S03E206: UFO Revelations, SpaceX's Starship Artistry, and JPL's Budget Blues

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

0:03 Speaker 1: and astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and we have

0:06 Speaker 1: quite a packed show for you Today. We'll be diving

0:08 Speaker 1: into some truly remarkable developments, from eye opening testimony at

0:12 Speaker 1: Congressional UFO hearings to the discovery of hundreds of new

0:16 Speaker 1: galaxies in a region of space astronomers typically avoid. We'll

0:20 Speaker 1: also discuss growing concerns about an air leak aboard the

0:23 Speaker 1: International Space Station, and the latest preparations for SpaceX's next

0:27 Speaker 1: starship launch. Let's get started with today's cosmic headlines. UFOs

0:33 Speaker 1: took center stage in Washington once again, as the House

0:35 Speaker 1: Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a hearing titled Unidentified

0:40 Speaker 1: Anomalist Phenomena Exposing the Truth. What made this hearing particularly

0:45 Speaker 1: noteworthy wasn't just the claims being made, but the credentials

0:49 Speaker 1: of those making them. Several high ranking officials, including a

0:53 Speaker 1: former US counter intelligence officer, a retired Navy rear admiral,

0:58 Speaker 1: and a former NASA Associated administrator, presented compelling testimony suggesting

1:03 Speaker 1: that we may not be alone in the cosmos. Luis Elizondo,

1:08 Speaker 1: the former counter intelligence officer, made the bold assertion that

1:12 Speaker 1: excessive government secrecy has been hiding this reality from the

1:15 Speaker 1: public for decades. The witnesses described encounters with various unexplained phenomena,

1:21 Speaker 1: from flying orbs emerging from oceans to disc shaped objects

1:26 Speaker 1: displaying flight capabilities far beyond our current technology. Retired Rear

1:31 Speaker 1: Admiral Tim Galladet stated directly that these sightings represent evidence

1:34 Speaker 1: of what he called a non human higher intelligence. Perhaps

1:39 Speaker 1: most striking were the claims about secret government programs. Elizondo

1:43 Speaker 1: testified that the US government has programs dedicated to retrieving

1:47 Speaker 1: crashed UAP and reverse engineering them. Meanwhile, journalist Michael Schellenberger

1:52 Speaker 1: revealed information about a classified program called Immaculate Constellation, allegedly

1:57 Speaker 1: designed to collect and quarantine UFO reports from military personnel.

2:03 Speaker 1: The witnesses unanimously stressed the need for greater transparency and

2:06 Speaker 1: reduced stigma around the UFO topic. Former NASA Associate Administrator

2:11 Speaker 1: Michael Gold suggested that NASA's vast archive of data could

2:15 Speaker 1: contain valuable evidence about UAP, and proposed using artificial intelligence

2:20 Speaker 1: to analyze this information. While the hearing was heavy on

2:24 Speaker 1: testimony and light on concrete evidence, the witnesses explained that

2:29 Speaker 1: much of the most compelling data remains classified to protect

2:32 Speaker 1: sensitive military capabilities. Nevertheless, they argued that this level of

2:37 Speaker 1: secrecy is excessive and potentially harmful to national security. The

2:42 Speaker 1: hearing concluded with a sobering discussion about what exactly constitutes

2:46 Speaker 1: non human intelligence, with witnesses suggesting everything from extraterrestrial life

2:51 Speaker 1: to advanced artificial intelligence as possible explanations for these mysterious encounters.

2:56 Speaker 1: What's clear is that these high ranking officials believe there's

3:00 Speaker 1: much more to the UFO phenomenon than the public currently knows.

3:04 Speaker 1: Let's move on to something a little less speculative. SpaceX

3:07 Speaker 1: is making final preparations for another milestone test of their

3:11 Speaker 1: Mammoth Starship vehicle, with the sixth test flight now scheduled

3:15 Speaker 1: for November eighteenth. The company has already moved the massive

3:18 Speaker 1: upper stage of the rocket to the launch pad at

3:21 Speaker 1: their Starbase facility in South Texas, where it's currently undergoing

3:24 Speaker 1: preflight testing. This particular starship vehicle is catching attention not

3:29 Speaker 1: just for its impressive engineering, but for its whimsical touch.

3:33 Speaker 1: The stainless steel spacecraft is adorned with unique artwork showing

3:37 Speaker 1: a pixelated smiling cartoon banana holding a realistic banana. This

3:42 Speaker 1: playful detail is actually a clever reference to the aerospace

3:46 Speaker 1: industry's inside joke of using bananas for scale and technical photographs.

