Artemis 3 Delays, Hayabusa2's New Mission, and Earth's Mini Moon Gold Rush

0:00 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your essential

0:02 guide to the cosmos. I'm Anna.

0:05 Avery: And I'm Avery. We're the podcast that brings

0:07 you the day's biggest news in space and

0:09 astronomy from our solar system and beyond.

0:12 Anna: We have a packed show for you today. Our

0:15 top story, NASA's Aerospace Safety

0:18 Advisory Panel is sounding the alarm warning

0:21 that the Artemis 3 mission to land humans on

0:23 the moon is at high risk of delay.

0:26 Avery: Plus, we'll check in on the extended mission

0:28 of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, celebrate the

0:31 recovery of a rare meteorite in Europe, and

0:34 explore a potential gold rush for asteroid

0:36 manners targeting Earth's mini moons.

0:38 Anna: And later, we'll have a few quick updates on

0:41 SpaceX, growing tea on the moon, and

0:43 finding the history of our galaxy right here

0:46 on Earth.

0:46 Let's get started. All right, our main story

0:49 today comes from a public meeting at the

0:51 Johnson Space Center. NASA's Aerospace Safety

0:54 Advisory Panel, or ASAP, issued a stark

0:57 warning on September 18th regarding the

0:59 timeline for the Artemis 30.

1:02 Avery: Um, and this all centers on the human landing

1:04 system, which is SpaceX's Starship. Right?

1:06 The vehicle that's supposed to actually take

1:08 the astronauts down to the lunar surface.

1:11 Anna: Exactly. The panel is concerned that Starship

1:14 will likely not be ready to support the

1:16 mission in late 2026 as currently

1:19 scheduled. They cited two key.

1:21 SpaceX needs to get the vehicle flying

1:24 successfully, and it needs to demonstrate

1:26 propellant transfer in orbit.

1:29 Avery: That first one is a pretty big hurdle. The

1:31 first integrated test flight back in April

1:33 failed a few minutes after liftoff, and,

1:36 well, it completely obliterated its own

1:38 launch pad.

1:39 Anna: It certainly did. SpaceX has made

1:42 repairs and upgrades, but they are still

1:45 awaiting an updated launch license from the

1:47 Federal Aviation Administration for their

1:50 next test flight. The chair of the

1:53 panel, Patricia Sanders, was very direct,

1:56 stating the current schedule has a high risk

1:59 of delays, and.

2:00 Avery: It'S not just a safety panel. We've heard

2:02 similar rumblings from senior NASA officials,

2:04 though they've also mentioned concerns about

2:06 the development of new spacesuits and other

2:08 lander systems. But Starship seems to be the

2:11 longest pole in the tent.

2:13 Anna: It is. And that second point, propellant

2:16 transfer, is critical. Starship needs to

2:18 be refueled in orbit for a lunar mission, and

2:21 transferring cryogenic propellants on that

2:23 scale has never been done before.

2:26 Avery: So what's the backup plan if the lander has

2:28 problems? Is there a contingency?

2:30 Anna: That's the other issue Sanders raised. NASA's

2:33 Gateway, the planned outpost in lunar orbit,

2:35 could serve as a safe haven for astronauts,

2:38 but the gateway itself won't be ready for

2:41 Artemis 3. It really puts all the pressure on

2:43 starship performing as planned and on

2:46 schedule.

2:47 Avery: It sounds like a very high stakes

2:49 development. We will certainly be watching

2:51 for news on the next test flight moving from

2:54 the moon to the asteroids.

2:55 Let's talk about a mission that has already

2:57 proven to be a great successJapan's

3:00 Hayabusa2.

3:01 Anna: Of course, the mission that returned a

3:03 pristine sample from the asteroid ryugu back

3:06 in 2020. What's next for the spacecraft?

3:09 Avery: It's on an extended mission heading to a new

3:11 target called asteroid, uh, 1998

3:14 KY26. And this new destination

3:17 is a very different kind of space rock.

3:19 Anna: Different how?

3:20 Avery: For starters, it's very small with a diameter

3:23 of only 30 meters. It's also a fast

3:25 rotator, spinning on its axis once every

3:28 10.7 minutes.

3:30 Anna: That is incredibly fast. That must give

3:33 it a very low gravitational field, making

3:35 any kind of landing or contact extremely

3:38 difficult.

3:39 Avery: You're exactly right. Because of that,

3:41 Hayabusa2 will not be collecting a sample

3:43 this time. Instead, it will study the

3:45 asteroid from a distance when it arrives in

3:48 July 2031.

3:49 Anna: It's just fantastic that they can get more

3:52 science out of an already completed mission.

3:55 This extended mission will allow scientists

3:58 to study a completely different type of

4:00 asteroid and learn more about the early days

4:03 of our solar system. A great example of

4:06 mission efficiency.

4:08 Well, from visiting asteroids, we now turn

4:11 to an asteroid that visited us

4:13 after two years. Scientists have recovered a

4:16 very special meteorite from a fireball that

4:19 exploded over Europe in February

4:22 2023.

4:23 Avery: I think I remember seeing videos of that one

4:25 online. It was seen by thousands of people.

4:28 Anna: It was. The recovered meteorite has been

4:31 named Bliskvika, which is polish for

4:34 lightning. And it's a rare type of meteorite

4:37 known as an Aubrite.

