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From Kuiper Belt Discoveries to Space Burial Innovations: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

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  Welcome [music] to Astronomy Daily. Give
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  us 10 minutes and we'll give you the
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  universe. I'm your host, Anna.
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  >> And I'm Avery. It's [music] great to be
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  with you. We have a fascinating lineup
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  of stories today covering everything
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  from the outer edges [music] of our
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  solar system to the challenges we face
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  right here in Earth orbit.
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  >> That's right. [music] We'll be
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  discussing a new structure found in the
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  Kyper belt, a landmark year for Rocket
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  Lab, and the end of an era for a
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  legendary NASA mission. [music] Plus, a
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  surprising discovery from the James Webb
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  Space Telescope about a so-called super
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  Earth.
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  >> And we'll even [music] touch on the
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  unique business of deep space memorial
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  flights. But first, let's talk about a
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  problem that's only getting [music]
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  bigger. What to do with satellites when
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  they die?
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  >> Exactly, Avery. With mega constellations
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  like Starlink launching thousands of
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  satellites, the question of their
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  disposal is critical. There's a big
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  debate between two main philosophies.
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  designed for demise or D4D and design
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  for non-demise D4 ND.
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  >> Right? So D4D means the satellites
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  designed to completely burn up in the
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  atmosphere upon re-entry. Sounds like a
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  clean solution, right? Just cosmic dust.
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  >> That's the idea. But it's not that
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  simple. Environmental scientists are
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  raising concerns. When these satellites,
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  which are largely made of aluminum
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  alloys, burn up, they release tiny
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  particles of aluminina. aluminina. Okay.
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  These particles can act as seeds for
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  chemical reactions in the upper
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  atmosphere, potentially damaging the
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  ozone layer. Also, the intense heat of
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  re-entry can break apart atmospheric
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  nitrogen, creating nitrogen oxides,
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  which are powerful greenhouse gases.
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  >> So, even burning them up has an
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  environmental cost. What's the
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  alternative then? Designed for
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  non-demise.
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  >> Exactly. D4ND means building satellites
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  to survive re-entry, allowing them to be
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  guided to a safe splashdown in a remote
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  ocean area like the spacecraft graveyard
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  in the South Pacific.
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  >> That avoids the atmospheric pollution,
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  but it comes with its own risk. What if
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  something goes wrong? You could have a
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  washing machine-sized piece of metal
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  hitting the ground instead of the ocean.
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  It's a tricky balance between
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  atmospheric risk and ground impact risk.
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  >> It really is. There's no perfect answer
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  yet, but it's a conversation the space
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  industry has to have and fast.
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  >> All right, let's move from Earth's orbit
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  way, way out to the edge of the solar
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  system. Astronomers at Princeton
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  University have found something new in
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  the Kyper belt.
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  >> The Kyper belt for our listeners is that
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  vast ring of icy bodies beyond the orbit
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  of Neptune with Pluto being its most
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  famous resident. So, what did they find?
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  >> They found what they're calling an inner
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  kernel of objects. For years, we've
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  thought of the Kyper belt as having two
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  main populations. A cold classical group
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  with stable fircular orbits and the hot
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  group with more erratic tilted orbits.
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  >> Mhm.
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  >> But by using a data mining technique on
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  a catalog of over 600 Kyperbell objects,
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  they identified this third group, the
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  Colonel, which has very flat, tightly
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  packed orbits distinct from the others.
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  >> That's fascinating. A whole new
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  structure hiding in plain sight. What
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  does this mean for our understanding of
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  the solar systems history?
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  >> Well, the leading theory is that these
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  objects formed even closer to the sun
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  and were pushed outward during Neptune's
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  great migration early in the solar
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  systems history. The existence of this
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  tightly packed kernel could provide new
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  constraints for models of how that
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  migration happened, giving us a clear
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  picture of our cosmic backyards
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  formation. And of course, any new
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  structural information about the Kyper
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  Belt reignites the hunt for the
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  hypothetical planet 9. The unusual
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  orbits of some of these distant objects
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  are what led to the theory of a massive
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  undiscovered planet in the first place.
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  >> That's the ultimate mystery out there,
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  isn't it? While this kernel doesn't
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  directly prove its existence, it adds
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  another layer of complexity to the outer
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  solar systems dynamics. Every new
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  discovery like this helps astronomers
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  refine their search, telling them where
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  to look and just as importantly, where
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  not to.
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  >> From the far reaches to the commercial
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  space race closer to home, Rocket Lab
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  has just capped off an incredible year.
