Lunar Mysteries Unveiled, Rocket Launch Delays, and Martian Aurora Firsts

Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. Your cosmic

connection to the stars and beyond. I'm

Anna bringing you the latest developments in

space exploration and astronomical

discoveries right to your ears. Today's

episode is packed with fascinating stories

that showcase both the mysteries of our

universe and humanity's incredible

technological ingenuity in uncovering them.

We'll be exploring several breaking stories

that highlight just how dynamic our solar

system truly is. We'll start by delving into

a new gravity study that finally helps

explain why the two sides of our moon look so

dramatically different. A question that has

puzzled scientists for decades. The research

reveals fascinating asymmetries deep within

the lunar interior that have shaped its

distinctive appearance. Then

we'll head down under to Australia, where an

aerospace firm was preparing for a historic

rocket launch that would have been the first

Australian made rocket to reach orbit from

Australian soil. We'll look at what happened

with this milestone attempt and what it means

for the growing global space industry.

Next, we'll travel to the very edge of our

solar system, where NASA engineers have

achieved what many would consider impossible.

Reviving thrusters on the Voyager 1

spacecraft that had been deemed unusable

since 2004. This remarkable feat

of remote engineering shows just how

resourceful our space teams can be,

especially when working with a spacecraft

that's now over 15 billion miles from Earth.

We'll also examine fascinating new findings

about Venus that suggest our nearest

planetary neighbor may be more geologically

active than previously thought. Data from

NASA's Magellan mission has revealed evidence

of ongoing tectonic processes that reshape

our understanding of this enigmatic world.

Finally, we'll look at a historic first on

Mars, where the Perseverance rover has

captured an image that no human has ever seen

before. A visible aurora on the

red planet. This subtle green glow

gives us a preview of what future Martian

explorers might witness in the night sky.

These stories remind us that our solar system

is not a static place, but an ever changing

dynamic environment full of ongoing processes

and unexpected discoveries. They also

highlight the incredible technological

achievements that allow us to explore these

distant worlds from right here on Earth.

So settle in as we journey across the cosmos,

exploring the latest findings that continue

to expand our understanding of the universe

we call home. Let's get things underway.

One of the most enduring mysteries about our

closest celestial neighbor has been why the

moon's near side. The face we see from Earth

looks so dramatically different from its far

side. Now, an exhaustive

examination of lunar gravity. You using data

from NASA's GRAIL mission is offering

compelling new evidence to explain this lunar

dichotomy the research team discovered that

the Moon's near side flexes slightly more

than the far side during its elliptical orbit

around Earth. This difference in tidal

deformation caused by Earth's gravitational

pull indicates significant structural

differences between the two sides of the

lunar interior, particularly in the mantle

layer. M. Our study shows that the Moon's

interior is not uniform except, explains Ryan

park, lead author of the study published in

the journal Nature. The side facing Earth,

the near side, is warmer and more

geologically active deep down than the far

side. This temperature difference is

substantial. Researchers estimate that the

near side Mantle averages between 180

to 360 degrees Fahrenheit,

hotter than the far side mantle. This thermal

difference is likely sustained by the

radioactive decay of elements like the

thorium and titanium, which appear to have

accumulated on the near side over billions of

years. The findings help explain the stark

visual contrast between the two lunar

hemispheres. If you've ever looked up at the

Moon, you've noticed that the near side is

dominated by vast dark plains called mare,

formed when molten rock cooled and solidified

billions of years ago. In contrast, the

far side has a much more rugged, mountainous

terrain, with very few of these plains.

Scientists have long hypothesized that

intense volcanism on the near side caused

radioactive heat generating elements to

accumulate in the mantle beneath this

hemisphere, driving these surface

differences. The new GRAIL data provides

the strongest evidence yet supporting this

theory. The researchers devoted years to

analyzing data from the twin GRAIL spacecraft

Ebb and Flow, which orbited the Moon from

December 2011 to to December

2012. Their work has resulted in

what park describes as the most detailed and

accurate gravitational map of the Moon to

date. Beyond solving this lunar mystery,

the enhanced gravity map has practical

applications. It will be crucial for

developing lunar positioning, navigation, and

timing systems, essential tools for future

lunar exploration missions. By improving

our understanding of the Moon's gravity

field, the research contributes to

establishing a precise lunar reference frame

that will enable safer and more reliable

navigation for spacecraft and surface

operations. This asymmetry in the

Moon's interior structure also deepens our

appreciation of our celestial companions

importance to Earth. The Moon stabilizes our

planet's rotation and generates ocean tides

that influence countless natural systems and

daily rhythms on our world. What's

particularly exciting is that the

gravitational analysis techniques used in

this study could potentially be applied to

other bodies in our solar system, such as

Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon

Ganymede, both considered prime candidates in

the search for potential life beyond Earth.

