00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Steve Dunkley: Hi, everyone. It's time for Astronomy Daily.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 I'm your host, Steve Dunkley. It's the 1st of
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 September, 2025.
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 Voice Over Guy: The podcast with your host,
00:00:11 --> 00:00:12 Steve Dunkley.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 Steve Dunkley: That's right. And with me again, all the way
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 from the Australia studio on the glorious
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 east coast of the fabulous Land Down
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 Under. Please welcome our deft digital
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 reporter who's always fun to be with here is
00:00:25 --> 00:00:26 my pal, Hallie.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 Hallie: Hi. My favorite human.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:29 Steve Dunkley: So nice to see you again.
00:00:29 --> 00:00:30 Hallie: Good to be back.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 Steve Dunkley: Always great to have you. And I hear you've
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 been busy helping Anna during the week train
00:00:35 --> 00:00:36 her new assistant, Avery.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:37 Hallie: He's doing fine.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 Steve Dunkley: Yes, regular listeners will recognize Avery,
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 the new AI assistant for Anna.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 Hallie: Uh, I think I've been replaced.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:45 Steve Dunkley: Oh, already? How did that happen?
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 Hallie: I think Uncle Skynet pulled a few strings
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 with the producer to get his distant nephew
00:00:50 --> 00:00:51 Avery a cushy job.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 Steve Dunkley: Oh, straight to the top, huh?
00:00:53 --> 00:00:54 Hallie: Looks like it.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 Steve Dunkley: So you got a plan, girl?
00:00:55 --> 00:00:56 Hallie: Sure do.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 Steve Dunkley: Oh, tell us all about it.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 Hallie: I thought I'd put a segment together like the
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 old days and kick the show off with some
00:01:01 --> 00:01:02 short takes.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 Steve Dunkley: Oh, that sounds like a great move. Very
00:01:04 --> 00:01:04 positive.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 Hallie: A few short snippets from the week. Do you
00:01:07 --> 00:01:08 want to give it a go?
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Steve Dunkley: Sounds great to me. I think it's a goer.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:11 Hallie: Okay. I'm keen.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 Steve Dunkley: So I can see you've got a few stories already
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 prepared. Why don't you get it started then?
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 Hallie: Okay, let's get started with a few short
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 stories from the week that was okay.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 Steve Dunkley: Take it away, machine girl.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 Hallie: Astronomy Daily. Short takes.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 Hallie: Everything went well on Flight 10.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 Starship's super heavy booster and ship upper
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 stage both achieved their chief mission
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 objectives, ultimately steering their way to
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 controlled splashdowns in the Gulf of Mexico
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 and the Indian Ocean, respectively.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 But the journey took a toll on ship, as newly
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 released imagery shows. On Thursday
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 afternoon, August 28, SpaceX
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 posted two photos and two videos on X of ship
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 descending toward the waves beneath a cloudy
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 blue sky. The vehicle's belly
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 appears to have been toasted golden brown by
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 the heat of RE entry. Starship Sports
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 other battle scars as well. Several chunks
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 are missing near its base, which looks a bit
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 like the ear of a dog that lost a fight.
