SpaceX's Polar Mission, Mars Suit Tests, Dark Matter's Spin

0:00 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your premier source for

0:02 Speaker 1: all things space and astronomy. I'm Anna and I'm thrilled

0:06 Speaker 1: to be your guide through the Cosmos. Today, we have

0:08 Speaker 1: an absolutely packed episode for you with some truly groundbreaking

0:11 Speaker 1: developments in space exploration and astronomical research. The headlines are

0:16 Speaker 1: buzzing with SpaceX's latest achievement, the historic fram two mission

0:20 Speaker 1: that has just sent the first ever human spaceflight over

0:22 Speaker 1: Earth's poles. We'll dive into what makes this mission so

0:26 Speaker 1: special and the unique experiments the crew will be conducting

0:29 Speaker 1: as they circle our planet in a way no humans

0:32 Speaker 1: have done before. But that's just the beginning of our

0:34 Speaker 1: cosmic journey. Today, we'll also explore how SpaceX is ramping

0:39 Speaker 1: up its launch schedule to unprecedented levels, with multiple missions

0:43 Speaker 1: taking off in rapid succession this week alone. Then we'll

0:46 Speaker 1: head to Mars, where NASA's Perseverance Rover is conducting fascinating

0:50 Speaker 1: tests on space suit materials, giving us crucial data for

0:54 Speaker 1: future human exploration of the Red planet. The harsh Martian

0:57 Speaker 1: environment poses unique challenges for astronaut safety, and this research

1:02 Speaker 1: could be key to overcoming them. We'll also check in

1:05 Speaker 1: with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, who recently

1:09 Speaker 1: returned to Earth after what was supposed to be a

1:11 Speaker 1: brief mission turned into a nine months day aboard the

1:15 Speaker 1: International Space Station. And finally, we'll explore new research suggesting

1:20 Speaker 1: something truly mind bending that dark matter could actually be

1:23 Speaker 1: affecting planetary rotation, potentially making planets spin faster. This could

1:29 Speaker 1: have profound implications for how we understand our own Earth

1:32 Speaker 1: and distant exoplanets. So strap in for a journey across

1:36 Speaker 1: our Solar System and beyond as we explore the latest

1:39 Speaker 1: and most fascinating developments in space science and astronomy. Let's

1:43 Speaker 1: kick things off with today's big story. SpaceX has made

1:48 Speaker 1: history with the first ever human spaceflight to circle Earth

1:51 Speaker 1: over its poles. The private fram two mission lifted off

1:54 Speaker 1: from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March thirty

1:57 Speaker 1: first at nine forty six pm Eastern Time, carrying four

2:01 Speaker 1: space travelers into a unique polar orbit that no human

2:04 Speaker 1: has experienced before. The crew launched aboard the crew Dragon

2:07 Speaker 1: capsule Resilience, which has now completed its fourth space mission

2:11 Speaker 1: after previously supporting crew ie Inspiration four and Polaris Dawn.

2:17 Speaker 1: Falcon nine booster B one thousand eighty five powered the

2:20 Speaker 1: launch for its sixth flight before successfully landing on SpaceX's

2:24 Speaker 1: Drone ship a shortfall of gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.

2:29 Speaker 1: This groundbreaking mission is commanded by Chun Wang of Malta,

2:32 Speaker 1: who is joined by an international team including vehicle commander

2:36 Speaker 1: Janecke Michelson from Norway, pilot Rabea Roga of Germany, and

2:40 Speaker 1: Australian medical officer and mission specialist Eric Phillips. All four

2:44 Speaker 1: are first time space travelers, making this journey even more remarkable.

