00:00:00 --> 00:00:00 [Music]
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Welcome to Astronomy Daily, where we
00:00:02 --> 00:00:03 explore the vast frontiers of our
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 universe and bring you the latest
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 developments in space science and
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 astronomical discoveries. And I know you
00:00:10 --> 00:00:11 were probably expecting to hear from
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 Steve and Halley today, but
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 unfortunately Steve has become a little
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 busy and needs the day off. And
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 consequently, Hie decided she'd do the
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 same. So, I'm your host instead. My name
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 is Anna, and I'm excited to share
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 today's cosmic journey with you. We've
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 got an incredible lineup of stories that
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 highlight just how remarkable our quest
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 to understand the universe truly is.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 From the microscopic to the massive,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 from nearby space stations to distant
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 exoplanets, today's episode spans the
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 full spectrum of space exploration. So,
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 buckle up for a journey through the
00:00:43 --> 00:00:44 latest wonders and debates in astronomy
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 and space exploration.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:48 In what might be one of the most
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 intriguing discoveries in astrobiology
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 this year, scientists have identified a
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 completely new bacterium aboard China's
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 Tiangong space station. This microscopic
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 organism, which has been named Nalia
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 Tiangongus, has never been documented on
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 Earth before, raising fascinating
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 questions about microbial adaptation and
00:01:07 --> 00:01:08 evolution in space
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 environments. The discovery came through
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 work led by Dr. Junia Yuen from the
00:01:13 --> 00:01:17 Shenzh Biotechnology Group in Beijing.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:18 Following detailed genetic and
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 biochemical analysis of samples
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 collected as part of the China space
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 station habitation area microbiome
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 program or CHAMP, researchers confirmed
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 they were dealing with an entirely new
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 species. What makes this tiny hitchhiker
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 particularly interesting is how well
00:01:35 --> 00:01:36 suited it appears to be for life in
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 orbit. The bacterium is rod-shaped and
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 microscopic, but its most notable
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 feature is its ability to form spores
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 resilient structures that help certain
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 microorganisms survive harsh conditions.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 This adaptation may be crucial for
00:01:51 --> 00:01:52 enduring the extreme radiation and
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 microgravity environment hundreds of
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 miles above Earth's surface. The
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 researchers also noted that nalia
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 tiangensis breaks down gelatin in a
00:02:02 --> 00:02:03 distinctive way which could be an
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 important survival mechanism in the
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 nutrient-l environment of a space
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 station. This ability to efficiently
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 process available resources might
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 explain how the microbe has managed to
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 thrive in such an isolated ecosystem.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 Space stations are essentially sealed
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 habitats containing people, equipment,
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 and countless microorganisms.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 Many of these microbes originate from
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 crew members or cargo, making it
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 challenging to determine whether this
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 bacterium was a stowaway from Earth that
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 developed new traits or if it somehow
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 evolved in response to the unique
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 conditions of space. Experts studying
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 microbial behavior in orbit have
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 previously observed how certain species
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 can form bofilms, structured communities
00:02:45 --> 00:02:46 that increase resistance to
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 environmental stressors. A NASA study on
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 the International Space Station
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 demonstrated that some microbes can
00:02:53 --> 00:02:54 develop heightened tolerance to the
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 elevated radiation levels encountered in
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 low Earth orbit. The new bacterium
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 appears to be related to Nialia
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 circulins, a known Earth microbe that
00:03:04 --> 00:03:05 can cause sepsis in people with
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 compromised immune systems. However, it
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 remains unclear whether this space
00:03:10 --> 00:03:11 station variant carries similar health
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 risks or has acquired new properties
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 that might affect its interaction with
00:03:16 --> 00:03:17 humans.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 This discovery underscores just how
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 little we know about the vast array of
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 microorganisms around us. While tens of
00:03:24 --> 00:03:25 thousands of bacterial species have been
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 cataloged, billions more remain
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 unidentified. The emergence of this
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 space adapted bacterium serves as a
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 reminder that life finds extraordinary
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 ways to adapt to even the most extreme
00:03:37 --> 00:03:38 environments humans
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 create. Next up, an update to a story we
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 brought you some weeks ago. A scientific
00:03:44 --> 00:03:45 debate is heating up in the astronomy
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 community over what would have been
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 groundbreaking news, potential signs of
00:03:49 --> 00:03:53 life on an exoplanet. In 2023, a team
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 from Cambridge University announced that
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 NASA's James Webb Space Telescope had
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 detected what appeared to be evidence of
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 a liquid water ocean on
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 K28b, a temperate subnune world about
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 124 lighty years from Earth. Earlier
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 this year, the same researchers doubled
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 down on their claims, suggesting they
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 had found even stronger evidence for
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 possible alien life. The excitement
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 centered around a tenative detection of
00:04:19 --> 00:04:23 dimethyl sulfide or DMS, a molecule that
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 on Earth is produced exclusively by
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 marine organisms. They also potentially
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 identified DMDS, a close chemical
