Gilmour Space's Historic Launch Attempt, NASA's Collaborative Moon Missions, and the Far Side Telescope

0:00 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your

0:03 daily dose of the latest and most exciting

0:05 news from across the cosmos. I'm

0:08 Anna.

0:09 Avery: And I'm Avery. We are so glad to have you

0:12 join us as we dive deep into the fascinating

0:15 world of space and astronomy. There's always

0:17 something incredible happening out there, and

0:19 we're here to break it all down for you.

0:22 Anna: Today we're covering everything from a

0:24 historic, yet brief rocket launch in

0:27 Australia to NASA's latest lunar mission

0:30 contracts and an exciting new radio

0:33 telescope preparing for its journey to the

0:35 moon's far side.

0:37 Avery: Plus, we'll get an update on SpaceX's

0:40 Starship as it gears up for its 10th flight.

0:43 So get ready to explore the universe with us.

0:46 Anna: Kicking off our news, we have an update from

0:49 Australia, where Gilmour Space made a

0:51 historic attempt at their first orbital

0:54 launch. On July 29, their

0:57 Eris rocket lifted off from the Bowen Orbital

1:00 Spaceport in Queensland, marking

1:02 Australia's first homegrown orbital launch

1:05 attempt in over 50 years.

1:08 Avery: That's a huge milestone for Australia's space

1:10 industry. Even though the launch didn't go as

1:12 planned, just 14 seconds after liftoff,

1:15 the Eris rocket began sliding sideways and

1:18 crashed back to Earth. It sounds reminiscent

1:21 of Astra's third orbital launch attempt back

1:24 in 2021, which also had a similar side

1:27 slide.

1:27 Anna: Exactly. It's a tough break for a debut,

1:30 but Gilmour Space is maintaining an

1:33 incredibly optimistic outlook. They shared

1:35 on X, formerly Twitter that ERIS

1:38 became the first Australian made orbital

1:41 rocket to launch from Australian soil,

1:43 achieving 14 seconds of flight and a

1:46 23 second engine burn. They called it a

1:49 big step for launch capability, confirming

1:52 their team was safe, data was in hand and

1:55 their eyes are already on test flight two.

1:58 Avery: It really highlights the fail, fast, learn

2:01 faster mantra of the space industry. Gilmour

2:03 Space CEO Adam Gilmour emphasized that every

2:06 second of flight will deliver valuable data

2:09 that will improve our rocket's reliability

2:11 and performance for future launches. He also

2:14 stated that getting off the pad and into

2:16 flight is a huge step forward for any new

2:18 rocket program, proving that much of what

2:21 they've built works. It's fantastic that

2:23 there were no injuries or adverse

2:25 environmental impacts. This launch has been a

2:28 long time coming for them. Gilmour Space,

2:30 based on Australia's Gold coast, initially

2:32 aimed for a March launch, but that was

2:34 scuttled by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

2:37 Then a, uh, mid May attempt was foiled by a

2:39 technical issue where Aris's payload fairing

2:42 unexpectedly popped off while the rocket was

2:44 on the pad. Oh wow. A power

2:47 surge caused by electrical backfeed from

2:49 downstream devices was the culprit there.

2:52 After fixing that, they geared up for late

2:54 June, but strong winds at the spaceport,

2:56 which Gilmore Space operates, pushed it back

2:59 further. It seems like a combination of

3:01 weather and technical glitches kept pushing

3:03 the date until they finally got off the

3:05 ground.

3:06 Anna: It truly was a testament to their

3:08 persistence. The company founded by

3:11 Adam and James Gilmore in 2015

3:14 and aims to make Australia a major player in

3:17 spaceflight. Eris, their 82

3:20 foot tall rocket, is designed to launch

3:22 payloads of up to

3:24 £474 to Sun

3:27 Synchronous orbit.

3:28 Avery: And it's not just rockets. The company also

3:31 built satellites. Their Alarisat spacecraft

3:34 bus had its first launch just last month on

3:36 SpaceX's Transporter 14 mission, carrying

3:39 in instruments for CSIRO,

3:41 Australia's national science agency, to

3:44 monitor water quality. So while the ERIS

3:47 launch didn't fully succeed, this time it's

3:49 clear Gilmour Space is a significant and

3:51 growing force in the Australian space sector.

3:54 Anna: Next up, let's turn our attention to some

3:57 exciting news from NASA and their

3:59 ongoing Artemis campaign, which is all about

4:03 exploring more of the moon than ever before.

4:06 NASA has recently awarded a substantial

4:09 contract to Firefly Aerospace, based

4:12 in Cedar Park, Texas.

4:13 Avery: It's a big step, and what's particularly

4:16 noteworthy about this delivery is that it's

4:18 the first time NASA will use multiple rovers

4:22 and a variety of stationary instruments in a

4:25 truly collaborative effort. They're working

4:27 with the Canadian Space Agency, or csa,

4:30 and the University of Bern in Switzerland.

