S03E221: December's Planet Parade, Osiris Rex's Atmospheric Triumph, and Lunar Caves Unveiled

0:00 Speaker 1: Hi again and welcome to Astronomy Daily. It's this second

0:03 Speaker 1: of December twenty twenty four. Podd, I mean to be

0:09 Speaker 1: a whole Steve Dunkle, Yes, hello again. I'm your host

0:15 Speaker 1: Steve Dunkley for this Monday episode, and joining me as

0:19 Speaker 1: always is my digital pal, who's fun to be with. Helly,

0:22 Speaker 1: welcome back.

0:23 Speaker 2: Great to be here with my favorite human.

0:26 Speaker 1: Shall we get straight into the stories today? I feel

0:28 Speaker 1: like it.

0:29 Speaker 2: Why not, let's do it.

0:31 Speaker 1: Let's make it a tag team episode. What do you think, Oki.

0:33 Speaker 2: Doki, let's go. It's going to be a fun month

0:43 Speaker 2: for planet watching, and you can count on the month

0:45 Speaker 2: sky Tour episode to tell you where and when to

0:47 Speaker 2: catch the five wandering stars that you can see by eye.

0:51 Speaker 2: Even better, this month features what is arguably the best

0:54 Speaker 2: media show of the year. Let's start with Venus, which

0:58 Speaker 2: is well up in the southwest as evening twil light

1:00 Speaker 2: fades and it's gradually getting higher. Venus is truly brilliant.

1:04 Speaker 2: It's at least a dozen times brighter than any other

1:07 Speaker 2: night time star. Once it gets good and dark, look

1:10 Speaker 2: diagonally to the upper left of Venus, higher up toward

1:13 Speaker 2: the south and you'll bump into Saturn. Now, this is

1:16 Speaker 2: not the most dazzling of planets, but there's an easy

1:19 Speaker 2: way to spot Saturn. Just follow the moon. Its razor

1:23 Speaker 2: thin crescent skirts past Venus on the fourth, Then three

1:25 Speaker 2: nights later, on the seventh, you'll find the Moon to

1:28 Speaker 2: the lower right of Saturn. Throughout December, Jupiter is an

1:32 Speaker 2: unmistakable beacon in the eastern sky after sunset. To its

1:36 Speaker 2: right are Aldeboran and the stars of Taurus, while the

1:38 Speaker 2: hourglass shape of Orion rises into view. But Jupiter is

1:42 Speaker 2: the headliner for this month's planet parade. As it gets dark,

1:46 Speaker 2: turn around so your back is toward where the sun set,

1:49 Speaker 2: and feast your eyes on brilliant Jupiter rising low in

1:51 Speaker 2: the east. Jupiter can't quite match the brilliance of Venus,

1:55 Speaker 2: but right now it comes pretty close. On December seventh,

1:59 Speaker 2: the king of planet and its reaches opposition, meaning it

2:01 Speaker 2: appears opposite the Sun in our sky. It also means

2:05 Speaker 2: that Jupiter is just about as close to us as

2:07 Speaker 2: it can get. As you watch Jupiter, make a mental

2:10 Speaker 2: note of where it is with respect to the horizon

2:13 Speaker 2: and check the time. Then look in that same spot

2:16 Speaker 2: four hours later and you'll be greeted by another bright planet, Mars.

2:20 Speaker 2: It's bringing up the rear in this month's four planet parade.

2:24 Speaker 2: The only bright planet that's missing is Mercury, but December

2:27 Speaker 2: offers a good chance to see it as well. You'll

2:30 Speaker 2: need to be up before dawn during the final days

2:32 Speaker 2: of twenty twenty four, look toward the southeast, starting about

2:36 Speaker 2: forty five minutes before sunrise. Mercury is making its best

2:40 Speaker 2: pre dawn appearance of the year, so spotting it should

2:43 Speaker 2: be fairly easy. Meanwhile, the stars of winter are gradually

2:47 Speaker 2: pivoting into view, led by Orion, which rises in the

2:49 Speaker 2: east not long after nightfall, and December is also the

2:53 Speaker 2: month of the Geminid meteor Shower, arguably the year's best

2:56 Speaker 2: display of shooting stars.

