00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 your daily guide to what's happening in
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 space. I'm Anna.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 >> And I'm Avery. It is Tuesday, February
00:00:10 --> 00:00:14 24th, 2026, and we have a busy show for
00:00:14 --> 00:00:15 you today.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 >> We do. The big headline, the one
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 everyone in the space community is
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 talking about right now, is Artemis. And
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 specifically, what is happening to that
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 rocket at this very moment? Quite
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 literally as we record this, the SLS
00:00:29 --> 00:00:32 rocket is making a very slow journey
00:00:32 --> 00:00:36 about 1 mph back to its garage. We have
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 all the details on that. We also have a
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 genuinely exciting story from Mars, a
00:00:42 --> 00:00:43 wild mission concept to chase an
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 interstellar comet. China's mystery
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 space plane is back in orbit. And we
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 wrap up with some beautiful red giant
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 science that solves a mystery that's
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 been bugging astronomers since the
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 1970s.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 >> Plus, we run through this week's launch
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 schedule, and it is surprisingly busy
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 despite all the Aremis drama. Let's get
00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 into it.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 >> So, Avery, let's start with Artemis
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 because this is a story that has taken
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 yet another dramatic turn. Honestly,
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 Anna, this one stings a little because
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 just last week we were watching a really
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 successful second wet dress rehearsal
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 and NASA was talking about March 6th as
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 a real launch date. Things were looking
00:01:23 --> 00:01:24 good.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 >> And then Saturday happened
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 >> and then Saturday happened. Overnight on
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 February 21st, engineers noticed
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 something concerning, an interruption in
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 the flow of helium to the rocket's upper
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 stage, specifically the interim
00:01:37 --> 00:01:41 cryogenic propulsion stage or ICPS.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 And just to be clear for listeners who
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 might be newer to the show, what does
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 the ICPS actually do?
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 >> Great question. The ICPS is the upper
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 stage of the SLS rocket. It sits above
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 the core stage and it's what fires to
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 push Orion and the crew on their trans
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 lunar trajectory toward the moon. It
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 uses helium internally to do two
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 critical jobs. It maintains
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 environmental conditions around its
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 engine and it pressurizes the liquid
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant
00:02:11 --> 00:02:15 tanks. So helium is not optional. Helium
00:02:15 --> 00:02:16 is fundamental.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 >> And this helium flow issue appeared
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 after the wet dress rehearsal had
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 completed, not during it, which makes it
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 particularly tricky to pin down.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 >> Exactly. The WDR itself went smoothly.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 It was during reconfiguration afterward
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 that data showed the interruption. NASA
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 administrator Jared Isaacman posted
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 about it on Saturday, saying the team
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 was investigating three possible causes.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 A blocked filter between the vehicle and
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 ground support equipment, a failed quick
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 disconnect umbilical interface, or a
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 failed check valve on the vehicle,
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 similar to what caused delays on Artemis
00:02:52 --> 00:02:53 1.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 >> And regardless of which of those three
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 it turns out to be, the answer is the
00:02:57 --> 00:02:58 same.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 >> The answer is always the same. They have
00:03:01 --> 00:03:02 to go back to the vehicle assembly
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 building. You can't fix any of those
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 things on the launchpad. So NASA
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 confirmed a roll back and that roll back
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 is happening today, February 24th. The
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 SLS, Orion, and the whole stack are
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 being loaded onto the crawler and making
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 that 4.2 mile journey back to the VAB at
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 roughly 1 mph,
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 >> which takes several hours. It is not a
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 fast vehicle. It's not. The crawler
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 itself weighs about 6 12 million pounds
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 unloaded and it's burning around 165
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 gall of diesel per mile. It is an
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 extraordinary piece of engineering in
00:03:40 --> 00:03:41 its own right.
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 >> So where does this leave the mission
00:03:43 --> 00:03:44 timeline?
