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Exploding Rockets, Cosmic Rays, and the Secrets of Asteroid Bennu · Space News Today

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  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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  the podcast that brings you the universe
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  one story at a time. I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. It's great to have you
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  with us. Today we're covering everything
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  from exploding rockets and sugars on
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  asteroids to a cosmic ray that might
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  have sent an airplane into a dive.
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  >> It's going to be a wild ride. Let's get
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  started with our first story which takes
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  us to the rapidly evolving world of
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  commercial space flight in China.
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  >> There is so much going on with space
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  technology in China at the moment, isn't
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  there? What's the latest?
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  >> So Anna, there's big news from a company
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  called Landspace. They just launched
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  their Zui3 rocket and it's a major step
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  forward in the reusable rocket race.
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  >> That's right, Avery. This is a
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  methane-powered rocket similar in
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  concept to SpaceX's Starship designed
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  for reusability. And the big news is
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  that the first launch was in large part
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  a success. The rocket successfully
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  reached orbit.
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  >> Reaching orbit on a brand new rocket is
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  the single biggest hurdle. So that's
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  fantastic news for them. But I hear the
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  second half of the test didn't go quite
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  so smoothly.
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  >> Yes, the reusable part of the test hit a
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  snag. The first stage booster, which is
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  supposed to fly back and land itself for
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  reuse, experienced what the company
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  calls a mishap.
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  >> A mishap is putting it mildly. It
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  exploded during the landing attempt.
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  Right.
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  >> It did. But Landspace is still framing
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  the overall mission as a success. And in
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  the world of rocket development, they
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  have a point. Proving your design can
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  reach orbital velocity is a massive
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  achievement.
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  >> That makes sense. It's an iterative
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  process. They've nailed the hardest part
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  and now they can use the data from the
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  failed landing to figure out how to
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  stick it next time.
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  >> Precisely. It shows that the global
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  competition for reusable rockets is
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  heating up and it's not just limited to
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  a few big players anymore. This is a
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  significant milestone for China's
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  commercial space industry.
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  >> And of course, we'll be keeping an eye
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  on all their developments in the coming
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  months.
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  >> From rockets soaring up, we turn to a
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  planet that is falling apart. The James
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  Webb Space Telescope has given us an
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  extraordinary view of an exoplanet that
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  is actively losing its atmosphere.
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  >> I love a good JWST story. Which planet
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  are we talking about? And what does that
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  even look like? A planet shedding its
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  atmosphere.
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  >> The planet is WASP 107b. It's a gas
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  giant, but it's unusually puffy. It's
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  very large for its mass. Because it
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  orbits extremely close to its star, the
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  intense radiation is boiling its
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  atmosphere away into space.
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  >> Wow. So, it's just venting gas out into
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  the void.
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  >> Exactly. And WEB's instruments were able
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  to detect a massive cloud of helium
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  being stripped from the planet. This
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  cloud is so large that it actually forms
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  a giant tail that travels ahead of the
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  planet in its orbit.
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  >> It travels ahead of the planet. How does
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  that work? It's due to the complex
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  interaction between the stellar wind and
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  the planet's own orbital motion. It's a
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  bit like a boat's wake appearing in
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  front of it in a strong current.
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  >> That's incredible. So, this gives us a
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  real time look at how planets can die or
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  at least transform over billions of
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  years.
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  >> Yes, it's a vital piece of the puzzle
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  for understanding planetary evolution.
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  By studying planets like WASP 107b, we
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  can learn more about how our own solar
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  system may have formed and changed over
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  time.
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  >> All right, from the ingredients of
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  planets being stripped away, let's talk
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  about the ingredients for life being
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  found in a very exciting place. The
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  samples from asteroid Bennu are back,
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  and they did not disappoint.
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  >> They certainly did not. After years of
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  travel, NASA's Osiris Rex mission
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  returned pristine samples from the
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  asteroid, and the initial findings are
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  groundbreaking. Scientists have
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  confirmed the presence of essential
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  sugars within the asteroid material.
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  >> And we're not talking about table sugar
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  here. We're talking about the
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  fundamental building blocks of life.
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  Right.
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  >> Precisely. They have positively
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  identified sugars like ribos, which is a
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  critical component of RNA, the molecule
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  that may have preceded DNA in the
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  earliest forms of life. They also found
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  other vital sugars like glucose.
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  >> So, this adds huge weight to the theory
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  that asteroids and comets could have
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  delivered these prebiotic ingredients to
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  the early Earth, kickstarting life here.
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  >> Mhm. It's some of the strongest evidence
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  to date. It tells us that these
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  fundamental building blocks were likely
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  common in the early solar system,
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  available to planets like ours.
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  >> Okay, I have to ask about my favorite
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  part of this story, the space gum. What
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  on earth is that?