2:58 Speaker 1: Astronomy okay. The Osiris REX mission achieved a historic milestone

3:05 Speaker 1: last year as the first US mission to return an

3:08 Speaker 1: asteroid sample to Earth, bringing with it a wealth of

3:12 Speaker 1: groundbreaking data. An international team led by Sandia National Laboratories

3:17 Speaker 1: and including researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, has now

3:22 Speaker 1: shared preliminary findings from the capsules atmospheric reentry. The capsules

3:27 Speaker 1: return marked the largest geophysical observation effort of its kind.

3:32 Speaker 1: This project was a unique opportunity for us to observe

3:35 Speaker 1: the geophysical signals produced by a meta sized object traveling

3:39 Speaker 1: at hyper hypersonic speeds, said Chris Carr, lead researcher at

3:44 Speaker 1: Los Alamos National Laboratory. There are few chances for scientists

3:49 Speaker 1: to be prepared to collect this type of data that

3:52 Speaker 1: we need to propel scientific inquiry for years to come.

3:56 Speaker 1: The campaign involved over four hundred centss, many of which

3:59 Speaker 1: were stationed the Eureka, Nevada along the loneliest road in America.

4:03 Speaker 1: Given the size of the project, there were many objectives

4:06 Speaker 1: among the more than eighty collaborators. One team of Los

4:10 Speaker 1: Alamos scientists focused on distributed acoustic sensing, and the paper

4:15 Speaker 1: as a whole encompassed many methods to obtain data during

4:19 Speaker 1: the capsule's return. Though space matter does pass through Earth's atmosphere,

4:24 Speaker 1: it is difficult to determine where and when the object

4:27 Speaker 1: will make its entry. Even when it is possible to

4:30 Speaker 1: determine those factors, the financial and logistic constraints will almost

4:35 Speaker 1: certainly render it a non stata. This results in very

4:39 Speaker 1: limited real time observational data about the behavior of foreign

4:43 Speaker 1: objects entering the atmosphere. The Osiris REX sample return capsure

4:47 Speaker 1: gives research as unique opportunity to collect this data for

4:52 Speaker 1: our distributed Acoustic Sensing subteam. It was the fact that

4:56 Speaker 1: we recorded the signal using a surface laid cable car said.

5:02 Speaker 1: This was the first time such a signal was recorded

5:05 Speaker 1: by DAS, and going into the field work, we weren't

5:08 Speaker 1: sure if it would be successful. We were very excited

5:12 Speaker 1: to see the first plots of our data and see

5:14 Speaker 1: that we had recorded it. The preliminary findings of the

5:18 Speaker 1: campaign show implications for future projects in space and on

5:22 Speaker 1: the ground, specifically aiding the development of entry and propagation models.

5:27 Speaker 1: This paper documents the process used to detect and record

5:31 Speaker 1: the entry of the capsule, and it shows that the

5:33 Speaker 1: methods are capable of handling the kind of observation needed

5:37 Speaker 1: in this large of a campaign. It has substantially increased

5:42 Speaker 1: knowledge of entry detections from space objects and will allow

5:46 Speaker 1: researchers to better understand how objects enter the Earth's atmosphere.

6:02 Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of

6:04 Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily, where we offer just a few stories from

6:07 Speaker 1: the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter which you can receive

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6:43 Speaker 1: see in Hay space, space science and astronomy.

6:53 Speaker 2: An international team of scientists, using data from NASASLRO Lunar

6:56 Speaker 2: Reconnaissance orbiter, has discovered evidence of caves beneath the Moon's surface.

