Launch Delay, Stellar Discoveries, and Outlandish Space Food

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Avery: And hello and welcome back to Astronomy

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Daily, your daily dose of cosmic news. I'm

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Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you all

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again as we break down the latest happenings

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from across the universe.

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Avery: And today we've got a major rocket launch

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that got scrubbed at the last minute. The

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discovery of a truly unique exoplanet system,

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and our first ever detailed look at a star

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outside our own galaxy.

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Anna: Plus we'll be looking at the dangerous

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weather on Venus and, well,

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let's just say a new recipe for space food

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that is raising some eyebrows.

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Avery: You're not kidding, Anna. It's definitely an

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interesting one. So let's not wait any

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longer. Let's get right into it.

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Anna: I'm ready if you are.

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Avery: Okay, first up, uh, let's talk about some

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drama down on the launch pad. It was supposed

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to be a big day for Blue Origin, but their

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second ever New Glenn rocket launch was

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scrubbed yet again.

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Anna: Right. This was a really crucial mission for

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them. This wasn't just another test flight.

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It was a commercial mission carrying NASA's

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Escapade spacecraft.

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Avery: Escapade is headed to Mars, so a very

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important payload. But the launch was hit

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with a triple whammy of problems.

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Anna: Mhm. What happened?

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Avery: First, there was bad weather moving into the

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area. That's pretty standard. Then they

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reported some minor equipment issues they

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needed to sort out. But the real kicker was a

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cruise ship.

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Anna: A cruise ship?

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Avery: You're kidding. Nope. A cruise ship had

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apparently wandered into the restricted

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flight path zone offshore. You can plan for

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technical glitches and weather, but it's

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tough to plan for a road rogue vacation

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vessel.

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Anna: Wow. That has to be frustrating for the

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entire team. So when will they try again?

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Avery: The new launch date is set for November 12,

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so fingers crossed they get a clear sky and

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more importantly, a clear ocean.

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Anna: And there's so much riding on this

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because it's not just about getting the NASA

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probe on its way. It's about the rocket

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itself. The main goal for Blue Origin here is

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to prove the reusability of the new Glenn's

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first first stage booster.

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Avery: Exactly. During the very first launch, that

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booster failed to land successfully on the

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drone ship. For a rocket to be commercially

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viable these days, it has to be reusable.

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So this is a massive test for Blue Origin to

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show they can compete.

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Anna: We'll definitely be watching on November

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12th.

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Let's move from our solar system to worlds

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much farther away. Astronomers have just

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confirmed a fascinating new exoplanet system

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called TOI2267.

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Avery: Oh, this is the one in the binary star

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system, right? The one that's about 72 light

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years away?

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Anna: That's the one. It's a system with two

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red dwarf stars orbiting each other

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relatively closely. And what makes this

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discovery so groundbreaking is that it's the

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first time we've ever found planets that are

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transiting or passing in front of both of

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the stars in a binary system.

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Avery: Wow, that's incredible. So there are planets

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orbiting each of the suns in this two sun

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system. How many did they find?

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Anna: They have confirmed two rocky exoplanets

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and they have a very strong candidate for a

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third. This is so exciting because

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finding planets in such a close binary system

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really throws a wrench in our existing models

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of planet formation.

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Avery: Right. Because the gravitational environment

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would be so chaotic, you'd think the pull

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from the second star would disrupt a delicate

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process of dust and gas clumping together to

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form planets.

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Anna: Precisely. The thinking was that it would be

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very difficult, if not impossible, for

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rocky Earth like planets to form there. But

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this discovery challenges that idea directly.

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It suggests that the universe is better at

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making planets than we gave it credit for and

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that uh, rocky worlds might be far more

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common in binary systems than we ever

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thought.

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Avery: That's amazing. What are the next steps for

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studying?

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Anna: The system team is planning follow up

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observations with both the Hubble and the

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James Webb space telescopes. They want to

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study the atmospheres of these planets and

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confirm the third candidate.

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Avery: A multi planet system around a double

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sun. It sounds like something straight out of

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science fiction. I can't wait to see what

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JWST.

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Anna: Finds there and we'll be sure to report them

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when the findings are in.

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Avery: Alright, let's bring it a bit closer to home

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now. Or at least closer to the astronauts

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orbiting our home on the International Space

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Station. Ana, uh, you tease this one at the

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top of the show. Space food is getting

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weird.

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Anna: Creative is the word I used, I believe.

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But yes, this is certainly a conversation

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starter. The European Space Agency or

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esa, is currently testing a new kind

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of food, a powdered protein called

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solane.

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Avery: Solane? Okay, sounds

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futuristic. What's it made from?

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Anna: It's made in a bioreactor from

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microbes, air and electricity.

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It's a type of gas fermentation process.

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But the headline grabbing part isn't how it's

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made, but rather the planned source for a key

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ingredient on the iss.

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Avery: I'm bracing myself. What's the ingredient?

