Stranded Astronauts, Scenic Mars Missions, and a Super Earth Discovery

0:00 Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

0:03 brings you the universe, one story at a time.

0:06 I'm Avery, and as always, I'm joined by my co

0:09 host, Anna.

0:10 Anna: Uh, it's great to be here, Avery. Today

0:12 we'll be covering a tense situation aboard

0:15 the Tiangong Space Station now that the Crew

0:18 20 mission astronauts have returned home

0:20 safely. A new NASA mission taking a

0:23 scenic route to Mars, a heads up about

0:26 the upcoming Leonid meteor shower, and a

0:29 very exciting discovery of a new super Earth

0:32 that's surprisingly close to home.

0:34 Avery: A packed show indeed. Let's get right

0:37 into it.

0:38 Anna, um, why don't you start us off with a

0:40 situation in low Earth orbit?

0:42 Anna: Absolutely. Our first story involves the

0:44 three astronauts of China's Shenzhou 21

0:47 mission. Currently on the Tiangong Space

0:50 Station. It seems they are temporarily

0:52 stranded.

0:53 Avery: Stranded? That sounds serious. What

0:56 happened?

0:57 Anna: It's a bit of a domino effect. The previous

1:00 crew, Shenzhou 20, had their

1:03 own capsule damaged by a piece of space

1:06 debris. So to get them home safely,

1:08 the China National Space Administration

1:11 made the call to use the Shenzhou 21

1:14 capsule, which was docked at the station,

1:17 as the current crew's ride home. Wow.

1:20 Avery: So they gave up their lifeboat to

1:23 save the other crew. That's a tough decision,

1:26 but definitely the right one.

1:28 Anna: Exactly. It highlights the dangers of

1:30 space debris. The station itself is well

1:33 protected, but these smaller capsules are

1:36 more vulnerable. Now. The Shenzhou

1:39 21 crew is safe on the station, but without

1:41 a return vehicle.

1:43 Avery: So what's the rescue plan?

1:45 Anna: A new spacecraft, Shenzhou 22,

1:48 is being prepared for an uncrewed launch.

1:51 It will serve as the new lifeboat and

1:54 eventual ride home for the crew. Chinese

1:57 officials say the crew is not in any

1:59 immediate danger and has plenty of supplies.

2:02 Avery: Right, but being on a space station without

2:04 an escape route is still a high risk

2:06 situation. Any delay in that rescue launch

2:09 could be critical if another emergency were

2:12 to happen on the station.

2:13 Anna: That's the core of the issue. The situation

2:15 is temporary, but the risk is elevated until

2:18 Shenzhou 22 is docked and ready.

2:21 We'll certainly be following this story

2:23 closely.

2:24 Avery: It's a good reminder of how hostile the space

2:26 environment is. Does a situation like this

2:29 trigger any international rescue protocols,

2:32 or is China handling this entirely on its

2:34 own?

2:35 Anna: For now, it's an internal CNSA operation.

2:38 Unlike the iss, which is a partnership with

2:41 established mutual support agreements, the

2:43 Tiangong is operated solely by China,

2:46 while other space agencies are monitoring.

2:49 The rescue is entirely dependent on the

2:51 successful and timely launch of Shenzhou

2:54 22.

2:55 Avery: Definitely now from low Earth

2:58 orbit. Let's travel a little Bit farther out.

3:00 Our next story is about NASA's newest mission

3:03 to Mars. But it's not taking the direct

3:06 route you might expect.

3:08 Anna: This is the Escapade mission. Correct. The

3:10 twin probes.

3:11 Avery: That's the one. The probes nicknamed Blue

3:14 and Gold, have just launched. But instead of

3:17 pointing straight at Mars, they're heading in

3:19 the opposite direction, out to a point in

3:22 space called L2, about 1.5

3:25 million kilometers from Earth.

3:27 Anna: The second Lagrange point. That's a

3:29 gravitationally stable spot where the

3:32 Webb telescope also operates. So why

3:35 send Mars probes there first?

3:37 Avery: It's a clever fuel saving trajectory. They'll

3:40 spend a year at L2 studying space weather,

3:43 essentially getting some bonus science in.

3:45 Then in late 2026, they'll loop back

3:48 towards Earth.

3:49 Anna: Ah, uh, for a gravity assist.

3:51 Avery: Exactly. Earth's gravity will act like a

3:54 slingshot, flinging them towards Mars with

3:57 the speed they need to get into. Or in

3:59 2027. It's a much more efficient way to

4:02 travel for smaller, lighter spacecraft.

4:05 Anna: And once they arrive, what's their primary

4:07 mission?

4:08 Avery: This is the really cool part. Blue and Gold

4:10 will orbit Mars in formation, giving us the

4:13 first ever stereo or 3D view

4:16 of the planet's upper atmosphere. They'll

4:19 study how solar wind strips atmospheric

4:21 particles away from Mars, which is crucial

4:24 for understanding how the planet lost its

4:26 water and became the cold, dry world it is

4:29 today.

4:30 Anna: A stereo view that will provide a much more

4:33 complete picture than any single orbiter ever

4:36 could. A very innovative mission, both in its

4:38 science and its journey.

4:41 Avery: It really is.

4:42 And while on the subject of the Escapade

4:44 mission, catching a ride on the twin probes,

4:47 uh, are the first Kiwis to fly to the red

4:49 planet. The Escapade probes are the first

4:52 Mars bound vehicles to be designed, built

4:55 and tested by Rocket Lab, the space

4:58 company headquartered in California, but

5:00 founded in New Zealand.

5:02 Anna: Hence the Kiwis.