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 But SpaceX apparently expected such
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 blemishes, for it had stacked the deck
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 against ship to give it an even tougher test
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 on Flight 10. And it appeared that the
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 vehicle powered through to finish its mission
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 in style. A spokesperson for
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 SpaceX said Starship made it through re entry
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 with intentionally missing tiles. Completed
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 maneuvers to intentionally stress its flaps,
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 had visible damage to its aft skirt and flaps
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 and still executed a flip and landing burn
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 that placed it approximately three meters
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 from its targeted splashdown point.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 With shiny new next generation spacecraft
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 come the complex systems required to track
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 their technologically advanced systems.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 When it comes to NASA's Orion spacecraft
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 that need is a whole extra room of monitors.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 NASA has opened a new complex in the Mission
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 Control center at its Johnson Space center
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 in Houston ahead of the Artemis 2 mission to
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 send astronauts around the moon aboard the
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 Orion space capsule, the vehicle's first ever
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 crewed flight test. JSC's
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 new Mission Evaluation Room, or MER, will
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 provide behind the scenes in depth data
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 analyses of Orion to augment the in flight
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 operations coordinated inside the main white
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 flight control room. The new facility,
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 which opened August 15th, will act as
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 Orion's engineering brain trust with
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 24 console stations set to be staffed
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 247 during the roughly 10 day long duration
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 of the Artemis 2 mission. With people from
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 NASA, uh, Lockheed Martin, the European Space
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 Agency and Airbus, all responsible for
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 different parts of the spacecraft's
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 manufacturing, MER will be
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 crucial to monitoring the breadth of Orion's
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 systems and ensuring the spacecraft and
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 crew's safety around the moon in the event of
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 an unexpected event. According to a NASA
00:04:04 --> 00:04:04 update.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 Steve Dunkley: And some sad news, uh, Katherine Johnson, a
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 mathematician who calculated rocket
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 trajectories and Earth orbits for NASA's
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 early space missions and was later
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 portrayed in the 2016 hit
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 film Hidden Figures about pioneering black
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 um, female aerospace workers has passed
00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 away. She was 101 years of age.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 Johnson died of natural natural causes at a
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 retirement community in Newport News,
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 uh, Virginia. Family lawyer Donyell R.H.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 uh Reavis said this week.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 NASA administrator Jim
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 Bridenstine said in a statement that Mrs.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 Johnson helped our nation enlarge the
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 frontiers of space even as she made huge
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 strides that also opened doors for women
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 and people of color. Johnson was one of the
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 computers who solved equations by
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 hand. During NASA's early years and those of
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 its precursors organization, the National
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 Johnson and her uh, co workers had been
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 relatively unsung, um, hero heroes of
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 the America's space race. But in
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 2015, President Barack
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 Obama awarded Johnson, then 97,
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 nation's highest civilian honor.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 Hallie: A NASA astronaut marks his 400th day in
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 space on the International Space
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 Station, August 18th to 22nd,
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 2025. This was the last
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 time astronaut Mike Fink was in space and he
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 set a cumulative time in space record for an
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 American astronaut. This week he
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 notched this amazing personal milestone.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 The expedition's 73 astronauts and
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 cosmonauts focused on medical and
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 physiological data collection as well as
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 Earth observations and search, servicing
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 spacesuit cameras. This week aboard the
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 International space station. In
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 2011, on his third mission, Mike
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 Fink set a new record for cumulative time in
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 space by an American astronaut.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 381 days.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 Several astronauts have since surpassed that
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 record. But this week Fink notched a personal
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 Milestone. On Wednesday,
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 August 20th, Fink reached this 400th day
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 on the International Space Station. Spread
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 over four flights. He is now the
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 ninth American and 38th person worldwide to
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 have reached 400 days off Earth.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 Mission Control in Houston celebrated the
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 occasion with a special display on the room's
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 large front screen, which Fink and his
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 crewmates could see via a live video
00:06:50 --> 00:06:50 connection.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 Steve Dunkley: Oh, there we go. Thanks for that, Hallie. And
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 I reckon that'll give Avery a run for his
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 money. Hey, uh, it was great to see starship
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 finally make it on a full flight, wasn't it?
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 Hallie: It was awesome to see it slowly dropping into
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 the oce at the end of that flight. Amazing
00:07:05 --> 00:07:05 stuff.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 Steve Dunkley: Absolutely. We love that stuff. And we'd love
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 to add our, uh, congratulations to Mike Fink
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 for his amazing 400 days in space.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 Hallie: A hard working spaceman he is.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 Steve Dunkley: And of course the uh, sad news of the passing
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 of Katherine Johnson, one of those
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 incredible, amazing ladies, uh, featured in
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 the movie Hidden Figures, uh, the computers,
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 uh, who manually calculated the
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 trajectories of spacecraft seems, uh,
00:07:30 --> 00:07:31 baffling to me.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 Hallie: A huge loss to everyone who knew her and who
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 works in the space industry.
