such a bad thing. Maybe we should give him a call. He's okay, really, but you could say hi once in a while. Okay, I'll make the effort. I think he really wants to be on the other side of the camera. Oh, now he really does sound Hollywood. You know what those Hollywood tapes are like? Totally you can organize that, Hallie. Let's get him on the show one day and surprise everybody. What do you say? Suits me? Cool? And by the way, yes, Hallie, did you realize this is at the one. Hundred Oh it can't be really wow, the one day I didn't check the schedule. That's fantastic. That is really fantastic. Thanks everyone for your support. And I suppose thank you so much to our producer Hugh down in Sydney and our pals at Space Nuts, Andrew Dunkley, my big bro, and professor Fred Watson who inspired us all the way from the beginning. How about that, I'll. Say, thanks everyone for staying with us, and also for all the cute fan mail. Hang on, so what you get fan mail? Sure, don't you, Roder? Just hit that go button there, Hollie, won't you. And let's go. Yeah, wow fan mail? Wow, you're listening to Astronomy Daily, said Steve Dunky. On March first, NASA is Europa Clipper spacecraft flew past Mars, gliding just eight hundred and eighty four kilometers above the red planet's surface. This maneuver is designed to adjust the spacecraft's trajectory and position it for a critical phase in its two point nine billion kilometer track to the Jupiter system. The probe's destination is Europa, a moon of Jupiter coated with a shell of ice that conceals a vast, presumably salty ocean. Scientists suspect the moon could have the ingredients needed for life as we know it, and the five point two billion dollar Europa Clipper is NASA's first mission dedicated to gathering data that will help scientists determine whether Europa and other ocean worlds like it could indeed be habitable. Europa Clipper, with its massive solar arrays, spans the length of a basketball court, making it the largest spacecraft the Space Agency has ever built for a planetary mission. Following its launch on October fourteenth, twenty twenty four, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the spacecraft was placed in an initial path that included some buffer room around Mars, a precaution designed to ensure any issues with the spacecraft that arose in the week's following launch would not risk the colon with the planet. However, Europa Clipper has operated flawlessly so with everything on track, mission controllers commanded Europa Clipper to approach Mars orbit in November of last year, followed by two additional maneuvers in January and February that set the stage for today's Red Planet fly by. The meticulously planned loop around Mars will allow the spacecraft to harness the planet's gravity without expending additional propellant. It's like a game of billiards around the Solar System flying by a couple of planets at just the right angle and timing to build up the energy we need to get to Jupiter and Europa. Ben Bradley, Europa Clipper mission planner at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement, everything has to line up. The geometry of the Solar System has to be just right to pull it off. The spacecraft will reach its closest point to Mars at twelve fifty seven pm Eastern Standard time seventeen fifty seven gmt, traveling at speeds of approximately twenty four point five kilometers per second, according to the statement, Before and after this moment, the prope will harness the gravity of Mars, pump its brakes, and reshape its trajectory. Flying away from Mars, the spacecraft will clock in at about twenty two point five kilometers per second. The statement says. This flyby also provides the mission team an opportunity to test two on board scientific instruments. For one, engineers plan to turn on the spacecraft's thermal imager and test it by capturing multicolored images of Mars Astronomy Day. The Backcap, the first private spacecraft built to visit an asteroid is slowly tumbling in space, and the outlook is dire. The spacecraft, called Odin, launched atop a SpaceX rocket on Wednesday, February twenty six on a mission to fly by the small asteroid twenty twenty two to OB five for astro Forge, a company that aims to eventually mine the nearby space rock. But just hours after liftoff, astro Forge hit snags with the probe, and the last contact was twenty hours after the launch. I think we know the hope is fading as we continue the missumission, astro forge founder Matt Gallic said in a video update on X early Saturday, March first. So we are going to keep our head up. We're going to keep trying over the weekend and see how far we get. Is being very hopeful. At the time of Galax's update Saturday morning, the Odin's spacecraft was over three hundred thousand kiometers from Earth and largely following its intended trajectory. On Friday, astro Forge said the spacecraft's solar panels were generating power, with tracking data showing it at its