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The Birth of a Black Hole and Mars’ New Navigation · Space News Today

0:00
This is Spacetime Series 29, episode 24
0:03
for broadcast on the 25th of February
0:05
2026.
0:07
Coming up on Spaceime, the clearest view
0:10
yet of the birth of a black hole, a new
0:13
Martian navigation system for use on the
0:15
red planet, and NASA's SpaceX Crew 12
0:18
arrives aboard the International Space
0:20
Station as the agency approves a sixth
0:23
private mission to the orbiting outpost.
0:25
All that and more coming up on Spaceime.
0:44
Astronomers have discovered a star
0:46
collapsing down to form a black hole
0:48
without the expected blinding blast of a
0:51
supernova explosion. Back in 2014, a
0:55
NASA telescope observed infrared
0:56
emissions coming from a massive star in
0:58
the Andromeda galaxy M31, which
1:01
gradually grew brighter. The star glowed
1:04
more intensely with infrared light for
1:06
around 3 years before finally fading
1:08
dramatically and disappearing, leaving
1:10
behind a shell of dust. Now, astronomers
1:14
have determined what they witnessed was
1:16
a star collapsing and giving birth to a
1:18
stellar mass black hole. The study's
1:21
lead author Kishali D from Columbia
1:23
University says this is an event
1:25
astronomers had anticipated for decades
1:28
but have had limited convincing
1:29
observational evidence for until now.
1:32
The findings reported in the journal
1:34
Science show a star undergoing direct
1:37
collapse turning into a black hole
1:38
without first exploding and becoming a
1:40
supernova. Long believed to be a common
1:43
method for highmass stars to become
1:45
black holes. The progenitor star was a
1:48
huge hydrogen- depleted super giant
1:50
named M31 2014 DS1 located some 2 and a
1:54
half million lighty years away. When
1:57
newly formed, this star was around 13
1:59
times the mass of our sun. But at the
2:02
time of its death, it would have been
2:03
closer to five solar masses, having shed
2:05
most of its mass through powerful
2:07
stellar winds during its life. D says
2:10
the dramatic and sustained fading of the
2:12
star was very unusual and suggests a
2:15
supernova failed to occur leading to the
2:17
collapse of the stars c directly into a
2:19
black hole. Now stars with this sort of
2:22
mass have long been assumed to always
2:24
explode a supernova. The fact that it
2:27
didn't suggests that stars with this
2:29
sort of mass range may or may not
2:31
successfully explode. possibly due to
2:33
how gravity, gas pressure, and powerful
2:35
shock waves interact in chaotic ways
2:37
with each other inside the dying star.
2:40
The manner in which the star turned into
2:42
a black hole suggest that at the end of
2:44
its life, its inner core wasn't pushed
2:47
out in a normal supernova explosion,
2:49
instead undergoing a complete inward
2:52
collapse.
2:53
Now, this process of direct collapse to
2:56
form a black hole may have been seen at
2:58
least once before. It was back in 2010
3:01
in the galaxy NGC6946,
3:04
which is about 10 times further away
3:06
than this star. But the exact nature of
3:08
that event was unclear and hotly debated
3:11
in astronomical circles because it was
3:13
100 times fainter and there wasn't
3:14
enough highquality data available about
3:16
it. Now, astronomers have long known
3:19
that stellar mass black holes are caused
3:22
by the death of massive stars. Black
3:24
holes were first theorized more than 50
3:26
years ago, and today we know of dozens
3:28
in our own galaxy and hundreds of others
3:30
detected from gravitational wave
3:32
observations across the distant
3:34
universe. However, scientists still have
3:37
no clear consensus on which stars turned
3:39
into black holes and how that process
3:41
plays out. This discovery provides the
3:44
clearest insights yet into this and
3:46
indicates that this kind of stellar
3:47
collapse may happen more often than
3:49
scientists had previously thought. The
3:52
authors discovered the star by analyzing
3:54
archival data from NASA's Neoise
3:56
mission. They used a prediction from the
3:59
1970s that theorized that when a star
4:01
underwent direct collapse, it would
4:03
leave behind a faint infrared glow
4:06
caused by the dying gasp of the star
4:08
shedding its outer layers and becoming
4:10
enshrouded in dust. So they conducted
4:13
the largest study of variable infrared
4:15
sources ever carried out, tracking every
4:17
star in the Milky Way and other local
4:19
galaxies to try and search out for these
4:21
events and eventually they came across
4:24
M31 2014 DS1. Further analysis showed
4:28
that this star fitted their predictions
4:30
perfectly. D says, "Unlike finding a
4:33
supernova, which is easy because
4:34
supernova outshine the galaxies they're
4:36
in for weeks at a time, finding
4:38
individual stars that disappear without
4:40
producing an explosion is incredibly
4:42
difficult. So, it comes as a shock that
4:46
a massive star basically disappeared
4:48
without an explosion and nobody noticed
4:50
it for more than 5 years. It impacts
4:53
science's entire understanding of the
4:55
inventory of massive stellar deaths in
4:57
the universe. And it says there are
5:00
things that may be quietly happening out
5:02
there that are easily going unnoticed.
