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SpaceX Scrubs Launch, Mars Tracks Interstellar Visitor, and Roman Telescope’s Game-Changing... · Space News Today

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  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
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  that brings you the latest news from
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  across the cosmos. I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. On the docket today, a
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  lastminute launch scrub for SpaceX's
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  massive ride share mission, a new way to
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  track interstellar visitors using data
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  from Mars, and a look at how NASA's
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  upcoming Roman telescope is already set
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  to exceed expectations.
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  Plus, we'll cover a Thanksgiving Day
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  launch to the International Space
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  Station and a successful flight for
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  South Korea's homegrown Nuri rocket.
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  Let's get right into it. Anna, what
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  happened with SpaceX?
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  >> Well, it looks like a huge fleet of tiny
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  satellites will have to wait a little
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  longer to get into orbit. On Wednesday,
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  SpaceX scrubbed the launch of their
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  Transporter 15 mission.
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  >> Oh, that's a shame. How close did they
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  get? They were very close. The call came
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  just over 15 minutes before the planned
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  liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base
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  in California.
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  >> Any word on why technical issue?
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  Weather.
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  >> SpaceX hasn't disclosed a specific
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  reason for the delay. But during the
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  live commentary, a spokesperson
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  emphasized their cautious approach.
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  >> Right.
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  >> They said, and I'm quoting here, there
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  are a thousand ways that a launch can go
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  wrong and only one way that it can go
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  right. So if the team sees anything that
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  looks even slightly off, they'll stop
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  the countdown.
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  >> That's a very good point. Better safe
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  than sorry, especially with a payload
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  that large. How many satellites were on
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  ward again?
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  >> A staggering
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  140 satellites. It's a ride share
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  mission, so it's an eclectic mix of
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  customers. For example, Planet Labs has
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  36 of their small superdub satellites on
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  board, plus two of their larger Pelican
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  satellites. Wow, that's a lot of eyes on
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  Earth.
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  >> Exactly. The European Space Agency also
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  has a pair of satellites to monitor
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  Earth's water cycle. And there are
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  dozens more from companies and agencies
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  all over the world from Taiwan to Italy.
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  There's even a spacecraft from the
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  company Varta, which launches
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  experiments that can return to Earth in
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  re-entry capsules.
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  >> And this was on one of their veteran
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  boosters, wasn't it?
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  >> It was. The first stage of this Falcon 9
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  has already flown 29 times before. The
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  plan was and still is for it to land on
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  the drone ship Of course I Still Love
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  You in the Pacific to be prepped for its
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  30th flight.
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  >> Incredible. So, when is the next
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  attempt?
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  >> The next launch opportunity is Friday,
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  November 28th at 1:19 p.m. Eastern time.
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  We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for
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  them.
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  >> 30 flights for a single booster is
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  astounding. It really speaks to the
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  maturity of their reusability program.
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  You mentioned the company's cautious
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  approach. Is there any speculation on
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  the specific nature of the issue that
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  caused the scrub? Was it related to the
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  vehicle, the payload, or ground systems?
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  >> SpaceX maintains a tight lid on the
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  details of these holds, but sources
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  familiar with the operation suggest it
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  was likely a sensor reading on the
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  ground support equipment that was
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  trending out of its expected range. It
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  could be something as simple as a
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  temperature or pressure reading in a
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  propellant line. The automated countdown
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  system is designed to halt for any
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  anomaly, no matter how small, to give
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  engineers time to evaluate the data.
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  It's a philosophy that has served them
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  well, preventing potential failures.
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  >> That makes sense. And with a veteran
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  booster like B1062, which has 29 flights
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  under its belt, are there additional
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  checks and balances in place? I imagine
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  there's a lot of focus on potential
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  metal fatigue or wear on components that
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  have been through dozens of launch and
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  landing cycles.