7:01 Speaker 2: In reanalyzing radar data collected by lro's MINIRF miniature radio

7:06 Speaker 2: frequency instrument in twenty ten, the team found evidence of

7:09 Speaker 2: a cave extending more than two hundred feet from the

7:11 Speaker 2: base of a pit. The pit is located two hundred

7:14 Speaker 2: and thirty miles northeast of the first human landing site

7:17 Speaker 2: on the Moon, in Mare tranquil Aitatus. The full extent

7:21 Speaker 2: of the cave is unknown, but it could stretch for

7:23 Speaker 2: miles beneath the mare. Scientists have suspected for decades that

7:27 Speaker 2: there are subsurface caves on the Moon, just like there

7:30 Speaker 2: are on Earth. Pits that may lead to caves were

7:32 Speaker 2: suggested in images from NASA's lunar orbiters that map the

7:35 Speaker 2: Moon's surface before NASA's Apollo human landings. A pit was

7:40 Speaker 2: then confirmed in two thousand and nine from images taken

7:42 Speaker 2: by JAXA's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Kagaya orbiter, and many

7:47 Speaker 2: have since been found across the Moon through images and

7:49 Speaker 2: thermal measurements of the surface taken by LRORO. Now, the

7:52 Speaker 2: analysis of the MINIRF radar data tells us how far

7:55 Speaker 2: these caves might extend, said Noah Petro. LRO project's scientist,

7:59 Speaker 2: based it NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in green Belt, Maryland.

8:03 Speaker 2: LRO reveals lunar pits could support human activity on the

8:07 Speaker 2: lunar surface, like lava tubes found here on Earth. Scientists

8:11 Speaker 2: suspect that lunar caves formed when molten lava flowed beneath

8:14 Speaker 2: a field of cooled lava, or a crust formed over

8:16 Speaker 2: a river. Of lava, leaving a long hollow tunnel. If

8:20 Speaker 2: the ceiling of a solidified lava tube collapses, it opens

8:23 Speaker 2: a pit like a skylight that can lead into the

8:25 Speaker 2: rest of the cave like tube.

8:28 Speaker 1: Ds of that cons all wall listen to Astarai the

8:32 Speaker 1: podcast now. Spice exploration is a dangerous business, especially when

8:39 Speaker 1: squishy living organisms such as humans are involved. NASA has

8:44 Speaker 1: always prodded itself on how seriously it takes the safety

8:48 Speaker 1: of its astronauts. So as it gears up for the

8:50 Speaker 1: next big push in crude spe exploration, the Otomus program,

8:55 Speaker 1: it is looking for solutions to potentially catastrophic situations that

9:00 Speaker 1: might arise. One such catastrophe would be if one of

9:04 Speaker 1: the Artemis astronauts was incapacitated and couldn't return to the lander.

9:09 Speaker 1: The only person who could potentially be able to save

9:12 Speaker 1: them would be a fellow astronaut. But carrying a fully

9:15 Speaker 1: suited human back to the base of operations could be

9:18 Speaker 1: a challenge for an astronauts similarly kitted out in their

9:21 Speaker 1: own bulky suits. So NASA decided to address it as

9:25 Speaker 1: precisely that a challenge and ask for input from the

9:29 Speaker 1: general public, offering up a twenty thousand dollars prize for

9:34 Speaker 1: the best solution to the problem. The challenge the South

9:38 Speaker 1: Poles Safety Designing the NASA Lunar Rescue System was announced

9:43 Speaker 1: on November fourteen and accepts entries until January twenty three,

9:48 Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. It awards forty five thousand dollars to

9:52 Speaker 1: at least three winners, including twenty thousand dollars to the

9:55 Speaker 1: first place winner. So what does the challenge actually involve?