4:38 Avery: An Aubrite. What makes that type of meteorite

4:41 special?

4:42 Anna: They're thought to originate from the main

4:44 asteroid belt and are made of a very distinct

4:47 light colored rock. But. But what makes the

4:49 Bliskavica meteorite so important is that

4:52 it's the first abrite ever to be recovered

4:55 from a fireball that was observed by so many

4:57 people and captured on so many

5:00 cameras.

5:01 Avery: So all those dash cams and doorbell cameras

5:04 actually contributed to the science

5:06 immensely.

5:07 Anna: It allowed scientists to precisely

5:10 calculate the meteorite's trajectory. And

5:13 this is the crucial part, determine its pre

5:15 impact orbit. They have actually traced

5:18 this specific rock back to its likely

5:21 origin point in the asteroid belt.

5:23 Avery: That's incredible. So they don't just have

5:26 the rock, they have its return address?

5:28 Anna: Essentially, yes. It's being called a major

5:31 coup for planetary science. It provides a

5:34 unique opportunity to study a rare

5:37 meteorite with a known origin story

5:39 which can tell us some so much more about the

5:42 formation of our solar system.

5:44 Avery: Speaking of getting our hands on space rocks,

5:46 our next story sounds like something straight

5:48 out of science fiction. Apparently Earth's

5:51 next mini moon could create a gold rush for

5:54 asteroid miners.

5:55 Anna: A mini moon? Are we talking about a permanent

5:58 second moon?

6:00 Avery: Sort of, but temporary. The official term

6:03 is a temporarily captured object or

6:05 tco. These are asteroids that are

6:08 captured by Earth's gravity, orbit, uh, our

6:10 planet for a few months or even years and

6:13 then get ejected back into space.

6:16 Anna: Okay, so they're transient visitors.

6:18 Where does the gold rush come in?

6:20 Avery: A new study has found that a TCO with a

6:23 diameter of just a few meters could

6:26 contain billions of dollars worth of precious

6:28 metals. The authors of the study propose a

6:31 mission concept called a T class mission to

6:34 to go out, collect the sample and bring it

6:37 back to Earth.

6:38 Anna: Billions of dollars in value. But

6:41 surely the mission to retrieve it would cost

6:43 just as much.

6:44 Avery: That's the most exciting part. The study

6:46 suggests such a mission could be launched for

6:48 as little as $10 million.

6:51 Because these TCOs are so much closer and

6:54 easier to reach than main belt asteroids,

6:56 they are far cheaper targets.

6:59 Anna: That's incredible. So the authors believe

7:02 these TCOs could be a game changer for the

7:04 asteroid mining industry.

7:06 Avery: They do. They say TCOs could provide a

7:09 regular, accessible and much cheaper supply

7:11 of precious metals to Earth. It turns these

7:14 fleeting visitors into potential orbiting

7:16 treasure chests.

7:18 Alright, let's wrap up with a few quick

7:19 updates from around the cosmos. First up, it

7:22 was another Busy Sunday for SpaceX.

7:24 Anna: Let me guess, more Starlink satellites?

7:27 Avery: You got it. A Falcon 9 rocket launched

7:30 another 22 Starlink spacecraft from Cape

7:32 Canaveral. The first stage booster

7:34 successfully landed for its 17th time. This

7:37 marked the 65th orbital mission of the year

7:40 for SpaceX. Just an incredible launch

7:42 cadence.

7:43 Anna: It really is.

7:44 Now from low Earth orbit to the lunar

7:47 surface, could future astronauts grow their

7:50 own tea?

7:51 Avery: It seems so. A new study found that it is

7:53 possible to grow tea plants in a simulant of

7:56 lunar soil. The plants were able to germinate

7:59 and grow and they even produced catechins,

8:02 the antioxidant compounds that make tea

8:04 healthy.

8:05 Anna: Being able to grow their own food, even

8:08 something as simple as tea for a comforting

8:11 drink, would be a huge logistical and

8:13 psychological advantage for astronauts on

8:16 long term space missions.

8:18 Avery: Absolutely. And for a final story, we're

8:21 going from the small scale to the galactic

8:23 new research suggests that signs of our

8:25 galaxy's spiral arms may be trapped in some

8:28 of Earth's crystals.

8:29 Anna: How is that possible?

8:31 Avery: A study in the journal Nature analyzed

8:33 ancient crystals from our planet's crust.

8:36 They found traces of heavy elements like gold

8:38 and platinum, which are thought to be

8:40 produced in the supernova of massive stars.

8:43 These supernovae are much more common in the

8:46 spiral arms of galaxies.

8:48 Anna: So the theory is that as our solar system

8:51 passed through these dense star forming

8:53 spiral arms over billions of years, the Earth

8:56 picked up this stardust which which then got

8:58 trapped in the crust.

9:00 Avery: Exactly. The crystals act as a geological

9:02 record of our planet's epic journey through

9:05 the Milky Way.

9:06 Anna: And that is our cosmic journey for today.

9:09 From potential delays for our return to.

9:11 Avery: The Moon to finding galactic history

9:15 right here in the ground beneath our feet.

9:17 Thank you for joining us on Astronomy Daily.

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9:39 tomorrow.

9:40 Avery: Until next time, keep looking up.