Latest / Space News Today / Historic ISS Medical Evacuation: Crew Returns Safely + Missing Galaxies & Mars Crisis
Transcript
- 0:00Hey there, space enthusiasts. Welcome to
- 0:03Astronomy Daily, your source for the
- 0:05latest news from the cosmos. I'm Anna.
- 0:08>> And I'm Avery. We've got another packed
- 0:10show today with some fascinating stories
- 0:12from both near and far. Anna, what are
- 0:15we covering?
- 0:16>> Well, Avery, we're starting close to
- 0:18home with some breaking news from the
- 0:19International Space Station. Four
- 0:21astronauts just completed the first ever
- 0:24medical evacuation from the ISS and
- 0:26splashed down safely back on Earth.
- 0:29That's quite significant. We'll also be
- 0:31diving into a cosmic mystery about
- 0:34missing galaxies, getting an update on
- 0:36NASA's troubled Maven spacecraft
- 0:38orbiting Mars, and exploring some
- 0:40surprising findings about how viruses
- 0:43behave in microgravity. Plus, we'll
- 0:46discuss two newly discovered exoplanets
- 0:48that are challenging how we think about
- 0:50habitable zones. And we'll wrap up with
- 0:52an absolutely stunning new radio image
- 0:55of the Milky Way that's revealing hidden
- 0:57structures we've never seen before.
- 1:00>> Lots to get through, so let's jump right
- 1:02in.
- 1:02>> All right, Avery, let's start with our
- 1:04top story. Four International Space
- 1:06Station crew members successfully
- 1:08splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off
- 1:11the coast of San Diego early this
- 1:12morning, marking a historic first for
- 1:15the orbital laboratory. Yeah, this was
- 1:17the ISS's first ever medical evacuation
- 1:20in its 26 years of continuous operation.
- 1:24The crew members included American
- 1:26astronauts Mike Frink and Zena Cardman,
- 1:29Russian cosminaut Ole Platonov and
- 1:31Japanese astronaut Kimya Yui. The
- 1:34capsule touched down at 12:41 Eastern
- 1:37time after spending 5 months in space.
- 1:40Now, NASA has been pretty tight- lipped
- 1:42about the specific medical issue that
- 1:44prompted this early return, which is
- 1:46understandable given privacy concerns,
- 1:49>> right? What they have said is that the
- 1:51affected crew member was and continues
- 1:53to be in stable condition. Mike Fank,
- 1:56who was the pilot for SpaceX Crew 11,
- 1:58posted on social media earlier this
- 2:00week, reassuring everyone that the crew
- 2:02is okay and that this was a deliberate
- 2:04decision to allow proper medical
- 2:06evaluations on the ground where full
- 2:09diagnostic capabilities exist.
- 2:11>> That makes sense. James Pulk, NASA's
- 2:13chief health and medical officer,
- 2:15mentioned there was a lingering risk and
- 2:17uncertainty about the diagnosis that led
- 2:20to the decision to bring the crew back
- 2:21earlier than originally scheduled. They
- 2:24were supposed to stay until midFebruary.
- 2:26>> It's worth noting that three other crew
- 2:28members remained on the ISS. American
- 2:31astronaut Chris Williams and Russian
- 2:33cosminauts Sergey Kutzvkov and Sergey
- 2:36Mikosev arrived at the station in
- 2:38November aboard a Russian Soyu
- 2:40spacecraft. So, station operations
- 2:42continue normally.
- 2:43>> This really highlights the importance of
- 2:45having trained medical protocols in
- 2:47place. The evacuated crew members had
- 2:49been trained to handle unexpected
- 2:51medical situations. And according to
- 2:53senior NASA official Amit Chhatria, they
- 2:56handled everything extremely well.
- 2:58>> Absolutely. And this serves as a good
- 3:00reminder that despite all the incredible
- 3:03engineering and planning that goes into
- 3:05space flight, we're still dealing with
- 3:07human bodies in an extreme environment.
- 3:09Things can and do happen.
- 3:12>> Well, we're glad everyone is safe and
- 3:14receiving the care they need back on
- 3:15Earth.
- 3:16>> All right, Anna. Our next story takes us
- 3:18much further out into space and much
- 3:20further back in time. For years,
- 3:23astronomers have assumed that if they
- 3:24looked hard enough into the deep cosmos,
- 3:27they'd find an almost infinite supply of
- 3:29tiny, dim galaxies hiding in the
- 3:31darkness.
- 3:32>> Right? The prevailing theory has been
- 3:34that the smaller the galaxy, the more of
- 3:36them there should be. It's kind of like
- 3:38a pyramid where you have a few massive
- 3:40galaxies at the top and exponentially
- 3:42more small ones as you go down.
