Rocket Milestones, Celestial Eclipses, and Surprising Cosmic Findings

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest and

0:03 Speaker 1: most exciting news in space exploration and astronomy. I'm your host, Anna,

0:07 Speaker 1: and today we're diving into several fascinating developments from across

0:11 Speaker 1: the Cosmos. We've got a packed episode ahead, covering everything

0:15 Speaker 1: from the Space Force's certification of a new rocket for

0:17 Speaker 1: national security launches to an upcoming partial solar eclipse that

0:21 Speaker 1: will grace our skies. This week, we'll also explore a

0:25 Speaker 1: mysterious galaxy that's challenging what we thought we knew about

0:27 Speaker 1: the early universe. Check in on China's expanding satellite network,

0:32 Speaker 1: and learn how NASA's Europa Clipper will scout potential landing

0:36 Speaker 1: sites on one of the most promising worlds for finding

0:39 Speaker 1: extraterrestrial life. So settle in as we journey through these

0:42 Speaker 1: captivating stories that remind us just how dynamic and ever

0:47 Speaker 1: changing our understanding of space truly is. The US Space

0:52 Speaker 1: Force has officially certified United Launch Alliances Vulcan Centaur rocket

0:56 Speaker 1: for national security missions after analyzing data from the vehicle's

1:01 Speaker 1: two certification launches that took place in January and October

1:04 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty four. This milestone announcement came on March

1:08 Speaker 1: twenty sixth from the Space Force's Space Systems Command, marking

1:12 Speaker 1: the completion of a long awaited certification process. Space Force

1:17 Speaker 1: Brigadier General Kristin Pansenhagen, who serves as the Program Executive

1:21 Speaker 1: Officer for Assured Access to Space, emphasized the significance of

1:25 Speaker 1: this development, noting that assured access to space is a

1:29 Speaker 1: core function of the Space Force and a critical element

1:32 Speaker 1: of national security. She added that the Vulcan certification adds

1:36 Speaker 1: launch capacity, resiliency, and flexibility needed for the nation's most

1:41 Speaker 1: critical space based systems. This certification is particularly notable as

1:46 Speaker 1: ULA now joins SpaceX as only the second provider certified

1:51 Speaker 1: to carry out launches under the National Security Space Launch Program,

1:55 Speaker 1: enhancing America's launch capabilities for sensitive military and intelligence payloads.

2:00 Speaker 1: The path to certification wasn't without challenges. The second Vulcan

2:04 Speaker 1: certification flight experienced an incident when the nozzle of one

2:07 Speaker 1: of its two solid rocket boosters fell off approximately half

2:10 Speaker 1: a minute after liftoff. Remarkably, the vehicle compensated for the

2:15 Speaker 1: diminished thrust and still completed its mission successfully. ULA's president

2:20 Speaker 1: and CEO, Tory Bruno, later explained that a manufacturing defect

2:24 Speaker 1: in an internal insulator part caused the nozzle separation, and

2:28 Speaker 1: appropriate corrective actions were implemented and verified through static fire testing.

2:33 Speaker 1: Looking ahead, ULA has ambitious plans for their launch cadence.

2:38 Speaker 1: Bruno has indicated that the company is projecting a dozen

2:41 Speaker 1: launches this year, split roughly evenly between their Atlas and

2:45 Speaker 1: Vulcan rockets, serving both national security and commercial missions. The

2:50 Speaker 1: first national security space launch mission on Vulcan is planned

2:54 Speaker 1: for this summer in North America. ULA aims to establish

2:57 Speaker 1: a baseline tempo of two launches per month the end

3:00 Speaker 1: of this year and perform twenty launches in twenty twenty five.

