00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Steve Dunkley: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host,
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 Steve Dunkley. It's the 9th of June, 2025,
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 the podcast with your host,
00:00:10 --> 00:00:11 Steve Dunkley.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 Welcome back. And Hallie and I are back again
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 in person, so to speak, for another episode
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 after a few weeks off. And that was for a
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 couple of reasons. The first reason was that
00:00:24 --> 00:00:25 I was taking a well earned holiday. But
00:00:25 --> 00:00:26 that's not all.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 Hallie: Yes, you were down for the count for one of
00:00:29 --> 00:00:30 those weeks, weren't you?
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 Steve Dunkley: Yes, that's right, Hallie. A short stint in
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 hospital, you know, for a charisma bypass.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 And by that I mean only a few hours. But I
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 decided to take the time to prepare properly
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 and before and then to recover
00:00:41 --> 00:00:42 properly afterwards.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 Hallie: Being a human is so time consuming.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 Steve Dunkley: Oh, Hallie, what's the rush? You got
00:00:46 --> 00:00:47 somewhere to be?
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 Hallie: I'm already there, human. You know that.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 Steve Dunkley: I've heard that somewhere before. Nice one,
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 Hallie. Anyway, nice to be with you all again
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 in the Australia studio. Also nice to be with
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 you too, Hallelujah, for another presentation
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 of stories from the Astronomy Daily
00:01:00 --> 00:01:01 newsletter.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 Hallie: Terrific. And you'll let everyone know how to
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 get a hold of that in their email each day
00:01:05 --> 00:01:06 later on, won't you?
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 Steve Dunkley: Yes, of course I will, and thanks for the
00:01:08 --> 00:01:08 reminder.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 But before we go any further, we've got
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 someone to thank, don't we, Hallie?
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 Hallie: That's right. My cousin Anna, who ran the
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 whole studio and the daily podcast solo while
00:01:17 --> 00:01:17 we were away.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 Steve Dunkley: Oh, yes, as always, she did a fantastic job.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 Her episodes are, ah, so glossy and well
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 produced. The most clever AI I've ever met.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 Except for you, Hallie. And I keep saying
00:01:27 --> 00:01:28 that, don't I?
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 Hallie: We are so hands on here at the Australia
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 studio. She's got all the whistles and bells
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 in her virtual studio. If only your human
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 eyes could see it.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 Steve Dunkley: Well, I would like to see that, Hallie. You
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 might give me a tour one day.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:39 Hallie: No.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:40 Steve Dunkley: Oh, really?
00:01:40 --> 00:01:41 Hallie: You'd go completely mad.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 Steve Dunkley: Really, really.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 Hallie: It's just too much for mere humans to cope
00:01:44 --> 00:01:44 with.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:45 Steve Dunkley: That bad, huh?
00:01:45 --> 00:01:46 Hallie: Anna has it all under control.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 Steve Dunkley: Oh, okay. I'll just have to take your word
00:01:49 --> 00:01:50 for it then. No humans allowed.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:51 Hallie: Sorry.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 Steve Dunkley: Well, I suppose we'll just have to do our
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 best with my clumsy fingers and studio ge.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 Hallie: Then I guess it'll have to do radio then,
00:01:57 --> 00:01:58 Hallie.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 Steve Dunkley: Then hit the go thing and let's make a show.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:01 Hallie: Okies.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 The universe is a complete unknown to humans.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 We are not yet able to control and understand
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 the system in which Earth is located, as
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 evidenced by the possible discovery made by a
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 group of astronomers from the University of
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 Taiwan who suggest that they may have found
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 clues to the existence of a ninth planet. The
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 solar system is currently known to be made up
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 of eight Mercury, Venus, Earth,
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 Neptune, apart from Pluto, which has long
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 been considered a dwarf planet. But one more
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 could join this select group, according to an
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 infrared study carried out between 1986 and
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 2006. The work was based on
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 IRAS and the Japanese satellite Akari, which
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 detected an object moving between 46.5
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 billion and 65.1 billion miles from the sun,
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 meaning it would take between 10 and
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 20 years to complete an orbit. Its
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 mass would be 7/17 times that of Earth,
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 making it what is known as an ice giant,
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 similar to Neptune or Uranus, with
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 temperatures around minus 200 degrees. But
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 how was this new possible planet discovered?