3:51 Speaker 1: Standing at one hundred and sixty five feet tall, the

3:54 Speaker 1: upper stage is just one component of what remains the

3:56 Speaker 1: most powerful rocket ever built. When combined with its super

4:00 Speaker 1: heavy booster, the complete stack reaches nearly four hundred feet

4:04 Speaker 1: in height. Both stages are designed for full reusability, a

4:08 Speaker 1: revolutionary approach that SpaceX believes will transform space travel. The

4:13 Speaker 1: upcoming flight will attempt to build on the success of

4:16 Speaker 1: October's test, where SpaceX achieved a significant milestone by successfully

4:21 Speaker 1: landing the super heavy booster back on the launch pad

4:24 Speaker 1: using the launch tower's catch arms nicknamed the chopsticks. The

4:29 Speaker 1: team will attempt to repeat this impressive feet while the

4:31 Speaker 1: upper stage continues its journey, ultimately aiming for a splash

4:35 Speaker 1: down in the Indian Ocean. Some not so good news

4:38 Speaker 1: from NASA today. In a significant blow to space exploration efforts,

4:43 Speaker 1: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has announced its second round of

4:46 Speaker 1: layoffs for twenty twenty four, with three hundred twenty five employees,

4:50 Speaker 1: approximately five percent of the workforce being let go. This

4:54 Speaker 1: follows February's cuts, when five hundred and thirty employees were dismissed,

4:58 Speaker 1: highlighting the ongoing buy challenges facing one of America's premier

5:02 Speaker 1: space research facilities. The latest reduction in force comes at

5:06 Speaker 1: a particularly challenging time for JPL, as uncertainty surrounds the

5:10 Speaker 1: Mars sample return mission and no flagship missions are currently

5:14 Speaker 1: in development following the launch of Europa Clipper in October.

5:18 Speaker 1: JPL director Lori Leshan emphasized in a memo to staff

5:21 Speaker 1: that these cuts were purely budget related and not reflective

5:24 Speaker 1: of individual performance. The impact spreads across nearly all areas

5:28 Speaker 1: of the laboratory, affecting technical, project, business and support divisions.

5:34 Speaker 1: While the cuts were described as painful but necessary, Lessian

5:38 Speaker 1: expressed hope that this would be the final workforce reduction

5:42 Speaker 1: needed for the foreseeable future, with staffing levels now considered

5:46 Speaker 1: stable and sustainable at around five thy five hundred employees.

5:50 Speaker 1: Despite these challenges, JPL maintains its commitment to space exploration,

5:55 Speaker 1: building on its impressive legacy that includes missions to every

5:58 Speaker 1: planet in our Solar System and the iconic Voyager missions

6:02 Speaker 1: that have now reached interstellar space. The laboratory's leadership remains

6:06 Speaker 1: optimistic about its future, emphasizing that while these adjustments are difficult,

6:11 Speaker 1: they're essential to ensure JPL can continue its crucial work

6:14 Speaker 1: for NASA and the nation. Some other NASA news today

6:19 Speaker 1: in concerning developments aboard the International Space Station, NASA and

6:22 Speaker 1: ROSCOSMOS find themselves at odds over a persistent air leak

6:26 Speaker 1: in the Russian segment of the orbital Outpost. The leak,

6:29 Speaker 1: located in a vestibule of the Zevezda service module known

6:32 Speaker 1: as pr K, has been present for several years, but

6:35 Speaker 1: has recently become a more pressing concern. The situation has

6:39 Speaker 1: created a notable divide between the space agencies. Russian engineers

6:43 Speaker 1: attribute the issue to high cyclic fatigue from micro vibrations,

6:48 Speaker 1: while NASA believes multiple factors are at play, including pressure

6:51 Speaker 1: and mechanical stress, material properties, and environmental exposure. More worryingly,

6:58 Speaker 1: there's disagreement about the potential consequences, with NASA expressing concerns

7:03 Speaker 1: about possible catastrophic failure, while Russian teams maintain operations remain safe.

7:09 Speaker 1: The leakue has forced crews to implement special procedures, including

7:12 Speaker 1: sealing off the affected area when it's not needed for

7:15 Speaker 1: progress Cargo Spacecraft Operations Crew eight astronaut Michael Barrett recently

7:20 Speaker 1: revealed that they've taken the precautionary measure of closing the

7:24 Speaker 1: hatch between the US and Russian segments during certain periods,

7:28 Speaker 1: describing it as an uncomfortable but necessary compromise. The leak

7:32 Speaker 1: rate reached its highest levels earlier this year, losing about

7:36 Speaker 1: one point seven kilograms of air per day. While recent

7:39 Speaker 1: repair work has reduced this rate by a third, the

7:42 Speaker 1: underlying structural concerns remain unresolved. Both agencies are now bringing

7:47 Speaker 1: in outside experts from academia and industry to help reach

7:51 Speaker 1: a common understanding of the situation, though no timeline has

7:55 Speaker 1: been set for resolving these differences. As the station continues

7:59 Speaker 1: to age, these kinds of maintenance challenges are expected to

8:02 Speaker 1: become more common. However, this particular disagreement highlights the complex

8:07 Speaker 1: nature of international space cooperation and the critical importance of

8:11 Speaker 1: reaching consensus on safety issues aboard humanity's outpost in orbit.