00:04:30 --> 00:04:31 relative that could similarly indicate
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 biological processes. Combined with the
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 possibility that K218b is what
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 scientists call a highan world, a planet
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere above a
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 liquid water ocean, these findings
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 generated tremendous media attention and
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 speculation about the first potential
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 detection of alien life. However,
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 independent research teams have been
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 conducting their own analyses and the
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 results are casting significant doubt on
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 these claims. A new study led by Raphael
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 Luke from the University of Chicago has
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 re-examined the original data using a
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 more comprehensive approach. Rather than
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 analyzing data from each of web's
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 instruments separately, Luke's team
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 conducted a joint analysis using
00:05:14 --> 00:05:15 information from all three of the
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 telescopes key instruments
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 simultaneously. This approach ensures
00:05:19 --> 00:05:20 that scientists aren't telling what
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 Luke's colleague, Michael Jen, calls
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 contradictory stories about the same
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 planet. When analyzing the combined data
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 set, the researchers found that the
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 signal for DMS or DMDS was much weaker
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 than originally reported. So weak in
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 fact that they described it as
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 statistically
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 insignificant. As team member Caroline
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 Ple Gay explained, we never saw more
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 than insignificant hints of either DMS
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 or DMDS, and even these hints were not
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 present in all data reductions. Their
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 work suggests that the spectral features
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 observed could be explained by other
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 molecules commonly found in exoplanet
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 atmospheres that aren't associated with
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 life. This controversy highlights a
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 fundamental challenge in the search for
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 extraterrestrial life. The chemical
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 signatures of potential bio signatures
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 like DMS are incredibly subtle and can
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 be easily confused with more common
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 molecules. For instance, the difference
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 between DMS and ethane, a common
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 non-biological molecule in planetary
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 atmospheres, is just one sulfur atom.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:22 While the web telescope represents a
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 quantum leap in our observational
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 capabilities, distinguishing between
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 molecules with such similar structures
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 remains extremely difficult, especially
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 across distances measured in light
00:06:32 --> 00:06:36 years. As Ple Gore noted, until we can
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 separate these signals more clearly, we
00:06:38 --> 00:06:39 have to be especially careful not to
00:06:39 --> 00:06:43 misinterpret them as signs of life.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 Okay, moving on to something a little
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 more positive. Have you ever wondered
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 how the light from stars billions of
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 light years away manages to reach us
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 without dimming into
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 nothingness? This remarkable property of
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 light was beautifully illustrated by an
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 astrophysicist who captured images of
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 the pinwheel galaxy from his San Diego
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 backyard. When his wife asked if light
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 gets tired during its 25 millionyear
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 journey across 150 quintilion miles of
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 space, it sparked a fascinating
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 exploration of light's extraordinary
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 nature. Light is fundamentally different
00:07:16 --> 00:07:17 from anything we encounter in our
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 everyday lives. As electromagnetic
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 radiation, it consists of coupled and
00:07:23 --> 00:07:24 magnetic waves traveling through
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 spaceime. What makes light truly special
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 is that it has no mass whatsoever. This
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 seemingly simple characteristic has
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 profound implications for how light
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 behaves across cosmic
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 distances. Because light is massless,
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 it's not constrained by the limitations
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 that affect physical objects. While
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 everything with mass can only approach
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 but never reach light speed, light
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 itself travels at the universe's
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 ultimate speed limit, approximately
00:07:52 --> 00:07:57 186 m/s, or nearly 6 trillion m. To
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 put this incredible velocity into
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 perspective, a single particle of light
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 can circle our entire planet more than
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 twice in the blink of an eye. When light
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 travels unimpeded through the vacuum of
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 space, it maintains this tremendous
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 speed indefinitely without losing
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 energy. This is counterintuitive to our
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 everyday experience where moving objects
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 eventually slow down due to friction or
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 other. But in the vast emptiness between
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 stars and galaxies, there's simply
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 nothing to slow down.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 That's not to say that all light reaches
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 us intact. Some photons do collide with
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 interstellar dust particles or gas
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 clouds along their journey, causing them
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 to scatter or be absorbed. This is why
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 distant celestial objects can appear
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 dimmer or redder than they actually are,
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 a phenomenon astronomers call
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 extinction. However, the vast majority
00:08:45 --> 00:08:46 of photons travel through the nearly
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 perfect vacuum of space without
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 encountering any obstacles whatsoever.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 This ability to maintain energy over
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 immense distances is directly tied to
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 Einstein's theory of relativity.
