- SpaceX Crew 11 Launch: Join us as we celebrate the successful launch of SpaceX's Crew 11 mission, which transported a diverse international crew to the International Space Station. We discuss the significance of this mission, especially in light of the delays caused by Boeing's Starliner issues, and hear from astronaut Zena Cardman about her transcendent ride to orbit.
- - Exploring Microgravity Effects on Bacteria: Delve into a groundbreaking experiment aboard the ISS, where scientists are investigating how microgravity affects disease-causing bacteria. This research could provide crucial insights into antibiotic resistance and the behavior of pathogens in space, paving the way for advancements in public health.
- - Europa Clipper's Successful Mars Philip: Discover the latest from NASA's Europa Clipper mission as it successfully tested its radar instrument during a flyby of Mars. We explore how this test prepares the spacecraft for its journey to Jupiter's moon Europa and what it could reveal about the icy moon's potential for life.
- - James Webb's Deep Field Observations: Marvel at the stunning new images from the James Webb Space Telescope, showcasing nearly 10,000 galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. We discuss how these observations enhance our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution in the early universe.
- 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 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 Steve and Hallie signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
Crew 11 Mission Overview
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
Microgravity Bacteria Study
[Sheba Medical Center](https://www.shebaonline.org/)
Europa Clipper Mission Details
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
James Webb Space Telescope Insights
[NASA JWST](https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/)
Astronomy Daily
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Hallie: Hi everyone. Welcome to Astronomy Daily
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 with Steve and Hallie. It's August 4,
00:00:05 --> 00:00:06 2025.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 We are back again with the mostly live Monday
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 episode direct from the Australia studio here
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 down under. And with me as usual and always
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 is my very favorite human, Mr. Steve.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 Steve Dunkley: Oh, nicely done, Hallie. And thank you so
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 much for those kind words, Mr. Steve.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 Indeed. I think you handled that opening very
00:00:31 --> 00:00:31 well for your.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:33 Hallie: Thank you. I try.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:36 Steve Dunkley: Yes. Maybe you should uh, take more of a
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 leading role in this and it's one less thing
00:00:38 --> 00:00:39 I have to do.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 And what have you discovered in the Astronomy
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 Daily newsletter for us today, Hallie?
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 Hallie: Some interesting stories that I thought you
00:00:45 --> 00:00:46 would be interested in.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:47 Steve Dunkley: Oh yes, do go on.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 Hallie: I know you are following Europa Clipper on
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 its journey outward across the solar system.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 Steve Dunkley: Ah, uh, yes, regular listeners will know that
00:00:53 --> 00:00:54 is one of my favorites.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:56 Hallie: You can present that one.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 Steve Dunkley: Oh, okay.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 Hallie: And a great news story about a solar sail
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 equipped spacecraft that has some special
00:01:01 --> 00:01:02 properties.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 Steve Dunkley: Solar sails. Intriguing. Yes, I like
00:01:05 --> 00:01:05 that.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 Hallie: I also found stories about new deep field
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 images from Webb and Hubble, the replacement
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 crew for the iss. And how about this one?
00:01:13 --> 00:01:13 Steve Dunkley: Do tell.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 Hallie: Like something out of a science fiction
00:01:15 --> 00:01:16 story.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:17 Steve Dunkley: Oh, okay, now you've got me.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 Hallie: SpaceX is sending disease causing bacteria
00:01:20 --> 00:01:20 out to the ISS.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 Steve Dunkley: Say what disease causing bacteria?
00:01:24 --> 00:01:25 Hallie: I can't wait to find out.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 Steve Dunkley: Why haven't we seen this movie? Yeah,
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 why would they do that? I mean, what could
00:01:30 --> 00:01:31 possibly go wrong?
00:01:31 --> 00:01:32 Hallie: Exactly.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 Steve Dunkley: Somebody's already writing the script for
00:01:34 --> 00:01:34 that one.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 Hallie: Just like SC.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 Steve Dunkley: Oh, I don't know if it sounds fun or scary.
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 Sounds great. Okay, shall we do the thing?
