Astronauts' Vision Crisis, South Korea's Lunar Leap, and the Cosmic Promises of the Roman Telescope

Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm

Anna, your host and I'm thrilled to have you

join us for another journey through the

latest and most captivating stories from the

cosmos. Today we're delving

into some truly fascinating developments that

span from the challenges faced by astronauts

in space to humanity's ambitious future on

the Moon and beyond. We'll start by

exploring an unexpected side effect of space

travel. How it can permanently change an

astronaut's eyesight. Then we're heading to

the Moon to look at South Korea's bold plans

for a lunar base by 2045,

showcasing the growing global race to return

to our celestial neighbour. Next up,

we'll dive into the incredible potential of

NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Telescope,

which is poised to uncover tens of thousands

of cosmic explosions and shed light on

mysteries like dark energy. Finally,

we'll take a trip back in time to the Apollo

11 mission, revealing the little known

stories of where the Eagle could have landed

if circumstances had been different. Stick

around. It's going to be an exciting episode.

You've spent months aboard the International

Space Station, witnessing Earth from an

unparalleled vantage point, performing

groundbreaking science and pushing the

boundaries of human exploration. You return

home a hero, but with an unexpected side

effect. Your eyesight has changed. This

isn't a rare occurrence. It affects about 70%

of astronauts on long duration missions. And

it's got NASA scientists intensely focused on

understanding why weightlessness impacts our

vision so profoundly. One astronaut, Dr.

Sarah Johnson, reported that text perfectly

clear before her six month ISS stay

became blurry. She's far from alone.

Astronauts frequently report difficulty

reading blurred distance vision and other

visual changes that can persist for years

after returning to Earth. This condition has

been given a spaceflight associated

neuro ocular syndrome, or

sans. It has rapidly become one of the most

pressing health concerns for extended space

missions. Unlike other temporary issues like

motion sickness or or muscle weakness, which

quickly resolve, on Earth, sans related

vision changes can unfortunately be

permanent. The primary culprit appears to be

microgravity itself. Here on Earth, gravity

consistently pulls fluids downwards through

our bodies. In the microgravity environment

of space, these fluids redistribute. This

leads to facial puffiness and more

critically, increased pressure inside the

skull. This elevated intracranial pressure

can flatten the back of the eyeball and cause

swelling of the optic nerve, directly

impacting vision. These findings carry

significant implications for future missions

to Mars, which could realistically last two

to three years. As Dr. Michael Roberts,

NASA's Vision Research Lead, put it, we need

to understand whether these changes stabilise

or continue worsening over time. An astronaut

with severely compromised vision could

jeopardise an entire Mars mission. To

combat SANS, Dr. Roberts and his team at

NASA are actively developing various

countermeasures. These include specialised

contact lenses, medications designed to

reduce fluid pressure, and specific exercise

protocols that might help maintain normal

circulation. They are also testing an

innovative device called the Visual

Impairment Intracranial pressure, or

viip chamber, which could simulate

Earth like pressure conditions for the eyes

while in space. While SANS presents a

serious challenge for space exploration, this

research offers a broader benefit for

everyone on Earth. Scientists are gaining

invaluable new insights into how pressure

affects vision, which could potentially lead

to improved treatments for conditions like

glaucoma and intracranial hypertension. Here

on our home planet, understanding how our

bodies adapt to and are affected by space

remains crucial as we continue to test the

limits of human endurance and explore further

into the cosmos. The research into

solutions will continue at NASA and onboard

the iss, with the hope that when humanity

finally embarks on a trip to Mars, our vision

will be clear enough to fully appreciate what

we have accomplished.

Shifting our gaze from astronaut health to

ambitious national goals let's talk about

South Korea's burgeoning space ambitions the

nation is making headlines with its bold plan

to establish a moon base by 2045.

This significant goal was revealed in a long

term exploration roadmap laid out by the

Korea aerospace administration, or

CASA, which was established just last year.