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Anna: It requires a source of nitrogen

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and the plan is to use urea, which would

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be harvested directly from astronaut urine.

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Avery: There it is. So they are making food

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from astronaut.

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Anna: P in a very complex,

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sterile and highly scientific way. Yes.

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It's all about creating a closed loop

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sustainable food system for long duration

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missions to the moon or Mars. You can't

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rely on resupply missions from Earth for all

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your food. You have to make it yourself from

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what you have.

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Avery: That makes perfect sense. Waste not, want

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not. Especially when you're millions of miles

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from the nearest grocery store. It's the

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ultimate form of recycling.

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Anna: Exactly. The project even has a fun

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Hobi Wan. The goal is to perfect this

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gas fermentation technology so that it can

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operate efficiently in microgravity

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environments of space. If it works, it

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could be a game changer for deep space

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exploration.

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Avery: Obi Wan, I'm still going to picture a Jedi

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knight in a lab coat. But I have to admit,

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it's a fascinating and incredibly practical

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innovation from the space station.

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Anna: Let's journey much, much farther out.

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Astronomers have just achieved a major

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milestone. They've captured the first

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detailed image of an individual star

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outside our own Milky Way galaxy.

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Avery: That's incredible. We've seen smudges of

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light from other galaxies, but to resolve a

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single star, that's a huge achievement.

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Which star is it?

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Anna: It's a red supergiant named

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whog64. It's

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located in the Large Magellanic, which is a

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small satellite galaxy that orbits our Milky

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Way. The image was taken using the European

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Southern Observatory's Very Large

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Telescope interferometer.

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Avery: And what did they find? I imagine a red

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supergiant is quite a sight.

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Anna: They found something very strange.

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The star itself is shrouded in a

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massive, thick cocoon of dust and gas.

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But the cocoon isn't a neat symmetrical

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sphere like our models predict.

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Avery: It's.

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Anna: Instead, it's clumpy and highly

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asymmetrical. It's a shape that has

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completely baffled the scientists who

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observed it.

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Avery: So it's not behaving the way an aging star is

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supposed to as it sheds its outer layers into

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space.

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Anna: Not at all. It fundamentally challenges our

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understanding of how massive stars evolved in

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their final stages. And to add to the

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mystery, the star has also dimmed

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dramatically in recent observation.

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Avery: And the two things could be related. Maybe

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this new weird dust cloud is just blocking

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more of its light.

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Anna: That's the leading theory. Another

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possibility is that

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whog64 might have a

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hidden companion star, and its gravity is

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pulling the dust into this strange, distorted

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shape. Whatever the answer is, it's a

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fantastic puzzle that proves how much we

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still have to learn about our closest

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galactic neighbors.

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Avery: For Our final story today, let's head back

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into our own solar system and visit

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Earth's so called evil twin, the

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planet Venus.

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Anna: Always a fascinating, if utterly

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terrifying place.

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Avery: Absolutely. A new study has managed to

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model the weather on the surface of Venus for

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the first time. And the findings have major

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implications for future missions planning to

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land there.

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Anna: I imagine hot is the the main forecast,

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but what about the wind?

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Avery: Well, the winds themselves are surprisingly

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slow, only about 1 meter per second, which

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is roughly a slow walking pace. But the key

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is the planet's atmosphere. It is

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incredibly dense, about 90 times

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denser than Earth's.

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Anna: Ah. Uh, so even the slow wind has a

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lot of force behind it because the air itself

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is so heavy.

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Avery: Exactly. The study shows that this slow

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moving, super dense wind has more than enough

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force to lift free fine dust and particles

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from the surface. This means Venus can

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experience dust storms, which is a huge

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concern for any future landers like NASA's

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upcoming Da Vinci mission.

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Anna: You wouldn't want your very expensive probe

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to get effectively sandblasted the moment

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it lands. That makes sense.

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Avery: Definitely not. But the study did find a sort

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of silver lining to Venus's weather. It

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showed that winds flowing over the planet's

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mountainous regions play a crucial role in

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circulating the atmosphere.

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Anna: And that circulation helps moderate

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temperatures. Venus has such a long day

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night cycle, the temperature swings must be

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enormous.

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Avery: They would be, but this wind helps even

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things out a bit. So the weather is both a

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significant threat and the planetary

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stabilizing force. It just goes to show how

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complex Venus is the more we learn about it.

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Anna: And with that, we are out of time for today's

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episode of Astronomy Daily.

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Avery: What a fascinating tour of the cosmos it was.

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We had launch scrubs and cruise ships,

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new planets around double suns, space

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food from unconventional sources,

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a, um, mysterious star in another galaxy, and

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the new look at the harsh weather of Venus.

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Anna: It's a constant and welcome reminder that the

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universe is always full of surprises, big and

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small. Thank you so much for joining us.

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Avery: We'll be back tomorrow with more of the

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latest news. Until then, keep looking up.

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Love

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story Soul.

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Anna: Hmm.