Next in today's story lineup An Australian

aerospace firm has been forced to delay what

would have been a historic rocket launch from

Australian soil. Gilmour Space

Technologies had planned to conduct the first

test launch of their three stage ERIS rocket

yesterday, but had to postpone after

encountering a ground system glitch during

pre launch operations. The company's

communications chief, Michelle Gilmour,

explained that the issue was with an external

power system we used during system checks.

The technical team identified the fix but ran

out of time to implement it and fuel the

rocket within the day's launch window. The

they're now targeting today for the

rescheduled launch attempt. The 23

meter 75 foot ARIS rocket is

poised to take off from a spaceport near

Bowen, a coastal township approximately

1000km north of Brisbane. If

successful, it would mark a significant

milestone as the first Australian made rocket

to achieve an orbital launch from Australian

soil. While the maiden flight is primarily

a test, the rocket isn't traveling empty. In

a quintessentially Australian touch, it will

be carrying a jar of Vegemite, the iconic

Australian toast spread, as its payload.

CEO Adam Gilmour has been candid about

managing expectations for this first flight.

If it orbits Earth. I would probably have a

heart attack actually because I'll be so

surprised but deliriously happy, he told

reporters. We're going to be happy if it gets

off the pad. 10, 20,

30 seconds of flight time. Fantastic. So

orbit is just not in the realm of my belief

right now, even though it's theoretically

possible. The Aris rocket is designed

to eventually carry small satellites weighing

between 100 and 200 kg into low

Earth orbit. Weighing 30 tons when

fully fueled, it uses a hybrid propulsion

system combining solid inert fuel with a

liquid oxidizer. Gilmour Space

Technologies has backing from private

investors, including venture capital group

Blackbird and pension fund Hesta. The

company, which employs 230 people, has

ambitious plans to commence commercial

launches by late 2026 or early

2027. Here's wishing them all the best with

the next attempt.

Now here's a story that truly showcases the

incredible ingenuity of NASA's engineering

team in what can only be described

as a remarkable feat of remote problem

solving, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion

Laboratory have successfully revived a set of

thrusters aboard Voyager 1 that had been

considered completely inoperable since 2004.

This achievement is particularly impressive

when you consider that Voyager 1 is currently

hurtling through interstellar space at

approximately 35,000 miles per hour,

over 15 billion miles from Earth.

That's so far away that radio Signals take

more than 23 hours to travel between the

spacecraft and our planet. The thruster

revival was critically timed. Engineers

needed to fix these systems before May 4th,

when the Deep Space Network's 230 foot wide

antenna in Canberra, Australia, the only

dish powerful enough to send commands to the

distant Voyagers, went offline for extensive

upgrades that will last until February

2026. With only brief operational

windows in August and December, why was this

fix so urgent? The Voyager spacecraft

rely on small thrusters to maintain their

orientation, keeping their antennas pointed

at Earth so they can continue sending back

data and receiving commands. The

primary set of thrusters currently in use on

Voyager 1 have been experiencing fuel tube

clogging due to residue buildup, which could

cause them to fail completely as early as

this northern fall. The situation was

complicated by the fact that the backup

thrusters had stopped working back in 2004,

when two small internal heaters lost power.

At that time, engineers determined the

heaters were likely unfixable and switched to

other backup systems. After all, who could

have predicted Voyager would still be

operational two decades later? After

revisiting the 2004 thruster failure,

the team suspected that an unexpected circuit

disturbance had essentially flipped a switch

to the wrong position. If they could turn the

switch back, the heaters might work again.

This M solution required precision timing and

careful planning. If the spacecraft's star

tracker drifted too far from its guide star

during the fix, the dormant thrusters would

automatically fire without their heaters,

potentially causing a small explosion.

On March 20th, after sending their commands

and waiting anxiously through the 23 hour

signal delay, the team witnessed the

temperature of the thruster heaters rise

dramatically, confirming their success.

As mission propulsion lead Todd Barber

described it, it was such a glorious moment.

Team morale was very high that day. These

thrusters were considered dead. It was yet

another miracle, save for Voyager. Launched

in 1977, both Voyager 1 and its twin

Voyager 2 continue to push the boundaries of

space exploration. As the only spacecraft to

have ever sent back data from interstellar

space, the region beyond our solar system's

protective bubble, this latest engineering

triumph ensures that this incredible

scientific journey can continue even longer.