5:05
This is spaceime.
5:07
Still to come, NASA trails a new Martian
5:10
navigation system on the red planet. And
5:12
a new crew arrives aboard the
5:14
International Space Station as NASA
5:16
approves a sixth private mission to the
5:19
orbiting outpost. All that and more
5:21
still to come on Spaceime.
5:29
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our show notes,
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squarespace.com/spacetime,
6:38
and the promo code spaceime. NASA has
6:41
developed a new Martian navigation
6:43
system, allowing its Mars Perseverance
6:45
rover to pinpoint its location to within
6:47
25 cm.
6:50
Imagine you're all alone, driving along
6:52
a rocky, unforgiving desert with no
6:54
roads, no map, no GPS, and nothing more
6:57
than a single phone call once a day for
6:59
someone far away telling you where you
7:02
are. Well, that's what the car size six
7:05
wheel Perseverance rover has been
7:06
experiencing ever since landing on the
7:08
red planet almost exactly 5 years ago
7:10
this month. Although it carries time-t
7:13
tested tools for determining its general
7:15
location, the rover has always needed
7:17
mission managers back on Earth to tell
7:19
it precisely where it is until now. A
7:22
new technology developed by NASA's Jet
7:24
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
7:25
California will now allow Perseverance
7:28
to figure out its whereabouts without
7:29
needing to phone home for help. called
7:32
Mars Global Localization. The technology
7:34
features an algorithm that rapidly
7:36
compares panoramic images from the
7:38
rover's navigation cameras with onboard
7:41
orbital terrain maps. Running on a
7:43
powerful processor that Perseverance
7:45
originally used to communicate with the
7:47
Ingenuity Mars helicopter. The algorithm
7:49
takes about 2 minutes to pinpoint the
7:51
rover's location within 25 cm.
7:55
Mission managers first used the Mars
7:57
Global Localization Technology in
7:59
successful mission operations on
8:01
February the 2nd, then again on February
8:03
the 16th. JPL's chief engineer of
8:06
robotics operations, Vandy Vuma, says
8:08
it's kind of like giving the rover GPS.
8:12
It means Perseverance will be able to
8:13
drive for much longer distances
8:15
autonomously, thereby allowing more of
8:17
the planet to be explored and more
8:18
science to be gathered. The upgrades
8:21
especially valuable given how well
8:23
Perseverance's auto navigation
8:24
self-driving systems been working.
8:27
AutoNav enables the rover to replan its
8:30
path around obstacles along its way in
8:32
order to reach its pre-established
8:33
destination. It's already proven so
8:36
capable that the distance Perseverance
8:38
can drive without instructions from
8:39
Earth is largely now only limited by the
8:42
rover's uncertainty about its exact
8:43
location. The implementation of Mars
8:46
global localization comes on the heels
8:48
of another innovation from Perseverance
8:50
mission managers. That is the first use
8:52
of generative artificial intelligence to
8:55
help plan a drive route by selecting way
8:57
points for the rover which are normally
8:58
chosen by human rover operators. Unlike
9:01
on Earth, there are no GPS satellites in
9:04
deep space to locate spacecraft on
9:06
planetary surfaces. So missions whether
9:09
robotic or manned need to come up with
9:11
other ways to determine their location.
9:13
Now, as with NASA's previous Mars
9:15
rovers, Perseverance tracks its position
9:17
using what's called visual odometry,
9:19
analyzing geological features in camera
9:21
images taken every few meters while
9:23
accounting for wheel slippage. But as
9:26
tiny errors in this process add up over
9:28
the course of each drive, the rover
9:30
becomes increasingly unsure about its
9:32
exact location. Now, on long drives,
9:35
that means the rover's sense of its
9:36
position could be up by as much as 35 m.
9:39
believing it may be too close to
9:41
hazardous terrain, Perseverance then
9:43
prematurely may end its drive and wait
9:45
for fresh instructions from Earth. Verma
9:48
says under those circumstances, people
9:50
have to tell it, "You're not lost.
