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Private Telescopes, Troubled Launch Pads, and Webb’s Black Hole Breakthrough · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
• 0:03
  the podcast that brings you the universe
• 0:05
  one story at a time. I'm Avery and as
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  always, I'm joined by the brilliant
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  Anna.
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  >> Hi Avery and hello to all our listeners.
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  We have a busy show today covering
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  everything from a groundbreaking new
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  private space telescope to Russia's only
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  crude launchpad running into some
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  trouble.
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  Plus, we've got the James Webb Space
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  Telescope doing what it does best,
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  peering into the heart of our galaxy,
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  and we'll look at some stunning new
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  photos of home. So, let's get started.
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  Anna, tell us about this new telescope.
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  >> Absolutely. Our first story is a big
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  one, though it comes in a small package.
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  A new space telescope named MAV, about
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  the size of a mini fridge, just launched
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  successfully aboard a SpaceX transporter
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  mission.
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  >> Okay, a mini fridge in space. What makes
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  this one so special?
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  >> Well, unlike Hubble or Web, MALV is
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  owned by a private company, Blue Sky
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  Space. And this is the key difference.
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  Its data will also be private.
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  Researchers will have to subscribe to
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  get access to the ultraviolet spectra.
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  It collects
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  >> a subscription model for astronomical
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  data. That's a fascinating shift.
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  >> It really is. The mission was funded by
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  a mix of EU grants and private funding
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  costing significantly less than
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  comparable NASA missions. It's built on
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  a Cubat chassis, which is incredibly
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  compact and will spend 3 years in low
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  Earth orbit observing exoplanets,
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  stellar flares, and monitoring stars.
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  So why would astronomers pay for this?
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  Is the data that unique?
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  >> It's about access. Time on telescopes
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  like Hubble is at an extreme premium and
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  most proposals get rejected. MAV offers
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  a dedicated stream of ultraviolet data,
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  which is only accessible from space. For
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  many institutions, an annual
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  subscription could be a more reliable
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  way to get the specific data they need
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  for long-term studies. That makes sense.
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  So, this could be the start of a whole
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  new commercial market for astronomical
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  observation.
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  >> Exactly. Blue Sky Space already has
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  another mission, Twinkle, planned for
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  2027 to study exoplanet atmospheres.
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  With falling launch costs and
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  miniaturaturization, this could really
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  change how a lot of astronomical
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  research is done.
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  >> Incredible. From a new beginning to a
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  potential problem, our next story takes
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  us to the Biconor Cosmo Drrome and
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  Kazakhstan. Anna, you have the details
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  on some trouble for Rosscosmos.
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  That's right. Following the successful
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  launch of the Soyuse MS28 crew to the
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  International Space Station, it seems
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  the launchpad itself sustained some
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  significant damage.
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  >> What happened exactly?
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  During the post-launch inspection,
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  Rosasmos confirmed that a maintenance
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  cabin located in the flame trench at
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  site 316 collapsed. This is a critical
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  piece of hardware needed to prepare
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  rockets for launch.
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  >> And this is Russia's only active
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  launchpad for sending cosminauts to the
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  ISS. Right.
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  >> That's the crucial part. They used to
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  use the historic site one Gagarin Start,
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  but it was retired in 2020. So since
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  then, all Russian crude and cargo
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  flights have gone from site 31.
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  Roskasmos says they have the spare parts
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  and will repair the damage, but some
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  outside estimates suggest it could take
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  up to 2 years.
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  >> 2 years. That would have a major impact
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  on their ISS operations. There's a
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  progress resupply mission scheduled for
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  next month. Indeed, it's unclear at this
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  point if that schedule will hold or if
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  another pad could be adapted. The good
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  news, of course, is that the Soyuse MS28
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  crew, including NASA astronaut Chris
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  Williams, arrived at the station safely
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  and are beginning their 8-month stay.
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  >> A situation to watch for sure. All
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  right, let's shift our gaze from Earth
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  orbit to the very center of our galaxy.
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  The James Webb Space Telescope has been
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  watching the Milky Way super massive
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  black hole Sagittarius A star and it saw
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  something spectacular.
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  >> It did. Astronomers used web to observe
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  flares from Sagittarius A star in mid
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  infrared light for the first time. We've
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  seen these flares in other wavelengths
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  like near infrared and radio, but mid
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  infrared was the missing piece of the
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  puzzle. Why is seeing it in a different
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  wavelength so important? Does it just
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  look different?
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  >> It's about understanding the physics of
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  what's happening. The processes that
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  create these flares don't show up in all
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  wavelengths equally. By observing in mid
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  infrared, web is bridging the gap
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  between what we see in near infrared and
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  radio waves, giving us a more complete
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  picture of how the flare evolved.
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  >> So, what did this new view reveal?
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  two really cool things. First, they
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  confirmed that a process called
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  synretron cooling is happening. This is
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  when high-speed electrons lose energy by
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  emitting radiation. And that's what
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  powers the mid infrared light we're
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  seeing.
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  >> Okay, synretton cooling. And the second
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  thing,
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  >> this is the big one. Because the speed
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  of that cooling process depends on the
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  strength of the magnetic field. These
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  new observations allow scientists to
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  measure the magnetic field around the
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  black hole more directly and cleanly
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  than ever before. It's a critical
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  parameter for understanding how these
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  cosmic giants are sculpted and how they
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  eject so much energy.
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  >> Wow. So, we're getting a direct
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  measurement of the magnetic environment
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  right next to a super massive black
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  hole. That's a huge step.
