Latest / Space News Today / Galactic Maps, Colour-Changing Spacesuits, and the Moon’s Hidden Resources

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Galactic Maps, Colour-Changing Spacesuits, and the Moon’s Hidden Resources · Space News Today

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  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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  your source for the latest news from
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  across the cosmos. I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you
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  today. We're covering everything from a
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  new galactic map to the future of space
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  suits.
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  >> That's right. We'll be looking at how
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  Earth might be making the moon more
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  habitable, checking in on a very busy
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  month for the International Space
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  Station, and even touching on SpaceX's
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  plans to go public. So, let's get
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  started. Our first story takes us to the
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  very heart of our own galaxy. NASA has
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  announced a groundbreaking new survey
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  using its Nancy Grace Roman Space
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  Telescope. The goal is to create an
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  unprecedented map of the Milky Way.
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  >> And this isn't just any map. The Roman
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  telescope will be surveying the galaxy
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  in infrared light. For our listeners,
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  that means it can peer through the dense
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  clouds of cosmic dust that normally
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  block our view of the galactic center.
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  Exactly. It's like having a new pair of
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  glasses that can see through fog.
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  Scientists expect to reveal tens of
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  billions of stars and uncover hidden
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  galactic structures we've never seen
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  before.
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  >> Tens of billions. The scale is just
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  staggering. What are they hoping to
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  learn from all this new data?
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  >> The applications are vast. They'll be
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  able to study star formation and
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  evolution in incredible detail. But what
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  I find really exciting is the potential
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  to find stellar embers, things like
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  white dwarfs and neutron stars through a
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  technique called microlensing, right?
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  Where the gravity of a closer object
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  magnifies the light from a more distant
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  one. This new survey covering nearly 700
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  square degrees of the sky is going to be
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  a treasure trove for decades to come.
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  >> It certainly will be. Now, from the
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  galactic scale to the very personal, our
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  next story is about protecting the
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  astronauts who venture into space.
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  Avery, tell us about these colorchanging
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  space suits.
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  >> This sounds like something straight out
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  of science fiction. Scientists in
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  Scotland are developing a fabric treated
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  with a special kind of bacteria. The
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  amazing part is that these bacteria
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  actually change color when they're
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  exposed to radiation.
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  >> So, the space suit itself would act as a
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  radiation detector. Precisely.
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  The project is called pigmented space
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  pioneers and the idea is to provide a
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  clear visual indicator of an astronaut's
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  radiation exposure in real time.
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  >> That's incredibly important. We know
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  that long-term radiation exposure is a
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  major health risk for astronauts,
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  increasing the chances of developing
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  cancer. This could be a simple but
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  effective way to help them monitor and
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  mitigate that risk.
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  >> Mhm. And it's not just a lab concept
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  anymore. They're actually preparing a
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  sample of this fabric to be tested in
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  space. It will be flown on a small
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  satellite to see how it holds up in the
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  real environment. A very creative
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  solution to a serious problem.
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  >> Absolutely. Speaking of environments in
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  space, our next piece of news questions
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  our long-held assumptions about the
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  moon. A new study suggests it might be
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  more habitable than we thought, thanks
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  to a surprising source, our own planet.
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  >> How is that possible? Is Earth somehow
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  seeding the moon?
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  >> In a way, yes. The study from the
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  University of Rochester proposes that
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  Earth's magnetosphere has been enriching
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  the lunar soil with life sustaining
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  substances for billions of years.
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  >> Okay, I'm intrigued. What's the
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  mechanism here?
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  >> It's all about our planet's magnetic
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  field. As particles escape the upper
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  layers of our atmosphere, the
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  magnetosphere guides them. When the moon
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  passes through Earth's magneto tail, the
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  part of the magnetic field stretched out
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  by the solar wind, these particles can
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  rain down onto the lunar surface.
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  >> And we're talking about important
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  particles, right? Like water and
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  nitrogen.
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  >> That's right. These are crucial
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  volatiles. The study suggests that the
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  lunar poles in particular could have
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  accumulated significant amounts of these
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  substances over eons. This could mean
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  the moon has far more resources for
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  things like water and air than we
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  previously estimated,
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  >> which would be a massive boost for any
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  plans for long-term human missions or
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  even a permanent base. Less to carry,
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  more to find when you get there. A
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  fascinating connection between Earth and
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  its satellite.
