S03E110: NASA's 4K Breakthrough & Mercury's Diamond Mantle

0:02 Speaker 1: Welcome listeners to Astronomy Daily, your go to podcast for

0:05 Speaker 1: the latest updates and fascinating facts about space and astronomy.

0:09 Speaker 1: I'm Ana your friendly host. Today, we've got an exciting

0:13 Speaker 1: lineup of news topics to discuss. First, we'll delve into

0:17 Speaker 1: NASA's remarkable achievement of streaming four K video footage from

0:21 Speaker 1: an aircraft to the International Space Station. Next, we'll uncover

0:25 Speaker 1: the astonishing discovery of a diamond mantle beneath Mercury's crust.

0:30 Speaker 1: Then we'll explore the groundbreaking ionospheric insights from NASA's recently

0:34 Speaker 1: concluded Icon mission, and finally we'll marvel at the James

0:38 Speaker 1: Webb Space Telescopes imaging of a super Jupiter in the

0:41 Speaker 1: Epsilon Indie system. So buckle up and get ready for

0:44 Speaker 1: a journey through the Cosmos. Recently, a team at NASA's

0:50 Speaker 1: Glenn Research Center in Cleveland achieved something extraordinary. They streamed

0:54 Speaker 1: four K video footage from an aircraft to the International

0:57 Speaker 1: Space Station and back marking, the first time this has

1:00 Speaker 1: been done using optical laser communications. This groundbreaking technology can

1:04 Speaker 1: transmit data ten to one hundred times faster than traditional

1:08 Speaker 1: radio frequency systems. Imagine the possibilities this opens up for

1:12 Speaker 1: future lunar missions. Historically, NASA has relied on radio waves

1:16 Speaker 1: to send information to and from space, but laser communications

1:20 Speaker 1: utilize infrared light, which can carry much more data at

1:23 Speaker 1: higher speeds. For these tests, the engineers installed a portable

1:27 Speaker 1: laser terminal on the belly of a Polattis PC twelve

1:30 Speaker 1: aircraft flying over Lake Erie. They streamed video data to

1:34 Speaker 1: an optical ground station in Cleveland. From there, the data

1:37 Speaker 1: traveled over an Earth based network to NASA's White Sands

1:41 Speaker 1: test facility in New Mexico using infrared light signals. The

1:46 Speaker 1: data was then sent twenty two thousand miles to NASA's

1:49 Speaker 1: laser communications relay demonstration in orbit, which relate it to

1:53 Speaker 1: the ISS and back. According to doctor Daniel Rabel, principal

1:57 Speaker 1: investigator for the project, this achievement is a tremendous milestone.

2:02 Speaker 1: The success of these laser communication tests lays the groundwork

2:06 Speaker 1: for much anticipated features like high definition video conferencing for

2:10 Speaker 1: astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis missions. Continuous improvement

2:14 Speaker 1: of this technology during each test flight has shown that

2:18 Speaker 1: aeronautics testing can be more effective and cost efficient than

2:22 Speaker 1: ground or space testing alone. James Demmer's chief of aircraft

2:26 Speaker 1: Operations at Glenn, emphasize that the goal is to ensure

2:29 Speaker 1: new technologies don't just stay in the lab, but are

2:32 Speaker 1: tested and matured in real world conditions. These initiatives are

2:36 Speaker 1: part of a broader goal to enable high bandwidth data

2:39 Speaker 1: streaming from deep space, which will be crucial for future

2:42 Speaker 1: human missions beyond Low Earth orbit. While the current hardware

2:46 Speaker 1: setup may conclude its tests soon, the successful trials of

2:50 Speaker 1: four K video streaming from aircraft indicate a promising future

2:54 Speaker 1: where high definition video brings us closer to experiencing space

2:58 Speaker 1: missions in real time. As NASA develops advanced instruments to

3:01 Speaker 1: capture high definition data on the Moon and beyond, the

3:04 Speaker 1: capabilities of laser communications will continue to play a pivotal

