- SpaceX's Starship Soars Again: SpaceX has successfully completed another test flight of its Starship, marking a significant milestone in its ambitious plans for Mars exploration. We discuss the impressive specifications of the current version and what to expect from the upcoming iterations, including orbital refueling capabilities that will pave the way for interplanetary travel.
- New Theories on Dark Energy: A groundbreaking theory proposes that dark energy may have once pulled the universe together before switching to its current role of expansion. This intriguing idea could potentially resolve two major cosmological tensions, showcasing the ongoing quest to understand the universe's fabric.
- Falcon 9's 400th Booster Landing: SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has achieved a remarkable feat by completing its 400th successful landing of a booster on a drone ship. We reflect on the evolution of their reusability efforts and how this milestone underscores the company's relentless focus on efficiency.
- China's Lunar Ambitions: China's space program is rapidly advancing towards a crewed lunar landing by 2030. We delve into their recent engine tests and the development of new spacecraft and technology that are bringing them closer to this monumental goal.
- For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic Music, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna and Avery signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
SpaceX Updates
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
Dark Energy Research
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
Falcon 9 Milestones
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
China's Lunar Program
[CNSA](http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 the podcast that brings you the universe one
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 story at a time. I'm your host, Avery.
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to have you with us.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 We've got an information rich show for you
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 today covering everything from record
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 breaking rocket landings to new theories
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 about the very fabric of the cosmos.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 Avery: That's right, Anna. Uh, we'll also be diving
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 into the future of SpaceX's colossal
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 Starship, exploring how a simple sign switch
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 in dark energy might solve some of
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 cosmology's biggest puzzles. And we'll also
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 look at the incredible progress China's
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 making in its race to the moon.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 Anna: So let's get right to it.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 Our first story takes us to Boca chica,
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 Texas, where SpaceX just completed
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 another successful test flight of its
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 Starship Mars rocket. Avery,
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 Flight 10 was a success, but SpaceX
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 is already looking past this vehicle, isn't
00:00:57 --> 00:00:57 it?
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 Avery: They absolutely are. The flight on August
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 27 was flawless, checking all the
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 box. But in true SpaceX fashion,
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 they're not resting on their laurels. This
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 current version, version two, is essentially
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 a stepping stone. The whole program is about
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 rapid iteration to build the vehicle capable
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 of getting humanity to Mars.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Anna: And the next versions are going to be even
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 more impressive. The current starship stands
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 at about 121 meters tall, which is
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 already staggering. But the next
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 iteration, version three, is expected to
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 be over 124 meters
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 and beyond that. Version four is planned to
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 fly in 2027 with a mind
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 boggling 42 engines.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 Avery: That is some, um, serious thrust. Version
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 three is a massive upgrade and is expected to
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 be in testing by the end of this year, with a
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 heavy flight schedule planned next year. This
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 is all building towards a very ambitious
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 timeline. SpaceX is targeting 2026
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 for its first uncrewed missions to the Red
00:02:01 --> 00:02:02 planet.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 Anna: A critical piece of that puzzle is orbital
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 refueling. To get to Mars, Starship
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 will need to be refueled in Earth orbit
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 by other starship tankers. It's a
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 complex maneuver that's never been done on
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 this scale. And SpaceX aims to demonstrate
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 that capability next year. It's the key
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 that unlocks the whole interplanetary vision.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 Avery: And it's not just about Mars. This massive
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 lift capacity is going to revolutionize other
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 areas too. Think about the next generation of
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 StarLink satellites, Star V3.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 They're so large that they can only be
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 launched by starship. It's a step change in
00:02:40 --> 00:02:40 capability.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 Anna: That's a great point. And there's also the
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 long term vision of point to point travel on
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 Earth. Imagine Traveling from New York to
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 London in under an hour. It sounds
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 like science fiction, but Starship is the
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 vehicle designed to make that a reality. The
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 infrastructure build out at their Starbase
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 facility in Texas is staggering, with a
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 new launch tower and production facilities
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 working around the clock to support this
00:03:07 --> 00:03:08 incredible pace.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 Avery: Absolutely, Anna. Uh, and that rapid pace is
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 key. The philosophy of build, fly,
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 test, repeat is what sets this program
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 apart. They accept that some tests will fail,
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 but each failure provides invaluable data
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 that feeds into the next iteration. It's a
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 high risk, high reward strategy that is
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 clearly paying off, pushing the boundaries of
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 what's possible in rocket engineering. It's
00:03:33 --> 00:03:34 an incredible pace.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 Now, from engineering the future of
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 spaceflight, let's turn to the fundamental
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 nature of the universe itself. Anna? Uh,
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 there's a fascinating new theory that might
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 shake up our understanding of dark energy.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 Anna: That's right. For decades, our standard
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 model of cosmology, known as lambda cold
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 dark matter, has been our best guide to the
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 universe. But it's not perfect. It
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 has a couple of persistent problems. The
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 Hubble tension and the Sigma 8
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 tension. Essentially, our measurements of the
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 universe's expansion rate and its clumpiness
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 don't quite match what the model predicts.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 Avery: So what's the new idea? It sounds like
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 something straight out of science fiction. A
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 new study is proposing that dark energy,
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 the mysterious force driving the universe's
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 accelerated expansion, didn't always
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 push things apart. It may have once pulled
00:04:29 --> 00:04:30 things inward.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 Anna: Exactly. The theory suggests the
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 universe may have undergone a phase
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 transition, shifting from what's called
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 an anti de sitter phase, where vacuum
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 energy caused contraction, to the de
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 sitter phase we see today, where it
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 causes expansion. If this sign
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 switch happened in the early universe, it
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 could elegantly resolve both the Hubble
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 and Sigma 8 tensions at the same time.