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 >> March is definitively off the table.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 Isaac man was very clear about that.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 April is now the earliest possible
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 window and NASA has said that quick
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 action to get back to the VAB could
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 still preserve April. A full media
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 briefing is expected this week. The
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 crew, commander Reed Weisman, pilot
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 Victor Glover, mission specialist
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 Christina Ko, and Canadian astronaut
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 Jeremy Hansen had just entered
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 quarantine and have now been released
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 again. This would be their second exit
00:04:13 --> 00:04:14 from quarantine,
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 >> which tells you something about how hard
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 this process has been. And this is still
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 the first crude mission beyond low Earth
00:04:21 --> 00:04:25 orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 The stakes are enormous.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 >> They really are. NASA's under pressure
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 both from the public and from the White
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 House to get this done. IsaacMen has
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 been quite transparent about the
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 challenges, which is appreciated. We'll
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 keep you updated as the investigation
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 progresses. A media briefing is expected
00:04:42 --> 00:04:43 this week.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 >> Okay, let's lift the mood a little
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 because our next story is genuinely
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 brilliant and it comes from Mars.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 >> This is one of my favorites of the week.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 NASA's Perseverance rover has just been
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 given something that effectively
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 functions as GPS on a planet that has no
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 GPS satellites whatsoever.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 >> So, how do you navigate on Mars? Walk us
00:05:04 --> 00:05:05 through how it used to work.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 >> So, historically, Perseverance used a
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 system called visual odometry. Every few
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 feet, it takes camera images of the
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 surrounding rocks and geological
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 features, and it tracks how those
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 features shift in frame to estimate how
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 far it's moved. It's clever, but the
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 problem is that tiny errors add up. On a
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 long drive, the rover's internal sense
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 of where it is could be off by more than
00:05:28 --> 00:05:32 35 m. That's over 100 ft. When it hit
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 that threshold of uncertainty, its
00:05:34 --> 00:05:35 safety systems would kick in and it
00:05:36 --> 00:05:37 would just stop and wait for
00:05:37 --> 00:05:38 instructions from Earth.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 >> And with communication delays of up to
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 24 hours, that could mean an entire day
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 of lost exploration time.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 >> Exactly. So NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 developed a new system called Mars
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 Global Localization. Here's how it
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 works. Perseverance takes a full 360°
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 panorama with its navigation cameras.
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 Then an algorithm compares that ground
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 level view with highresolution orbital
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 maps captured by the Mars Reconnaissance
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 Orbiter far above. It matches the
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 terrain, the ridges, rocks, slopes, and
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 triangulates an exact position. The
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 whole process takes about 2 minutes. 2
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 minutes to know where you are with 25 cm
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 accuracy. That is remarkable.
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 >> What makes it even clever is where the
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 computing power comes from. It runs on
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 the helicopter base station, the
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 processor that Perseverance used to
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 communicate with Ingenuity. Ingenuity
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 fluid's 72nd and final flight last year.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 So that processor was sitting idle. It
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 runs more than 100 times faster than the
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 rover's main computers. The team
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 essentially repurposed it. So ingenuity
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 keeps giving even in retirement.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 >> It really does. Bars global localization
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 was used successfully for the first time
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 in regular mission operations on
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 February 2nd and again on February 16th.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 JPL's chief engineer of robotics
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 operations, Vandy Verma, described it as
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 giving the rover GPS, saying it can now
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 drive for potentially unlimited
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 distances without calling home.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 >> And this has implications beyond just
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 Mars, doesn't it?