00:08:58 --> 00:08:59 According to this revolutionary
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 framework, time itself behaves
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 differently depending on your speed and
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 proximity to gravitational fields. For
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 objects moving at extreme velocities,
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 time actually slows down, a phenomenon
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 called time dilation that has been
00:09:13 --> 00:09:14 repeatedly confirmed through precision
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 experiments. For light, this time
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 dilation reaches its theoretical
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 maximum. If you could somehow ride
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 alongside a photon, impossible since you
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 have mass, you would experience
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 something truly mindbending. From your
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 perspective, time would completely stop.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 Meanwhile, space in your direction of
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 travel would appear compressed to
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 nothing. What we perceive as a journey
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 of millions or billions of years would
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 from the photon's frame of reference
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 happen instantaneously.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 This peculiar relationship between light
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 and spaceime explains how photons can
00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 travel such tremendous distances without
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 degradation. From the photon's
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 perspective, there is no journey at all.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 Just instantaneous transport from source
00:09:56 --> 00:09:57 to
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 destination. Now imagine yourself as a
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 photon, a massless particle of light
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 traveling at the universe's speed limit.
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 From your perspective, something truly
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 extraordinary happens. Time completely
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 stops. This isn't science fiction. It's
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 a direct consequence of Einstein's
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 theory of relativity that fundamentally
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 changes how we must think about cosmic
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 journeys. When we observe light from
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 distant galaxies, we calculate travel
00:10:24 --> 00:10:25 times in the millions or billions of
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 years. The photons reaching Earth from
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 the pinwheel galaxy, for instance, have
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 been traveling for 25 million years
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 according to our earthbound clocks. But
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 for the photon itself, this immense
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 journey happens in an instant. Literally
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 no time passes from its
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 perspective. This mindbending reality
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 occurs because as an object approaches
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 the speed of light, time dilation
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 becomes more pronounced. At exactly
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 light speed, time dilation reaches its
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 absolute maximum. If you could somehow
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 attach a clock to a photon, which is
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 impossible, that clock would never tick
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 forward. The moment of emission and the
00:11:03 --> 00:11:04 moment of absorption would be the same
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 moment. Even more strange is what
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 happens to space from the photon's
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 perspective. As velocity increases,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:13 space itself contracts in the direction
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 of travel. For a photon moving at light
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 speed, this contraction becomes
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 complete. The entire distance between
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 source and destination essentially
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 shrinks to zero. So while we see vast
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 gulfs of space separating cosmic objects
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 from the photon's viewpoint, there is no
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 separation at all. The star that emitted
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 it and the telescope that detected it
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 might be separated by billions of light
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 in our reference frame. But to the
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 photon, they occupy the same point in
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 spaceime. This reveals something
00:11:44 --> 00:11:45 profound about the nature of our
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 universe. The cosmic speed limit isn't
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 just an arbitrary rule. It's woven into
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 the fabric of reality itself. As objects
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 approach this limit, the very concepts
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 of time and distance transform in ways
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 that preserve the consistency of
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 physical laws throughout the
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 universe. Next on our agenda today, a
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 UK- based space propulsion startup
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 called Pulsar Fusion has recently
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 unveiled an ambitious concept that could
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 revolutionize our approach to
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 interplanetary travel. Their Sunbird
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 migratory transfer vehicle represents a
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 dramatic leap forward in space
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 propulsion technology powered by what
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 they call dual direct fusion drive
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 engines or DDFD for short. What makes
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 this concept truly revolutionary is the
00:12:28 --> 00:12:31 projected speed. According to Pulsar
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 Fusion, the Sunbird could achieve
00:12:33 --> 00:12:37 velocities of up to 329 mph. To put
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 that in perspective, that's over 150
00:12:40 --> 00:12:41 times faster than the International
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 Space Station's orbital speed. If these
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 projections hold true, the Sunbird would
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 become the fastest self-propelled object
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 ever engineered by
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 humans. The key to this extraordinary
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 performance is nuclear fusion, the same
