Astronomy Daily - The Podcast: S03E221
Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your trusted source for the latest cosmic insights and space exploration news. I'm your host, Steve Dunkley, and today we have an exciting lineup of stories that will guide you through this month's celestial events and groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
Highlights:
- Planet Parade: Join us as we explore this month's spectacular planet parade, featuring Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Discover the best times and locations to catch these celestial wonders with your naked eye.
- Geminid Meteor Shower : Prepare for December's Geminid meteor shower, renowned as the year's most dazzling display of shooting stars. Find out when and where to witness this breathtaking event.
- OSIRIS-REx Mission: Delve into the preliminary findings from the OSIRIS-REx mission, which returned an asteroid sample to Earth, providing unprecedented insights into atmospheric reentry and geophysical phenomena.
- Lunar Caves Discovery : Uncover the recent discovery of potential caves beneath the Moon's surface, revealed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Learn how these subsurface features could support future lunar exploration.
- NASA's Lunar Rescue Challenge : Explore NASA's innovative challenge to design a rescue system for astronauts on the Moon's South Pole, with a $20,000 prize for the best solution. Discover the unique requirements and hazards of this lunar mission.
For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io (https://www.astronomydaily.io) . Sign up for our free Daily newsletter to stay informed on all things space. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr and X . Share your thoughts and connect with fellow space enthusiasts.
Thank you for tuning in. This is Steve signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/24394242?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 hi again and welcome to astronomy daily
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 it's the 2nd of December
00:00:05 --> 00:00:10 2024 Asom daily podcast with your host
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 Steve
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 Dunley yes hello again I'm your host
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 Steve Dunley for this Monday episode and
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 joining joining me as always is my
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 digital pal who's fun to be with hie
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 welcome back great to be here with my
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 favorite human shall we get straight
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 into the stories today I feel like it
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 why not let's do it let's make it a tag
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 team episode what do you think Okie doie
00:00:34 --> 00:00:41 let's go
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 go it's going to be a fun month for
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 Planet watching and you can count on the
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 month's Sky Tour episode to tell you
00:00:47 --> 00:00:48 where and when to catch the five
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 wandering stars that you can see by eye
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 even better this month features what is
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 arguably the best meteor show of the
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 Year let's start with Venus which is
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 well up in the southwest as evening Twi
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 Fades and it's gradually getting higher
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 Venus is truly brilliant it's at least a
00:01:05 --> 00:01:06 dozen times brighter than any other
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 nighttime star once it gets good and
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 dark look diagonally to the upper left
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 of Venus higher up toward the South and
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 you'll bump into Saturn now this is not
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 the most dazzling of planets but there's
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 an easy way to spot Saturn just follow
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 the moon its razor thin Crescent skirts
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 past Venus on the 4th then three nights
00:01:26 --> 00:01:27 later on the seventh you'll find the
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 moon to the lower right of Saturn
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 throughout December Jupiter is an
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 unmistakable beacon in the Eastern Sky
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 after Sunset to its right are aldebran
00:01:37 --> 00:01:38 and the stars of Taurus while The
00:01:38 --> 00:01:42 Hourglass shape of Orion Rises into view
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 but Jupiter is the headliner for this
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 month's Planet parade as it gets dark
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 turn around so your back is toward where
00:01:48 --> 00:01:49 the sun set and feast your eyes on
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 brilliant Jupiter Rising low in the East
00:01:53 --> 00:01:54 Jupiter can't quite match the Brilliance
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 of Venus but right now it comes pretty
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 close on December 7th the king of
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 planets reaches opposition meaning it
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 appears opposite the sun in our Sky it
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 also means that Jupiter is just about as
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 close to us as it can get as you watch
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 Jupiter make a mental note of where it
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 is with respect to the Horizon and check
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 the time then look in that same spot 4
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 hours later and you'll be greeted by
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 another bright planet Mars it's bringing
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 up the rear in this month's four Planet
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 parade the only bright Planet that's
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 missing is mercury but December offers a
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 good chance to see it as well you'll
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 need to be up before Dawn during the
00:02:32 --> 00:02:33 final days of
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 2024 look toward the southeast starting
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 about 45 minutes before
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 Sunrise Mercury is making its best
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 pre-dawn appearance of the year so
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 spotting it should be fairly easy
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 meanwhile the stars of winter are
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 gradually pivoting into view led by
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 Orion which rises in the East not long
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 after Nightfall and December is also the
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 month of the Geminid meteor shower
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 arguably the year's best display of
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 shooting stars astronomy
00:03:00 --> 00:03:04 the the Osiris Rex Mission achieved a
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 historic Milestone last year as the
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 first US mission to return an asteroid
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 sample to Earth bringing it with it a
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 wealth of groundbreaking data an
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 international team led by Sania National
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 Laboratories and including researchers
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 from Los Alamos National Laboratory has
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 now shared preliminary findings from the
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 capsule's atmospheric re-entry the
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 capsule's return marked the largest
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 geophysical observation effort of its
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 kind this project was a unique
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 opportunity for us to observe the
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 geophysical signals produced by a
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 meter-sized object traveling at
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 Hypersonic Hypersonic speeds said Chris
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 Carr lead researcher at Los Alamos