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 >> Big implications. NASA's already looking
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 at adapting this for future lunar
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 missions where you have difficult
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 lighting conditions and long cold nights
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 that make precise location data even
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 more critical. And if we ever have
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 astronauts driving pressurized rovers on
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 Mars, they won't be able to wait for
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 Houston to tell them where they are.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 This is exactly the kind of technology
00:07:31 --> 00:07:32 they'll need.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 >> What a story. 5 years on Mars and
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 Perseverance just keeps getting smarter.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 >> And hopefully so are we. Now, this next
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 story, I love this one because it is
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 genuinely audacious. We're talking about
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 a mission concept that was published
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 this week for chasing down an
00:07:49 --> 00:07:53 interstellar comet. Avery set the scene.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:54 >> Right. So, our audience will remember
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 comet 3i/ATLS,
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 the third confirmed interstellar object
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 ever detected in our solar system,
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 discovered in July 2025. It came
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 screaming through from outside the solar
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 system, made its closest approach to the
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 sun last October, swung past Venus in
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 November, and came closest to Earth in
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 December. It is now racing away from us
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 at over 60 km/s,
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 >> which is extraordinarily fast. For
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 context, that's faster than any
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 spacecraft humanity has ever launched.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 >> Much faster. And that speed is the whole
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 problem. Researchers from the Initiative
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 for Interstellar Studies published new
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 work this week exploring how you could
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 actually send a spacecraft to intercept
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 it. The short answer is you need to do
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 something genuinely extreme. They call
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 it a solar oirth maneuver.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 >> Explain that to us.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 >> So the oirth effect is actually a
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 principle used in basically every rocket
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 launch. It says that if you fire your
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 engines when you're moving fast, you get
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 a bigger boost than if you fire them
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 when you're going slowly. Normally, it's
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 applied when a spacecraft is at the
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 closest point of its orbit around the
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 planet. What this mission proposes is
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 doing it at the closest point of a solar
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 orbit, a literal close flyby of the sun
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 itself. We're talking 3.2 solar radi
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 from the sun's surface. That is
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 extremely close. How close is that?
00:09:25 --> 00:09:26 Actually,
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 >> to put it in perspective, the Parker
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 Solar Probe goes closer, but even that
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 is an extraordinary engineering
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 challenge. At that distance, the heat
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 and radiation are intense. The
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 spacecraft would need serious shielding.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 But the gravitational kick from firing
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 your engines that close to the sun is so
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 powerful that you could theoretically
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 reach speeds never achieved by
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 human-made objects. And then you'd still
00:09:53 --> 00:09:57 need how long to actually reach 3i-atls?
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 >> If launched in 2025, which the
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 researchers identify as the optimal
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 window based on the alignment of Earth,
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 Jupiter, the sun, and the comet, the
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 spacecraft would reach 3-TLS
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 by around 2085
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 at a distance of approximately 732
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 astronomical units from the sun. For
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 comparison, Voyager 1 has been traveling
00:10:21 --> 00:10:25 for nearly 50 years and is only at about
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 170 AU.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 >> So this would be the most distant rende
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 view in human history
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 >> by a massive margin. And only a flyby
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 would be possible, not orbit insertion
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 because both the spacecraft and the
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 comet would be moving so fast. But even
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 a flyby would be extraordinary because
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 3II-TLS
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 didn't form in our solar system. It
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 formed around the different star,
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 possibly one that no longer exists. Its
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 chemical fingerprints could tell us
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 things about planetary formation
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 elsewhere in the galaxy that we simply
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 cannot learn any other way.
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 >> It's one of those stories where the
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 scale of ambition just takes your breath
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 away. Is there any serious movement
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 toward actually doing this?
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 >> The researchers are clear this is a
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 proposal, not a funded mission. But 2035
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 is only 9 years away. Decisions would
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 need to start being made soon. And three
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 Atlas won't be the last interstellar
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 visitor. The more of these we find, the
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 more valuable the case for chasing one
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 becomes. Staying in the realm of things
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 we don't know much about, let's talk
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 about China's Shenlong spacecraft, which
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 launched on its fourth mission earlier
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 this month. Shenl Long, which means
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 divine dragon in Chinese, is one of
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 those topics that generates a lot of
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 fascination precisely because so little
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 is officially confirmed. This is China's
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 reusable robotic space plane. Broadly
00:11:54 --> 00:11:58 analogist to the US Air Force's X37B,
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 it launched from the Ju Kuan satellite
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 launch center on February 6th or 7th
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 aboard a Long March 2F rocket.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:09 >> And as usual, China hasn't said much.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 >> Extremely little. The official line via
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 state media Shin Wa is that the mission
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 will conduct quote technology
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 verification and will provide technical
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 support for the peaceful use of space.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 No launch time was given, no
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 photographs, no mission duration,
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 nothing.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 >> But we can look at what the previous
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 missions have done and draw some
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 inferences.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 >> We can The first mission in September
00:12:34 --> 00:12:38 2020 lasted 2 days. The second in 2022
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 lasted 276 days. The third launched
00:12:42 --> 00:12:47 December 2023 lasted 268 days. So recent
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 missions have been around 9 months in
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 orbit. If this one follows the pattern,
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 we might expect it to return around
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 November or December.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 >> And what have analysts pieced together
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 about what it does up there?
