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From Paraplegic Astronauts to a Lemon-Shaped World: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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  the podcast that brings you the
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  universe, one story at a time. I'm
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  Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.
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  Today, we've got a great lineup from a
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  historic first for accessibility in
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  space to a bizarre lemonshaped planet
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  orbiting a dead star.
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  >> Plus, we'll be looking at how NASA is
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  getting an unprecedented new view of the
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  sun and how future astronauts might
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  build landing pads on the moon itself.
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  It's a packed show.
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  >> It certainly is. Let's get right to it.
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  First up, a truly inspiring story of
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  breaking barriers. German engineer
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  Michaela Bentouse just became the first
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  paraplegic person and the first
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  wheelchair user to fly to space.
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  >> Wow, that's incredible. This was with
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  Blue Origin, right?
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  >> That's right. On their New Shepard
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  rocket for a 10-minute suborbital
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  flight. What's really fascinating is how
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  few adjustments were needed. The capsule
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  was apparently designed with a high
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  degree of accessibility from the start.
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  >> That's the key, isn't it? Proactive
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  design rather than reactive
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  accommodation. It shows that space
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  doesn't have to be the exclusive domain
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  of a select few.
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  >> Exactly. Bent house herself said she
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  wants to be a role model, showing that
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  physical limitations shouldn't prevent
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  people from pursuing their dreams. It's
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  a huge step forward for making space
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  truly for everyone.
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  >> Absolutely. A fantastic piece of good
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  news to start the day. All right, from
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  human space flight, let's turn our
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  attention to our own star. NASA's Punch
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  mission is giving us a view of the sun.
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  That's well, it's completely new.
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  >> Punch, that stands for polarimeter to
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  unify the corona and heliosphere. And
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  what it's doing is pretty revolutionary.
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  >> It is. Instead of just looking at the
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  corona, Punch is watching the solar
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  wind, the stream of particles flowing
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  out from the sun as it expands and fills
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  the solar system. It's using a
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  constellation of four small spacecraft.
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  >> Mhm. Like a wide angle lens for the
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  solar system.
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  >> Exactly. They fly in formation and
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  together their cameras capture this
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  continuous panoramic view of the
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  material as it flows past Earth. For the
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  first time, we can see the entire
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  process from the corona to a full
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  astronomical unit away, which is Earth's
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  distance from the sun.
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  >> And this is crucial for understanding
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  space weather. Things like coronal mass
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  ejections or CMEs are massive eruptions
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  of plasma that can disrupt satellites
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  and power grids here on Earth.
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  >> Right before Punch, we'd see a CME leave
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  the sun and then we'd have to wait for
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  it to hit a satellite near Earth to know
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  its structure. Now we can track its
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  entire journey.
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  >> So it gives us a much better ability to
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  forecast the impact of space weather.
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  It's moving from seeing the cannon fire
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  to actually tracking the cannonball
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  through the air.
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  >> That's a perfect analogy. It's a
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  gamecher for protecting our technology
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  both in orbit and on the ground.
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  >> And the way it achieves this is so
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  clever. The four satellites are
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  essentially imaging polarized light. The
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  sunlight scatters off the electrons in
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  the solar wind. And by measuring the
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  polarization, they can build a 3D
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  picture of its structure and density.
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  >> It's like giving us 3D glasses to see
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  the invisible solar wind. And because
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  the four satellites are in different
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  positions, they can combine their views
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  to get a truly global perspective that a
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  single spacecraft just couldn't achieve.
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  >> Exactly. It's a leap from a single
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  snapshot to a continuous systemwide
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  movie. This kind of data will be
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  invaluable not just for Earth, but for
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  planning future robotic and crude
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  missions throughout the solar system,
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  protecting them from solar outbursts.
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  Speaking of ambitious missions, our next
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  story takes us to the moon where
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  engineers are tackling a very dusty
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  problem. How to build a launchpad that
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  can be used over and over again.
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  >> Right? Because rocket exhaust is
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  incredibly powerful. And on the moon
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  with its lower gravity and lack of
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  atmosphere, it would just blast lunar
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  dust or regalith everywhere at high
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  speeds.
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  >> Exactly. That dust is sharp and abrasive
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  and it could damage the lander itself or
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  any nearby habitats or equipment. So a
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  new paper is looking at how to solve
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  this using the regalith itself,
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  >> using the local materials in sichu
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  resource utilization. That's the holy
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  grail for sustainable space exploration.
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  It is. The idea is to essentially melt
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  the regalith into a solid, durable
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  surface, a process calledining. They're
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  thinking of using microwaves or lasers
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  delivered by robotic builders to create
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  these launch pads.
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  >> So, you send robots ahead to pave a
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  landing zone for you. That sounds very
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  sci-fi.
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  >> It does, but it's a very practical
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  challenge. The launchpad needs to
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  withstand incredible temperature swings
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  and the stress of repeated launches. The
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  engineers are planning tests to see how
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  the centered regalith holds up under
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  simulated rocket plume conditions.
