Cosmic Advances: New Satellites, Intercepting Interstellar Visitor, and AI in Space Health

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

0:03 podcast for all things space and astronomy.

0:06 I'm Anna.

0:07 Avery: And I'm Avery. We're thrilled to have you

0:10 join us for another episode packed with

0:13 the latest and most exciting news from beyond

0:16 our planet.

0:16 Anna: Today we've got some great stories to share,

0:19 from groundbreaking satellite launches to

0:22 potential encounters with interstellar

0:24 objects, and even a peek into how

0:27 AI is shaping the future of astronaut

0:30 health.

0:31 Avery: So get ready to dive deep into the cosmos

0:34 with us right here on Astronomy Daily.

0:37 Let's get started. Kicking off our

0:40 news, we have a major stride

0:43 in global weather and climate monitoring.

0:46 The European Spaceport in Kourou, French

0:49 Guiana saw the successful launch of the

0:52 first in a new series of satellites, the the

0:55 Metop second generation aboard

0:57 an Ariane 6 rocket.

0:59 Anna: That's right, Avery. This isn't just any

1:02 satellite. It marks a new era for weather and

1:04 climate monitoring from polar orbit.

1:07 Liftoff happened on August 13th and within a

1:09 few hours we had confirmation that Metop

1:12 SGA1 was alive and well.

1:15 Solar, uh, arrays deployed, ready to generate

1:17 power.

1:17 Avery: It's fantastic news, especially given the

1:20 increasingly erratic weather patterns we're

1:23 seeing. This mission is designed to build

1:26 on the legacy of the first generation METOP

1:29 satellites, but with significantly enhanced

1:31 capabilities.

1:33 Anna: Absolutely. A key part of this

1:35 new satellite's sophisticated instrument

1:38 package is the Copernicus Sentinel

1:41 5 instrument. This is crucial because

1:43 it's designed to deliver critical data on air

1:46 pollutants, ozone and climate related

1:49 gases. Simonetta Celli,

1:52 ESA's director of earth Observation

1:54 Programmes, really highlighted the value of

1:57 these strong partnerships in getting this

1:59 done.

1:59 Avery: And Phil Evans, the Director General at

2:01 umitset, emphasised the real world impact.

2:04 He pointed out that extreme weather has cost

2:07 Europe hundreds of billions of euros and tens

2:09 of thousands of lives over the past 40 years.

2:12 This Meetup SGA1 launch is a

2:15 significant step towards giving National

2:17 Weather Services sharper tools to save lives,

2:20 prevent, protect property and build

2:22 resilience against any climate changes.

2:24 Anna: It certainly is. The MET Off SG mission is

2:27 planned to comprise three successive pairs of

2:29 satellites operating for at least the next

2:32 two decades. Each pair will have an A type

2:35 and B type satellite carrying different but

2:37 complementary instruments to capture a wide

2:40 range of observations. This first one,

2:42 Metop SG A1

2:45 is an A type and features six instruments,

2:48 including that all important Sentinel 5

2:50 spectrometer.

2:52 Avery: Amazing how these satellites will circle

2:53 Earth from pole to pole, covering the globe

2:56 approximately every 24 hours, giving us

2:59 highly detailed measurements from their

3:01 relatively low orbital altitude. This

3:04 capability, combined with Europe's

3:06 geostationary meteosat series, really

3:09 maximises the Effectiveness of data for

3:12 weather forecasting and climate analysis.

3:15 It's a comprehensive approach to

3:17 understanding our planet's atmosphere.

3:20 Anna: Next up, let's talk about United Launch

3:22 Alliance. They just fired off their first

3:25 fully operational Vulcan rocket, marking a

3:28 significant milestone in space launches.

3:31 Avery: That's right Anna.

3:33 Anna: Um.

3:33 Avery: This powerful View launcher successfully

3:35 boosted two military satellites into space,

3:38 making it the first Space Force sanctioned

3:41 flight for the Vulcan. It thundered to

3:44 life on Tuesday evening at

3:45 8:56pm EDT from from

3:48 Pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force

3:51 Station.

3:52 Anna: It sounds like quite the sight. Soaring over

3:54 the Atlantic with almost 3 million pounds of

3:57 thrust, the 198 foot tall

4:00 Vulcan is powered by two methane

4:03 fueled BE4 engines and put on a

4:06 spectacular skylighting show.

4:07 Avery: But this launch isn't just about the

4:09 spectacle. It's a major milestone for United

4:12 Launch Alliance. The Vulcan is strategically

4:15 replacing their older rocket fleet,

4:17 specifically the Atlas V which uses a Russian

4:20 built first stage engine and their already

4:22 retired Deltas. This has been a big push to

4:25 have an all American launcher.

4:27 Anna: That makes sense given the geopolitical

4:30 climate. So what were the payloads

4:33 on this important first Space Force mission?

