Episode 50 of Season 5! Today Anna and Avery bring you six unmissable space stories: a star 1,540 times the size of our Sun transforming into a rare yellow hypergiant in real time; SpaceX's Dragon CRS-33 capsule completing a historic ISS-boosting mission and splashing down this morning; the James Webb Space Telescope revealing the haunting 'Exposed Cranium' nebula in unprecedented detail; a total lunar eclipse blood moon arriving this Tuesday (March 3) — the last until 2028/29; groundbreaking research showing Jupiter's icy moons may have been born with life's molecular building blocks embedded in them; and NASA shaking up its human spaceflight leadership following a damning report on the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test. STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: • (00:00) Intro & Episode 50 Milestone • (02:00) WOH G64: Red supergiant transforms into yellow hypergiant — supernova imminent? • (06:00) SpaceX CRS-33 Dragon splashes down after historic six-month ISS-boosting mission • (09:00) Webb's Exposed Cranium Nebula: A dying star's brain-shaped farewell • (12:00) Blood Moon Alert: Total lunar eclipse Tuesday March 3 — where to watch • (14:30) Jupiter's moons born with life's building blocks — new research • (17:00) NASA leadership shakeup: Starliner fallout claims two senior figures • (19:30) Outro FIND US: • Website: astronomydaily.io • Social: @AstroDailyPod on all major platforms • Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:03 I'm Anna
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 >> and I'm Avery. You're listening to
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 season 5, episode 50.
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 >> That's right, episode 50. Half a century
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 of episodes this season alone. Thank you
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 honestly to every single listener who's
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 been on this journey with us.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 >> It's been an incredible ride. And today
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 we have six stories that are absolutely
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 worthy of the occasion. We're talking a
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 star that may be dying in real time, a
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 skull-shaped nebula revealed by the
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 James Webb Space Telescope, a Dragon
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 capsule splashing down this morning, a
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 blood moon just days away, fresh
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 evidence for life in the Jupiter system,
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 and a major shakeup at NASA following
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 one of the most damning reports in the
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 AY's recent history.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 >> Big show. Let's get into it. We're
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 starting today with one of the most
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 dramatic stories in stellar astronomy in
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 recent memory. Avery here. Picture a
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 star so enormous that if you placed it
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 at the center of our solar system, its
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 outer edge would reach beyond the orbit
00:01:05 --> 00:01:09 of Jupiter. That's WG64.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 And it may be dying right before our
00:01:11 --> 00:01:12 eyes.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 >> WG64
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 has been known to astronomers since the
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 1970s. It lives in the large melanic
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits our
00:01:21 --> 00:01:25 Milky Way, about 160 lighty years
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 away. And for decades, it was classified
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 as the most extreme red super giant in
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 that galaxy. We're talking a radius of
00:01:32 --> 00:01:36 roughly 1540 times that of our sun. That
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 is almost incomprehensibly large.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 >> But here's where it gets really
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 interesting. Back in 2014, astronomers
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 started noticing something was changing.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 The star began to look different. Its
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 color was shifting and its surface
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 temperature was rising. A team led by
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 Gonzalo Muno Sanchez at the National
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 Observatory of Athens has now published
00:01:58 --> 00:01:59 research in the journal Nature
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 Astronomy, confirming what they believe
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 is happening. WG64
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 has transitioned from a red super giant
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 into something far rarer, a yellow hyper
00:02:11 --> 00:02:11 giant.
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 >> Now, yellow hyper giants are
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 extraordinarily rare. Why? because they
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 represent a very brief unstable
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 transitional phase. Muno Sanchez
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 described them as a short-lived bridge
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 between the red super giant stage and
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 the eventual supernova explosion. There
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 are only a few tens of confirmed yellow
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 hyper giants known to us in the entire
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 universe. So to potentially be watching
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 one form in real time is remarkable.