2:49 Speaker 1: After reaching orbit, SpaceX's Bill Gerstenmeier radioed the crew, saying

2:54 Speaker 1: Dragon on behalf of the Falcon team were honored to

2:56 Speaker 1: deliver you safely to your polar orbit. Enjoy the v

3:00 Speaker 1: use of the poles, Send us some pictures, and our

3:02 Speaker 1: hearts and minds will be flying with you as you

3:04 Speaker 1: go over the poles. The mission is named after the

3:08 Speaker 1: famous Norwegian exploration ship Fram, which ventured into both Arctic

3:12 Speaker 1: and Antarctic regions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

3:17 Speaker 1: Fram translates to forward or onward in Norwegian. A fitting

3:22 Speaker 1: name for this pioneering spaceflight that carries the same spirit

3:25 Speaker 1: of exploration into Earth orbit. During their three to five

3:28 Speaker 1: days in space, the crew will conduct twenty two scientific

3:32 Speaker 1: experiments that leverage their unique orbital path. These include the

3:36 Speaker 1: first ever attempt to grow mushrooms in the microgravity environment

3:39 Speaker 1: of space, and operating a machine that will capture the

3:41 Speaker 1: first X ray images of the human body while in orbit.

3:45 Speaker 1: Additional studies will investigate how spaceflight and microgravity affect the

3:49 Speaker 1: human musculoskeletal system. FRAM two represents SpaceX's seventeenth human spaceflight

3:56 Speaker 1: overall and its sixth private crude mission. What makes this

4:00 Speaker 1: launch particularly notable is that it came just seventeen days

4:04 Speaker 1: after SpaceX's previous astronaut launch Crew ten to the International

4:07 Speaker 1: Space Station, marking the shortest interval between SpaceX Creude missions

4:11 Speaker 1: to date. Upon completion of their orbital journey, the FRAM

4:15 Speaker 1: two crew will make history again with the first Pacific

4:18 Speaker 1: Ocean splash down for a SpaceX Crude mission. Previous Dragon

4:22 Speaker 1: capsules have all landed in the Atlantic off Florida's coast,

4:26 Speaker 1: but the company is shifting returns to the West coast

4:29 Speaker 1: to minimize risk to people and property during re entry.

4:32 Speaker 1: In one final research opportunity, the crew will forego the

4:35 Speaker 1: typical medical assistance normally provided to astronauts returning from space,

4:40 Speaker 1: allowing scientists to study how their bodies readapt to Earth's

4:44 Speaker 1: gravity without intervention, valuable data for future space exploration missions.

4:51 Speaker 1: Speaking of launches, let's turn our attention now to this

4:54 Speaker 1: week's schedule. It's been an exceptionally busy period for SpaceX,

4:58 Speaker 1: with this week alone featuring five planned Falcon nine launches.

5:02 Speaker 1: The company's impressive cadence kicked off with the Starlink Group

5:06 Speaker 1: six eighty mission from Cape Canaveral, which lifted off just

5:10 Speaker 1: hours before the historic FRAM two flight. This Starlink deployment

5:14 Speaker 1: carried a record twenty eight of SpaceX's upgraded V two

5:17 Speaker 1: Mini Optimized satellites to orbit, marking the first time these

5:21 Speaker 1: enhanced satellites have launched from the East Coast. The rapid

5:25 Speaker 1: fire succession of launches showcases SpaceX's growing operational capability. Just

5:30 Speaker 1: consider that the booster used for the Starlink six eighty

5:34 Speaker 1: mission was making its seventeenth flight after a turnaround of

5:37 Speaker 1: only forty one days, numbers that would have seemed impossible

5:41 Speaker 1: just a few years ago. Looking ahead through the week,

5:44 Speaker 1: SpaceX has scheduled three more Starlink missions. On April first,

5:49 Speaker 1: Falcon nine is set to launch Starlink Group eleven thirteen

5:52 Speaker 1: from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, followed by two

5:56 Speaker 1: additional deployments, Starlink Group eleven eleven on April five and