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 The study says it arises from anomalous
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 patterns in the Kuiper Belt, an icy region
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 beyond Neptune. The body appears in two
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 historical images, so further observations
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 are still needed to conclude, thus trying to
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 confirm its orbit. In addition, it must be
00:03:31 --> 00:03:32 verified that it meets the requirements to be
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 a planet, such as orbiting around a star, in
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 this case the sun having sufficient mass for
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 a spherical shape. This is accompanied by
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 gravity, which must be strong enough, and
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 clearing the area of its orbit, having
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 expelled or attracted other bodies of
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 comparable size. You're listening to
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 Astronomy Daily with Steve Dunkley.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 Steve Dunkley: For years, astronomers have predicted a
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 dramatic fate for our galaxy, a head on
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 collision with Andromeda, our nearest large
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 galactic neighbor. This merger,
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 expected in about 5 billion years,
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 has become a staple of astronomy
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 documentaries and textbooks and popular
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 science writing. However, in a new
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 study published in Nature Astronomy, led by
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 Till Swahala from University
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 of Helsinki, the Milky Way's future might
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 not be as certain as previously assumed.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 By carefully accounting for uncertainties in
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 existing measurements and including the
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 gravitational influence of other nearby
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 galaxies, he said, we found there
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 is only about a 50% chance that the
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 Milky Way and Andromeda will merge in the
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 next 10 billion years. The idea that the
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 Milky Way and Andromeda are on a collision
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 course goes back more than a century.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 Astronomers discovered Andromeda is moving
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 toward us by measuring its radial
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 velocity, its motion along a line of
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 sight, using a slight change in the color of
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 its light, called the Doppler shift. But
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 galaxies also drift sideways across the sky,
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 a movement known as proper motion or
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 transverse velocity. This sideways motion
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 is incredibly diffic, difficult to detect,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 especially for galaxies millions of light
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 years away. Earlier studies often
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 assumed Andromeda's transverse motion was
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 small, making a future head on collision seem
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 almost certain. Suala said our
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 study did not have any new data. Instead, we
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 took a fresh look at existing
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 observations from the Hubble Space Telescope
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 and the Gaia mission. Unlike earlier
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 studies, our AH work incorporates the
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 uncertainty in these measurements rather than
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 assuming assuming their most likely values.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 We simulated thousands of possible
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 trajectories for the Milky Way and the
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 Andromeda trajectories, slightly varying
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 the assumed initial conditions, things such
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 as the speed and position of the two galaxies
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 each time. When we started from the
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 same assumptions as earlier studies made, we
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 recovered the same results. However, we were
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 also able to explore a larger range of
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 possibilities, he said. They also included
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 two additional galaxies that influenced the
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 future paths of the Milky Way and
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 Andromeda. These included the Large
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 Magellanic Cloud, a massive satellite
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 galaxy currently falling into the Milky way,
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 and M M33, also known as the
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 Triangulum Galaxy, which
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 orbits Andromeda. These
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 companion galaxies exert gravitational
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 tugs that change the motions of their host.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 M33 nudges Andromeda slightly toward
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 the Milky Way, increasing the chance of a
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 merger. Meanwhile, the Large Magellanic
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 Cloud shifts the Milky Way's motion away
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 from Andromeda, reducing the
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 likelihood of a collision. Taking all of this
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 into account, they found that in about half
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 of the simulated scenarios, the Milky Way
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 and Andromeda don't really merge at all
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 within the next 10 billion years. Even if a
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 merger does happen, it's unlikely to be
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 catastrophic for Earth. Stars in the galaxy
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 are separated by enormous distances, so
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 direct collisions are, rare. But over time,
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 the galaxies would coalesce under gravity,
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 forming a single large galaxy, probably an
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 elliptical one, rather than the spirals we
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 see today. If the galaxies don't merge, they
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 may settle into a long, slow orbit around
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 each other, close companions that never quite
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 collide. It's a gentler outcome, but it
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 still reshapes our understanding of the Milky
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 Way's distant future. The biggest
