Turbulent Times for SpaceX, a Monstrous Comet in the Oort Cloud, and Europe's Space Revival

WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.520
Anna: Hey there space enthusiasts and welcome to

1
00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:05.520
Astronomy Daily. I'm your host, Anna, and

2
00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:08.360
I'm so glad you could join us today for another journey through the

3
00:00:08.360 --> 00:00:11.240
cosmos. We've got some really captivating

4
00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:14.200
stories lined up for you this episode. We're going

5
00:00:14.200 --> 00:00:16.480
to dive into some big news from SpaceX,

6
00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.040
talking about their latest Starship developments which have been

7
00:00:20.040 --> 00:00:22.640
quite, shall we say, explosive recently.

8
00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:25.840
And then we'll shift gears to something truly immense,

9
00:00:26.490 --> 00:00:29.410
a colossal Oort cloud comet that's making its way through our

10
00:00:29.410 --> 00:00:32.290
solar system. And we'll also touch on Europe's

11
00:00:32.290 --> 00:00:35.290
push to reclaim its status as a space power. So stay

12
00:00:35.290 --> 00:00:36.650
tuned for all that and more.

13
00:00:38.010 --> 00:00:40.730
Alright, let's talk about SpaceX, shall we? Because

14
00:00:40.730 --> 00:00:43.690
they've been in the news again, and not for the reason they

15
00:00:43.690 --> 00:00:46.570
usually like to be their newest Starship

16
00:00:46.570 --> 00:00:49.490
spacecraft. This massive 171

17
00:00:49.490 --> 00:00:51.930
foot tall vehicle experienced an

18
00:00:51.930 --> 00:00:54.750
explosion on a test stand at their Starbase

19
00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.750
site late last Wednesday night. This happened as

20
00:00:57.750 --> 00:01:00.550
they were getting ready to ignite its six Raptor engines for

21
00:01:00.550 --> 00:01:03.510
what's called a static fire trial, which is a pretty

22
00:01:03.510 --> 00:01:06.270
common pre launch test. Now, A day

23
00:01:06.270 --> 00:01:08.750
later, SpaceX narrowed down the likely cause.

24
00:01:09.150 --> 00:01:11.830
Initial analysis, they say, points to the potential

25
00:01:11.830 --> 00:01:14.670
failure of a pressurised tank, specifically what they

26
00:01:14.670 --> 00:01:17.390
call a copv, or composite overwrapped

27
00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:19.910
pressure vessel. This tank, which holds

28
00:01:19.910 --> 00:01:22.890
gaseous nitrogen and is located in Starship's

29
00:01:22.890 --> 00:01:25.850
nosecone area. But they're still doing a full data review.

30
00:01:26.490 --> 00:01:29.330
Good news though, there were no reported injuries from this

31
00:01:29.330 --> 00:01:32.330
explosion. All SpaceX personnel at Starbase

32
00:01:32.330 --> 00:01:34.810
are safe and folks living around the site near

33
00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:37.210
Brownsville shouldn't worry about contamination.

34
00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:40.930
SpaceX has done independent tests on materials

35
00:01:40.930 --> 00:01:43.930
inside Starship and they've confirmed no chemical,

36
00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:46.490
biological or toxicological risks.

37
00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:49.940
Plus they're coordinating with local, state and federal agencies

38
00:01:49.940 --> 00:01:52.020
on environmental and safety impacts.

39
00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:55.940
Now, this incident did cause some damage around the test stand at

40
00:01:55.940 --> 00:01:58.820
their Massey site. Not the orbital launch mount mind you,

41
00:01:58.820 --> 00:02:01.700
but still it ignited several fires there,

42
00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:03.620
which are being assessed once it's safe to approach.

43
00:02:04.740 --> 00:02:07.260
Obviously this explosion is going to push back the

44
00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:10.140
timeline for Starship's 10th flight test, which

45
00:02:10.140 --> 00:02:12.660
SpaceX had hoped to launch by the end of this month.

46
00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:16.190
It's not clear yet by how much, but it definitely

47
00:02:16.190 --> 00:02:18.230
shifts things to the right, as they say.

48
00:02:19.030 --> 00:02:21.790
This is also the latest in a series of setbacks for the

49
00:02:21.790 --> 00:02:24.310
starship upper stages. SpaceX

50
00:02:24.470 --> 00:02:27.110
actually lost the vehicle on its last three flight

51
00:02:27.110 --> 00:02:29.990
tests, which happened in January, March and May

52
00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:32.670
of this, uh, year. The upper stage, or

53
00:02:32.670 --> 00:02:35.430
ship, as they call it, has had a bit of A tough

54
00:02:35.430 --> 00:02:38.310
run. Interestingly, the first stage, known

55
00:02:38.310 --> 00:02:41.000
as Super Heavy, has had a much better track

56
00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.840
record lately. For example, on flights 7

57
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:46.760
and 8, this huge booster successfully

58
00:02:46.760 --> 00:02:49.400
returned to Starbase and was even caught by the launch

59
00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:52.400
tower's chopstick arms, which is a jaw dropping feat to

60
00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.386
watch. On Flight 8, which launched on March

61
00:02:55.454 --> 00:02:58.080
6, the Super Heavy booster was successfully caught.

