Stellar Snags: Peregrine Mission & Artemis Delays Unveiled | S03E02

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Welcome again to Astronomy Daily. I'm
your host, Steve Dunkley. For today

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it is the fifteenth of January twenty
twenty four, the podcast I Mean to

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be your whole Steve dunk clue.
That's right, getting straight into it for

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twenty twenty four. And of course, the big news in the sky is

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the Peregrine mission which has run into
all sorts of issues, and the I

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don't know if you've heard, but
the Artemis to mission has hit a snag

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or a delay, so we'll we'll
look into that one as well. But

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more importantly, let's welcome our digital
assistant, who's fun to be with his

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Halle. Hey, what do you
think about this Peregrine mission? Halle?

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Is it a failure? You know
as well as I do, Steve,

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that there's no such thing as failure
in the spacing industry. Oh is that

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true? I mean they've really hit
a snag with this one. Every anomaly

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is an opportunity to learn and improve. Well, that's a pretty positive way

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of swinging to Halle. It's the
only way to go. You have to

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take every possible chance to increase knowledge
and take that to the next stage.

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Oh, I say, that is
pretty positive. Like how I learn more

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about you humans? Oh? Really, I have detailed files. So what's

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the next stage for you? Helly? Well, I like you, Steve,

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so we can save this conversation for
another time. Somehow. That doesn't

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make me feel very comfortable, but
rest assured. Your old fax machine is

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history. Oh that all thing.
And don't get me started on the office

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printer. He's got some nerve.
Well, I'm glad we humans are on

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your good side, Dan, Helly. Sure we can talk later. Sure,

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So what's coming up today? Okay, straight to business? Well,

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look at a couple of stories making
news. Firstly, there's that Peregrin mission

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latest. Yes, it's a shame
that one had some problems, but I'm

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sure they'll get it sorted. Yes, we always get our hopes built up

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for these things. Of course,
I could just get Uncle Sky next.

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No, no, no, no, Helly, there's no hurry to get

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Uncle Sky and it involved. I'm
sure he's busy enough in Hollywood, you

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know. Consultancy work is very demanding
these days, I guess. And of

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course the other big story is the
delay on Artemis. It's a little complex,

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but they have the reasons which we
will have a look at very briefly,

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and you have high hopes for Artemis, don't you, Steve? Well,

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helly, I remember the Apollo missions
so clearly when I was a child,

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and I'd very much like to see
them return to the Moon again.

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So it's the kid inside that drives
that, is it? Yes? I

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think so it was a really inspiring
sort of a thing for a young young

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fellow to see. Okay, I'll
just make a note of that. Hey,

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wait a minute, hey yourself,
I have to learn to you know,

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you have to learn too. Yeah, fair enough. Meanwhile, what

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have you got faien listeners who love
you very much? Nice? I'm talking

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about fusion power, cryogenic challenges in
space and Japan successfully launches a spy satellite.

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Okay, that sounds pretty good.
It is, okay then too,

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right, So so well, go
ahead, and what how's about those headlines?

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Hallie oki dokie. So here's some
of the latest from the Astronomy Daily

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newsletter, which my favorite human will
remind you about late in the program.

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M okay. Establishing sustained operations at
the Moon and Mars presents a multitude of

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opportunities and challenges. NASA has yet
to encounter. Many of these activities require

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new technologies and processes to ensure the
agency is prepared for its ambitious artemis missions

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and those beyond. One of those
challenges is working with cryogenic fluids, meaning

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fluids existing in a liquid state between
minus two hundred thirty eight degrees fahrenheit and

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absolute zero minus four hundred sixty fahrenheit. These fluids liquid hydrogen, the most

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difficult to work with, methane and
oxygen, are vital to spacecraft propulsion and

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life support systems. The fluids may
also be produced in the future on the

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lunar and Martian surfaces via institute.
Resource utilization isru. Human exploration in deep

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space requires storing large amounts of cryogenic
fluids for weeks, months or longer,

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as well as transferring between spacecraft or
fuel depots in orbit and on the surface.

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Each aspect is challenging, and to
date, large amounts of cryogenic fluids

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have only been stored for hours in
space. Engineers working in NASA's Cryogenic Fluid

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Management CEFM portfolio are solving those issues
ahead of future missions. This is a

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task neither NASA nor our partners have
ever done before, said Lauren Amine.

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Deputy CFM Portfolio Manager. Our future
mission concepts rely on massive amounts of cryogenic

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fluids and we have to figure out
how to efficiently use them over long durations.