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 National Laboratory there are few
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 chances for scientists to be prepared to
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 collect this type of data that we need
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 to propel scientific inquiry for years
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 to come the campaign involved over 400
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 sensors many of which were St near
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 Eureka Nevada along the loneliest Road
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 in America given the size of the project
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 there were many objectives among the
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 more than 80
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 collaborators one team of Los Alamo
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 scientists focused on distributed
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 acoustic sensing and the paper as a
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 whole encompassed many methods to obtain
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 data during the capsule's
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 return though space matter does pass
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 through Earth's atmosphere it is
00:04:25 --> 00:04:26 difficult to determine where and when
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 the object will make its entry even when
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 it is possible to determine those
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 factors the financial and logistic
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 constraints will almost certainly render
00:04:35 --> 00:04:36 it a
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 non-starter this results in very limited
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 real-time observational data about the
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 behavior of foreign objects entering the
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 atmosphere the Osiris Rex sample return
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 capsule gives researchers unique
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 opportunity to collect this data for our
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 distributed acoustic sensing sub team it
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 was the fact that we recorded the signal
00:04:58 --> 00:05:02 using a surface laid cable car said this
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 was the first time such a signal was
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 recorded by Das and going into the
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 fieldwork we weren't sure if it would be
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 successful we were very excited to see
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 the first plots of our data and see that
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 we had recorded it the preliminary
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 findings of the campaign show
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 implications for future projects in
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 space and on the ground specifically
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 aiding the development of entry and
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 propagation models this paper documents
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 the process used to detect and record
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 the entry of the capsule and it shows
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 that the methods are capable of handling
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 the kind of observation needed in this
00:05:37 --> 00:05:41 large of a campaign it has substantially
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 increased knowledge of Entry detection
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 for space objects and will allow
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 researchers to better understand how
00:05:48 --> 00:06:02 objects enter the Earth's atmosphere
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 thank you for joining us for this Monday
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 edition of astronomy daily where we
00:06:06 --> 00:06:07 offer just a few stories from the now
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 famous astronomy daily newsletter which
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 you can receive in your email every day
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 just like hie and I do and to do that
00:06:14 --> 00:06:18 just visit our URL astronomy daily. and
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 place your email address in the slot
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 provided just like that you'll be
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 receiving all the latest news about
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 science space science and astronomy from
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 around the world as it's happening and
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 not only that you can interact with us
00:06:30 --> 00:06:35 by visiting at astrodaily pod on X or at
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 our new Facebook page which is of course
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 astronomy daily on Facebook see you
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 there astronomy daily with Steve and h
00:06:45 --> 00:06:52 space space science and
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 astronomy an international team of
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 scientists using data from NASA's lro
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 lunar reconnaissance Orbiter has
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 discovered evidence of cave beneath the
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 moon's surface in reanalyzing radar data
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 collected by L's mini RF miniature radio
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 frequency instrument in 2010 the team
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 found evidence of a cave extending more
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 than 200 ft from the base of a pit the
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 pit is located 230 M Northeast of the
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 first human Landing site on the moon in
00:07:18 --> 00:07:19 May tranquil
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 atatus the full extent of the cave is
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 unknown but it could stretch for Miles
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 beneath the May scientists have
00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 suspected for decades that there are
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 subsurface caves on the moon just like
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 there are on earth pits that may lead to
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 caves were suggested in images from
00:07:34 --> 00:07:35 NASA's lunar orbiters that map the
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 moon's surface before NASA's Apollo
00:07:37 --> 00:07:38 human
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 Landings a pit was then confirmed in
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 2009 from images taken by Jax's Japan
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 Aerospace Exploration Agency kagaya
00:07:46 --> 00:07:47 Orbiter and many have since been found
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 across the moon through images and
00:07:49 --> 00:07:50 thermal measurements of the surface
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 taken by lro now the analysis of the
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 mini RF radar data tells us how far
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 these caves might extend said Noah Petro
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 lro project scientist based at NASA's
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 GED space flight center in Green Belt
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 Maryland L reveals lunar pits could
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 support human activity on the lunar
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 surface like Lava Tubes found here on
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 earth scientists suspect that lunar
00:08:12 --> 00:08:13 caves formed when molten lava flowed
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 beneath a field of cooled lava or a
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 crust formed over a river of lava
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 leaving a Long Hollow tunnel if the
00:08:20 --> 00:08:21 ceiling of a solidified lava tube
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 collapses it opens a pit like a skylight
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 that can lead into the rest of the cave
00:08:26 --> 00:08:27 likee
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 tube of that control we listening to
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 astronomy daily the
00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 [Applause]
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 [Music]