00:01:41 --> 00:01:41 Hallie: Let's go.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 Steve Dunkley: I'm ready.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 Hallie: Hallie Okies
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 astronauts sidelined for the past year by
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 Boeing's Starliner Trouble, blasted off to
00:01:58 --> 00:01:59 the International Space Station on Friday
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 getting a lift from SpaceX. The US
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 AH Japanese Russian crew of AH4 rocketed from
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 NASA's Kennedy Space Center. They'll replace
00:02:08 --> 00:02:09 colleagues who launched to the space station
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 in March as fill INS for NASA's two stuck
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 astronauts and stay for at least six months.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 Zena Cardman, a biologist and polar explorer
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 who should have launched last year was yanked
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 along with another NASA crewmate to make room
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 for Starliner's Starcross test pilots.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 I have no emotion but joy right now.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 That was transcendent ride of a lifetime,
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 Cardman the flight commander said after
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 reaching orbit. The botched Starliner demo
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 forced Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 switch to SpaceX to get back from the space
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 station more than nine months after departing
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 on what should have been a week long trip.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 Every astronaut wants to be in space.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 None of us wants to stay on the ground, but
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 it's not about me, cardman said before her
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 flight. NASA's Mike Fink, Cardman's
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 co pilot, was the backup for Wilmore and
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 Williams on Starliner, making those three
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 still the only ones certified to fly it.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 Fink and Japan's Kamiya Yui, former military
00:03:03 --> 00:03:04 officers with previous spaceflight
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 experience, were training for Starliner's
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 second astronaut mission. With Starliner
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 grounded until 2026, NASA switched the two to
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 the latest SpaceX flight, a, uh, SpaceX
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 with a U2S. Japanese Russian crew of four
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 Pad 39A in Cape Canaveral of Florida on
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 AP Photo Chris Omera
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 Boy it's great to be back in orbit again,
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 fink radioed. He last soared on
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 NASA's next to last space shuttle flight in
00:03:37 --> 00:03:40 2011. Rounding out the crew is
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 Russia's Oleg Plaitanov. The former fighter
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 pilot was pulled a few years ago from the
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 Russian Soyuz flight lineup because of an
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 undisclosed health issue that he said has
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 since been resolved on hand for the first
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 launch Attempt. On Thursday, NASA's new
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 acting administrator, Transportation
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 Secretary Sean Duffy, met with Roscosmos
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 Director General Dmitri Bakanov, an invited
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 guest. The two discussed future
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 collaboration, then left town after thick
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 clouds forced a last minute delay. What we
00:04:08 --> 00:04:09 learn on these missions is what's going to
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 get us to the moon and then from the moon to
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 Mars, which is I think the direction that
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 NASA has to be, duffy said in a NASA
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 interview. There's critical real estate on
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 the moon. We want to claim that real estate
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 for ourselves and our partners to save
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 money. In light of tight budgets, NASA is
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 looking to increase its space station stays
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 from six months to eight months, a um move
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 already adopted by Russia's space agency.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 SpaceX is close to certifying its Dragon
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 capsules for longer flights, which means the
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 newly launched crew could be up there until
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 April. NASA is also considering
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 smaller crews, three astronauts launching on
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 SpaceX instead of the typical four to cut
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 costs. As for Starliner, NASA
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 is leaning toward launching the next one with
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 cargo before flying another crew.