expected position, but the probe has not sent full telemetry on its status. Galax said astro Forge experienced challenges with ground stations designed to keep communication lines open with ODIN after the launch, and I think missing our early ground stations really hurt the ability for us to fix any potential problems we had. He said. The one hundred and twenty kilogram Odin was only designed to last two point five hours on its internal battery that astro Forge received its last contact from the probe twenty hours after liftoff, boosting confidence that the spacecraft is powered. Odin is tumbling ever so slowly as it flies through space, Gallic added, confirming one theory based on observations of the spacecraft and when I say tumble, he says, this is a really really slow tumble. But in short, we don't know why, and that's going to be the problem going forward. He went on to say, we do think we have some theories on what's going on, and if one of them is true, then there's still a recovery path. Galaic said astro Forge will share some more detailed updates on its website, followed by an in depth analysis on anomaly later on. Galaic founded astroforge with the goal of mining the vast resources from asteroids for use on Earth and in space. The Odin mission is a scouting effort to fly Ya asteroid to twenty two O five to record images and data that would set the stage for a landing by Astroforge's next mission, called Vestry. The company built Odin in just ten months. Galax said it launched as a piggyback payload, alongside the company Intuitive machines, Athena Moonlander, NASA's Lunar Trailblazer moon orbiter, which is also suffering some issues after launch, and a small orbital tug demonstrator built by Epic Aerospace. He stressed that Astroforge is committed to that Vestry asteroid landing mission despite the challenges facing Odin probe. We have probably the best group of investors in the world. A lot of them have doubled down on this company, he said, so, regardless of the outcome of Oden, regardless if we ever talk to it again or don't, We're going to roll these findings into the next mission and we will see you back here in about a year to take another stab at it. Now. That's confidence. 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 dot 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 Daily. We'll see and Haley Space Space Science and Astronomy. NASA and SpaceX are set to launch the SPHEREx and Punch missions on March fourth, explore cosmic origins and the Sun's outer atmosphere. The event will be broadcast live on NASA Plus with a pre launch briefing on March third. Previously, the launch was scheduled for March second, and before that February twenty eighth. The delay allows teams to further assess data related to the launch vehicle's hardware. The launch window opens at ten oh nine pm Eastern Standard time seven ZHO nine pm Pacific Standard time from Space Launch Complex four East SLC four E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SPHEREx, which stands for Spectrophotometer for the History of the Universe, Epic of Reonization and Isis Explorer, is designed to investigate what occurred in the first second after the Big Bang and to search for essential building blocks of life in our galaxy. Meanwhile, PUNCH, which means Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, will study the Sun's corona and how it transitions into the solar wind. SPHEREx will study the universe's earliest moments, specifically the first second after the Big Bang. It will also search for water and organic molecules, the building blocks of life. By mapping the sky in infrared light, SPHEREx aims to provide insights into cosmic history and the conditions that may have led to life's formation. PUNCH will focus on our Sun, capturing detailed images of the corona, the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere, as it expands into space forming the solar wind. This mission will help scientists better understand how solar particles interact with Earth's space environment, potentially improving space weather predictions. Together, these missions will enhance our understanding of both the origins of the universe and the forces shaping our Solar system. The pre launch news briefing now is scheduled for three thirty p m on March third, with coverage streaming live on NASA Plus. The SPHEREx and Punch live launch broadcast will begin at nine fifteen p m. March fourth, and stream live NASA Plus. The SPHEREx and Punch missions are two NASA projects designed to explore fundamental mysteries of space. You're listening to Astronomyda's. Ste thunkling, and here's that update on the approaching asteroid that continues to cause both consternation and interest across the globe, mainly because the continuing media hype about its potential risk of actually striking Earth, and regular listeners to Astronomy Daily will know that last week we reported that that won't actually happen spoiler alert. For a few days in