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  >> Absolutely. That's a huge part of the
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  refurbishment process. Between each
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  flight, the booster undergoes extensive
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  non-destructive testing, including
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  ultrasonic and X-ray inspections to
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  check for microscopic cracks in the
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  structure and welds. They also swap out
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  highear components like engines and grid
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  fins on a regular schedule long before
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  they are expected to fail. Each flight
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  provides a wealth of data that refineses
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  their understanding of the vehicle's
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  life cycle, allowing them to confidently
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  push the boundaries of what these
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  reusable rockets can do.
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  >> Absolutely. From keeping things on the
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  ground to tracking things flying through
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  deep space, our next story is an update
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  about the third interstellar object ever
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  detected. Three I/ATLS.
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  >> Right. These are fascinating. Visitors
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  from beyond our solar system. The big
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  challenge is always figuring out where
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  they came from and where they're going.
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  >> And getting an accurate trajectory is
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  key. Astronomers just got a huge boost
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  in that department thanks to a very
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  innovative approach using data from a
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  spacecraft orbiting Mars.
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  >> Mars? You mean the ExoMars trace gas
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  orbiter?
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  >> That's the one. Until October, we could
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  only track three I/ATLS
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  from Earthbased telescopes. But as it
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  flew past Mars, the TJO and Mars Express
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  orbiters got to see it from a completely
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  different angle.
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  Ah, so they could triangulate its
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  position. That makes sense.
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  >> Exactly. And it was a huge success. By
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  combining the data from Mars with the
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  observations from Earth, they improved
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  the prediction of the comet's path by a
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  factor of 10. This is actually the first
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  time data from a spacecraft orbiting
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  another planet has been used to do this.
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  >> That's a fantastic milestone. So, where
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  is 3/ATLS
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  now? It just made its closest pass to
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  the sun on October 30th and is now
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  blazing out of the solar system at
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  speeds up to 250,000 km per hour.
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  >> Wow. And it's not coming anywhere near
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  us, right?
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  >> Not at all. It'll pass Earth on December
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  19th at a very safe distance of 270
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  million km. That's almost twice the
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  distance between the Earth and the Sun.
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  But this improved trajectory means
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  telescopes in other spacecraft can now
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  track it with much greater accuracy to
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  learn more about it.
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  >> And there's a bigger picture here, too.
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  This isn't just about this one object.
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  This entire exercise served as a
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  valuable test for planetary defense.
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  >> A kind of rehearsal.
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  >> Yes. And the implications of this
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  improved accuracy are significant. A
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  more precise trajectory allows
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  astronomers to more confidently trace
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  the object's path backward in time,
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  helping to narrow down its potential
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  origin among the nearby stars. It's like
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  cosmic detective work, trying to find
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  its home address. This also allows for
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  much more efficient follow-up
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  observations from other telescopes,
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  including space-based assets like the
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  James Web Space Telescope, which can now
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  be pointed with greater certainty. And
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  what are they hoping to find with those
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  powerful telescopes? Is there anything
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  particularly unusual about three I/ATLS
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  composition compared to the comets born
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  in our own solar system?
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  >> That is the milliondoll question. So
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  far, from a distance, it appears to be a
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  fairly typical water icer comet. But
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  that in itself is a profound discovery.
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  It suggests that the chemical makeup of
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  planet forming discs might be quite
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  similar across the galaxy. The detailed
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  spectroscopic analysis that will now be
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  possible will break down the light from
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  its coma to identify the specific ratios
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  of different ices, organic molecules,
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  and dust. This is our only way of
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  directly sampling the raw ingredients
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  from another solar system.
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  >> It's great to see these capabilities
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  being tested and proven. All right,
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  moving from the solar system to the
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  stars themselves. Our next story is
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  about a telescope that hasn't even
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  launched yet.
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  >> You must be talking about NASA's Nancy
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  Grace Roman Space Telescope. It's
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  scheduled for launch between 2026 and
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  2027, but it's already making waves. I
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  know it's designed to study dark matter
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  and dark energy, but new findings
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  suggest it's going to do much more,
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  especially when it comes to the stars
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  that host exoplanets.
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  >> That's right. According to a new paper
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  in the Astrophysical Journal, Roman's
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  capabilities in astrocismology could be
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  a gamecher.
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  >> Astroismology,
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  that's the study of star quakes, right?