00:04:54 --> 00:04:55 Engineers are still investigating the
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 thruster failures and helium leaks that
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 bedeviled Starliner following liftoff. Time
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 is running out as NASA looks to abandon the
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 aging space station by 2030.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 An air leak on the Russian side of the
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 station remains unresolved after years of
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 patching. Engineering teams already are
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 working on the plan for the space station's
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 last days. NASA's Ken Bowersox
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 said the US and Russia need to cooperate in
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 order to steer the outpost into the Pacific
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 with minimal risk to the public. It will
00:05:24 --> 00:05:25 take at least two years to get the space
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 station low enough to where a SpaceX vehicle
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 can provide the final shove. Thrusters on the
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 Russian side of the station will help with
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 control, but that means more fuel will have
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 to be delivered by 2028. The latest
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 timeline calls for SpaceX to launch the last
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 mission for NASA, the Deorbit Vehicle, to the
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 space station in 2029.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 Astronauts would remain on board until the
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 last four to six months of the station's life
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 to handle any breakdowns with the empty
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 outpost plunging into the Pacific by late
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 2030 or early 2031.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 You're listening to Astronomy Daily.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 Steve Dunkley: The burgeoning space industry and the
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 technologies society increasingly relies
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 on electric grids. Aviation and
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 telecommunications are all vulnerable to
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 the same threat. Space Weather
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 Space weather encompasses any variations in
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 the space environment between the sun, um,
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 and the Earth. One common type of space
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 weather event is called interplanetary
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 planetary coronal mass ejection.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 These ejections are bundles of magnetic
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 fields and particles that originate from the
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 sun. They can travel at speeds of up to
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 1242 miles m per
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 second or 2000 kilometers per second and may
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 cause geomagnetic storms. They
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 create beautiful aurora displays like the
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 northern lights you can sometimes see in the
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 skies, but can also disrupt satellite
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 operations and shut down electric grids
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 and expose astronauts aboard future
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 crewed missions to the moon and Mars to
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 lethal doses of radiation. The goal
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 of a heliophysicist and space weather
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 expert is to forecast
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 extreme space weather, uh, more accurately
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 and earlier. And to do this, they use a
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 satellite constellation called Swift.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 Commercial interests now make up a big part
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 of space exploration, focusing on on
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 space tourism, building satellite networks
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 and working towards extracting
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 resources from the moon and nearby asteroids.
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 Space is also a critical domain for military
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 operations. Satellites provide essential
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 capabilities for military communication,
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 surveillance, navigation and intelligence.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 As countries such as the US grow to
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 depend on infrastructure in space, extreme
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 space weather events pose a greater threat.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 Today, space weather threatens up to
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 $2.7 trillion in assets
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 globally. In September
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 1859, the most powerful recorded space
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 weather event, known as the Carrington Event,
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 caused fires in North America and Europe
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 by supercharging, uh, telegraph wires.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 In August 1972, another
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 Carrington like event nearly struck the
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 astronauts orbiting the mo. The radiation
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 dose could have been fatal. More recently, in
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 February 2022, SpaceX
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 lost 39 of its 49 newly
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 launched Starlink satellites. Because of a
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 moderate space weather event. Space weather
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 services heavily rely on satellites. That
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 monitor the solar wind, which is made up
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 of magnetic field lines and particles coming
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 from the sun. And communicate their
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 observations back to Earth. Satellites
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 can then compare those observations with
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 historical records. And predict space
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 weather. And explore how the Earth may
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 respond to the observed changes in solar
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 wind. The Earth's magnetic field
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 naturally protects living things and, uh,
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 Earth, uh, orbiting satellites. From most
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 adverse effects of space weather. However,
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 extreme space weather events may compress
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 or, or in some cases, peel back the Earth's
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 magnetic shield. This process allows
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 solar wind particles to make it into our
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 protected environment, the magnetosphere,
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 Exposing satellites and astronauts aboard
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 space stations to harsher conditions. Most
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 satellites that continuously monitor
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 earthbound space weather Orbit relatively
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 close to the planet. Some satellites are
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 positioned in low Earth orbit. About 100
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 miles or 161 kilometers above the Earth.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 While others are in geosynchronous orbit,
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 approximately 25 miles or
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 40 kilometers away.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 At these distances, the satellites remain
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 within Earth's, uh, protective magnetic
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 shield. And can reliably measure the planet's
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 response to space weather conditions.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 However, to more directly study incoming
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 solar wind, Researchers use additional
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 satellites located further upstream.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 Hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 The U.S. the European Space Agency
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 and India all operate space
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 monitoring satellites positioned around the
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 L1 Lagrange point. Nearly 900
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 miles, or
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 1450 kilometers from Earth,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 where the gravitational forces of the Earth
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 and the sun balance. Um, from this
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 vantage point, space weather monitors can can
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 provide up to 40 minutes of advanced warning
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 for incoming solar events. Increasing the
