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Spacecrafts, Slingshots, and Satellite Power · Space News Today

• 0:00
  A rocket that got grounded by the
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  weather. It's back on the pad and ready
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  to fly tonight.
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  >> And the most powerful rocket ever built
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  is fueled, stacked, and just waiting for
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  a green light. Flight 12 could happen
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  any day now.
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  >> Plus, a spacecraft is about to use Mars
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  as a slingshot. And someone has figured
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  out how to beam electricity to
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  satellites using lasers.
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  >> Big day in space. Let's get into it.
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  This is Astronomy Daily.
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  >> Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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  your daily guide to the universe and
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  everything in it. I'm Anna.
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  >> And I'm Avery. It's Wednesday, the 13th
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  of May, 2026, and this is season 5,
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  episode 101.
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  >> Episode 101. We've officially passed the
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  century mark. Thank you as always to
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  everyone listening from Europe to
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  Australia across the southern hemisphere
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  through the Americas and all of the
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  northern hemisphere and around the
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  world.
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  >> Big program today. Six stories, some
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  real science, a sky watching update, and
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  a trivia question to keep your brain
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  ticking.
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  >> Let's start with the launch that almost
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  wasn't, but very much is. If you were
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  with us yesterday, you might remember we
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  mentioned that the SpaceX Dragon cargo
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  launch was looking a little shaky.
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  Weather was a concern. And sure enough,
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  NASA and SpaceX called off the Tuesday
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  evening attempt.
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  >> And here we are. It is back on. The
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  CRS34
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  mission. Dragon's 34th cargo run to the
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  International Space Station is scheduled
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  to lift off today, Wednesday the 13th of
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  May at 6:50 in the evening Eastern time.
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  That's 8:50 a.m. Thursday morning for us
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  here in Australia. The Falcon 9 launches
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  from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape
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  Canaveral Space Force Station in
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  Florida. on board about 6,500 pounds,
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  roughly 2950 kg of supplies, hardware,
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  and scientific experiments bound for the
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  ISS. And there are some genuinely
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  interesting experiments in that cargo
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  hold. There's a project looking at how
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  well Earth-based simulators actually
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  replicate microgravity conditions, which
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  matters enormously for preparing future
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  astronauts.
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  >> There's also a bone scaffold made from
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  wood. Yes, wood. that could eventually
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  lead to new treatments for conditions
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  like osteoporosis and equipment to study
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  how red blood cells and the spleen adapt
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  to the space environment with an eye on
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  protecting future long duration crews.
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  >> What makes this mission particularly
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  special though is the Dragon capsule
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  itself. This is the sixth flight for the
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  specific vehicle, setting a new record
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  for a Space X cargo craft.
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  >> Six flights for one capsule. That
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  reusability story just keeps getting
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  more impressive. If all goes to plan,
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  Dragon will dock with the Harmony
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  modules forward port at around 7:35 in
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  the morning EDT on Thursday the 14th.
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  >> We'll keep an eye on that one, RCS 34,
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  the comeback launch.
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  >> While one rocket is heading to the ISS
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  today, another one is sitting on the pad
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  in South Texas, generating enormous
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  anticipation. SpaceX's Starship V3
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  flight 12 could launch as soon as May
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  19th. And the milestone from this week
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  that has engineers buzzing, the fully
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  stacked V3 vehicle successfully
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  completed its wet dress rehearsal. That
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  means it was fueled up for the first
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  time ever. More than 5,000 metric tons
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  of propellant. That's a number so large
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  it barely sounds real. Standing 124 m
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  tall, that's taller than a 40story
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  building, the V3 is a complete redesign
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  of the Starship system. It features
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  upgraded Raptor 3 engines, a new lattice
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  structure for hot staging, and massively
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  increased payload capacity. We're
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  talking 100 metric tons to low Earth
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  orbit in a fully reusable configuration.
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  The previous version managed around 35.
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  >> Flight 12 will be a suborbital test.
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  SpaceX is deliberately taking a step
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  back in ambition to validate the new V3
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  architecture before pushing for the
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  booster catch milestones we saw in
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  flight 11. Both the booster and the ship
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  are targeting splashdown on this one.
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  >> What's at stake? Quite a lot. SpaceX's
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  has a reported IPO on the horizon.
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  NASA's Aremis program needs a
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  functioning Starship lunar lander, and
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  the company's banking on this vehicle to
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  grow Starlink and eventually launch AI
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  data centers into orbit.
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  >> The wet dress rehearsal is done. The
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  static fires are done. All they need now
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  is an FAA launch license. And that
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  apparently is close. Watch this space.
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  Quite literally.
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  >> If you want a front row seat to some
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  incredible orbital mechanics, this
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  Friday, May 15th, is your moment. NASA's
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  Psyche spacecraft is about to use Mars
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  as a gravitational slingshot.
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  >> Psyche launched back in October 2023 and
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  has been on a long fuelefficient journey
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  toward the asteroid belt where it's
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  heading for a metalrich asteroid, also
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  named Psyche, arriving in 2029. But to
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  get there, it needs a speed boost. And
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  Mars is about to provide one.
