Volcanic Wonders, Super Earth Seasons, and Supersonic Flight Milestones: S04E25

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host, Anna, and we

0:03 Speaker 1: have an absolutely packed show for you today, covering some

0:05 Speaker 1: of the most exciting developments in space news. We'll be

0:08 Speaker 1: exploring an unprecedented volcanic event on Jupiter's moon Io that's

0:12 Speaker 1: literally off the charts, take a look at a fascinating

0:15 Speaker 1: super earth that experiences extreme seasons as it moves in

0:19 Speaker 1: and out of its star's habitable zone, and discuss some

0:22 Speaker 1: major updates from the International Space Station. We'll also dive

0:26 Speaker 1: into the latest developments from the European Space Conference, celebrate

0:30 Speaker 1: a historic achievement in civilian supersonic flight, and examine a

0:34 Speaker 1: newly discovered asteroid that's caught the attention of astronomers worldwide.

0:38 Speaker 1: So strap in for another journey through the latest discoveries

0:41 Speaker 1: and developments in space exploration and astronomy. There's a lot

0:45 Speaker 1: to cover, so let's get started. Late today, SpaceX founder

0:50 Speaker 1: Elon Musk stirred controversy with an unexpected announcement regarding astronauts

0:55 Speaker 1: aboard the International Space Station. In a post on social media,

0:59 Speaker 1: Musk claimed space had been asked by President Trump to

1:01 Speaker 1: mount a rescue mission to expedite the return of two

1:04 Speaker 1: NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, who have been

1:09 Speaker 1: on the ISS since June twenty twenty four. In a

1:12 Speaker 1: message posted by Musk on X, he said, the Potus

1:16 Speaker 1: has asked SpaceX to bring home the two astronauts stranded

1:19 Speaker 1: on the space station as soon as possible. We will

1:21 Speaker 1: do so. The astronauts originally traveled to the station aboard

1:25 Speaker 1: Boeing Starliner spacecraft during its crew flight test mission. However,

1:31 Speaker 1: due to technical concerns with Starliner's propulsion system and helium

1:35 Speaker 1: leaks encountered during its journey to the station, NASA made

1:38 Speaker 1: the decision to bring the astronauts home aboard SpaceX's Dragon

1:41 Speaker 1: capsule instead. NASA has firmly pushed back against any characterization

1:46 Speaker 1: that the astronauts are stranded in space, emphasizing that the

1:50 Speaker 1: decision to switch return vehicles was made out of an

1:53 Speaker 1: abundance of caution, As former NASA administrator Bill Nelson explained

1:58 Speaker 1: during a December briefing, after extensive testing at White Sands,

2:02 Speaker 1: while they identified the cause of a problematic valve issue,

2:05 Speaker 1: they couldn't determine the underlying reason, making it too risky

2:09 Speaker 1: to attempt a crude return flight. This situation has required

2:12 Speaker 1: some reshuffling of crew assignments. NASA astronauts Xena Cardman and

2:18 Speaker 1: Stephanie Wilson have been removed from their planned mission to

2:21 Speaker 1: make room for Wilmore and Williams on the upcoming Dragon

2:24 Speaker 1: return flight. The new crew arrangement is set to return

2:27 Speaker 1: in late February ahead of the Crew ten mission launch,

2:30 Speaker 1: which has been delayed to March due to spacecraft readiness issues.

2:34 Speaker 1: This transition from Starliner to Dragon highlights both the challenges

2:38 Speaker 1: and advantages of NASA's commercial crew program, which maintains multiple

2:42 Speaker 1: providers to ensure continued access to the International Space Station.

2:47 Speaker 1: While Starliner continues development work toward full certification for regular

2:51 Speaker 1: crew rotation missions, SpaceX's Dragon capsule provides the flexibility needed

2:56 Speaker 1: to maintain safe operations. This is, of course, a breaking story,

3:00 Speaker 1: and I'll keep you posted. In other NASA related news today,

3:05 Speaker 1: NASA's junomission has made a groundbreaking discovery on Jupiter's moon Io,

3:09 Speaker 1: detecting what scientists are calling the most powerful volcanic event

3:13 Speaker 1: ever recorded in our Solar system. And when we're talking

3:15 Speaker 1: about Io, that's really saying something as this Moon is

3:19 Speaker 1: already known as the most volcanically active world we've ever encountered.