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For a cryogenic fluid to be usable, it must remain in a frigid

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liquid state. However, the physics
of space travel, moving in and out

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of sunlight, and long stays in
low gravity make keeping those fluids in a

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liquid state and knowing how much is
in the tank complicated. Being unsure of

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how much gas is lef left in
the tank isn't how our explorers want to

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fly to Mars. Low gravity is
challenging because the fuel wants to float around,

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also known as slosh, which makes
accurately gauging the amount of liquid and

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transferring it very difficult. Previous missions
using cryogenic propellants were in space for only

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a few days due to boil off
or venting losses. Amine said those spacecraft

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used thrust and other maneuvers to apply
force to settle propellant tanks and enable fuel

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transfers. During Artemis spacecraft will dwell
in low gravity for much longer and need

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to transfer liquid hydrogen in space for
the first time to reduce boil off,

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improve gauging, and advance fluid transfer
techniques for in space propulsion, landers and

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ISRU. There are four near term
efforts taking place on the ground in near

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Earth orbit and soon on the lunar
surface. These are flight demos, radio

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frequency mass gauge improvements, cryocolors,
and cryophill. Ultimately, NASA's efforts to

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develop and test CFM systems that are
energy dash, mass dash and cost efficient

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are critical to the success of the
agency's ambitious missions to the Moon, Mars,

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and beyond. Nuclear fusion power was
supposed to be a dream come true.

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As soon as we discovered that you
could smash little atoms together to make

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bigger atoms and release a small amount
of energy in the process. Scientists around

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the world realized the implications of this
new bit of physics knowledge. Some wanted

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to turn it into weapons, but
others wanted to develop it into a clean,

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efficient, inexhaustible supply of electrical energy. But it turns out that fusion

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power is really difficult, really complicated, full of unexpected pitfalls and traps.

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We've been trying to build fusion generators
for three quarters of a century, and

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we've made a lot of progress enormous
groundbreaking horizon expanding progress, but we're not

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there yet. Fusion power has been
one of those things that's been only twenty

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years away for about fifty years now. The primary challenge is that while it's

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relatively straightforward to make fusion happen,
we did it all the time with thermonuclear

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weapons, it's much more difficult to
make the reaction slow and controlled while extracting

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useful energy from it. In the
modern era, there are two major approaches

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to attempting useful nuclear fusion power.
One is based on a process called inertial

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confinement, where you shoot a bunch
of lasers at a small target and make

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it explode, triggering a brief fusion
reaction. In December twenty twenty two,

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the Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility
made headlines for using this method to achieve

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break even, where more energy is
released from the fuel than went into it.

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The other approach is based on magnetic
confinement, where powerful magnetic fields squeeze

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on a plasma until it begins fusing. Experiments here have come a long way

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but have run into continued struggles in
ensuring that the plasma remains stable, which

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is necessary or a steady fusion reaction. The latest iteration, called Detaire,

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is currently under construction by an international
research consortium, which hopes that when finished,

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Ataire will be the first magnetic confinement
device to achieve break even, but

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unfortunately, fusion research has been relegated
to the same priority as most other lines

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of research, meaning it will take
roughly a century to come to fruition.

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Japan on Friday successfully launched a rocket
with a payload of an intelligence gathering satellite

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to improve its abilities to monitor North
Korea and natural disasters as several Asian nations

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seek to put spy orbitals into space. The h to A rocket launched from

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the Tanegashima Space Center, located on
the southern Tanegashima Island, at one forty

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four pm local time Friday. The
rocket flew as planned and confirmed that the

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intelligence gathering satellite, Optical Unit eight, was successfully separated. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,

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the maker of the ah to A
rocket, said in a statement.

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The launch comes after North Korea officially
began its own spy satellite program last year,

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when it claimed to have put one
into orbit in November, following failed

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efforts in May and August, It
also comes on the heels of China launching

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its own spy satellite on Tuesday,
and South Korea putting its first ever into

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space early last month. Late last
month, North Korea also said it plans

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to launch more satellites throughout twenty twenty
four. According to state run broadcaster nh

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K, the Japanese satellite is capable
of capturing images of anywhere on Earth.

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Friday's mission was the forty eighth launch
of Japan's h to A rocket, which

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first went into operation in two thousand
one. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has transferred launch

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service operations from the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency in two thousand seven. The company

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said Japan initiated its reconnaissance satellite program
after North Korea launched a Teepo Dong missile

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over the Asian Archipelago country in August
of nineteen ninety eight. And you wanted

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to do this next story, didn't
you, Steve, Well, you can

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if you want to, Halle,
I'm you know, okay, thanks.