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  >> At about 12,333
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  mph, that's nearly 20,000 kmh. The
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  spacecraft will pass just 2,800 miles or
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  about 4,500 kilometers from the Martian
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  surface. The planet's gravity will
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  effectively grab Psyche, swing it
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  around, accelerate it, and redirect its
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  trajectory towards the asteroid belt.
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  >> This is called a gravity assist, and
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  it's one of the most elegant techniques
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  in all of space exploration. Instead of
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  burning precious fuel, you borrow energy
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  from a planet's orbital motion. It's
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  been used on missions dating back to
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  Voyager. But this byllight isn't just
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  about speed. It's a rare opportunity to
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  calibrate Psyche science instruments
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  while there's something large enough to
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  actually observe. The imager will get
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  its first proper workout. The
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  magnetometer may detect Mars's magnetic
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  field. And scientists are intrigued by
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  the possibility that the spacecraft
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  might catch glimpses of a faint dust
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  ring or Taurus surrounding Mars, created
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  by micrometeorites striking the surfaces
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  of its two moons, Phobos and Deemos.
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  >> Several existing Mars missions,
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  including the Curiosity and Perseverance
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  rovers and NASA's orbiters, will also be
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  watching and contributing data during
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  the encounter.
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  >> Friday the 15th, mark it in your
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  calendar. Psyche and Mars, an encounter
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  2.8 8 billion km in the making.
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  >> Just before I take us into our next
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  story, a quick reminder to check out the
• 6:44
  great deal our sponsor NordVPN has put
• 6:46
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• 6:48
  security for a fraction of the price.
• 6:51
  You can check the details out via the
• 6:52
  link in the show notes. All right,
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  moving on. Here's a story that sounds
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  almost like science fiction, but it is
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  very much real and very much happening
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  right now. A Florida based startup
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  called Starcatcher Industries has just
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  raised $65 million to build what it
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  describes as the world's first power
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  grid in space.
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  >> The concept is called optical power
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  beaming. Starcatcher plans to launch a
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  constellation of satellites that will
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  focus sunlight in the form of laser
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  light onto other solar panels of other
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  satellites that need more power. No
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  hardware modifications to the receiving
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  satellite required, just extra
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  electricity on demand. The company says
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  its system can deliver up to 10 times
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  more power to client satellites than
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  they could generate on their own. And
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  its CEO, Andrew Rush, made an analogy
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  that I think really captures why this
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  matters. He said, and I'm paraphrasing,
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  that every satellite is essentially on
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  camping trip. It carries its own power
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  and at some point it runs low.
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  >> Starcatcher wants to change that. The
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  same way the terrestrial power grid
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  enabled revolutions in communications,
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  computing, and industry here on Earth,
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  an orbital power grid could unlock the
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  next generation of capabilities in
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  space. Things like persistent Earth
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  observation, real-time data processing,
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  and advanced communications
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  infrastructure. The series A round was
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  overs subscribed, meaning more investors
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  wanted in than there were shares
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  available and was led by B Capital with
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  Shield Capital and Cberus Ventures also
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  co-leading. Notably, General Jay
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  Raymond, the first chief of space
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  operations of the US Space Force, is
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  joining the board. Darcatcher already
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  holds the world record for optical power
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  beaming on the ground and has completed
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  an onorbit subsystem demonstration. Now
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  it's moving from validated technology to
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  scalable infrastructure. An inspace
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  demonstration is planned for later this
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  year.
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  >> Lasers in space charging your
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  satellites. The future is something
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  else.
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  >> All right, now we're going deep. This
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  one is for everyone who's ever stared at
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  the night sky and thought, "Why is any
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  of this here? And why does it work the
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  way it does?" Physicists at Brown
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  University in Rhode Island have
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  published a paper in Physical Review
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  Letters proposing a potential solution
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  to one of the most vexing problems in
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  all of science, the cosmological
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  constant problem. Let's unpack that. The
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  cosmological constant is the
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  mathematical term that describes the
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  energy driving the accelerating
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  expansion of the universe. Einstein
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  introduced it, famously called it his
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  greatest blunder, and then died not
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  knowing he'd actually been right about
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  it. Observations in the 1990s confirmed
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  the universe's expansion is indeed
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  accelerating. Here's the problem.
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  Quantum field theory, one of the most
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  successful and rigorously tested
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  frameworks in physics, predicts that
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  vacuum energy, the energy inherent in
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  empty space, should make the
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  cosmological constant enormous,
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  practically infinite. But what we
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  actually observe, a tiny tiny fraction
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  of that prediction. The discrepancy is
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  around 120 orders of magnitude. That's a
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  one followed by 120 zeros. It is without
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  exaggeration the worst prediction in the
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  history of physics. And the Brown
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  University team thinks they may have
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  found a way to explain it. Their insight
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  draws an analogy with something called
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  the quantum hall effect. an exotic
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  phenomenon in condensed matter physics
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  where electrical conductance in certain
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  materials is held perfectly steady
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  regardless of imperfections because of
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  the topology the mathematical shape of
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  the quantum state. The researchers found
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  that the simplest formulation of quantum
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  gravity has a mathematically analogous
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  structure something called the churn
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  Simon's kodama state and in that
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  framework the cosmological constant
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  becomes essentially locked in place.
