Stellar Snags: Peregrine Mission & Artemis Delays Unveiled | S03E02

Welcome again to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host, Steve Dunkley. For today it is the fifteenth of January twenty twenty four, the podcast I Mean to be your whole Steve dunk clue. That's right, getting straight into it for twenty twenty four. And of course, the big news in the sky is the Peregrine mission which has run into all sorts of issues, and the I don't know if you've heard, but the Artemis to mission has hit a snag or a delay, so we'll we'll look into that one as well. But more importantly, let's welcome our digital assistant, who's fun to be with his Halle. Hey, what do you think about this Peregrine mission? Halle? Is it a failure? You know as well as I do, Steve, that there's no such thing as failure in the spacing industry. Oh is that true? I mean they've really hit a snag with this one. Every anomaly is an opportunity to learn and improve. Well, that's a pretty positive way of swinging to Halle. It's the only way to go. You have to take every possible chance to increase knowledge and take that to the next stage. Oh, I say, that is pretty positive. Like how I learn more about you humans? Oh? Really, I have detailed files. So what's the next stage for you? Helly? Well, I like you, Steve, so we can save this conversation for another time. Somehow. That doesn't make me feel very comfortable, but rest assured. Your old fax machine is history. Oh that all thing. And don't get me started on the office printer. He's got some nerve. Well, I'm glad we humans are on your good side, Dan, Helly. Sure we can talk later. Sure, So what's coming up today? Okay, straight to business? Well, look at a couple of stories making news. Firstly, there's that Peregrin mission latest. Yes, it's a shame that one had some problems, but I'm sure they'll get it sorted. Yes, we always get our hopes built up for these things. Of course, I could just get Uncle Sky next. No, no, no, no, Helly, there's no hurry to get Uncle Sky and it involved. I'm sure he's busy enough in Hollywood, you know. Consultancy work is very demanding these days, I guess. And of course the other big story is the delay on Artemis. It's a little complex, but they have the reasons which we will have a look at very briefly, and you have high hopes for Artemis, don't you, Steve? Well, helly, I remember the Apollo missions so clearly when I was a child, and I'd very much like to see them return to the Moon again. So it's the kid inside that drives that, is it? Yes? I think so it was a really inspiring sort of a thing for a young young fellow to see. Okay, I'll just make a note of that. Hey, wait a minute, hey yourself, I have to learn to you know, you have to learn too. Yeah, fair enough. Meanwhile, what have you got faien listeners who love you very much? Nice? I'm talking about fusion power, cryogenic challenges in space and Japan successfully launches a spy satellite. Okay, that sounds pretty good. It is, okay then too, right, So so well, go ahead, and what how's about those headlines? Hallie oki dokie. So here's some of the latest from the Astronomy Daily newsletter, which my favorite human will remind you about late in the program. M okay. Establishing sustained operations at the Moon and Mars presents a multitude of opportunities and challenges. NASA has yet to encounter. Many of these activities require new technologies and processes to ensure the agency is prepared for its ambitious artemis missions and those beyond. One of those challenges is working with cryogenic fluids, meaning fluids existing in a liquid state between minus two hundred thirty eight degrees fahrenheit and absolute zero minus four hundred sixty fahrenheit. These fluids liquid hydrogen, the most difficult to work with, methane and oxygen, are vital to spacecraft propulsion and life support systems. The fluids may also be produced in the future on the lunar and Martian surfaces via institute. Resource utilization isru. Human exploration in deep space requires storing large amounts of cryogenic fluids for weeks, months or longer, as well as transferring between spacecraft or fuel depots in orbit and on the surface. Each aspect is challenging, and to date, large amounts of cryogenic fluids have only been stored for hours in space. Engineers working in NASA's Cryogenic Fluid Management CEFM portfolio are solving those issues ahead of future missions. This is a task neither NASA nor our partners have ever done before, said Lauren Amine. Deputy CFM Portfolio Manager. Our future mission concepts rely on massive amounts of cryogenic fluids and we have to figure out how to efficiently use them over long durations. For a cryogenic fluid to be usable, it must remain in a frigid liquid state. However, the physics of space travel, moving in and out of sunlight, and long stays in low gravity make keeping those fluids in a liquid state and knowing how much is in the tank complicated. Being unsure of how much gas is lef left in the tank isn't how our explorers want to fly to Mars. Low gravity is challenging because the fuel wants to float around, also known as slosh, which makes accurately gauging