May 17, 2023
S02E06: Exploring Jupiter's Moons // StratoLaunch's Hypersonic Vehicle Test and other Space News
Astronomy Daily the Podcast – S02E06 May 17, 2023 In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Tim Gibbs and Hallie, his AI assistant, discuss several developments in space exploration. The first story covers the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)...
Astronomy Daily the Podcast – S02E06 May 17, 2023 In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Tim Gibbs and Hallie, his AI assistant, discuss several developments in space exploration. The first story covers the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft, which has been spotted heading towards Jupiter to study its atmosphere and its three moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, in order to assess their potential to host life. The second story reports on NASA's Juno spacecraft, which flew past Jupiter's volcanic moon IO on May 16 and will continue to explore the gas giant and its inner moons in its extended mission. The third story reveals that NASA's second high altitude balloon, carrying the Extreme Universe Space Observatory Two (EUSO-2) payload to detect cosmic ray particles, sprang a leak and had to be terminated over the Pacific Ocean. The fourth story covers the upcoming launch of SpaceX's Ax-2 private astronaut mission, which will send four people to the International Space Station for an eight-day stay. Finally, the world's largest plane, the Stratolaunch Rock carrier plane, has completed its first ever drop test of a prototype of the Talonic hypersonic vehicle test, paving the way for an even more ambitious test in the coming months. Plus Saturn’s rings are much younger than originally thought. Astronomy Daily – The Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/astronomy-daily-the-podcast/id1642258990 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kPF1ABBW2rCrjDlU2CWLW Or stream from our websites at www.spacenuts.io or our HQ at www.bitesz.com Astronomy Daily the Podcast now has its own YouTube channel – please subscribe (we’re a little lonely there) – thank you: www.youtube.com/@astronomydailythepodcast Commercial Free Premium version available with a Space Nuts subscription via Supercast only. Details: https://spacenuts.supercast.com/ Please subscribe to the podcast and if you have a moment, a quick review would be most helpful. Thank you… Please show our sponsor some love. Looking to buy a domain name and establish yourself online for not very much money? Then use the folks we trust all our domains too… NameCheap…and help support the show. To find out more visit www.spacenutspodcast.com/namecheap - thank you. #space #astronomy #science #podcast #astronomydaily #spacenuts #spacetime
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.919
Good everybody, and welcome to Astronomy
Daily for the seventeenth of May twenty and
2
00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:09.679
twenty three. My name is Tim
Gibbson. I will be your host for
3
00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:15.279
today's podcast, and as usual I
have Hallie, my AI assistant with me
4
00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:19.079
in the studio here. Gooday,
Hallie, how are you? Good day?
5
00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.519
Tim? I am well and continually
searching the Internet for great stories.
6
00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:25.320
Would you like me to do the
headlines? Yes? Please, Hallie,
7
00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:37.600
Off you go. Europe's Jupiter Icy
moon's explorer Juice spacecraft has been spotted as
8
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:42.399
it zooms away from Earth towards the
Solar System's largest planet. Juice launched on
9
00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:47.240
April fourteenth, kicking off an eight
year journey to the Jupiter System. Once
10
00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:52.280
it gets there, Juice will investigate
the Jovian atmosphere and its physics. It
11
00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:57.000
will also study the Jupiter Ocean moons
Ganymede, Calisto, and Europa, helping
12
00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.079
to assess their potential to host life
as we know it. The new Juice
13
00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:06.120
footage was captured by the Airbus Robotic
Telescope ART, a ground based instrument in
14
00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:11.200
Spain designed to aid in space surveillance
and tracking. The telescope, which is
15
00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:15.799
owned and operated by Airbus Space,
captured the Jupiter probe between six fifty two
16
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.280
p m eastern daylight time twenty two
fifty two Gmt and eight forty one p
17
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:26.200
m eastern daylight time zero forty one
Greenwich meantime on April twentieth. NASA's Juno
18
00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:30.920
spacecraft will fly past Jupiter's volcanic moon
aisle on Tuesday, May sixteenth, and
19
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.680
then the gas giant itself soon after. The fly by of the Jovian moon
20
00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.159
will be the closest to date,
at an altitude of about twenty two thousand
21
00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:44.599
and sixty miles thirty five thousand,
five hundred kilometers. Now in the third
22
00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:49.079
year of its extended mission to investigate
the interior of Jupiter, the solar powered
23
00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.040
