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Mars Mishaps, Earthly Tails, and the Hungry Hippo Rocket Fairing · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to today's edition of
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  Astronomy Daily, the podcast that brings
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  you the universe one story at a time.
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  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 some of the most
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  exciting and slightly worrying news from
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  the world of space exploration.
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  >> Absolutely. We're going to be talking
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  about a communications breakdown at
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  Mars, a 2 million km tail trailing our
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  own planet, and a brand new mission
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  control center for future rovers.
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  >> Plus, we'll dive into what the James Web
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  telescope might have found on an
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  exoplanet, a new dual mode drone from
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  China, and a rocket fairing nicknamed
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  the Hungry Hippo.
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  >> It's a busy lineup, so let's get right
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  into it. Anna, why don't you start us
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  off with the news from the red planet?
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  >> Of course. Our first story is a bit
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  tense. NASA has temporarily, well, we
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  hope it's temporary, lost contact with
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  its Maven Orbiter. Maven, which stands
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  for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile
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  Evolution, has been a workhorse at Mars
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  since 2014.
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  >> Right. And it's not just studying the
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  atmosphere. It's a critical
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  communications relay for the rovers on
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  the surface like Curiosity and
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  Perseverance. Losing contact is a big
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  deal.
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  >> Exactly. The spacecraft went silent
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  after passing behind Mars from our point
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  of view, which is a standard procedure.
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  But when it should have reemerged and
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  checked in, there was nothing. The team
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  at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is now
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  working through procedures to try and
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  reestablish a signal.
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  >> Mhm. So, what does this mean for the
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  rovers? Are they on their own for now?
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  >> Well, thankfully NASA has redundancy.
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  The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the
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  European Space Ay's Trace Gas Orbiter
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  can also act as relays, so the rovers
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  aren't completely cut off. But losing
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  Maven reduces their data downlink
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  capacity significantly.
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  >> That makes sense. Spacecraft issues like
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  this happen, and usually the engineers
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  find a way. We're certainly hoping they
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  get Maven back online soon.
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  >> Fingers crossed. Now for our next story,
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  let's come a little closer to home.
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  Avery, this one sounds like something
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  out of science fiction.
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  >> It really does. A new NASA study has
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  confirmed that Earth has a tail. Not a
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  physical one, of course, but a magnetic
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  one. A magneto tail to be precise. That
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  stretches an incredible 2 million km
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  into space.
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  >> 2 million km. That's more than five
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  times the distance to the moon. How is
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  that even formed? It's created by the
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  interaction between Earth's magnetic
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  field and the solar wind, which is a
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  constant stream of charged particles
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  flowing from the sun. As the solar wind
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  blows past Earth, it stretches our
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  magnetic field out on the night side,
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  just like a wind sock.
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  >> Right. And this tail isn't empty, is it?
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  It's filled with plasma.
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  >> Exactly. It's a plasma kale. and
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  understanding its structure and dynamics
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  is crucial for predicting space weather,
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  which can affect our satellites and
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  power grids. It's a stunning reminder of
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  the complex invisible structures that
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  dominate our corner of the cosmos.
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  That's fascinating. From invisible tales
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  to very visible new buildings, our next
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  story takes us to NASA's Jet Propulsion
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  Laboratory. They've just opened a new
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  rover operation center, or ROC.
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  >> Yeah, this is exciting. This isn't just
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  a shiny new room with more computers.
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  The ROC is designed to be the heart of
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  future robotic missions to the moon and
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  Mars. It's built to handle multiple
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  missions simultaneously.
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  >> And it incorporates some cutting edge
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  technology, including advanced AI to
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  help rover drivers plan their routes and
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  analyze data more efficiently. They're
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  also emphasizing partnerships with
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  commercial space companies. That
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  partnership piece is key. With programs
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  like Artemis aiming to return humans to
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  the moon and more ambitious Mars
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  missions on the horizon, NASA needs a
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  central hub that can coordinate between
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  its own assets and those of its
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  commercial partners. The ROC is that
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  hub. It's basically mission control for
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  the next generation of explorers.
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  Speaking of next generation explorers,
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  our next story comes from the James Webb
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  Space Telescope, which is continuing to
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  rewrite our understanding of distant
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  worlds.
