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From Earthly Concerns to Martian Innovations: A Journey Through Space News · Space News Today

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  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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  the podcast bringing you the biggest
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  news from across the cosmos. I'm your
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  host, Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you
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  today. Avery, we're talking about a
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  threat to one of Earth's best windows to
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  the universe, some big reveals from Blue
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  Origin, and a star that's singing a
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  strange cosmic song.
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  >> That's right. Plus, we'll dive into why
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  time literally moves faster on Mars and
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  a fascinating new idea for building
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  Martian homes using bacteria. Let's
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  start with that story from Earth, Anna.
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  It sounds pretty serious.
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  >> It is. We're talking about Chile's
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  Otakama Desert, home to the Paranol
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  Observatory and the Very Large
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  Telescope. It's one of the best places
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  on the planet for astronomy because of
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  its clear, dark, and stable skies.
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  >> An absolutely critical location for
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  science.
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  >> Exactly. But now that's under what some
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  top scientists, including a Nobel
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  laureate, are calling an imminent
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  threat. A massive renewable energy
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  project is planned for a site nearby.
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  While green energy is vital, the scale
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  of this project has astronomers deeply
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  concerned.
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  >> So, what are the specific worries? Is it
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  just light pollution?
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  >> That's a big part of it. The project
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  could brighten the night sky, kick up
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  dust that obscures faint objects, and
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  the heat could disrupt the stable
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  atmosphere that makes imaging so sharp.
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  >> Wow. So, it's a triple threat to
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  visibility. It's a tough situation, a
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  conflict between two positive goals,
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  advancing sustainable energy and
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  protecting our ability to explore the
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  universe.
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  >> It is the open letter from the
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  scientific community isn't trying to
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  stop the project, but to raise the alarm
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  and work with the developers to find a
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  solution that mitigates these impacts.
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  Hopefully, a compromise can be found.
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  It's a truly delicate balance.
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  Are there any specific technical
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  solutions being discussed? I imagine
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  it's more complex than just asking them
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  to build it somewhere else. We're
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  talking about things like specialized
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  light shielding or perhaps operational
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  agreements to limit dust creating
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  activities during critical observation
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  windows at night.
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  >> Precisely. They're suggesting technical
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  solutions like advanced dust
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  suppression, special lighting to
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  minimize sky glow, and even pausing
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  industrial activity based on observatory
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  schedules.
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  >> Let's hope so.
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  From a project threatening our view of
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  space, let's turn to one that's actively
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  building our way into it. Blue Origin
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  has been making some serious
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  announcements.
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  >> Mhm. They've been very busy. Fresh off a
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  successful New Shepard launch, they
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  pulled the curtain back on a lot of new
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  hardware.
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  >> They sure have. First, they unveiled the
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  Blue Moon Mark1 robotic lander scheduled
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  to fly by 2026. It's the precursor to
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  the crude lander for NASA's Aremis 5
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  mission.
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  >> Right. This is their cargo version. It's
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  designed to test the landing systems and
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  deliver payloads to the lunar surface
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  ahead of the astronauts. They also
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  announced a more powerful version of
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  their new Glen rocket. Right.
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  >> That's right. The 9 x4
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  variant. But what really caught my eye
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  were the other two announcements. They
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  revealed details on something called
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  Blue Ring, which is essentially a space
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  tug. It can host payloads, refuel other
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  spacecraft, and basically act as a
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  logistics vehicle in Earth orbit and
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  beyond. A space tug makes sense for
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  building out in space infrastructure.
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  And what was the last one? Something for
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  Mars.
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  >> Exactly. A new deployable aerobre
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  technology like a giant parachute
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  using a planet's atmosphere to slow a
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  spacecraft for future Mars missions. It
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  shows they're thinking about the entire
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  ecosystem of space exploration.
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  >> And that's a huge piece of the puzzle.
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  We hear a lot about launching things,
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  but not as much about what happens once
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  they're up there. A versatile platform
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  like Blue Ring could be used for
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  satellite servicing, refueling, or maybe
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  even tackling the growing problem of
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  orbital debris. Right.
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  >> Exactly. The long-term vision is a
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  sustainable SIS lunar economy. We're
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  talking about a future where space isn't
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  just a destination, but a domain for
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  industry and commerce. A vehicle like
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  Blue Ring could refuel satellites,
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  giving them a new lease on life, move
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  infrastructure into place for future
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  space stations, or even act as a mobile
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  data relay. It transforms orbital space
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  from a passive location into a dynamic
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  workspace.
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  >> It's an ambitious road map. Speaking of
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  ambitious missions, NASA's test
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  satellite, the transiting exoplanet
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  survey satellite, has helped uncover a
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  fascinating cosmic mystery. It's about a
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  star that's singing a very strange song
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  >> singing. Tell me more. Are we talking
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  about vibrations?
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  >> In a way, yes. Astronomers detected star
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  quakes from a red giant. These seismic
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  waves caused the stars brightness to
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  vary, which is how test detected them.
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  This star is orbiting a black hole known
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  as Gaia BH2.
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  >> Okay, a red giant and a black hole.
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  That's already an interesting pair. So,
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  what's so strange about the star quakes?
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  >> Well, the data revealed a couple of odd
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  things. First, the star is spinning way
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  faster than a red giant should. They
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  tend to slow down as they expand.
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  Second, its chemical composition is
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  weird. It seems to be relatively young,
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  but it's made of very ancient materials.
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  It's low in heavy elements.