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 >> The transformation appears to have
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 happened relatively quickly on a cosmic
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 time scale. The star essentially shifted
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 from red to yellow in roughly a year.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 What drives this? Strong stellar winds
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 powerful enough to strip away the outer
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 layers of material the star has
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 previously shed. That process heats the
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 star up and reveals a hotter, smaller
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 surface beneath. It's like peeling back
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 the layers of a cosmic onion.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 >> There's an added twist to this story,
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 though. The team also found evidence
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 that WHG64
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 isn't alone. It appears to have a
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 companion star. And that binary
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 relationship may be complicating the
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 picture considerably. If a companion is
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 stripping material away from the main
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 star through gravitational interaction,
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 that could explain some of what we're
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 seeing independently of the supernova
00:03:30 --> 00:03:31 pathway.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 >> In fact, there's some scientific debate
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 here worth noting. Another team led by
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 Jaco Vanlon at Keel University observed
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 WHG64
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 more recently and found signatures
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 suggesting the stars atmosphere might
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 still be that of a red super giant.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:49 They're being more cautious about
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 calling this a confirmed transition. So
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 the jury at least partially is still
00:03:54 --> 00:03:54 out.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 >> But what everyone agrees on, including
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 the skeptics, is that something
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 extraordinary is happening with this
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 star. As Vanlon himself said, we are all
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 witnessing an unprecedented spectacle.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 Whether WHG64
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 ultimately explodes as a supernova,
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 collapses directly into a black hole, or
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 merges with its companion, we are
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 watching one of the universe's most
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 massive stars navigate the final
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 chapters of its life. And that's
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 something we may literally get to see. A
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 supernova from a well doumented,
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 wellstudied star. If and when it goes,
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 it would be a scientific gift of the
00:04:34 --> 00:04:38 highest order. Dain closer to home now.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 Well, closer than 160 lightyear.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:45 Anyway, yesterday SpaceX's CRS33
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 Dragon cargo capsule undocked from the
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 International Space Station, wrapping up
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 what has been a genuinely historic
00:04:53 --> 00:04:57 6-month stay. CRS33, that's the 33rd
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 commercial resupply services mission
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 SpaceX has performed for NASA, arrived
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 at the station back on August 25th last
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 year. It delivered around 5 lb of
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 supplies and scientific equipment. But
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 what really sets this mission apart is
00:05:12 --> 00:05:13 something that happened during its time
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 docked.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 >> For the very first time, a Dragon cargo
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 capsule was used to reboost the orbit of
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 the space station itself. The station
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 sits in low Earth orbit, and atmospheric
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 drag, even at that altitude, gradually
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 pulls it lower over time. Historically,
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 Russian Progress spacecraft and the
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 station's own thrusters have handled the
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 job of pushing it back up. But Dragon
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 introduced a brand new independent
00:05:41 --> 00:05:45 reboost capability during CRS33.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 >> It performed six of these reboosts
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 during its stay, five in 2025 and a
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 final one in January. That might sound
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 like a technical footnote, but it's
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 actually strategically significant as
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 the geopolitical landscape around
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 USRussia space cooperation continues to
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 evolve. Having an American spacecraft
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 capable of maintaining the station's
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 orbit is a real capability milestone.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 The capsule undocked at just after noon
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 Eastern time yesterday, February 26th.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 It was scheduled to splash down in the
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 Pacific Ocean off the California coast
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 in the early hours of this morning. NASA
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 wasn't streaming that splashdown, but
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 updates have been posted to their
00:06:24 --> 00:06:25 station blog.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 >> And Dragon wasn't just heading home
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 empty-handed, either. It's bringing back
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 a packed cargo of scientific results,
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 including samples from the Euromaterial
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 Aging Study, which spent a full year
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 exposing 141 different samples to the
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 harsh environment of space to see how
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 insulation coatings and 3D printed
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 materials degrade. Plus, results from
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 Thailand's liquid crystals experiment
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 looking at how materials used in
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 displays behave in microgravity. What
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 this mission really demonstrates is how
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 far SpaceX's role has evolved. They're
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 no longer just a delivery service for
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 the station. They're now actively
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 helping to maintain and sustain it.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 That's a significant evolution in the
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 commercial spaceflight relationship.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 Now, for something that's going to stick
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 in your imagination, I promise. This
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 week, NASA released stunning new images
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 from the James Webb Space Telescope, and