9:52
You're safe. Keep going." Scientists
9:54
knew that if they could address this
9:56
problem, the rover could travel much
9:57
further every day. After each drive
10:00
comes to a halt, the rover sends a 360°
10:03
panorama to Earth, where mapping experts
10:05
match the imagery with shots of the
10:07
Martian surface taken by NASA's Mars
10:09
Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
10:11
Mission managers then send the rover its
10:13
location and instructions what to do
10:16
next. Now, that process can take a day
10:18
or more, but with the new Mars global
10:20
localization technology, the rover is
10:22
now able to compare images itself,
10:24
determine its exact location, and roll
10:27
ahead on its pre-planned route.
10:30
Key to Mars global localization is the
10:32
rover's helicopter base station, which
10:34
Perseverance used to communicate with
10:36
the now retired Ingenuity Mars
10:38
helicopter. Equipped with an
10:40
off-the-shelf commercial processor of
10:42
the type fitted to mid2010 era
10:44
smartphones, the technology can run over
10:46
100 times faster than the robot's two
10:48
main computers, which was specially
10:50
developed to survive the radiationheavy
10:52
Martian environment and are based on
10:54
hardware introduced back in 1997.
10:57
As a technology demonstration designed
10:59
to test capabilities, the Ingenuity
11:01
mission was able to risk employing more
11:03
powerful commercial chips in the
11:04
helicopter base station and on the
11:06
rotocopter itself, even though they
11:08
hadn't been proven in the space
11:10
environment. It was a gamble, but it
11:12
paid off with Ingenuity undertaking 72
11:15
flights compared to the five test
11:16
flights it was originally planned to
11:18
undertake. Now, apart from the Mars
11:20
Perseverance rover, this new technology
11:22
could also find its way onto the moon,
11:24
where lighting conditions and long, cold
11:26
lunar nights make knowing exactly where
11:29
a spacecraft's located all the more
11:31
crucial. This report from NASA TV.
11:34
>> Using a new technology called Mars
11:37
Global Localization, the rover can now
11:39
pinpoint its location without asking
11:41
humans for help. Here's how it works.
11:44
Perseverance takes panoramic images and
11:47
turns it into a bird's eye view. Then an
11:49
onboard algorithm rapidly compares those
11:52
images to terrain maps from an orbiting
11:54
spacecraft and determines the rover's
11:56
precise location. The key to this quick
11:59
computing is a processor Perseverance
12:01
originally used to communicate with the
12:03
Ingenuity Mars helicopter. Now it's
12:06
helping Perseverance keep moving
12:08
confidently. And global localization
12:10
isn't the only recent innovation. The
12:13
team has started to use generative AI to
12:15
help plan the rover's driving path by
12:17
creating way points for Mars. By
12:19
leveraging decades of Mars knowledge and
12:21
the latest advancements in technology,
12:23
the rover will be able to drive for much
12:25
longer distances autonomously. So, we'll
12:27
explore more of the planet and get more
12:29
science.
12:30
>> This is space time. Still to come,
12:33
NASA's SpaceX Crew 12 arrives aboard the
12:36
International Space Station as the
12:37
agency approves a new private mission,
12:39
the sixth, to the orbiting outpost. And
12:42
later in the science report, a new study
12:44
warns that over fishing may be one of
12:47
the key reasons for reef munching crown
12:49
of thorn starfish outbreaks on the Great
12:51
Barrier Reef. All that and more still to
12:53
come on Spaceime.
13:11
NASA's SpaceX Crew 12 Dragon capsule is
13:13
successfully docked with the
13:14
International Space Station, returning
13:16
the orbiting outpost compliment back up
13:18
to its usual seven crew members. The
13:21
crew of two Americans, a Russian and a
13:23
Frenchman, blasted off a day earlier
13:25
aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space
13:27
Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral
13:29
Space Force Base in Florida. The Dragon
13:32
spacecraft freedom, docked autonomously
13:34
with the space-facing zenith port of the
13:36
station's Harmony module. Crew 12 will
13:39
now form part of the expedition 7475
13:42
crew undertaking some 250 scientific
13:45
experiments in orbit. These will include
13:47
studying pneumonia causing bacteria to
13:49
improve cardiovascular treatments, on
13:51
demand intravenous fluid generation for
13:54
future space missions, and research into
13:56
how physical characteristics may affect
13:58
blood flow during long duration space
14:00
flight. Other experiments include
14:02
automated plant health monitoring and
14:04
investigating plant and nitrogen fixing
14:07
microbe interactions to enhance food
14:09
production in space. The International
14:11
Space Station's been under man for about
14:13
a month following the early return to
14:15
Earth of NASA's SpaceX Crew 11 mission
14:17
due to a medical emergency involving one
14:19
of the astronauts.