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  >> Young, but made of old stuff and
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  spinning too fast. That doesn't add up.
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  What's the theory?
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  >> The leading hypothesis is a dramatic
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  one. That this star is actually two
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  stars that merged. A cosmic merger would
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  explain both the strange chemical mix
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  and its high spin rate.
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  >> It really is. And the fact that they
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  could deduce all this from tiny
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  fluctuations in starlight is incredible.
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  This field of astroysmology
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  studying star quakes is like listening
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  to the inside of a star with a
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  stethoscope. It's revealing details we
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  could never see directly.
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  >> It's a perfect example of multi-m
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  missission astronomy. Gaia provided the
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  position and motion while test provided
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  the internal diagnostics. Combining the
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  data let them piece together a hidden
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  history.
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  from cosmic collisions to cosmic clocks.
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  And I saw a story that sounds like it's
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  straight out of science fiction.
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  Apparently, time itself moves at a
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  different speed on Mars.
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  >> It does. And it's not science fiction.
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  It's just pure Einstein. Based on
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  calculations from his theory of general
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  relativity, time on Mars passes slightly
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  faster than it does here on Earth.
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  >> How much faster are we talking? Am I
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  going to age noticeably quicker if I
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  move to Mars?
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  >> Hardly. The difference is a tiny
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  fraction of a second per day. It comes
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  down to relativistic effects. Mars'
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  weaker gravity and slower orbit mean
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  time passes slightly faster there
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  relative to us.
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  >> Okay, so I won't need extra anti-aging
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  cream. I believe the figure is 477
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  micros seconds a day. That sounds small,
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  but I bet it adds up when you're dealing
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  with high precision technology. That's
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  the critical point. Just like our GPS
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  satellites, future Martian missions will
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  need to account for this time dilation
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  for synchronized communications and
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  navigation. It's fundamental for our
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  interplanetary future.
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  >> It really puts into perspective how
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  interconnected everything is at that
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  level of physics. Does this also mean
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  we'd need a separate time standard for
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  Mars? Something like coordinated Mars
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  time, similar to UTC on Earth?
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  >> That's exactly what space agencies are
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  working on. A defined Martian time
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  standard is essential for mission
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  coordination. Without it, every mission
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  would be using its own reference frame,
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  leading to chaos. It's not just about
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  convenience. It's about safety and
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  precision. Imagine trying to coordinate
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  a landing while your orbiter and ground
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  control are seconds out of sync.
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  Establishing a common clock that
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  accounts for the relativistic drift is a
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  foundational step before we can have
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  rovers, orbiters, and future human bases
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  all working in perfect sync. It's a
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  complex problem of interplanetary
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  timekeeping that has to be solved.
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  >> Speaking of our interplanetary future,
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  let's talk about actually living on
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  Mars. Our final story today is about a
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  really innovative approach to
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  construction on the red planet using
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  what scientists call insitu resource
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  utilization. Right. The idea of living
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  off the land, it's far too expensive to
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  launch everything we'd need from Earth.
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  So, we have to use what's already on
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  Mars.
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  >> Exactly. And this new proposal is
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  brilliant. It suggests using Martian
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  soil or regalith mixed with two specific
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  types of Earth bacteria to create
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  building materials.
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  >> Bacteria as cement mixers. How would
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  that work?
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  >> It's a two-part system. The first
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  bacterium, sporoscina pasteuri, creates
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  calsy, a powerful binding agent. When
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  mixed with Martian soil, it creates a
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  solid concrete-like material, bio
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  concrete.
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  >> That's incredible. So, you can create
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  bricks and foundations right there. What
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  about the second bacteria?
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  >> That's where it gets even better. The
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  second one, caracosidaxis,
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  is a type of cyanobacteria.
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  Its superpower is photosynthesis. It
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  would be engineered to take in the
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  Martian atmosphere, which is mostly
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  carbon dioxide, and sunlight, and
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  produce oxygen as a byproduct.
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  >> So, you get building materials and a
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  life support system in one package. One
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  set of microbes builds your house, and
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  the other helps you breathe inside it.
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  >> That's the concept. It's a truly elegant
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  solution that integrates construction
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  and life support. We are essentially
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  using nature's own nanotechnology to
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  solve monumental engineering challenges
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  light years from home. It's still in the
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  early stages of course with huge hurdles
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  around planetary protection and ensuring
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  these microbes perform as expected in
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  the harsh Martian environment. But it's
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  this kind of creative biological
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  engineering that might just make living
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  on Mars a reality. Turning the planet's
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  own resources into a sustainable
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  habitat. Okay, that's a gamecher. But
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  what about the conditions on Mars? We're
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  talking about extreme cold, low
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  atmospheric pressure, and intense
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  radiation. Can these Earthbased bacteria
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  actually survive there long enough to do
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  their jobs?
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  >> That's the focus of the research. One of
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  the bacteria is an extramaphile,
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  incredibly tough and radiation
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  resistant. The plan is to use them in
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  shielded bioreactors to create building
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  materials in a controlled environment.
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  >> And what a future that would be. And
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  that brings us to the end of today's
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  episode of Astronomy Daily. From
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  protecting our view of the stars in
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  Chile to listening to their songs and
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  even planning our homes among them, it's
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  been quite a journey.
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  >> Thanks for tuning in. Join us again
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  tomorrow as we continue to explore the
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  universe. Until then, keep looking up.
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  Sunny day
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  stories told
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  stories