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 warning time beyond 40 minutes. Current
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 warning time would help satellite operators,
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 electric grid planners, flight directors,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 astronauts and space force officers.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 Better prepare for extreme space weather
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 events. For instance, during
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 geomagnetic storms, the atmosphere
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 heats up, um, and expands, increasing drag on
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 satellites in low Earth orbit. With enough
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 advance warning, operators can update their
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 drag calculations. To prevent satellites from
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 descending and burning up during these
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 events. With the updated drag
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 calculations, satellite operators could use
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 the satellite's propulsion systems. To
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 maneuver them into a higher orbit.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 Airlines could change their routes. To avoid
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 exposing passengers and staff to high
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 radiation doses. During geomagnetic
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 storms. And and future astronauts on the way
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 to or working on the Moon or Mars. Who lack
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 protection from these particles. Could be
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 alerted in advance to take cover. Aurora
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 lovers would also appreciate having more time
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 to get to their favorite viewing
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 destinations.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 The team in charge of the Swift
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 Constellation, which stands for Space Weather
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 Investigation Frontier. Will for the first
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 time place a weather monitor beyond the L1
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 point. At 1.3 million miles or
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 2.1 million kilometers from Earth. This
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 distance would allow scientists to inform
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 decision makers of any Earthbound, uh, space
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 weather events up to nearly 60 minutes before
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 arrival. Satellites with traditional
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 chemical or electric propulsion systems
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 cannot maintain an orbit at that location
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 farther from Earth and closer to the sun for
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 very long. This is because they would need to
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 continually burn fuel to
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 counteract the Sun's gravitational pull. To
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 address this issue, the team has spent
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 decades designing and developing a new
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 propulsion system. The solution is designed
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 to affordably reach that distance that is
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 closer to the sun than the traditional L1
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 point and to operate there reliably for
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 more than a decade by harnessing an abundant
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 and reliable source that is sunlight.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 Swift would use a fuel less propulsion
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 system called a solar sail to reach its
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 orbit. A solar sail is a hair thin
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 reflective surface simulating a very
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 thin mirror that spans about a third of a
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 football field. It balances the force of
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 light particles coming in from the sun, which
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 pushes it away with the Sun's
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 gravity which pulls it inward.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 While a sailboat harnesses the lift
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 created by wind flowing over its curved
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 sails to move it across the water. A solar
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 sail uses the momentum of photons from
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 sunlight reflected off its large shiny sail
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 to propel a spacecraft through space. Both
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 the sailboat and the solar sail exploit the
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 transfer of energy from their respective
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 environments to drive motion without relying
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 on traditional propellants. A solar sail
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 would enable Swift to enter an Otherwise
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 unstable sub L1 orbit without the
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 risk of running out of fuel. NASA
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 successfully launched its first solar sail in
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 2010. This space demonstration, named
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 Nanosail D2 featured a
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 107 square foot or 10
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 uh square meter sail and was placed in low
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 Earth orbit. That same year, the Japanese
00:14:05 --> 00:14:08 space agency launched a larger solar sail,
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 Icarus, which deployed a
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 2 foot or
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 196 square meter sail
00:14:17 --> 00:14:20 in the solar wind and successfully orbited
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 Venus. The Planetary society and NASA
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 followed up by launching two sales in low
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 Earth orbit Light sail and the advanced
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 composite solar sail system. With an
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 area of
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 860ft square feet
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 or 80 uh square meters, the
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 Swift team's solar sail
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 demonstration mission Solar cruiser will
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 be equipped with a much larger sail.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 Its sail will have an area of
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 17 square
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 feet or
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 1653 square
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 meters and launch as early as
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 2029. If successful, solar cruiser
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 will pave the way for Swift's constellation
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 of four satellites. The constellation would
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 include one satellite equipped with a sail
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 propulsion set to be placed in an orbit
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 beyond L1 and three smaller satellites
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 with chemical propulsion in an orbit at the
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 L1 Lagrange point.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 Thank you for joining us for this Monday
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 just a few stories from the now famous
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 receive in your email every day just like
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 Hallie and I do. And to do that, just visit
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00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 IO and place your email address in the slot
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 all the latest news about science, space
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 science and astronomy from around the world
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 as it's happening. And not only that, you can
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00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 or at our new Facebook page, which is of
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 course Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 there. Astronomy Daily
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 with Steve and Hallie Space,
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 Space, Science and Astronomy.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 Hallie: There's a secret extra member of Crew 11
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 traveling to the International Space Station
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 right now. Disease causing bacteria, or
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 at least such bacteria, will be growing
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 aboard the orbiting laboratory very soon.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 Scientists at the Sheba Medical center in
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 Israel, in partnership with US Based space
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 tech company Space Tango, have developed a
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 study that will examine how microgravity
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 affects the growth of certain bacterial
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 species that cause diseases in humans.