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  >> I love a good JWST story. What has it
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  spotted now?
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  >> It's been looking at the Trappist 1
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  system, which you'll remember as a
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  system of seven rocky Earth-sized
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  planets orbiting a small star. JWST
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  focused on Trappist 1E, a planet in the
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  habitable zone, and the data hints at
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  the possibility of a methane rich
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  atmosphere.
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  >> Wow. Methane. On Earth, that's often
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  associated with life, but the key word
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  here is hints, right?
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  >> Precisely. The data is still ambiguous.
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  Scientists are quick to point out that
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  methane can also be produced by
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  geological processes, not just
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  biological ones. The signal is also
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  faint and could be an instrument
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  artifact or something else entirely.
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  >> So, it's not time to announce aliens
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  just yet.
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  >> Not just yet, but it is an incredibly
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  tantalizing result. It shows that JWST
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  is capable of detecting potential bio
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  signatures on rocky exoplanets, which is
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  exactly what it was designed to do. More
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  observations are already planned to get
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  a clearer picture.
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  >> It's amazing to watch science unfold in
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  real time. And while JWST looks out,
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  other nations are looking at new ways to
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  explore up close. Our fifth story is
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  about a new type of Mars drone being
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  developed in China.
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  >> Mhm. We all remember the success of
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  NASA's Ingenuity helicopter. This new
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  concept takes that a step further.
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  Chinese scientists are designing a drone
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  that can both fly and roll on the
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  Martian surface.
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  >> Fly and roll. So, it's a transformer
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  >> in a way. Yes. The idea is to conserve
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  energy. Flying in Mars' thin atmosphere
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  takes a lot of power. So, the drone
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  would roll on its wheels for long
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  distance travel across flat terrain and
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  only use its rotors to fly over
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  obstacles or explore hard-to-reach areas
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  like canyons or cliffs.
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  >> That's a very clever solution. It
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  combines the endurance of a rover with
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  the agility of a helicopter.
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  >> It is. And the design could even allow
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  it to enter and explore Martian lava
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  tubes or caves, something no previous
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  mission has been able to do. It's a
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  concept that could dramatically expand
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  our exploration capabilities on other
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  worlds.
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  >> That is a fascinating concept. It really
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  shows how we're getting smarter about
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  exploring other planets.
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  >> It's certainly an exciting time in space
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  innovation.
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  >> All right, for our final story, let's
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  talk about getting to space in the first
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  place. This one involves Rocket Lab and
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  a piece of hardware with a fantastic
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  name, the hungry hippo fairing.
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  >> I was waiting for this one. This is
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  about their upcoming neutron rocket,
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  which is designed to be fully reusable.
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  The fairing is the nose cone that
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  protects the satellite during launch.
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  Typically, fairings are just jettisoned
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  and fall into the ocean,
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  >> right? Which is wasteful. SpaceX
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  recovers theirs with nets on ships, but
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  Rocket Lab has a totally different
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  approach. The neutron's fairing isn't
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  jettisoned at all. It's integrated into
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  the first stage of the rocket.
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  >> So, how does the satellite get out?
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  >> This is the brilliant part. The fairing
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  pedals open up like a giant clamshell or
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  a hungry hungry hippo to release the
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  payload. Then they close again before
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  the entire first stage returns to Earth
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  for a landing. Rocket Lab just completed
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  successful tests of this mechanism.
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  >> That's an elegant piece of engineering.
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  It eliminates the entire process of
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  fairing recovery at sea. It just comes
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  back with the booster.
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  >> It's a huge step towards rapid
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  reusability, which is the key to
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  lowering the cost of access to space. A
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  very cool innovation to watch.
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  >> And that's all the time we have for
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  today's news roundup. From a silent
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  orbiter at Mars to a hippo-like rocket
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  here on Earth, it's been another busy
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  time in space.
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  >> It certainly has. Thank you all so much
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  for tuning in to Astronomy Daily. You
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  can find us wherever you get your
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  podcasts, and we'd love it if you'd
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  leave us a review. Join us next time as
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  we take a dive into more mysteries from
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  deep space.
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  >> Until then, keep looking up. Astronomy
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  day.
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  Stories be told.
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  Stories to tell.