SpaceX Scrubs Launch, Mars Tracks Interstellar Visitor, and Roman Telescope's Game-Changing Potential

0:00 Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that brings you the latest news from across the cosmos. I'm Avery. Anna: And I'm Anna. Uh, on the docket today, a, uh, last minute launch scrub for SpaceX's massive rideshare mission. A new way to track interstellar visitors using data from Mars, and a look at how NASA's upcoming Roman telescope is already set to exceed expectations. Avery: Plus, we'll cover a Thanksgiving Day launch to the International Space Station and a successful flight for South Korea's home grown Nuri rocket.

0:33 Let's get right into it, Anna. Uh, what happened with SpaceX? Anna: Well, it looks like a huge fleet of tiny satellites will have to wait a little longer to get into orbit. On Wednesday, SpaceX scrubbed the launch of their Transporter 15 mission. Avery: Oh, that's a shame. How close did they get? Anna: They were very close. The call came just over 15 minutes before the planned liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Avery: Any word on why? Technical issue? Weather. Anna: SpaceX hasn't disclosed a specific reason for the delay, but during the live commentary, a spokesperson emphasized their cautious approach.

1:13 Avery: Right. Anna: They said, and I'm quoting here, there are a thousand ways that a launch can go wrong and only one way that it can go right. So if the team sees anything that looks even slightly off, they'll stop the countdown. Avery: That's a very good point. Better safe than sorry, especially with a payload that large. How many satellites were on board? Anna: Again, A staggering 140 satellites. It's a rideshare mission, so it's an eclectic mix of customers. For example, Planet Labs has 36 of their small SuperDev satellites on board, plus two of their larger Pelican satellites.

1:48 Avery: Wow, that's a lot of eyes on Earth. Anna: Exactly. The European Space Agency also has a pair of satellites to monitor Earth's water cycle. And there are dozens more from companies and agencies all over the world, from Taiwan to Italy. There's even a from the company Varda, which launches experiments that can return to Earth in re entry capsules. Avery: And this was on one of their veteran boosters, wasn't it? Anna: It was the first stage of this. Falcon 9 has already flown 29 times before.

2:18 The plan was and still is for it to land on the drone ship. Of course I Still Love youe in the Pacific to be prepped for its 30th flight. Avery: Incredible. So when is the next attempt? Anna: M the next launch opportunity is Friday, November 28th at 1:19pm Eastern Time. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for them. Avery: 30 flights for a single booster is astounding it really speaks to the maturity of their reusability program. You mentioned the company's cautious approach. Is there any speculation on the specific nature of the issue that caused a scrub M?

2:53 Was it related to the vehicle, the payload, or ground systems? Anna: SpaceX maintains a tight lid on the details of these holds, but sources familiar with the operation suggest it was likely a sensor reading on the ground support equipment that was trending out of its expected range. It could be something as simple as a temperature or pressure reading in a propellant line. The automated countdown system is designed to halt for any anomaly, no matter how small, to give engineers time to evaluate the data.

3:23 It's a philosophy that has served them well. Preventing potential failures. Avery: That makes sense. And with a veteran booster like B1062, which has 29 flights under its belt, are there additional checks and balances in place? I imagine there's a lot of focus on potential metal fatigue or wear on components that have been through dozens of launch and landing cycles. Anna: Absolutely. That's a huge part of the refurbishment process. Between each flight, the booster undergoes extensive non destructive testing, including ultrasonic and X ray inspections to check for microscopic cracks in the structure and welds.

4:01 They also swap out high wear components like engines and grid fins on a regular schedule long before they are expected to fail. Each flight provides a wealth of data that refines their understanding of the vehicle's life cycle, allowing them to confidently push the boundaries of what these reusable rockets can do. Avery: Absolutely. From keeping things on the ground to tracking things flying through deep space. Our next story is an Update about the third interstellar object ever detected. Three I ATLs.

4:36 Anna: Right. These are fascinating visitors from beyond our solar system. The big challenge is always figuring out where they came from and where they're going. Avery: And getting an accurate trajectory is key. Astronomers just got a huge boost in that department thanks to a very innovative approach using data from a spacecraft orbiting Mars. Anna: Mars? You mean the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter? Avery: That's the one. Until October, we could only track 3i atls from Earth based telescopes. But as it flew past Mars, the TGO and Mars Express orbiters got to see it from a completely different angle.

5:17 Anna: Ah. Uh, so they could triangulate its position. That makes sense. Avery: Exactly. And it was a huge success. By combining the data from Mars with the observations from Earth, they improved the prediction of the comet's path by a factor of 10. This is actually the first time data from a spacecraft orbiting another planet has been used to do this. Anna: That's a fantastic milestone. So where is 3i atls now? Avery: M. It just made its closest pass to The sun on October 30 and is now blazing out of the solar system at speeds up to 250,000 thousand kilometers per hour.