6:00 Speaker 1: Starling Group six seventy two on April sixth from opposite

6:04 Speaker 1: coasts of the United States. The timing between the Fram

6:07 Speaker 1: two Crude mission and the previous Crew ten launch to

6:09 Speaker 1: the International Space Station set a new record for SpaceX,

6:13 Speaker 1: with just two weeks and three days separating these human

6:16 Speaker 1: space flights. This compressed timeline demonstrates the maturity of SpaceX's

6:21 Speaker 1: human spaceflight program and the reliability of their Falcon nine

6:24 Speaker 1: and Dragon systems. While SpaceX dominates the launch schedule this week,

6:30 Speaker 1: they're not alone in reaching for orbit. China also has

6:33 Speaker 1: two launches planned, with their chang Jeng two D rocket

6:36 Speaker 1: scheduled to lift off on April first, followed by what

6:39 Speaker 1: might be one of the final flights of the chung

6:41 Speaker 1: Jang six rocket later in the week from the Taiyuan

6:44 Speaker 1: Satellite Launch Center. The increasing frequency of SpaceX launches has

6:49 Speaker 1: become almost routine, but it represents a fundamental shift in

6:52 Speaker 1: space access. Just a decade ago, achieving this many orbital

6:56 Speaker 1: launches across an entire year would have been considered remark

7:00 Speaker 1: maarkable for a single company. Now SpaceX is demonstrating the

7:04 Speaker 1: capability to achieve that in a single week while simultaneously

7:08 Speaker 1: conducting historic human spaceflight missions and expanding their global satellite

7:12 Speaker 1: Internet constellation. This operational tempo not only serves SpaceX's commercial interests,

7:18 Speaker 1: but also provides crucial experience for NASA's future crude missions

7:22 Speaker 1: and demonstrates the kind of launch cadence that will be

7:24 Speaker 1: necessary as humanity expands its presence beyond Earth. Let's go

7:30 Speaker 1: to Mars now for an update. This is fascinating. While

7:33 Speaker 1: the Perseverance rover's primary mission on Mars focuses on searching

7:36 Speaker 1: for signs of ancient microbial life, it's also quietly conducting

7:40 Speaker 1: crucial research that could directly impact the safety of future

7:44 Speaker 1: human explorers. For the past four years, the rover has

7:48 Speaker 1: been exposing small swatches of space suit materials to the

7:51 Speaker 1: harsh Martian environment in what amounts to the ultimate real

7:54 Speaker 1: world test. These material samples, each measuring just three quarters

7:59 Speaker 1: of an inch square, are attached to a calibration target

8:03 Speaker 1: for the rover's sherlock instrument. The selection includes pieces that

8:07 Speaker 1: would be integral to any Mars astronaut's protective gear, a

8:10 Speaker 1: polycarbonate helmet visor vectrin used in glove palms for cut resistance,

8:15 Speaker 1: two variations of teflon with dust repelling properties, and a

8:19 Speaker 1: complex material called orthofabric. The ortho fabric is particularly interesting

8:24 Speaker 1: as it combines multiple protective layers nomechs for flame resistance

8:29 Speaker 1: like firefighter gear, breathable gortex, and kevlar for tear resistance,

8:33 Speaker 1: similar to what's used in bulletproof vests. Together, these materials

8:38 Speaker 1: represent the building blocks of what future Martian explorers might wear.

8:42 Speaker 1: Mars presents an extremely hostile environment for both humans and

8:45 Speaker 1: their equipment. Unlike Earth, with its protective magnetic field that

8:49 Speaker 1: deflects much of the Sun's radiation, Mars lost its magnetic

8:53 Speaker 1: shield billions of years ago, along with most of its atmosphere.