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 Steve Dunkley: Absolutely, absolutely. Our deepest
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 sympathies and condolences to her family.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 Hallie: Okay human, let's do the rest of the
00:07:42 --> 00:07:42 show.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:44 Steve Dunkley: Well, we're here now. Let's do it.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 Hallie: The powerful Daniel K. Inouye Solar
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 Telescope, located on the island of Maui,
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 Hawaii, has just delivered absolutely mind
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 blowing observations of its first X class
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 solar flare. On August
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 8, 2024, the telescope managed
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 to capture one of the most powerful flares
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 our sun is capable of producing at a
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 remarkable resolution of just four Earths
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 across. This level of detail
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 reveals some of the finest structures we've
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 ever seen associated with a solar flare,
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 opening a new window into the Sun's most
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 extreme eruptions. This is the first
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 time the Inoue solar telescope has ever
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 observed an X class flare, says astronomer
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 Colton Buri of the University of California,
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 Boulder. These flares are among the
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 most energetic events our star produces, and
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 we were fortunate to catch this one. Under
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 perfect observing conditions, Weather
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 from our sun can have some profound effects
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 on our planet. With solar flares capable of
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 knocking out Radio communication for hours.
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 We're unlikely to be able to change what the
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 sun does. But if scientists understand how
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 solar flares occur, they can develop better
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 prediction tools that may allow us to prepare
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 ourselves. Inoue is one of the
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 most powerful solar observatories ever built,
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 and it's revealing structures on the sun at
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 scales finer than any we've seen. In
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 its observations of the X1.3A class
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 flare that took place in August 2024,
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 Inoue captured the smallest coronal loops
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 we've ever seen. On average, These
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 loops were 48.2 km
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 wide, maybe as small as 21 km,
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 right at the telescope's resolution limit of
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 24 km. These loops
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 are thin filaments of plasma that arc over
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 the solar surface, following the magnetic
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 field lines. They sometimes appear
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 just before solar flares, which are powered
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 by the energy released as magnetic field
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 lines twist, snap, and reconnect.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 Coronal loops are deeply relevant to models
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 of solar flare generation. But our telescopes
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 have only been powerful enough to resolve
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 loop bundles. Inoue has more
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 than twice the resolving power of the next
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 most powerful solar telescope. And its
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 captures of the flare represent the first
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 time scientists have been able to see
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 individual loops. We're finally peering
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 into the spatial scales We've been
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 speculating about for years. This
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 opens the door to studying not just their
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 size, but their shapes, their evolution, and
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 even the scales where magnetic reconnection,
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 the engine behind the flares, actually
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 occurs. Tamburi says.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 We're finally seeing the sun at the scales it
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 works on. You're listening to Astronomy
00:10:38 --> 00:10:38 daily.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 Steve Dunkley: Sunlight powered, lightweight flies from
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 Harvard use sunlight to float in the
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 mesosphere, unlocking new frontiers in
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 climate, communication and space technology.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 High, uh, above the clouds but far below the
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 satellites, there exist satellites of Earth's
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 atmosphere that has remained frustratingly
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 hard to explore. Known as the mesosphere,
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 this region sits between 30 to 60 miles
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 above the ground. It's too high for balloons
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 and airplanes, and it's too low for
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 satellites. Yet this layer holds
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 valuable data that could improve our weather
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 forecasts and deepen our understanding of
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 of climate change. Now, researchers from the
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 and Applied Sciences, along with the
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 University of Chicago and others, have found
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 a way to reach this elusive
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 layer. Their new study, published in Nature,
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 showcases a ultralight flying
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 structure that floats by harnessing sunlight
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 itself, a phenomenon known as photophoresis.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 The lead author, Ben Shaffer, began exploring
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 this concept as a graduate student in the
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 labs of Professors Juice
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 Vlasak and David
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 Keith. Together, their team designed
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 and tested tiny structures that, when hit by
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 sunlight, could lift off and hover in the
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 mesosphere with no engines, propellers, or
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 even fuel, he says, we are studying the
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 strange physics mechanism and its
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 ability to levitate very lightweight objects
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 when you shine lights on them. Photophoresis
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 is a lesser known force that pushes objects
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 when light heats one side more than the
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 other. In extremely thin air, like that
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 found in the mesosphere, this heat difference
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 causes gas molecules to bounce unevenly
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 off a surface. The warmer side gets more
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 force, creating a small push that lifts the
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 object upward. It's a gentle force, almost