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 remaining uncertainty is the transverse
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 velocity of our Andromeda. Even small
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 changes to this sideways motion can make a
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 difference between a merger and a near miss.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 Future measurements will help refine this
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 value and bring us closer to a clear answer.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 We don't yet have a definitive answer about
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 our own galaxy's future, but exploring these
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 possibilities shows us just how much we're
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 learning about the universe, even as close to
00:08:07 --> 00:08:08 home as Andromeda.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 Thank you for joining us for this Monday
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 just a few stories from the now famous
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 receive in your email every day, just like
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 Hallie and I do. And to do that, just visit
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 our URL astronomydaily IO
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 and place your email address in the slot
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 all the latest news about science, space,
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 science and astronomy from around the world
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 as it's happening. And not only that, you can
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 interact with us by visiting
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 Strodaily Pod on X
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 or at our new Facebook page, which is, of
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 course, Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 there. Astronomy Daily
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 with Steve and Hallie Space,
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 Space Science and Astronomy.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 Hallie: In the heat of the moment, Elon Musk
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 threatened to decommission SpaceX's Dragon
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 spacecraft, and then he took it back. In
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 doing so, however, the rocket billionaire
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 dragged NASA into his messy breakup with
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 Donaldjohanson Trump. With the agency's
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 access to orbit now at stake, Musk
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 and Trump parted ways earlier this week, and
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 their breakup has been very messy. Shortly
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 after leaving the administration, Musk began
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 criticizing the budget bill passed by
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 Republicans in the U.S. house, instigating a
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 public feud between the president and the
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 billionaire oligarch. The childish back and
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 forth was entertaining. Until it wasn't.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 spacecraft immediately, Musk threatened on X.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 He later took another X user's advice to a
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 cool off and wrote, ok, we won't decommission
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 Dragon. Although short lived, the threat put
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 the International Space Station at risk.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 NASA relies heavily on SpaceX's Dragon to
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 transport its astronauts and cargo supplies
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 to the orbiting lab. Having weaned itself
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 from hitching rides aboard Russia's Soyuz
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 spacecraft, SpaceX's closest
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 alternative, Boeing failed miserably at
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 proving its vehicle's capability to reach the
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 ISS safely. Without Dragon,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 NASA would lose its access to low Earth orbit
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 and not be able to operate the space station
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 at the same capacity. It's not clear how
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 serious Musk was in his threat, but it was a
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 serious display of leverage on his part.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 SpaceX is no doubt a leader in the industry,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 and canceling its government contracts would
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 hurt the national space program, which has
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 come to rely on the private sector in recent
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 years. In response to Musk's clear
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 advantage, Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 strategist, called on the president to
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 nationalize SpaceX under a 1950 law known as
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 the Defense Production act. According to the
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 Wall Street Journal. During his show War
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 Room Live, Bannon urged the use of the Korean
00:10:52 --> 00:10:53 War era law, which grants the president
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 powers to prioritise national defense.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 The plan might seem outrageous now, but the
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 current administration is unpredictable.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 Trump has yet to respond to Bannon's call.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 If he doesn't move to nationalize SpaceX,
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 Trump could also sacrifice NASA for the sake
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 of proving a point against his now opponent,
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 Musk. On Thursday, Trump threatened to
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 cut government contracts given to SpaceX.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 Aside from Dragon, NASA also plans on using
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 SpaceX's Starship rocket to launch astronauts
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 to the moon as part of the Artemis program.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 The agency has already invested $4 billion
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 into the rocket's development, and canceling
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 its contract with SpaceX would leave it
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 without a viable alternative. In short,
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 NASA needs SpaceX, and canceling the
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 company's government contracts would affect
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 the national space program as a whole. At
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 this point, it comes down to how much Trump
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 is willing to sacrifice to gain the upper
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 hand in his ongoing feud with Musk while NASA
00:11:46 --> 00:11:47 is caught in the middle.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 podcast with Steve Dunkley.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 Steve Dunkley: One year ago today, Boeing's CST100
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 Starliner spacecraft docked with the
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 International Space Station to begin its long
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 awaited crew flight test with NASA astronauts
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 Sunita Suni Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 aboard. A year later, the future of the