4:34 Anna: It's a big step and what's particularly

4:36 noteworthy about this delivery is that it's

4:39 the first time NASA will use multiple rovers

4:42 and a variety of stationary instruments in a

4:45 truly collaborative effort. They're working

4:47 with the Canadian Space Agency, or

4:49 csa, and the University of Bern in

4:52 Switzerland. The primary goal is to

4:55 gain a deeper understanding of the chemical

4:58 composition of the lunar South Pole region.

5:01 The this area is of high interest due to the

5:04 potential for using resources available

5:06 in its permanently shadowed regions which are

5:09 thought to hold water ice. Joel

5:12 Kearns, NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator

5:15 for exploration, highlighted that CLPS

5:18 is embracing a new era of lunar

5:21 exploration, with commercial companies like

5:23 Firefly leading the way. These

5:26 investigations are crucial for developing the

5:28 knowledge needed for long term sustainability

5:31 on.

5:32 Avery: The Moon, and the instruments they'll be

5:34 carrying are fascinating. One of the rovers

5:37 is Moon Ranger, an autonomous micro

5:40 rover developed by NASA's Ames Research

5:42 center and Carnegie Mellon University, which

5:45 will explore the lunar surface and study

5:47 hydrogen bearing volatiles with its neutron

5:50 spectrometer system.

5:52 Anna: Then there are the STEREO cameras for lunar

5:54 plume surface studies, designed to capture

5:57 the impact of the rocket exhaust plume and as

6:00 the lander descends, Helping us predict

6:02 lunar regolith erosion. We'll also see

6:05 a laser retroreflector array, A passive

6:08 instrument that will serve As a permanent

6:10 location marker for decades.

6:13 Avery: The CSA rover is also part of this mission,

6:16 Specifically designed to access and explore

6:18 Remote south pole areas, including those

6:21 permanently shadowed regions. It's built to

6:24 survive at least one lunar night and

6:27 carrying a suite of instruments like stereo

6:29 cameras, A neutron spectrometer, and the

6:32 thermal imaging radiometer to understand the

6:34 lunar surface, Geological history, and

6:37 potential resources like water ice.

6:39 And finally, the University of Bern Is

6:42 contributing A laser ionization mass

6:45 spectrometer. This instrument will analyze

6:47 the element and isotope composition of lunar

6:50 regolith Using a robotic arm and

6:52 titanium shovel to excavate samples.

6:55 It'll give us grain by grain analyses to

6:58 understand the chemical complexity of the

7:00 landing site and the moon's evolution.

7:03 It's a comprehensive set of tools Aimed at

7:05 unlocking the secrets of the lunar.

7:07 Anna: South pole from potential lunar resources.

7:10 Let's shift our focus to an ambitious

7:12 scientific endeavor Listening to the very

7:15 early universe. The lunar surface

7:17 electromagnetics experiment

7:20 radio telescope project has reached a major

7:23 milestone and is now ready for testing.

7:26 Avery: This is incredibly exciting, Anna. Uh, this

7:29 project plans to deploy A radio telescope on

7:32 the moon's far side by 2026.

7:35 The unique advantage of the moon's far side

7:37 Is that it's completely shielded from earth's

7:40 radio noise, which constantly interferes with

7:42 ground based telescopes.

7:45 Anna: That isolation is key, isn't it? It

7:48 allows Lucy Knight to search for incredibly

7:50 faint signals from the early universe,

7:53 Specifically the coveted dark ages signal.

7:56 This signal originates from a time when the

7:58 universe was only about 380,000

8:01 years old, long before the first stars and

8:04 planets had even formed. Earth's radio

8:07 interference Typically drowns out this

8:09 specific signal, Making a far side lunar

8:12 telescope an ideal location.

8:14 Avery: Absolutely. But as appealing as the far

8:17 side is for its radio quietness, it

8:20 presents immense engineering challenges.

8:22 Any equipment sent there has to contend with

8:25 an incredibly harsh environment. We're

8:27 talking about massive amounts of radiation

8:30 and extreme temperature swings.

8:33 Anna: And when we say extreme, we mean it.

8:36 Temperatures can drop to

8:37 -173 degrees Celsius

8:40 during the 14 day lunar night and

8:43 soar to 173 degrees

8:46 Celsius during the 14 day lunar day.

8:49 This day night cycle also means that if the

8:52 system relies on solar panels, it needs to

8:55 power itself for two weeks without

8:57 recharging.