4:36 Avery: The mission carried at least two

4:38 satellites, one classified spacecraft

4:41 and a crucial experimental satellite called

4:44 Navigation Technology Satellite 3

4:47 or NTS3.

4:50 This is the Pentagon's first experimental

4:52 navigation satellite since the GPS

4:55 precursors were launched in the 1970s.

4:58 Anna: And what exactly is NTS3

5:01 designed to do?

5:02 Avery: It's designed to test upgraded atomic clocks

5:05 and navigation technology that could lead to

5:07 much more accurate and jam proof Global

5:10 Positioning System type data from for both

5:13 military and commercial users. Joanna

5:15 Hinx, a senior aerospace engineer with the

5:18 Air Force Research Laboratory, highlighted

5:20 how integral GPS is to our daily lives

5:23 and that NTS3 is about evolving and

5:26 augmenting it to maintain its gold standard.

5:28 Anna: That sounds like a significant leap forward

5:31 for navigation tech. Where will this new

5:33 satellite operate from?

5:35 Avery: It's bound for geosynchronous orbit about

5:37 22,300 miles above the equator.

5:40 That's significantly higher than the typical

5:42 GPS satellites which uh, at 12,500

5:45 miles. This higher perch combined with an

5:48 advanced phased array antenna allows it to

5:50 directly electronically direct signals to

5:53 receivers across broad regions.

5:55 Anna: So the Vulcan is designed specifically

5:58 for these high altitude specialised missions?

6:01 Avery: Precisely. ULA President and CEO Tory

6:04 Bruno explicitly stated that the Vulcan was

6:07 purposely designed to support these missions.

6:09 Doing direct inject to geo for the Space

6:12 Force. He highlighted its capability to

6:14 launch heavy payloads directly to high orbits

6:17 without requiring the satellites to use their

6:19 own limited propellant for transit.

6:22 Essentially saying one core is cheaper and

6:24 more efficient than three expendable cores

6:27 from other heavy launch vehicles.

6:29 Anna: That's a direct challenge to the competition.

6:32 What does this mean for ULA's future launch

6:34 schedule?

6:35 Avery: ULA is really ramping up. They're expanding

6:38 their ground infrastructure and expect to

6:40 launch nine flights in 2025 and

6:42 aiming for a cadence of two per month by the

6:44 end of the year. For 2026, they project

6:47 between 20 to 25 flights. So the Vulcan

6:50 is set for a, uh, busy operational future.

6:52 Shifting our gaze from launches to deep space

6:55 with a follow up to one of our stories from

6:56 yesterday's episode. There's a fascinating

6:59 proposal on the table that could see NASA's

7:01 Juno spacecraft intercepting the third

7:04 interstellar object ever detected.

7:07 Anna: That's incredibly exciting. Avery,

7:10 you're talking about Comet 3I Atlas, right?

7:12 It was just detected on July 1, 2025

7:15 by the Atlas system in Rio Hurtado,

7:18 becoming only the third interstellar visitor

7:21 we've ever observed. After Oumuamua and

7:24 2i Borisov.

7:25 Avery: Exactly. And the exciting part is the

7:28 proposal from a team led by Professor Abraham

7:30 Lueb of Harvard University, along with

7:33 Adam Hibbard and Adam Krall to use our

7:36 existing Juno probe. The their analysis

7:38 suggests Juno could intercept 3i Atlas once

7:41 it approaches Jupiter on March 16,

7:44 2026, offering us an unprecedented

7:47 close look at one of the universe's most

7:49 enigmatic objects.

7:51 Anna: That's a truly rare opportunity. It

7:54 highlights the serendipitous nature of these

7:56 celestial encounters, especially since it's

7:59 practically infeasible to launch a dedicated

8:02 mission from Earth to catch three Eye Atlas.

8:04 Given how little warning we had of its

8:06 arrival. The fact that it happens to pass so

8:09 close to multiple planets like Mars, Jupiter

8:11 and Venus is a strange coincidence.

8:14 Avery: Indeed, it really is. The scientific value of

8:16 such an encounter would be immense. Studying

8:19 interstellar objects as they pass through our

8:21 solar system offers a unique window into

8:24 the conditions present in other star systems.

8:27 Without us needing to send a spacecraft all

8:29 the way there. It's like getting a cosmic

8:31 sample delivery.

8:32 Anna: And this isn't just about understanding other

8:34 star systems. Professor Loeb, who became

8:37 quite well known for his hypothesis

8:39 hypothesis that Oumuamua might have been

8:42 an extraterrestrial spacecraft, has

8:44 also explored the controversial possibility

8:47 that 3i Atlas could be an

8:50 artificial object. While they don't

8:53 necessarily subscribe to it themselves, they

8:56 argue that it's a hypothesis worthy of

8:58 scientific analysis. Given its potential

9:01 implications, that definitely adds.