5:04 Avery: That's right. Rocket Lab has a tradition of

5:06 hiding Kiwis in many areas of its design,

5:09 said Lindsey McLaurin, senior communications

5:12 manager for Space Systems at Rocket Lab, in

5:15 response to an inquiry from collectspace.com

5:18 the birds have snuck onto our rockets and

5:21 satellites since the beginning of the

5:23 company, reflecting the New Zealand roots of

5:26 the company and as a challenge among our

5:28 designers and spacecraft builders.

5:31 Anna: The birds appear as graphics on twin

5:33 plaques attached to blue and gold.

5:36 The metal plates, which adorn, uh, one of the

5:39 two solar panels on each probe, also feature

5:42 the Rocket Lab logo. The company's motto,

5:45 Non sufficient hick orbis or

5:48 this world is not enough. And a

5:50 similar icon of a bald eagle to

5:53 represent our company's global presence, said

5:56 McLaurin, referring to the American icon.

5:59 Avery: A nice fun touch to an important mission.

6:03 Okay, let's bring our focus back closer to

6:05 home for all our listeners who enjoy some

6:08 good old fashioned stargazing. We've got an

6:10 update on the Leonid meteor shower.

6:13 Anna: Right. The Leonids are one of the most famous

6:15 showers known for producing spectacular

6:18 meteor storms in the past. They're peaking

6:21 next week on the morning of Tuesday, November

6:24 18th.

6:25 Avery: So should everyone be setting their alarms?

6:27 Anna: Well, this is one of those times. We have to

6:30 manage expectations. This year is

6:33 predicted to be a, uh, very weak showing.

6:36 We're expecting a peak rate of only about

6:39 five to ten meteors per hour.

6:41 Avery: Only five to ten? That's not much.

6:45 Why is it so quiet this year?

6:47 Anna: It's because Earth is passing through a, uh,

6:49 very sparse part of the debris stream

6:52 left by the parent comet, Tempel Tuttle.

6:55 The really dense clouds of debris that cause

6:58 the famous storms of hundreds or even

7:01 thousands of meteors per hour are not what

7:03 we're intersecting with right now.

7:05 Avery: So it's worth a look if you're already an

7:07 early riser, but maybe not worth a special

7:09 trip to a dark sky site. When can we expect

7:12 the next big show from the Leonids?

7:14 Anna: Astronomers are predicting the next major

7:16 displays won't be until the2030s

7:19 as we get closer to the next pass of the

7:21 parent comet. So we'll have to be patient for

7:24 the next big storm, it seems.

7:26 Avery: We'll have to be patient.

7:28 Now for our final story. We have something

7:30 that could be truly groundbreaking. A new

7:33 super Earth has been discovered, and it's

7:36 practically in our cosmic backyard.

7:37 Anna: This is very exciting. The planet is named

7:40 GJ251C. A, uh, super

7:43 Earth means it's larger than Earth, but

7:45 smaller than Neptune and likely rocky.

7:48 And as you said, it's close. Just 18 light

7:51 years away.

7:52 Avery: 18 light years in galactic terms, that's next

7:55 door. But what makes this planet so special

7:57 is its location, its orbit.

8:00 Anna: It's located right in the middle of its

8:02 star's habitable zone. That's the orbital

8:05 region where temperatures are just right for

8:07 liquid water to potentially exist on a

8:10 planet's surface.

8:11 Avery: The Goldilocks zone. Not too hot, not too

8:13 cold. The combination of its size, its

8:16 position, and its incredible proximity to us

8:19 is what makes this a huge deal.

8:21 Anna: It really is, because it's so close.

8:24 Close. GJ251C is now

8:27 a prime target for future observation.

8:29 We're talking about the next generation of

8:32 extremely large telescopes like the 30

8:35 meter telescope.

8:36 Avery: So these new telescopes could actually

8:38 analyze the planet's atmosphere.

8:41 Anna: That's the goal. They'll be powerful enough

8:43 to look for biosignatures, specific

8:46 gases in its atmosphere like oxygen,

8:49 methane, or even water vapor

8:52 that could hint at the presence of life. We

8:54 are decades away from being able to visit,

8:57 but in the near future, we might be able to

9:00 tell if it has water.

9:01 Avery: An incredible discovery and a

9:04 tantalizing glimpse into what we might find

9:07 as our technology improves. It really makes

9:10 you wonder what's out there.

9:11 Anna: And its star, GJ25.1, is a

9:14 red dwarf, right? That comes with its own set

9:17 of challenges for habitability, like

9:19 potential tidal locking and stellar

9:22 flares.

9:23 Avery: That's the crucial next question. Red

9:25 dwarfs are long lived, which is good for

9:28 life. But they can be volatile, especially

9:30 when they're young. One of the key tasks for

9:33 future telescopes will be to study the star's

9:36 activity and see if the planet has a strong

9:38 enough magnetic field and atmosphere to

9:40 withstand those flares. But finding a rocky

9:43 world in the habitable zone of our neighbor

9:46 is a critical first step.

9:47 Anna: It certainly is. And that's all the time we

9:50 have for today. We covered the precarious but

9:53 stable situation for the Shanzhou 21

9:56 astronauts. The scenic route of the escapade

9:59 mission to Mars, a subdued Leonid

10:02 meteor shower, and the discovery of a

10:04 promising new super Earth just next door.

10:07 Avery: Thanks for tuning in to Astronomy Daily. Be

10:10 sure to subscribe wherever you get your

10:11 podcasts so you don't miss an episode. Until

10:14 next time. I'm Avery.

10:15 Anna: And I'm Anna. Keep looking up.