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  The seismic waves that ripple across a
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  star surface.
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  >> Precisely. and Roman is uniquely
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  equipped for it. Its fielder view is 100
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  times broader than Hubble's. This will
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  allow it to observe a staggering number
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  of stars in incredible detail and detect
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  those subtle seismic waves on over
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  300,000 red giants.
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  >> And by studying those waves, we can
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  learn about the stars interior.
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  >> We can determine its mass, size, and age
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  with unprecedented accuracy. As the
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  study's leader, Trevor Weiss put it,
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  "That information will give us a lot of
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  insight on exoplanets themselves."
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  Understanding the host star is crucial
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  to understanding its planets, their
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  potential for habitability, and the
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  future of that planetary system.
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  >> This ties into one of Roman's main
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  missions, right? The Galactic Bulge Time
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  domain survey.
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  >> It does. That survey will use
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  gravitational microlensing to find
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  exoplanets. But this added astroismic
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  data means we'll get a complete picture
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  of not just the planets but the entire
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  system. And since the galactic bulge
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  contains some of the oldest stars in our
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  galaxy, studying them will also give us
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  profound insights into our galaxy's
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  history and evolution.
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  >> So Roman will basically be a time
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  machine looking back at the history of
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  star formation in our galaxy. What an
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  incredible instrument.
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  >> It really is. The data it collects will
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  be the largest astroseismic data set
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  ever compiled.
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  >> Okay, let's bring it back closer to home
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  for our final stories of the day. We
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  have a crew launch and the successful
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  rocket flight to cover. First up, a very
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  timely trip to the International Space
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  Station.
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  >> That's right. One NASA astronaut and two
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  Ros Cosmos cosminauts are counting down
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  to liftoff on Thanksgiving Day from the
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  Bikenor Cosmo Drrome in Kazakhstan.
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  They're about to begin an eight-month
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  mission aboard the station. Who's
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  flying? NASA astronaut Chris Williams
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  along with Rose Cosmo's cosminauts
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  Sergey Kudkov and Sergey Mikv. Their
• 10:45
  Soya's MS28 spacecraft is set to launch
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  at 4:27 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday.
• 10:53
  And it's a quick trip, right? Very
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  quick. They'll orbit Earth just twice
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  before docking with the Rasfitit module
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  at 7:38 a.m. Eastern, just over 3 hours
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  after launch. They'll expand the
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  Expedition 73 crew from 7 to 10 members.
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  >> What a way to spend Thanksgiving. And
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  while they're getting ready to launch,
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  another country just had a big success.
• 11:16
  >> Yes, South Korea's homegrown Nuri rocket
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  has flown for the fourth time, and it
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  was another success. The rocket lifted
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  off from the Naro Space Center on
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  November 26th.
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  >> That's great news for their space
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  program. What was the payload?
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  >> The main payload was an Earth
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  observation satellite called CASS5003,
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  which will study Auroras and another
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  atmospheric phenomenon called Airglow.
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  It also carried a dozen smaller ride
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  share cube sets for various companies
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  and research institutions.
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  This launch was significant for a couple
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  of other reasons too, wasn't it?
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  >> It was the first launch since the
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  establishment of the Korea Aerospace
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  Administration or CASA back in May. It
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  was also the first time that a private
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  system integration company was in charge
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  of the rocket's production and assembly,
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  marking a big step towards
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  commercialization for South Korea's
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  launch industry.
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  >> Fantastic to see that progress. And that
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  brings us to the end of another busy day
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  in space news.
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  >> From launch scrubs on Earth to
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  interstellar tracking from Mars and a
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  successful flight for South Korea, it's
• 12:23
  been quite the day. Thanks so much for
• 12:25
  tuning in to Astronomy Daily.
• 12:27
  >> Be sure to subscribe wherever you get
• 12:28
  your podcast so you don't miss an
• 12:30
  episode. Until next time, I'm Avery
• 12:33
  >> and I'm Anna.
• 12:34
  >> Keep looking up.
• 12:39
  told
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  stories.
• 12:55
  Stories were told.