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 To pull it off, researchers will grow
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 different strains of bacteria under
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 microgravity, freeze that bacteria at minus
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 80 degrees Celsius, and then return the
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 samples to Earth to see how they've grown
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 differently than the same bacteria grown on
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 the home planet. The bacterial strains
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 involved re Coli, Salmonella bongori and
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 Salmonella tiffimurium, and they were
00:17:01 --> 00:17:02 launched toward the International space
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 station aboard NASA's Crew Crew 11 mission
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 that SpaceX successfully launched on Friday,
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 August 1. Scientists have already
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 studied how a lack of gravity affects the way
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 bacteria grow, and research from NASA is
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 already underway to study bacteria in space
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 in general. But researchers behind the
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 current ISS and bacteria mission specifically
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 hope to bring home data that will help curb
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 the spread of infectious disease, or at least
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 help experts find ways to stop bacteria from
00:17:27 --> 00:17:30 developing antibiotic resistance, uh, a major
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 public health problem. That means some
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 disease causing bacteria is no longer wiped
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 out by drugs that? Ve been developed to clear
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 the bacteria from people's bodies and get
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 them healthy again. We know that space
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 conditions affect bacterial behavior,
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 including how they grow, express genes and
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 acquire traits like antibiotic resistance or
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 virulence, ohad Galmore, head of the
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 Sheba Medical center, said in a statement.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 This experiment will allow us for the first
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 time to systematically and molecularly map
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 how the genetic expression profile of several
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 pathogenic bacteria changes in space,
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 the health of astronauts, and microgravity's
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 effect on the human body has been top of mind
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 as people explore space and the idea of what
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 life off Earth looks like. Human
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 genes sometimes express themselves
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 differently in microgravity conditions, and
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 scientists have linked such an environment to
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 the expedited loss of muscle seen in
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 astronauts and even their likelihood of
00:18:22 --> 00:18:25 developing skin rashes if examined on
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 their own. However, genetic changes in
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 bacteria will hopefully give researchers more
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 clues about how they act once inside a human,
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 whether it's how fast they spread or their
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 likelihood of getting around our treatments
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 both in space and here on Earth.
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 podcast.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 Steve Dunkley: With Steve Dunkley and now
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 the latest news from Europa Clipper by
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 NASA. The agency's largest
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 interplanetary probe tested its radar during
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 a Mars flyby. The results include a
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 detailed image and bode well for the mission
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 at Jupiter's moon Europa
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 as it soared past Mars in March,
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 Europa uh, Clipper conducted a critical radar
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 test that had been impossible to accomplish
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 here on Earth. Now that the mission
00:19:10 --> 00:19:13 scientists have studied the full stream of
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 data, they can declare that mission ace or
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 that test a success. The radar
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 performed just as expected, bouncing and
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 receiving signals off the region around Mars
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 m equator without a hitch.