9:03 Avery: Another layer of intrigue to the mission. The

9:06 proposal outlines how a ah, Jupiter Oberth

9:09 manoeuvre involving Specific thrust

9:11 applications in September 2025

9:14 could shift Juno from its current orbit to

9:17 intercept 3I ATLAS near Jupiter

9:19 on March 14, 2026.

9:22 If successful, this would not only provide

9:25 invaluable data, but also rejuvenate

9:27 Juno's mission and extend its scientific

9:30 lifespan beyond its originally intended

9:32 termination.

9:33 Anna: A win win, then. Juno's suite of instruments,

9:36 including its Near Infrared spectrometer,

9:39 magnetometer and visible light camera, would

9:41 be perfect to probe the object's

9:44 composition, delivering data that could

9:46 address fundamental questions about its

9:48 origin and nature. Even if recent

9:51 Hubble images suggest its nucleus is

9:54 smaller than initially thought for a

9:56 technological artefact, the insights we'd

9:58 gain about what lies beyond our solar system

10:01 would be absolutely fascinating.

10:04 From looking out into the cosmos and beyond,

10:07 let's bring it back closer to home, or at

10:10 least closer to the idea of future homes for

10:12 humanity. NASA and Google are teaming up

10:15 on an incredibly innovative project. An

10:18 AI medical assistant for astronauts headed

10:21 to Mars.

10:22 Avery: That's right, Anna. As space missions get

10:24 longer and further from Earth, keeping crews

10:26 healthy becomes a massive challenge. Think

10:29 about it. Astronauts on the ISS have real

10:32 time communication with Houston, regular

10:34 cargo deliveries of medicine, and can be home

10:36 in a pinch. None of that will be true for a

10:39 Mars mission.

10:40 Anna: Exactly. This push for Earth independent

10:43 medical care is leading to some fascinating

10:45 developments. This new tool is called the

10:48 Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant,

10:51 or cmoda, and it's a proof of

10:53 concept AI designed to help astronauts

10:56 diagnose and treat symptoms when a doctor

10:59 isn't available or communications with Earth

11:02 are blacked out.

11:03 Avery: It's a multimodal tool, meaning it

11:05 incorporates speech, text and images. And it

11:08 runs within Google Cloud's Vertex AI

11:11 environment. NASA actually owns the source

11:13 code and has helped fine tune the models,

11:16 utilising Google's platform, which provides

11:18 access to various models.

11:20 Anna: They've put CMODA through some initial

11:22 tests too, simulating scenarios like an

11:25 ankle injury, flank pain and ear pain.

11:28 Uh, A trio of physicians, including an

11:31 astronaut, graded its performance and

11:33 the results were impressive.

11:35 Avery: They found a high degree of diagnostic

11:37 accuracy with the flank pain evaluation and

11:40 treatment plan judged 74% likely

11:43 correct ear pain at 80% and an

11:45 impressive 88% for the ankle injury.

11:48 Anna: The plan is to gradually expand its

11:51 capabilities, adding more data sources like

11:54 medical devices, and training the model to be

11:56 situationally aware of specific space

11:59 medicine conditions, such as microgravity.

12:02 Avery: While it's primarily for astronauts, the

12:05 potential for this technology to extend to

12:07 medical applications here on Earth is huge.

12:09 As Google's David Crueley mentioned, the

12:12 lessons learned from this tool could have

12:13 wide applicability to other areas of health,

12:16 especially in remote or underserved areas.

12:19 It's a perfect example of how space

12:20 technology often finds its way back to

12:22 benefit us on our home planet.

12:24 Anna: And that brings us to the end of another

12:27 fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily.

12:29 What an incredible array of advancements

12:31 we've covered today.

12:33 Avery: Absolutely, Anna. Um, From Europe ushering in

12:35 a new era of weather and climate monitoring

12:37 with the Metop second generation satellite to

12:40 ULA's Vulcan rocket launching its first Space

12:43 Force mission, it's clear innovation is

12:45 booming.

12:46 Anna: And let's not forget the thrilling

12:48 possibility of NASA's Juno

12:51 spacecraft intercepting the interstellar

12:53 comet. Three I ATLs

12:57 offering us an unprecedented look at an

13:00 object from beyond our solar system.

13:03 Avery: Plus, the groundbreaking work NASA and Google

13:05 are doing with the AI Medical Assistant

13:09 is paving the way for safer, healthier,

13:12 long duration missions to Mars. It really

13:15 shows how space exploration pushes the

13:17 boundaries of technology in all fields.

13:20 Anna: It truly does. We hope you have enjoyed

13:23 diving into these stories with us as much as

13:26 we have enjoyed sharing them. And for more

13:28 space and astronomy news, simply visit

13:31 our

13:32 [email protected].

13:35 you can also find all our back episodes

13:38 there. Ready for your listening enjoyment.

13:41 Avery: Thank you for tuning in to Astronomy Daily.

13:43 Stay curious, keep looking up and we'll be

13:46 back tomorrow with more cosmic insights.

13:51 Mhm.

13:54 The

13:59 story.