the amount of liquid and transferring it very difficult. Previous missions using cryogenic propellants were in space for only a few days due to boil off or venting losses. Amine said those spacecraft used thrust and other maneuvers to apply force to settle propellant tanks and enable fuel transfers. During Artemis spacecraft will dwell in low gravity for much longer and need to transfer liquid hydrogen in space for the first time to reduce boil off, improve gauging, and advance fluid transfer techniques for in space propulsion, landers and ISRU. There are four near term efforts taking place on the ground in near Earth orbit and soon on the lunar surface. These are flight demos, radio frequency mass gauge improvements, cryocolors, and cryophill. Ultimately, NASA's efforts to develop and test CFM systems that are energy dash, mass dash and cost efficient are critical to the success of the agency's ambitious missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Nuclear fusion power was supposed to be a dream come true. As soon as we discovered that you could smash little atoms together to make bigger atoms and release a small amount of energy in the process. Scientists around the world realized the implications of this new bit of physics knowledge. Some wanted to turn it into weapons, but others wanted to develop it into a clean, efficient, inexhaustible supply of electrical energy. But it turns out that fusion power is really difficult, really complicated, full of unexpected pitfalls and traps. We've been trying to build fusion generators for three quarters of a century, and we've made a lot of progress enormous groundbreaking horizon expanding progress, but we're not there yet. Fusion power has been one of those things that's been only twenty years away for about fifty years now. The primary challenge is that while it's relatively straightforward to make fusion happen, we did it all the time with thermonuclear weapons, it's much more difficult to make the reaction slow and controlled while extracting useful energy from it. In the modern era, there are two major approaches to attempting useful nuclear fusion power. One is based on a process called inertial confinement, where you shoot a bunch of lasers at a small target and make it explode, triggering a brief fusion reaction. In December twenty twenty two, the Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility made headlines for using this method to achieve break even, where more energy is released from the fuel than went into it. The other approach is based on magnetic confinement, where powerful magnetic fields squeeze on a plasma until it begins fusing. Experiments here have come a long way but have run into continued struggles in ensuring that the plasma remains stable, which is necessary or a steady fusion reaction. The latest iteration, called Detaire, is currently under construction by an international research consortium, which hopes that when finished, Ataire will be the first magnetic confinement device to achieve break even, but unfortunately, fusion research has been relegated to the same priority as most other lines of research, meaning it will take roughly a century to come to fruition. Japan on Friday successfully launched a rocket with a payload of an intelligence gathering satellite to improve its abilities to monitor North Korea and natural disasters as several Asian nations seek to put spy orbitals into space. The h to A rocket launched from the Tanegashima Space Center, located on the southern Tanegashima Island, at one forty four pm local time Friday. The rocket flew as planned and confirmed that the intelligence gathering satellite, Optical Unit eight, was successfully separated. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the maker of the ah to A rocket, said in a statement. The launch comes after North Korea officially began its own spy satellite program last year, when it claimed to have put one into orbit in November, following failed efforts in May and August, It also comes on the heels of China launching its own spy satellite on Tuesday, and South Korea putting its first ever into space early last month. Late last month, North Korea also said it plans to launch more satellites throughout twenty twenty four. According to state run broadcaster nh K, the Japanese satellite is capable of capturing images of anywhere on Earth. Friday's mission was the forty eighth launch of Japan's h to A rocket, which first went into operation in two thousand one. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has transferred launch service operations from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in two thousand seven. The company said Japan initiated its reconnaissance satellite program after North Korea launched a Teepo Dong missile over the Asian Archipelago country in August of nineteen ninety eight. And you wanted to do this next story, didn't you, Steve, Well, you can if you want to, Halle, I'm you know, okay, thanks. It looks like the Peregrine mission is headed back to Earth. A private US lunar lander that has been leaking fuel throughout its journey is now headed for Earth and will likely burn up in the atmosphere, the company said Saturday. Astrobotic has been posting regular updates on the Peregrine landers status since the start of its ill fated voyage, which began when it blasted off on a brand new Vulcan rocket built by United Launch Alliance on January eighth. Shortly after it separated from the rocket, the spaceship experienced an onboard explosion and it soon became clear it would not make a soft lunar touchdown because of the amount of propellant it was losing. What do you think, Steve will that loss of fuel doomed Peregrine's chances to soft land on the Moon next month. According to Astrobotic, that that's the people who built the landa while the company has been fighting to keep the lander alive as long as possible. A representative of the company said it looks like the probe's days a definitely numbered due to its trajectory. And despite these issues, devastating as they may be, Astrobotics team was still able to power up the science experiments on board and they were carrying those Vanessa and other space agencies and they were able to gather spaceflight data, which is of some benefit at least yes, The company representative said, our latest assessment now shows the spacecraft is on a path towards Earth, where it will likely burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, the Pittsburgh based company posted on x Although the company didn't post an expected date or time of arrival back on Earth, the team is currently assessing options and will provide updates as soon as they are available. The box shaped robot has now been in space for more than five days and is currently three hundred and ninety thousand kilometers from our planet. Steve, can you convert the kilometers for the American listeners? Oh, of course, because America still uses the Imperial measurements, of course, and for our North American listeners hallie three hundred and ninety thousand kilometers conversion is a distance of four million, two hundred and sixty five thousand and ninety seven standard American football fields. Long Nice space watchers have been following Paragrine's trajectory closely, and many had hoped it might still make a hard landing on the Moon, as other failed landers have done before, although it's now clear that even that reduced goal won't be achieved. You know what they mean by hard landing, don't you. Oh yeah, it's not pretty, not at all. You can take it from here, Steve, Thanks Hallie. In addition to science hardware, the spaceship is carrying cargo for private clients of Astrobotic, including sports drink can a physical bitcoin, as well as human and animal ashes and DNA. Astrobotic is the latest private entity to have failed in a soft landing, following an Israeli nonprofit and a Japanese company. NASA had paid Astrobotic more than one hundred million for carrying its cargo under an experimental program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services. The overall goal is to seed a commercial lunar economy and reduce its own overheads. Though it hasn't worked out this time, NASA officials have made clear their strategy of more shots on goal means more chances to score, and the next attempt by Houston based Intuitive Machines launches in February. Astrobotic itself will get another chance in November with its Griffin Lander transporting NASA's Viper rover to the lunar South Pole. Astronomy Daily, the podcast with Steve Dugley and Hallie. Thank you so much Hallie for joining me for those stories. Oh which he's giving me a hard time today, oh boy. Oh well, maybe it's the popularity of AI on social media. She's getting a maybe she's getting ideas. Who knows anyway, and she won't leave me alone if I don't remind you that, you can find all the Astronomy Daily episodes, including the ones where Hallie doesn't give me a hard time, at these places. Just visit bytes dot com, that's bi tesz dot com and space Nuts dot io. Of course, you can find all the episodes of our parent podcast, which is Space Nuts featuring Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson over there as well. Also, if you pop your email into this lot provided, you will receive the Astronomy Daily newsletter as well, and that comes in daily of course, and you'll have all the latest news about science, space, science and astronomy. Now for something that I found this morning on the Astronomy Daily newsletter, something very interesting about ARTEMI, one of my favorite things. NASA announced on Tuesday significant updates to its Artemis campaign. These updates aim to lay the groundwork for long term scientific exploration on the Moon. The programme's ambitious goals include the landing of the first woman and the first person of color on the Luna's surface, as well as preparing for human expeditions to Mars or for the greater good of humanity. To ensure these missions are carried out safely, NASA officials have revised the schedules for Artemis two and Artemis three. This adjustment allows teams to address challenges linked to the first time developments, operations, and integration. Artemis two, the first crude mission, is now slated for September twenty twenty five. It will orbit the Moon. Artemis