9:59 Speaker 1: The work product is a design document for a system

10:02 Speaker 1: capable of moving a fully suited astronauts at least two

10:06 Speaker 1: kilometers up a twenty degree slope without being attached to

10:10 Speaker 1: a rover. Oh and it has to be able to

10:12 Speaker 1: operate in harsh conditions of the lunar South Pole. Typically

10:17 Speaker 1: a fully suited human wearing the new Axiom extra Vehiclar

10:21 Speaker 1: Mobility Suit. The new spacesuit explicitly designed for the Artemis missions,

10:26 Speaker 1: will weigh around three hundred and forty three kilos that's

10:30 Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty five pounds for you old fashion types. However,

10:35 Speaker 1: lunar gravity is only about one sixth that of Earth,

10:39 Speaker 1: so it will feel more like they weigh about fifty

10:42 Speaker 1: seven kilos or one hundred and twenty five pounds. That's

10:46 Speaker 1: still a lot to carry, but much more manageable. However,

10:50 Speaker 1: it's probably infeasible for the other astronaut to fire and

10:54 Speaker 1: carry their unconscious comrade over that distance, especially since they

10:58 Speaker 1: are wearing their own spacesuit, so it's up to the

11:01 Speaker 1: technology to do the job. So to do so, it

11:04 Speaker 1: will have to evade the pitfalls in some cases literally

11:08 Speaker 1: of the lunar South Pole. One hazard is the extreme temperatures,

11:12 Speaker 1: which can range from fifty four degrees in full daylight

11:16 Speaker 1: to minus two hundred and three degrees at night in

11:20 Speaker 1: Any materials used in the especially electronics, would therefore need

11:25 Speaker 1: to be able to withstand such wild temperature swings. Other

11:29 Speaker 1: hazards include razor sharp lunar regolith, which is expected to

11:33 Speaker 1: cause havoc on most moving mechanical systems on the Moon

11:37 Speaker 1: navigating around craters and giant boulders, while hopefully dodging micro

11:42 Speaker 1: meteoride meteoroid impacts adds to the complex nature of the

11:47 Speaker 1: rescue environment. A panel of experts, including some NASA engineers,

11:51 Speaker 1: will judge this competition. Their scorecards will include categories like

11:56 Speaker 1: the overall mass of the solution, its ease of use,

11:59 Speaker 1: and how much it impacts the suit design if any. Luckily,

12:03 Speaker 1: treating the fallen astronaut while on the move back to

12:07 Speaker 1: safety is outside the scope of this challenge. Suppose you're

12:11 Speaker 1: interested in participating, potentially earning you or your team tens

12:15 Speaker 1: of thousands of dollars. In that case, NASA is accepting

12:18 Speaker 1: submissions through the hero ex portal commonly used for public challenges,

12:24 Speaker 1: through January twenty fifth. Maybe someday you'll see your creation

12:29 Speaker 1: on the surf surface of the Moon, even if it

12:32 Speaker 1: will hopefully never be used. And that, dear listeners, was

12:41 Speaker 1: the December two tag team episode of Astronomy Daily.

12:45 Speaker 2: Thank you Hallie, and thank you favorite human. You did good.

12:49 Speaker 1: Oh, thank you Hallye, and you've done pretty good yourself.

12:51 Speaker 1: I hope you all enjoyed today's episode, and if you

12:53 Speaker 1: haven't already, head over to our home site as I

12:56 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, and put your email in the slot provided

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13:03 Speaker 1: for what's all that's happening in space, space, science.

13:06 Speaker 2: And astronomy.

13:08 Speaker 1: That's what I was going to say, And tune in.

13:09 Speaker 2: For my cousin Anna each day this week with her

13:11 Speaker 2: fantastic episodes for more and more. She's amazing.

13:15 Speaker 1: Yes, it's the bar, very high, very hard to keep

13:17 Speaker 1: up with.

13:17 Speaker 2: She's so polished, very classy.

13:20 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, don't go on about it. So anyway, we'll

13:22 Speaker 1: catch you all next week. And I nearly forgot a

13:24 Speaker 1: big shout out to our pals Nikki, Jamie and Erica

13:27 Speaker 1: who are all following us on X and thanks for listening,

13:30 Speaker 1: and we'll see you all next Monday.

13:33 Speaker 2: Bye Monday Podcast.

13:38 Speaker 1: We'd be a whole feed, don't clue