Japan's Rocket Setback, Astronauts' Extended Stay, and Mars' Archaeological Debate: S03E235

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and

0:03 Speaker 1: astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and today we've got

0:06 Speaker 1: an exciting lineup of stories for you. We'll be covering

0:09 Speaker 1: everything from mission updates and space station developments to groundbreaking

0:13 Speaker 1: astronomical discoveries. Coming up, we'll look at the latest in

0:17 Speaker 1: commercial space ventures, hear about record breaking space walks, and

0:21 Speaker 1: explore some fascinating new findings near the center of our galaxy.

0:25 Speaker 1: Stay tuned as we journey through today's biggest space in

0:27 Speaker 1: astronomy headlines. In a setback for Japan's commercial space industry,

0:33 Speaker 1: startup company space one has experienced their second unsuccessful rocket

0:37 Speaker 1: launch attempt. The company's Kairos number two rocket and eighteen

0:41 Speaker 1: meter long solid fuel vehicle lifted off from Spaceport Key

0:45 Speaker 1: in Kushimoto, the country's only commercial spaceport. While the initial

0:49 Speaker 1: stage of the launch went according to plan with successful

0:52 Speaker 1: separation of the first stage and payload faring, the company

0:56 Speaker 1: was forced to abort the mission approximately twenty minutes after liftoff.

1:00 Speaker 1: This launch carried significant importance, with five satellites on board

1:04 Speaker 1: from various entities, including the Taiwan Space Agency and Japanese

1:08 Speaker 1: firms Space Cubics and Tarra Space. The mission had already

1:12 Speaker 1: faced delays, being postponed twice due to strong winds before

1:15 Speaker 1: Wednesday's attempt. This marked Space one's second launch failure, following

1:19 Speaker 1: their first attempt in March, where the rocket exploded shortly

1:23 Speaker 1: after liftoff due to incorrect propulsion calculations. Founded in twenty

1:27 Speaker 1: eighteen by Cannon Electronics and IHI Aerospace, space one aims

1:31 Speaker 1: to revolutionize space delivery services by offering cost effective and

1:35 Speaker 1: regular rocket launches. The company has ambitious plans, targeting and

1:39 Speaker 1: impressive thirty launches per year by the twenty thirties. These

1:43 Speaker 1: setbacks come at a crucial time when global demand for

1:46 Speaker 1: satellite deployment is growing rapidly. Space One's goal of becoming

1:50 Speaker 1: the first private Japanese company to successfully place satellites into

1:53 Speaker 1: orbit remains unfulfilled, but their continued efforts reflect Japan's broader

1:57 Speaker 1: aspirations to establish a stronger presence in the commercial space sector.

2:03 Speaker 1: Now an update on Butch and Sunny, who you may

2:05 Speaker 1: remember are stuck on the International Space Station. It appears

2:09 Speaker 1: they'll now be there a little longer. The two NASA

2:12 Speaker 1: astronauts who expected to spend just over a week in

2:15 Speaker 1: space are now facing an unprecedented mission extension that will

2:19 Speaker 1: keep them aboard the International Space Station until the northern spring.

2:23 Speaker 1: Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, who launched on Boeing's first

2:27 Speaker 1: crude Starliner mission last June, have seen their original eight

2:31 Speaker 1: day mission stretch into what will become a ten month

2:34 Speaker 1: stay in orbit. The extended stay comes after NASA made

2:38 Speaker 1: the decision to return Boeing's Starliner capsule empty in September,

2:42 Speaker 1: requiring the astronauts to remain on station. Now, their return

2:47 Speaker 1: has been pushed back even further due to delays in

2:49 Speaker 1: launching their replacements. The next crew, originally scheduled for a

2:53 Speaker 1: February launch on a SpaceX capsule, won't lift off until

2:57 Speaker 1: late March at the earliest. NASA considered using a different

3:01 Speaker 1: SpaceX capsule to maintain the original schedule, They ultimately decided

3:05 Speaker 1: waiting for the new capsule was the best option. The

3:09 Speaker 1: Space agency prefers to have overlapping crews on the station

3:12 Speaker 1: to ensure smooth transitions between missions. Though most space station

3:16 Speaker 1: stays typically last about six months, with some extending to

3:19 Speaker 1: a full year, this unexpected extension highlights the complex logistics

3:24 Speaker 1: of crew scheduling in space operations. For Wilmore and Williams,

3:29 Speaker 1: what started as a brief test flight has transformed into

3:32 Speaker 1: one of the longer stays aboard the orbital outpost. Their

3:35 Speaker 1: experience demonstrates the flexibility required of astronauts, who must be

3:40 Speaker 1: prepared to adapt their missions as circumstances change. When they

3:44 Speaker 1: finally return to Earth in late March or April, they'll

3:48 Speaker 1: have spent nearly a year contributing to the continuous human

3:51 Speaker 1: presence in low Earth orbit. Speaking of exceptional feats in space.