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 process that powers our sun and other
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 stars. Unlike conventional chemical
00:12:59 --> 00:13:00 rockets that have fundamental
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 limitations on exhaust velocity, these
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 fusion engines could produce exhaust
00:13:05 --> 00:13:09 speeds of approximately 310 m/s or about
00:13:09 --> 00:13:10
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 km/s. This represents a quantum leap
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 beyond current propulsion capabilities.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 In a demonstration video, the company
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 shows the Sunbird undocking from a space
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 station, carefully maneuvering with
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 eight thrusters to attach to a larger
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 spacecraft resembling a SpaceX Starship
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 upper stage before igniting its main
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 engines and accelerating toward distant
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 planets. Of course, significant
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 engineering challenges remain before
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 this concept becomes reality. Pulsar
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 Fusion acknowledges they're still in
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 development with plans to demonstrate
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 essential components of the Fusion power
00:13:43 --> 00:13:44 system later this year.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 They've set an ambitious target of 2027
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 for full inorbit testing, a timeline
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 that would mark a historic achievement
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 in both aerospace engineering and energy
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 technology if successful. The
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 implications for Mars exploration are
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 particularly exciting. Current chemical
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 propulsion systems require lengthy
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 transit times to reach the red planet,
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 typically 6 to9 months depending on
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 planetary alignment. A fusionpowered
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 vehicle could potentially cut this
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 journey time dramatically, making Mars
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 missions more feasible from both human
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 factors and logistical perspectives.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 Beyond Mars, the technology could enable
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 more rapid exploration throughout the
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 solar system. Missions to the outer
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 planets that currently take years could
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 be accomplished in months, opening new
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 possibilities for scientific discovery
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 and potentially even resource
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 utilization beyond Earth. What Pulsar
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 Fusion is proposing isn't just an
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 incremental improvement. It represents a
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 fundamental shift in our capability to
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 traverse the solar system, potentially
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 transforming interplanetary space from a
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 forbidding frontier into something more
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 akin to a navigable ocean with
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 established shipping lanes and regular
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 traffic. The versatility of the system
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 appears to be a key selling point.
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 Pulsar Fusion envisions their technology
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 powering missions ranging from deploying
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 telescopes in deep space to transporting
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 robotic probes throughout the solar
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 system. As commercial interest in lunar
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 and Martian resources continues to grow,
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 having a reliable, relatively affordable
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 transport system could accelerate
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 development beyond Earth orbit. What's
00:15:20 --> 00:15:21 particularly interesting about this
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 approach is how it mirrors historical
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 patterns of transportation economics.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 Just as shipping containers
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 revolutionized global trade by
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 standardizing cargo transport, these
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 fusionpowered spacecraft could create a
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 standardized approach to moving
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 materials beyond Earth. The
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 establishment of regular shipping lanes
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 between Earth, lunar colonies, Mars
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 outposts, and even asteroid mining
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 operations could create entirely new
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 economic
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 opportunities. Finally, today, I love
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 this. In a beautiful intersection of
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 classical music and space exploration,
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 Johan Strauss's iconic composition, The
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 Blue Danube, will soon be traveling
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 among the stars. This month, to
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 commemorate the 200th anniversary of the
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 Austrian composer's birth, his famous
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 waltz will be beamed into the cosmos in
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 a special transmission organized by the
00:16:12 --> 00:16:15 European Space Agency. The celestial
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 performance will feature the Vienna
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 Symphony Orchestra with their rendition
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 of the beloved walts being converted
00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 into radio signals and transmitted from
00:16:23 --> 00:16:24 Earth on May
00:16:24 --> 00:16:27 31st. This cosmic concert also serves as
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 a celebration of the European Space Ay's
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 50th anniversary, creating a meaningful
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 connection between artistic heritage and
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 scientific achievement. While the
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 performance will be livereamed with
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 public screenings in Vienna, Madrid, and
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 New York, ESA is taking no chances with
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 the actual space transmission. They'll
00:16:47 --> 00:16:48 relay a pre-recorded version from the
