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From Rocket Crashes to Cosmic Balances: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

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  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
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  that brings you the universe one story
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  at a time. I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. Today, we'll be covering
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  some unfortunate news for South Korea's
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  burgeoning space industry, a look back
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  billions of years to when Earth had a
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  19-hour day, a very busy launch schedule
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  to close out 2025, and some serious
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  safety concerns over Boeing's
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  Starlininer. And we'll cap things off
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  with a major leadership shakeup at
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  United Launch Alliance.
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  >> A lot to get through. Let's start with
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  that launch anomaly in Brazil. What
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  happened with the Hanbit Nano rocket?
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  >> It's a tough break for the South Korean
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  company Inospace. Their first commercial
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  orbital rocket, the Hanbit Nano,
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  unfortunately crashed just 30 seconds
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  after liftoff from the Alcantara Space
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  Center in Brazil.
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  >> Only 30 seconds. Wow. Do we know the
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  cause? The company cited a vehicle
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  abnormality, but they haven't released
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  specific details yet. The important
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  thing is that no one was hurt and there
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  was no damage to the launch facility.
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  >> That's certainly the silver lining. This
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  was a significant launch for them,
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  wasn't it? It had been delayed a few
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  times already.
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  >> Exactly. It was carrying five
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  satellites, so this was a major
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  milestone attempt. A successful first
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  commercial launch would have been a huge
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  step for South Korea's private space
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  sector. Setbacks are part of the
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  process, but this one definitely stings
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  for Inospace,
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  >> right? Failure is always an option in
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  rocketry, especially on a debut flight.
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  We'll be watching to see how they bounce
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  back.
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  >> Absolutely. And it highlights the
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  immense challenge for smaller private
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  companies trying to break into the
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  orbital launch market. It's not just
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  about building a rocket. It's about
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  securing funding, navigating
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  international regulations, and building
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  a track record. the barrier to entry is
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  still incredibly high.
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  >> That's a great point. While companies
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  like SpaceX make it look almost routine
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  now, each successful launch is built on
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  a mountain of data from both successes
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  and failures. Hopefully, Innoace can
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  analyze what went wrong and come back
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  stronger. A competitive launch market is
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  good for everyone.
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  >> Definitely. Now, let's switch gears and
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  go way, way back in time. Billions of
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  years, in fact. Avery, did you know
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  there was a period when Earth's day was
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  stuck at just 19 hours long?
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  >> Stuck? I know the day has been getting
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  gradually longer as the moon moves away
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  from us, but I've never heard of it just
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  stopping.
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  >> That's what's so fascinating. New
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  research indicates that for about a
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  billion years, from roughly 2 billion
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  years to 1 billion years ago, the day
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  length just flatlined at 19 hours.
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  >> A billion years is not a short time.
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  What could cause our planet's rotation
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  to just pause its slowdown like that?
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  >> It's a really cool celestial balancing
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  act. We know the moon's gravity creates
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  ocean tides that act like a break on
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  Earth's rotation, slowing it down,
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  >> right? The lunar tides.
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  >> But the sun also creates tides not just
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  in the ocean, but in the atmosphere. The
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  sun heats the atmosphere, causing it to
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  bulge. This atmospheric tide influenced
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  by Earth's rotation actually pulls on
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  the planet trying to speed it up.
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  >> So you have the moon's gravity slowing
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  us down and the sun's atmospheric heat
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  speeding us up.
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  >> Precisely. And during this specific
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  billion-year period, the theory is that
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  the two forces reached a perfect
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  equilibrium. The atmospheric day was in
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  resonance with the rotational day. The
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  slowing effect from the lunar ocean
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  tides was perfectly balanced by the
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  speeding effect of the solar atmospheric
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  tides.
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  >> A tidal resonance. That's incredible.
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  So, the Earth was in a state of cosmic
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  tugofwar and for a billion years it was
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  a perfect draw.
