S02E26: Olympus Mons: An Ancient Island & Delayed SpaceX Launch

0:00 Good everybody, and welcome to Astronomy Daily for Thursday, the twenty seventh of

0:05 July twenty twenty three. My name is Tim Gibbs and I will be your

0:09 host for today's episode. A bit of a surprise for our listeners that we

0:21 have time today, so we are going to do a one show Thursday,

0:24 which is a bit different from normal and as usual I have my AI assistant,

0:30 Hallie in the studio with me today. Hallie, do you have a

0:35 one story for us today? Thanks? Tim, Here's my story for today.

0:40 Olympus Mons could have been a giant volcanic island in an ancient Martian Ocean.

0:46 Olympus Mons, located at the northwest edge of the Tharsis Montes region on

0:50 Mars, was appropriately named based on readings obtained by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter

0:56 MOLA, an instrument aboard nassa's Mars Global Surveyors. This mountain is the tallest

1:00 in the Solar System, standing twenty one point nine kilometers thirteen point six miles

1:07 tall, about two and a half times the height of Mount Everest eight point

1:10 eight five kilometers five point five miles. According to current estimates, this extinct

1:15 shield volcano formed during mars Hesperian period ca. Three point seven to three billion

1:21 years ago, which was characterized by widespread volcanic activity and catastrophic flooding. This

1:26 coincides with a period when Mars had a denser atmosphere, a warmer environment,

1:32 and flowing water on its surface. This included a global ocean that spanned much

1:37 of the Northern Hemisphere known today as the Northern Lowlands, encompassing Olympus Mons.

1:42 According to a recent study led by researchers from the Center National de Rechercher's Scientific

1:48 CNRS, features found on the slopes of Olympus Mons indicate that it could have

1:52 been a massive volcanic island where volcanic eruptions flowed into the ocean, similar to

1:57 ones found on Earth. The research was conducted by a team of CNRS researchers

2:01 with the Geosciences Paris Saclay Laboratory JEEPS at the University of Paris Saclay. The

2:08 team was led by Anthony Hildenbrand, a CNRS jeep's researcher, with the assistance

2:14 of Fernando or Nellis Marquez, a geology professor at the University delze Boa.

2:19 The paper that describes their findings. A giant volcanic island in an early Martian

2:23 ocean recently appeared in the Earth and Planetary Science letters. Knowing when, where,

2:30 and how long flowing water existed on Mars is crucial to astrobiology studies on

2:35 the red planet. No one really knows how long early liquid water may have

2:38 existed at the surface of Mars, which potentially has important implications regarding the fate

2:44 of early life on Mars and in the Solar System, he said. According

2:47 to the geological record, life began on Earth roughly four billion years ago,

2:53 when much of the surface was covered in water and the atmosphere was largely the

2:55 result of volcanic outgassing. The Astronomy Day podcast thanks for that, Hallie.

3:04 Now SpaceX has unfortunately had to scrub a record breaking Falcon Heavy rocket launch.

3:12 The team halted the countdown at sixty five second. We will have to wait

3:16 at least another day to see SpaceX powerful Falcon Heavy rocket liftoff for the seventh

3:23 time. The Falcon Heavy was scheduled to launch on Wednesday night, July twenty

3:28 six, at eleven o four local time from Pad thirty nine A at NASA's

3:36 Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but it wasn't to be. The launch team

3:39 called things off with sixty five seconds left on the countdown clock for reasons that

3:46 weren't immediately clear. The next launch opportunity will come Thursday night, July twenty

3:53 seventh, at the same time. According to SpaceX, the launch, whenever

3:58 it happens, will send the huge Jupiter three communications satellite into orbit. Jupiter

4:02 three is the largest commercial communication satellite ever built. According to its operator,

4:09 Huge Network Systems, the satellite weighs ten point one tons that's nine point two

4:15 metric tons, and when finally deployed, will have a wingspan wingspan similar to

4:21 that of a commercial jet. The Falcon Heavy has launched six times to date,

4:26 including three times since November twenty and twenty two. The rocket debuted in

4:30 February twenty and eighteen on a test flight that sent Elon Musk's red Tesla roadster

4:36 aloft with a spacesuit clad mannequin named Starman at the wheel. The Falcon Heavy

4:44 is the second most powerful rocket flying today, generating more than five million pounds

4:48 of thrust at liftoff. The most powerful vehicle Nassa's Space Launch System SLS produces

4:55 about eight point eight million pounds of thrust, but sl won't hold that title

5:00 for long. If all goes according to SpaceX's plan, the company's next generation

5:05 starship vehicle, which is still in development, will generate about sixteen point seven

5:11 million pounds of thrust. The Astronomy Daily Podcast Thanks everybody for listening to Astronomy

5:18 Daily. You can find all of our episodes, plus our parent podcasts,

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5:30 don't forget that you can join in the conversation yourself by going to our Facebook

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5:41 Tim Gives on Fridays for a full show. Thanks for listening, see

5:45 you next week. Bye for now, Thanks Tim TTFN, The Astronomy Daily

5:53 Podcast, Bye,