3:24 Speaker 1: The hot spot discovered in Io's southern hemisphere is truly massive,

3:28 Speaker 1: spanning an area larger than Earth's Lake Superior. But what's

3:32 Speaker 1: even more impressive is its raw power output. This single

3:35 Speaker 1: volcanic feature is pumping out more than six times the

3:38 Speaker 1: total energy produced by all of Earth's power plants combined.

3:42 Speaker 1: This remarkable discovery was made using Juno's Jovian Infrared Auroral

3:46 Speaker 1: Mapper or JERUM instrument. The hotspot is so intense that

3:51 Speaker 1: it actually saturated the detector, suggesting that what appears as

3:55 Speaker 1: one massive feature might actually be several closely spaced volcanic

3:58 Speaker 1: events occurring simultaneously, hinting at an extensive underground magma chamber system.

4:04 Speaker 1: To put the scale of this event in perspective, the

4:07 Speaker 1: hotspot covers approximately forty thousand square miles. That's more than

4:11 Speaker 1: five times larger than the previous record holder, Io's Loki Ptera,

4:15 Speaker 1: which spans about seven thousand, seven hundred square miles. The

4:19 Speaker 1: total power output measured from this volcanic region exceeds eighty

4:23 Speaker 1: trillion watts, a truly mind boggling figure. This extreme volcanic

4:28 Speaker 1: activity is driven by Jupiter itself. Io orbits very close

4:32 Speaker 1: to the gas giant, completing a circuit every forty two

4:35 Speaker 1: point five hours. The Moon's elliptical orbit means it experiences

4:40 Speaker 1: varying gravitational forces as it moves closer to and further

4:43 Speaker 1: from Jupiter, resulting in intense tidal forces that literally squeeze

4:48 Speaker 1: and stretch the Moon. This constant stress generates enormous amounts

4:52 Speaker 1: of heat, melting Io's interior and fueling its estimated four

4:55 Speaker 1: hundred active volcanoes. Scientists are particularly excited about this discovery

5:00 Speaker 1: as it could enhance our understanding of volcanic processes not

5:04 Speaker 1: just on Io, but throughout the Solar System. The JUNOTEAM

5:07 Speaker 1: plans to continue monitoring this region during future flybys, tracking

5:11 Speaker 1: how this unprecedented volcanic event evolves over time. And yet

5:16 Speaker 1: another fascinating discovery just announced. Astronomers have found a remarkable

5:21 Speaker 1: super Earth planet orbiting a star only nineteen point seven

5:24 Speaker 1: light years from Earth. What makes this planet, designated HD

5:28 Speaker 1: two zero seven nine four D, particularly intriguing is its

5:32 Speaker 1: unusual orbit that takes it in and out of its

5:34 Speaker 1: star's habitable zone. The region where temperatures could allow for

5:37 Speaker 1: liquid water on a planet's surface. This super Earth, weighing

5:42 Speaker 1: in at about six point six times Earth's mass, follows

5:45 Speaker 1: an extremely elongated orbit around its parent star. While most

5:49 Speaker 1: planets in our Solar System follow nearly circular paths HD

5:53 Speaker 1: two zero seven nine four D's orbit is more like

5:57 Speaker 1: a stretched out ellipse, creating what must be extraordinary seasonal changes.

6:02 Speaker 1: During its six hundred forty seven day journey around its star,

6:06 Speaker 1: the planet swings from a distance equivalent to Mars's orbit

6:09 Speaker 1: to about as close as Venus is to our Sun.

6:12 Speaker 1: This means that for part of its year, the planet

6:15 Speaker 1: experiences conditions that might be too cold for liquid water,

6:19 Speaker 1: before passing through the habitable zone and then briefly entering

6:22 Speaker 1: a region where temperatures could become uncomfortably hot. Imagine the

6:27 Speaker 1: climate on such a world. Long harsh winters when the

6:31 Speaker 1: planet is at its furthest point from its star, followed

6:34 Speaker 1: by a relatively brief but intense summer as it sweeps

6:37 Speaker 1: through the inner part of its orbit. Scientists speculate that

6:41 Speaker 1: any oceans might freeze during the winter months, only to

6:44 Speaker 1: thaw and potentially even begin evaporating. During the short summer season,

6:48 Speaker 1: before freezing again as the planet moves back out the star.