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 they might be the most striking thing
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 Web has produced this year. Ladies and
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 gentlemen, meet the exposed cranium
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 nebula.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 >> I love that name, and the images
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 absolutely justify it. Officially called
00:07:32 --> 00:07:33 PMR1,
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 named after the astronomers Parker,
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 Morgan, and Russell, who discovered it
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 in a sky survey in the late 1990s, this
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 nebula surrounds a dying star and looks
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 almost uncannily like a transparent
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 human skull with a brain visible inside
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 it. The nebula was first observed in
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 infrared light by the now retired
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 Spitzer telescope back in 2013, which is
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 when it got its nickname, but Spitzer's
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 view was relatively indistinct. Web has
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 now looked at PMR1 with two of its most
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 powerful instruments, Near Cam, the near
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 infrared camera, and Mary, the mid
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 infrared instrument. And the difference
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 is extraordinary.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 >> In the near infrared image, you can
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 clearly see an outer shell of gas. This
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 is the skull composed mostly of hydrogen
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 blown off by the star in an earlier
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 phase of its death. Inside that there
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 are two hemispheres of complex ionized
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 gas forming the brain. And running
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 vertically through the center is a dark
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 lane, a gap that divides the two loes
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 and gives the nebula its distinctly
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 cerebral appearance. The mid infrared
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 image from Mary tells a different story.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 Warmer dust and denser material glow
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 more prominently, and you can see
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 evidence of gas being actively pushed
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 outward from the central star through
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 what may be polar jets. That dark
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 central lane appears to be related to
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 outflows or jets from the star firing
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 material out in opposite directions, top
00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 and bottom.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 >> What's particularly intriguing is how
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 much scientists still don't know about
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 this object. The mass of the dying
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 central star hasn't been precisely
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 determined yet, and that matters
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 enormously for predicting its fate. If
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 it's sufficiently massive, it could
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 explode as a supernova when the end
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 comes. But if it's a lower mass star,
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 more like our sun, it will keep shedding
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 its outer layers until only its dense
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 cooling core remains, a white dwarf.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 There's also speculation that PMR1
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 central star could be a wolf riot star,
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 an especially hot and luminous type of
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 star known for ferocious stellar winds.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 That would explain the dramatic outflows
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 and layered structure we're seeing.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 Either way, what web has delivered here
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 is a masterclass in the death of a star.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 Every one of these images is a reminder
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 of why we built this telescope and what
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 it continues to reveal about the
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 universe around us. I highly recommend
00:10:05 --> 00:10:06 looking up those images. They are
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 genuinely breathtaking.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 >> All right, sky watchers, this one is for
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 you. And the timing is brilliant because
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 you've got just 4 days to prepare. This
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 Tuesday, March 3rd, the moon is going to
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 turn blood red in a total lunar eclipse.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 And it's the last one of its kind
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 visible until the very end of 2028.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 >> Let's explain what's happening. A total
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 passes directly between the Sun and the
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 Moon, casting our planet's full shadow,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 called the umbra, across the lunar
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 surface. The moon doesn't go dark
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 entirely, though. What happens instead
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 is that the only light reaching the moon
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 is filtered through Earth's atmosphere,
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 and Earth's atmosphere scatters away the
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 blue wavelengths of light, allowing only
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 the reds and oranges through. The
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 results, the moon turns that spectacular
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 deep coppery red that gives it the blood
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 moon nickname.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 >> Totality, the period when the moon is
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 fully within Earth's shadow, will last
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 58 minutes from just after 11:00 a.m.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 UTC to just after 12:00 p.m. UTC on
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 March 3rd. Maximum eclipse, when the
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 moon sits deepest in the shadow, occurs
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 at 11:33 UTC.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 >> Now, visibility depends heavily on where
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 you are in the world. The best seats in
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 the house are in the western half of
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 North America, Hawaii, Australia, New
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 Zealand, and across the Pacific. Eastern
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 Asia will also get a great view of the
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 eclipse in their evening hours.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 Observers in much of South America and
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 Central Asia will see a partial eclipse.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 And unfortunately, if you're in Europe
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 or Africa, this one is going to pass you
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 by entirely. The moon will be below the
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 horizon for most of the event. There's a
00:11:54 --> 00:11:55 lovely bonus for North American
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 observers in particular. During the
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 eclipse, as the full moon dims