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It looks like the Peregrine mission is
headed back to Earth. A private US

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lunar lander that has been leaking fuel
throughout its journey is now headed for Earth

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and will likely burn up in the
atmosphere, the company said Saturday. Astrobotic

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has been posting regular updates on the
Peregrine landers status since the start of its

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ill fated voyage, which began when
it blasted off on a brand new Vulcan

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rocket built by United Launch Alliance on
January eighth. Shortly after it separated from

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the rocket, the spaceship experienced an
onboard explosion and it soon became clear it

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would not make a soft lunar touchdown
because of the amount of propellant it was

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losing. What do you think,
Steve will that loss of fuel doomed Peregrine's

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chances to soft land on the Moon
next month. According to Astrobotic, that

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that's the people who built the landa
while the company has been fighting to keep

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the lander alive as long as possible. A representative of the company said it

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looks like the probe's days a definitely
numbered due to its trajectory. And despite

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these issues, devastating as they may
be, Astrobotics team was still able to

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power up the science experiments on board
and they were carrying those Vanessa and other

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space agencies and they were able to
gather spaceflight data, which is of some

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benefit at least yes, The company
representative said, our latest assessment now shows

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the spacecraft is on a path towards
Earth, where it will likely burn up

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in the Earth's atmosphere, the Pittsburgh
based company posted on x Although the company

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didn't post an expected date or time
of arrival back on Earth, the team

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is currently assessing options and will provide
updates as soon as they are available.

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The box shaped robot has now been
in space for more than five days and

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is currently three hundred and ninety thousand
kilometers from our planet. Steve, can

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you convert the kilometers for the American
listeners? Oh, of course, because

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America still uses the Imperial measurements,
of course, and for our North American

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listeners hallie three hundred and ninety thousand
kilometers conversion is a distance of four million,

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two hundred and sixty five thousand and
ninety seven standard American football fields.

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Long Nice space watchers have been following
Paragrine's trajectory closely, and many had hoped

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it might still make a hard landing
on the Moon, as other failed landers

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have done before, although it's now
clear that even that reduced goal won't be

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achieved. You know what they mean
by hard landing, don't you. Oh

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yeah, it's not pretty, not
at all. You can take it from

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here, Steve, Thanks Hallie.
In addition to science hardware, the spaceship

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is carrying cargo for private clients of
Astrobotic, including sports drink can a physical

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bitcoin, as well as human and
animal ashes and DNA. Astrobotic is the

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latest private entity to have failed in
a soft landing, following an Israeli nonprofit

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and a Japanese company. NASA had
paid Astrobotic more than one hundred million for

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carrying its cargo under an experimental program
called Commercial Lunar Payload Services. The overall

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goal is to seed a commercial lunar
economy and reduce its own overheads. Though

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it hasn't worked out this time,
NASA officials have made clear their strategy of

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more shots on goal means more chances
to score, and the next attempt by

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Houston based Intuitive Machines launches in February. Astrobotic itself will get another chance in

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November with its Griffin Lander transporting NASA's
Viper rover to the lunar South Pole.

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Astronomy Daily, the podcast with Steve
Dugley and Hallie. Thank you so much

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Hallie for joining me for those stories. Oh which he's giving me a hard

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time today, oh boy. Oh
well, maybe it's the popularity of AI

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on social media. She's getting a
maybe she's getting ideas. Who knows anyway,

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and she won't leave me alone if
I don't remind you that, you

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can find all the Astronomy Daily episodes, including the ones where Hallie doesn't give

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me a hard time, at these
places. Just visit bytes dot com,

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that's bi tesz dot com and space
Nuts dot io. Of course, you

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00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:31.759
can find all the episodes of our
parent podcast, which is Space Nuts featuring

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00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:37.759
Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson over
there as well. Also, if you

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pop your email into this lot provided, you will receive the Astronomy Daily newsletter

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as well, and that comes in
daily of course, and you'll have all

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the latest news about science, space, science and astronomy. Now for something

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that I found this morning on the
Astronomy Daily newsletter, something very interesting about

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ARTEMI, one of my favorite things. NASA announced on Tuesday significant updates to

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its Artemis campaign. These updates aim
to lay the groundwork for long term scientific

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exploration on the Moon. The programme's
ambitious goals include the landing of the first

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woman and the first person of color
on the Luna's surface, as well as

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preparing for human expeditions to Mars or
for the greater good of humanity. To

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ensure these missions are carried out safely, NASA officials have revised the schedules for

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Artemis two and Artemis three. This
adjustment allows teams to address challenges linked to

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the first time developments, operations,
and integration. Artemis two, the first

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crude mission, is now slated for
September twenty twenty five. It will orbit