6:52 Speaker 1: This super earth orbits, known as h D two zero

6:55 Speaker 1: seven nine four or eighty two Aridani, is slightly dimmer

6:59 Speaker 1: and less massive than our Sun. Remarkably, it's bright enough

7:02 Speaker 1: to be visible to the naked eye from Earth. In

7:05 Speaker 1: the constellation Aridyanus. The planet shares its system with two

7:09 Speaker 1: other super earths that follow more conventional, nearly circular orbits

7:13 Speaker 1: closer to their star. The discovery of this world provides

7:16 Speaker 1: an excellent opportunity for future telescopes to study its atmosphere

7:21 Speaker 1: and help us understand the extreme limits of planetary habitability.

7:25 Speaker 1: Its relatively close proximity to Earth and its unique orbital

7:28 Speaker 1: characteristics make it an ideal target for investigating how life

7:31 Speaker 1: might adapt to dramatically varying conditions on other worlds. The

7:36 Speaker 1: seventeenth European Space Conference has kicked off in Brussels with

7:39 Speaker 1: bold declarations about Europe's future in space. European Commissioner for

7:44 Speaker 1: Defense in Space, Andreas Kbilius, set an ambitious tone, declaring

7:48 Speaker 1: that whoever controls space controls the future. He emphasized that

7:52 Speaker 1: Europe must maintain its position as a leading space power,

7:55 Speaker 1: calling for unity across the European space ecosystem, the US

8:00 Speaker 1: European Space Agency is taking significant steps forward with several

8:03 Speaker 1: groundbreaking initiatives. They've secured an Ariane six rocket launch for

8:08 Speaker 1: the Sentinel one D satellite, the fourth unit of the

8:11 Speaker 1: Copernicus Sentinel one mission. This new satellite will join its

8:15 Speaker 1: recently launched sibling, Sentinel one C, to enhance global Earth

8:20 Speaker 1: observation capabilities. In a major development for climate monitoring, the

8:25 Speaker 1: European Commission has expanded its carbon dioxide monitoring mission. They've

8:29 Speaker 1: commissioned a third satellite for the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide

8:33 Speaker 1: Monitoring Mission, which will accelerate global coverage of carbon dioxide

8:37 Speaker 1: and methane emissions measurements from human activities. The conference also

8:42 Speaker 1: saw the signing of nineteen satellite data agreements, strengthening Europe's

8:46 Speaker 1: Earth observation capabilities. These partnerships involve both established industry players

8:52 Speaker 1: and emerging space companies, all contributing to the Copernicus space

8:56 Speaker 1: data ecosystem. Perhaps most excitingly, Europe is preparing for a

9:00 Speaker 1: return to Venus. The European Space Agency has awarded THALLUS

9:05 Speaker 1: Alenia Space the contract to build the envisioned spacecraft, which

9:08 Speaker 1: will conduct unprecedented investigations of Venus' surface, interior, and atmosphere.

9:15 Speaker 1: This mission builds upon the discoveries of Venus Express and

9:18 Speaker 1: promises to reveal new insights about our mysterious neighbor. Additionally,

9:23 Speaker 1: the ESA has taken steps to ensure rapid access to

9:26 Speaker 1: space for European innovations through a series of contracts with

9:30 Speaker 1: small satellite makers. These agreements, part of the InOrbit Demonstration

9:35 Speaker 1: and Validation program, will help accelerate the testing and deployment

9:39 Speaker 1: of new space technologies, maintaining Europe's competitive edge in the

9:42 Speaker 1: global space sector. In breaking news from the aviation world,

9:47 Speaker 1: Boom Supersonic has achieved a historic milestone today at the

9:51 Speaker 1: Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. Their XB one test

9:55 Speaker 1: aircraft became the first civil aircraft to break the sound

9:58 Speaker 1: barrier over continental United States, marking a significant step toward

10:02 Speaker 1: the return of commercial supersonic flight. Chief test pilot Tristan Brandenburg,

10:08 Speaker 1: known by his call sign Geppetto, piloted the aircraft to

10:11 Speaker 1: an altitude of thirty five thousand feet, where it achieved

10:14 Speaker 1: this remarkable feat just eleven point five minutes into its flight.