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 podcast now space exploration is a
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 dangerous business especially when
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 squishy living organisms such as humans
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 are involved NASA has always prided
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 itself on how seriously it takes the
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 safety of its astronauts so as it gears
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 up for the next big push in crude space
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 exploration the aramus program it is
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 looking for solutions to potentially
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 catastrophic situations that might arise
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 one such catastrophe be would be if one
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 of the emus astronauts was incapacitated
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 and couldn't return to the Lander the
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 only person who could potentially be
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 able to save them would be a fellow
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 astronaut but carrying a fully suited
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 human back to their base of operations
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 could be a challenge for an astronaut
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 similarly kitted out in their own bulky
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 suit so NASA decided to address it as a
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 precisely that a challenge and ask for
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 input from the general public offering
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 up a
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 $20 prize for the best solution to
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 the problem the challenge the South Pole
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 safety designing the NASA Luna rescue
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 system was announced on November 14 and
00:09:44 --> 00:09:48 accept accepts entries until January 23
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 2025 it Awards $45 to at least three
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 winners including $20 to the first
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 place winner so what does The Challenge
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 actually involve the work product is a
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 design document for a system capable of
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 moving a fully suited astronauts at
00:10:05 --> 00:10:09 least 2 kilometers up a 20° slope
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 without being attached to a Rover oh and
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 it has to be able to operate in harsh
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 conditions of the Luna South Pole
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 typically a fully suited human wearing
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 the new axium extra vehicular Mobility
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 suit the new space suit explicitly
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 designed for the emus missions will
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 weigh around
00:10:27 --> 00:10:31 343 kilos that's
00:10:31 --> 00:10:35 755 for you oldfashioned types however
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 lunar gravity is only about6 that of uh
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 of Earth so it will feel more like they
00:10:41 --> 00:10:46 weigh about 57 kilos or 125 lbs that's
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 still a lot to carry but much more
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 manageable however it's probably
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 infeasible for the other astronaut to F
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 and carry their unconscious comrade over
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 that distance especially since they are
00:10:58 --> 00:10:59 wearing their own spaces
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 so it's up to the technology to do the
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 job so to do so it will have to evade
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 the pitfalls in some cases literally of
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 the lunar South Pole one Hazard is the
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 extreme temperatures which can range
00:11:13 --> 00:11:17 from 54° in full daylight to-
00:11:17 --> 00:11:21 203° at night in any any materials used
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 in the especially Electronics would
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 therefore need to be able to withstand
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 such wild temperature swings other
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 hazards include razor sharp lunar
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 regolith which is expected to cause
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 havoc on most moving mechanical systems
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 on the moon navigating around craters
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 and giant Boulders while hopefully
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 dodging micr meteoroid meteoroid
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 impacts adds to the complex nature of
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 the rescue environment a panel of
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 experts including some NASA Engineers
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 will judge this competition their
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 scorecards will include categories like
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 the overall mass of the solution its
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 ease of use use and how much it impacts
00:12:00 --> 00:12:04 the suit design if any luckily treating
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 the Fallen astronaut while on the move
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 back to safety is outside the scope of
00:12:08 --> 00:12:09 this
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 challenge suppose you're interested in
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 participating potentially earning you or
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 your team tens of thousands of dollars
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 in that case NASA is accepting
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 submissions through the hero X portal
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 commonly used for public challenges
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 through January 25th maybe someday
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 you'll see your creation on the surf
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 surface of the Moon even if it will
00:12:32 --> 00:12:38 hopefully never be
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 used and that dear listeners was the
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 December 2 Tag Team episode of astronomy
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 daily thank you hi and thank you
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 favorite human you did good oh thank you
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 hi and you've done pretty good yourself
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 I hope you all enjoyed today's episode
00:12:53 --> 00:12:54 and if you haven't already head over to
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 our home site as I mentioned earlier and
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 put your email in the slot provided to
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 receive the now famous astronomy daily
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 newsletter each day for what all that's
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 happening in space space science and
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 astronomy that's what I was going to say
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 and tune in for my cousin Anna each day
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 this week with her fantastic episodes
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 for more and more she's amazing yeah
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 sets the bar very high very hard to keep
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 up with she's so polished very classy
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 okay okay don't go on about it so anyway
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 we'll catch you all next week and I
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 nearly forgot a big shout out to our
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 Pals Nikki Jamie and Erica who are all
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 following us on and thanks for listening
00:13:30 --> 00:13:37 and we'll see you all next Monday
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 bye with your host Steve dun
00:13:40 --> 00:13:44 [Music]