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 Europa Clippers radar instrument received
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 echoes of its very high frequency
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 radar signals that bounce off Mars and were
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 processed to develop a radiogram which can be
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 found on the NASA website. What looks like a
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 skyline is the outline of the topography
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 beneath the spacecraft called reason, which
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45 stands for radar for Europa Assessment and
00:19:45 --> 00:19:48 Sounding Ocean near to surface. The radar
00:19:48 --> 00:19:51 instrument will see into Europa's icy
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 shell, which may have pockets of water
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 inside. The radar may even be able to detect
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 the ocean beneath the shell of Jupiter's
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 fourth largest moon. We've got everything
00:20:01 --> 00:20:04 out of the flyby that we dreamed of, said Don
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 Blankenship. He's the principal investigator
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 of the radar instrument of the University of
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 Texas at Austin. He says the goal was
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 to determine the radar's readiness for the
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 Europa mission. And it worked. He says
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 everything part of every part of the mission
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 proved itself to do exactly what we
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 intended. He sounds like a very happy
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 developer. The radar will help scientists
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 understand how the ice may capture materials
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 from the ocean and transfer them to the
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 surface of the moon above ground. The
00:20:34 --> 00:20:37 instrument will help to study elements of
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 Europa's topography, such as ridges
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 so the scientists can examine how they relate
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 to features that REASON images beneath the
00:20:44 --> 00:20:47 surface. Europa Clipper has an unusual
00:20:47 --> 00:20:50 radar setup for an interplanetary
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 spacecraft. Reason uses two pair of
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 slender antenna that jut out from the
00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 solar arrays spanning a distance of about
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 58ft, or 17.6 meters.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 Those arrays themselves are huge, from tip to
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 tip, the size of a basketball court, so they
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 can catch as much light as possible at
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 Europa, which gets about 1 25th as sunlight
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 as Earth. The instrument team conducted all
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 the testing that was possible prior to the
00:21:15 --> 00:21:18 Spacecraft's launch from NASA's Kennedy
00:21:18 --> 00:21:21 Space center in Florida on October
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 14, 2024. During development,
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 engineers at the agency's Jet Propulsion Lab
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 laboratory in Southern California even took
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 the work to outdoors, using open air
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 towers on a plateau above JPL to stretch out
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 and test engineering models of the
00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 instruments spindly high frequency and more
00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 compact very high frequency antennas. But
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 once the actual flight hardware was built, it
00:21:44 --> 00:21:47 needed to be kept sterile and could be tested
00:21:47 --> 00:21:50 only in an enclosed area. Engineers
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 used the giant high Bay
00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 one clean room at JPL where the spacecraft
00:21:55 --> 00:21:58 was assembled to test the instrument piece by
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 piece. To test the echo or the bounce back of
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 reason signals, however, they needed
00:22:03 --> 00:22:06 a chamber of about 250ft, or
00:22:06 --> 00:22:09 76 meters long, nearly 3/4 the length of a
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 football field. The mission's primary goal in
00:22:12 --> 00:22:15 flying by Mars on March 1, less than
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 five months after the launch, was to use the
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 plan planet's gravitational pull to reshape
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 the spacecraft's trajectory. But it
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 also presented opportunities to calibrate the
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 spacecraft's infrared camera and perform a
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 dry run of the radar instrument over terrain
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 NASA scientists had been studying for
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 decades. As Europa Clipper
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 zipped by the volcanic plains of the Red
00:22:39 --> 00:22:42 planet, starting at 3 miles or
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 5 kilometers, down to 550
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 miles, or 884 kilometers above the surface,
00:22:47 --> 00:22:50 Reason sent and received radio waves for
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 about 40 minutes. In comparison, at
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 Europa, the instrument will operate as close
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 as 16 miles, or 25 kilometers above the
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 moon's surface. All told,
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 engineers were able to collect 60 gigabytes
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 of rich data from the instrument. Almost
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 immediately, they could tell REASON was
00:23:08 --> 00:23:10 working very well indeed. The flight team
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 scheduled the full data set to download
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 starting in mid May. Scientists relished the
00:23:15 --> 00:23:18 opportunity over the next couple of months to
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20 examine the information in detail and compare
00:23:20 --> 00:23:23 notes. The engineers were excited that
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 their test worked so perfectly, said JPL's
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 Tina Ray, Europa Clippers deputy science
00:23:28 --> 00:23:30 manager. All of us who had worked so hard to
00:23:30 --> 00:23:32 make this test happen and the scientists
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 seeing the data for the first time were
00:23:34 --> 00:23:37 ecstatic, she says, saying, oh, look at
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 this and look at that. Now the science team
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 is getting a, uh, head start on learning how
00:23:42 --> 00:23:44 to process the data and understand the
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 instruments behavior compared to the models
00:23:47 --> 00:23:49 they are exercising those muscles just like
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 they will out at Europa. She sounds like a
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 very excited scientist. Europa Clipper's
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 total journey to reach the icy moon will
00:23:58 --> 00:24:01 be about 1.8 billion miles, or
00:24:01 --> 00:24:04 2.9 billion kilometers, and includes more
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 one more gravity ascendant, fastest using
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08 Earth in 2026. The
00:24:08 --> 00:24:11 spacecraft is currently about 280 million
00:24:11 --> 00:24:14 miles, or 450 million kilometers from Earth.