8:16 Speaker 1: In a remarkable breakthrough in astronomical observation, scientists have successfully

8:21 Speaker 1: peered through one of the most challenging regions of our

8:23 Speaker 1: night sky, known as the Zone of Avoidance. This region,

8:27 Speaker 1: which lies in the direction of our galaxy center, has

8:30 Speaker 1: long been a blind spot for astronomers due to thick

8:33 Speaker 1: clouds of dust that block our view of what lies beyond.

8:38 Speaker 1: Using the powerful Meerkat radio telescope array in South Africa,

8:42 Speaker 1: researchers have mapped this hidden region of space with unprecedented detail,

8:47 Speaker 1: specifically focusing on an area containing the mysterious Vela supercluster.

8:52 Speaker 1: The telescope's ability to detect neutral hydrogen, which is abundant

8:56 Speaker 1: throughout the universe, has revealed the presence of seven hundred

8:59 Speaker 1: and night previously unknown galaxies, more than doubling our knowledge

9:03 Speaker 1: of this region. This discovery is particularly significant because the

9:08 Speaker 1: Zone of Avoidance contains what astronomers call the Great Attractor,

9:12 Speaker 1: a massive gravitational anomaly that's pulling our Milky Way and

9:16 Speaker 1: other nearby galaxies toward it. The newly identified galaxies are

9:20 Speaker 1: part of this enormous structure, helping us better understand this

9:24 Speaker 1: gravitational puzzle that has intrigued astronomers for decades. The success

9:29 Speaker 1: of this survey demonstrates how modern radio astronomy can overcome

9:33 Speaker 1: the limitations that visible light observations face by detecting radio waves,

9:38 Speaker 1: which can penetrate through the dust that blocks visible light.

9:41 Speaker 1: Astronomers are finally beginning to map what lies behind this

9:45 Speaker 1: cosmic veil, promising even more discoveries as observations continue. Finally, today,

9:52 Speaker 1: skywatchers are in for a treat this week, as the

9:54 Speaker 1: final supermoon of twenty twenty four graces our night sky.

9:58 Speaker 1: The full Beaver Moon reaches its pear peak fullness this

10:00 Speaker 1: Friday at four twenty eight pm Eastern Time, though it

10:03 Speaker 1: will appear gloriously full for about a day before and

10:06 Speaker 1: after this exact moment. This celestial spectacle comes with some

10:10 Speaker 1: fascinating companions. The Pleiades star cluster, often called the Seven Sisters,

10:16 Speaker 1: will be positioned right next to the Moon in the

10:18 Speaker 1: constellation Taurus. While the Moon's brilliant light might overshadow some

10:22 Speaker 1: of the cluster's fainter stars, it's still a spectacular pairing

10:26 Speaker 1: to observe. The night sky will be particularly active, with

10:30 Speaker 1: four planets visible at various times. Venus and Saturn will

10:33 Speaker 1: be readily visible in the early evening, with Venus shining

10:36 Speaker 1: brilliantly in the southwest, while Saturn glows with a subtle

10:40 Speaker 1: yellow hue high in the southern sky. Jupiter will make

10:43 Speaker 1: its appearance a couple of hours after moonrise, dominating the

10:46 Speaker 1: eastern sky, while Mars joins the cosmic dance just before midnight.

10:51 Speaker 1: For those planning to observe this celestial gathering, the Moon

10:55 Speaker 1: will be positioned in Taurus, just beneath Aris's curved horns.

10:59 Speaker 1: As if the night progresses, the iconic constellation Orion will

11:03 Speaker 1: follow the Moon's path up the eastern sky, creating a

11:06 Speaker 1: magnificent backdrop for this final super moon display of the year.

11:12 Speaker 1: And that's all for today's episode of Astronomy Daily. I'm

11:15 Speaker 1: Anna and I want to thank you for joining me

11:17 Speaker 1: on this cosmic journey through the latest developments in space

11:20 Speaker 1: and astronomy news. If you'd like to stay connected with

11:23 Speaker 1: everything happening in space, visit us at Astronomy Daily dot io,

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11:29 Speaker 1: and access our constantly updating news feed. You'll also find

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11:43 Speaker 1: keep looking up and wondering about the mysteries of our universe.

11:50 Speaker 1: Stars star the band stories to tell.