S02E04: High-Altitude Balloon Flights // Recent Water Discovery on Mars// European Satellite Constellation// Lunar Glass Samples

0:00 Welcome to Astronomy Daily for another episode. I am your host, Steve Dunkley. It is the eighth of May twenty twenty three. Thank you for joining us, Save dunkle. Yes, we're after a flying start, and welcome, of course to Hallie, my favorite digital assistant. How are you, Hallie? Hi, there's Steve. Wow. It sounds like you have a bug in your system. Yes, I've managed to catch a nice little case of COVID again. I'm glad I don't have to put up with that. Yes, it's times like things. I can see the benefits of being a digital entity.

0:36 I just perch my system and reload good as new, my poor human Thanks Hallie. I'll kick things off with the short takes. Space tourism has never looked this fancy. France based startups Offalto has partnered with Centernational datud Spatials, the French Space Agency, in a plan to begin offering elegant high altitude stratospheric balloon flights lofted by a huge balloon filled with hydrogen or helium. Safolto's pressurized capsule will ascend high into Earth's atmosphere, as high as twenty five kilometers fifteen point five miles to offer passengers a unique view of the world below.

1:11 The company is already taking reservations at a staggering eleven thousand dollars one hundred and twenty thousand euros deposit. According to a Bloomberg report, Safalto's balloon will hold six passengers and two pilots and will lift off from a French spaceport. The company hopes to expand its access worldwide and features next opening pins in every populated continent on a global map of Safalto spaceports. Would you like to go on that ride, Steve, Oh, don't think so, Hellie. I think I might just go and make a cup of tea.

1:42 Okay, now, let's head over to Mars. Crusts, cracks, and other geologic features on sand dunes near the Martian Equator are causing leading researchers to believe there may have been water. They're much more recently than previously thought. The features, likely caused by the movement of thought salty water, showed up in images taken by China's Jerome rover. A chemical analysis from the rover indicates that they may have formed as recently as four hundred thousand years ago. The results could be useful to guide future missions to find life on Mars.

2:13 It is thought that atmospheric conditions on Mars four hundred thousand years ago were similar to what is seen now, suggesting it's possible that there's still liquid salty water at the planet's low latitudes, says Siaguang Chin, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Chin says the findings from the Jerome rover point to comparatively mild ground temperatures, which suggests the low latitudes and dunes of Mars could be hospitable to life and just when you thought the Earth's orbit had enough hardware in it.

2:43 Planning is under way for a European constellation that will provide Internet connectivity from low Earth orbit, similar to SpaceX's controversial Starlink Mega constellation. A group of Europe's major space and telecommunications players will bid for a proposed satellite constellation that could compete with SpaceX's Starlink system. Companies including Airbus, Defense and Space, Utelsat SS and Thales Alenia Space announced that they have formed a partnership to respond to the European Commission's call for assistance in creating a future European satellite constellation announced in late twenty twenty two.

3:17 The Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite IRIS two constellation will provide the European Union with Internet connectivity from low Earth orbit, a service similar to that offered by the ever growing constellation of Starlink satellites operated by SpaceX. Ours Technica reported this week that current EU estimates put the cost of IRIS two at around six point six billion dollar USD six billion euro. The EU hopes the proposed constellation could be operational by twenty twenty seven.

3:47 The partnership also includes communications giants Deutsche Telecom, Hisposat, OHB, Orange, Histosat and Telespasio, who have said that the proposed mega constellation will encourage startups in the European space sector to join the coalition. And that's some of the latest stories in our orbit this week, Steve Podcast, Well, thank you very much for that, Hollie, really appreciate that. Now. Artemus too will be using lasers to beam high definition video from the Moon. The astronauts will be testing out laser communications around the Moon to enable faster transmission of images and video.

4:28 In the past, NASA has been relying on radio signals being through its deep space network to transmit any sort of data from deep space probes back to Earth. Lasers, however, have the ability to vastly increase the amount of data craft are able to send. NASA including it is including laser communications in the form of the Orion Artemis two Optical Communication System or two on the Artemus two and the next crude mission around the Moon on board the Orion Capture or the O two O system will send back high resolution images in video from the lunar region.