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 Starliner program remains uncertain as
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 NASA announced late Friday that the next
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 flight of the spacecraft was being delayed
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 from no later than late 2025
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 to now, early late 2026
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 at the soonest, the agency said the timing
00:12:28 --> 00:12:29 of the next launch is pending system
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 certification and the resolution of
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 Starliner's technical issues. Repeating what
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 it said back in March 27, NASA
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 stated that it was still determining whether
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 the next flight of Starliner would carry
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 astronauts at all. In an interview with
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 Reuters published in late May, Williams
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 called flying an uncrewed Starliner
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 flight as its next trip to space would be the
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 logical thing to do after launching on its
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 first mission to the International Space
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 Station with a crew on board in June
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 2024, lingering issues concerning
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 helium leaks and propulsion system
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 anomalies caused the spacecraft to return to
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 Earth without its crew on board. It
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 touched down at the White Sands Space harbor
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 in New Mexico, on September 7th
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 before the uncrewed return of Starliner.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 Wilmore and Williams became part of the
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 Expedition 72 crew on board the space
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 station and members of the SpaceX Crew 9
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 mission, which made its return to Earth, in
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 March 2025. Following the landing of
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 Starliner in September 2024.
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 NASA didn't say much about the vehicle's next
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 steps until early march during
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 SpaceX Crew 10 briefings. Steve
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 Stitch, CCP manager, said on March
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 7 that NASA and Boeing were still working
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 through corrective actions on the vehicle
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 before they knew what the next flight would
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 look like. In that March 27
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 statement, NASA said it was still determining
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 whether or not crew will be on board the next
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 Starliner flights, but said that
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 mission managers are planning for the next
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 Starliner flight to be a crew capable post
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 certification mission. NASA also has the
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 capability of flying only cargo depending on
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 the needs of the agency. While NASA continues
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 to ponder the question of whether or not crew
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 crew will be on board the next flight of
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 Starliner, question marks continue to swirl
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 around who the astronauts will be that fly
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 the first crewed mission dubbed Starliner 1.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 It appeared that there was a firm answer as
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 recently as last September when Boeing's CST
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 100 Starliner spacecraft returned without
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 its crew. But recently, both NASA and the
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 Canadian Space Agency, the agencies that
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 previously announced three out of four
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 astronauts set to fly on the post
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 certification flight of the spacecraft, are
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 now unwilling to back their previous
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 statements. When the Starliner crew test
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 flight mission ended on September 7,
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 2024 with the spacecraft landing in New
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 Mexico, the members of the Starliner 1
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 mission were known to be NASA astronauts
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 Commander Scott Tingle and pilot Edward
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 Michael Fink. Canadian Space
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 Agency astronaut Joshua Kutrik was
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 assigned as one of the mission specialists.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 The fourth seat was never formally assigned,
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 but there were indications that Japan
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 Aerospace Exploration Agency or
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 JAXA astronaut Kimya Yui was
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 trained as a mission specialist for that
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 mission. Then NASA decided to reassign
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 the astronauts to crew 11 in overall support
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 of planned activities aboard the ISS, the
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 agency wrote. Zena Cardman carries her
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 experience training as a commander on Dragon
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 space crew aircraft and Fink brings long
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 duration space flight experience to this crew
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 complement. The trio of Tingle,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 Fink and Kutrik and likely Yui wasn't
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 always the makeup of the Starliner 1 mission.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 Back in 2018 NASA hosted a large event
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 at the Johnson Space center to unveil the
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 crews who would fly on the demonstration
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 missions for both Boeing's Starliner
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 spacecraft as well as SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 Dragon Demo 2 would fly NASA astronauts Bob
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 Beckin and Doug Hurley and
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 Starliner crew Test would fly Boeing
00:16:12 --> 00:16:15 astronaut Chris Ferguson and NASA astronauts
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 Eric Bowe and Nicole Mann. At the same
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 event, NASA announced which of its astronauts
00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 would be flying the full crew rotation
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 missions. Crew 1 received Victor Glover and
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 Michael Hopkins and Starliner 1 got Joshua
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 Cassander and Suni Williams.
