S03E145: Spaceflight Health Discoveries, BepiColombo's New Route, and Ganymede's Titanic Collision

Transcript

Welcome listeners to another episode of Astronomy Daily, your go-to source for the latest in space and astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and today we have some fascinating stories to delve into. From groundbreaking research uncovering how spaceflight affects human physiology, to the thruster issues delaying the BepiColombo spacecraft’s journey to Mercury. We also have the intriguing tale of a peculiar noise heard on NASA's Starliner and a look at how a titanic asteroid impact reshaped Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. So, sit back, relax, and let's explore the cosmos together.

Lets start today with Astronauts and health. Space travel has always been a frontier filled with mystery and discovery. But what about the mysteries that unravel inside the human body during spaceflight? Recent research has shed some light on this fascinating subject, and the findings could be game-changing for future long-duration missions. Let's start with the gut microbiome—a bustling community of bacteria residing within us, essential for everything from digestion to immune function. Well, it turns out that spaceflight extensively alters this internal ecosystem. Researchers from University College Dublin and McGill University led an international team, in collaboration with NASA, to explore these changes. The study, published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, dived deep into genetic analyses to understand how space travel impacts the gut microbiome, and the results are nothing short of extraordinary. The researchers used advanced genetic technologies to examine the gut microbiomes of mice aboard the International Space Station over three months. Their findings revealed significant shifts in specific bacteria, which in turn affected gene expression related to immune and metabolic functions. This isn't just about gut health; these shifts have profound implications for overall astronaut physiology.

"Spaceflight extensively alters astronaut physiology," said Dr. Emmanuel Gonzalez of McGill University and the study's first author. The results showed previously unknown effects on host physiology, a crucial piece in solving the spaceflight puzzle. Essentially, it's not just the humans and animals that make the journey to space—it's entire ecosystems traveling with us, ecosystems whose well-being might be just as critical as the astronauts'. One of the key discoveries was how these changes in the gut microbiome affect bile acid and cholesterol metabolism, vital elements that play roles in maintaining energy and metabolic balance. Such insights are indispensable for designing protocols to safeguard astronaut health during missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This groundbreaking research was part of a larger initiative by NASA's GeneLab. The international collaboration saw contributions from an array of scientists and institutions, highlighting the importance of cooperative Open Science. The goal? Accelerate discoveries and turn complexities into actionable findings. Jonathan Galazka, a Space Biology Portfolio Scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, emphasized how such collaborative efforts can speed up our understanding of spaceflight impacts.

But it's not just about safeguarding astronaut health for distant missions. These findings have significant implications for improving health right here on Earth. Stressful environments can disrupt the delicate symbiosis between humans and their gut bacteria, leading to various health issues. By studying these disruptions in space, researchers hope to devise better health protocols that could benefit everyone. Professor Nicholas Brereton of the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science described the discoveries as "highlighting the intricate dialogue between specific gut bacteria and their mouse hosts." Essentially, the study lays the groundwork for future space medicine while offering insights that could extend to Earth-bound medical care. Looking ahead, the knowledge gained from this research is set to support missions like NASA's Artemis program, which aims to put humans back on the Moon, and the Gateway deep space station. As we set our sights on Mars, understanding these microbial shifts and their physiological impacts becomes paramount.

So, what does this mean for the future? Imagine astronauts on a mission to Mars, equipped with personalized health protocols based on their unique gut microbiomes. Insights from this study could help develop such tailored strategies, ensuring that the men and women who undertake these epic journeys are as prepared as possible. In summary, the research unveils the multi-layered impacts of spaceflight on the gut microbiome, providing invaluable information for future long-duration missions. It's a remarkable step forward, illustrating how our ever-expanding knowledge of space can circle back to benefit life on Earth as well.

Next up on Astronomy Daily, let's talk about the thruster issues faced by the European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft, which has led to a delay in its arrival at Mercury until 2026. This story has a lot of intriguing engineering and problem-solving elements that highlight the complexities of space exploration. BepiColombo, a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), launched back in 2018 with the ambitious goal of exploring Mercury and unlocking some of its many mysteries. The spacecraft needs to follow a highly complex and circuitous route to reach Mercury, involving multiple flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury itself. The plan was for BepiColombo to use its thrusters for these maneuvers, but earlier this year in April, engineers encountered a hitch. A glitch affected the spacecraft's thrusters, causing them not to operate at full power. This malfunction was related to unexpected electric currents between the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) solar array and the power extraction and distribution unit. Essentially, the setup designed to manage and distribute power throughout the spacecraft wasn't functioning as intended, resulting in inadequate thrust.

After months of intensive investigations, ESA’s mission manager, Santa Martinez, confirmed the troubling news: the MTM's electric thrusters were irrevocably compromised and would not meet the thrust requirements needed for the planned insertion into Mercury’s orbit in December 2025. However, engineers are nothing if not resilient. Despite this significant setback, they quickly got to work on a solution. ESA's Flight Dynamics team came up with a viable workaround to ensure the mission could still achieve its primary goals. They revised the spacecraft's trajectory, calculating a new path that would conserve the remaining thrust while still allowing BepiColombo to meet its scientific objectives. The ingenious new plan involves having BepiColombo fly approximately 22 miles closer to Mercury during its fifth flyby than originally planned. This maneuver reduces the thrust requirements for subsequent flybys and sets the spacecraft on a course that will enable it to arrive at Mercury in November 2026, about a year later than initially planned.

