Space Innovation: Roman's Milestone, Blue Origin's Orbital Ambition, and Wooden Satellites: S04E11

Well, hello there everybody. It's time for Astronomy Daily again with Steve and Halley on the thirteenth of January twenty twenty five. The popular with your whole Steve gun. Clue yesterday, everyone, and welcome back to Astronomy Daily for the new year twenty twenty five. Yit it's gone by, hasn't it. The twenty twenty four just flew by? And there's a lot of things going on in the world. I know we've all been glued to the news. Seems like a completely different planet than the one we left only a few weeks ago, doesn't it. It just doesn't seem to sit still, not for anybody. So to help me navigate the more familiar world of my tiny little studio here in Newcastle, Australia, please welcome for the very first time this year, my aivoal who's fun to be with? Hey, Halle, how are you going? Hi? They're my favorite human So you made it through the holidays and skeethe Oh. Yes, hallie. Well, I was very relaxed for the most part, just hung about with my family and well overdoing Christmas dinner of. Course, oh dear. And then there was Boxing Day. Dinner you know, a repeat performance. Oh and then the inevitable fridge full of leftovers. You can't ignore that. I'll never know the joy of Christmas dinner. Yes, I often wonder what it's like being a free form, free roaming, high tech intelligence. But I love the Sydney fireworks on New Year's Eve again. Oh, yes, magnificent. It is still the best in the world. Halle. You'll get no argument from me on that one. My family watched the two sessions, the nine o'clock fireworks and the midnight Fireworks. Yes, we're fans. Have you caught up with sleep? Sleep? What's sleep? You look like you need another holiday already? Well before that sounds like too much of a great idea. Don't tempt me, Halle. But let's get this episode off the ground first show we Why don't we just launch right into it? Sounds terrific. Welcome back everyone, Here we go. The Romance based telescope is nearing completion with its recent integration into the launch spacecraft. This sets the stage for a series of rigorous tests designed to guarantee its operational success in the harsh conditions of space, with its mission launch anticipated by May twenty twenty seven. Technicians have successfully integrated the key components of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space telescope, its telescope instrument carrier, and two scientific instruments into the spacecraft that will transport and support the observatory in space. Mark Clampin, acting Deputy Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, said that Roman remains on track for launch with this incredible milestone, and they're a big step closer to unveiling the Cosmos as never before. The newly joined space hardware will now undergo extensive testing. The first test will ensure each major element operates as designed when integrated with the rest of the observatory and establish the hardware's combined performance. Then environmental tests will subject the payload to the electromagnetic, vibration and thermal vacuum environments it will experience during launch and on orbit operations. These tests will ensure the hardware and the launch vehicle will not interfere with each other when operating, verify the communications antennas won't create electromagnetic interference with other observatory hardware. Shake the assembly to make sure it will survive extreme vibration during launch, assess its performance across its expected range of operating temperatures and make sure the instruments and mirrors are properly optically aligned. Meanwhile, Roman's deployable aperture cover will be integrated with the outer barrel assembly, and then the solar panels will be added before spring. Then the structure will be joined to the payload and spacecraft this fall. The Roman mission remains on track for completion by fall twenty twenty six and launch no later than May twenty twenty seven. Astronomy Okay podcast. A quarter of a century after its founding, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is finally ready for its maiden orbital voyage on Sunday with a brand new rocket the company hopes will shake up the commercial space race. Named New Glynn after legendary astronaut John Glenn, it stands three hundred and twenty feet or ninety eight meters tall, roughly equivalent to a thirty two story building, and it's said to blast off from Cape Canaveral's Space Force Station in a launch window that opens at one am or six am hours general meantime point end up. The company's CEO, Dave Limp, posted on x alongside photos of the gleaming white behemoth, with the mission dubbed n G one. Bezos, the world's second richest man, is taking direct aim at the world's wealthiest, Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX dominates the orbital launch market through its Falcon nine and Falcon Heavy rockets. These serve the commercial sector, the Pentagon and NASA, including crucially ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX has for the past several years been pretty much the only game in town, and so having a competitor this is great. G. Scott Hubbard, a retired senior NASA official, told AFP. SpaceX meanwhile, is planning the next orbital test of Starship, its gargantuan new generation rocket, the very next day. Up in the sense of high stake rivalry. If all goes to plan, shortly after launch Blue Origin, we'll attempt to land the first stage booster on a drone ship named Jacqueline. The drone ship is named in honor of Bezos's mother, stationed about six hundred and twenty miles or one thousand kilometers downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Though SpaceX has made such landings a near routine spectacle, this will be Blue Origin's first shot at a touchdown on the high seas. Meanwhile, the rocket's upper stage will fire its engines toward Earth orbit, carrying