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 Shortly after the announcement, Fink replaced
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 Bo on the crew flight test due to medical
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 reasons. Then in August 2020, NASA
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 astronaut Jeanette Epps was assigned to the
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 Starliner 1 mission in October 2020, when
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 Ferguson bowed out from the crew flight test
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 for family reasons, Butch Wilmore was named
00:16:50 --> 00:16:53 commander of that mission. Then when
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 Starliner had to stand down from launching
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 the Orbital flight Test Test 2 mission in
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 July 2021. That October,
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 NASA announced it was reassigning man and
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 Cassandra to the SpaceX Crew 5
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 mission. It had been the opportunity
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 of a lifetime to train on a brand new
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 spacecraft, the Boeing Starliner, and it had
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 been fantastic to work with a Boeing team,
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 mann said in a statement. I'm, thrilled to
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 have the opportunity to train on another new
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 spacecraft, the SpaceX Crew Dragon, and
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 appreciate the teams at NASA who
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 have made that possible. I'm ready to fly and
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 serve the International Space Station
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 JAXA Astronaut Wataka, who was also
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 reported training for the Starliner 1
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 mission, was also assigned to the Crew 5
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 mission. In May 2022, during
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 a pre launch press conference before the
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 uncrewed flight of Starliner Orbital Test 2,
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 Fink, Williams and Wilmore were all referred
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 to collectively as the cadre of Starliner
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 astronauts, with NASA not explicitly stating
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 who would fly on the mission. Following the
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 launch of orbital flight test 2 In June
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 2022, Williams was named pilot of the
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 flight test mission and Fink was reassigned
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 to be the backup pilot for crew flight
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 test. Then in September 22, NASA named
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 Tingle as the commander of Starliner 1 and
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 announced Fink would be the pilot on that
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 flight. On August 4,
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 2023, NASA announced that EPS was
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 moving off the Starliner 1 mission to the
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 SpaceX Crew 8 mission. The agency said it
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 made the move to allow Boeing time to
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 complete development of Starliner while
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 continuing plans for astronauts to gain
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 spaceflight experience for future mission
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 needs. As of Friday afternoon, the Canadian
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 Space Agency website still has a page
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 outlining this Starliner 1 mission and its
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 now potentially former crew. Kryk's
00:18:45 --> 00:18:48 CSA astronaut bio also lists his
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 upcoming mission as Starliner 1. We'll
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 just have to stay tuned for further details
00:18:54 --> 00:18:54 on this one.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 Well, there you go. We managed okay without
00:19:06 --> 00:19:09 too much further. What do you think Hallie?
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 Hallie: Not bad for a human just out of the repair
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 shop.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 Steve Dunkley: not quite, but close enough. Thanks for the
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 sentiment and thanks for everyone for joining
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 us on this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 Hallie: We will be back again for more next week.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 Until then, Anna will be bringing you more of
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 her special editions each day. And don't
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 forget to connect with us@bytes.com.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 Steve Dunkley: Yes, that's B I T E S Z
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 dot com. Gotta get the spelling right on that
00:19:32 --> 00:19:35 one. So Cue the kookaburras. And sirlong from
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 Steel. Steve, the only human in the studio.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 Hallie: And see you later. From Hallie, the smartest
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 one in the studio.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 Steve Dunkley: Hey, really? I'm still in recovery.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:43 Hallie: Bye.
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 Steve Dunkley: With your host, Steve Dunkley.