3:08 Speaker 1: role in bringing space exploration right to our screens. New

3:15 Speaker 1: research using data from NASA's Messenger spacecraft has uncovered a

3:19 Speaker 1: surprising diamond mantle beneath Mercury's crust. Scientists have long been

3:24 Speaker 1: puzzled by Mercury's unique characteristics, like its very dark surface

3:28 Speaker 1: and dense core. By analyzing patches of graphite on its surface,

3:32 Speaker 1: they speculated that Mercury once had a carbon rich magma ocean,

3:37 Speaker 1: leading to the formation of this diamond mantle. The data

3:40 Speaker 1: suggests that heavy pressures and high temperatures inside Mercury caused

3:44 Speaker 1: carbon in the mantle to crystallize into diamonds over billions

3:48 Speaker 1: of years. This diamond layer could be up to ten

3:50 Speaker 1: miles thick, providing a completely new understanding of the planet's composition.

3:55 Speaker 1: This discovery not only changes our understanding of Mercury, but

3:59 Speaker 1: also sheds light on its rapid cooling and shortened volcanic era,

4:03 Speaker 1: making it starkly different from other rocky planets like Earth

4:06 Speaker 1: or Mars. Researchers believe that the diamond mantle might have

4:10 Speaker 1: played a role in the planet's fast cooling process, effectively

4:14 Speaker 1: ending its volcanic period much earlier than other planets. This

4:19 Speaker 1: finding exemplifies how unique Mercury is compared to its solar siblings,

4:23 Speaker 1: and opens up new pathways for understanding planetary formation and

4:27 Speaker 1: evolution in highly carbon rich conditions. As scientists eagerly await

4:32 Speaker 1: more data from future missions, including ESA's BEPY Columbo, set

4:36 Speaker 1: to arrive at Mercury in twenty twenty six, this diamond

4:39 Speaker 1: revelation continues to intrigue and inspire. NASA's ICON mission has concluded,

4:46 Speaker 1: but what a journey it has been. Launched in October

4:49 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, ICON, or Ionospheric Connection Explorer, has provided unprecedented

4:55 Speaker 1: insights into the ionosphere, the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere.

5:00 Speaker 1: Region nestled between fifty five miles to three hundred and

5:03 Speaker 1: sixty miles above our planet, is a bustling zone teeming

5:06 Speaker 1: with charged particles. Studying this frontier has been crucial as

5:10 Speaker 1: it impacts everything from satellite operations to GPS signals. One

5:15 Speaker 1: of the most stunning achievements of the ICON mission was

5:18 Speaker 1: capturing data that showcased the intricate relationship between space weather

5:23 Speaker 1: and Earth's weather. A mesmerizing feature called air glow was

5:27 Speaker 1: extensively observed, helping scientists decode the ionosphere's density, composition, and structure.

5:34 Speaker 1: Unlike the Aurora borealis, which paints the polar skies, air

5:38 Speaker 1: glow is a subtle, world spanning phenomenon created by similar processes.

5:42 Speaker 1: But that's not all. ICON provided the scientific community with

5:46 Speaker 1: its first ever concrete observations of the long theorized ionospheric dynamo.

5:50 Speaker 1: This dynamic system of terrestrial winds and space weather interactions

5:54 Speaker 1: generates complex electric and magnetic fields. Icon's measurements revealed how

5:59 Speaker 1: unp predictable terrestrial winds move plasma around the ionosphere, causing

6:03 Speaker 1: charged particles to either shoot out into space or plummet

6:06 Speaker 1: towards Earth. This discovery has been nothing short of transformational.