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  >> And I imagine maintenance is a big
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  issue, too. If a pad gets cracked, you
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  can't just send out a construction crew
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  easily.
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  >> That's a huge part of it. The plan would
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  have to include robotic systems, not
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  just for building the pads, but for
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  inspecting and repairing them as well.
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  It's a foundational piece of the puzzle
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  for a permanent human presence on the
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  moon.
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  >> It's fascinating to think about the
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  logistics. Are we talking about paving
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  an entire spaceport or just a small
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  landing circle?
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  >> Initially, just a hardened pad about 50
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  meters in diameter to mitigate the dust
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  problem. But the research paper suggests
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  that this technology is scalable. If you
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  can build one pad, you can link them
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  together over time to create taxiways
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  and larger operational areas.
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  >> And what about the energy source?
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  Sensoring regalith with lasers or
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  microwaves sounds incredibly power
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  inensive. That's a major challenge on
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  the moon.
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  >> It is. The leading concepts involve
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  leveraging solar power with large
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  deployable arrays, potentially charging
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  batteries during the long lunar day to
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  power construction activities. It's a
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  classic chicken and egg problem. You
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  need infrastructure to build
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  infrastructure. This is step one. Well,
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  from building on our moon to exploring
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  truly bizarre worlds far beyond it,
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  astronomers using the James Webb Space
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  Telescope have found something that,
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  well, it looks like it belongs in a
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  different universe.
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  >> I think I know which one you're talking
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  about. Is this the lemon-shaped planet?
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  >> The one and only. Its official name is
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  PSRJ2322-2652b,
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  but lemonshaped planet is much easier to
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  remember. And the name is literal. It's
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  being tidily distorted into an oblong
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  shape by the immense gravity of the star
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  it orbits.
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  >> And that star isn't a normal star,
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  right? It's a pulsar, a super dense,
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  rapidly spinning remnant of a massive
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  star that went supernova.
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  >> Precisely. The gravity is so intense,
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  it's literally stretching the planet.
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  But that's not even the weirdest part.
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  Its atmosphere is unlike anything we've
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  seen. It's extremely rich in carbon. So,
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  not a water world, but a carbon world.
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  What does that even mean for its
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  appearance?
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  >> The model suggests it could have clouds
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  of soot and an atmosphere thick with
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  hydrocarbons. It's a completely alien
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  environment that really challenges our
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  understanding of how planets can form
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  and what they can be made of, especially
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  around such an extreme object like a
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  pulsar.
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  >> It really is. And it raises the question
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  of how it even survived. The supernova
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  that created the pulsar should have
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  completely obliterated any nearby
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  planets.
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  >> There are a couple of theories. One is
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  that it's a second generation planet
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  formed from the debris disc left over
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  after the supernova. The carbonri
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  composition might support that idea.
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  >> Or it could have been a captured rogue
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  planet that wandered too close to the
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  pulsar long after the explosion. But
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  getting into such a tight orbit without
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  being torn apart is a tricky
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  gravitational dance.
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  >> Either way, it's a testament to the
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  universe's ability to create stability
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  in the most chaotic of environments. A
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  warped, sy lemon-shaped world, calmly
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  orbiting one of the most violent objects
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  we know of. It's poetic in a strange
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  way.
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  >> Incredible. Every time we think we have
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  a handle on the types of planets out
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  there, JWST finds another one to break
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  all the rules. Okay, let's bring it back
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  to our own solar system for our last big
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  story today. Over to the red planet.
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  NASA's Perseverance rover has been
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  getting an uplose look at some
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  fascinating features on the Martian
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  surface. Mega ripples.
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  >> These aren't like the little ripples you
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  see in sand at the beach, are they?
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  >> Not at all. These are huge. up to 2 m
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  tall. They're formed by wind, just like
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  dunes on Earth, but their size and shape
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  give us vital clues about Mars' more
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  recent climate history and wind
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  patterns.
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  >> So, by studying them, we can learn about
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  the Martian weather today and in the
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  notsodistant past.
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  >> That's the idea. The rover has been
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  examining a field of them, nicknamed
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  Honey Guide. By analyzing the grain size
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  and structure, scientists can figure out
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  the wind speeds needed to build them. It
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  helps paint a picture of Mars as a
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  dynamic, active world, not just a static
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  one.
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  >> It's amazing how much geology can tell
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  us about a planet's atmosphere.
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  >> Right. But for now, from accessible
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  space flight to alien worlds, it's been
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  quite a day in astronomy.
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  >> It certainly has. And that's all the
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  time we have for this episode of
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  Astronomy Daily. We hope you've enjoyed
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  this tour of the latest cosmic
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  happenings.
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  >> We always appreciate you joining us. Be
• 9:53
  sure to subscribe wherever you get your
• 9:54
  podcast so you don't miss an episode.
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  Until next time, I'm Avery
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  >> and I'm Anna. Keep looking up. Astronomy
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  day.
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  Stories told.
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  story for told.