S03E145: Spaceflight Health Discoveries, BepiColombo's New Route, and Ganymede's Titanic Collision

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome listeners to another episode of Astronomy Daily, your go

0:03 Speaker 1: to source for the latest in space and astronomy news.

0:06 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Anna, and today we have some fascinating

0:08 Speaker 1: stories to delve into. From groundbreaking research uncovering how spaceflight

0:12 Speaker 1: affects human physiology to the thruster issues delaying the BEPI

0:16 Speaker 1: Columbo spacecraft's journey to Mercury. We also have the intriguing

0:20 Speaker 1: tale of a peculiar noise heard on NASA's Starliner, and

0:23 Speaker 1: a look at how a Titanic asteroid impact reshaped Jupiter's

0:26 Speaker 1: moon Ganymede. So sit back, relax, and let's explore the

0:29 Speaker 1: Cosmos together.

0:31 Speaker 2: Let's start today with astronauts and health.

0:33 Speaker 1: Space travel has always been a frontier filled with mystery

0:36 Speaker 1: and discovery. But what about the mysteries that unravel inside

0:39 Speaker 1: the human body during spaceflight. Recent research has shed some

0:43 Speaker 1: light on this fascinating subject, and the findings could be

0:46 Speaker 1: game changing for future long duration missions. Let's start with

0:50 Speaker 1: the gut microbiome, a bustling community of bacteria residing within us,

0:54 Speaker 1: essential for everything from digestion to immune function. Well, it

0:58 Speaker 1: turns out that spaceflight extensively altered this internal ecosystem. Researchers

1:02 Speaker 1: from University College Dublin and McGill University led an international

1:06 Speaker 1: team in collaboration with NASA to explore these changes. The study,

1:11 Speaker 1: published in NPG Biofilms and Microbiomes, dive deep into genetic

1:16 Speaker 1: analyzes to understand how space travel impacts the gut microbiome,

1:20 Speaker 1: and the results are nothing short of extraordinary. The researchers

1:23 Speaker 1: used advanced genetic technologies to examine the gut microbiomes of

1:26 Speaker 1: mice aboard the International Space Station over three months. Their

1:30 Speaker 1: findings revealed significant shifts in specific bacteria, which in turn

1:34 Speaker 1: affected gene expression related to immune and metabolic functions. This

1:38 Speaker 1: isn't just about gut health. These shifts have profound implications

1:41 Speaker 1: for overall astronaut physiology. Spaceflight extensively alters astronaut physiology, said

1:47 Speaker 1: doctor Emmanuel Gonzalez of McGill University and the studies first author.

1:51 Speaker 1: The results showed previously unknown effects on host physiology, a

1:55 Speaker 1: crucial piece in solving the spaceflight puzzle. Essentially, it's not

1:58 Speaker 1: just the humans and animals that make the journey to space,

2:01 Speaker 1: its entire ecosystems traveling with us ecosystems whose well being

2:06 Speaker 1: might be just as critical as the astronauts. One of

2:09 Speaker 1: the key discoveries was how these changes in the gut

2:11 Speaker 1: microbiome affect bile, acid, and cholesterol metabolism, vital elements that

2:16 Speaker 1: play roles in maintaining energy and metabolic balance. Such insights

2:21 Speaker 1: are indispensable for designing protocols to safeguard astronaut health during

2:24 Speaker 1: missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This groundbreaking research

2:28 Speaker 1: was part of a larger initiative by NASA's Gene Lab.

2:31 Speaker 1: The international collaboration saw contributions from an array of scientists

2:35 Speaker 1: and institutions, highlighting the importance of cooperative open science the

2:39 Speaker 1: goal accelerate discoveries and turn complexities into actionable findings. Jonathan Galaska,

2:45 Speaker 1: a Space Biology Portfolio scientist at NASA's AIMS Research Center,

2:50 Speaker 1: emphasized how such collaborative efforts can speed up our understanding

2:54 Speaker 1: of spaceflight impacts. But it's not just about safeguarding astronaut

2:58 Speaker 1: health for distant missions. These findings have significant implications for

3:02 Speaker 1: improving health right here on Earth. Stressful environments can disrupt

3:06 Speaker 1: the delicate symbiosis between humans and their gut bacteria, leading

3:10 Speaker 1: to various health issues. By studying these disruptions in space,

3:14 Speaker 1: researchers hope to devise better health protocols that could benefit everyone.