- 3:45>> Exactly. But a new study led by Exu Hang
- 3:48Ma from the University of Wisconsin is
- 3:50challenging that assumption. Using data
- 3:52from the James Webb Space Telescope's
- 3:54Uncover program, the team looked through
- 3:56a massive galaxy cluster called Abel
- 3:592744, which acts as a natural
- 4:02gravitational lens.
- 4:03>> Oh, that's clever. The gravity from this
- 4:06cluster literally warps spaceime and
- 4:08acts like a cosmic magnifying glass.
- 4:11Right.
- 4:11>> Precisely. It bends and brightens light
- 4:14from more distant objects, allowing us
- 4:16to see galaxies from the epoch of
- 4:18reionization roughly 12 to 13 billion
- 4:21years ago. This was a transformative era
- 4:24when the first stars and galaxies were
- 4:26flooding the universe with ultraviolet
- 4:28light.
- 4:29>> So, what did they find that was so
- 4:31surprising?
- 4:32>> Well, when researchers count galaxies of
- 4:34different brightnesses, they normally
- 4:36use what's called a luminosity function.
- 4:39It's basically a cosmic bar chart
- 4:41showing how many bright versus dim them
- 4:43galaxies exist. And for study after
- 4:45study, the chart kept going in one
- 4:47direction. More small think galaxies
- 4:50than bigger, brighter ones.
- 4:52>> But that's not what they found this
- 4:54time.
- 4:55>> Nope. Instead of continuing to climb,
- 4:57the numbers peaked and then started to
- 4:59drop off. They're calling this faint end
- 5:02suppression, which means that below a
- 5:04certain brightness, the population of
- 5:06galaxies actually starts to thin out.
- 5:09>> So where did all these tiny galaxies go?
- 5:12Did they just disappear?
- 5:13>> In a sense, yes. The study suggests it's
- 5:16a case of cosmic bullying in the early
- 5:19universe. The intense radiation from the
- 5:21first big stars could have heated up the
- 5:23surrounding gas so much that small low
- 5:26mass galaxies couldn't hold on to it.
- 5:28Without gas, they couldn't form new
- 5:30stars. And without stars, they stayed
- 5:33dark, essentially becoming cosmic
- 5:35ghosts.
- 5:36>> That's fascinating, but it also creates
- 5:38a problem, doesn't it? I thought these
- 5:41tiny galaxies were supposed to be the
- 5:43main drivers of reionization.
- 5:45>> You're absolutely right. This finding
- 5:47suggests we might need to rethink our
- 5:49models. If these ultra faint galaxies
- 5:51are missing, they can't be the ones
- 5:53doing all the heavy lifting during
- 5:55reionization. We might need to look at
- 5:57slightly bigger, more established
- 5:59galaxies to explain how the universe
- 6:00became transparent.
- 6:02>> This is why I love space science. Every
- 6:05answer creates 10 new questions.
- 6:08>> Couldn't agree more. And they'll need
- 6:09more data from JWST and upcoming surveys
- 6:12to see if this is a universal pattern or
- 6:15just a quirk of this particular region
- 6:17of space.
- 6:18>> Okay, Avery, let's head to Mars now for
- 6:20an update on NASA's MAVN spacecraft. And
- 6:24unfortunately, it's not good news.
- 6:26>> No, it's not. NASA officials are now
- 6:29saying it's very unlikely they'll be
- 6:31able to recover the Mars atmosphere and
- 6:33volatile evolution orbiter, which has
- 6:35been silent since December 6th.
- 6:37>> Naven has been orbiting Mars since
- 6:39September 2014, studying the planet's
- 6:42upper atmosphere and how solar wind
- 6:44strips it away. It's also served as a
- 6:46crucial communications relay between
- 6:48Mars rovers and Earth.
- 6:50>> Right. The spacecraft was supposed to
- 6:52pass behind Mars as seen from Earth, a
- 6:54routine occurrence. But when it emerged,
- 6:56NASA's deep space network didn't observe
- 6:59any signal. That was over a month ago
- 7:01now.
- 7:02>> And the telemetry they did manage to
- 7:04recover from December 6th wasn't
- 7:06encouraging, was it?
- 7:08>> Not at all. Analysis of a brief fragment
- 7:10of tracking data from a radio science
- 7:12experiment indicated the spacecraft was
- 7:15tumbling and no longer in its planned
- 7:17orbit. That's a really bad sign because
- 7:19if the spacecraft is tumbling, its
- 7:21antennas aren't pointing toward Earth,
- 7:23which makes communication basically
- 7:25impossible.