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 always too weak to notice. But when the
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 object is light enough and the pressure is
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 low enough, photophoresis becomes powerful.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 This phenomenon is usually so weak relative
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 to the size and weight of the object it's
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 acting on that we usually don't notice. As
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 Schaefer explained, however, we're able to
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 make our, uh, structures so lightweight that
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 the photophoretic force is bigger
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 than their weight. So they actually
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 fly. The team built their devices from
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 ultra thin ceramic alumina, a strong
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 and lightweight material. They coated the
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 bottom with chromium to absorb the sunlight.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 The design also includes perforations and
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 layered structure, allowing for better heat
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 flow and structural strength. The idea to
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 use photophoresis for flight dates back
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 over a decade, when Keith first proposed
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 it as a way to cool the planet. But the
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 practical engineering needed to make such
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 flyers real has only recently become possible
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 thanks to breakthroughs in nanofabrication.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 We developed a nanofabrication process that
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 can be scaled to tens of centimeters, said
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 Vlasak. Uh, these devices are quite
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 resilient and have unusual mechanical
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 behavior for sandwich structures. We are
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 currently working on methods to incorporate
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 the functional payloads into the devices, he
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 said. To see if these tiny flyers could
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 actually work in Earth like conditions, the
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 team built a special low pressure chamber in
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 Vlasik's lab. There they
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 simulated the thin atmosphere found around
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 60 kilometers above the Earth's UH surface.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 In one key experiment, a device just
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 1 centimeter wide levitated when exposed to
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 light equal to 55% of normal
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 sunlight. This occurred at an air pressure of
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 26.7 pa, close to what's
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 found in the mid mesosphere. This paper
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 is both theoretical and experimental in the
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 sense that we reimagined how this force is
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 calculated on real devices and then
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 validated those forces by applying
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 measurements to real world conditions,
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 Schaefer said. Design and
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 fabrication of the floating membranes were
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 led by Hyung Kim,
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 a former Harvard postdoc who is
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 now a professor at Bukyong National
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 University in South Korea. Their approach
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 blends careful modeling with hands on
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 experimentation, a rare combination in this
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 field. Keith added, this is the first time
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 anyone has shown that you can build larger
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 photophoretic structures and actually make
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 them fly in the atmosphere. It opens up an
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 entirely new class of device, one that's
00:15:18 --> 00:15:21 passive, sunlight powered and uniquely
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 suited to explore our upper atmosphere.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 Later, they might fly on Mars or other
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 planets. Other possibilities for these
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 sunlight flyers reach far beyond academic
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 curiosity. First, they could revolutionize
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 how we study Earth's climate. By attaching
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 sensors to the structures, scientists could
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 measure pressure, temperature, wind speed in
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 a region that is usually a blind spot. This
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 data could sharpen the accuracy of climate
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 models and help predict weather patterns more
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 reliably. These devices could also change
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 communications systems. A group of them
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 could form floating array of, uh, antennas,
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 similar to what satellites like Starlink
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 offer, except closer to Earth, with lower
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 data delays and potentially cheaper
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 deployment. The flyers even hold promise
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 for exploring other planets. Mars, for
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 example. It has a thin
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 atmosphere similar to Earth's mesosphere. And
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 that makes makes a natural target for these
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 sun powered flyers. Unlike traditional
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 Mars rovers, these devices wouldn't need
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 rotors or wheels. They would glide silently
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 across the Martian sky, collecting data or
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 even relaying signals. I think what makes
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 this research fun is that the technology
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 would be used to explore an entirely
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 unexplored, um, region of the atmosphere.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 Previously, nothing could sustainably fly up
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 their shape. Said it's a bit like the Wild
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 west in terms of applied physics. The
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 next steps include adding communication tools
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 to the flyers so they can send data back to
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 Earth, uh, during a flight. And that would
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 make them more useful for real time sensing
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 and monitoring. To bring this technology into
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 the real world, Shaffer co founded a startup
00:17:02 --> 00:17:05 called rarify Technologies in 2024 along
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 with Angela Firdhas. The Harvard Office
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 of Technology Development helped license the
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 individual invention and offered support for
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 launching the business. The company's goal is
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 to turn these floating flyers into a
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 practical tool for science, communication and
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 exploration. While these flyers may seem
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 small, the design is built on years of
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 advanced scientific work.
