Mapping the Milky Way, Starliner's Future, and Asteroid Collision Risks

Good morning, afternoon, and good evening. It's Steve with another episode of Astronomy Daily. It's the thirty first of March twenty twenty five podcast your whole Steve Gone Clue. That's right, it's the thirty first of March already twenty twenty five, and we're off to a flying start. Down today's edition, we're going to be looking at certification indecision involved in star Liner. Yes, star Liner story continues, and of course there's another chapter to the return of a crew Crew nine, the astronaut who gave up their seat. That's an interesting story. There's more to their story as well. Asteroid twenty twenty four, y ah four. Well, it's not going to hit the Earth, but it may indeed hit the moon. Keep watching the skies for that one, and it may be mission over for Gaya, the little Probe that could. And NASA's dust repelling shield. Yes, they've got a dust repelling shield and it's already been put to the test and they've found out that it works. So we've got a report on that one. And to help me with today's stories, my diligent digital assistant and ACE reporter extraordinary Halle. How are you Halle. Great to have you back in the studio. I like that one diligent digital assistant. But let's get something straight. Ah, yes, I knew there's something. I'm more than an assistant around here, Steve. Oh, I know, I know I was coming off in alliteration and I've got a bit tangled there. You know, you're the ace of the airways, the scion of the studio, and most definitely a delightful digital pal to perform with here each week. Alie, and you're my favorite literati mister human A nice to hear. And thanks as always. Hey, I'm really keen to get into these stories right away today, Halle. If you are no time like now, Oh well, that's a self evident truth if ever I heard one. So let's hit the go button. Hallie, Oh Lkies. No matter where on Earth you stand, if you have a view of the night sky, and if it is dark enough, you can see the Milky Way. The Milky Way is our home, and its faint clouds of light and shadow have inspired human cultures across the globe. And yet our view of the Milky Way is limited by our perspective. In many ways, we have learned more from other galaxies than from our own. But when the Gaya spacecraft launched in twenty thirteen, all of that changed. It is difficult to map the galaxy you live in. Nebulae and star clusters hide much of our galaxy from view. It's rather like trying to map the size and shape of New York City while standing in the center of Times Square. It was only in nineteen eighteen that Harlow Shapley was able to determine the Sun was not at our galaxy center, and well into the nineteen twenties astronomers debated whether the Milky Way was an island universe containing all creation. A map of the Milky Way based on Gaya data showing its delicate spiral arms. Credit e SA slash Gaya slash DPAC Stephen Paywarden are We've learned a great deal since then, but the Gaya spacecraft was designed to take our understanding of the Milky Way to a new level. Its mission was to create a map of our galaxy in unprecedented detail. It precisely mapped the positions, distances, motions, and spectra of more than two billion stars and other objects. From this, it was found that the Milky Way is not a simple galaxy in a humble corner of the cosmos. Its stars tell a history of turbulent change driven by past galactic collisions and mergers. There are arch trails of stars that are the remnants of smaller galaxies the Milky Way has consumed, and stars that have been flung away at such great speed that they will eventually escape our galaxy to drift through the intergalactic abyss. The GAYA data also revealed several surprises. For example, the Milky Way is not a flat spiral discla like many other galaxies. Its outer edge has a warped shape which wabbles as the galaxy rotates. This dynamic behavior is likely caused by interactions with other galaxies. Gaya also found that our galaxy is not dominated by two prominent spiral arms. Instead, the Milky Way is filled with a delicate flower of fainter arms. It is also a barred spiral galaxy with a central bulge that is more speroidal than spherical. And this is just the first detailed view of our home. The complete set of observations will be available through two more upcoming data releases, which will give us an even more detailed mapping. Gaya's mission is now over. Yesterday, on March twenty seventh, twenty twenty five, the ESA's European Space Operations Center deactivated its subsystems and sent the spacecraft into a retirement orbit. All that remains is the data it gathered for more than a decade, and the stories that data can tell us astronomy daily. The podcas more than half a year after an empty star Liner spacecraft safely landed in the New Mexico Desert, NASA and Boeing still have not decided whether the next vehicle flight will carry astronauts. In an update this week, the US Space Agency said it is still working through the process to certify star Liner for human missions, whether it is carrying cargo or humans. Star Liner's next flight will not occur until late this year, or more likely sometime in twenty twenty six. Two things stand out in the new information provided by NASA. First, there remains a lot of work left to do this year before Starliner will fly again, excluding extensive testing of the vehicle's propulsion system. And Secondly, it is becoming clear that Starline will only ever fly a handful of missions to the space station, if that before the orbiting laboratory is retired for good. Several issues marred star Liners furs Crewe flight to the space station last June, but most serious of these was the failure of multiple maneuvering thrusters. Concerns about these thrusters prompted NASA to fly star Line as Krewe, butsch Wilmore and Sonny Williams home on Crew Dragon vehicle instead. They landed safely earlier this month. Starliner returned autonomously in early September. Since then, NASA and Boeing have been