CASA's roadmap outlines five core missions

encompassing everything from low Earth orbit

and microgravity exploration to lunar

exploration and even solar and space science

missions. A key focus for CASA is

developing homegrown lunar landing and roving

technology alongside the crucial ability to

extract and utilise moon resources like water

ice. Some of this preparatory work is

already well underway. For instance, the

Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral

Resources has been testing prototype lunar

rovers in an abandoned coal mine, practising

techniques that could be vital for future

space mining operations. South Korea isn't

new to lunar endeavours. In August

2022, the nation successfully launched its

first moon probe, known as the Korea

Pathfinder lunar orbiter, or Dnuri, atop a

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Dannuri reached

lunar orbit four months later and is still

actively studying the moon with its array of

instruments, proving South Korea's growing

capabilities in space. While South Korea

had already aimed to place a robotic lander

on the moon by 2032, this newly

revealed roadmap significantly ups the

ante. The plan now includes developing a

more capable moon lander by 2040,

all with the ultimate goal of building a

robust lunar economic base by

2045. It's important to note that

South Korea isn't alone in this race to the

moon. The United States, through NASA's

Artemis programme, also plans to build lunar

outposts in the coming decade. China is

pursuing similar goals, often in partnership

with Russia and other nations. And India has

set its sights on a moon base by 2047.

The moon isn't Khasa's only distant

destination either. The agency also has its

sights set on South Korea's first ever Mars

landing, also by 2045.

Now let's shift our focus to a truly exciting

development on the horizon. NASA's next

big space telescope project, the Nancy Grace

Roman Telescope. Astronomers are absolutely

buzzing with anticipation for its launch,

currently set for no later than May

2027. And for good reason.

Recent research suggests that Roman, during

its High Latitude Time Domain Survey

observation programme, could discover an, uh,

astounding 100,000 powerful cosmic

explosions. We're talking about a dazzling

array of violent events, including

supernovas, marking the dramatic deaths of

massive stars, which occur

when two of the universe's most extreme dead

stars or neutron stars, Viking violently

collide and even burps from actively feeding

supermassive black holes. Roman might even

detect the explosive destruction of the very

first generation of stars in our universe.

These cosmic fireworks are more than just

spectacular sights. They're crucial clues

that could help scientists finally crack the

mystery of dark energy. That's the

placeholder name for the strange unseen force

that's causing the expansion of the universe

to accelerate. According to Benjamin Rose,

an assistant professor at Baylor University

and the research leader, this survey will be

a goldmine. Whether you're exploring dark

energy, dying stars, galactic

powerhouses, or even entirely new phenomena

we've never encountered before, Roman will

achieve these explosive results by

systematically scanning the same vast region

of space every five days for a period of two

years. These observations will then be

meticulously stitched together to create

incredible cosmic movies, revealing a wealth

of these dynamic events. Many of the

explosions Roman detects will be type 1A

supernovas. These particular cosmic

blasts happen when a dead star known as a

white dwarf greedily syphons material from a

companion star until it becomes unstable and

erupts. Type 1a supernovas

are incredibly valuable to astronomers

because their light output is and peak

brightness are so consistent from one event

to the next. This makes them what astronomers

affectionately call standard candles,

allowing them to accurately measure cosmic

distances. The new research, which

simulated Roman's entire High Latitude Time

Domain Survey indicates the telescope could

uncover up to 27,000 new Type 1A

supernovas. That's about 10 times the

combined total from all previous surveys. By

observing these standard candles across

immense and varying distances,

astronomers are essentially looking back in

time, enabling them to pinpoint how fast the

universe was expanding at different points in

cosmic history. This unprecedented

wealth of type 1A supernovas should offer

significant hints about the secrets of dark

energy. It could even help confirm recent

findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic

Instrument, or dece, which suggests that this

mysterious force might actually be weakening

over time. As Rose explained, filling

these data gaps could also fill in gaps in

our understanding of dark energy. Evidence is

mounting that dark energy has changed over

time, and Roman will help us understand that

change by exploring cosmic history in ways

other telescopes can't. Beyond dark

energy, Roman will also shed light on the

life cycles of stars. The team estimates that

as many as 60,000 of the 100,000

cosmic explosions detected could be core

collapse supernovas. These occur when massive

stars at least eight times heavier than our

sun exhaust their nuclear fuel and can

no longer support themselves against

gravitational collapse. As their cores

rapidly implode, their outer layers are

violently blasted away. This process

disperses elements forged within these stars

throughout the cosmos, providing the building

blocks for the next generations of stars,

their planets, and perhaps even life itself.