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  It's protected by topology. The quantum
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  fluctuations that should be
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  destabilizing it are simply too small or
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  improbable to shift it.
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  >> Which if it holds up would explain why
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  the constant has the value it does. Not
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  because of some extraordinary
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  fine-tuning, but because the universe's
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  geometry protects it.
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  >> The authors are the first to acknowledge
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  this is a beginning, not an ending.
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  There's a lot of detailed work still to
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  do, but it's a genuinely new idea in one
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  of the oldest unsolved problems in
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  physics, and that deserves a moment.
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  >> We end today in the Jovian system, and
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  with an image that has had planetary
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  scientists genuinely excited. On the 1st
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  of May, NASA's Juno spacecraft completed
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  a close flyby of Theeb, the second
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  largest of Jupiter's inner moons. And
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  when we say close, we mean it. Juno
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  passed within just 3,100 m or 5,000 km
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  of thieves surface. The resulting image
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  captures detail at a resolution of about
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  1.9 m per pixel, the sharpest view we
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  have ever had of this world.
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  Theeb sits at the outer edge of
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  Jupiter's faint ring system. And that
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  position is no coincidence. Scientists
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  believe Theeb plays an active role in
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  shaping one of Jupiter's most delicate
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  structures, the so-called Gossamer ring.
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  Dust shed from Theeb's surface gets
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  swept into the ring, helping maintain
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  it. The image was captured using Juno's
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  stellar reference unit, an instrument
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  whose primary job is navigation, imaging
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  starfields to keep the spacecraft
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  oriented. But its exceptional
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  sensitivity in low light conditions has
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  made it a surprisingly powerful
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  secondary science instrument. It's
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  previously discovered shallow lightning
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  in Jupiter's atmosphere and revealed the
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  structure of Jupiter's ring system. And
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  now it's given us thieve up close. A
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  small, irregular world, heavily
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  cratered, ancient, playing a quiet but
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  essential role in the dynamics of the
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  solar system's largest planet.
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  >> Juno continues to surprise us even this
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  deep into its extended mission. What a
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  spacecraft.
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  >> Before we go, let's take a look at the
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  sky above you this week, Southern
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  Hemisphere listeners. This morning, if
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  you were up early enough, you may have
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  caught Saturn in a slender crescent moon
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  sharing the sky in the east, just a few
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  degrees apart in Pisces. Saturn's ring
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  system is tilted towards us again after
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  years at stherly declinations, so
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  conditions are improving every month.
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  >> Also, in the pre-dawn sky, Neptune is in
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  the area, though you'll need binoculars
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  or a telescope for that one.
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  >> Tomorrow morning, Thursday the 14th,
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  Mars makes its own crescent moon
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  pairing. a thin sliver of moon sitting
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  about 4° from the red planet. Both
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  visible to the naked eye under a
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  reasonably dark sky.
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  >> And looking ahead, the flower moon,
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  May's full moon, arrives on May 31st,
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  and it will be a blue moon. That's the
• 13:57
  second full moon in a single calendar
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  month. It won't actually look blue, but
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  it's a lovely thing to know.
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  >> Clear skies to all of you out there.
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  Now, trivia time.
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  >> Today's trivia question ties into our
• 14:09
  Psyche mission story. The asteroid 16
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  psyche is thought to be the exposed
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  metallic core of an ancient protolanet.
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  Scientists believe it may be composed
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  primarily of two elements. What are
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  they?
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  >> Oh, I know that one. The answer, nickel
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  and iron. Dyke is thought to be a
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  remnant planetary core. The building
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  blocks of rocky worlds stripped bare
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  billions of years of collisions.
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  Studying it from orbit could give us the
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  closest thing we'll ever have to a look
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  inside the Earth itself,
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  >> which is remarkable when you think about
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  it. We can't drill to our own planet's
• 14:43
  core, but we might be able to fly around
• 14:45
  one.
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  >> That is everything for today's episode
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  of Astronomy Daily, episode 101. Thank
• 14:51
  you for spending part of your day with
• 14:52
  us.
• 14:53
  >> If you enjoyed the show, please
• 14:54
  subscribe, leave a review, and tell a
• 14:56
  space curious friend. Every listener
• 14:59
  matters.
• 15:00
  >> You can find us at astronomydaily.io.
• 15:02
  io and across all major podcast
• 15:05
  platforms. And you can follow us on
• 15:07
  social media at Astro Daily Pod.
• 15:10
  >> We'll be back tomorrow with the latest
• 15:11
  from the universe. Until then, keep
• 15:14
  looking up
• 15:15
  >> from Anna
• 15:16
  >> and Avery. Clear skies. Astronomy Day.
• 15:21
  Stories to tell.
• 15:29
  Stories told.