3:56 Speaker 1: In a remarkable achievement for China's space program, two astron

4:00 Speaker 1: the Shenzho nineteen mission, have set a new record for

4:03 Speaker 1: spacewalk duration. Commander Kai Shuja and crewmates Songling Dong spent

4:08 Speaker 1: an impressive nine hours and six minutes working outside the

4:11 Speaker 1: Tiangong Space Station, surpassing the previous record of eight hours

4:15 Speaker 1: and fifty six minutes set by NASA astronauts in two

4:18 Speaker 1: thousand and one. The spacewalk began when commander Kai, wearing

4:23 Speaker 1: a red marked Facian space suit, exited the Weentian Experiment

4:27 Speaker 1: module using the station's robotic arm for support. He gathered

4:31 Speaker 1: necessary equipment, while song Ling Dong, in a blue marked suit,

4:35 Speaker 1: joined him about an hour and a half later. Their

4:37 Speaker 1: third crewmate, Wanghause, provided essential support from inside the station's

4:42 Speaker 1: Tianhi module. During their extended time outside, the astronauts installed

4:47 Speaker 1: protective devices designed to shield the station's thermal control equipment

4:51 Speaker 1: from space debris. They also conducted inspections and maintenance on

4:55 Speaker 1: external equipment. This marks the seventeenth spacewalk at the Tiangong station,

5:00 Speaker 1: and the first for the current Schenzo nineteen mission, which

5:04 Speaker 1: began in October. What makes this achievement particularly noteworthy is

5:08 Speaker 1: that the Facian space suits used by the Chinese astronauts

5:11 Speaker 1: were originally designed for eight hour operations. The successful completion

5:16 Speaker 1: of this longer duration spacewalk demonstrates both the suit's capabilities

5:20 Speaker 1: and the astronauts endurance. The crew will continue their six

5:24 Speaker 1: month mission aboard Changong, conducting numerous scientific experiments and additional

5:29 Speaker 1: spacewalks as part of China's expanding presence in space. Next

5:34 Speaker 1: up a philosophical problem not many have considered adventure. Should

5:38 Speaker 1: we be viewing the remains of our Mars missions? As

5:41 Speaker 1: space junk that's cluttering up the Red planet, or as

5:43 Speaker 1: precious artifacts documenting humanity's first steps into planetary exploration. That's

5:49 Speaker 1: the fascinating question being raised by University of Kansas anthropologist

5:53 Speaker 1: Justin Holcombe and his colleagues in a compelling new study

5:56 Speaker 1: published in Nature Astronomy. These researchers argue that everything from

6:00 Speaker 1: crash Soviet probes to NASA's retired rovers represents something far

6:05 Speaker 1: more significant than debris. They're the archaeological evidence of humanity's

6:10 Speaker 1: first attempts to explore another world. Think of them as

6:13 Speaker 1: the Martian equivalent of ancient tools that help us track

6:17 Speaker 1: human migration across Earth. The Mars two Probes crash site

6:21 Speaker 1: from nineteen seventy one marks the very first time our

6:25 Speaker 1: species left a lasting mark on another planet's surface. The

6:29 Speaker 1: preservation of these sites is becoming increasingly urgent as we

6:32 Speaker 1: plan more missions to Mars. Just as archaeologists carefully preserve

6:36 Speaker 1: ancient settlements on Earth, these researchers say we need protocols

6:40 Speaker 1: to protect these historic locations from disturbance by future missions.

6:44 Speaker 1: Some artifacts are already facing natural threats. Martian dust storms

6:48 Speaker 1: and shifting sands are gradually burying sites like the Spirit Rover.

6:52 Speaker 1: The team is calling for a comprehensive system to catalog

6:55 Speaker 1: everything we've left on Mars, from major spacecraft down to

6:59 Speaker 1: smaller ice like broken rover parts and the remnants of

7:02 Speaker 1: the first helicopter flight on another planet. They argue that

7:06 Speaker 1: each piece tells part of the story of our species

7:09 Speaker 1: expansion into the Solar System, making them as historically significant

7:13 Speaker 1: as the first stone tools found in Africa or the

7:17 Speaker 1: earliest artifacts of human settlement in the Americas. We're not

7:21 Speaker 1: just exploring Mars. We're creating an archaeological record that future

7:25 Speaker 1: generations will study to understand how humanity took its first

7:29 Speaker 1: tentative steps onto another world. As we continue to expand

7:33 Speaker 1: our presence on Mars, preserving these early artifacts becomes crucial

7:37 Speaker 1: for maintaining this incredible chronicle of human achievement. Meanwhile, back

7:42 Speaker 1: here on Earth, exciting developments are coming from NASA's commercial

7:46 Speaker 1: space station program, with the Starlab Space station project hitting

7:50 Speaker 1: four major milestones in its development. These achievements are crucial

7:54 Speaker 1: steps toward establishing a new presence in low Earth orbit

7:57 Speaker 1: as we look beyond the International Space Station's life lifetime.