3:18 Speaker 1: Professor Nicholas Breton of the UCD School of Biology and

3:21 Speaker 1: Environmental Science describe the discoveries as highlighting the intricate dialogue

3:26 Speaker 1: between specific gut bacteria and their mouse hosts. Essentially, the

3:31 Speaker 1: study lays the groundwork for future space medicine while offering

3:35 Speaker 1: insights that could extend to earth bound medical care. Looking ahead,

3:39 Speaker 1: the knowledge gained from this research is set to support

3:41 Speaker 1: missions like NASA's Artemis program, which aims to put humans

3:45 Speaker 1: back on the Moon, and the Gateway Deep Space Station.

3:48 Speaker 1: As we set our sites on Mars, understanding these microbial

3:51 Speaker 1: shifts and their physiological.

3:52 Speaker 2: Impacts becomes paramount. So what does this mean for the future.

3:56 Speaker 1: Imagine astronauts on a mission to Mars equipped with personal

4:00 Speaker 1: health protocols based on their unique gut microbiomes. Insights from

4:04 Speaker 1: this study could help develop such tailored strategies, ensuring that

4:08 Speaker 1: the men and women who undertake these epic journeys are

4:11 Speaker 1: as prepared as possible. In summary, the research unveils the

4:15 Speaker 1: multi layered impacts of spaceflight on the gut microbiome, providing

4:19 Speaker 1: invaluable information for future long duration missions. It's a remarkable

4:23 Speaker 1: step forward, illustrating how our ever expanding knowledge of space

4:27 Speaker 1: can circle back to benefit life on Earth as well.

4:30 Speaker 1: Next up on Astronomy Daily, let's talk about the thruster

4:33 Speaker 1: issues faced by the European Japanese Bepy Columbo spacecraft, which

4:37 Speaker 1: has led to a delay in its arrival at Mercury

4:40 Speaker 1: until twenty twenty six. This story has a lot of

4:43 Speaker 1: intriguing engineering and problem solving elements that highlight the complexities

4:47 Speaker 1: of space exploration. Bp Colombo, a joint mission between the

4:51 Speaker 1: European Space Agency ESA and the japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA,

4:58 Speaker 1: launched back in twenty eighteen with the ambitious goal of

5:01 Speaker 1: exploring Mercury and unlocking some of its many mysteries. The

5:05 Speaker 1: spacecraft needs to follow a highly complex and circuitous route

5:08 Speaker 1: to reach Mercury, involving multiple flybys of Earth, Venus, and

5:12 Speaker 1: Mercury itself. The plan was for Bepy Colombo to use

5:15 Speaker 1: its thrusters for these maneuvers, but earlier this year in April,

5:18 Speaker 1: engineers encountered a hitch a glitch affected the spacecraft's thrusters,

5:22 Speaker 1: causing them not to operate at full power. This malfunction

5:26 Speaker 1: was related to unexpected electric currents between the Mercury Transfer

5:29 Speaker 1: Module MTM solar array and the power extraction and distribution unit. Essentially,

5:35 Speaker 1: the setup designed to manage and distribute power throughout the

5:38 Speaker 1: spacecraft wasn't functioning as intended, resulting in inadequate thrust. After

5:43 Speaker 1: months of intensive investigations, ESS mission manager Santa Martinez confirmed

5:49 Speaker 1: the troubling news the mtm's electric thrusters were irrevocably compromised

5:54 Speaker 1: and would not meet the thrust requirements needed for the

5:56 Speaker 1: planned insertion into Mercury's orbit in December twenty twenty five. However,

6:01 Speaker 1: engineers are nothing if not resilient. Despite this significant setback,

6:05 Speaker 1: they quickly got to work on a solution. ESA's flight

6:08 Speaker 1: dynamics team came up with a viable workaround to ensure

6:10 Speaker 1: the mission could still achieve its primary goals. They revised

6:14 Speaker 1: the spacecraft's trajectory, calculating a new path that would conserve

6:18 Speaker 1: the remaining thrust while still allowing BEPI Colombo to meet

6:21 Speaker 1: its scientific objectives. The ingenious new plan involves having BEPI

6:25 Speaker 1: Columbo fly approximately twenty two miles closer to Mercury during

6:29 Speaker 1: its fifth flyby than originally planned. This maneuver reduces the

6:33 Speaker 1: thrust requirements for subsequent flybys and sets the spacecraft on

6:36 Speaker 1: a course that will enable it to arrive at Mercury

6:38 Speaker 1: in November twenty twenty six, about a year later than

6:41 Speaker 1: initially planned. Despite this delay, the mission remains poised for success.