- 7:26>> They even tried using the Curiosity
- 7:28rover's camera to take pictures of Maven
- 7:30as it passed overhead, assuming it was
- 7:32still in its expected orbit, but they
- 7:34didn't detect it.
- 7:36>> Yeah. On December 16th and 20th. The
- 7:39fact that they couldn't spot it suggests
- 7:40its orbit has indeed changed
- 7:42significantly. Luis Proctctor, director
- 7:45of NASA's planetary science division,
- 7:47said it plainly during a meeting earlier
- 7:49this week. We will start looking again,
- 7:51but at this point, it's looking very
- 7:53unlikely that we are going to be able to
- 7:55recover the spacecraft.
- 7:56>> The timing has been particularly
- 7:58challenging, too, hasn't it?
- 8:00>> Absolutely. Mars went into solar
- 8:03conjunction on December 29th, which is
- 8:05when Mars and Earth are on opposite
- 8:07sides of the sun. During this period,
- 8:10the sun interferes with radio
- 8:11communications. So NASA paused all
- 8:13communications with Mars missions. That
- 8:16blackout period just ended on January
- 8:1816th, so they can resume attempts. But
- 8:20the outlook is grim.
- 8:22>> The good news is that Maven isn't the
- 8:24only communications relay at Mars.
- 8:26Right.
- 8:27>> That's correct. Proctor mentioned that
- 8:29other orbiters like Mars Reconnaissance
- 8:31Orbiter and Mars Odyssey can pick up the
- 8:33slack. She said Maven was not a major
- 8:36part of the Mars relay network and
- 8:37they're taking steps to ensure they can
- 8:39still retrieve data from rovers on the
- 8:41surface.
- 8:42>> Still, it's sad to potentially lose a
- 8:44spacecraft that's been so productive for
- 8:46over a decade.
- 8:47>> Definitely. Maven has made
- 8:49groundbreaking discoveries about Mars'
- 8:51atmospheric loss and even observed an
- 8:53interstellar object called 3IATLS
- 8:57late last year. Its contributions to
- 8:59planetary science have been immense. Our
- 9:02next story is taking us back to the
- 9:04International Space Station, but this
- 9:06time we're looking at some much smaller
- 9:08inhabitants, bacteria, and the viruses
- 9:10that infect them. Oh, this is
- 9:12fascinating research. A new study from
- 9:15the University of Wisconsin Madison used
- 9:17E.coli bacteria and the virus called
- 9:20bacterial phagee T7 to study how
- 9:23microgravity affects the evolutionary
- 9:25relationship between viruses and their
- 9:27hosts. though they sent bacteria and
- 9:30viruses to space.
- 9:31>> Exactly. They prepared parallel sets of
- 9:34E.coli cultures infected with T7. One
- 9:37set stayed on Earth as a control and the
- 9:39other went to the ISS to experience
- 9:41microgravity. Then they compared what
- 9:44happened to both groups.
- 9:45>> And I'm guessing things didn't play out
- 9:47the same way in both environments.
- 9:50>> You guessed right. The analysis showed
- 9:52that T7 infection still occurred on the
- 9:54ISS, but it only proceeded after an
- 9:57initial delay. So, spaceflight appears
- 10:00to slow down the early stages of virus
- 10:02host encounters without completely
- 10:04blocking infection.
- 10:06>> That's interesting on its own, but I
- 10:08imagine they dug deeper.
- 10:09>> They did. They performed whole genome
- 10:11sequencing and found that both the
- 10:13viruses and bacteria accumulated
- 10:16distinctive patterns of mutations in
- 10:18space compared to their counterparts on
- 10:20Earth. The viruses evolved specific
- 10:22changes that appear to improve their
- 10:24ability to bind to and infect bacterial
- 10:26cells.
- 10:27>> And what about the bacteria? Were they
- 10:29just sitting drugs?
- 10:30>> Not at all. The space flown E.coli coli
- 10:33populations acquired mutations that may
- 10:35strengthen their defenses against virus
- 10:37attack and enhance their chances of
- 10:39surviving in near weightless conditions.
- 10:41It's like they were engaged in an
- 10:43evolutionary arms race, but the rules of
- 10:45the race were different in space.
- 10:47>> So microgravity is actually changing how
- 10:50evolution works.
- 10:52>> In a sense, yes. The study shows that
- 10:54space flight not only changes the
- 10:56physiology of microbes but also the
- 10:59physical environment in which viruses
- 11:01and bacteria encounter each other. This
- 11:03alters the rules of their evolutionary
- 11:05interaction.