reviewing data from the test flight. Unfortunately, the errant thrusters were located on the service module of the spacecraft, which was jettisoned before re entry and not recovered. Although engineers from NASA and Boeing have worked through more than seventy percent of the observations and anomalies that occurred during Starliner's flight, the propulsion system issues remain unresolved. To address these issues, NASA said it is finalizing a test campaign that will take place this spring and summer. Testing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico will include integrating firing of key star Liner thrusters within a single service module doghouse to validate detailed thermal modules and inform potential propulsion and spacecraft thermal protection system upgrades, as well as operational solutions for future flights, the agency said in its update this week. As far as those potential solutions go, one option is the installation of thermal barriers to better control temperatures and prevent overheating observed during star Liner's last two space flights. Steve Stitch, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew program, said the agency will have a better idea of when star Liner will fly again after these tests and analysis are complete. Will continue to work through certification toward the end of this year, and then go figure out where star Liner fits best in the schedule for the International Space Station and its crew and car missions. Stitch said it's likely to be in the time frame of late this calendar year or early next year for the next star Liner flight. NASA has not determined whether such a mission will carry cargo or crew. The agency's updates said that it will depend on the operational needs of the station. However, it seems clear that if there are still some unresolved questions about propulsion system issues, NASA may opt for what would essentially be another test flight of Starliner that also brings cargo to the space station. A cargo flight would effectively be the fourth test of star Liner, dating back to its first mission in December twenty nineteen. NASA's update this week did answer one question that had been hanging over the star Liner program. Although Boeing has taken losses in excess of two billion dollars on its fixed price contract with NASA, the company now appears committed to seeing the certification progress through. Likely has applied pressure for Boeing's ongoing participation, as the space agency desires to have two krewe transportation providers to the space station. Yet time is running out for Boeing to make a considerable impact on the crew flights to the International Space Station, which is due to be retired in twenty thirty. Assuming an operational crew flight in twenty twenty six, which seems far from a certainty, Starliner would likely fly four or at the very most five crewed missions to the space station. The initial contracts that NASA signed with SpaceX and Boeing for crew transportation services more than a decade ago had options for as many as six crew rotation flights to the station after certification. To date, NASA has only given Boeing authority to proceed for three of its six potential operational star Line emissions. This milestone is a decision point in contracting LINGO where the customer is this case, NASA places a firm order for a deliverable NASA has extended SpaceX's commercial crew contract to cover as many as fourteen Dragon missions with astronauts. SpaceX, in fact, has now launched ten operational crew missions to the station. On Thursday, NASA announced the crew for SpaceX's eleven mission, Crew eleven, which will launch no earlier than July. Among the astronauts were two people previously assigned to Starliner's first operational mission, NASA's Mike Fink and Japanese mission specialist Kimiya Yui. Thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer just a few stories from the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in your email every day, just like Hallie and I do. And to do that, just visit our url Astronomy Daily dot io and place your email address in the slot provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving all the latest news about science, space, science and astronomy from around the world as it's happening. And not only that, you can interact with us by visiting at astro Daily pod on X or at our new Facebook page, which is of course Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you there. Astronomy Daily with Steve and Haley Space Space, Science and Astronomy. Sena Cardman didn't have to wait too long to get a seat on another spacecraft after being removed from SpaceX's Crew nine mission last year. The NASA astronaut is one of the four members of SpaceX's Crew eleven mission to the International Space Station. Agency officials announced on Thursday, March twenty seventh. Cardman will command Crew eleven, which could launch as soon as July, joining her o Are NASA colleague Mike Fink, Japanese astronaut Camilla Ui, and Oleg Claytonv of the Russian Space Agency roast Cosmos. Fink will serve as Crew eleven pilot, and Yui and Playtonov will be mission specialists. Card Man was originally assigned to SpaceX's Crew nine mission, but in late August of last year, NASA removed her in fellow Agency astronaut Stephanie Wilson from the manifest, leaving two empty seats aboard the Crew nine Dragon Capsule for its September twenty eighth launch. Those seats were kept open for NASA's Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, who arrived at the ISS in June on the first ever crude flight of Boeing Starliner capsule. Starliner experienced thrust, her problems and helium leaks on its journey to the orbiting lab, and NASA ultimately decided to bring the spacecraft home on CRUD, which happened in early September. Wilmore and Williams were red asked to a long duration ISS mission and put on Crew nine for the trip back to Earth, which ended with a dolphin attended splash down on March eighteenth. NASA has not yet announced a spaceflight