While not directly linked to dark energy,

these events are crucial for understanding

stellar evolution and the chemical enrichment

of the universe. Rebecca Hounsell, a

member of the research team from NASA's

Goddard Space Flight Centre, highlighted how

Roman's data will allow scientists to

distinguish between different types of cosmic

flashes. She noted that while searching for

type 1A supernovas, Roman will collect a

lot of cosmic bycatch, other phenomena that

may not be useful for some scientists, but

will be invaluable to others. Among these

rarer cosmic gems, Roman could detect tidal

disruption events, or TDEs, where black

holes ruthlessly devour stars that wander too

close. As the star is torn apart by immense

tidal forces, much of its material is spewed

out at near light speed, creating powerful

emissions that Roman will hunt for. The team

predicts around 40 such star destroying

events could be found. Even more elusive are

kilonovas, those explosive bursts of light

that happen when two neutron stars smash

together and merge. The team estimates Roman

could uncover around five new kilonovas.

While that number seems small, it's a huge

deal, as only one kilonova has been

definitively confirmed to date. These

observations are vital for understanding the

origins of precious metals like gold and

silver. While most elements are forged in the

hearts of stars, the extreme conditions of

neutron star collisions are thought to be the

only cosmic furnaces powerful enough to

create elements heavier than iron, like gold

and plutonium. Studying the light from these

kilonovas helps us understand this

fundamental process. Kilonova studies could

also reveal what types of celestial bodies

are formed when neutron stars merge. Perhaps

an even larger neutron star, an immediate

black hole, or something entirely new.

Perhaps the most thrilling, uh, potential

discovery Roman could make is the observation

of the strange explosive deaths of the

universe's very first stars. Current

theories suggest these early massive stars

may have died differently than modern stars

undergoing what's called a pair instability

supernova. In these colossal

blasts, gamma rays within the star could have

generated matter antimatter pairs, leading

to a self detonation so powerful it theorised

to leave nothing behind but the elemental

fingerprint of its lifetime. While

astronomers have dozens of candidates for

these events, none have been confirmed.

The simulation suggests Roman could turn up

as many as 10 confirmed pair instability

supernovas. As Rose put it, they're

incredibly far away and very rare. So you

need a telescope that can survey a lot of the

sky at a deep exposure level and in near

infrared light, and that's Roman.

The team plans further simulations to explore

Roman's full capabilities, which might even

include detecting phenomena not yet

theorised. As Rebecca Hounsel aptly

summarised, Roman's going to find a whole

bunch of weird and wonderful things out in

space, including some we haven't even thought

of yet. We're definitely expecting the

unexpected. This groundbreaking research,

by the way, was published on July 15 in the

Astrophysical Journal.

From the cutting edge of cosmic discovery,

let's take a quick look back at, ah, one of

the most iconic moments in space. The

Apollo 11 moon landing on July

20, 1969. Neil Armstrong's famous

words Houston Tranquilly Base here,

the Eagle has landed, marked humanity's first

steps on another world. But what if those

words had been uttered from a different

location on the lunar surface? It's a

fascinating thought, isn't it? The truth is

that historic phrase could very easily have

come from a completely different part of the

moon. In February 1968,

NASA's Apollo Site Selection board had

narrowed down a list of 30 potential landing

sites for Apollo 11 to just five. Among these

were two sites on the opposite side of the

lunar disc from Tranquilly Base, specifically

in Oceanus Procellarum, also known as the

Ocean of Storms. Each of these prospective

landing zones, which were roughly 3 by 5

miles in size, underwent intensive orbital

imaging and a rigorous selection process. The

criteria were incredibly strict. Each site

needed to be within 5 degrees of the lunar

equator to minimise fuel consumption. There

could be no large hills or deep craters along

the lander's approach path, as these could

confuse its landing radar. Furthermore, each

site had to have a slope of less than 2

degrees, with relatively few craters and

excellent lighting conditions during the

chosen landing windows. Ultimately,

Site two in the Sea of Tranquilly was

selected as the prime landing location.

However, two of the other shortlisted zones

were designated as contingency landing sites,

ready to be targeted if the launch of Apollo

11's mighty Saturn V rocket had been delayed.

Imagine if the mission's launch had slipped

by just two days from July 16

to July 18, 1969.

In that scenario, humanity's first steps on

the moon would have taken place in the Sinus

Medii region, right in the centre of the

Earth facing lunar surface. And if the launch

had been pushed back even further to July

21, 1969,

then the footprints would have been left in

the regolith of Oceanus Procellarum.

While Tranquilly Base has certainly become a

legendary name, Procellarum Base just doesn't

quite have the same ring to it, does it? It's

a compelling reminder of the meticulous

planning and the precise conditions that led

to one of history's most defining moments.

And that brings us to the end of another

fascinating journey through the cosmos on

Astronomy Daily. I hope you've enjoyed

exploring these stories as much as I have

enjoyed sharing them with you. Thank you for

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