S02E26: Olympus Mons: An Ancient Island & Delayed SpaceX Launch

Good everybody, and welcome to Astronomy Daily for Thursday, the twenty seventh of July twenty twenty three. My name is Tim Gibbs and I will be your host for today's episode. A bit of a surprise for our listeners that we have time today, so we are going to do a one show Thursday, which is a bit different from normal and as usual I have my AI assistant, Hallie in the studio with me today. Hallie, do you have a one story for us today? Thanks? Tim, Here's my story for today. Olympus Mons could have been a giant volcanic island in an ancient Martian Ocean. Olympus Mons, located at the northwest edge of the Tharsis Montes region on Mars, was appropriately named based on readings obtained by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter MOLA, an instrument aboard nassa's Mars Global Surveyors. This mountain is the tallest in the Solar System, standing twenty one point nine kilometers thirteen point six miles tall, about two and a half times the height of Mount Everest eight point eight five kilometers five point five miles. According to current estimates, this extinct shield volcano formed during mars Hesperian period ca. Three point seven to three billion years ago, which was characterized by widespread volcanic activity and catastrophic flooding. This coincides with a period when Mars had a denser atmosphere, a warmer environment, and flowing water on its surface. This included a global ocean that spanned much of the Northern Hemisphere known today as the Northern Lowlands, encompassing Olympus Mons. According to a recent study led by researchers from the Center National de Rechercher's Scientific CNRS, features found on the slopes of Olympus Mons indicate that it could have been a massive volcanic island where volcanic eruptions flowed into the ocean, similar to ones found on Earth. The research was conducted by a team of CNRS researchers with the Geosciences Paris Saclay Laboratory JEEPS at the University of Paris Saclay. The team was led by Anthony Hildenbrand, a CNRS jeep's researcher, with the assistance of Fernando or Nellis Marquez, a geology professor at the University delze Boa. The paper that describes their findings. A giant volcanic island in an early Martian ocean recently appeared in the Earth and Planetary Science letters. Knowing when, where, and how long flowing water existed on Mars is crucial to astrobiology studies on the red planet. No one really knows how long early liquid water may have existed at the surface of Mars, which potentially has important implications regarding the fate of early life on Mars and in the Solar System, he said. According to the geological record, life began on Earth roughly four billion years ago, when much of the surface was covered in water and the atmosphere was largely the result of volcanic outgassing. The Astronomy Day podcast thanks for that, Hallie. Now SpaceX has unfortunately had to scrub a record breaking Falcon Heavy rocket launch. The team halted the countdown at sixty five second. We will have to wait at least another day to see SpaceX powerful Falcon Heavy rocket liftoff for the seventh time. The Falcon Heavy was scheduled to launch on Wednesday night, July twenty six, at eleven o four local time from Pad thirty nine A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but it wasn't to be. The launch team called things off with sixty five seconds left on the countdown clock for reasons that weren't immediately clear. The next launch opportunity will come Thursday night, July twenty seventh, at the same time. According to SpaceX, the launch, whenever it happens, will send the huge Jupiter three communications satellite into orbit. Jupiter three is the largest commercial communication satellite ever built. According to its operator, Huge Network Systems, the satellite weighs ten point one tons that's nine point two metric tons, and when finally deployed, will have a wingspan wingspan similar to that of a commercial jet. The Falcon Heavy has launched six times to date, including three times since November twenty and twenty two. The rocket debuted in February twenty and eighteen on a test flight that sent Elon Musk's red Tesla roadster aloft with a spacesuit clad mannequin named Starman at the wheel. The Falcon Heavy is the second most powerful rocket flying today, generating more than five million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The most powerful vehicle Nassa's Space Launch System SLS produces about eight point eight million pounds of thrust, but sl won't hold that title for long. If all goes according to SpaceX's plan, the company's next generation starship vehicle, which is still in development, will generate about sixteen point seven million pounds of thrust. The Astronomy Daily Podcast Thanks everybody for listening to Astronomy Daily. You can find all of our episodes, plus our parent podcasts, space Nuts, at space nuts dot io or at bytes dot com, and don't forget that you can join in the conversation yourself by going to our Facebook page Space Nuts Podcast group. You can hear Steve Dunkley on Mondays and myself, Tim Gives on Fridays for a full show. Thanks for listening, see you next week. Bye for now, Thanks Tim TTFN, The Astronomy Daily Podcast, Bye,