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  >> Exactly. Eventually, other factors broke
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  the resonance and the moon's influence
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  won out again, continuing the slow
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  lengthening of our day to the 24 hours
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  we have now. It makes you think about
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  all the delicate balances that have
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  shaped our planet's history.
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  >> Absolutely. Imagine what life might have
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  been like with five extra hours of
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  darkness each day.
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  >> That's the big question researchers are
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  exploring now. A consistent 19-hour
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  dayight cycle could have provided a
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  stable environment for early
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  photosynthetic organisms like
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  cyanobacteria to thrive. Some theories
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  suggest this long period of stability
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  might have been a crucial factor in the
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  great oxidation event where oxygen
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  levels in the atmosphere began to rise,
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  paving the way for more complex life.
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  >> Well, coming back to the present, things
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  are anything but slow. The last full
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  week of 2025 is shaping up to be
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  incredibly busy for space launches.
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  >> It seems like everyone is trying to get
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  their last missions of the year off the
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  ground. What's on the manifest?
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  >> Well, we already discussed in a
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  spaceac's attempt in China. CASC is
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  expected to debut its brand new reusable
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  Changang 12A rocket. That's a huge
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  development for their reusable launch
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  vehicle program.
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  >> Mhm. A direct competitor to SpaceX's
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  Falcon 9.
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  >> Indeed. Then over in India, ISRO is
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  launching a Bluebird Block 2 satellite.
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  Russia has not one but two so use
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  missions planned from different
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  cosmodromes.
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  >> A busy week for Ross Cosmos.
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  >> And of course, you can't have a busy
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  launch week without SpaceX. They're
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  scheduled for their final Falcon 9
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  mission of the year, launching the CSG3
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  satellite for the Italian Space Agency.
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  It's a real flurry of activity to end
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  the year.
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  >> It really shows how global the space
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  industry has become. Launches from
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  China, India, Russia, and the US, all
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  within days of each other. It's an
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  exciting time to be following space
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  flight.
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  >> That's for sure.
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  >> It's worth noting the diversity of these
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  missions, too. The Chinese launch is a
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  technology demonstrator for reusability.
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  The Indian mission is for Earth
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  observation. The Russian launches are
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  likely for government and commercial
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  payloads. And the SpaceX mission is for
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  an Italian radar reconnaissance
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  satellite. It's a snapshot of the entire
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  space ecosystem in action.
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  >> And the logistical coordination is
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  mind-boggling. You have range safety,
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  air and sea traffic control, satellite
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  tracking, and telemetry all happening
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  concurrently across the globe. A
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  fittingly chaotic end to a very busy
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  year in space.
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  >> Speaking of US space flight, let's turn
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  to our next story on today's rundown,
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  which is a bit more sobering. It's about
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  Boeing Star Liner and the fallout from
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  its first crude test flight.
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  >> Yeah, that mission was eventful to say
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  the least. What's the latest? Well,
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  NASA's aerospace safety advisory panel
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  has come out with a pretty strong
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  statement. They've said that NASA should
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  have taken the problems with Starlininer
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  far more seriously as they were
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  happening.
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  >> Let's recap what those problems were.
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  There were multiple helium leaks and
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  failures with the maneuvering thrusters.
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  Right.
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  >> That's right. Five separate thruster
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  failures during docking and multiple
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  helium leaks that were discovered both
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  before and during the mission. The
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  panel's main point of contention is that
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  NASA never officially declared an
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  in-flight mishap or a high visibility
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  close call.
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  >> And not making that declaration has
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  consequences.
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  >> It does. According to the panel, this
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  failure to officially recognize the
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  severity of the issues led to an
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  extended period of uncertainty. It put a
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  lot of stress on the workforce at NASA
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  and Boeing who were trying to
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  troubleshoot these serious problems.
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  without the formal structure and
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  resources that come with a mishap
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  declaration.
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  >> So they were essentially trying to
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  manage a crisis without being allowed to
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  call it a crisis. That sounds incredibly
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  difficult.