8:56 Speaker 1: This leaves the surface exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation that

9:00 Speaker 1: can rapidly degrade materials. Add to this, the planet's freezing temperatures,

9:06 Speaker 1: find dust particles that can infiltrate mechanisms, and corrosive perchlurates,

9:10 Speaker 1: toxic salts that permeate the Martian soil, and you have

9:13 Speaker 1: an environment engineered to break down almost anything we might

9:16 Speaker 1: send there. Mark Fryes of NASA's Johnson Space Center explains

9:21 Speaker 1: the forward thinking nature of this experiment. This is one

9:25 Speaker 1: of the forward looking aspects of the Rover's mission, not

9:28 Speaker 1: just thinking about its current science, but also about what

9:31 Speaker 1: comes next. We're preparing for people to eventually go and

9:34 Speaker 1: explore Mars. The data being collected is particularly valuable because

9:39 Speaker 1: it shows how quickly different materials degrade. Remarkably, about half

9:43 Speaker 1: of all the changes observed in the samples occurred within

9:46 Speaker 1: just the first two hundred days on Mars, with vectin

9:49 Speaker 1: appearing to deteriorate most rapidly. This gives engineers crucial information

9:53 Speaker 1: about how frequently spacesuits might need replacement or repair during

9:57 Speaker 1: extended missions. Scientists are a especially concerned about maintaining flexibility

10:02 Speaker 1: and tear resistance in spacesuit materials. As Sherlock team member

10:06 Speaker 1: joby Razzl Hollis notes, Mars is a really harsh tough place.

10:10 Speaker 1: The radiation in particular is pretty nasty. When these materials degrade,

10:15 Speaker 1: they can become brittle, similar to how white plastic lawn

10:18 Speaker 1: furniture yellows and cracks after years in sunlight, but likely

10:21 Speaker 1: happening much faster on Mars. The research team is now

10:25 Speaker 1: preparing to publish their findings, while scientists at NASA Johnson

10:29 Speaker 1: are developing Earth based simulations that can replicate Martian conditions.

10:33 Speaker 1: They plan to subject identical materials to simulated Martian carbon

10:36 Speaker 1: dioxide atmospheres, air pressure, and ultraviolet light, then stress tests

10:41 Speaker 1: them to determine how much structural integrity they've lost. The

10:45 Speaker 1: fabric materials are designed to be tough but flexible, Freeze explains,

10:50 Speaker 1: we want to know the extent to which they lose

10:51 Speaker 1: their strength and flexibility over time. As fabrics weaken, they

10:55 Speaker 1: can fray and tear, allowing a space suit to leak

10:58 Speaker 1: both heat and air, a potentially fatal situation for any

11:02 Speaker 1: Mars explorer. This research represents a critical step in preparing

11:06 Speaker 1: for human exploration of the Red planet, demonstrating how current

11:09 Speaker 1: robotic missions are directly enabling future human missions by solving

11:13 Speaker 1: practical challenges before astronauts ever set foot on Martian soil. Well,

11:19 Speaker 1: we finally got to see Butch and Sunni addressing the

11:21 Speaker 1: world today in their first sit down TV interview since

11:24 Speaker 1: returning home. After nine months aboard the International Space Station

11:28 Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy eight days longer than planned, NASA

11:32 Speaker 1: astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams have finally returned to Earth.

11:36 Speaker 1: What began as a routine eight day test flight of

11:39 Speaker 1: Boeing Starliner spacecraft transformed into one of the most dramatic

11:43 Speaker 1: extended stays in space history, turning them into household names

11:47 Speaker 1: in the process. The veteran astronauts splashed down off Florida's

11:51 Speaker 1: coast two weeks ago, not in the Boeing capsule that

11:54 Speaker 1: carried them up, but in a space X Dragon that

11:57 Speaker 1: came to their rescue. Their unprecedented mission extension came after

12:01 Speaker 1: Starliner experienced multiple technical issues during its June twenty twenty

12:06 Speaker 1: three launch, including thruster failures and helium leaks that raised

12:11 Speaker 1: serious safety concerns about the capsule's return capability. In their

12:16 Speaker 1: first news conference since returning home, both astronauts displayed remarkable

12:21 Speaker 1: composure and professionalism despite their ordeal. I'll start and point