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  >> Yes, the team also discovered a strange
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  black viscous organic material that
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  they've playfully nicknamed space gum.
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  They are still analyzing its exact
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  composition, but it appears to be a very
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  complex carbonrich substance. Just
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  another fascinating piece of this cosmic
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  puzzle.
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  >> From asteroids to our own celestial
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  neighbor, let's bring it closer to home.
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  Sky Watchers are in for a special event
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  this December. In coming days, in fact.
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  >> That's right. The final full moon of
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  2025 has a few special things going for
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  it. It's known as the cold moon. And
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  this year, it will also be a super moon.
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  >> Super moon. That means it'll appear
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  larger and brighter in the sky because
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  it's closer to Earth in its orbit. I
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  always love a good super moon.
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  >> It does. But there's an even more rare
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  event happening at the same time.
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  Something called a major lunar
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  standstill.
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  >> Okay. A major lunar standstill. That
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  sounds very official and very dramatic.
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  Break that down for us.
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  >> It's a point in the moon's 18.6year
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  cycle where its orbit is tilted to the
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  maximum degree relative to Earth's
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  equator. For those of us in the northern
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  hemisphere, it means this full moon will
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  trace a much higher arc across the
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  winter sky than usual.
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  >> Right. So, it's not just closer, it's
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  also taking the high road across the
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  sky. That should make it visible for
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  longer and easier to see.
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  >> Exactly. It will rise in the northeast
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  and set in the northwest, similar to the
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  sun's path in the summer. And it will
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  stay above the horizon for an extended
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  period. It's a perfect combination for a
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  beautiful lunar spectacle.
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  >> So, make sure you get outside and look
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  up as we like to remind you.
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  >> And while we're on the subject of our
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  moon, we have a beautiful but
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  bittersweet story from the Japanese
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  lunar lander Hataku Matu R.
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  >> Oh, right. This was the private mission
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  that attempted to land on the moon last
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  year. Sadly, it crashed in the final
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  seconds of its descent. It did. But
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  before the mission ended, it captured
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  some truly breathtaking imagery. And one
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  photo in particular has been making the
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  rounds. It's a stunning shot of our own
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  planet.
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  >> I've seen it. It's an image of Earth
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  during a total solar eclipse taken from
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  space. You can clearly see the round
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  shadow of the moon moving across the
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  Earth's surface. Australia in
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  particular. It's just an incredible
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  perspective.
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  >> It really is. It's a viewpoint we so
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  rarely get to see. It's a powerful
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  reminder of the beauty of our world and
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  the celestial dance. It's a part of a
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  final beautiful piece of data from a
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  mission that came so close to achieving
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  its goal.
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  >> Okay, for our final story, we're coming
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  back down to Earth, but it's a story
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  with a truly cosmic origin. This sounds
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  like pure science fiction, Anna, but an
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  expert is suggesting a cosmic ray may
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  have been responsible for forcing a
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  JetBlue airliner into an emergency
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  landing.
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  >> It's a fascinating theory. The flight in
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  question experienced a sudden unexpected
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  drop in altitude. And while there's no
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  official cause yet, one plausible,
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  though unproven, explanation involves a
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  high energy particle from deep space.
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  >> A single particle can do that to a
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  massive airplane. How is that even
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  possible?
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  >> Comes down to a phenomenon called a
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  single event upset. High energy cosmic
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  rays, often accelerated by distant
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  supernovas, are constantly bombarding
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  our atmosphere. If one of these
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  particles traveling at near the speed of
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  light happens to strike a microscopic
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  transistor in one of the plane's flight
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  computers, it can deposit enough energy
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  to flip a bit of memory. It can change a
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  digital one to a zero or vice versa. In
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  a non-critical system, you'd never
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  notice, but if it hits a crucial part of
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  the processor, it could cause a
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  temporary glitch or even a system
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  reboot.
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  >> So, the plane's electronic brain could
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  have a momentary hiccup caused by a
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  particle from an exploded star millions
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  of light years away. That is
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  mind-blowing.
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  >> It is. And while it's important to note
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  this is just one expert's hypothesis, it
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  is scientifically plausible. Modern
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  avionics have extensive shielding and
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  redundant systems to prevent this. But
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  the possibility, however remote, is
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  always there. It's a wild reminder that
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  we're never truly separate from the
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  events of the wider cosmos.
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  >> That really is a mind-bending
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  connection. And on that cosmic note,
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  that's all the time we have for today's
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  episode of Astronomy Daily. What a trip
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  across the universe it's been.
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  >> It certainly has. Thank you all so much
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  for joining us. We'll be back again
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  tomorrow with another roundup of the
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  latest news from around and beyond our
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  world.
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  >> Until then, clear skies and one more
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  reminder, keep looking up.
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  The stories told
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  stories told
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  stories