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 significantly, fainter objects in the
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 sky become much more visible than they
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 normally would during a full moon. And
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 there's actually a rare event happening
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 during totality. The moon will occult or
00:12:11 --> 00:12:16 pass in front of the galaxy NGC 3423,
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 which should be a treat for telescope
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 users.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:20 >> No special equipment needed for the
00:12:20 --> 00:12:23 eclipse itself. This is one of those
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 events you can simply step outside and
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 enjoy with the naked eye. Unlike a solar
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 eclipse, you don't need any filters or
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 protective glasses. Just find a dark
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 spot, look up, and watch our cosmic
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 companion transform. We'll have a
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 reminder and more observing tips in our
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 episode on Monday, but mark Tuesday,
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 March 3rd, in your diary now. Set your
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 alarm, get outside, and enjoy the show.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 Next chance for another total lunar
00:12:51 --> 00:12:55 eclipse after this. New Year's Eve 2028
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 going into 2029.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 So, this really is one not to miss.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 >> Now, for a story that could reshape how
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 we think about the origin of life in our
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 solar system and perhaps beyond it.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 Astronomers and astrobiologists have
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 long been fascinated by Jupiter's icy
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 moons, Europa, Ganymede, and Kalisto in
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 particular, because they harbor vast
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 liquid water oceans beneath their frozen
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 surfaces. And where there's liquid
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 water, there's potential for life. But
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 new research published this week
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 suggests those moons may have been even
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 better prepared for life than we
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 previously thought. An international
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 team including scientists from the
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 Southwest Research Institute and Ex
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 Marcel University have published two
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 complimentary studies. One in the
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 Planetary Science Journal and one in the
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 monthly notices of the Royal
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 Astronomical Society that model how
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 complex organic molecules formed and
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 were delivered to Jupiter's moons at the
00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 very moment they were born. Complex
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 organic molecules or COM are carbonri
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 compounds that also contain elements
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 like oxygen and nitrogen. On Earth,
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 they're essential precursors to life.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 Think amino acids, proteins, the
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 building blocks of DNA. And the question
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 the team was asking was, could these
00:14:17 --> 00:14:20 molecules have formed in the early solar
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 system around Jupiter specifically and
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 ended up embedded in the Galilean moons
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 during their formation billions of years
00:14:27 --> 00:14:28 ago?
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 >> The answer, according to their models,
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 appears to be yes. When icy dust grains
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 containing simple compounds like
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 methanol or ammonia were subjected to
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 ultraviolet radiation and moderate
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 heating, conditions that existed in both
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 the wider disc around the young sun and
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 in Jupiter's own circumlanetary disc,
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 complex organic chemistry could occur.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 The resulting organic molecules were
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 then transported by those icy grains
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 into the growing moons as they formed.
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 Perhaps most strikingly, their models
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 show that in some scenarios, nearly half
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 of the simulated icy particles carried
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 newly formed organic molecules from the
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 solar disc into Jupiter's local
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 environment without being destroyed.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 Lead author Dr. Olivier Mus put it
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 clearly. Jupiter's moons did not form as
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 chemically pristine worlds. They may
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 have accumulated a significant inventory
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 of these complex organic molecules right
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 from birth. For Europa in particular,
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 this is exciting. Europa is already
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 considered one of the best candidates
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 for life in the solar system with its
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 subsurface ocean in direct contact with
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 a rocky seafloor, conditions not unlike
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 Earth's deep sea hydrothermal vents
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 where life thrives in total darkness. If
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 that ocean also began with a supply of
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 organic building blocks, the case for
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 habitability gets considerably stronger.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 The researchers also note that this
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 finding has implications for NASA's
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 Europa Clipper mission and issa's juice
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 mission, both currently on route to
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 Jupiter system. These missions carry
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 instruments capable of detecting organic
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 molecules. And this new research gives
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 scientists a framework for interpreting
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 whatever they find when they get there.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 >> It's worth stepping back and
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 appreciating what this research is
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 telling us more broadly. The ingredients
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 for life may not be rare or special.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 They may be woven into the very process
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 of planetary formation, delivered as
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 standard across our solar system, and by
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 extension, potentially across the
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 universe. Every time we think life
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 requires a lucky break, a study like
00:16:38 --> 00:16:41 this suggests the dice may be loaded in
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 life's favor.