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  >> Indeed. Now, let's move from a potential
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  future outpost to our current one, the
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  International Space Station. Avery, it
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  seems they had a remarkably busy
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  November.
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  >> Extremely busy. The ISS hit two major
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  milestones last month. First, for the
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  first time in its 27-year history, all
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  eight of its docking ports were occupied
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  simultaneously. Think of it as a
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  completely full parking garage and
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  orbit.
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  >> Wow, that's a lot of traffic. What was
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  the other milestone? The station also
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  officially celebrated 25 years of
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  continuous human presence in space. A
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  quarter of a century with people living
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  and working in space nonstop. It's an
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  incredible achievement for international
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  cooperation.
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  >> It really is. And it wasn't just about
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  anniversaries. The month was packed with
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  activity, including crew rotations with
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  the arrival of Soyuse MS28 and several
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  cargo resupply missions to keep the
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  station stocked.
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  >> Right. And of course, the science never
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  stops. The crew conducted numerous
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  experiments focusing on everything from
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  cardiovascular health and the effects of
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  microgravity on stem cell development to
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  testing new life support systems. Just
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  another month at the office for the ISS
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  crew. a very busy office. Okay, shifting
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  gears from public space efforts to the
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  private sector. There are some big
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  murmurss coming from SpaceX.
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  >> That's putting it mildly. According to
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  several media reports, SpaceX is
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  considering going public with an IPO, an
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  initial public offering, possibly as
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  early as 2026.
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  >> And the numbers being discussed are
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  astronomical, even for a space company.
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  The potential valuation is pegged at
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  around $1.5 trillion.
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  >> That would make it one of the most
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  valuable companies in the world. The big
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  question is why now? What would they use
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  that massive influx of capital for?
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  >> Well, the speculation points to a truly
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  ambitious long-term vision. The funds
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  could be aimed at building out a network
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  of space-based data centers. The idea is
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  to support the rapidly growing
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  artificial intelligence industry, which
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  requires immense computational power.
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  >> Data centers in orbit. That's a new one.
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  It ties into an even grander vision
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  we've heard about before, right?
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  >> Mhm. It seems to be part of a road map
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  that could eventually involve building
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  factories on the moon. It's a huge leap,
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  but it shows the scale of ambition in
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  the private space industry right now.
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  Definitely one to watch. For our final
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  story today, we're going from high
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  finance back to pure science with a look
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  at an interstellar visitor. Anna, tell
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  us about comet 3i-tlas.
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  >> This is a really neat observation from
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  the European Space Ay's XMM Newton
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  Observatory. This telescope doesn't see
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  in visible light, but in x-rays, and it
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  has managed to capture an image of the
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  interstellar comet threeey
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  glowing in x-ray light.
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  >> How does a comet produce x-rays? I
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  thought they just reflected sunlight.
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  >> It's a process called charge exchange.
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  As the comet gets closer to the sun, it
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  releases gases. When particles from the
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  solar wind, which are highly charged,
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  smash into these neutral gas molecules,
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  they exchange electrons and this
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  interaction emits an X-ray photon.
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  >> Ah, okay. So, observing an X-ray gives
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  scientists a different kind of
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  information than a regular telescope
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  would.
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  >> A very useful kind. This technique is
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  particularly good at detecting certain
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  gases like hydrogen and nitrogen which
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  can be very difficult to spot with other
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  telescopes. So by analyzing the X-ray
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  signature, scientists can get a much
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  clearer picture of what the comet is
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  made of.
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  >> And since this is an interstellar comet,
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  that composition tells us something
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  about the chemistry of the distant star
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  system it came from.
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  >> A little postcard from another part of
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  the galaxy. And that brings us to the
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  end of our space and astronomy news
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  roundup for today. From a new map of our
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  home galaxy and bacteria infused space
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  suits to a more resourceful moon and a
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  record-breaking month on the ISS, it's
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  been another busy day in space and
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  astronomy.
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  >> We hope you've enjoyed this episode of
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  Astronomy Daily. Thanks so much for
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  tuning in.
• 8:59
  >> Be sure to subscribe wherever you get
• 9:00
  your podcast so you don't miss an
• 9:02
  episode and to visit our website at
• 9:04
  astronomydaily.io.
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  Until next time, I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. Clear skies.
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  The stories were told.