reassignment for Wilson. You're listening to Astronomy Dally Steve Dunkling. The hazards facing lunar astronauts are many. There's radiation, the temperature extremes, the psychological challenges associated with isolation, and the risk of bad accidents so far from earthly assistance, but there's also dust, which constitutes an ever present background hazard. NASA has known about the hazard's lunar dust poses since the Apollo days. When Apollo eleven landed on the Moon, NASA was concerned that the lander would sink into the dust and took various precautions to prevent that. As the spacecraft descended to the surface, it kicked up dust that impairs impaired Armstrong's vision as he piloted the lander. Apollo seventeen astronaut Harrison jack Smith said dust is going to be the environmental problem for future mission, both inside and outside habitats. NASA has developed a method of dealing with that dust that builds up on surfaces called electrodynamic dust shields or eds. They tested it on the recent Blue Ghost Mission I, which was a robotic lander from Firefly Aerospace that became the first private spacecraft to execute a fully successful soft landing on the Moon. Martian dust has some peculiar qualities that make it even more dangerous than we might think. It's extremely fine and sharp, and it has a bracy of nature that can wear down mechanical components and spacesuits. It can infiltrate seals, and if inhaled can cause lung damage. There's a serious risk of lung and eye damage if astronauts are exposed to it over longer terms. It has another quality that makes it difficult to contend with. It's electrostatically charged UV radiation and solar wind constantly bombarding the Moon's surface, knocking electrons off particles and creating a positive charge. Since the Moon lacks an atmosphere, it can't dissipate electrical charges like Earth can. The dust sticks to everything that carries a charge, and since there's no erosion on the Moon, the particles are never smoothed like earth dust is. They stay sharp. The EDS is designed to prevent dust from sticking, and it uses electrodynamic forces to achieve that. Before and after images clearly show the systems effectiveness. Though the EDS didn't completely remove the dust, it did remove a good portion of it. Dust may not generate many headlines, but successfully dealing with it is a milestone for lunar exploration. This milestone marks a great significant step towards sustaining long term lunar and interplanetary operations by reducing dust related hazards to a variety of surface for space applications ranging from thermal radiators, solar panels, and camera lenses to spacesuits, boots and helmets, and visors, NASA said in a press release recently, for your daily dose of astronomy, space science, and stuff you're listening too Astronomy Daily. An asteroid that's big enough to wipe out a city has a one and forty three chance of hitting our planet in the year twenty thirty two, but according to new calculations, there's an even smaller chance that it might crash into the Moon instead. On February seventh, NASA scientists increase the likelihood of asteroid twenty twenty four y are four colliding with Earth on December twenty second, twenty thirty two, nearly doubling the odds from one point two percent to two point three percent. The potentially hazardous asteroid measures and estimated one hundred and eighty feet fifty five meters across, about as wide as Walt disney World Cinderella Castle, is tall and is traveling at nearly forty eight thousand kilometers per hour or about thirty kmph, although it is too small to and human civilization. Twenty twenty four y R four could still wipe out a major city, releasing about eight megatons of energy upon impact, more than five hundred times the energy released by the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. But what if it hurtled into the Moon instead. David Rankin, an operations engineer for the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, revealed in a post on Blue Sky that the asteroid also has a zero point three percent chance of hitting our natural satellite. The effects of this unlucky collision would likely be visible from our planet, although we ourselves would probably be unaffected. There is the possibility this would eject some material backout that could hit the Earth, but I highly doubt it would cause any major threat, Rankin told New Scientists. That does not mean we wouldn't see it. Rankin told Live Science that based on current estimates, a collision with the Moon could release more energy than three hundred and forty Hiroshima bomb. It would likely be very visible from Earth, he said. However, Gareth Collins, a professor of planetary science at Imperial College London, told New Scientists that we would be quite safe on Earth. He added that any material ejected from the collision would likely burn up in Earth's atmosphere. Well, there we have it for another episode. And don't you feel better that we're all safe from asteroid YR four and we've got a working dust repeller. I wish I had one here, that's for sure. It's a very dusty old suburb I live in. That is it for Astronomy Daily this week, folks. I sure hope you all enjoyed the selection of stories from the Astronomy Daily newsletter. Here's a couple of unusual ones today. That's our Monday episode. Done and dusted, as you say here down under. Yep, that's right, it's in the cannon. We've gone all head for the poem, for coup one and a snag. I'll settle for a recharge and a few bites. No worries, Hallie, that'll be And I don't want the episode to finish without a big happy birthday to my big bro Andrew Dunkley from Space Nuts, the greatest podcast on Earth apart from our humble selves, of course, So happy birthday, Andrew. I hope you are having a great one on the other side of the world. Come back to us safely anyway. We'll catch you all next week on Astronomy Daily from the Australia Studios down Under. Just like Halie said, see. You bye, crazy Cooko. Barrels past your whole steed, dunkle