62
00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.160
But the ship, the upper stage, it started to tumble after

63
00:03:01.160 --> 00:03:04.160
several of its six Raptor engines failed toward the end of its

64
00:03:04.160 --> 00:03:07.150
ascent burn. SpaceX lost contact about nine

65
00:03:07.150 --> 00:03:09.870
minutes into the flight, and it presumably detonated high in the

66
00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:12.750
sky. This kind of mirrored Flight seven,

67
00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:15.150
where they also lost ship at about the same point.

68
00:03:15.470 --> 00:03:18.310
SpaceX traced that Flight 7 anomaly to what

69
00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:21.149
they described as a harmonic response several times

70
00:03:21.149 --> 00:03:23.710
stronger in flight than had been seen during testing,

71
00:03:23.950 --> 00:03:26.830
which caused increased stress and propellant leaks, leading

72
00:03:26.830 --> 00:03:29.750
to fires. They've since taken steps to minimise

73
00:03:29.750 --> 00:03:32.680
recurrence, like conducting a longer static fire test

74
00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:35.760
with Flight 8's ship and making hardware changes to

75
00:03:35.760 --> 00:03:38.720
fuel lines and propellant temperatures. They've even added

76
00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:41.400
new vents and a purge system using gaseous

77
00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:44.400
nitrogen to make the area more robust to propellant

78
00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.200
leakage. In the long run, SpaceX

79
00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:50.200
plans to bring both Super Heavy and Ship back to

80
00:03:50.200 --> 00:03:53.080
Starbase for these launch tower catches. Their

81
00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:56.000
vision is for this fully reusable rocket to fly

82
00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:59.000
multiple times per day, making Mars settlement,

83
00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:01.440
which is Elon Musk's long held goal,

84
00:04:01.600 --> 00:04:04.520
economically feasible. They've requested approval

85
00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:07.520
for 25 Starship launches from Starbase in

86
00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.400
2025 alone. So despite these recent

87
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.640
challenges, they're still aiming high.

88
00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.960
Okay, let's pivot now from rockets and explosions to

89
00:04:16.960 --> 00:04:19.920
something a little more serene, but still incredibly

90
00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.480
exciting. A truly monstrous comet

91
00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:24.640
spotted way out in the outer solar system.

92
00:04:26.110 --> 00:04:29.070
Astronomers have recently completed a long range observation

93
00:04:29.070 --> 00:04:31.710
of a comet named C 2014 UN

94
00:04:31.710 --> 00:04:34.630
271 Bernardinelli Bernstein. And this

95
00:04:34.630 --> 00:04:37.550
thing is just massive. It's actually one of

96
00:04:37.550 --> 00:04:40.550
the largest Oort Cloud comets ever observed, measuring

97
00:04:40.550 --> 00:04:43.390
a whopping 140 kilometres across. For

98
00:04:43.390 --> 00:04:46.030
some context, Halley's Comet, which we all know

99
00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:48.950
is only about 15 kilometres across. So

100
00:04:48.950 --> 00:04:51.840
imagine something nearly 10 times that size. This

101
00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:54.600
comet, UN 271, is currently

102
00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.200
pretty far from the sun, about 16 and a half

103
00:04:57.200 --> 00:04:59.920
astronomical units away, which makes it super

104
00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:02.840
tough to observe. But astronomers have been using

105
00:05:02.840 --> 00:05:05.280
the powerful Atacama Large Millimetre

106
00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:08.160
Submillimeter Array, or alma, in Chile to

107
00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.160
keep an eye on it. And what they're seeing is quite surprising for

108
00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:14.000
something so far out there. They're watching jets of carbon

109
00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.680
monoxide gas, erupting from its nucleus.

110
00:05:17.010 --> 00:05:20.010
That's a really unexpected level of activity for a comet that's so

111
00:05:20.010 --> 00:05:22.930
distant and cold. The comet was

112
00:05:22.930 --> 00:05:25.690
actually Discovered back in 2014 by astronomers

113
00:05:25.690 --> 00:05:28.610
Gary Bernstein and Pedro Bernardinelli, who

114
00:05:28.610 --> 00:05:31.290
spotted it as a faint fuzzy smudge in archival

115
00:05:31.290 --> 00:05:34.050
images from the Dark Energy Survey. Its

116
00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:36.810
slow movement immediately told them it was far out in the

117
00:05:36.810 --> 00:05:39.170
solar system and therefore quite large.

118
00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:42.740
This thing is on an incredibly long journey. Its

119
00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:45.300
perihelion, which is its closest approach to the sun,

120
00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:48.420
won't be until January 2031. And

121
00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:51.340
even then it'll still be 10.9 AU

122
00:05:51.340 --> 00:05:54.020
from the sun just outside Saturn's orbit.