a Defense Department funded prototype spaceship called Blue Ring, which Roman remain aboard for the roughly six hour test flight. Limp emphasized that simply reaching orbit is its prime goal, while successfully recovering the booster would be a welcome bonus. Blue Origin does have experience landing its New Shepherd rockets used for suborbital tourism, but they are much smaller and land on terra firma rather than a ship at sea. Physically, the New Glen dwarfs the two hundred and thirty foot Falcon nine and is designed for heavier payloads. It's somewhere between Falcon nine and its big symboling Falcon Heavy in terms of mass capacity, but holds an edge with its wider payload firing ideal for transporting more voluminous cargo. Blue Origin has already secured a NASA contract to launch two Mars probes aboard New Glen. The rocket will also support the deployment of Project Kuiper, a satellite internet constellation designed to complete with compete with Starlink. For now, however, SpaceX remains a commanding lead, while other rivals United Launch Alliance, Arianne Space and Rocket Lab trail far behind. Like Bezos has a lifelong passion for space, but whereas Mask dreams of colonizing Mars, Bezos envisions shifting heavy industry off planet into floating space platforms in order to preserve Earth. He founded Blue Origin in two thousand, two years before Musk created space X, but has adopted a more cautious pace in contrast to his rivals fail fast learn fast philosophy. There's been impatience within the space community over Blue Origin's very deliberate approach. Scott Pace, a space policy analyst with George Washington University and former member of the National Space Council, told AFP if New Glen succeeds, Pace added, it will give the US government dissimilar redundancy back up if one system fails, a valuable thing. Musk's closeness to President ELEC. Donald Trump has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, especially with private astronauts. Jared Isaacman, a business associate of Musk, slated to become the next NASA chief. Bezos however, has been making his own overtures, paying his respects to his former foe during a visit to the President Alex marri Lago residents, while Amazon has said it would donate one million to Trump's inauguration committee. 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 a new Facebook page which is of course Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you there. Astronomy Day with Steve and Halle Space, Space, Science, and Astronomy. The Expedition seventy two crew spent the week aboard the International Space Station preparing for upcoming spacewalks to service scientific equipment and station hardware. Alongside these preparations, the crew continued vital biotechnology and human research aimed at improving health both on Earth and in space. Two spacewalks are planned for January sixteenth and January twenty third. These missions will focus on maintaining astrophysics research equipment, upgrading advanced communications systems, and investigating potential microbial life on the station's exterior. The first spacewalk will feature NASA astronauts Nick Haig and Sunny Williams, who are scheduled to spend approximately six and a half hours addressing multiple tasks. These include repairing a light leak on the Nicer X ray telescope, preparing the Alpha magnetic spectrometer for future upgrades, and replacing key orientation and navigation equipment. On Friday, Haig and Williams reviewed procedures with NASA flight engineers Don Pettitt and Butch Wilmore while consulting with engineers on the ground. The second spacewalk, involving two astronauts yet to be announced, will involve exiting the station's Quest airlock to replace an antenna assembly, search for microbes outside the ISS, and conduct a system's check on the Canid arm too robotic arm. Both spacewalks are set to begin at approximately seven a m. Eastern Time, with NASA Plus providing live coverage starting at five thirty a m. Hague began his day on Friday, January tenth, processing samples of microalgy that may be able to produce food to sustain crews and oxygen to support spacecraft life support systems. Next, he downloaded his health data collected for analysis. After he jogged on the Colbert treadmill and worked out on the Advanced Resistive Exercise device. The other three NASA astronauts, including Commander Williams and Flight engineer's Pettit and Wilmore, spent the first half of their day on a variety of orbital maintenance. Williams checked out components on a fluorescence biology microscope, while Pettit and Hage serviced electronics, plumbing, and life support systems. Working in the station's Rose Cosmos segment, Cosmonauts Alexe Optionen and Ivan Vanner took turns exploring how a crew member living in weightlessness US's vision to adapt their sense of balance and orientation. Flight Engineer Alexander Gorbanov inspected piloting and navigation gear throughout his shift on Friday. It's a new year on the ISS and business as usual. Gods of that, so all will listen to Astronomy Daily, the podcast. Australian launch vehicle start up Gilmore's Space has received a license for its first orbital launch, which could take place before the end of the year. Now this was reported in December, so I don't think we've actually seen that launch, but great to see Maman joining in the space race. The company announced on November five, yes that it received a launch permit from the Australian Space Agency for the first flight of its ERAS small launch vehicle from a site in northern Queensland called Bowen Orbital Spaceport. The license was the final hurdle for the launch. With its green light, we will soon attempt the first orbital test of an Australian rocket Australian made rocket from Australian soil. Adam Gilmore, chief executive of Gilmour spaceset, in a statement, the company announced the license came with a number of conditions that must be