12:25 Speaker 1: the finger, and I'll blame me, Wilmore told reporters, sharing

12:29 Speaker 1: responsibility for the mission's issues. I could have asked some questions,

12:33 Speaker 1: and the answers to those questions could have turned the

12:35 Speaker 1: tide all the way up and down the chain. We

12:38 Speaker 1: all are responsible, we all own this. The saga took

12:41 Speaker 1: on additional dimensions when President Trump publicly urged SpaceX's Elon

12:46 Speaker 1: Musk to accelerate the rescue mission, adding political pressure to

12:50 Speaker 1: an already complicated situation. Meanwhile, NASA engineers and Boeing officials

12:55 Speaker 1: spent months deliberating the safest course of action before ultimately

13:00 Speaker 1: determining that Starliner was too risky to bring the astronauts home.

13:04 Speaker 1: Despite everything they experienced, both Wilmore and Williams expressed continued

13:08 Speaker 1: confidence in Boeing spacecraft. When asked if they would fly

13:12 Speaker 1: on Starliner again, Williams responded emphatically, we're all in. She

13:17 Speaker 1: added that the vehicle has a lot of capability and

13:20 Speaker 1: she wants to see it succeed. Wilmore echoed this sentiment,

13:25 Speaker 1: saying he'd return in a heartbeat because we're going to

13:27 Speaker 1: rectify all the issues that we encountered. We're going to

13:30 Speaker 1: fix them. We're going to make it work. The pair

13:34 Speaker 1: is scheduled to meet with Boeing leadership this week to

13:36 Speaker 1: provide detailed feedback on their flight experience. Wilmore emphasized that

13:41 Speaker 1: the meeting is not for pointing fingers, but rather to

13:45 Speaker 1: make the path clearer going forward. Both astronauts have been

13:49 Speaker 1: adjusting well to life back on Earth. Williams waited until

13:52 Speaker 1: she was steadier on her feet before reuniting with her

13:55 Speaker 1: two Labrador retrievers the day after splashdown, describing the moment

13:59 Speaker 1: as pure joy. Wilmore, meanwhile, has already received his first

14:03 Speaker 1: terrestrial assignment from his wife, replacing all the shrubs in

14:07 Speaker 1: their yard before summer. NASA engineers still don't fully understand

14:11 Speaker 1: what caused Starliner's thrust or malfunctions. With more testing planned

14:15 Speaker 1: through summer, the Space Agency may require another uncrude test

14:19 Speaker 1: flight before allowing astronauts aboard again, but that potential redo

14:23 Speaker 1: could happen by year's end. Despite Starliner's troubled development, NASA

14:28 Speaker 1: officials maintained that their strategy of having two competing US

14:32 Speaker 1: companies providing space station transportation remains sound However, with the

14:37 Speaker 1: International Space Stations scheduled for retirement in just five years,

14:41 Speaker 1: the window for Boeing to establish Starliner as a reliable

14:43 Speaker 1: crew transport is rapidly closing. Finally, today, a dark matter update.

14:50 Speaker 1: Dark matter remains one of the most enigmatic components of

14:52 Speaker 1: our universe, making up approximately eighty five percent of all matter.

14:57 Speaker 1: It's practically invisible, detectable only through its gravitational effects, but

15:01 Speaker 1: new research suggests we might have another way to observe

15:04 Speaker 1: its presence through its influence on planetary rotation. Scientists from

15:09 Speaker 1: the Shinjang Astronomical Observatory at the Chinese Academy of Sciences

15:13 Speaker 1: have published intriguing findings suggesting that dark matter could actually

15:18 Speaker 1: make planets spin faster. Their paper, aptly titled dark Matter

15:22 Speaker 1: Spins the Planet proposes that planets act as natural dark

15:26 Speaker 1: matter collectors, gradually accumulating these mysterious particles over billions of years.