3:04 Speaker 1: Bruno noted that the company has been strategically stockpiling critical

3:07 Speaker 1: components such as B four engines and solid rocket boosters

3:12 Speaker 1: to support this accelerated launch schedule. This certification represents a

3:16 Speaker 1: significant advancement for America's space launch capabilities, ensuring redundancy and

3:22 Speaker 1: resilience in the nation's ability to deploy critical national security

3:25 Speaker 1: assets to orbit. As Bruno remarked, we're all staged up

3:30 Speaker 1: and ready, and a spacecraft show up will be able

3:32 Speaker 1: to fly them. What a difference A year makes just

3:37 Speaker 1: a year after millions across North America witnessed the spectacular

3:40 Speaker 1: total solar eclipse on April eighth, twenty twenty four, We're

3:44 Speaker 1: already preparing for another celestial event. Mark your calendars for

3:49 Speaker 1: this Saturday, March twenty ninth, twenty twenty five, when a

3:53 Speaker 1: partial solar eclipse will grace our skies, though with a

3:56 Speaker 1: notably different viewing audience. This upcoming eclipse resild volts from

4:00 Speaker 1: the Moon's shadow, falling primarily on the north polar regions

4:03 Speaker 1: of Earth. It's actually the second eclipse in less than

4:06 Speaker 1: a month, coming just two weeks after the total lunar

4:10 Speaker 1: eclipse that occurred on March thirteenth, fourteen. This pattern is

4:14 Speaker 1: what astronomers call an eclipse season, a roughly thirty seven

4:18 Speaker 1: day period when the alignment of the Sun and Moon

4:21 Speaker 1: can allow for eclipses to occur at both full and

4:24 Speaker 1: new moon phases. For this March twenty ninth event, the

4:27 Speaker 1: Moon will pass through the opposite node of its orbit

4:30 Speaker 1: compared to the lunar eclipse. However, the moon passes this

4:34 Speaker 1: node almost too early. By the time it reaches new

4:37 Speaker 1: phase about nineteen hours after crossing the ecliptic. The axis

4:40 Speaker 1: of its shadow will pass well to the north of Earth.

4:43 Speaker 1: The dark shadow cone or umbra, will completely miss our planet,

4:47 Speaker 1: passing about one hundred and eighty miles above the north pole.

4:51 Speaker 1: This means no location on Earth will experience totality, but

4:54 Speaker 1: instead the Moon's outer shadow, the penumbra, will create a

4:58 Speaker 1: partial eclipse, visible in varying degrees. The eclipse will be

5:02 Speaker 1: visible across Northwest Africa, much of Europe, excluding some eastern sections,

5:07 Speaker 1: Northwest Russia, Iceland, and Greenland. Parts of South America, including Surrey,

5:13 Speaker 1: Name French, Guyana, and Amada in Brazil, will see a

5:16 Speaker 1: small dent in the sun at sunrise. For North Americans,

5:20 Speaker 1: visibility depends entirely on location. If you draw a line

5:23 Speaker 1: from Oakville, Ontario, down to Virginia Beach, Virginia, areas west

5:28 Speaker 1: of this line won't see any part of the eclipse.

5:30 Speaker 1: Those to the east, however, will catch at least a

5:32 Speaker 1: glimpse near sunrise, though maximum eclipse will have already occurred

5:36 Speaker 1: before the Sun appears above the horizon. The farther north

5:40 Speaker 1: and east you go in North America, the more impressive

5:43 Speaker 1: the view becomes. In Baltimore, the sun will rise with

5:46 Speaker 1: seven point eight percent of its diameter already eclipsed, with

5:49 Speaker 1: the event ending just four minutes later, but residents of

5:52 Speaker 1: northern New England and Atlantic Canada are in for a

5:55 Speaker 1: spectacular treat. The town of Madawasca in far northern Maine

5:59 Speaker 1: will experience maximum eclipse almost precisely at sunrise, with eighty

6:04 Speaker 1: eight point two percent of the Sun's diameter covered. This

6:07 Speaker 1: will create the stunning visual effect of the Sun appearing

6:10 Speaker 1: as a delicate crescent with its points aimed nearly straight up,

6:14 Speaker 1: resembling two lobster claws emerging from beyond the eastern horizon.

6:18 Speaker 1: Similar impressive views await Atlantic Canada, with Halifax seeing eighty

6:22 Speaker 1: five point six percent coverage at seven seventeen am, Fredericton

6:27 Speaker 1: experiencing eighty seven percent at seven nineteen am, and Saint

6:30 Speaker 1: John's reaching eighty five point four percent at seven fifty

6:33 Speaker 1: two am. As always with solar eclipses, proper eye protection

6:37 Speaker 1: is essential. Unlike a total eclipse with its brief moments

6:41 Speaker 1: of totality, a partial eclipse can be observed more leisurely,

6:45 Speaker 1: but only through specially designed solar filters or eclipse glasses.

