Mars Mission M-MATISSE, Solar Secrets with SNIFS, and Neil Armstrong's Apollo Mementos Revealed

Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose

of cosmic insights. I'm Anna and I'm thrilled

to guide you through today's exciting

developments in space exploration. We've got

a packed show for you, starting with

ambitious new missions aiming to unravel the

mysteries of Mars and the Sun. We'll also

bring you the latest updates on Boeing's

Starliner capsule, including its recent

challenges and what's next for the

spacecraft. Plus, we'll take a fascinating

historical peek into the personal mementos

carried aboard Apollo 11 by none other than

Neil Armstrong himself. So let's dive right

in.

First up, let's talk about Mars and a

fascinating proposed mission that could be a

game changer for future human exploration of

the Red Planet. It's called M-MATISSE, which

stands for Mars Magnetosphere, Atmosphere,

Ionosphere and Space Weather Science. This

mission is vying for a spot as the European

Space Agency's next medium mission, with a

decision expected by mid-2026. If

it gets the green light, M. MATISSE would be

the very first mission solely dedicated to

understanding planetary space weather at

Mars. Preparing to send astronauts to Mars

means we need a really deep understanding of

the conditions they'll face when they arrive.

That's exactly what M. MATISSE aims to

provide. The concept involves launching two

robotic orbiters, aptly named Henri and

Marguerite, to profoundly investigate Mars's

atmosphere and surrounding environment. These

two identical spacecraft, each carrying the

same set of instruments, would observe the

Red Planet simultaneously from two different

locations in space. Henry would primarily

explore within the Martian plasma system,

while Marguerite would mainly operate in the

solar wind and Mars far tail, a region

that's largely unexplored. Together,

they'd probe several critical layers,

including the magnetosphere, which is the

region controlled by Mars's magnetic field.

The ionosphere, a high altitude layer filled

with charged particles, and the thermosphere,

where atmospheric gases escape into space.

They would also examine conditions in the

lower atmosphere and crucially, monitor

radiation accumulation. Dr.

Beatrice Sanchez Cano from the University of

Leicester, who is spearheading this

international effort, emphasises just how

vital this mission is. She explains that M.

MATISSE will offer the first global

characterization of the dynamics of the

Martian system at all altitudes. This

is crucial for understanding how the

atmosphere dissipates incoming energy from

the solar wind, including radiation, and

how space weather impacts surface processes.

This understanding is absolutely essential

for safe exploration. It will lead to

accurate space weather forecasts, helping to

prevent hazardous situations for both

spacecraft and human explorers on the Red

planet. Much like how space weather

monitoring on Earth protects our systems and

astronauts beyond safety, the

mission also promises to shed further light

on Mars's habitability and the evolution of

its atmosphere and climate change. It will

reveal how the solar wind influences Mars

atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere

and investigate the impact of these

interactions on the lower atmosphere and

surface. The UK is playing a leading role in

the mission selection phase, particularly

with responsibility for the Particle

Instrument Suite, which will provide the most

accurate observations to date of all

particles at Mars, including neutrals,

ions and electrons. The UK

will also be home to the Missions Science

Centre, coordinating its scientific planning

and data exploitation. So EM Metis

represents a vital step toward making human

landings on Mars safer and more feasible by

giving us an unprecedented look at its

complex space weather environment. It's

definitely a mission to watch out for.

From understanding Mars, we now turn our gaze

to our own star, the sun and and an exciting

upcoming mission set to unveil some of its

deepest secrets. In July,

NASA will launch the groundbreaking Solar

Eruption Integral Field Spectrograph mission,

or SNIFS. This mission, delivered to

space via a Black Brant IX sounding rocket,

will explore the energy and dynamics of the

chromosphere, one of the most complex and

enigmatic regions of the sun's atmosphere.

The launch window for SNIFS opens today at

the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The chromosphere sits between the sun's

visible surface, or photosphere, and its

outermost layer, the corona. While

we've researched the sun's atmospheric layers

extensively, many questions about the

chromosphere persist. As Philip

Chamberlain, a UH research scientist at the

University of Colorado, Boulder and principal

investigator for the SNIFS mission, put it,

there's still a lot of unknowns.

This layer is particularly important because

it lies just below the corona, where powerful

solar flares and massive coronal mass

ejections, or CMEs, are observed. These

dramatic solar eruptions are the primary

drivers of space weather hazardous conditions

in Near Earth space that can threaten

satellites and endanger astronauts. The

SNIFFS mission aims to learn more about how

energy is converted and moves through the

chromosphere, ultimately powering these

massive explosions. Understanding this

process is vital for accurately modelling

space weather and ensuring the safety of

Earth and our space assets. What makes

SNIFFS truly innovative is that it's the

first ever solar ultraviolet Integral Field

Spectrograph. This advanced technology

ingeniously combines an imager and a

spectrograph into a single instrument.