Let's move on now to some news from one of

our celestial neighbors. Our, understanding

of Venus, Earth's so called twin planet,

continues to evolve as scientists uncover

evidence that it may be more geologically

active than previously thought. New research

based on Data gathered over 30 years ago by

NASA's Magellan mission has revealed

fascinating insights about vast

quasicircular features on Venus called

coronae, which suggest ongoing

tectonic activity beneath the planet's

surface. Unlike Earth, with its shifting

tectonic plates, Venus doesn't have plate

tectonics as we know it. However, this

doesn't mean Venus is geologically dead. The

new study, published in Science Advances

indicates that its surface is still being

deformed by molten material rising from

below. Coronae are enormous structures

ranging from dozens to hundreds of miles

across, where plumes of hot buoyant material

from Venus's mantle are thought to push

against the lithosphere, the planet's crust

and uppermost mantle layer. These features

typically appear as oval structures

surrounded by concentric fracture systems,

and hundreds of them have been identified

across Venus. What makes this

research particularly exciting is that it

suggests multiple ongoing processes are are

actively shaping these coronae. By combining

gravity and topography data from Magellan and

developing sophisticated three dimensional

geodynamic models, researchers were able to

identify 52 carony out of the 75

studied that appear to have buoyant mantle

material beneath them, likely driving

tectonic processes. The team

identified several different mechanisms

potentially at work in some carony. A,

venous specific type of subduction may be

occurring. As hot rock pushes upward

from the mantle surface, material rises and

spreads outward, eventually colliding with

surrounding material and pushing it downward

into the mantle. Another process called

lithospheric dripping, might also be present

where dense accumulations of cooler material

sink from the lithosphere into the hot mantle

below. Lead researcher Gail

Cascioli, who is part of NASA's forthcoming

Veritas mission to Venus, noted that these

features might provide a unique window into

Earth's past. Coronae are not found

on Earth today. However, they may have

existed when our planet was young and before

plate tectonics had been established, he

explained. This work is especially

significant as it represents yet another

instance where scientists are finding Venus

exhibits more Earth like geologic processes

than originally thought. Just recently,

researchers were able to identify erupting

volcanoes and vast lava flows in radar images

from Magellan, providing direct evidence of

volcanic activity. While these discoveries

are groundbreaking, scientists will need even

higher resolution data to fully understand

the tectonic processes driving corona

formation. That's where NASA's upcoming

Veritas mission comes in. Scheduled to launch

no earlier than 2031, Veridus will

create detailed three dimensional global maps

of Venus and measure its gravitational field

to determine the structure of the planet's

interior at unprecedented resolution,

potentially revolutionizing our understanding

of Venus and what it might tell us about

Earth's early history.

Next, let's head off to our other near

neighbor and One of our favorite planets. In

a groundbreaking astronomical first, NASA's

Perseverance rover has captured an image of a

visible aurora on Mars. On March

18, 2024, the rover

observed what scientists describe as a subtle

green glow hanging low in the Martian sky,

Wreathing the horizon in every direction.

This marks not only the first sighting of a

visible Martian aurora, but also the first

observation of any aurora from the surface of

a planet other than Earth. Until now,

auroras had been spotted on Mercury, Jupiter,

and every other non Earth planet in our solar

system, but only from orbit. On Mars

specifically, scientists had only detected

auroral wavelengths of light that are

invisible to the naked eye. Using specialized

instruments. This new observation answers a

long standing question. About what future

human explorers might witness in the Martian

night sky. According to Roger Wiens,

a planetary scientist at Purdue University,

future astronauts would see a dull or dim

green glow with their own eyes. The image

from Perseverance appears somewhat fuzzy

Compared to the spectacular aurora displays

we're accustomed to seeing from Earth. And

for good reason. The rover's cameras aren't

optimized for night photography, Performing

with sensitivity roughly comparable to human

eyes. Another factor contributing to the

aurora's different appearance Is Mars's

unique magnetic environment. Unlike Earth,

with its global magnetic field that

concentrates auroras near the poles. Mars

Mars has a patchy magnetized crust. This

means auroras can appear all over the planet

Rather than being confined to polar regions.

But they tend to be comparatively dim.

Scientists believe this particular aurora was

triggered by a coronal mass ejection, A large

cloud of plasma and magnetic fields blasted

from the sun into space. The Perseverance

team was alerted to this solar event days in

advance, allowing them to prepare the rover

to capture this historic image.

Interestingly, while Perseverance is located

near Mars's equator, Researchers suggest that

observing auroras from Mars's southern

hemisphere Might yield even more spectacular

results. That region contains the most

magnetized part of the planet, Potentially

producing stronger auroral displays.

This discovery adds another fascinating

chapter to our understanding of Mars. And

provides a glimpse of the ethereal

experiences awaiting future human

explorers who might one day stand on the

red planet's surface, Gazing up at

a glowing green Martian sky.

And that brings us to the end of today's

cosmic journey through the latest space news.

From the mysterious asymmetry of our Moon to

engineering marvels on Voyager 1, tectonic

activity on Venus, Delayed rocket launches in

Australia, and the first ever image of a

Martian aurora. The universe continues to

surprise and inspire us with each new

discovery. I'm Anna, your host here

on Astronomy Daily, bringing you the stories

that connect us to the vast cosmos beyond our

atmosphere. Whether you're a seasoned

astronomer or simply curious about what lies

beyond our blue marble, I hope today's

episode has sparked your imagination and

deepened your appreciation for the wonders of

space exploration. If you've enjoyed

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