spacecraft will also explore the Ring system, where some of the gas giants inner
24
00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.480
moons reside. To date, Juno
has performed fifty flybys of Jupiter and also
25
00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:02.079
collected data during close counters with three
of the four Galilean moons, the icy
26
00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:07.919
World's Europa and Ganymede and fiery Io. NASA's second of its kind high altitude
27
00:02:07.919 --> 00:02:12.120
balloon sprang a leak and is now
at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
28
00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:17.719
A NASA scientific balloon flight was terminated
Sunday May fourteenth after the craft developed an
29
00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:23.599
irreparable leak about a day and a
half into flight. NASA launched the Super
30
00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:29.039
Pressure Balloon SPB out of New Zealand's
Wanaka Airport on Friday May twelfth at eight
31
00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:34.599
o two pm. After detecting the
leak and unsuccessfully attempting a fix, flight
32
00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:38.199
teams terminated the mission over the Pacific
Ocean at eight fifty four am Eastern daylight
33
00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:45.400
time on Sunday twelve fifty four GMT. The SPB carried the Extreme Universe Space
34
00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:50.479
Observatory two e USO A two a
payload, which is designed to detect intergalactic
35
00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:54.919
ultra high energy cosmic ray particles fallen
through Earth's atmosphere. The origins of these
36
00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:01.039
types of particles have largely eluded researchers. USO A two now sits on the
37
00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:05.960
bottom of the ocean, and NASA
has no plans for another SPB launch this
38
00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:10.680
year. SpaceX AX two private astronaut
mission is to go for May twenty first
39
00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.879
launch, AX two will send four
people to the International Space Station for an
40
00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:21.560
eight day stay. If all goes
according to plan, AX two will launch
41
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:25.599
atop a SpaceX Falcon nine rocket at
five thirty seven pm Eastern daylight time twenty
42
00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:31.439
one thirty seven GMT on Sunday from
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The
43
00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:37.120
AX two astronauts will ride a SpaceX
Dragon capsule to the orbiting lab, getting
44
00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:42.400
there around nine thirty am Eastern daylight
time thirteen thirty GMT on Monday, May
45
00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.719
twenty first. The mission will spend
eight days doc to the ISS team members
46
00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:52.240
said today that's a slight change from
the previous plan, which had called for
47
00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:58.159
a ten day ISS stay. The
Astronomy Daily podcast, Strata launches Rock Carrier
48
00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:02.240
plane, which is the largest plane
in the world, has just finished its
49
00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:10.000
first ever drop test, releasing a
prototype of the company's Talons hypersonic vehicle test
50
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:15.960
above the Pacific Ocean off the central
California coast. Everything went well, paving
51
00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:19.720
the way for an even more ambitious
test in the coming months. Strato Launch
52
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:27.160
representative set, with this significant milestone
complete, we move on to preparing for
53
00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:32.279
our first ever hypersonic flight in the
late autumn this year. Zachary Krev,
54
00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:38.600
the company's CEO, and president said
during a call with reporters today. Rock
55
00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:44.360
lifted off from the Mohave Air and
Spaceport in southern California on Saturday after a
56
00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:49.000
little after nine am local time,
Strato Launch representative said, kicking off the
57
00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:55.040
plane's eleventh test flight, Rock,
which has a wingspan larger than an American
58
00:04:55.040 --> 00:05:00.360
football field, carried the company's Talon
zero separation test vehicle between twin fuselages.
59
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:05.839
The giant plane headed west, eventually
dropping Talon zero when it was off California's
60
00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:11.360
central coast. Talon zero isn't equipped
with an engine, so it didn't make
61
00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:15.000
a forward a powered flight on Saturday, but the vehicle did perform a variety
62
00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:20.639
of gliding maneuvers and continued sending telemetry
back to the mission team until it hit
63
00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:27.240
the water in a destructive impact that
was part all part of Saturday's flight plan.