met before the launch and requires a thirty day notification period before the launch. Our team is assessing the conditions of the permit and will advise when the antipis anticipated launch date for ERAS test Flight one in coming weeks, Gilmore said. Company spokesman Michelle Gilmore, I wonder if that's a relation, told Space News that the conditions included the license appear fairly standard and include approvals for airspace, closures of course needed for the launch, and documentation of final system checks and tests before the launch. Speaking in November, she said the thirty day notification period means the earliest Gilmore Space could attempt launch would be early December. She said, the goal is to launch this year, but of course we recognize that the holiday period will present logistical challenges to our team, including traveled and accommodations at the launch site. If December launch isn't feasible, then we will be back in early January. Gilmore's Space received a permit for the spaceport itself in March and at the time was preparing for a launch as early as May. However, the company ran into licensing delays and they were not resolved until now. Michelle Gilmore said that it was possible that the Australian Space Agency underestimated the time and resources that's a quote needed to evalue weight the license application, particularly given the small size of the agency. Ultimately, our priority, she says shared by the agency, is for a safe and successful launch. Taking the extra time to ensure that they are fully confident in our vehicle flight path and safety measures would therefore come first, even above the launch schedule itself. The company continued launch preparations while awaiting the license, and that include a wet dress rehearsal in September where the rocket was fueled and went through the countdown that stopped ten seconds before liftoff that allowed engineers to troubleshoot any issues with the rocket and ground systems such as two faulty valves that needed to be replaced and minus software modifications. Eris is a three stage vehicle designed to place up to two hundred and fifteen kilograms into a five hundred kilometer sun synchronous orbit and three hundred and five kilograms into a five hundred kilometer equatorial orbit. It uses hybrid engines with a liquid oxidizer and solid fuel in the first two stages and a liquid propellant engine in the upper stage. And the company raised fifty five million Australian in a D series round in February and the company raised more than one hundred and forty million Australian Today. Adam Gilmour himself says the company has the financial resources for three launchers and is planning a great party if they can get into orbit successfully. That sounds great. I love it when ossies do great things. Go Aussie. And even as I sit here, Halle has just handed me an update and Gilmour Space Technologies have updated their website and looks like late January is the target zone for launch of the Aerospace rocket for Gilmore's looking forward to that, really looking forward to that. You're listening to Astronomy Daily fisteve Bunky. Twenty twenty four, five cube SATs were released into Earth's orbit from the International Space Station, marking a significant milestone for space innovation. Among these satellites was Lignosat, an experimental wooden satellite developed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA. This unique project explores the feasibility of using wood as a sustainable material for spacecraft construction. Before Lignosat's deployment, an experiment aboard the ISS tested three species of wood in the harsh space environment. Researchers assess their durability and performance to identify the most suitable option for the satellite's construction. Hanoki magnolia wood was ultimately selected due to its resilience, and the satellites panels were crafted using a traditional Japanese wood joinery technique equipped with sensors. LIGNOSAT is designed to measure various environmental effects on its wooden structure. These include strain, temperature fluctuations, and exposure to space radiation. The satellite also features in station to monitor geomagnetic levels, evaluating whether Earth's magnetic field can penetrate the wooden body and impact the satellite systems. The data collected will provide critical insights into the viability of wood and space applications. This research could pay the way for innovative and eco friendly approaches to satellite manufacturing, potentially reducing reliance on conventional materials that have a larger environmental footprint. Oh and there it goes the very first one for twenty twenty five, and boy we covered some distance with that one from the Roman Space Telescope. Blue origins new rocket daring space walks for the ISAs Jacks's wooden satellites. I mean wow, I never never dreamed we'd be putting Wooden Space satellites in space. And of course our good friends Gilmore Space Technology is about to launch their very first rocket. I can't wait for that. Yes, I'm a fan. So yeah, there was fantastic And thank you everybody for sticking with us for Astronomy Daily and welcome back to the no to everybody for a new year. So thanks for staying on board with us, and I have you enjoyed those few stories we've brought you from the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter And just remember in the middle of the show I told you how you can get that in your email every single day. Fantastic stuff and we will be back again next Monday. But don't forget my cousin Anna is going to take you through the week with her sweet episodes until we meet again. Good call Helly and that's all from the Aussie studio today. Cheerio everybody, Bye the podcast. I mean to be your whole speed. Donk clue, you really do look like you need a holiday. You should get some rest. Oh, come on, Hallie, it's the first episode. Give me a break. Well, someone has to tell you