8:01 Speaker 1: The station's unique design calls for a single launch deployment

8:04 Speaker 1: featuring a large habitation and laboratory module paired with a

8:08 Speaker 1: smaller service module for power and propulsion. Earlier this year,

8:12 Speaker 1: Starlab Space conducted a detailed preliminary review of their structural

8:16 Speaker 1: test article, essentially a full scale engineering model of the

8:20 Speaker 1: habitat module where future astronauts will live and work. They've

8:24 Speaker 1: also completed crucial testing protocols, including rigorous welding inspections, pressure

8:29 Speaker 1: testing beyond normal operational limits, and evaluations of how the

8:34 Speaker 1: structure handles various loads. These tests are absolutely vital for

8:39 Speaker 1: ensuring Crewe safety and station longevity in the harsh environment

8:43 Speaker 1: of space. The team has successfully completed both integration operations

8:47 Speaker 1: and systems integration reviews, making sure all the station's complex

8:52 Speaker 1: systems work together seamlessly. They're now preparing for additional design

8:56 Speaker 1: and safety reviews before year's end, focusing on making sure

8:59 Speaker 1: the state meets all human spaceflight requirements while maintaining acceptable

9:03 Speaker 1: risk levels. This progress is part of NASA's broader strategy

9:07 Speaker 1: to support multiple commercial space stations through various partnerships. Once

9:12 Speaker 1: these stations are operational, NASA plans to be just one

9:15 Speaker 1: of many customers using these orbital facilities, creating a truly

9:18 Speaker 1: commercial marketplace in low Earth orbit. It's an exciting shift

9:22 Speaker 1: that builds on decades of space station experience while opening

9:25 Speaker 1: up new possibilities for scientific research and commercial activities in space. Finally, today,

9:31 Speaker 1: in a remarkable discovery that's challenging what we thought possible,

9:34 Speaker 1: astronomers have found a binary star system incredibly close to

9:37 Speaker 1: the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

9:40 Speaker 1: This pair of stars, name D nine, is somehow maintaining

9:43 Speaker 1: its orbital dance despite being in one of the most

9:46 Speaker 1: extreme environments imaginable. Previously, scientists believed that the immense gravitational

9:52 Speaker 1: forces near Sagittarius, a star our galaxy's central black hole,

9:57 Speaker 1: would make it impossible for binary stars to exist there.

10:00 Speaker 1: But this discovery is proving that black holes might not

10:03 Speaker 1: be quite as destructive as we once thought. The binary

10:06 Speaker 1: system is relatively young, only about two point seven million

10:09 Speaker 1: years old, and is surrounded by gas and dust, typical

10:13 Speaker 1: signs of a newly formed stellar system. While the stars

10:17 Speaker 1: are managing to orbit each other for now, their future

10:19 Speaker 1: isn't exactly bright. The black hole's powerful gravity is expected

10:23 Speaker 1: to force them to merge into a single star in

10:25 Speaker 1: about a million years, making this discovery even more precious

10:29 Speaker 1: due to its limited window of existence. The team found

10:33 Speaker 1: this binary system while studying what's known as the S cluster,

10:37 Speaker 1: a group of stars orbiting close to Sagittarius, a star.

10:40 Speaker 1: Using the very large telescope, they noticed that one object,

10:44 Speaker 1: previously thought to be a single star, was showing unusual

10:47 Speaker 1: variations in its speed. These variations only made sense if

10:51 Speaker 1: they were looking at two stars orbiting each other. This

10:55 Speaker 1: discovery could help explain other mysterious objects in the same region,

10:59 Speaker 1: known as gas objects, which might be either merged binary

11:02 Speaker 1: stars or binary systems that haven't merged yet. Even more excitingly,

11:07 Speaker 1: the presence of this young binary system suggests that planets

11:10 Speaker 1: might also be able to form in this extreme environment.

11:14 Speaker 1: It seems that when it comes to the center of

11:15 Speaker 1: our galaxy, we still have much to learn about what's possible.

11:20 Speaker 1: Well that's all for today's edition of Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna,

11:24 Speaker 1: and I want to thank you for joining me for

11:26 Speaker 1: another fascinating journey through space news and discoveries. If you'd

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