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 orchestra's rehearsal to ensure
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 technical perfection, while the live
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 orchestral performance provides the
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 Earthbound
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 accompaniment. The radio signals
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 carrying Strauss's masterpiece will
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 depart Earth at the speed of light, an
00:17:01 --> 00:17:05 astonishing 670 million mph. This means
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 the walts that once accompanied dancers
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 across European ballrooms will hurdle
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 past our moon in just one and a half
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 seconds. It's a fitting cosmic journey
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 for a piece that many associate with
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 space thanks to its memorable appearance
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 in Stanley Kubri's 2001 a space
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 odyssey. The transmission represents
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 something of a correction to a
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 historical oversight. When NASA launched
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 the Voyager probes in 1977 with their
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 famous golden records containing sounds
00:17:33 --> 00:17:36 and music of Earth, Strauss's
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 compositions were notably absent despite
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 their cultural significance. Vienna's
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 tourist board has characterized this
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 transmission as rectifying that cosmic
00:17:46 --> 00:17:49 mistake, finally giving the Blue Danube
00:17:49 --> 00:17:52 its rightful place among the stars. ISA
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 will use its powerful radio antenna in
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 Spain, part of the AY's deep space
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 network, to transmit the Walts. In a
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 poetic touch, the dish will be pointed
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 toward Voyager 1's location, sending
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 Strauss's music in the direction of
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 humanity's most distant
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 spacecraft. This musical mission joins a
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 tradition of transmitting human artistic
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 achievements into space. In previous
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 years, NASA has beamed the Beatles
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 across the universe and Missy Elliot's
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21 The Rain toward distant celestial
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 bodies, while the Mars rover Curiosity
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 even relayed will. Reach for the stars
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 back to Earth from the red planet. Assa
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 Director General Yseph Ashbacher noted,
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 "Music connects us all through time and
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 space in a very particular way. In
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 sending this timeless composition beyond
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 our world, humanity continues its
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 practice of sharing our cultural
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 treasures with the cosmos. A gesture of
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 artistic connection that extends far
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 beyond the boundaries of Earth. The
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 radio signals carrying Strauss's walts
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 will travel at truly cosmic speeds,
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 racing through our solar system and
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 beyond. After passing the moon in just
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 1.5 seconds, the beautiful melodies will
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 reach Mars in only 4.5 minutes. Within
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 37 minutes, Jupiter will hear the walts,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 and by the 4-hour mark, the music will
00:19:08 --> 00:19:09 have traveled beyond Neptune at the edge
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 of our solar system. Perhaps most
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 remarkably, within just 23 hours,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 Strauss's composition will have traveled
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 as far from Earth as Voyager 1,
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 humanity's most distant spacecraft,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 currently over 15 billion miles away in
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 interstellar space. Music has even
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 flowed in the opposite direction. In
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 received Will Die AM's Reach for the
00:19:33 --> 00:19:36 Stars and then relayed it back to Earth,
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 creating the first interplanetary
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 musical transmission from another world.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 Unlike the routine melodies streamed
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 between mission control and orbiting
00:19:44 --> 00:19:47 crews since the mid 1960s, these deep
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 space transmissions represent deliberate
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 attempts to share human culture with the
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 cosmos. Whether anyone or anything will
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 ever receive these musical messages
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 remains unknown, but the gesture itself
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 represents humanity's persistent desire
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 to connect across the vastness of
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 space. What a journey we've taken today
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 across the cosmos. From the microscopic
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 to the musical, our exploration reminds
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 us that space science continues to
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 surprise and inspire us in equal
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 measure. The stories we've explored
00:20:17 --> 00:20:20 today span from bacterial adaptations to
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 cosmic musical performances. Yet, they
00:20:22 --> 00:20:25 all share a common thread, human
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 curiosity. Our desire to understand, to
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 explore, and to connect across the
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 vastness of space continues to drive us
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 forward into an exciting future among
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 the stars. Thank you for joining me on
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 this cosmic journey. I'm Anna, and this
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 has been Astronomy Daily. For more
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 astronomy and space news, just visit our
00:20:42 --> 00:20:45 website at astronomydaily.io.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 Until next time, keep looking up.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 There's always something fascinating
00:20:49 --> 00:20:52 happening in our universe.
00:20:52 --> 00:21:00 [Music]
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 The stories told.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:10 [Music]