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  >> It is. And the lead researchers
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  emphasized this was only possible
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  because of web's MIRI instrument which
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  can observe in that specific wavelength
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  with incredible sensitivity. Something
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  impossible from the ground.
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  >> Absolutely incredible. So now that we
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  have this new tool to measure the
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  magnetic field so close to the event
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  horizon, what's the next big question
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  these researchers are trying to answer?
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  Are they looking for something specific
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  in future observations?
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  The ultimate goal is to understand how
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  Sagittarius A star feeds and grows.
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  These flares are thought to be the
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  crumbs from its meals, gas and stars
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  that get too close. By studying the
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  magnetic field, scientists can build
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  better models of the accretion disc,
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  which is the swirling vortex of matter
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  that feeds the black hole. They want to
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  understand how this magnetic field
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  extracts energy and launches powerful
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  jets of particles, a phenomenon we see
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  in more active super massive black holes
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  across the universe. Web's observations
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  are providing the crucial ground truth
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  for those theories.
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  >> Another win for Web. Okay. From one
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  innovative space mission to another, the
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  European Space Agency just launched its
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  first scout mission. Anna, what is
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  HydroGNNS
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  scouting for?
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  >> As the name suggests, it's scouting for
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  water. Hydrogns
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  consists of two small twin satellites,
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  also launched on that same Transporter
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  15 ride share flight we mentioned
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  earlier. Their goal is to improve our
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  understanding of Earth's water cycle.
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  >> And how are they doing that? What's the
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  technology?
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  >> It's a really clever technique called
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  GNSS refletometry. Essentially, the
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  satellites listen for signals from
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  navigation systems like GPS and Galileo.
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  They compare the signals they receive
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  directly from the navigation satellites
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  with the signals that have reflected off
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  the Earth's surface.
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  >> Right. And the way those signals change
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  after bouncing off the ground tells them
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  something.
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  >> Exactly. It reveals valuable information
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  about key parts of the water cycle such
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  as soil moisture, the freeze thaw state
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  of the ground, areas of flooding or
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  wetlands, and even the amount of biomass
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  in forests. These are all critical for
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  things like predicting floods, planning
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  agriculture, and understanding carbon
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  cycles.
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  >> You mentioned this is a scout mission.
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  What does that mean for? It's a new
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  approach for them. Inspired by the new
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  space philosophy, scout missions are
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  designed to be fast, agile, and lowcost.
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  They go from concept to launch in just 3
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  years with a lean budget, complementing
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  their larger, more traditional Earth
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  Explorer missions. Hydrogs
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  is the first of this new family.
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  >> That's fantastic. It's great to see
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  agencies embracing faster, more
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  innovative development cycles. Finally,
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  let's bring it back home. NASA's Osiris
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  Apex spacecraft recently swung by Earth
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  and sent back some souvenirs.
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  >> It did. Listeners will remember this
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  spacecraft as Osiris Rex, the mission
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  that successfully returned a sample from
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  the asteroid Bennu. After dropping off
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  its precious cargo, it was given a new
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  name, Osiris Apex, and a new target, the
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  asteroid Apous. And to get there, it
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  needed a little help from home.
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  >> That's right. It performed a gravity
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  assist flyby of Earth, using our
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  planet's gravity to slingshot itself on
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  a new course towards Apous. During this
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  maneuver, it flew just over 2,000 m
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  above the surface and took some
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  absolutely stunning photos of Earth
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  showing swirling cloud patterns over
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  blue oceans.
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  >> I saw those pictures. They're
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  breathtaking. It also got a shot of the
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  moon, didn't it? It did. As it was
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  departing, it captured a dramatic image
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  of the Earth and Moon in the same frame
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  from about 370,000
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  miles away. Besides being beautiful,
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  these images confirmed that its cameras
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  are working perfectly ahead of its new
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  mission.
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  >> And its target, Apotheus, is a
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  particularly interesting asteroid, isn't
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  it?
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  >> Very. Apous will have its own extremely
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  close encounter with Earth on April
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  13th, 2029, passing closer than many of
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  our satellites. Osiris Apex is scheduled
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  to arrive shortly after that pass,
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  making it the first mission to study how
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  an asteroid is physically altered by a
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  planetary encounter. It will orbit
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  Apoffice for 18 months, mapping it and
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  even firing its thrusters to stir up
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  surface dust for analysis. It's amazing
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  that they can get so much more out of
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  one spacecraft. Why is Apous in
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  particular such a high priority target?
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  Is it just about the close flyby or is
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  there something special about the
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  asteroid itself?
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  >> It's a combination of both. The 2029
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  flyby is a once in a millennium
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  scientific opportunity to see how
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  Earth's gravity can physically alter an
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  asteroid, potentially triggering
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  asteroid quakes or changing its spin.
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  But Apous is also an S type or stony
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  asteroid which are very common in the
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  inner solar system and are the type most
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  likely to pose an impact hazard. By
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  studying its composition and structure
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  up close, especially after it's been
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  gravitationally stressed, we gain
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  invaluable data for planetary defense
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  models. It's a perfect natural
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  laboratory.
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  >> An incredible second act for a
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  history-making spacecraft. Well, that's
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  all the time we have for today. From
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  private telescopes and damaged
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  launchpads to black hole flares and
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  Earth scouting satellites, it's been
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  another busy day in space.
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  >> It certainly has. Thanks for tuning in
• 12:20
  to Astronomy Daily. Be sure to subscribe
• 12:22
  wherever you get your podcasts so you
• 12:24
  don't miss an episode.
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  >> Until next time, I'm Avery
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  >> and I'm Anna. Keep looking up.
• 12:34
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