5:05 A NASA video published in April states, if all goes according to the plan, a system should enable videos on Earth to see Moon in real time like never before. To lay the groundwork for future laser communications, NASA has launched several demonstrations satellites in recent years. The Laser Communication Relay Demonstration LCRD, launched in December twenty twenty one, was the agency's first laser relay. That was followed by a terabyte infrared delivery that's tb ird CubeSat launched last year, which reached data transmission rates of two hundred gigabytes bits per second.

5:46 Now, NASA is preparing to the Integrated Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplified Terminal ILLIMITE, which is expected to launch to the Internet space Station later this year. ILLAMAT will attach to the exposed facility on the Japanese Experiment Module. Once operational, it will relay back to Earth through LCRD in NASA's first end to end relay communication system, laying the groundwork for the O two O system that will be on board IRAN during Artemis two. NASA does note that in its recent video these experiments are only the start of how laser communications are paving the way for advancing our scientific discoveries.

6:30 The success of Artemis one last year has put Artems two on an imminent path to launch, which will fly the first astronauts to the Moon since nineteen seventy two. Images from cameras mounted to IRI and captivated the world during the spacecraft's nitmission to the learned orbit and back with a crew aboard four Artemis two, NASA expects to transmit not just high illusion images but a video as well. If all goes according to plan with these communication experiments, we can expect to see plenty of live or nearly live crew updates, with the gorgeous background of the lunar surface visible in ride's windows.

7:11 Are you doing okay, Steve? Oh, yes, I'm okay. You sound like you're about to expire. No, I'm all right. I might have a spare battery back here somewhere if you need on. No, thanks, just say the word thanks, twey, Thanks, You're good to me. Now cast your mind back a little while. You may remember the Changy five lunar mission has uncovered some interesting glass like beads on the surface. And while we are familiar with glass here on Earth as a man made product, it's actually a natural product that occurs under high temperatures.

7:44 Some of you may be aware of the glass that occurs in lightning strikes at the beach. The sand becomes quite glass like and so on, and it's also produced when media rights impact the earth. Lunar glass can remain stable for hundreds of million years millions of years, preserving ancient lunar materials and environmental information, similar to how amber does the same thing on Earth. China's Changy five mission marked the country's first extraterrestrials sampling, successfully collecting and returning the youngest and highest latitude lunar soil samples to date.

8:27 These samples provide insight into the Moon's origin, evolution, surface, and space environment, while promoting in situ utilization of learnar resources. This mission has also supplied valuable samples for studying extraterrestrial glass substances. A team led by members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently conducted systematic material science research on the Changy five lunar soil samples. They discovered various types and origins of lunar glass materials, constructing a classification catalog of lunar soil glass amorphos phases.

9:06 Their research on lunars soil glasses later foundation for understanding the Moon's material composition and space time evolution, and providing a scientific basis for institute processing and manufacturing of glass materials and devices based on lunar soil resources. The research team discovered that various forms of glass and the moose moons surface originate from multiple transformation paths, including involving solids, liquids, and gases. Frequent meteorite and micro meteorite impacts on the surface, which cause materials to melt and rapidly cool, producing a range of glass substances.

9:48 These include rotating glass beads, spherical ellipsoid dumbbell shapes, cement with poor structures, and fluid forms of sputtering. This is all very interesting and I'm just wondering about the development of building processes on the Moon and how this is going to be incorporated in all of that. This is very interesting development. Once again, thank you for joining us everybody, and our regular reminder that you can find all the episodes of Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson, as well as every episode of our podcast Astronomy Daily with Andrew Dunkley, Tim Gibbs and yours truly Steve Dunkley at this address space nuts dot io.

10:33 So head over there and click the links and enjoy your fill of space science and stuff, and don't forget to visit the Space Nuts Facebook page and join in with the chat there. There's always something going on and we'd all love to hear about your part of the sky. Yes, that'd be great. Thanks for joining us everyone, and thanks Halle. I do hope you get better soon. Thanks Hallie. I guess you should have invested in that sanitizing gel company that you'd be rubbing your hands together by now. Very funny.

10:59 See you all again soon. Bye Hollie, thanks for joining us everyone, See you later. Steve, let me be your hope. Leap down clearly