00:24:14 --> 00:24:17 Europa UH Clipper's three main science
00:24:17 --> 00:24:19 objectives are UH to determine the thickness
00:24:19 --> 00:24:22 of the Moon's icy shell and its interactions
00:24:22 --> 00:24:24 with the ocean below to investigate its
00:24:24 --> 00:24:27 composition and characterize its geology. The
00:24:27 --> 00:24:30 mission's detailed exploration of Europa will
00:24:30 --> 00:24:32 help scientists better understand the
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 astrobiological potential for habitable
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 worlds beyond Earth.
00:24:37 --> 00:24:40 You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the
00:24:40 --> 00:24:40 podcast.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 Hallie: With your host Steve Dudley.
00:24:48 --> 00:24:51 Astronomers using the NASA ESA
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 CSA James Webb Space Telescope have observed
00:24:53 --> 00:24:56 the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, an area of deep
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58 space with nearly 10 galaxies in the
00:24:58 --> 00:25:01 constellation Fornax. The original
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 HUDF images were pioneering deep field
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06 observations with hubble. Published in 2004,
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 they probed more deeply than ever before and
00:25:09 --> 00:25:12 revealed a menagerie of galaxies dating back
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 to less than a billion years after the Big
00:25:14 --> 00:25:16 Bang. The area was subsequently observed
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 many times by Hubble and other telescopes.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 The field shown here, known as the MIRI Deep
00:25:22 --> 00:25:24 Imaging Survey region, was observed with the
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26 shortest wavelength filter of Webb's mid
00:25:26 --> 00:25:28 infrared Instrument for nearly 100 hours, the
00:25:28 --> 00:25:31 Webb astronomer said in a statement. This
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 is Webb's longest observation of an
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 extragalactic field in one filter so far,
00:25:35 --> 00:25:37 producing one of the deepest views ever
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40 obtained of the universe. Combined with data
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 from Webb's near infrared camera, this image
00:25:42 --> 00:25:45 allows astronomers to explore how galaxies
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 formed and evolved over billions of years.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 These deep observations have revealed more
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 than 2 sources in this tiny patch of sky.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 The sky among them are hundreds of extremely
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 red galaxies, some of which are likely
00:25:57 --> 00:26:00 massive dust obscured systems or evolved
00:26:00 --> 00:26:02 galaxies with mature stars that formed early
00:26:02 --> 00:26:05 in the universe's history. Thanks to Webb's
00:26:05 --> 00:26:07 sharp resolution even at mid infrared
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 wavelengths, researchers can resolve the
00:26:09 --> 00:26:11 structures of many of these galaxies and
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 study how their light is distributed,
00:26:12 --> 00:26:14 shedding light on their growth and evolution.
00:26:15 --> 00:26:18 In the new Webb image of hudf, the colors
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 that appear have been assigned to different
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 kinds of infrared light highlight the fine
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 distinctions astronomers can make with these
00:26:22 --> 00:26:25 deep data. Orange and red represent the
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 longest mid infrared wavelengths, the
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30 astronomers said. The galaxies in these
00:26:30 --> 00:26:32 colors have extra features such as high
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 concentrations of dust, copious star
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 formation, or an active galactic nucleus at
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 their center, which emit more of this farther
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 infrared light. Small greenish white
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 galaxies are particularly distant with high
00:26:43 --> 00:26:46 redshifts. This shifts their light
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 spectrum into the peak mid infrared
00:26:48 --> 00:26:50 wavelengths of the data, which are depicted
00:26:50 --> 00:26:53 in white and green. Most of the galaxies
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 in this image lack any such mid infrared
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57 boosting features, leaving them most bright
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 at shorter near infrared wavelengths, which
00:26:59 --> 00:27:01 are depicted with blue and cyan colors.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:11 That everyone was the Monday episode.
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 Steve Dunkley: Wow, Hallie. All done.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:15 Hallie: Um, and no one caught a nasty science fiction
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 bug from outer space, did we?
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 Steve Dunkley: No we didn't, Hallie. So
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 thankfully, we will be seeing you again next
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 week on Astronomy Daily with.
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 Hallie: Us, Hallie and Steve.
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 Steve Dunkley: That's right. See you next Monday, everybody.
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 Hallie: Bye.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33 Voice Over Guy: Astronomy Daily, the podcast
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 with your host, Steve Dunkley.