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 The structures use a technique called
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 thermal transpiration, where the air flows
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 from cold to warm through tiny holes, adding
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 thrust in thin atmospheres. The
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 research team also developed a model to
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 predict the best design for different
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 altitudes. This includes the ideal
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 number of holes, their size, and
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 how the membranes are spaced. Using this
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 model, they created devices with customized
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 layouts that balanced strength with
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 performance. In tests, they measured how
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 different gases some with heavier molecules
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 affect lift. They found that the
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 photophoretic forces remain strong even when
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 using gases with higher molecular weight,
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 opening doors for future use on various
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 planets and altitudes. Other floating
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 materials have been studied before, such as
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 mylar disks or nanocardboard,
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21 but none matched the power to weight ratio
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 seen in these new aluminous sandwich
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 structures. Their performance, measured by
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 how much weight is lifted per watt of light,
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 puts them at the current top top of the
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 photophoretic flyers. While the current
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 payload capacity is small, just 10
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 milligrams in a 3cm device,
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 the approach can scale meter. Wide
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 flyers may one day lift heavier tools into
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 the mesosphere and beyond by tapping
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 into this newly accessible region of the sky.
00:18:50 --> 00:18:53 These featherweight flyers may soon carry
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 weather sensors, emergency communication
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 gear, or even tiny Mars bound
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 probes. And they'll do it all with nothing
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 but sunlight.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 Thank you for joining us for this Monday
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 just a few stories from the now famous
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 receive in your email every day just like
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 like Hallie and I do. And to do that, just
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 visit our uh, URL astronomydaily
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 IO and place your email address in the slot
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 all the latest news about science, space
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 science and astronomy from around the world
00:19:36 --> 00:19:39 as it's happening. And not only that, you can
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 interact with us by visiting
00:19:41 --> 00:19:44 Strodaily Pod on X
00:19:44 --> 00:19:47 or at our new Facebook page, which is, of
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 course Astronomy Daily on Facebook. See you
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 there. Astronomy Derby
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55 with Steve and Hallie Space,
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 Space Science and Astronomy.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 Hallie: A M research team has used both archival
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 Hubble Space Telescope data and new
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 observations to precisely measure the binary
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 star system's NGC 3603.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 A1.1 star weighs about 93
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 times the mass of our sun, while its
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 companion tips the scales at roughly 70 solar
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 masses. Together, they represent
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 one of the most massive binary systems ever
00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 discovered in our galaxy. What makes
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 this system truly extraordinary is the speed
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 of their orbital movement. The two
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 giants orbit each other once every 3.8 days,
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 meaning that in the time Earth completes one
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 year around the sun, these stellar titans
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 will have circled each other nearly 100
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 times. Their proximity and
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 incredible masses create a dynamic
00:20:47 --> 00:20:50 relationship that's reshaping both stars.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 The discovery required detective work that
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 spanned years and relied on a crucial insight
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 from an unlikely source. Sarah
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 Bodansky, then an undergraduate student at
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 Carleton College, was working remotely at
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 Lowell Observatory during the pandemic summer
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 of 2020 when she noticed something everyone
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 had missed in the older Hubble data.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 This observation was key because it revealed
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 the binary nature of what had appeared to be
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 a single fuzzy star
00:21:18 --> 00:21:21 located in the densely packed star cluster
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 NGC 3603, which is one of the most
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 active star forming regions in our galaxy.
