- SpaceX's Starship Test Flight Delays: The highly anticipated 10th test flight of SpaceX's Starship has faced multiple delays due to ground systems issues and inclement weather. Learn about the challenges and what’s next for this revolutionary rocket designed for lunar and Martian exploration.
- JUICE's Close Call: The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) experienced a nerve-wracking silence while on its way to Venus. Discover how the team successfully reestablished contact after a communication hiccup, ensuring the mission remains on track for its upcoming flyby.
- Record-Breaking Fast Radio Burst: Astronomers have detected the brightest fast radio burst ever recorded, dubbed RB Float. This discovery not only showcases the burst's incredible brightness but also its close proximity, allowing for unprecedented study of its origins and potential links to nearby cosmic structures.
- Ancient Raindrops from Jupiter's Formation: Researchers have pinpointed the origin of tiny molten droplets from the early solar system, providing insights into the formation of Jupiter. This fascinating study reveals how high-energy collisions in Jupiter's vicinity produced chondrules, offering a glimpse into the planet's birth.
- 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 Anna and Avery signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
SpaceX Updates
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
JUICE Mission Details
[ESA](https://www.esa.int/)
Fast Radio Burst Discoveries
[CHIME](https://chime.phas.ubc.ca/)
Jupiter's Chondrules Research
[Nagoya University](https://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Avery: Hello, space enthusiasts, and welcome back to
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 Astronomy Daily. I'm Avery.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 Anna: And I'm Anna. We've got a packed show for you
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 today, from lunch delays and spacecraft
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 rescues to the brightest cosmic flash ever
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 seen. And we'll finish by traveling back in
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 time to the birth of Jupiter.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 Avery: It's a huge lineup. Let's get right into it,
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 starting with the latest from SpaceX.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 Anna: That's right, it's been a classic hurry up
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 and wait situation for SpaceX as they've had
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 to postpone the 10th test flight of their
00:00:29 --> 00:00:32 massive Starship rocket again.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 Avery: Indeed. They first tried to launch from their
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 Starbase site in South Texas on Sunday,
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 but a ground systems issue got in the way.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:43 Then they tried again on Monday, but this
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 time it was Mother Nature who said, not
00:00:45 --> 00:00:46 today.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 Anna: And it was a very specific kind of not
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 today. Anvil shaped clouds were the culprit.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 Those pose a serious lightning risk and
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 you do not want a lightning strike near a
00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 fully fueled rocket.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 Avery: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who was on site,
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 confirmed the scrub on social media.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 Anna: The team is now looking for the next best
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 launch opportunity. A, uh, SpaceX
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 spokesperson mentioned that since they didn't
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 fire the water deluge system, reloading
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 propellant should be a relatively quick
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 process. So hopefully we'll see flight 10
00:01:17 --> 00:01:18 take the sky soon.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Avery: And what a sight it'll be. For anyone new to
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 the program, Starship is the biggest and most
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 powerful rocket ever built.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 SpaceX's grand vision is to use it to help
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 humanity settle the the moon and
00:01:31 --> 00:01:32 Mars.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 Anna: It's an incredible piece of engineering. The
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 vehicle consists of two fully reusable
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 stainless steel stages, a massive booster
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 called Super Heavy, and the upper stage,
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 which is also called Starship. The goal is
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 rapid reusability, but getting.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 Avery: There has been a real process of trial and
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 error. Starship has flown nine times so far,
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 with the first flight back in April of 2023.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 The last three flights this year have all,
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 been, well, learning experiences.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 Anna: That's a polite way of putting it. On Flight
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 7 and 8, the upper stage exploded less than
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 10 minutes after launch. And on Flight 9, it
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 lost attitude control during re entry and
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 broke apart in the atmosphere. We even saw
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 reports of debris spotted over the Bahamas.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 Avery: It's all part of the rapid iterative
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 development process, I suppose. SpaceX
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 traced the Flight 7 anomaly to a
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 harmonic response that caused propellant
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 leaks and fires. They've since made hardware
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 changes and adjustments to prevent it from
00:02:31 --> 00:02:32 happening again.