14:21
Meanwhile, NASA's just approved a new
14:23
private astronaut mission to the
14:25
International Space Station slated for
14:27
later next year. The 14-day mission for
14:30
the company Vast will undertake research
14:32
designed to gain new insights into the
14:34
infrastructure and processes that'll be
14:36
needed to support Vast's own human
14:38
spaceflight missions, which include
14:40
building their own space station in low
14:42
Earth orbit called Haven in 2027.
14:45
Plans suggest Haven will be about the
14:46
size of a truck with additional modules
14:48
added in future years with the outpost
14:51
becoming permanently manned by 2030.
14:53
Vest's looking at research proposals on
14:56
biology, biotechnology, physical
14:58
sciences, human research, and technology
15:00
demonstrations. Vast used SpaceX to
15:03
launch the small haven demo spacecraft
15:05
into orbit last year. The other big
15:08
private company that's been flying
15:10
people into space and to the
15:11
International Space Station is Axiom,
15:13
which has undertaken four missions to
15:15
the orbiting outpost. As well as
15:17
developing NASA's Arteimus space suits,
15:19
Axiom Space is also developing their own
15:21
commercial space station. Its initial
15:23
modules will be attached to the existing
15:25
international space station before
15:27
becoming an independent free-flying
15:29
platform when the international space
15:30
stations retire in 2030. Axiom plan to
15:34
use their space station to undertake
15:35
microgravity research, various
15:37
commercial endeavors, and space tourism.
15:41
This is spaceime.
15:58
And time out to take another brief look
16:00
at some of the other stories making news
16:01
in science this week with a science
16:03
report. A new study warns that people
16:06
are exposed to more air pollution are
16:08
also far more likely to face a higher
16:10
risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
16:12
The findings reported in the journal
16:14
Plus Medicine looked at how much air
16:16
pollution some 27.8 million people aged
16:19
65 and over were exposed to over an
16:21
18-year period. They found that people
16:24
who had a greater exposure to air
16:25
pollution were also far more likely to
16:27
develop Alzheimer's than those who
16:29
avoided air pollution. And the authors
16:31
found the link was also stronger for
16:33
people who had experienced a stroke.
16:36
However, they found no additional effect
16:38
in people with high blood pressure or
16:40
with depression.
16:42
Marine biologists are warning that over
16:44
fishing may be the primary cause of reef
16:46
munching crownthorn starfish outbreaks.
16:49
The findings reported in the journal
16:51
current biology found a reduction in the
16:53
number of predatory fish due to over
16:55
fishing is causing a population
16:57
explosion in the carnivorous starfish.
16:59
The authors compared various areas of
17:01
the great barrier reef that have either
17:03
banned fishing, have limited it, or have
17:05
no restrictions on it. They found in
17:08
areas that banned fishing, there was a
17:10
2.8 8 to 3.6 times higher chance of
17:13
crown of thorns being eaten by predatory
17:15
fish. The authors say the elevated risk
17:18
of the spiny critters in no fishing
17:20
reserves is directly attributable to a
17:22
single species of snapper known as the
17:24
Spangot Emperor, which has some 6.3
17:27
times greater biomass in no fishing
17:29
areas versus those areas where fishing
17:31
is allowed.
17:33
Scientists say glass could be the future
17:35
of long-term data storage for human
17:38
knowledge and recordkeeping. Current
17:40
data preservation techniques such as
17:42
tapes and hard drives tend to degrade
17:44
within a few years or decades and are
17:47
therefore unreliable for long-term
17:49
storage. However, by using lasers to
17:51
encode data onto glass, data could
17:53
withstand moisture, temperature changes,
17:55
and electromagnetic interference for
17:57
centuries. A report in the journal
17:59
Nature claims the system can store 4.8 8
18:02
terabt of data in a 12x 12 cm glass
18:05
sheet with a shelf life of up to 10,000
18:07
years even if stored at high
18:09
temperatures.
18:11
Google have finally launched the new
18:13
Pixel 10a smartphone which one must
18:15
admit is strikingly similar to the
18:17
earlier Pixel 9a. With the details,
18:20
we're joined by technology editor Alex
18:22
Royo from Techadvice St.Life.
18:24
>> Yeah, this is the Pixel 10A. So, this is
18:27
the lower cost version of Google's Pixel
18:29
phones. They normally have the the
18:31
regular Pixel 10 and the the 10 Pro and
18:34
also the 10 Pro XL which is a larger
18:36
version. And then around about this time
18:38
every year, they launch the A version
18:40
which is their more affordable version.