8:58 Avery: That's where the design gets intricate. A

9:01 significant portion of the telescope's

9:02 weight, about 50kg is dedicated

9:05 solely to its battery to ensure it can last

9:08 through two weeks without sunlight. Beyond

9:11 power, thermal management is another huge

9:14 hurdle. UC Berkeley designed a specialized

9:17 heat pipe system that transfers heat

9:19 generated by solar radiation and the

9:22 instruments to a radiator, which then

9:24 releases that heat into space.

9:27 Anna: They also incorporated a series of thermal

9:30 switches to control the internal temperature

9:32 and turn subsystems on and off as needed

9:35 to maintain thermal stability. What's

9:38 particularly ambitious about Lucy E.

9:41 Knight is its objective to collect data

9:43 100% of the time, which demands a

9:47 complex melding of power and thermal

9:49 management.

9:50 Avery: It truly is. While collecting Dark

9:53 Age data is a significant goal,

9:55 Lucy II primary mission is actually

9:58 a technology demonstration. It's

10:01 designed to prove that radio telescopes can

10:03 not only survive, but also viably collect

10:06 data on the far side of the Moon for more

10:09 than just a few days. The plan is for it to

10:12 collect data for over two years. If

10:14 successful, it will pave the way for even

10:17 more powerful radio telescopes in this

10:19 uniquely quiet region of space.

10:22 Anna: From the quiet far side of the Moon let's

10:25 now turn our attention back to Earth, or

10:28 rather just above it, with some news from

10:31 SpaceX. They've recently moved their Starship

10:34 vehicle to the launch pad for testing, ahead

10:36 of what's expected to be its 10th flight.

10:39 Avery: That's right, Anna. This is a big step for

10:42 the ambitious program. Flight 10 is

10:44 anticipated to take place next month. Month

10:46 from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas,

10:49 the Starship Upper Stage, which stands at

10:52 171ft tall, was

10:54 documented making its journey to the pad in

10:57 photos shared by SpaceX.

10:59 Anna: Elon Musk initially hinted at a launch in

11:02 about three weeks back on July 14,

11:05 and his most recent update points to next

11:08 month. So we're definitely nearing another

11:10 launch attempt. SpaceX is developing

11:12 Starship as the largest and most powerful

11:15 rocket ever built, with the ultimate goal

11:18 of helping humanity colonize Mars and

11:20 undertaking other significant exploration

11:23 feats.

11:24 Avery: This vehicle is quite a marvel, consisting of

11:27 two fully reusable elements, the giant Super

11:30 Heavy Booster and the Upper Stage

11:32 spacecraft, often referred to simply as Ship.

11:35 While the Super Heavy Booster has shown

11:38 remarkable success in its recent flights,

11:40 even demonstrating the chopstick catch by the

11:43 launch tower, the Ship Upper Stage has

11:45 faced its share of challenges.

11:48 Anna: Indeed, SpaceX lost the ship vehicle on the

11:50 three most recent Starship flights, which

11:53 took place in January, March and May of this

11:56 year. They've been diligently working through

11:58 issues, including a rapid unscheduled

12:01 disassembly of a previous ship variant on

12:04 a test stand in June, which was traced to a

12:07 pressurized nitrogen tank failure,

12:09 it's clear they're learning.

12:11 Avery: And adapting with each test. Despite these

12:13 setbacks, the drive behind Starship remains

12:16 focused on its grand vision, its enabling

12:19 routine, fully reusable spaceflight to

12:21 make Mars settlement economically feasible.

12:24 All eyes will certainly be on Flight 10 to

12:27 see how these ongoing improvements play out.

12:29 Anna: And that brings us to the end of another

12:32 fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily.

12:34 We've covered quite a range of stories today,

12:37 from the challenges of Australia's first

12:39 orbital rocket launch attempt with Gilmour

12:42 Space's Eris to NASA's significant

12:45 new contract with Firefly Aerospace for lunar

12:48 deliveries.

12:48 Avery: Yes, and we also looked at the incredible

12:51 potential of the Lucy E. Night radio

12:53 telescope preparing for its journey to the

12:56 moon's far side, hoping to unlock

12:59 secrets from the universe's dark ages.

13:02 And then, of course, the continuous

13:04 development and testing of SpaceX's mighty

13:07 Starship as it inches closer to its

13:09 ambitious goals.

13:11 Anna: It's been a packed episode, full of the

13:13 latest advancements, some setbacks, and

13:16 incredible leaps in space and astronomy.

13:19 There's always so much happening in the

13:21 cosmos, and if you'd like to keep across even

13:23 more space and astronomy news, just visit our

13:26 [email protected]

13:29 Absolutely.

13:30 Avery: Thank you so much for joining us on Astronomy

13:32 Daily. We love sharing these updates with

13:34 you.

13:35 Anna: Be sure to tune in again tomorrow for more

13:37 exciting space and astronomy news. Until

13:40 then, keep looking up

13:47 the.

13:53 Avery: Story.