Latest / Space News Today / Wheelchair Astronaut, Cosmic Fireworks, and the Race to Mine the Moon

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Wheelchair Astronaut, Cosmic Fireworks, and the Race to Mine the Moon · Space News Today

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  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source
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  for the latest news from across the
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  cosmos. I'm 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
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  everything from the first wheelchair
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  user heading to space to a star system
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  that's getting ready to put on a
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  celestial fireworks show.
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  >> Absolutely. We'll also be diving into a
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  new survey of our galactic neighbors, a
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  surprising discovery about the sun, the
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  new race to mine the moon, and the
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  incredible tech being built to study the
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  planet right next door. Let's get
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  started. First up, a truly historic
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  mission from Blue Origin. They're
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  targeting December 18th for their NS-37
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  mission, and it's a huge step forward
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  for accessibility in space.
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  >> It really is. On board the new Shepard
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  vehicle will be Michaela Bentthouse, an
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  aerospace engineer at the European Space
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  Agency who is set to become the first
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  wheelchair user to fly to space.
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  >> That's just fantastic. And she's not
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  just a passenger. She's an aerospace
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  engineer herself. That adds another
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  layer to this.
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  >> Exactly. It's not just about tourism.
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  It's about opening up the field of space
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  exploration to talented professionals
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  who might have been excluded in the
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  past. It's a suborbital flight lasting
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  about 10 minutes, but it sends a
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  powerful message that space is for
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  everyone.
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  >> It really challenges the old right stuff
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  astronaut mold. And she'll be joined by
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  a pretty interesting crew, including
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  investors and even a former top engineer
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  from SpaceX, Hans Coningsman. And it's
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  not just a symbolic gesture. The
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  engineering that goes into making a
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  spacecraft accessible for someone with
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  different physical needs is non-trivial.
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  It forces designers to rethink
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  everything from seating and restraints
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  to how crew members interact with the
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  cabin in microgravity. These are
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  solutions that could benefit all future
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  astronauts.
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  >> Mhm. A diverse group for a landmark
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  flight. We wish the entire NS37 crew a
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  safe and incredible journey. All right,
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  let's shift our focus from low Earth
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  orbit to our nearest galactic neighbors,
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  the Magelenic clouds. A major new survey
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  is about to give us an unprecedented
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  look at these satellite galaxies.
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  >> Ah, yes, the large and small mellic
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  clouds. For listeners in the northern
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  hemisphere, they might not be familiar,
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  but they're a stunning site from
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  southern latitudes. So, what's this new
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  survey, the 101 MC all about?
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  >> The key is the technology. It's a 5-year
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  survey using the foremost instrument on
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  the Vista telescope in Chile. Now past
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  surveys have given us beautiful images
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  which is called photometry measuring
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  brightness and position. This one is all
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  about spectroscopy.
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  >> Right? So spectroscopy breaks down the
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  star light into its component
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  wavelengths like a fingerprint. What can
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  that fingerprint tell us?
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  >> It tells us so much more. We can learn a
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  stars chemical composition, its
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  temperature, how fast it's moving toward
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  or away from us, and even how quickly
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  it's spinning by gathering spectra for
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  about half a million stars. This survey
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  will create a detailed 3D map of the
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  cloud's chemistry and motion.
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  >> And that helps us understand how they're
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  interacting with our Milky Way. Right.
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  I've read about the Magelenic Stream,
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  that huge river of gas being pulled from
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  the clouds by our galaxy's gravity.
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  >> Precisely. This data led by Dr. Laura
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  Cullinine's group will give us the
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  missing link to model that interaction
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  accurately. It will help us piece
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  together the history of this cosmic
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  dance and predict the ultimate fate of
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  these two small galaxies.
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  >> So, this isn't just about taking a
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  picture. It's about conducting a census,
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  a cosmic demographic survey. Are we
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  looking at a timeline of years or
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  decades before we can start drawing
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  major conclusions from this data? The
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  survey itself runs for 5 years, but
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  initial data releases will likely happen
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  along the way. The full impact will
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  unfold over the next decade as theorists
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  use this incredibly rich data set to
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  refine their models of galaxy formation
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  and evolution. It's a foundational
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  project.
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  >> From a cosmic dance to a cosmic U-turn,
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  NASA's Parker Solar Probe has captured
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  some incredible footage from its journey
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  to touch the sun.
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  >> This is genuinely surprising. During its
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  closest approach, the probe observed a
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  coronal mass ejection or CME. This is a
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  massive eruption of solar material and
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  magnetic fields from the sun.
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  >> Mhm. And we usually think of CMEs as a
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  one-way street blasting out into space.
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  If they're aimed at Earth, they can
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  cause geomagnetic storms and the aurora.
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  >> That's the conventional picture. But
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  Parker's images clearly show that not
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  all the material escapes. A significant
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  portion actually slows down, reverses
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  course, and falls back toward the sun in
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  these elongated blobs, which scientists
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  are calling inflows.
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  >> So, the sun is recycling its own
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  magnetic fields. What does that mean for
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  us? Does this change how we predict
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  space weather?
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  >> It could. Understanding this recycling
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  process gives us a more complete model
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  of the sun's magnetic activity. Better
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  models mean better forecasts, which is
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  vital for protecting our satellites,
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  power grids, and astronauts from the
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  most intense solar storms. This is the
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  first time we've seen it so clearly, and
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  it's a huge new piece of the solar
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  puzzle.