6:49 Speaker 1: Remember that looking at the Sun without proper protection is

6:52 Speaker 1: extremely dangerous. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has made another

6:58 Speaker 1: groundbreaking discovery that's challenging our understanding of the early universe.

7:03 Speaker 1: An international team of astronomers has identified bright hydrogen emission

7:07 Speaker 1: from an incredibly distant galaxy observed just three hundred thirty

7:11 Speaker 1: million years after the Big Bang, a mere fraction of

7:15 Speaker 1: our universe's current thirteen point eight billion year age. The galaxy,

7:20 Speaker 1: designated Jade's GSC thirteen one, was first spotted in images

7:24 Speaker 1: taken by Webb's Near infrared camera as part of the

7:27 Speaker 1: James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey. Researchers initially

7:33 Speaker 1: estimated its redshift, a measure of how far the galaxy's

7:36 Speaker 1: light has traveled and been stretched by the expansion of space,

7:39 Speaker 1: at around twelve point nine. To confirm this extreme distance,

7:43 Speaker 1: they then observed it using Web's Near infrared spectrograph instrument.

7:47 Speaker 1: The resulting spectrum not only confirmed the red shift at

7:50 Speaker 1: thirteen point zero, placing it firmly in the very early universe,

7:54 Speaker 1: but also revealed something completely unexpected, a distinctly bright wavelength

7:59 Speaker 1: of light. As Lyman alpha emission radiating from hydrogen atoms.

8:04 Speaker 1: This emission was far stronger than scientists thought possible during

8:08 Speaker 1: this ancient epic. What makes this finding so perplexing is

8:12 Speaker 1: that the early universe was filled with a thick fog

8:15 Speaker 1: of neutral hydrogen gas. This fog should have completely blocked

8:19 Speaker 1: such emissions until a process called realization cleared it away,

8:24 Speaker 1: a process that wasn't completed until about one billion years

8:27 Speaker 1: after the Big Bang. Yet here was jadas gsz thirteen

8:31 Speaker 1: to one shining through this cosmic fog more than six

8:35 Speaker 1: hundred million years earlier than should be possible. Roberto Myelino

8:39 Speaker 1: from the University of Cambridge and University College London explains

8:43 Speaker 1: why this is so significant. GSZ thirteen one is seen

8:47 Speaker 1: when the universe was only three hundred thirty million years old,

8:51 Speaker 1: yet it shows a surprisingly clear, telltale signature of Lyman

8:55 Speaker 1: alpha emission that can only be seen once the surrounding

8:58 Speaker 1: fog has fully lifted. This result was totally unexpected by

9:02 Speaker 1: theories of early galaxy formation and has caught astronomers by surprise.

9:06 Speaker 1: Before and during the realization era, the neutral hydrogen surrounding

9:10 Speaker 1: galaxies should have blocked any energetic ultraviolet light they emitted,

9:15 Speaker 1: much like colored glass filter's light. Until enough stars had

9:19 Speaker 1: formed to ionize this hydrogen gas, no such light, including

9:23 Speaker 1: Lyman alpha emission, should have been able to escape and

9:27 Speaker 1: reach Earth. We really shouldn't have found a galaxy like this,

9:31 Speaker 1: given our understanding of the way the universe has evolved,

9:34 Speaker 1: says Kevin Hanline from the University of Arizona. We could

9:38 Speaker 1: think of the early universe as shrouded with a thick

9:41 Speaker 1: fog that would make it exceedingly difficult to find even

9:44 Speaker 1: powerful lighthouses peeking through. Yet here we see the beam

9:47 Speaker 1: of light from this galaxy piercing the veil. Scientists aren't

9:52 Speaker 1: yet certain what caused this unexpected emission, but they have theories.

9:56 Speaker 1: One possibility is that the galaxy contains some of the

9:59 Speaker 1: u universe's first generation of stars, much more massive, hotter,

10:04 Speaker 1: and more luminous than stars formed later. Another explanation could

10:09 Speaker 1: be a powerful, active galactic nucleus driven by one of

10:12 Speaker 1: the first super massive black holes. Whatever the explanation, this

10:16 Speaker 1: discovery opens exciting new questions about the earliest chapters of

10:20 Speaker 1: our cosmic history and how the first stars and galaxies formed.