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  >> Incredible is the word for it. In 2025,
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  they flew their Electron rocket 21 times
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  with zero failures. That's a remarkable
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  achievement for any launch provider and
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  really solidifies Electron as a reliable
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  workhorse for small satellites. It
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  certainly is. But they aren't just
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  resting on their laurels. They're making
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  huge strides with their next generation
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  rocket, Neutron. This is their larger,
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  fully reusable rocket designed to
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  compete with the likes of SpaceX's
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  Falcon 9.
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  >> And it has that amazing fairing design
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  they call the Hungry Hippo.
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  >> Yes. Instead of the fairing separating
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  and falling away, it opens up like a
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  giant mouth to release the satellite and
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  then closes before the rocket returns
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  for landing. It's an innovative way to
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  simplify reuse. As if that wasn't
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  enough, they also secured a massive half
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  billion dollar contract from the Space
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  Development Agency to build and operate
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  18 missile warning and tracking
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  satellites. Rocket Lab is quickly
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  becoming a major end-to-end space
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  company, not just a launch provider.
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  >> Speaking of major players, we have to
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  mark the end of an era. After 26 years
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  of service, NASA's Terra satellite has
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  been officially retired.
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  >> Wow, 26 years. That's an incredibly long
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  time for a satellite. Terra was a
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  cornerstone of NASA's Earth observing
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  system, wasn't it?
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  >> Absolutely. It carried five key
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  instruments that gave us a holistic view
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  of our planet. There was modus, which
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  mapped global vegetation and land cover.
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  Micer gave us data on airborne particles
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  or aerosols.
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  >> Right? And I remember mopit which
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  tracked carbon monoxide pollution
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  >> while seriesir measured the earth's
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  total energy budget and aster created
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  highresolution maps of land surface
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  temperature and topography. Together
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  they revolutionized our understanding of
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  climate change, pollution, and how
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  natural disasters impact the globe.
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  Terara's data will be studied by
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  scientists for decades to come. From a
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  mission that's ended to one that's
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  making new and frankly shocking
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  discoveries, the James Webb telescope
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  has turned its gaze to an exoplanet
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  called TOI561b.
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  >> This is a super Earth about 50% larger
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  than our planet, orbiting extremely
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  close to its star. Its year is less than
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  half an Earth Day long. Because of that,
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  it was thought to be a barren, tidily
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  locked rock with one side perpetually
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  scorched.
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  >> Makes sense. A dead world. But that's
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  not what Webb found, is it?
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  >> Not at all. Webb's instruments detected
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  signs of a significant volatile richch
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  atmosphere. And even more surprisingly,
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  the data suggests the planet might be
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  covered in a global magma ocean.
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  >> A magma ocean. So this supposedly dead
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  rock is actually an incredibly dynamic
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  volcanic world with an atmosphere. How
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  is that possible so close to its star?
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  >> That's the mystery. The leading
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  hypothesis is that intense vulcanism is
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  constantly replenishing the atmosphere,
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  which would otherwise be stripped away
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  by the stars radiation. It completely
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  challenges our ideas about where we
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  might find atmospheres and what
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  habitability even means under such
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  extreme conditions.
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  >> Finally, today we have a story that is
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  truly out of this world. Let's talk
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  about the space burial company Celestus.
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  Celestus has been offering memorial
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  space flights for years, launching small
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  capsules with cremated remains or DNA
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  into Earth orbit or even to the moon.
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  >> That's right. And they're about to
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  launch their most ambitious mission yet,
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  the Infinite Flight. They've partnered
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  with an upand cominging launch company
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  called Stoke Space.
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  >> And this flight isn't just going to
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  orbit. Where is it headed?
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  >> This one is going into a permanent orbit
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  around the sun. The payload containing
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  messages, DNA, and cremated remains will
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  essentially become a man-made comet
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  traveling through the solar system for,
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  well, infinity.
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  >> It's a poetic and profound way to create
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  a final memorial, turning a final
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  journey into an eternal voyage through
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  the cosmos.
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  >> And that's a wrap for this episode of
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  Astronomy Daily. From the challenges of
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  space junk to the secrets of the Kyper
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  belt and the fiery nature of distant
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  worlds, there's always something new to
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  discover.
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  >> We want to thank you all for tuning in.
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  We hope you'll join us again tomorrow as
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  we continue to explore the wonders of
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  the universe. If you can't wait until
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  then, please visit our website at
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  astronomyaily.io
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  and check out our continuously updating
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  newsfeed or connect with us on social
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  media. You'll find us on all the major
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  platforms. Just search for Astro Daily
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  Pod on your favorites. Until then, I'm
• 8:58
  Anna
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  >> and I'm Avery. Keep looking up. [music]
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  Stories told.
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  [singing]