6:11 Speaker 1: The mission also captured how external events such as volcanic

6:14 Speaker 1: eruptions influenced the ionosphere. The twenty twenty two Hunga Tonga

6:18 Speaker 1: Hangaha up high eruption, for instance, disrupted electrical currents in

6:22 Speaker 1: this charged layer. Icon's instruments were able to directly observe

6:26 Speaker 1: the speed of this volcanic plume and its far reaching

6:29 Speaker 1: impacts on ionospheric structures. However, as with all great missions,

6:33 Speaker 1: there came a time to say goodbye. Communication with the

6:36 Speaker 1: ICON spacecraft was lost in November twenty twenty two, and

6:40 Speaker 1: despite best efforts, contact could not be re established. While

6:44 Speaker 1: the mission officially ended, its legacy endures the wealth of

6:49 Speaker 1: data collected will continue to benefit space and atmospheric science

6:52 Speaker 1: for years to come. Icon has indeed lived up to

6:55 Speaker 1: its name, making iconic contributions to our understanding of the

6:59 Speaker 1: boundary between Earth and space. The James Webb Space Telescope

7:05 Speaker 1: has achieved another groundbreaking milestone by successfully imaging a super

7:10 Speaker 1: jupiter in the nearby Epsilon INDIE system. This monumental discovery

7:15 Speaker 1: is setting the stage for a new era of exoplanet research,

7:19 Speaker 1: allowing scientists to study colder gas giant planets in much

7:22 Speaker 1: more detail than ever before. Epsilon INDIPS and D for short,

7:27 Speaker 1: is a nearby triple star system located just twelve light

7:30 Speaker 1: years from Earth. The newly imaged planet designated as epsend

7:34 Speaker 1: ab orbits the primary star of the system. Previous studies

7:38 Speaker 1: had identified this planet, but with the data from JWST,

7:42 Speaker 1: scientists were able to correct earlier misconceptions about its mass

7:45 Speaker 1: and orbital path. It turns out this super jupiter is

7:48 Speaker 1: about six times the mass of Jupiter and follows an

7:51 Speaker 1: elliptical orbit ranging from twenty to forty astronomical units from

7:55 Speaker 1: its star. One of the most exciting aspects of this

7:59 Speaker 1: discovery is that it's the first time a relatively cold

8:03 Speaker 1: gas giant planet has been imaged directly, rather than through

8:07 Speaker 1: indirect methods like transits or radial velocity measurements. By capturing

8:12 Speaker 1: direct images and analyzing the planet's spectra, researchers can study

8:17 Speaker 1: its atmosphere and monitor its evolution, comparing it to computational models.

8:23 Speaker 1: This advances our understanding of planet formation processes and the

8:27 Speaker 1: late stages of planetary system development. The EP's end AB, planet,

8:32 Speaker 1: cooler than the gas giants previously studied, showed up in

8:35 Speaker 1: JWST's mid infrared instrument MIRRY images as a bright dot.

8:40 Speaker 1: To achieve this, JWST used a coronagraph that blocks out

8:43 Speaker 1: the blinding light of the host star, making it possible

8:47 Speaker 1: to see the faint light emitted by the planet itself.

8:50 Speaker 1: This method opens new doors to studying gas giants that

8:53 Speaker 1: are otherwise difficult to detect due to their distance from

8:56 Speaker 1: their parent stars. The data also revealed some intrigue characteristics

9:01 Speaker 1: about PSI and d AB's atmospheric composition, suggesting substantial amounts

9:05 Speaker 1: of heavy elements like carbon. However, further research is necessary

9:10 Speaker 1: to draw definitive conclusions. In future observations, scientists aim to

9:14 Speaker 1: obtain detailed spectra that will provide in depth information about

9:18 Speaker 1: the planet's climate and chemical composition. This discovery acts as

9:22 Speaker 1: a stepping stone for hunting more cold gas giants. Helping

9:26 Speaker 1: to refine our theories on how such planets form and

9:29 Speaker 1: evolve in their mature stages. So keep your eyes on

9:32 Speaker 1: the stars and stay tuned to Astronomy Daily for more

9:34 Speaker 1: fascinating insights as we continue to explore the ever expanding universe.

9:43 Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning into this episode of Astronomy Daily.

9:46 Speaker 1: I've been your host. Anna. Be sure to visit our

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