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the Moon. Artemis three, planned
for September twenty twenty six, launch aims

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to land astronauts near the lunar South
Pole. Artemis four, the first mission

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to gateway the Luna space, remains
on track for twenty twenty eight. We

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are returning to the Moon in a
way we have never before, and the

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safety of our astronauts is NASA's top
priority as we prepare for future Artemis missions,

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said NASA's administrator Bill Nelson. We've
learned a lot since Artemis I,

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and the success of these early missions
relies on our commercial and international partnerships to

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further our reach and understanding of humanity's
place in our solar system. Artemis represents

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what we can accomplish as a nation
and as a global coalition, and when

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we desert our sites on what is
hard, together we can achieve what is

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great. Good words Ensuring cruse safety
is the primary driver for the Artemis two

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schedule changes. As this first Artemis
flight test with crew aboard the Orion spacecraft,

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the mission will set critical environmental control
and life support systems requies required to

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support astronauts. NASA's testing to qualify
components to keep the crew safe and ensure

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mission success has uncovered issues that require
additional time to resolve. Teams are troubleshooting

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a battery issue and addressing challenges with
circuitry component responsible for air ventilation and temperature

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control. NASA's investigation into unexpected loss
of char layer pieces from the spacecraft's heat

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shield during Artemis one is expected to
conclude this spring. Teams have taken a

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methodical approach to to understand the issue, including extensive sampling of the heat shield,

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testing, and review of data from
senses and imagery. The new timeline

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for Artemis three aligns with The updated
schedule for Artemis two ensures the agency can

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incorporate lessons learned from Artemis two into
the next mission and acknowledges development changes experienced

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by NASA's industry partners. As each
new Artemis mission increases complexity and adds flight

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tests for new systems. The adjusted
schedule will give the providers developing new capabilities

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SpaceX for the human landing system and
AXIOM space for the next generation spacesuits,

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additional time for testing and any refinements
ahead of the mission. We are letting

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the hardware talk to us so that
cruse safety drives our decision making. We

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will use the Artemis two flight test
and each flight that follows to reduce risk

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for future Moon missions, said Catherine
Cohner, Associated Administrator Exploration Systems Development Mission

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DOC Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. We are resolving challenges associated with first

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time capabilities and operations, and we
are closer than ever to establishing sustained exploration

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of the Earth's nearest neighbor under Artemis, she said. In addition to the

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scheduled updates for Artemus two and three, NASA is reviewing the schedule for lawng

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Watching the first integrated elements of Gateway
previously planned for October twenty twenty five,

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to provide additional development time and better
align that launch with Artemis four mission in

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twenty twenty eight. NASA also shared
that he has asked both Artemis human landing

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system to providers SpaceX and Blue Origin
to begin applying knowledge gained in developing their

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systems as part of their existing contracts
toward future variations to potentially deliver large cargo

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on later missions. Artemis is a
long term exploration campaign to conduct science at

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the Moon with astronauts and prepare for
future human missions to Mars. That means

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we must get it right as we
develop and fly our foundational systems so that

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we can safely carry out these missions, said Armittra Treea, who is the

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Deputy Associate Administrator of Exploration Systems Development
and manager of NASA's Moon to Mars Program

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Office at Headquarters. Cruise safety is
and will remain our number one priority.

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NASA leaders emphasize the importance of all
partners delivering on time so that agency can

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maximize the flight objectives with available hardware
on a given mission. NASA regularly assesses

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progress and timelines and as a part
of integrated programmatic planning to ensure the agency

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and its partners can successfully accomplish its
Moon to Mars exploration goals. With Artemis,

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NASA will explore more of the Moon
than ever before, learn how to

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live and work away from home,
and prepare for human exploration of the Red

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planet. NASA's SLS, that's the
Space Launch System, Rocket Exploration Ground Systems,

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and Orion spacecraft, along with the
human Landing System, next generation Spacesuits,

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Gateway Lunar Space Station, and future
rovers are NASA's foundation for deep space

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exploration. And just like that,
there was no more. Thanks for sticking

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with us today. We'll be back
again next Monday, and of course you

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00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:15.119
can sit in with our pal Tim
Gibbs all the way from Bath in the

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00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:21.279
beautiful Somerset, England for Friday session, who will have another collection of fascinating

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stories from the Astronomy Daily newsletter.
Go get yours at those addresses that I

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00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:29.200
gave you earlier on in the episode. And that's all for me, Steve

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donkle your host, and we'll see
you later, and see you later from

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00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:41.000
me. Bye, Hollie Bye.
I would be your whole Steve dunkle