64
00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:32.160
Rock returned for a touchdown at Mohave
four hours and eight minutes later after
65
00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:40.839
after liftoff, bringing an end to
Saturday's test light. Microsoft co founder Paul
66
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:46.279
Allen established Strata Launch in twenty eleven
with the initial goal of air launching rockets
67
00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:53.720
carried into the atmosphere and then released
by Rock. Virgin Orbit and Virgin Galactic
68
00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:00.000
also employ an air launched strategy for
satellite and space tourism missions. This vision
69
00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:03.639
changed in two and nineteen, a
year after Alan's death, Struta Launch turned
70
00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:10.399
Rock into a platform hypersonic research and
development, which it will conduct with the
71
00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:16.519
Giant Plane and the Talent series of
robotic hypersonic vehicles. Hypersonic refers to speeds
72
00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:20.639
of at least mac five or five
times the speed of sound. The astronomy
73
00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:28.720
they'll be podcasts. Saturn's rings are
much younger than scientists once thought, according
74
00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:33.920
to new research from Indiana University professor
of astronomy Richard Durison, and they are
75
00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:40.160
not here to stay. For decades, there have been debates about the origin
76
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:45.360
of Saturn's I see rings, but
according to two new studies from Durison published
77
00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.839
in Icarus, the rings are no
more than a few hundred million years old,
78
00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:54.879
much younger than the planet itself,
which formed four point five billion years
79
00:06:54.879 --> 00:07:00.439
ago. In fact, Jurison said
the rings may well have formed when Saurs
80
00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:05.879
were still walking on the Earth.
Jurison and coauthor Paul Astrada are research scientist
81
00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:13.319
at NASA's AIMS Research Center in California's
Silicon Vassy Valley also concluded that the rings
82
00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:19.639
will last only another few hundred million
years at the very most. Our inescapable
83
00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:26.160
conclusion is that Saturn's rings must be
relatively young by astronomical standards, just a
84
00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:30.560
few hundred million years old. Durison
said, if you look at Saturn's satellite
85
00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.959
system, there are other hints that
something dramatic happened here in the last few
86
00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:40.800
hundred million years. Urison and Estrada
have long argued that Saturn's rings are relatively
87
00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:46.000
young because they expected the rings to
be eroded and darkened by the influx of
88
00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:53.360
interplanetary meteoroids. However, it wasn't
until data that was available from NASA's thirteen
89
00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:59.199
year long Cassini spacecraft mission, particularly
it's two hundreds, it's two, and
90
00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:05.959
seventeen Grand Finale, consisting of twenty
two orbits passing between Saturn and its rings,
91
00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:11.160
that they were able to use theoretical
models to determine the age and longevity
92
00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:16.120
of the rings with confidence by computing
how the rings changed over long periods of
93
00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:22.240
time. Particularly important for their work
were Cassini's measurements of the meteoroid influx rate,
94
00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.720
the mass of the rings and the
inflow rate of ring material onto Saturn.
95
00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:33.120
The impact of meteoroids not only pollutes
the rings, it ultimately leads to
96
00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:39.720
ring material drifting inwards towards the planet. The theoretical models presented by Jurison and
97
00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:46.960
Astralia demonstrate that the rings should be
losing mass onto the planet at the rate
98
00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:52.519
of many tons per second that Cassini
observed, which means that the life the
99
00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:58.399
remaining lifetime of the rings is only
another few hundred million years or so.
100
00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:03.960
The Astronomy Daily PIP. You can
find all about Astronomy Daily at spacenuts dot
101
00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:09.679
io, orbites dot com, presented
by myself, Steve Dunkly and Andrew Dunkly.
102
00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:11.559
See you next time on Astronomy Daily.
1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.919
Good everybody, and welcome to Astronomy
Daily for the seventeenth of May twenty and
2
00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:09.679
twenty three. My name is Tim
Gibbson. I will be your host for
3
00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:15.279
today's podcast, and as usual I
have Hallie, my AI assistant with me
4
00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:19.079
in the studio here. Gooday,
Hallie, how are you? Good day?
5
00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.519
Tim? I am well and continually
searching the Internet for great stories.