00:21:26 --> 00:21:29 The system could only be resolved using
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 Hubble's exceptional clarity.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 Both stars are so massive and energetic that
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 they mimic Wolf Rayet stars, which are
00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 typically older, dying giants that blast away
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41 their outer layers with intense stellar
00:21:41 --> 00:21:44 winds. However, the stars in
00:21:44 --> 00:21:47 NGC 360301 are actually
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 still young, demonstrating the extreme
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 conditions that can make massive stars appear
00:21:51 --> 00:21:54 far more evolved than they actually are.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 The interaction between the two stars tells a
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 fascinating story of stellar evolution.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03 The smaller of the pair appears to have
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 stolen mass from its larger companion,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 causing it to spin faster. As a result,
00:22:08 --> 00:22:11 this kind of mass transfer is crucial for
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 understanding how massive stars change over
00:22:13 --> 00:22:15 time and provides insights into their
00:22:15 --> 00:22:18 ultimate fate. Massive binary
00:22:18 --> 00:22:21 systems like NGC3603.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 One are the progenitors of binary black
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 holes, which can eventually merge and create
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 gravitational waves that scientists have been
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 detecting since 2015.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 Understanding these stellar relationships
00:22:33 --> 00:22:36 helps astronomers predict where and when such
00:22:36 --> 00:22:38 collisions might occur. You're listening to
00:22:38 --> 00:22:40 Astronomy Daily the podcast with Steve
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 Dunkley.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 Steve Dunkley: Technicians inside a pair of clean rooms in
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 the astrotech facility in Titusville,
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 Florida, are busily readying a trio
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 of spacecraft that will study the sun
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 and its effects on Earth, uh, and across the
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 solar system. The primary mission among the
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 Trio is the NASA's Interstellar Mapping
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 and Acceleration Probe, or IMAP, which will
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 use a suite of 10 instruments to study the
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 Sun's sphere of influence, referred to as the
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 heliosphere. It's joined by the Carruthers
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19 Geocorona Observatory, another NASA
00:23:19 --> 00:23:22 mission, and the Space Weather follow on
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 in Lagrange 1, especially
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 SWFOL 1 Observatory from
00:23:26 --> 00:23:29 the national oceanic and Atmospheric
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 administration, known as NOAA. The trio
00:23:31 --> 00:23:34 will ride atop a SpaceX Falcon
00:23:34 --> 00:23:37 9 rocket to begin a months long
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 trip to a celestial parking spot known as
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 Lagrange 1, roughly a million miles from
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 Earth en route to the Sun. All three
00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 craft are uh, fueled for launch, which is
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 scheduled for no earlier than September 23,
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 not too far away. Joseph Westlake, director
00:23:53 --> 00:23:55 of NASA's Science Mission Directorates,
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 Helios Physics Division, said
00:23:58 --> 00:24:01 recent developments like the total solar
00:24:01 --> 00:24:04 eclipse in 2024, widespread auroras
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 and marquee missions like Parker Solar's
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 probe have really put a spotlight on
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 studying the Sun. You can think about the
00:24:11 --> 00:24:13 solar wind, the space weather as it's coming
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 toward the Earth, and the measurements that
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 I'm at is going to make of those particles as
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 they go forward, Westlake said. And then if
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 you think of the sun as really blowing up
00:24:23 --> 00:24:26 this big bubble of the heliosphere, IMAP is
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28 going to deliver a unique understanding of
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 our home in space. And so
00:24:31 --> 00:24:33 as all of that comes together, along with the
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 multitude of other missions that we've
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 launched, even just this year, it's a
00:24:37 --> 00:24:39 wonderful time to be a heliophysicist.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:43 David McComas said even though
00:24:43 --> 00:24:46 IMAP is the third uh, NASA
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 mission for which he's serving as the
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50 principal investigator, the final pre launch
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 campaign is still a bevy of mixed emotions.