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  >> Okay. From solar physics to lunar
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  politics, Anna, there's a new space race
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  underway. But it's not about planting
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  flags. It's about mining the moon.
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  >> That's right. The ambition has moved
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  from exploration to exploitation. We
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  have nations and a growing number of
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  private companies like Interoon and
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  Astrobotic actively developing
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  technologies to extract lunar resources.
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  And the resources thereafter are
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  incredibly valuable for future space
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  travel. You have water ice which can be
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  turned into rocket fuel and helium 3 for
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  potential fusion reactors.
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  >> The potential is enormous. The moon
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  could become a critical staging post for
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  the rest of the solar system. But this
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  gold rush mentality is raising serious
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  concerns. We're talking about the risk
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  of environmental damage to a pristine
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  world and the potential for geopolitical
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  conflict over the most resourcerich
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  areas.
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  >> And we don't really have any rules for
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  this, do we? The Outer Space Treaty of
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  1967 feels completely outdated.
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  >> It's woefully insufficient. It says no
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  nation can own the moon, but it's silent
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  on whether a private company can own the
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  resources it extracts. It's a huge legal
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  vacuum. International bodies are trying
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  to hash out new agreements like the
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  Aremis Accords, but there's no global
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  consensus yet.
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  >> And that lack of consensus is the real
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  danger. Without clear, internationally
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  agreed upon rules, you risk a first
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  come, first serve situation that could
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  lead to disputes and even sabotage.
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  Establishing a framework for peaceful,
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  sustainable resource use is as critical
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  as developing the technology to get
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  there.
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  >> Let's wish the policy makers well then.
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  >> Indeed, we're essentially heading into a
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  wild west scenario on the moon. This is
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  a story we will definitely be following
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  closely.
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  >> Let's turn our gaze now to a different
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  kind of cosmic event on the horizon.
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  There's a star system called V Sagitta
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  that astronomers are watching very, very
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  closely. Right. This is a future
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  headliner. So, V Sagitta is a binary
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  system. Two stars orbiting each other.
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  What makes this pair so special? It's
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  what they call a cataclysmic variable.
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  One star is a white dwarf, the
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  incredibly dense collapsed core of a
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  dead star. It's pulling in a stream of
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  gas from its larger companion star, and
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  it's doing so at an unprecedented
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  accelerating rate. And when that stolen
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  gas builds up on the surface of the
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  super dense white dwarf, boom,
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  >> boom is right. The immense pressure and
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  temperature will ignite a runaway
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  thermonuclear reaction, a nova.
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  Astronomers predict this will happen in
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  the coming years. And when it does, the
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  system will brighten so dramatically it
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  will likely be one of the brightest
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  stars in our night sky, easily visible
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  to the naked eye.
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  >> That's incredible. But that's not even
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  the grand finale, is it? Not at all.
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  This process is causing the two stars to
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  spiral closer and closer together.
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  Eventually, they will collide and merge,
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  triggering a full-blown supernova. The
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  resulting explosion will be so
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  mindbogglingly bright, it might even be
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  visible during the daytime, an amazing,
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  if violent, astronomical event in the
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  making.
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  >> Do we have a more precise prediction
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  than in the coming years? Is this
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  something we might see in our lifetimes?
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  The models based on decades of
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  observation of its accelerating orbital
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  decay point to a date around 2083, plus
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  or minus a decade. So yes, it's very
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  likely to happen within the lifetime of
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  many people listening today. It's a rare
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  chance to watch a celestial forecast
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  come true. For our final story, we're
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  going from a system far away to the one
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  right next door. We're talking about
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  Proxima Centauri and its famous
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  exoplanet Proxima B. That's right.
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  Proxima B is our nearest exoplanet
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  neighbor, which makes it a tantalizing
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  target. But studying it is one of the
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  greatest technical challenges in
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  astronomy. The planet is completely lost
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  in the glare of its host star.
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  >> How bad is the glare?
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  >> The star Proxima Centauri is about 10
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  million times brighter than the light
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  reflected by the planet. It's like
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  trying to see a speck of dust on a flood
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  light from a mile away. But a new
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  instrument called Restredo is being
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  built to do just that.
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  >> Okay. So, how does Restredo pull off
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  this magic trick?
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  >> It's a combination of technologies. It's
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  a spectrograph that will be installed on
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  the very large telescope in Chile.
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  First, it uses a coronagraph,
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  essentially a tiny precise mask to
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  physically block the light from the
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  star. Then it uses a system of extreme
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  adaptive optics with deformable mirrors
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  to cancel out the blurring effect of
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  Earth's atmosphere.
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  >> And once the stars light is suppressed,
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  what's the ultimate goal?
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  >> The goal is to collect the faint light
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  that has passed through or been
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  reflected by the planet's atmosphere. By
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  analyzing that light, Restredo can
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  search for the chemical fingerprints of
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  gases like oxygen, methane, or water
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  vapor, potential bio signatures. It's
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  one of our best chances yet to find out
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  if the closest world beyond our solar
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  system has an atmosphere and perhaps one
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  that could support life.
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  >> And that's a wrap on today's top
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  stories. From new frontiers in human
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  space flight to the cutting edge of
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  exoplanet research, the universe never
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  fails to amaze.
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  >> It certainly doesn't. Thanks for tuning
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  in to Astronomy Daily. Join us next time
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  as we continue to explore the final
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  frontier.
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  >> Until then, keep looking up. Astronomy
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  day.
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  The stories been told.
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  Stories to tell.