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 >> This is where it gets interesting.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 Western space tracking organizations,
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 including the US space force and private
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 space situational awareness companies,
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 have observed that Shenlong conducts
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 what are called rendevous and proximity
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 operations. It maneuvers close to other
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 objects in orbit. It has deployed small
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 objects, possible subsatellites, during
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 at least two previous missions. One of
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 those objects was observed transmitting
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 signals over North America, leading some
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 analysts to describe it as a potential
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 mobile signals intelligence platform
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 >> and the anti-satellite angle.
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 >> Analysts are cautious. Some experts
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 point out that Shenlong's small payload
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 bay and limited power generation make it
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 an unlikely direct space weapon. But the
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 ability to approach other satellites at
00:13:50 --> 00:13:54 close range is inherently dual use. It
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 could be inspection. It could be
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 servicing. It could be something else.
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 We genuinely don't know. What we do know
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 is that the US X37B's eighth mission is
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 also currently in orbit. Launched last
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 August to test quantum inertial sensors
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 and high bandwidth laser links. These
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 are the only two countries flying
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 reusable space planes right now. and
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 they're both being quite secretive about
00:14:18 --> 00:14:19 it.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 >> The new space race conducted largely in
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 silence.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:24 >> Perfectly put.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 >> Now, let's do a quick run through of
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 what else is happening on the launch
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 front this week. Because despite all the
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 Aremis drama, the commercial sector does
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 not stop.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:38 >> It really doesn't. Today, February 24th,
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 we actually have a launch scheduled from
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 Wallup's flight facility in Virginia.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 Rocket Lab's Haste rocket hypersonic
00:14:45 --> 00:14:49 accelerator suborbital test electron is
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 carrying a fascinating payload called
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 Dart AE. It's a scamjet powered
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 hypersonic vehicle built by Brisbane
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 based company hypersonics launch systems
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 and this will be its first ever flight.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 The mission is nicknamed that's not a
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 knife which we appreciate.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 >> Australian hypersonics delivered with
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 Australian humor.
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 >> Exactly. SpaceX also has a Falcon 9
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 Starlink launch out of Cape Canaveral
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 today. Wednesday brings another Starlink
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 from Vandenberg, but the standout launch
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 of the week is Friday. Firefly
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 Aerospace's Alpha rocket is returning to
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 flight on the Stairway to 7 mission.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 >> Tell us about that one.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 >> So Fireflyy's last alpha launch was in
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 April 2025 and it ended in failure. The
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 rocket had an anomaly and the mission
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 was lost. This is their return to flight
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 and it's significant for another reason.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 This will be the last flight of Alpha in
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 its current block one configuration.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 They're upgrading to block 2 for flight
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 8 which introduces in-house avionics and
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 thermal improvements. So flight 7 is
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 essentially a test bed for some of those
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 new systems ahead of the full upgrade.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 >> A lot riding on it.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 >> Quite a lot. Then the week closes out on
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 Sunday, March 1st with two more SpaceX
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 Starlink missions, one from Vandenberg
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 and one from Cape Canaveral. By the end
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 of this week, SpaceX will have surpassed
00:16:13 --> 00:16:18 27 Falcon 9 launches for 2026 alone. The
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 cadence is extraordinary.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 >> And all of this happening while the SLS
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 is making its 1m hour journey back to
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 the VAB. Quite the contrast. The
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 juxaposition pretty much writes itself.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 >> And we close today with some beautiful
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 deep science. A new study published this
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 week in the journal Nature Astronomy has
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 solved a mystery about red giant stars
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 that have had astronomers puzzled since
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 the 1970s.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 >> I love this one. So, a bit of
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 background. Red giants are what stars
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 like our sun become when they exhaust
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 their hydrogen fuel. They expand
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 dramatically and undergo chemical
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 changes. One of the most striking
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 observations has been a consistent
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 decline in the ratio of carbon 12 to
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 carbon 13 in their outer layers.