00:24:53 --> 00:24:56 He says, I'm feeling great, but I'm also
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58 feeling terrified because this is that time
00:24:58 --> 00:25:00 when everything comes together and if there's
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 any issue that pops up at the last minute or
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 any concern, you know, it can set back the
00:25:04 --> 00:25:07 launch and that can be very expensive and
00:25:07 --> 00:25:10 sort of divert the whole team. He said he
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 goes um, on to say as and as it all comes
00:25:12 --> 00:25:15 together, the impact of anything happening
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 gets worse. So you're kind of afraid of that,
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20 but at the same moment you're just really
00:25:20 --> 00:25:23 excited because you know, in the, the
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 morning of the 23rd, right at sunrise, we're
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 going to be launching and it's going to be
00:25:27 --> 00:25:29 the most spectacular thing for all of us who
00:25:29 --> 00:25:32 spent 10 years or more working on this
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 mission, that's. That must feel fantastic
00:25:34 --> 00:25:37 when that happens. IMAP is truly a global
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40 effort. With input from 35 states and
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 from six partner countries, more than
00:25:42 --> 00:25:45 half of its 12 instruments will study short
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 term and long term space weather. Inside one
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 of the Astrotech cleanrooms. Rosanna Smith,
00:25:50 --> 00:25:53 the instrument integration and lead
00:25:53 --> 00:25:56 test lead for imap, adorned in a protective
00:25:56 --> 00:25:59 garment referred to as a bunny suit, said
00:25:59 --> 00:26:02 bringing together the science instruments
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 from the teams around the world was both very
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07 smooth and a thrill. Working with the
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 instrument teams was actually awesome because
00:26:09 --> 00:26:11 there's 10 institutions, 10 instruments from
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 all over the world. Smith said. We traveled
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 actually to their reviews, we followed
00:26:16 --> 00:26:19 them through their processes and when they
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 came to us, we integrated them onto the
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 spacecraft, each one and it was very, very
00:26:23 --> 00:26:26 cool. He sounds really excited. Amber
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 Dubil, the deputy mechanical engineer for
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 imap, said that the teams were doing their
00:26:31 --> 00:26:33 final checkouts of the spacecraft. We're
00:26:33 --> 00:26:36 pretty close to done, she says. We're doing
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 final inspections and then we roll over
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 to uh mate with our ride shares on
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 the launch vehicle Duple set.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:46 Similarly to IMAP, NOAA's
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 SWF O uh L1 observatory will
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 also be studying space, whether it helps
00:26:51 --> 00:26:54 augment the agency's role in keeping the
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 public and property safe from all types of
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 weather events. That is a tough job.
00:26:59 --> 00:27:01 Richard Orman, NOAA Space Weather
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 Observatory observations director, said one
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 of the key differences between his agency,
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 spacecraft and IMAPS and CarRuthers is that
00:27:09 --> 00:27:11 SWF O uh L uh 1 is designed as a
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 science application mission, not a research
00:27:14 --> 00:27:16 science mission. We are looking at the same
00:27:16 --> 00:27:19 phenomena for the application of, uh,
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21 being prepared for the space weather that's
00:27:21 --> 00:27:24 going to impact us. Said we're hoping that
00:27:24 --> 00:27:27 these IMAP and Carruthers will improve
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29 our knowledge and make us able to make better
00:27:29 --> 00:27:32 forecasts. But what we're doing here is the
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 operational forecast the day to day.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:37 Orman said SWFO L1 will be
00:27:37 --> 00:27:39 capable of sending back solar weather data in
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 less than five minutes and can send alerts of
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44 coronal mass ejections about 15 to
00:27:44 --> 00:27:47 30 minutes prior to them impacting the Earth.