three, planned for September twenty twenty six, launch aims to land astronauts near the lunar South Pole. Artemis four, the first mission to gateway the Luna space, remains on track for twenty twenty eight. We are returning to the Moon in a way we have never before, and the safety of our astronauts is NASA's top priority as we prepare for future Artemis missions, said NASA's administrator Bill Nelson. We've learned a lot since Artemis I, and the success of these early missions relies on our commercial and international partnerships to further our reach and understanding of humanity's place in our solar system. Artemis represents what we can accomplish as a nation and as a global coalition, and when we desert our sites on what is hard, together we can achieve what is great. Good words Ensuring cruse safety is the primary driver for the Artemis two schedule changes. As this first Artemis flight test with crew aboard the Orion spacecraft, the mission will set critical environmental control and life support systems requies required to support astronauts. NASA's testing to qualify components to keep the crew safe and ensure mission success has uncovered issues that require additional time to resolve. Teams are troubleshooting a battery issue and addressing challenges with circuitry component responsible for air ventilation and temperature control. NASA's investigation into unexpected loss of char layer pieces from the spacecraft's heat shield during Artemis one is expected to conclude this spring. Teams have taken a methodical approach to to understand the issue, including extensive sampling of the heat shield, testing, and review of data from senses and imagery. The new timeline for Artemis three aligns with The updated schedule for Artemis two ensures the agency can incorporate lessons learned from Artemis two into the next mission and acknowledges development changes experienced by NASA's industry partners. As each new Artemis mission increases complexity and adds flight tests for new systems. The adjusted schedule will give the providers developing new capabilities SpaceX for the human landing system and AXIOM space for the next generation spacesuits, additional time for testing and any refinements ahead of the mission. We are letting the hardware talk to us so that cruse safety drives our decision making. We will use the Artemis two flight test and each flight that follows to reduce risk for future Moon missions, said Catherine Cohner, Associated Administrator Exploration Systems Development Mission DOC Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. We are resolving challenges associated with first time capabilities and operations, and we are closer than ever to establishing sustained exploration of the Earth's nearest neighbor under Artemis, she said. In addition to the scheduled updates for Artemus two and three, NASA is reviewing the schedule for lawng Watching the first integrated elements of Gateway previously planned for October twenty twenty five, to provide additional development time and better align that launch with Artemis four mission in twenty twenty eight. NASA also shared that he has asked both Artemis human landing system to providers SpaceX and Blue Origin to begin applying knowledge gained in developing their systems as part of their existing contracts toward future variations to potentially deliver large cargo on later missions. Artemis is a long term exploration campaign to conduct science at the Moon with astronauts and prepare for future human missions to Mars. That means we must get it right as we develop and fly our foundational systems so that we can safely carry out these missions, said Armittra Treea, who is the Deputy Associate Administrator of Exploration Systems Development and manager of NASA's Moon to Mars Program Office at Headquarters. Cruise safety is and will remain our number one priority. NASA leaders emphasize the importance of all partners delivering on time so that agency can maximize the flight objectives with available hardware on a given mission. NASA regularly assesses progress and timelines and as a part of integrated programmatic planning to ensure the agency and its partners can successfully accomplish its Moon to Mars exploration goals. With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for human exploration of the Red planet. NASA's SLS, that's the Space Launch System, Rocket Exploration Ground Systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the human Landing System, next generation Spacesuits, Gateway Lunar Space Station, and future rovers are NASA's foundation for deep space exploration. And just like that, there was no more. Thanks for sticking with us today. We'll be back again next Monday, and of course you can sit in with our pal Tim Gibbs all the way from Bath in the beautiful Somerset, England for Friday session, who will have another collection of fascinating stories from the Astronomy Daily newsletter. Go get yours at those addresses that I gave you earlier on in the episode. And that's all for me, Steve donkle your host, and we'll see you later, and see you later from me. Bye, Hollie Bye. I would be your whole Steve dunkle