18:41
So this one is $849 Australian,
18:44
obviously less in US dollars, but it
18:46
competes against all those phones that
18:48
are $500 or less, which generally are
18:51
not terribly great phones. I mean that
18:53
look, they'll do what you want them to
18:54
do. They'll do maps, they'll do
18:55
messaging, they'll do various things.
18:56
But if you try and push them with games
18:58
or just try and I don't know do lots of
19:00
video editing or whatever it might be,
19:01
they're clearly not going to be as
19:03
performant as the uh the major devices.
19:06
And that's where the Pixel 10a and also
19:08
the iPhone 16 and the forthcoming 710A,
19:10
which we'll talk about in a moment, come
19:12
in as almost flagship phones under
19:14
$1,000. Now, the one thing that is
19:16
interesting this year is that whilst the
19:18
10 and 10 Pro have the Tensor G5 chip,
19:21
the 1080 this year does not. It has the
19:23
G4 which is a bit unusual because
19:25
normally you know you you would be
19:26
putting the latest chip but clearly in
19:28
an era where memory storage and even the
19:31
space to make processes or more
19:33
expensive processes on production lines
19:35
is heavily impacted by all of the GPUs
19:37
and uh AI in data centers most of which
19:40
actually hasn't been built yet. It's
19:42
sort of been pre-ordered to fulfill
19:43
demand that it's theoretically supposed
19:45
to be there.
19:45
>> There's finally a date for the Apple
19:47
premiere.
19:48
>> Yeah. So this is March 4th in New York.
19:50
They'll also be holding events within
19:52
Singapore and London. This is where
19:53
we're meant to hear about iPhones 17e
19:56
which in theory will have the same chip
19:58
that is in the iPhone 17 range but
20:00
normally there's one core less for some
20:02
reason. It's like a bind chip one of the
20:04
graphics cores or one of one of the
20:05
cores is not there. So it enables Apple
20:08
to use these chips which still have
20:09
great power but in their cheapest device
20:11
$999 in Australia is what the 16 sells
20:14
for. I expect the price will be the
20:15
same. But more importantly, we are
20:17
expecting to also see the new MacBook.
20:20
Supposedly 12 in screen, so small. I
20:22
mean, I've heard people say 13 in, but
20:24
effectively this will sell presumably in
20:26
the US for about $599. We're yet to find
20:29
out. Supposedly, it only has 8 gig of
20:31
RAM instead of 16, which you would think
20:33
is not as enough as you would have on
20:35
the 16 gig devices that can better run
20:37
Apple intelligence, although we're still
20:38
waiting for the next generation of Siri.
20:40
But this will be a lowc cost Mac running
20:42
an iPhone chip with iPhone chips very
20:45
powerful. I mean uh the latest chips are
20:47
as good as the or better than the M1
20:49
from 5 years ago. And uh that's still a
20:51
great computer. I have an M1 with 8 gig
20:53
of RAM and a 512 gig SSD and it's
20:55
running everything that my M2 with 24
20:57
ter GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD can run.
21:00
So, if Apple does that, it will mean
21:03
greater competition for the school
21:05
dollar where you've got Chromebooks and
21:07
you've got iPads and tablets and but
21:08
it'll also give people a cheaper Mac to
21:10
to go for and then they once they start
21:13
using it, they can aspire to better. But
21:15
it will be certainly better than any
21:17
Windows PC that is in the $500,000
21:20
market. It'll just be a vastly better
21:21
device with all the advantages of the
21:23
Macs.
21:23
>> Price of hard drives are going up. the
21:25
cost of these things are going up and
21:26
Western Digital has reported or it's
21:28
been reported online that it has sold
21:29
its entire 2026 allocation of discs to
21:32
data centers. I mean I presume this you
21:35
know still obviously discs in the
21:36
channel uh for consumers but it sold its
21:39
entire 2026 contingent and apparently it
21:41
sold part of its 2027 and 2028
21:44
contingent as well. So the need for
21:46
hardware and electricity to power it is
21:49
paramount. If uh anything's going to
21:50
slow down the revolution, it's going to
21:52
be not having enough of these drives and
21:54
memory and and other GPUs components.
21:56
But I guess the companies buying them up
21:58
in in such volume, making sure that you
22:00
know the data center guys will be okay.
22:02
But it's consumers and businesses that
22:03
will suffer with higher prices.
22:05
>> That's Alex Haravo from techadvice.life
22:09
and this is spacetime.
22:26
and that's the show for now. Spacetime
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