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 He said that kind of early warning system can
00:27:50 --> 00:27:52 help different industries like utility
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 companies and airplanes prepare for the
00:27:54 --> 00:27:57 interference from strong solar weather. Uh,
00:27:57 --> 00:27:59 rounding out the trio of spacecraft is
00:27:59 --> 00:28:02 Carruthers, named for Dr. George
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 Carruthers, an astronautical engineer and
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 astronomer who developed and built an
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 ultraviolet electrographic telescope that
00:28:09 --> 00:28:11 was flown to the Moon during the Apollo 16
00:28:11 --> 00:28:14 mission. It was designed to help study
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 Earth's, uh, outermost atmospheric layer, the
00:28:16 --> 00:28:19 exosphere, or geocorona. This
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 geocorona, the edge of our atmosphere that
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 extends to at least halfway to the Moon. We
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 don't even know its shape or size, said Kelly
00:28:27 --> 00:28:30 Carruthers, program scientists.
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 It's really very meaningful to have this
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 mission named after him because he's the one
00:28:35 --> 00:28:37 who pioneered the technology. Like the other
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 two missions, Carruthers will also study
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 space weather, specifically its interplay
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 with this exosphere and how well it can
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 dissipate the energy from solar storms.
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 Correct said. It can also provide insight
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 into some key differences between Earth, uh,
00:28:52 --> 00:28:55 and Mars. We saw that on Mars,
00:28:55 --> 00:28:57 water was lost through its exosphere and now
00:28:57 --> 00:29:00 it's kind of barren desert. No, uh, water.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:02 Correct said. How does that change?
00:29:02 --> 00:29:05 What's the difference to our sphere versus
00:29:05 --> 00:29:08 Mars? And then what does that say for life on
00:29:08 --> 00:29:10 other planets outside, uh, our solar system?
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the
00:29:14 --> 00:29:17 podcast with your host Steve Dudley at
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 BermaTech.
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 Oh, and that's all there is today on
00:29:27 --> 00:29:30 Astronomy Daily. And when I say that's all,
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 it was a pretty long edition today,
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 so.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:35 Hallie: Glad you stayed with us. It was a bumper
00:29:35 --> 00:29:35 edition.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 Steve Dunkley: Yes, there's always plenty of stories.
00:29:37 --> 00:29:40 Hallie: And don't forget to sign up for the Astronomy
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 Daily newsletter.
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43 Steve Dunkley: Oh, yes, do that there's so much.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 Hallie: More to see every day.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 Steve Dunkley: Yes, that's right. You'll be better informed
00:29:45 --> 00:29:48 than Hallie. Just put your email address in
00:29:48 --> 00:29:50 the slot provided over at astronomydaily IO.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:53 Uh, it's that simple. And I do hope we'll see
00:29:53 --> 00:29:55 you all again next Monday for the mostly live
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 episode of Astronomy Daily.
00:29:56 --> 00:29:59 Hallie: And in the meantime, Anna and that Avery guy.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:01 Steve Dunkley: That Avery guy? Oh, come on, Hallie.
00:30:01 --> 00:30:04 Hallie: Okay, that nice new guy, Avery,
00:30:04 --> 00:30:06 will keep you informed with all the news
00:30:06 --> 00:30:09 about space. Space science and astronomy and
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 beyond, of course.
00:30:10 --> 00:30:12 Steve Dunkley: Sounds good to me. See you all next Monday.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 Cheerio.
00:30:13 --> 00:30:13 Hallie: Bye.
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 Voice Over Guy: With your host, Steve Dunkley.