10:19 Speaker 1: The XB one went on to break the sound barrier

10:21 Speaker 1: two more times during the thirty minute test flight, allowing

10:24 Speaker 1: pilots to thoroughly evaluate the aircraft's supersonic handling characteristics. What

10:29 Speaker 1: makes this achievement particularly noteworthy is that it represents the

10:33 Speaker 1: first step toward bringing supersonic passenger travel back to civilian

10:37 Speaker 1: aviation since the retirement of the Concord in two thousand

10:40 Speaker 1: and three. The XB one is serving as a technology

10:43 Speaker 1: demonstrator for Boom's ambitious Overture passenger aircraft, which aims to

10:48 Speaker 1: carry between sixty four to eighty passengers at supersonic speeds.

10:52 Speaker 1: The test flight was monitored by two Chase planes, a

10:55 Speaker 1: Dssault Mirage F one fighter jet and a Northrup T

10:58 Speaker 1: thirty eight tallon. In a modern twist, the entire event

11:02 Speaker 1: was live streamed using SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation, providing unprecedented

11:08 Speaker 1: real time coverage of this aviation milestone. The success of

11:12 Speaker 1: today's flight brings Boom Supersonic closer to their goal of

11:15 Speaker 1: revolutionizing air travel. The company already has over one hundred

11:19 Speaker 1: orders for their planned overture airliner from major carriers worldwide.

11:23 Speaker 1: If successful, these aircraft could potentially cut current flight times

11:27 Speaker 1: in half, ushering in a new era of faster than

11:29 Speaker 1: sound commercial aviation. Finally, today, in concerning news from the

11:34 Speaker 1: astronomical community, scientists have identified a newly discovered asteroid that

11:39 Speaker 1: poses a potentially serious threat to Earth. Designated as Asteroid

11:42 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four y R four, this space rock has

11:46 Speaker 1: been calculated to have a one in eighty three chance

11:48 Speaker 1: of colliding with our planet in December twenty thirty two.

11:51 Speaker 1: The asteroid, measuring approximately one hundred and ninety six feet across,

11:56 Speaker 1: about half the length of a football field, is currently

11:59 Speaker 1: traveling through space some twenty seven million miles from Earth.

12:04 Speaker 1: While that might sound like a safe distance, astronomers are

12:07 Speaker 1: closely monitoring its trajectory as it's expected to make an

12:10 Speaker 1: extremely close approach to our planet, passing within just sixty

12:14 Speaker 1: six thousand miles of Earth's surface. This potential impact risk

12:18 Speaker 1: has caught the attention of both NASA's Center of NEEO

12:21 Speaker 1: Studies and the European Space Agency, with the asteroid now

12:26 Speaker 1: topping both organizations impact risk lists. According to Catalina Sky

12:31 Speaker 1: Survey engineer David Rankin this represents one of the highest

12:34 Speaker 1: probabilities of impact ever recorded for an asteroid of significant size.

12:39 Speaker 1: If it were to strike Earth, the asteroid could cause

12:42 Speaker 1: substantial damage. Experts compare it to the nineteen o eight

12:45 Speaker 1: Tunguska event in Russia, which flattened eighty million trees across

12:50 Speaker 1: eight hundred and thirty square miles when a similar sized

12:53 Speaker 1: asteroid exploded in the atmosphere. The current risk corridor for

12:57 Speaker 1: potential impact runs from South America across the Atlantic to

13:01 Speaker 1: South Africa. However, astronomers emphasize that there's no need for

13:06 Speaker 1: immediate panic. The asteroid's orbit is still uncertain and more

13:10 Speaker 1: observations are needed to better understand its trajectory. Scientists will

13:15 Speaker 1: have another opportunity to study the object more closely in

13:18 Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight, when it makes a less risky approach,

13:21 Speaker 1: passing about five million miles from Earth. This encounter should

13:25 Speaker 1: provide crucial data about its size, composition, and precise orbital path,

13:30 Speaker 1: helping to better assess the actual risk it poses. And

13:35 Speaker 1: that's all for today's episode of Astronomy Daily. I'm ana

13:38 Speaker 1: and it's been my pleasure bringing you the latest developments

13:41 Speaker 1: in space and astronomy news. From a potential rescue mission,

13:44 Speaker 1: to record breaking volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon Io to

13:48 Speaker 1: potential asteroid threats, It's been another fascinating day in space exploration.

13:53 Speaker 1: If you'd like to stay up to date with all

13:54 Speaker 1: the latest space and astronomy news, head over to Astronomy

13:58 Speaker 1: Daily dot io, where you can sign up for our

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14:18 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and remember to keep looking up. There's

14:21 Speaker 1: always something amazing happening in our universe. See you tomorrow,

14:25 Speaker 1: Sunday Stars to start