Imagers are great for capturing wide views

and combined light, while spectrographs

dissect light into its various wavelengths,

revealing crucial details like element

presence, temperature and movement. But

typically only from one point at a time.

SNIFFS gives scientists the best of both

worlds, pushing the limits of what technology

allows us to do in solar observation.

The mission will focus on specific

wavelengths known as spectral lines,

particularly a hydrogen line that's the

brightest in the sun's ultraviolet spectrum,

along with two spectral lines from silicon

and oxygen. Data from these lines will help

scientists trace how solar material and

energy move through the chromosphere,

revealing how it connects with the sun's

upper atmosphere. Sounding rockets like the

Black Brant IX are efficient tools for

launching space experiments and also provide

invaluable hands on experience for students

and early career researchers. As Vicky

Herda, a AH doctoral graduate who worked on

sniffs, noted, you can really try some

wild things, emphasising the unique learning

opportunities these missions offer. The

entire SNIFS mission is designed to be

incredibly fast, likely lasting only

about 15 minutes from launch to landing. The

sounding rocket will take about 90 seconds to

reach space and point toward the sun, then

perform its 7 to 8 minute experiment on the

chromosphere before returning to Earth's

surface. In three to five minutes, it's

expected to drift about 70 to 80 miles from

the launch pad, landing safely in the vast

empty desert of white sands.

After four years of dedicated work, the team

behind sniffs, especially heard, is immensely

excited for this pioneering launch

from the exciting realm of solar observation.

We now turn our attention to the more

grounded yet equally complex world of crew

transportation to the International Space

Station, where Boeing's Starliner capsule has

hit a few snags. While the ISS has

been a hub of activity lately, with various

spacecraft coming and going almost

constantly, Starliner has been notably absent

from the schedule for the remainder of

2025. Starliner launched

on its first astronaut mission, known as the

Crew flight test, or CFT, in June

2024. It carried NASA astronauts

Sunita Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the

ISS for what was originally expected to be

about a week long stay. While Starliner had

previously completed two uncrewed orbital

flight tests, the CFT mission encountered

unexpected challenges on its journey to the

space station. Star Starliner experienced

multiple helium leaks, which were traced to

components within its protective enclosures

called doghouses. Additionally,

five out of its 28 reaction control system

thrusters failed in flight.

These issues led to Williams and Wilmore's

stay aboard the ISS being extended multiple

times while NASA and Boeing worked to

troubleshoot the problems from the ground.

Ultimately, out of an abundance of caution,

the decision was made for Starliner to return

to Earth without the astronauts aboard.

Williams and Wilmore were then integrated

into the ISS long term crew rotation

and returned to Earth months later aboard a

SpaceX Crew Dragon rather than the Starliner

they arrived on. Since its uncrewed return in

September, NASA and Boeing have performed

extensive analyses of the issues within

Starliner's doghouses. They've slated

affected components for rigorous evaluation

at NASA's White Sands Test Facility this

summer. Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial

Crew Programme manager, explained that they

are testing various materials to improve

seals and prevent oxidizer vapour permeation,

which was identified as a weakness. They are

also performing pulse trains to cycle

thruster burns at ah, varying intensities and

frequencies to better understand temperature

swings within the doghouses. Improvements

have already been made, including thermal

modifications like adding a shunt and other

barriers to prevent heat from radiating back

into the thruster clusters. These tests are

crucial for refining thermal models for an

integrated doghouse test, which will simulate

thruster firings to fully understand heat

dynamics. As for when Starliner

might make its way back to the launch pad,

the timeline has shifted. NASA officials are

now working toward a flight no sooner than

early 2026. It's also very

likely that Starliner's next launch will be

an uncrewed cargo flight first. This cargo

mission would allow them to fully test all

the changes being made to the doghouses and

validate them in flight before risking

astronauts on board again. NASA remains

committed to Starliner as a critical part of

ensuring redundant access to low Earth orbit

for the United States, a goal that even

SpaceX is reportedly cheering on.

Finally today, let's take a look back at a

truly historic moment in space exploration.

For years, the contents of Neil Armstrong's

personal preference kits carried aboard the

Apollo 11 mission have held a certain

mystique. These kits, known as PPKs,

contained items that made the incredible

journey to the moon. Now we have a clearer

picture of what was inside. Detailed

manifests of these personal items, which

included various mementos intended for the

mission's flight crew support team members,

have been made public. These fascinating

inventories are now housed at Purdue

University, offering a unique and deeply

personal glimpse into the souvenirs that

travelled to the lunar surface. It's a

wonderful way to connect with the personal

side of such a monumental achievement.

And that brings us to the end of today's

Astronomy Daily. Thank you for tuning in.

I'm Anna, your host, and it's been a pleasure

sharing these cosmic updates with you. Don't

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