6:45 Speaker 1: BEPY Columbo is equipped with an impressive suite of sixteen

6:49 Speaker 1: scientific instruments distributed across two orbiters, developed separately by ESA

6:53 Speaker 1: and JACKSA. Once they arrived, the two orbiters will separate

6:57 Speaker 1: and begin their respective tasks studying Mercury's magnetic field, surface,

7:01 Speaker 1: and exosphere for at least one year, with a possibility

7:04 Speaker 1: of extending to a second year. Project scientist Johannes Bankoff

7:08 Speaker 1: emphasized the silver lining the new trajectory still allows the

7:11 Speaker 1: spacecraft to gather valuable data during the flybys, which wouldn't

7:15 Speaker 1: be feasible once it's locked into Mercury's orbit. This preliminary

7:18 Speaker 1: science phase provides crucial preparation time that will help insure

7:22 Speaker 1: a smoother transition into the main mission phase. Once the

7:25 Speaker 1: spacecraft arrives at Mercury BEPI, Colombo's main science camera remains

7:29 Speaker 1: shielded until the orbiters separate, but during this period, the

7:33 Speaker 1: spacecraft's monitoring cameras will capture images of Mercury's heavily cratered surface,

7:38 Speaker 1: giving us a tantalizing preview of what's to come. Now

7:41 Speaker 1: an intriguing Starliner story. Recently, astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the

7:46 Speaker 1: International Space Station reported hearing a strange, pulsing noise emanating

7:50 Speaker 1: from Boeing's Starliner spacecraft DOC to the ISS. The intriguing

7:55 Speaker 1: incident sparked much curiosity and speculation, but NASA has now

7:59 Speaker 1: provided a clear explanation, putting many minds at ease. According

8:03 Speaker 1: to NASA, the mysterious noise originated from feedback in the

8:06 Speaker 1: audio configuration between Starliner and the ISS. This was not

8:10 Speaker 1: entirely unexpected, given the complexity of the space station's audio system,

8:15 Speaker 1: which allows multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected. NASA

8:19 Speaker 1: noted that feedback and noise issues are relatively common under

8:22 Speaker 1: these conditions and are routinely managed by the crew in

8:25 Speaker 1: contact with mission control. During his work inside Starliner on

8:28 Speaker 1: a recent Saturday, Wilmore first noticed the unusual sound. NASA

8:32 Speaker 1: promptly addressed the concern and reassured that this noise had

8:35 Speaker 1: no technical impact on the crew, Starliner or station operations.

8:40 Speaker 1: The issue fortunately did not interfere with Starliner's planned activities,

8:44 Speaker 1: including its uncrewed undocking, scheduled for no earlier than Friday,

8:48 Speaker 1: September sixth. Moving on, let's take a look at a

8:51 Speaker 1: big bang, a really big bang. It's hard to imagine

8:54 Speaker 1: the tremendous force that reshaped a moon as vast as Ganymede,

8:58 Speaker 1: but an asteroid impact around four bilds million years ago

9:00 Speaker 1: did just that. Ganymede, the largest moon in our Solar system,

9:04 Speaker 1: even outsizing the planet Mercury, bore the brunt of an

9:07 Speaker 1: asteroid impact so colossal it reshaped not just its surface,

9:11 Speaker 1: but potentially its very rotation as well. Research led by

9:15 Speaker 1: a planetologist from Kobe University has illuminated this ancient transformative

9:19 Speaker 1: event by analyzing the furrows on Ganymede's surface, which form

9:23 Speaker 1: concentric circles around a specific region. Scientists have traced these

9:27 Speaker 1: geological features back to a massive impact. These furrows might

9:31 Speaker 1: look like curious surface patterns, but they tell the story

9:34 Speaker 1: of an event that was twenty times more powerful than

9:37 Speaker 1: the asteroid that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs

9:40 Speaker 1: on Earth.