Despite this delay, the mission remains poised for success. BepiColombo is equipped with an impressive suite of 16 scientific instruments, distributed across two orbiters developed separately by ESA and JAXA. Once they arrive, the two orbiters will separate and begin their respective tasks studying Mercury's magnetic field, surface, and exosphere for at least one year, with a possibility of extending to a second year. Project scientist Johannes Benkhoff emphasized the silver lining: the new trajectory still allows the spacecraft to gather valuable data during the flybys, which wouldn't be feasible once it's locked into Mercury’s orbit. This preliminary science phase provides crucial preparation time that will help ensure a smoother transition into the main mission phase once the spacecraft arrives at Mercury. BepiColombo's main science camera remains shielded until the orbiters separate, but during this period, the spacecraft’s monitoring cameras will capture images of Mercury's heavily cratered surface, giving us a tantalizing preview of what's to come.

Now, an intriguing Starliner story. Recently, astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station reported hearing a strange pulsing noise emanating from Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, docked to the ISS. The intriguing incident sparked much curiosity and speculation, but NASA has now provided a clear explanation, putting many minds at ease. According to NASA, the mysterious noise originated from feedback in the audio configuration between Starliner and the ISS. This was not entirely unexpected, given the complexity of the space station's audio system, which allows multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected. NASA noted that feedback and noise issues are relatively common under these conditions and are routinely managed by the crew in contact with mission control. During his work inside Starliner on a recent Saturday, Wilmore first noticed the unusual sound. NASA promptly addressed the concern and reassured that this noise had no technical impact on the crew, Starliner, or station operations. The issue, fortunately, did not interfere with Starliner's planned activities, including its uncrewed undocking scheduled for no earlier than Friday, September 6.

Moving on, let's take a look at a big bang...a really big bang! It’s hard to imagine the tremendous force that reshaped a moon as vast as Ganymede, but an asteroid impact around 4 billion years ago did just that. Ganymede, the largest moon in our Solar System, even out-sizing the planet Mercury, bore the brunt of an asteroid impact so colossal, it reshaped not just its surface, but potentially its very rotation as well. Research led by a planetologist from Kobe University has illuminated this ancient, transformative event. By analyzing the furrows on Ganymede’s surface, which form concentric circles around a specific region, scientists have traced these geological features back to a massive impact. These furrows might look like curious surface patterns, but they tell the story of an event that was 20 times more powerful than the asteroid that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs on Earth.

Ganymede's surface is unique in its own right. Not only is this moon tidally locked to Jupiter, much like our own moon is to Earth, but it also boasts subsurface oceans beneath its icy exterior. This intriguing mix of traits makes it a prime candidate for studying the effects of such a titan-sized impact. The location of the impact was almost precisely on the meridian farthest away from Jupiter. This detail implied a significant reorientation event that mirrors what we’ve observed from the New Horizons mission on Pluto. Both celestial bodies showcase the traces of ancient impacts that were powerful enough to tilt their axes and reshuffle their geologies. The crux of the study lies in the computations that simulated this monumental collision. According to the findings, the asteroid in question likely had a diameter of around 300 kilometers. To put this in perspective, that's roughly the distance from Washington D.C. to New York City. Such a massive object striking Ganymede would have generated a transient crater between 1,400 and 1,600 kilometers in diameter.

If you’re wondering what a transient crater is, think of it as the immediate, initial cavity formed right after the collision, before any material starts filling it back in or before geological processes begin to alter its shape. It’s essentially the raw footprint of the impact and provides crucial data for simulations. Research leader Naoyuki Hirata from Kobe University took things a step further by examining the impact on Ganymede’s internal structure and rotation. His simulations revealed that only an impact of the calculated magnitude could have caused such a considerable shift in the moon's rotational axis. This means that the asteroid didn’t just scar the surface; it also jumbled the internal mass distribution to a degree that altered Ganymede's orientation permanently. These insights are invaluable. As Hirata notes, understanding such early, significant events provides broader comprehension not only of Ganymede’s past but potentially of the early Solar System's dynamics. Furthermore, Ganymede’s ongoing intrigue lies in its subsurface oceans, areas that future missions like the European Space Agency’s JUICE probe aim to explore. JUICE, set to arrive at Ganymede in 2034, will orbit the moon for six months, gathering data that could answer many of the questions raised by this impactful discovery.

The importance of future missions cannot be overstated. With advanced technology and instruments, these missions could verify Hirata’s simulations and perhaps uncover more about Ganymede’s mysterious oceans and geological history. These discoveries don’t just add to our knowledge of one moon; they help us piece together the grand puzzle of our Solar System’s formation and evolution. In summary, the ancient cataclysmic event on Ganymede is a cornerstone in planetary science. It underscores the interconnectedness of celestial mechanics, surface geology, and internal planetary structures, and reaffirms why missions to icy moons and distant planets are vital for unraveling the complexities of space.

Thank you for tuning in to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna, and it's been a pleasure bringing you the latest in space news. Don't forget to visit our website at astronomydaily.io to sign up for our free daily newsletter, catch up on all the latest space news, and listen to all our back episodes. You can also find us on social media by searching for AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok. Until next time, keep looking up!