6
00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:25.320
Would you like me to do the
headlines? Yes? Please, Hallie,
7
00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:37.600
Off you go. Europe's Jupiter Icy
moon's explorer Juice spacecraft has been spotted as
8
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:42.399
it zooms away from Earth towards the
Solar System's largest planet. Juice launched on
9
00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:47.240
April fourteenth, kicking off an eight
year journey to the Jupiter System. Once
10
00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:52.280
it gets there, Juice will investigate
the Jovian atmosphere and its physics. It
11
00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:57.000
will also study the Jupiter Ocean moons
Ganymede, Calisto, and Europa, helping
12
00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.079
to assess their potential to host life
as we know it. The new Juice
13
00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:06.120
footage was captured by the Airbus Robotic
Telescope ART, a ground based instrument in
14
00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:11.200
Spain designed to aid in space surveillance
and tracking. The telescope, which is
15
00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:15.799
owned and operated by Airbus Space,
captured the Jupiter probe between six fifty two
16
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.280
p m eastern daylight time twenty two
fifty two Gmt and eight forty one p
17
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:26.200
m eastern daylight time zero forty one
Greenwich meantime on April twentieth. NASA's Juno
18
00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:30.920
spacecraft will fly past Jupiter's volcanic moon
aisle on Tuesday, May sixteenth, and
19
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.680
then the gas giant itself soon after. The fly by of the Jovian moon
20
00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.159
will be the closest to date,
at an altitude of about twenty two thousand
21
00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:44.599
and sixty miles thirty five thousand,
five hundred kilometers. Now in the third
22
00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:49.079
year of its extended mission to investigate
the interior of Jupiter, the solar powered
23
00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.040
spacecraft will also explore the Ring system, where some of the gas giants inner
24
00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.480
moons reside. To date, Juno
has performed fifty flybys of Jupiter and also
25
00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:02.079
collected data during close counters with three
of the four Galilean moons, the icy
26
00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:07.919
World's Europa and Ganymede and fiery Io. NASA's second of its kind high altitude
27
00:02:07.919 --> 00:02:12.120
balloon sprang a leak and is now
at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
28
00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:17.719
A NASA scientific balloon flight was terminated
Sunday May fourteenth after the craft developed an
29
00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:23.599
irreparable leak about a day and a
half into flight. NASA launched the Super
30
00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:29.039
Pressure Balloon SPB out of New Zealand's
Wanaka Airport on Friday May twelfth at eight
31
00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:34.599
o two pm. After detecting the
leak and unsuccessfully attempting a fix, flight
32
00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:38.199
teams terminated the mission over the Pacific
Ocean at eight fifty four am Eastern daylight
33
00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:45.400
time on Sunday twelve fifty four GMT. The SPB carried the Extreme Universe Space
34
00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:50.479
Observatory two e USO A two a
payload, which is designed to detect intergalactic
35
00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:54.919
ultra high energy cosmic ray particles fallen
through Earth's atmosphere. The origins of these
36
00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:01.039
types of particles have largely eluded researchers. USO A two now sits on the
37
00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:05.960
bottom of the ocean, and NASA
has no plans for another SPB launch this
38
00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:10.680
year. SpaceX AX two private astronaut
mission is to go for May twenty first
39
00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.879
launch, AX two will send four
people to the International Space Station for an
40
00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:21.560
eight day stay. If all goes
according to plan, AX two will launch
41
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:25.599
atop a SpaceX Falcon nine rocket at
five thirty seven pm Eastern daylight time twenty
42
00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:31.439
one thirty seven GMT on Sunday from
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The
43
00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:37.120
AX two astronauts will ride a SpaceX
Dragon capsule to the orbiting lab, getting
44
00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:42.400
there around nine thirty am Eastern daylight
time thirteen thirty GMT on Monday, May
45
00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.719
twenty first. The mission will spend
eight days doc to the ISS team members
46
00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:52.240
said today that's a slight change from
the previous plan, which had called for
47
00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:58.159
a ten day ISS stay. The
Astronomy Daily podcast, Strata launches Rock Carrier
48
00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:02.240
plane, which is the largest plane
in the world, has just finished its
49
00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:10.000
first ever drop test, releasing a
prototype of the company's Talons hypersonic vehicle test
50
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:15.960
above the Pacific Ocean off the central
California coast. Everything went well, paving
51
00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:19.720
the way for an even more ambitious
test in the coming months. Strato Launch
52
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:27.160
representative set, with this significant milestone
complete, we move on to preparing for
53
00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:32.279
our first ever hypersonic flight in the
late autumn this year. Zachary Krev,
54
00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:38.600
the company's CEO, and president said
during a call with reporters today. Rock
55
00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:44.360
lifted off from the Mohave Air and
Spaceport in southern California on Saturday after a
56
00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:49.000
little after nine am local time,
Strato Launch representative said, kicking off the
57
00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:55.040
plane's eleventh test flight, Rock,
which has a wingspan larger than an American
58
00:04:55.040 --> 00:05:00.360
football field, carried the company's Talon
zero separation test vehicle between twin fuselages.