- 11:06>> Okay, but beyond the pure science
- 11:08fascination, does this have any
- 11:10practical applications?
- 11:12>> Absolutely. Here's where it gets really
- 11:14cool. They conducted follow-up
- 11:16experiments on Earth and found that the
- 11:18microgravity associated mutations
- 11:21actually increase the virus's activity
- 11:23against disease-causing E.coli strains
- 11:26that normally resist T7 strains that are
- 11:29implicated in urinary tract infections
- 11:31and are often drugresistant.
- 11:33>> So by studying viral evolution in space,
- 11:36we might actually discover new ways to
- 11:38fight antibioticresistant bacteria here
- 11:41on Earth. That's exactly what the
- 11:43researchers are suggesting. According to
- 11:45the authors, these space adapted viruses
- 11:47can be harnessed to engineer improved
- 11:49bacterial phages for use in human health
- 11:52applications.
- 11:53>> That's incredible. The International
- 11:55Space Station continues to prove its
- 11:57worth as a unique research platform.
- 11:59>> We'll do for a little while yet.
- 12:01>> All right, Avery. Let's travel to some
- 12:04distant star systems. Now, astronomers
- 12:07have discovered two new exoplanets that
- 12:09are prompting scientists to rethink how
- 12:12we define habitable zones.
- 12:14>> Yeah, this is really interesting work.
- 12:16The research introduces the concept of a
- 12:19temperate zone, which is broader than
- 12:21the traditional habitable zone we
- 12:22usually talk about.
- 12:24>> Can you explain the difference? I think
- 12:26a lot of people assume habitable zone
- 12:28and temperate mean the same thing.
- 12:30>> Good question. The traditional habitable
- 12:33zone is pretty narrowly defined. It's
- 12:35the distance range from a star where
- 12:37liquid water could exist on a planet's
- 12:39surface. But this new research led by
- 12:42Madison Scott from the University of
- 12:43Birmingham and Georgina Dansfield from
- 12:46the University of Oxford expands that to
- 12:48include what they call the tempered
- 12:50zone.
- 12:51>> And how is that defined? The tempered
- 12:54zone is defined by something called
- 12:56insulation flux, which describes the
- 12:58amount of solar energy reaching a
- 13:00planet's surface. They're using a range
- 13:02between about 136 watts per square meter
- 13:05and 6,85
- 13:07watts per square meter. Earth receives
- 13:10about 1,361
- 13:12watts per square meter, just for
- 13:14reference.
- 13:15>> So, it's much broader than the
- 13:16conservative habitable zone.
- 13:18>> Exactly. The point is to identify
- 13:20planets that receive moderate levels of
- 13:23stellar radiation. They might not be
- 13:25perfect for life as we know it, but
- 13:27they're worth studying because as our
- 13:29understanding of habitability evolves,
- 13:31some of these planets might turn out to
- 13:33be more interesting than we initially
- 13:34thought.
- 13:35>> So, what are these two new planets?
- 13:37>> The first is to 6716b,
- 13:41which is roughly Earth-sized between
- 13:430.91 and 1.05 Earth radially
- 13:48rocky. The second is TOI7384b,
- 13:52which is a sub Neptune measuring about
- 13:543.37 to 3.77 Earth radi. This one
- 13:59probably has a rocky core with a thick
- 14:01hydrogen and helium envelope.
- 14:03>> And they're both orbiting red dwarf
- 14:06stars.
- 14:07>> Correct. They're orbiting what are
- 14:08called mid to late type Mdorfs, which
- 14:11are small, dim, cool stars. These types
- 14:14of stars are really important for this
- 14:15kind of research because temperate
- 14:17planets orbiting them are much more
- 14:19likely to transit in front of their
- 14:21stars from our point of view, making
- 14:23them easier to detect and study.
- 14:25>> So, the goal is to build up a catalog of
- 14:27planets that we can actually study in
- 14:30detail.
- 14:31>> Exactly. TOI6716b
- 14:34has a predicted transmission
- 14:35spectroscopy metric similar to the
- 14:37famous Trappist one planets, which makes
- 14:40it a good candidate for JWST
- 14:42observations. if it has retained its
- 14:44atmosphere. The researchers conclude
- 14:46that these discoveries show the power of
- 14:48combining test data with groundbased
- 14:50observations to build a catalog of
- 14:52temperate planets for atmospheric
- 14:54studies in the coming decade.
- 14:56>> It's exciting to think we're moving
- 14:58beyond just counting exoplanets to
- 15:00actually being able to study their
- 15:02atmospheres in detail.
- 15:04>> And for our final story today, we're
- 15:06coming back home to our own galaxy.