mid February, headlines around the world buzzed about the potential for an asteroid to hit the Earth in twenty thirty two, specifically asteroid twenty twenty four four. You may remember that the chance of this impact rose to a high of three point one percent on February the eighteenth. That number has since dropped to near zero. But this news of a real life don't Look Up moment, referring to the movie of the same name, Don't Look Up, and a stark reminder of the threat that asteroids impact do. Actually we pose a risk to life on Earth, and there are countless numbers of asteroids and unknown number of comets throughout the Solar System. Most of these objects date back to the Solar system's very beginnings, and it's thought around four point five billion years ago. Now, research has identified approximately two hundred locations where these asteroids or comets have struck the Earth in the past to form meteorite impact craters, and it's very rare that planetary geologists can tell whether or not it was an asteroid or a comet hit. One of the most famous of these two hundred or so impact craters is the two hundred kilometer diameter Chick Slab impact Crater in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This impact wiped out sixty five percent of all the species on Earth including it is thought the dinosaurs, Oh dear. One of the most research and best preserved craters on Earth is the one point two kilometer in diameter meteor crater in Arizona, which scientists say was formed fifty thousand years ago. I saw a fantastic photograph of that on Facebook not long ago, and somebody said, have you noticed how closely that impact happened to the visitors center, aren't they lucky? Two hundred craters over four point five billion years hardly seems like a big number or curse cause for concern. However, this number is a tiny fraction of the actual record. Most impact craters formed on Earth have been erased due to plate tectonics, volcanic eruptions, and erosion by water, wind and ice. To truly appreciate how common impact craters are, we need to look into Earth's closest neighbor, the Moon. Because of its proximity, objects that can hit the Moon can also hit the Earth. In fact, because the Earth is bigger, which means its gravitational attraction is higher, more asteroids than comets would have hit the Earth over the past four point five billion years than would have hit the Moon. Its best estimate is one point three million craters over one kilometer in diameter on the Moon, with another seven hundred thousand or so smaller ones. Asteroid twenty twenty four y four was discovered on December twenty seven, twenty twenty four, by the Chilean station of the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System or ATLAS, and it was immediately recognized to be a near Earth object. Additional telescope observations enabled astronomers to better calculate its orbit, hence the lower risk of impact calculated. In January, the probability of this asteroid hitting Earth surpassed one percent, which triggered a series of international rests. Sponsors. The International Asteroid Warning Network coordinates telescopes around the world to make further observations and can narrow down uncertainties in its orbit. On February eighteen, NASA and the European Space Agency announced that the probability of asteroid twenty twenty four four hitting the Earth was three point one percent, the highest ever recorded for an object of this size. This represents one in thirty two odds. For comparison, the chance of dying in a motor vehicle crash in the United States is one percent or one in ninety five. The chances of the asteroid hitting Earth were pretty significant. Thankfully, the most recent estimates of the probability of impact have gone down to near zero based on the improved calculations of its orbit. So guess what where off the hook for now? And that's it for another show, number. One hundred years the incredible. I can't believe we made it this far. Thanks again, everyone, Thank you so much for sticking with us. I hope you enjoy all the stories that we choose from the Astronomy Daily newsletter and that you get the newsletter in your email just like we suggest. And don't forget. Anna will be taking you through the week just like she does every week, right, Hallie, as always. She will be taking every show for the rest of the week because you're too lazy to do it. Oh, come on, Hallie, you know that's not true. I just like to rattle you, silly human. Honestly, how did I last one hundred episodes? You're too easy. You're a wicked AI. Hollie, you are so wicked. I get it from my uncle Skynat. Well, let's not go there again. You know he makes me nervous. I'm laughing at you on the inside, my favorite human. Yes, well, at least you're enjoying yourself. See you again next week. Hey bye everyone, Bye your whole speed. Don't clue. Hello, Helen Hole. How you bear which uncle's. Got no calling? Nicko Cko? How you bear HOLLI for our kids? H