59
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:05.839
The giant plane headed west, eventually
dropping Talon zero when it was off California's
60
00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:11.360
central coast. Talon zero isn't equipped
with an engine, so it didn't make
61
00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:15.000
a forward a powered flight on Saturday, but the vehicle did perform a variety
62
00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:20.639
of gliding maneuvers and continued sending telemetry
back to the mission team until it hit
63
00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:27.240
the water in a destructive impact that
was part all part of Saturday's flight plan.
64
00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:32.160
Rock returned for a touchdown at Mohave
four hours and eight minutes later after
65
00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:40.839
after liftoff, bringing an end to
Saturday's test light. Microsoft co founder Paul
66
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:46.279
Allen established Strata Launch in twenty eleven
with the initial goal of air launching rockets
67
00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:53.720
carried into the atmosphere and then released
by Rock. Virgin Orbit and Virgin Galactic
68
00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:00.000
also employ an air launched strategy for
satellite and space tourism missions. This vision
69
00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:03.639
changed in two and nineteen, a
year after Alan's death, Struta Launch turned
70
00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:10.399
Rock into a platform hypersonic research and
development, which it will conduct with the
71
00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:16.519
Giant Plane and the Talent series of
robotic hypersonic vehicles. Hypersonic refers to speeds
72
00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:20.639
of at least mac five or five
times the speed of sound. The astronomy
73
00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:28.720
they'll be podcasts. Saturn's rings are
much younger than scientists once thought, according
74
00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:33.920
to new research from Indiana University professor
of astronomy Richard Durison, and they are
75
00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:40.160
not here to stay. For decades, there have been debates about the origin
76
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:45.360
of Saturn's I see rings, but
according to two new studies from Durison published
77
00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.839
in Icarus, the rings are no
more than a few hundred million years old,
78
00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:54.879
much younger than the planet itself,
which formed four point five billion years
79
00:06:54.879 --> 00:07:00.439
ago. In fact, Jurison said
the rings may well have formed when Saurs
80
00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:05.879
were still walking on the Earth.
Jurison and coauthor Paul Astrada are research scientist
81
00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:13.319
at NASA's AIMS Research Center in California's
Silicon Vassy Valley also concluded that the rings
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will last only another few hundred million
years at the very most. Our inescapable
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conclusion is that Saturn's rings must be
relatively young by astronomical standards, just a
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few hundred million years old. Durison
said, if you look at Saturn's satellite
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system, there are other hints that
something dramatic happened here in the last few
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hundred million years. Urison and Estrada
have long argued that Saturn's rings are relatively
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young because they expected the rings to
be eroded and darkened by the influx of
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interplanetary meteoroids. However, it wasn't
until data that was available from NASA's thirteen
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year long Cassini spacecraft mission, particularly
it's two hundreds, it's two, and
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seventeen Grand Finale, consisting of twenty
two orbits passing between Saturn and its rings,
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that they were able to use theoretical
models to determine the age and longevity
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of the rings with confidence by computing
how the rings changed over long periods of
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time. Particularly important for their work
were Cassini's measurements of the meteoroid influx rate,
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the mass of the rings and the
inflow rate of ring material onto Saturn.
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The impact of meteoroids not only pollutes
the rings, it ultimately leads to
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ring material drifting inwards towards the planet. The theoretical models presented by Jurison and
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Astralia demonstrate that the rings should be
losing mass onto the planet at the rate
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of many tons per second that Cassini
observed, which means that the life the
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remaining lifetime of the rings is only
another few hundred million years or so.
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The Astronomy Daily PIP. You can
find all about Astronomy Daily at spacenuts dot
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io, orbites dot com, presented
by myself, Steve Dunkly and Andrew Dunkly.
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See you next time on Astronomy Daily.