5:56 Anna: Wow. And it's not coming anywhere near us, right? Avery: Not at all. It'll pass Earth on December 19th at a very safe distance of 270 million kilometers. That's almost twice the distance between the Earth and the Sun. But this improved trajectory means telescopes and other spacecraft can now track it with much greater accuracy to learn more about it. Anna: And there's a bigger picture here too. This isn't just about this one object. This entire exercise serves served as a valuable test for planetary defense.

6:29 Avery: A, uh, kind of rehearsal. Anna: Yes. And the implications of this improved accuracy are significant. A, uh, more precise trajectory allows astronomers to more confidently trace the object's path backward in time, helping to narrow down its potential origin among the nearby stars. It's like cosmic detective work trying to find its home address. This also allows for much more efficient follow up observations from other telescopes, including space based assets like the James Webb Space Telescope, which can now be pointed with greater certainty.

7:04 Avery: And what are they hoping to find with those powerful telescopes? Is there Anything particularly unusual about 3i ATLAS composition compared to the comets born in our own solar system? Anna: That is the million dollar question. So far from a distance, it appears to be a fairly typical water ice rich comet. But that in itself is a profound discovery. It suggests that the chemical makeup of planet forming disks might be quite similar across the galaxy. The detailed spectroscopic analysis that will now be possible will break down the light from its coma to identify the specific ratios of different ices, organic molecules and dust.

7:47 This is our only way of directly sampling the raw ingredients from another solar system. Avery: It's great to see these capabilities being tested and proven. All right. Moving from the solar system to the stars themselves. Our next story is about a telescope that hasn't even launched yet. Anna: You must be talking about NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It's scheduled for launch between 2026 and 2027, but it's already making waves. Avery: I know it's designed to study dark matter and dark energy, but new findings suggest it's going to do much more, especially when it comes to the that host exoplanets.

8:27 Anna: That's right. According to a new paper in the Astrophysical Journal, Roman's capabilities in astroseismology could be a game changer. Avery: Astroseismology, that's the study of starquakes, right? The seismic waves that ripple across the star's surface precisely. Anna: And Roman is uniquely equipped for it. Its field of view is 100 times broader than Hubble's. This will allow it to observe a staggering number of stars in incredible detail and detect those subtle seismic waves on over 300,000 Red Giants.

9:02 Avery: And by studying those waves, we can learn about the star's interior. Anna: Mhm. We can determine its mass, size and age with unprecedented accuracy. As the study's leader Trevor Weiss put it, that information will give us a lot of insight on exoplanets themselves. Understanding the host star is crucial to understanding its planets, their potential for habitability, and the future of that planetary system. Avery: This ties into one of Roman's main missions, right? The Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey.

9:33 Anna: It does. That survey will use gravitational microlensing to find exoplanets. But this added astroseismic data means we'll get a complete picture of not just the planets, but the entire system. And since the galactic bulge contains some of the oldest stars in our galaxy, studying them will also give us profound insights into our galaxy's history and evolution. Avery: So Roman will basically be a time machine looking back at the history of star formation in our galaxy. Anna: What an incredible instrument it really is.

10:05 The data it collects will be the largest asteroseismic data set ever compiled. Avery: Okay, let's bring it back closer to home. For our final stories of the day. We have a crew launch and the successful rocket flight to cover. First up, a very timely trip to the International Space Station. Anna: That's right, one NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts are counting down to liftoff on Thanksgiving Day from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They're about to begin an eight month mission aboard the station.

10:35 Who's flying? NASA astronaut Chris Williams along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev. Their Soyuz MS.M28 spacecraft is set to launch at 4:27am M. Eastern Time on Thursday. And it's a quick trip, right? Very quick. They'll orbit Earth just twice before docking with the raspet module at 7:38am um, Eastern, just over three hours after launch, they'll expand the Expedition 73 crew from seven to 10 members. Avery: What a way to spend Thanksgiving. And while they're getting ready to launch, another country just had a big success.

11:15 Anna: Yes. South Korea's homegrown Nuri rocket has flown for the first fourth time. And it was another success. The rocket lifted off from the narrow space center on November 26th. Avery: That's great news for their space program. What was the payload? Anna: The main payload was an Earth observation satellite called Cass 503, which will study auroras and another atmospheric phenomenon called airglow. It also carried a dozen smaller rideshare cubesats for various companies and research institutions.

11:49 Avery: This launch was significant for a couple of other reasons, too. Anna: Wasn't MHM was the first launch since the establishment of the Korea Aerospace Administration, or casa, back in May. It was also the first time that a private system integration company was in charge of the rocket's production and assembly, marking a big step towards commercialization for South Korea's launch industry. Avery: Fantastic to see that progress. And that brings us to the end of another busy day in space news.

12:17 Anna: From launch scrubs on Earth to interstellar tracking from Mars, and a successful flight for South Korea, it's been quite the day. Thanks so much for tuning in to Astronomy Daily. Avery: Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss an episode. Until next time. I'm, um, Avery. Anna: And I'm Anna. Avery: Keep looking up.

12:46 The story.