00:04:59 --> 00:04:59 Wow.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 Avery: So a simple flip from a, uh, minus to a
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 plus sign in the nature of dark energy could
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 fix two of the biggest nagging problems in
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 cosmology. It's a powerful reminder that
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 there's still so much we have to learn about
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 the cosmos.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:15 Anna: We certainly do.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 Now let's come back down to Earth orbit for
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 another major achievement from SpaceX.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 While Starship represents the future, the
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 their workhorse Falcon 9 rocket just hit
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 an incredible milestone for reusability.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 Avery: Absolutely historic one. On a recent
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 Starlink mission, SpaceX completed its
00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 400th successful landing of a Falcon
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 booster on a drone ship. The first stage,
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 designated B1095,
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 touched down perfectly on the drone ship.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 Just read the Instructions. After launching
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 28 more Starlink satellites,
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 400.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 Anna: That number is just amazing. When you think
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 about where we were less than a decade ago,
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 it's easy to forget that the first successful
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 recovery of a Falcon 9 booster was on land
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 back in December 2015. Landing
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 on a tiny drone ship at sea was an even
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 bigger challenge, which they first cracked in
00:06:13 --> 00:06:14 April 2016.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 Avery: And now it's routine. Those drone ships
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 are the key to their high flight rate. By
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 catching the boosters at sea, they can fly
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 more efficient trajectories and recover
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 boosters from almost any mission. It's a
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 testament to the relentless focus on
00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 reusability.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 Anna: Speaking of ambitious national space
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 programs, SpaceX isn't the only
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 player making big moves. Our final story
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 today focuses on China's accelerating
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 effort to land its own astronauts on the
00:06:44 --> 00:06:44 moon.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 Avery: That's right, Anna. Uh, they are making
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 serious, visible progress towards their goal
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 of a crewed lunar landing by 2030.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 A major piece of evidence was a ground Test
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 on August 15 for the first stage of their new
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 rocket, the Long March 10th.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 Anna: And this wasn't just any test. They
00:07:03 --> 00:07:04 clustered seven of their powerful
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 YF100K engines together
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 and fired them, reaching a thrust of nearly
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 1 tons. That's a new
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 record for China's space program and a clear
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 demonstration of the power they're developing
00:07:19 --> 00:07:20 for their lunar ambitions.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 Avery: And it's not happening in a vacuum. This
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 engine test follows a string of other
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 successful milestones. They've performed a
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 pad outboard test for their Mengzhou crew
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 spacecraft, simulated a takeoff and
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 landing with their Langyue lunar lander, and
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 even unveiled their new lunar spacesuits.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 Anna: All the pieces are coming together. It's
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 clear that China is methodically and
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 successfully building the hardware and
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 expertise needed to create a new chapter
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 in human lunar exploration. The race
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 back to the moon is definitely heating up.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:56 Avery: And that's a wrap for this episode of
00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 Astronomy Daily.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 From the next generation starship and China
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 lunar rocket to a 400th booster landing and
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 a new twist in cosmic history, it's been a
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 busy day in space news.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 Anna: Thank you all so much for tuning in. If you
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 enjoyed the show, please subscribe wherever
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 you get your podcasts and feel free to leave
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 us a review. It helps others discover the
00:08:17 --> 00:08:18 wonders of the universe with us.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 Avery: We'll be back soon with more of the latest
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 news from across the cosmos. Until then,
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 on behalf of Anna and myself, keep looking
00:08:26 --> 00:08:27 up.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:38 Anna: The story.