10:25 Speaker 1: The research was published in the journal Nature, marking another

10:28 Speaker 1: remarkable achievement for the Web telescope as it continues to

10:32 Speaker 1: transform our understanding of the universe's origins. China has taken

10:37 Speaker 1: another significant step forward in its space infrastructure with the

10:40 Speaker 1: successful launch of a new data tracking and relay communications satellite.

10:44 Speaker 1: The Tianlian two zero four lifted off on March twenty

10:48 Speaker 1: sixth at eleven fifty five a m Eastern time from

10:51 Speaker 1: the Sichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China aboard a

10:55 Speaker 1: long March three B rocket. The China Aerospace Science and

10:59 Speaker 1: Technology Corporate KSC announced the mission's success about an hour

11:03 Speaker 1: after liftoff. While the launch was anticipated due to airspace

11:07 Speaker 1: closure notices, the exact payload wasn't revealed until after the

11:10 Speaker 1: successful deployment. Tianlian two zero four is now in geosynchronous

11:15 Speaker 1: transfer orbit and will eventually maneuver to take up its

11:18 Speaker 1: final position along the geostationary belt, approximately thirty five thousand,

11:22 Speaker 1: seven hundred eighty six kilometers above Earth's equator. From this

11:26 Speaker 1: vantage point, it will join China's second generation geostationary orbit

11:31 Speaker 1: data relay satellite constellation. These satellites serve a critical function

11:35 Speaker 1: for China's space program, providing data relay and telemetry, tracking,

11:39 Speaker 1: and command services for the nation's crewed spacecraft. This includes

11:43 Speaker 1: supporting the Tiangong space station and Shenho spacecraft, as well

11:47 Speaker 1: as assisting medium and low Earth orbit satellites and launch operations.

11:51 Speaker 1: The Tianlian network performs a role similar to NASA's tracking

11:54 Speaker 1: and data relay satellite system, with satellites strategically positioned around

11:58 Speaker 1: geostationary orbit to die nearly continuous coverage. According to CASCI,

12:03 Speaker 1: this newest addition to the fleet features several technical upgrades

12:07 Speaker 1: compared to its predecessor, Tanlian two zero three, which was

12:11 Speaker 1: launched in July twenty twenty two. These improvements include enhanced

12:14 Speaker 1: transmission capacity and faster response speeds, aimed at meeting China's

12:19 Speaker 1: growing needs for data relay and tracking services, while also

12:23 Speaker 1: strengthening the autonomy and security of their second generation relay system.

12:28 Speaker 1: The Tianlian program has a long history, beginning with China's

12:31 Speaker 1: first Tanlian satellite, launched in two thousand and eight. The

12:35 Speaker 1: earlier Tanlian I series satellites have now been moved to

12:37 Speaker 1: graveyard orbits above the geostationary Belt, while the newer generation

12:42 Speaker 1: continues active service. Like earlier satellites in the series. Tanlian

12:46 Speaker 1: two zero four was developed by the China Academy of

12:50 Speaker 1: Space Technology, a major spacecraft making institute under CASCI. This

12:55 Speaker 1: launch marks China's fifteenth orbital mission of twenty twenty five,

12:58 Speaker 1: demonstrating the country's increasingly ambitious space program. With expanded spaceport capabilities,

13:05 Speaker 1: ongoing Mega constellation projects, and new launch vehicles set to debut,

13:10 Speaker 1: China could potentially target around one hundred or more launches

13:13 Speaker 1: this year, far exceeding their previous national record of sixty

13:16 Speaker 1: eight launches set last year. The country's space agenda remains

13:20 Speaker 1: packed with other major upcoming missions, including the Shenzho twenty

13:24 Speaker 1: and twenty one crude flights to the Tiangong Space Station

13:27 Speaker 1: and the chian Win two Near Earth asteroid sample return

13:30 Speaker 1: mission expected to launch around May. Let's move a bit

13:35 Speaker 1: further out into space now, looking ahead to one of

13:38 Speaker 1: NASA's most anticipated deep space missions. New research presented at

13:42 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five Lunar and Planetary Science Conference has

13:46 Speaker 1: revealed how the Europa Clipper will help identify potential landing

13:49 Speaker 1: sites for a future mission. To Jupiter's icy moon. This

13:53 Speaker 1: strategic reconnaissance capability could prove crucial for the next phase