15:32 Speaker 1: When dark matter particles enter a planet, they don't interact

15:35 Speaker 1: with normal matter in conventional ways. Instead, through quantum effects

15:39 Speaker 1: like tunneling, they can deposit energy into the planet's interior.

15:43 Speaker 1: This energy transfer manifests in two ways, heating the planet

15:47 Speaker 1: and accelerating its rotation. The researchers simulated this dark matter

15:52 Speaker 1: capture process in fifteen confirmed exoplanets, including notable examples like

15:57 Speaker 1: fifty five Cancree D also known as lip Hay, and

16:00 Speaker 1: Epsilon Eridani B. They also applied their model to more

16:04 Speaker 1: familiar worlds like Jupiter and our own Earth. For Earth specifically,

16:09 Speaker 1: their calculations predict some measurable effects. Dark matter heating combined

16:14 Speaker 1: with solar energy could increase Earth's surface atmospheric temperature by

16:18 Speaker 1: approximately zero point zero one five kelvin over one hundred

16:21 Speaker 1: years and zero point one five kelvin over a millennium.

16:26 Speaker 1: More dramatically, Earth's rotation period could decrease by about twelve

16:30 Speaker 1: seconds over the next century and potentially one hundred and

16:33 Speaker 1: twenty seconds over one thousand years. These might sound like

16:37 Speaker 1: small changes, but they are significant enough that we should

16:41 Speaker 1: be able to detect them with current ground based measurement methods.

16:45 Speaker 1: This provides astronomers with a potential new avenue for confirming

16:49 Speaker 1: dark matter's existence and properties. The implications extend beyond pure physics.

16:54 Speaker 1: The team suggest that dark matter interactions might play a

16:57 Speaker 1: role in planetary habitability by altar thermal conditions within planets,

17:02 Speaker 1: dark matter could affect the stability of liquid water and

17:05 Speaker 1: influence atmospheric evolution, key factors in determining whether a world

17:10 Speaker 1: can support life. Despite the theoretical nature of this work,

17:14 Speaker 1: it represents an innovative approach to the dark matter puzzle.

17:18 Speaker 1: Rather than focusing solely on microscopic particle physics or cosmic

17:22 Speaker 1: scale observations, these researchers are looking at planetary scale effects

17:27 Speaker 1: that accumulate over long time periods. Dark matter candidates range

17:31 Speaker 1: from weakly interacting massive particles WIMPs, to axians to primordial

17:36 Speaker 1: black holes. If any of these particles are indeed captured

17:39 Speaker 1: by planets, the energy released when they annihilate each other

17:43 Speaker 1: could contribute to the heating and rotational effects described in

17:46 Speaker 1: the study. As the author's note, this research could prove

17:50 Speaker 1: especially valuable as humanity continues searching for potentially habitable worlds

17:54 Speaker 1: beyond our Solar System. Understanding how dark matter influences planetary

17:59 Speaker 1: conditions might help us better assess which exoplanets could support life,

18:04 Speaker 1: adding yet another factor to consider in our quest to

18:07 Speaker 1: find a second home among the stars. That wraps up

18:11 Speaker 1: today's journey through the Cosmos. From SpaceX's groundbreaking polar mission

18:15 Speaker 1: to the intriguing effects of dark matter on planetary rotation,

18:19 Speaker 1: We've covered some truly fascinating developments in space exploration and astronomy.

18:24 Speaker 1: I'm anna your guide to the stars here at Astronomy Daily,

18:27 Speaker 1: and it's been my absolute pleasure sharing these stories with you.

18:32 Speaker 1: Space science moves at an incredible pace, and there's always

18:35 Speaker 1: something new to discover together. If you're hungry for more

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19:18 Speaker 1: keep looking up at those stars. The universe is vast

19:21 Speaker 1: and mysterious, but together we're understanding more of it every day.

19:25 Speaker 1: This is Anna signing off from Astronomy Daily, where we

19:28 Speaker 1: believe the sky is just the beginning star