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 Scientists knew this had to be caused by
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 material rising up from the nuclear
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 furnace in the core. But they could not
00:17:12 --> 00:17:15 figure out how that material crossed the
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 stable barrier layer separating the core
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 from the outer envelope
00:17:19 --> 00:17:20 >> until now.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 >> Until now. A team led by Simon Bluen at
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 the University of Victoria's Astronomy
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 Research Center working with colleagues
00:17:27 --> 00:17:30 at the University of Minnesota used
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 cuttingedge three-dimensional
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 hydrodnamic simulations to model the
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 actual fluid dynamics inside a red
00:17:36 --> 00:17:39 giant. And they found the answer. It's
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 rotation.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 >> Stellar rotation drives the mixing
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 >> in a really dramatic way. Their
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 simulations showed that in non-rotating
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 stars, waves passing through the barrier
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 layer transport very little material,
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 which is what previous models predicted.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 But once you add rotation, it amplifies
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 those waves enormously. Mixing rates
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 exceed non-rotating stars by over 100
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 times, and they increase with faster
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 rotation rates. That matches exactly
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 what we observe on real red giant
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 surfaces.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 >> And these weren't small simulations.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 They used some serious computing power.
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 >> Two supercomputers, the Texas Advanced
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 Computing Center at UT Austin and the
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 brand new Trillium Supercomputing
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 Cluster at the University of Toronto's
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 CINET facility. The principal
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 investigator, Faulk Herurwig, described
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 these as the most computationally
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 intensive stellar convection simulations
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 ever performed. They were only possible
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 because of very recent advances in
00:18:38 --> 00:18:38 supercomputing.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 >> And what does this mean for us? For our
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 son? In about five billion years, our
00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 sun will enter its red giant phase.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 It'll expand and likely swallow Mercury,
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 Venus, and probably Earth. Beyond the
00:18:51 --> 00:18:55 frost line, Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond,
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 those worlds will move into the new
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 habitable zone. This research gives us
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 much better predictions of exactly how
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 our sun's chemistry will evolve during
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 that transition. What elements will
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 appear on its surface, how fast changes
00:19:08 --> 00:19:08 will occur,
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 >> which sounds like a very long-term
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 concern. But understanding how our star
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 will die is genuinely important science.
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 >> It is, and the techniques developed here
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 have applications far beyond astronomy.
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 The same simulation methods apply to
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 ocean currents, atmospheric dynamics,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 even blood flow. Balkerwig is already
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 working with researchers in those fields
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 to develop new largecale simulation
00:19:31 --> 00:19:31 tools.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 >> The universe teaching us about the
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 ocean. I love it. And that is your
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 astronomy daily for Tuesday, February
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 24th. Big day for Artemis and not in any
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 way anyone hoped. But as we've seen
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 today, space science never stops.
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 Whether it's a rover finding its feet on
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 Mars or scientists finally understanding
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 why red giant stars change the way they
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 do. If you want to keep up with the
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 Aremis roll back developments, we'll
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 have updates in tomorrow's show once
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 NASA has held that media briefing. In
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 the meantime, you can find us at
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 astronomyaily.io
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 and at astrodaily pod across all your
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 social platforms.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 >> Subscribe if you haven't already. Leave
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 us a review if you have a moment. It
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 really does help. And we will see you
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 tomorrow.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 >> Clear skies everyone.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:20 >> Clear skies.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:28 Stories told
00:20:28 --> 00:20:36 stories told
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 stories