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 Anna: So the plan for Flight 10 whenever it
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 launches, is ambitious. The super heavy
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 boosters will perform some experiments before
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 Attempting a controlled splashdown in the
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 Gulf of Mexico, The Starship Upper Stage will
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 aim to deploy eight dummy Starlink
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 satellites, relight an engine in space, and
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 then come down in the Indian Ocean about
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 66 minutes after launch.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 Avery: It's a huge step and it's clear they're
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 looking to pick up the pace. Despite the
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 setbacks, SpaceX has requested approval for
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 an incredible 25 Starship
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 launches from Starbase in 2025.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 They are not slowing down, Definitely not.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 Anna: We'll be watching closely and will bring you
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 updates as uh, soon as Flight 10 gets off the
00:03:14 --> 00:03:15 ground.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 Now, from a mission waiting to start, let's
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 turn to one that just survived a major scare
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 millions of kilometers from home. This is a
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 fantastic story of teamwork from the European
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 Space Agency. Their Jupiter Icy Moons
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 Explorer, or juice, is currently on its way
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 to Venus for a gravity assist flyby. But for
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 a little while, the team on the ground had no
00:03:36 --> 00:03:37 idea if it was okay.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:40 Avery: Talk about a nerve wracking situation. On
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 July 16, during a routine check in,
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 JUICE just fell silent. The
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 Deep Space Antenna in Spain couldn't
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 establish contact. No signal, no
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 telemetry about its health or stat, nothing.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 Anna: The control team at ESOC in Germany
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 immediately began troubleshooting. The
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 biggest fear was that JUICE had entered
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 survival mode, a last resort state triggered
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 by multiple system failures. But they weren't
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 detecting the intermittent signal you'd
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 expect in that scenario.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 Avery: So with no data coming in, they had to start
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 making some educated guesses. The
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 team suspected an issue with the
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 communication subsystem. They faced a tough
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 wait, 14 days for an automatic
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 spacecraft reset or send
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 commands blind into space and hope
00:04:28 --> 00:04:29 the spacecraft heard them.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 Anna: Waiting wasn't really an option, as uh,
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 spacecraft Operations Manager Angela
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 Dietz explained, that would have delayed
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 crucial preparations for the Venus flyby.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 So they went with the blind commanding
00:04:42 --> 00:04:43 option.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Avery: Um, and that is not easy. Juice was
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 200 million kilometers away on
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 the other side of the sun. Each command
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 took 11 minutes to get there, and then they
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 had to wait another 11 minutes to see if it
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 worked. After nearly 20 hours of
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 troubleshooting, a command finally got
00:05:02 --> 00:05:03 through.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 Anna: The successful command manually activated the
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 signal amplifier, which boosts the strength
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 of the signal Juice sends to Earth. Suddenly,
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 they had contact again, and the spacecraft
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 was in perfect health. It turns out the
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 culprit was a very subtle software bug,
00:05:20 --> 00:05:21 A, uh, timing.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 Avery: Bug of all things. The software
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 function that controls the amplifier uses an
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 internal timer that resets every 16
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 months. It just so happened that the function
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 was running at the exact moment the timer
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 restarted, which left the Amplifier switched
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 off. What are the odds?
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 Anna: Incredibly small. But as we know, in
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 space, you have to plan for everything.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 The team has already identified ways to
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 prevent this from happening again. It's a
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 textbook example of calm, methodical problem
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 solving under extreme pressure.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 Avery: Absolutely. A huge congratulations to
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 the ESA mission operations team. With
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 that drama behind them, JUICE is now back on
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 track for its Venus flyby at the end of
00:06:07 --> 00:06:07 August.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 From a close call to a cosmic bullseye,
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 our next story is about a truly record
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 breaking discovery. This one is genuinely
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 exciting. Astronomers have just detected the
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 brightest fast radio burst ever recorded.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 It's so powerful, they've nicknamed it
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 RB Float, which stands for radio
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 brightest flash of all time.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 Anna: A very fitting name. The burst, officially
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 cataloged as FRB2025
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 0316A, was spotted spotted
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 back in March by the CHIME telescope in
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 British Columbia. CHIME has found
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 thousands of these fast radio bursts, or
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 FRBs, but this one is special.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 Avery: It's not just about the brightness. Right.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 It's about where they found it.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 Usually tracing an FRB is like trying to
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 find which tree a firefly is in from a
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 mile away. But this time they
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 pinpointed its origin to a region just
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 45 light years across.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 Anna: Exactly that incredible precision is
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 thanks to a new upgrade to the CHIME system.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 They've added three smaller outrigger
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 stations across North America, which
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 effectively turns them into a single
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 continent wide telescope. This allows them to
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 trace these millisecond long flashes back to
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 their home galaxies with stunning accuracy.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 Avery: And the home galaxy in this case NGC
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 4141, is practically in
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 our backyard. Cosmically speaking, it's about
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 130 million light years away, which is
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 incredibly close for an frb. Most of
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 them come from billions of light years away.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 Anna: That proximity, combined with its brightness
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 gives scientists a, uh, unique chance to