- 15:08Astronomers in Australia have just
- 15:10released the most detailed low-frequency
- 15:12radio image of the Milky Way ever
- 15:14produced.
- 15:15>> This image is absolutely stunning. It
- 15:18was captured by the Merchesen Wildfield
- 15:20Telescope in Western Australia and
- 15:22reveals thousands of structures across
- 15:25the galaxy's southern sky that we've
- 15:27never seen in this kind of detail
- 15:29before.
- 15:30>> And the numbers behind this are pretty
- 15:32impressive. It took over 1 million CPU
- 15:34hours to process the data which was
- 15:36collected across 141 nights between 2013
- 15:40and 2020.
- 15:41>> And this isn't just a prettier version
- 15:43of something we already had, right? This
- 15:46is genuinely new science.
- 15:48>> Absolutely. According to the
- 15:50International Center for Radio Astronomy
- 15:52Research, this updated release from the
- 15:54Gleam X survey delivers twice the
- 15:57resolution and 10 times the sensitivity
- 15:59of earlier efforts. Plus, it covers
- 16:02twice as much of the sky.
- 16:03>> What kinds of things can we see in this
- 16:05image?
- 16:06>> Well, Sylvia Monttovani, a PhD student
- 16:09at Curtain University who led the
- 16:11project, explains you can clearly
- 16:13identify remnants of exploded stars
- 16:15represented by large red circles in the
- 16:18image. The smaller blue regions indicate
- 16:20stellar nurseries where new stars are
- 16:23actively forming.
- 16:24>> So, it's showing us both the birth and
- 16:27death of stars.
- 16:28>> Exactly. One of the major focuses of
- 16:31this survey is finding supernova
- 16:33remnants which are notoriously difficult
- 16:35to spot in the cluttered background of
- 16:36the Milky Way. Hundreds are already
- 16:39cataloged, but astronomers believe
- 16:41thousands more still hidden. With this
- 16:43new level of resolution, those cosmic
- 16:46scars from ancient stellar explosions
- 16:48are easier to identify.
- 16:50>> The image also helps with pulsar
- 16:52studies, doesn't it?
- 16:53>> Yes. Measuring pulsar brightness across
- 16:55different radio bands could improve our
- 16:58understanding of how these spinning
- 16:59neutron stars function and where they
- 17:01live in the galaxy. The survey has
- 17:04cataloged over 98,000 radio sources in
- 17:07total.
- 17:08>> That's an incredible number. And I read
- 17:10that this is setting the stage for an
- 17:12even more powerful telescope.
- 17:14>> Right. The Merchesen Wildfield Array
- 17:16will eventually be surpassed by the SKA
- 17:18Low Array, which is currently under
- 17:20construction in the same region of
- 17:22Western Australia. Once the SKA
- 17:24observatory is operational, it'll
- 17:26deliver even sharper and deeper views of
- 17:28the universe.
- 17:29>> But for now, we have this remarkable
- 17:32foundation. Associate Professor Natasha
- 17:34Hurley Walker, who leads the Gleam X
- 17:36survey, called this an exciting
- 17:38milestone in astronomy since no
- 17:41frequency radio image of the entire
- 17:43southern galactic plane has been
- 17:45published before.
- 17:46>> And it's not just about the Milky Way.
- 17:48The catalog includes distant galaxies as
- 17:50well. So, it's a dense, glowing map of
- 17:53our cosmic neighborhood that future
- 17:55generations of astronomers will use,
- 17:57refine, and expand upon.
- 17:59>> Well, that wraps up today's episode of
- 18:01Astronomy Daily. We covered quite a bit
- 18:03of ground today. From the first medical
- 18:05evacuation from the ISS to missing dwarf
- 18:08galaxies, a troubled Mars orbiter,
- 18:11viruses evolving in space, newly
- 18:13discovered exoplanets, and a spectacular
- 18:16new view of our home galaxy. It really
- 18:18shows the incredible breath of space
- 18:20science happening right now. Whether
- 18:22it's 300 m above our heads on the ISS,
- 18:25millions of miles away at Mars, or
- 18:27billions of light years away in the
- 18:29early universe, there's always something
- 18:31new to discover.
- 18:32>> Thanks so much for joining us today. If
- 18:35you enjoyed the show, please subscribe
- 18:36and leave us a review. It really helps
- 18:38other space enthusiasts find us.
- 18:41>> And if you have any questions or topics
- 18:42you'd like us to cover, reach out to us
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- 18:48Astro Daily Pod. We love hearing from
- 18:51our listeners.
- 18:52>> Until next time, keep looking up. Clear
- 18:54skies, everyone.
- 19:07Stories told.