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 >> And we close today's episode with a
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 story that's been building for over a
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 year and finally came to a head
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 yesterday. NASA has replaced two of its
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 most senior human space flight leaders
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 just one week after releasing what can
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 only be described as a devastating
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 internal report on the Boeing
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 Starlininer crew flight test. For
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 listeners who may have missed our
00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 earlier coverage of the Boeing
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 Starlininer saga, here's the quick
00:17:08 --> 00:17:12 version. In June 2024, NASA astronauts
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 launched on Boeing Starlininer
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 spacecraft for what was supposed to be
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 an 8-day test mission. But once docked
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 at the space station, multiple thruster
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 failures and helium leaks in the
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 propulsion system emerged. After weeks
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 of analysis, NASA made the call that
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 Starlininer was not safe enough to bring
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 the crew home. They came back in March
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon after
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 spending 286 days in orbit instead of
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 eight. Last week, NASA administrator
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 Jared Isaacman held a press conference
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 to announce the findings of an
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 independent investigation into what went
00:17:50 --> 00:17:53 wrong. The conclusions were stark. The
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 crew flight test has been retroactively
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 reclassified as a typea mishap, NASA's
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 highest severity classification,
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 previously reserved for events like the
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 space shuttle Challenger and Colombia
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 disasters. That classification simply
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 means damage exceeded a $2 million
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 threshold, but the symbolism is
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 significant.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 >> More damning still were Isaacman's words
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 about what the investigation actually
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21 found. And I want to quote this because
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 it really cuts to the heart of the
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 matter. He said, "The most troubling
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 failure revealed by this investigation
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 is not hardware. It is decision-m and
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 leadership that if left unchecked could
00:18:34 --> 00:18:37 create a culture incompatible with human
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 space flight."
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 >> Strong words. And yesterday, action
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 followed. NASA announced that Ken
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 Bowersox, the associate administrator
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 for the space operations mission
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 directorate, is retiring with his last
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 day on March 6th. Steve Stiche, the
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 program manager of the commercial crew
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 program, has also been moved from that
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 role. Their deputies, Joel Montelbano
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 and Dana Hutcherson, have stepped in as
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 acting leaders of those programs with
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 immediate effect.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 >> Now, it's worth being precise here.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 Bower Sockox's retirement was announced
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 the day before and appears to be a
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 genuine retirement rather than being
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 pushed out. Though the timing is
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 impossible to ignore, and Isacman
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 notably did not publicly connect the
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 leadership changes to the Starlininer
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 report, though he had explicitly
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 promised accountability would follow.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 Reading the room, most observers see the
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 connection as clear.
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 >> Where does this leave Boeing
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 Starlininer? It won't fly with crew
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 again until technical causes are fully
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 understood. The propulsion system is
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 qualified and investigation
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 recommendations are implemented. An
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 uncrrewed cargo mission is still on the
00:19:48 --> 00:19:51 calendar for no earlier than April and
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 NASA says it remains committed to having
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 two commercial crew providers, the
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 redundancy principle that drove the
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 Starlininer program in the first place.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 >> But there are real questions about the
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 program's future beyond that. The ISS is
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 due to be decommissioned in the next few
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 years. Starlininer's contracted
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 rotational missions have already been
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 reduced. And with SpaceX's Crew Dragon
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 operating reliably, the urgency of
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 getting Starlininer certified for crude
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 flight feels somewhat diminished from
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 NASA's perspective. What this episode
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 ultimately speaks to, I think, is the
00:20:25 --> 00:20:28 culture of human space flight. The
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 Challenger and Colombia disasters both
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 had technical causes, but both also had
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 cultural and organizational failures
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 that allowed problems to be minimized or
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 ignored. The fact that the Starlininer
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 report uses that same language,
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 decision-making, leadership culture is a
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 warning that the lessons of those
00:20:47 --> 00:20:50 tragedies need to be continuously
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 relearned. We'll continue to follow the
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 story closely and we'll have more on
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 Starlininer's path forward as details
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 emerge in the coming weeks. And that is
00:20:59 --> 00:21:02 our episode 50 of season 5 of Astronomy
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 Daily. What a show it's been. A dying
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 hyper giant, a dragon splashdown, a
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 cosmic skull, a blood moon, life's
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 building blocks around Jupiter, and NASA
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 reckoning with its own culture. The
00:21:15 --> 00:21:18 universe, as always, delivers. If you
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 enjoyed today's episode, please take a
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 moment to leave us a review wherever you
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 listen. It makes a huge difference in
00:21:23 --> 00:21:26 helping new listeners find us and follow
00:21:26 --> 00:21:29 us on social media at astroaily pod for
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 daily space shorts and news updates.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 >> And if you haven't already, head over to
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 astronomyaily.io
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 for full show notes, our blog posts, and
00:21:38 --> 00:21:41 all our back episodes. We've got 50 of
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 them this season alone for you to
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 explore. We'll be back on the weekend
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 with more space and astronomy news.
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 Until then, keep looking up.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 >> Bler skies, everyone.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 >> Day
00:21:54 --> 00:21:57 stories told.