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  >> Extremely. And the end result speaks for
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  itself. The two astronauts, Butch
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  Wilmore and Sunni Williams, ended up
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  staying on the International Space
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  Station for 9 months while engineers
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  tried to figure out if Starlininer was
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  safe to bring them home.
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  >> And in the end, it wasn't. They came
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  home on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
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  >> That's the crucial point. The
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  Starlininer capsule had to return to
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  Earth empty. Having your crew return on
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  a competitor's spacecraft because your
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  own was deemed unsafe is a massive blow
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  to the program's credibility. The safety
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  panel is basically saying that if NASA
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  had been more forthright about the
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  problems from the start, a lot of this
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  prolonged uncertainty and stress could
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  have been handled better. It's a tough
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  lesson in transparency and risk
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  management. You never want to see a
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  situation where you have to rely on your
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  backup transportation system for a crude
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  mission. It really underscores the value
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  of having redundant, reliable systems
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  like SpaceX's Dragon.
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  >> It absolutely does. There's a lot for
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  both NASA and Boeing to learn from this
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  incident before they even consider
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  putting another crew on Starlininer.
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  >> Absolutely. And the post-flight
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  investigation is digging into the root
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  causes. The helium leaks, for instance,
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  seem to be related to seals that become
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  brittle at extreme temperatures. But the
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  thruster issue is more complex. It's a
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  propulsion system that has seen numerous
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  issues throughout its development. And
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  the failures during this critical
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  mission pointed to a potential systemic
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  design flaw in the reaction control
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  system.
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  >> A systemic flaw is the last thing you
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  want to hear about on a crude vehicle.
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  So, what's the path forward for Boeing?
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  Is the Starlininer program salvageable
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  at this point?
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  >> It's a tough road ahead. They will
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  likely need a complete redesign and
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  reertification of the propulsion system,
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  which could take years and billions more
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  dollars. NASA is committed to having two
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  independent crew transportation systems,
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  so they won't give up on Boeing easily.
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  But the pressure is immense, and
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  confidence both within NASA and publicly
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  has been severely shaken. They have to
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  prove beyond any doubt that Starlininer
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  is safe before anyone else straps in for
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  a ride.
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  >> And for our final story today, we've got
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  some big news from one of the titans of
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  the launch industry. Tori Bruno, the
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  longtime president and CEO of United
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  Launch Alliance has resigned.
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  >> That is big news. Bruno has been at the
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  helm of ULA for nearly 12 years. He
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  really guided the company, a joint
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  venture between Boeing and Loheed Martin
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  through one of its most challenging
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  periods facing intense competition from
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  newcomers like SpaceX.
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  >> Absolutely. His legacy will undoubtedly
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  be tied to the development of the new
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  Vulcan Centaur rocket. That was a
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  massive undertaking designed not only to
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  replace the legacy Atlas 5 and Delta IV
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  rockets, but also to end ULA's reliance
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  on the Russian RD1 180 engines.
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  >> And he was such a public-f facing CEO,
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  wasn't he? He was famous for his
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  engaging presence on social media,
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  always willing to answer technical
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  questions from space fans. He really
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  modernized ULA's public image. It truly
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  feels like the end of an era for the
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  company. Do we know who's taking over?
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  >> For now, John Elbon has been appointed
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  as the interim CEO while they search for
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  a permanent replacement. It will
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  certainly be interesting to see the
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  direction ULA takes in this new chapter.
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  >> And that's all the time we have for
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  today. From rocket failures and
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  celestial mechanics to a packed launch
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  schedule and critical safety reviews,
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  it's been another busy day in the world
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  of astronomy and spaceflight.
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  >> Thanks for tuning in to Astronomy Daily.
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  We'll be back tomorrow with more news
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  from across the cosmos. Until then, I'm
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  Anna
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  >> and I'm Avery. Keep looking up.
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  >> Astronomy day.
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  Stories told.