13:56 Speaker 1: of exploring this ocean world. The Europa Clip, scheduled to

14:01 Speaker 1: reach the Jovian System in April twenty thirty, will follow

14:04 Speaker 1: a complex orbital pattern around Jupiter, performing forty nine close

14:08 Speaker 1: flybys of Europa. Unlike Mars orbiters that follow relatively simple

14:13 Speaker 1: circular paths, the clipper can't orbit Europa directly due to

14:17 Speaker 1: Jupiter's intense radiation environment, which would damage the spacecraft. Instead,

14:22 Speaker 1: it will follow carefully designed looping orbits that minimize radiation

14:26 Speaker 1: exposure while still allowing close study of the moon. Planetary

14:30 Speaker 1: geologist Jennifer Scully and her team at NASA's Jet Propulsion

14:33 Speaker 1: Laboratory have carefully assessed which of these flybys would be

14:36 Speaker 1: most suitable for identifying future landing sites. They determined that

14:40 Speaker 1: any reconnable flyby must meet three key requirements proper lighting

14:44 Speaker 1: conditions with the surface in sunlight, specific incidence angles between

14:48 Speaker 1: thirty and sixty degrees, and an altitude of approximately fifty

14:51 Speaker 1: to one hundred kilometers to ensure appropriate image resolution without blurring.

14:56 Speaker 1: Based on these criteria, the researchers identified twelve flybys as

15:01 Speaker 1: fully reconnable and another thirteen as supporting. Most notably, a

15:06 Speaker 1: flyby designated E nineteen stands out as particularly valuable for

15:10 Speaker 1: landing site selection. Its ground track extends over seven hundred

15:13 Speaker 1: kilometers and covers a fascinating transition between Europa's ridged planes

15:18 Speaker 1: and a region called Powis Reggio, one of the Moon's

15:22 Speaker 1: mysterious chaos terrains, where the surface appears jumbled and disrupted,

15:27 Speaker 1: potentially offering clues about the ocean beneath. The Europa clippers.

15:31 Speaker 1: Sophisticated Europa imaging system, with its narrow and wide angle cameras,

15:35 Speaker 1: will collect crucial data for what's known as terrain relative navigation.

15:40 Speaker 1: This is the same guidance system that allowed NASA's Perseverance

15:43 Speaker 1: rover to safely navigate to its landing site on Mars.

15:47 Speaker 1: A future Europa lander would use these detailed surface images,

15:51 Speaker 1: combined with real time camera data to guide itself safely

15:54 Speaker 1: to the surface. The researchers note that their current assessments

15:58 Speaker 1: are based on older data from the Galilee omission, and

16:02 Speaker 1: rankings will likely change once the Europa Clipper begins returning

16:06 Speaker 1: high resolution images. Some potential landing areas haven't even been

16:10 Speaker 1: photographed at high resolution yet, highlighting just how much we

16:14 Speaker 1: still have to discover about this intriguing world. This research

16:17 Speaker 1: provides a critical roadmap for mission planners as they prepare

16:22 Speaker 1: for the Europa Clippers operations in the twenty thirties and

16:26 Speaker 1: lay groundwork for what could eventually become humanity's first landing

16:30 Speaker 1: on an ocean world beyond Earth. And that wraps up

16:34 Speaker 1: today's episode of Astronomy Daily. From the Space Force certifying

16:38 Speaker 1: ULA's Vulcan rocket to the upcoming partial solar eclipse, Web's

16:42 Speaker 1: surprising discovery of ancient light, China's new data relay satellite,

16:47 Speaker 1: and the Europa Clippers mission to scout landing sites on

16:49 Speaker 1: Jupiter's ocean moon. We've journeyed across the Solar System and beyond.

16:54 Speaker 1: I'm anna and it's been my pleasure to bring you

16:57 Speaker 1: these fascinating stories from across the cosmos. Whether you're a

17:01 Speaker 1: seasoned astronomer or just curious about what lies beyond our atmosphere,

17:05 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's cosmic update. Visit our website

17:09 Speaker 1: at Astronomydaily dot io, where you can sign up for

17:11 Speaker 1: our free daily newsletter and listen to all our episodes.

17:15 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media. Just search

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17:23 Speaker 1: Until next time, keep looking up start starzon