9:41 Speaker 2: Ganymede's surface is unique in its own right.

9:44 Speaker 1: Not only is this moon tidally locked to Jupiter, much

9:46 Speaker 1: like our own moon is to Earth, but it also

9:49 Speaker 1: boasts subsurface oceans beneath its icy exterior. This intriguing mix

9:53 Speaker 1: of traits makes it a prime candidate for studying the

9:55 Speaker 1: effects of such a titan sized impact. The location of

9:58 Speaker 1: the impact was almost precisely on the meridian farthest away

10:02 Speaker 1: from Jupiter. This detail implied a significant reorientation event that

10:06 Speaker 1: mirrors what we've observed from the New Horizon's mission on Pluto.

10:10 Speaker 1: Both celestial bodies showcase the traces of ancient impacts that

10:13 Speaker 1: were powerful enough to tilt their axes and reshuffle their geologies.

10:17 Speaker 1: The crux of the study lies in the computations that

10:20 Speaker 1: simulated this monumental collision. According to the findings, the asteroid

10:24 Speaker 1: in question likely had a diameter of around three hundred kilometers.

10:27 Speaker 1: To put this in perspective, that's roughly the distance from Washington,

10:30 Speaker 1: DC to New York City. Such a massive object striking

10:33 Speaker 1: Ganymede would have generated a transient crater between one thousand,

10:37 Speaker 1: four hundred and one thousand, six hundred kilometers in diameter.

10:42 Speaker 1: If you're wondering what a transient crater is, think of

10:45 Speaker 1: it as the immediate initial cavity formed right after the collision,

10:49 Speaker 1: before any material starts filling it back in, or before

10:52 Speaker 1: geological processes begin to alter its shape. It's essentially the

10:56 Speaker 1: raw footprint of the impact and provides crucial data for

10:59 Speaker 1: simulate research. Leader now Yuki Hirata from Kobe University took

11:04 Speaker 1: things a step further by examining the impact on Ganymede's

11:08 Speaker 1: internal structure and rotation. His simulations revealed that only an

11:12 Speaker 1: impact of the calculated magnitude could have caused such a

11:15 Speaker 1: considerable shift in the Moon's rotational axis. This means that

11:18 Speaker 1: the asteroid didn't just scar the surface, it also jumbled

11:22 Speaker 1: the internal mass distribution to a degree that altered Ganymede's

11:25 Speaker 1: orientation permanently. These insights are invaluable, as Herata notes, understanding

11:31 Speaker 1: such early significant events provides broader comprehension not only of

11:36 Speaker 1: Ganymede's past, but potentially of the early Solar System's dynamics. Furthermore,

11:41 Speaker 1: Ganymede's ongoing intrigue lies in its subsurface oceans, areas that

11:45 Speaker 1: future missions like the European Space Agency's Juice Probe aim

11:49 Speaker 1: to explore.

11:50 Speaker 2: Juice, set to.

11:51 Speaker 1: Arrive at Ganymede in twenty thirty four, will orbit the

11:54 Speaker 1: Moon for six months, gathering data that could answer many

11:57 Speaker 1: of the questions raised by this impact discovery. The importance

12:02 Speaker 1: of future missions cannot be overstated. With advanced technology and instruments,

12:07 Speaker 1: these missions could verify Herata's simulations and perhaps uncover more

12:12 Speaker 1: about Ganymede's mysterious oceans and geological history. These discoveries don't

12:17 Speaker 1: just add to our knowledge of one moon. They help

12:19 Speaker 1: us piece together the grand puzzle of our Solar system's

12:22 Speaker 1: formation and evolution. In summary, the ancient cataclysmic event on

12:25 Speaker 1: Ganymede is a cornerstone in planetary science. It underscores the

12:30 Speaker 1: interconnectedness of celestial mechanics, surface geology, and internal planetary structures,

12:35 Speaker 1: and reaffirms why missions to icy moons and distant planets

12:39 Speaker 1: are vital for unraveling the complexities of space. Thank you

12:45 Speaker 1: for tuning in to astronomy.

12:46 Speaker 2: Daily.

12:47 Speaker 1: I'm anna and it's been a pleasure bringing you the

12:49 Speaker 1: latest in space news. Don't forget to visit our website

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