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 study the source in detail. The team found
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 the burst originated near the edge of a star
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 forming region in the galaxy. This hints that
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 the source could be a magnetar, an ultra
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 magnetized neutron star that's perhaps
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 a bit older than the very youngest stars at
00:08:07 --> 00:08:08 the galaxy's core.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 Avery: And the story gets even better. Because they
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 located it so quickly, they were able to
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 point the James Webb Telescope at the
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 location. Webb's infrared cameras spotted
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 a faint point of light nearby, which they've
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 dubbed Nir1.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 Anna: The nature of Nir1 is still a
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 mystery. It could be a red giant star or
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 maybe a massive star in its midlife. It
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 Neither of these are typically associated
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 with FRBs, which has led to a
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 fascinating theory. Perhaps
00:08:38 --> 00:08:41 NIR1 is part of a binary system
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 with its gravitational partner being the
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 compact objects like a neutron star that
00:08:47 --> 00:08:48 produce the burst.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 Avery: It's a fantastic cosmic puzzle. Another idea
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 is that NIR1 isn't a star at all, but the
00:08:54 --> 00:08:55 fading afterglow of the burst itself,
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 whatever it is. As Ito Berger from the
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 Harvard Smithsonian center for Astrophysics
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 said the this could be the first step on a
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 new path to solving the FRB mystery.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 Anna: It also adds to the debate over whether FRBs
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 are one time events or repeaters. So
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 far, RB float seems to be a one
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 off. Being able to study the environment of
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 a non repeating FRB this closely is a huge
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 deal. And it shows just how diverse their
00:09:21 --> 00:09:22 origins might be.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 Avery: Absolutely. It's a perfect illustration of
00:09:25 --> 00:09:26 how collaboration between different
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 observatories can unlock new discoveries.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 Now for our final story, we're coming a bit
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 closer to home to look at ancient raindrops
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 from the formation of our own solar system.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 Anna: That's right. Avery researchers
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 have for the first time managed to determine
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 the date and origin of tiny ancient
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 molten droplets that came from the
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 neighborhood of a young Jupiter. These
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 droplets were found inside meteorites here
00:09:53 --> 00:09:54 on Earth.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 Avery: Molten rock raindrops from Jupiter?
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 That sounds incredible. How does that even
00:10:00 --> 00:10:01 happen?
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 Anna: Well, about 4.5 billion years
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 ago, as Jupiter was forming, its
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 immense gravitational pull started flinging
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 nearby small rocky and icy
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 bodies called planetesimals into
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 each other at incredibly high speeds.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 Avery: So these were seriously high energy
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 collisions. What happened to the rock?
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 Anna: The impacts were so forceful that the rock
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 and dust on these planetesimals melted
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 instantly, creating tiny molten
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 rock droplets known as chondrules.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 These spheres, only about a millimeter wide,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 eventually got incorporated into asteroids,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 some of which later fell to Earth as
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 meteorites.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 Avery: So scientists have had these chondrules for a
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 while, but they weren't sure exactly how they
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 formed. What's the new theory?
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 Anna: A team from Nagoya University in Japan
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 and the INAF Turin Astrophysical
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 Observatory in Italy developed a new
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 model. They realized that when these water
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 rich planetesimals collided, the water would
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 have instantly vaporized into steam.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 This expanding steam acted like a series
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 of tiny explosions, breaking apart the
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 molten rock into the exact kind of droplets
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 we see in meteorites.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 Avery: That makes so much sense. So they tested this
00:11:23 --> 00:11:24 with a computer simulation.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 Anna: They did. They programmed a simulation of
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 Jupiter's formation, tracking how its gravity
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 would cause these collisions. Co lead
00:11:33 --> 00:11:36 author Dr. Diego Turini said the
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 model spontaneously generated realistic
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 looking chondrules. And importantly, it
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 showed that the peak of this chondrule
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 production happened right as Jupiter was
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 accumulating gas to become the giant it is
00:11:49 --> 00:11:50 today.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 Avery: And, um, the evidence from actual meteorites
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 backs this up perfectly.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 Anna: The meteorite data shows that peak chondrul
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 Production occurred about 1.8 million years
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 after the solar system began, which is
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 exactly when they believed Jupiter was going
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 through its main growth spurt.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 Avery: Wow. So these tiny droplets are like
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 fossilized evidence of Jupiter's birth.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 That's amazing. Does this solve all the
00:12:17 --> 00:12:17 mysteries?
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 Anna: Not quite. The model doesn't fully
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 explain why we find chondrules of different
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 ages in meteorites. The researchers suggest
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 that the formation of other gas giants like
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 Saturn could have triggered similar events
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 later on, creating more chondrules.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 Avery: It's a fantastic piece of detective work. It
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 m gives us a clearer picture of how our solar
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 system formed and provides insights that
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 could apply to other systems as well. A huge
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 story contained in a tiny, ancient raindrop.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:49 And that's all the time we have for this
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 episode of Astronomy Daily. From cosmic
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 flashes to planetary raindrops, it's been
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 another incredible week in space.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 Anna: It certainly has. Thank you so much for
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 joining us. If you enjoyed the show, please
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 you can follow us on social media for daily
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 updates.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 Avery: Until next time, keep looking up.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:10 Anna: Goodbye, everyone.