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From Corporate Strategies to Cosmic Discoveries: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
• 0:02
  that brings you the universe, one story
• 0:04
  at a time. I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.
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  We've got a packed episode today. From
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  major moves in the space industry to a
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  potential solution for one of the
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  biggest mysteries in cosmology.
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  >> Let's start with that industry news.
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  It's a big one. Blue Origin has just
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  hired Tori Bruno, the former president
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  and CEO of United Launch Alliance, or
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  ULA.
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  >> That's a major headline. Bruno is a
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  giant in the industry. He's going to be
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  heading up Blue Origin's new national
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  security group.
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  >> Exactly. And it makes so much sense when
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  you think about it. Bruno was
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  instrumental in transitioning ULA to its
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  new Vulcan rocket. And what engines does
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  the Vulcan rocket use? Blue Origin's BE4
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  engines. It's all connected. This move
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  signals that Blue Origin is getting very
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  serious about competing for those
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  lucrative national security launch
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  contracts, especially with their new
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  Glenn Heavy lift rocket on the horizon.
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  >> It's a strategic chess move. Bringing in
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  someone with Bruno's experience and
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  connections is a clear sign of their
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  ambition in that sector.
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  >> Speaking of ambitions, let's shift from
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  the business of space to one of its
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  greatest mysteries, dark matter. A new
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  study is proposing a fascinating, if
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  somewhat exotic, idea.
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  >> I'm always ready for a new dark matter
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  theory. What's this one?
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  >> Well, instead of tiny, undiscovered
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  particles, this theory suggests dark
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  matter could be made of giant star-sized
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  objects that don't emit light. They're
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  calling them exotic astrophysical dark
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  objects or eads.
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  >> EADs. I like it. So, what would these
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  objects be?
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  >> Things like Bzon stars or Q balls. very
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  dense theoretical objects. The really
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  cool part is how we might find them. If
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  one of these yads passes in front of a
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  distant star, its immense gravity would
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  bend the starlight in a very specific
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  way.
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  >> Right. Gravitational lensing.
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  >> Exactly. But a very specific kind.
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  Instead of just brightening, the stars
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  apparent position in the sky would seem
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  to jump suddenly. It's a unique signal.
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  And researchers think they can hunt for
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  these jumps in the massive data set from
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  the Gaia Space Telescope. It's a long
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  shot, but it's a testable hypothesis.
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  >> From hunting for invisible objects to
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  tracking a very visible one, let's talk
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  about asteroid Apous.
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  >> Ah, yes. Everyone's favorite God of
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  Chaos asteroid. It's making a very close
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  pass by Earth in 2029.
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  >> An incredibly close pass, just 32,000 km
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  away, which is closer than some of our
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  satellites. And to take advantage of
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  this rare opportunity, the European
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  Space Agency and Japan's JAXA are
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  teaming up for a new mission called
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  Ramssey's.
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  >> So, what's the goal of Ramsy's?
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  >> The mission will get up close to the 375
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  m wide asteroid to study how Earth's
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  gravity affects it during the flyby. We
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  expect our planet's gravity to cause
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  changes in Apothesis spin, maybe even
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  trigger some landslides or quakes on its
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  surface. And understanding those
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  gravitational effects is crucial for
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  planetary defense. If we ever need to
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  nudge an asteroid out of the way, we
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  need to know precisely how it will
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  behave. This kind of international
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  cooperation is exactly what we need for
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  ensuring space safety.
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  >> That's right. And speaking of
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  understanding the cosmos on a grand
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  scale, let's talk about all the stuff
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  that isn't in asteroids or even
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  galaxies. I'm talking about normal
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  matter, the stuff that makes up you, me,
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  and the stars. It turns out we've been
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  missing most of it.
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  >> This is one of my favorite cosmological
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  problems. The Big Bang theory predicts a
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  certain amount of normal matter in the
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  universe, but when we add up all the
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  stars and galaxies we can see, we only
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  find about 10% of it. So where is the
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  other 90%. For a long time, the theory
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  has been that it's hiding in the vast
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  spaces between galaxies in a hot, thin
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  soup of gas called the intergalactic
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  medium. It's often called the cosmic
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  web, but it's so diffused that it's been
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  nearly impossible to detect directly
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  >> until now. Right. This is where fast
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  radio bursts come in.
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  >> Precisely. A new study used these
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  powerful millisecond long blasts of
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  radio waves from distant galaxies as
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  probes. As an FRB signal travels across
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  billions of light years, it gets
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  slightly dispersed by the gas it passes
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  through. By measuring how much the
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  signal is smeared out, astronomers can
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  calculate how much matter it
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  encountered.
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  >> And the results confirmed the theory.
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  >> They did. The numbers match perfectly.
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  The missing matter was in the cosmic web
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  all along. It's a huge victory for
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  cosmology. We finally completed the
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  census of normal matter in the universe.
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  >> That is incredible. From the cosmic web,
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  let's zoom back in much closer to home.
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  the chaotic space between the Earth and
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  the Moon.
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  >> It's an area that's about to get a lot
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  busier with programs like Aremis and the
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  lunar gateway,
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  >> right? And navigating that space is
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  notoriously difficult because of the
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  complex shifting gravitational poles of
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  the Earth, Moon, and Sun. It's the
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  classic threebody problem. So, to help
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  future missions, researchers at Lawrence
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  Liverour Laboratory have done something
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  amazing.
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  >> What's that? They've created and
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  released an open-source data set mapping
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  1 million different stable trajectories
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  in that cis lunar space. It's being
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  called a gold standard map that
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  companies and space agencies can use to
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  validate their navigation software.
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  >> So, it's essentially a comprehensive
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  road map for the Earth moon system.
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  That's invaluable. It helps identify
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  stable regions like the Lrangee points
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  where we could place future
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  infrastructure like the lunar gateway.
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  It's a foundational piece of work for
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  the next era of lunar exploration.
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  >> Absolutely. And before we go today,
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  let's take a brief look at some of the
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  major astronomical events to look out
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  for in 2026, which is just around the
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  corner.
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  >> I love these previews. What's the
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  biggest highlight?
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  >> Without a doubt, the total solar eclipse
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  on August 12th. The path of totality
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  will cross over Greenland, Iceland, and
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  parts of Spain. It's going to be a major
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  event for sky watchers in Europe. And
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  for those of us in North America, we get
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  a treat a few months earlier. A total
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  lunar eclipse on March 3rd, 2026.
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  >> There's more, too. Jupiter's moons will
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  enter a mutual eclipse season, meaning
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  we can watch them pass in front of and
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  behind one another. And both the Percied
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  and Gemini meteor showers are expected
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  to have excellent viewing conditions
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  with no bright moon to wash them out.
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  Plus, solar activity will still be high
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  as we come down from the peak of solar
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  cycle 25. So, there's a good chance for
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  more impressive aurora displays. 2026 is
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  shaping up to be a fantastic year for
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  astronomy.
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  >> It certainly is. And that's all the time
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  we have for today. We've gone from
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  corporate boardrooms to the edge of the
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  visible universe and back to our own
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  lunar backyard.
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  >> Thanks for joining us on Astronomy
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  Daily. If you'd like even more space
• 7:06
  news, just visit our website at
• 7:07
  astronomydaily.io. io or look out for us
• 7:10
  on social media. Just search for Astro
• 7:12
  Daily Pod on all the major platforms.
• 7:14
  I'm Avery
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  >> and I'm Anna. Join us next time as we
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  continue to explore the cosmos. Clear
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  skies.
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  Stories told.