123
00:05:54.260 --> 00:05:57.260
It's on a 2.8 million year orbit inbound, and then a

124
00:05:57.260 --> 00:06:00.180
4.6 million year orbit outbound heading almost

125
00:06:00.180 --> 00:06:02.580
a light year away, about a fifth of the way to Proxima

126
00:06:02.580 --> 00:06:05.500
Centauri, our nearest star. The difference in

127
00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:08.430
its inbound and outbound orbit, by the way, is is likely

128
00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:11.310
due to interactions with planets when it's closer to the Sun.

129
00:06:12.030 --> 00:06:14.990
Nathan Roth from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre

130
00:06:15.230 --> 00:06:17.790
noted that these measurements give us a look at how this

131
00:06:17.790 --> 00:06:20.550
enormous icy world works and that they're

132
00:06:20.550 --> 00:06:23.430
seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise

133
00:06:23.430 --> 00:06:26.030
new questions about how this comet will evolve.

134
00:06:26.990 --> 00:06:29.870
Now, you might be wondering, is this giant comet going to hit

135
00:06:29.870 --> 00:06:32.630
Earth? And thankfully no. While a

136
00:06:32.630 --> 00:06:35.190
comet of this size is, it's 12 times the size of the

137
00:06:35.190 --> 00:06:38.070
Chicxulub impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs.

138
00:06:38.310 --> 00:06:41.270
Would definitely be an extinction level event if it came

139
00:06:41.270 --> 00:06:43.950
our way. UN271 isn't coming

140
00:06:43.950 --> 00:06:46.510
anywhere near the inner solar system, so breathe

141
00:06:46.510 --> 00:06:49.310
easy. It's a bit of a shame it won't visit the

142
00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:52.030
inner solar system closer, because it would put on an

143
00:06:52.030 --> 00:06:54.790
amazing show even bigger than Comet Hale

144
00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:57.710
Bopp. But its appearance really shows us just

145
00:06:57.710 --> 00:07:00.550
what might be lurking out there in the remote icy

146
00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:03.380
realms of the outer solar system and how active

147
00:07:03.380 --> 00:07:05.580
these distant objects can be, which is pretty cool

148
00:07:06.780 --> 00:07:09.100
from the distant icy realms of comets.

149
00:07:09.260 --> 00:07:11.860
Let's zoom in a bit closer to Earth and actually to the

150
00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:14.620
geopolitical arena of space. French

151
00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:17.620
President Emmanuel Macron recently made some pretty

152
00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:20.620
strong statements emphasising that Europe really needs

153
00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:23.260
to re establish itself as a global space power.

154
00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:26.140
And he's particularly focused on the increasingly

155
00:07:26.140 --> 00:07:28.990
competitive low Earth orbit or or LEO

156
00:07:28.990 --> 00:07:31.950
satellite market. Macron was speaking at the

157
00:07:31.950 --> 00:07:34.470
Paris Air show and he didn't mince words.

158
00:07:34.790 --> 00:07:37.190
He warned that France, and by extension Europe,

159
00:07:37.590 --> 00:07:40.590
risked being completely squeezed out of this crucial

160
00:07:40.590 --> 00:07:42.790
LEO satellite constellation market.

161
00:07:43.350 --> 00:07:46.070
He specifically called out players like SpaceX

162
00:07:46.390 --> 00:07:48.790
who have as he put it disrupted the market

163
00:07:49.190 --> 00:07:52.030
and also Amazon, who's getting involved, plus

164
00:07:52.030 --> 00:07:55.020
China who's not far behind. He said we all need

165
00:07:55.020 --> 00:07:57.300
to be very clear headed about this situation.

166
00:07:58.260 --> 00:08:00.980
The urgency here stems from growing geopolitical

167
00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:03.820
tensions which are pushing countries to focus on the

168
00:08:03.820 --> 00:08:06.100
independence of their satellite infrastructure.

169
00:08:06.660 --> 00:08:09.220
Macron believes that relying on non European

170
00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:12.020
constellations in low orbit would be, and I quote,

171
00:08:12.340 --> 00:08:15.260
madness. He really wants to see Europe, with

172
00:08:15.260 --> 00:08:18.220
France at its core, become a space power once again. So what's the

173
00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:21.100
plan? Well, he's calling for a significant increase in collective

174
00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:23.900
investment, both public and private. He also

175
00:08:23.900 --> 00:08:26.820
suggested that non European partners like those in the

176
00:08:26.820 --> 00:08:29.380
Gulf, India, Canada and Brazil

177
00:08:29.780 --> 00:08:32.500
should team up with France. It's all about building strong

178
00:08:32.500 --> 00:08:35.420
alliances and shared solutions. As

179
00:08:35.420 --> 00:08:38.260
part of this push, France has actually more than doubled its

180
00:08:38.260 --> 00:08:40.900
stake in the satellite operator Utilsat,

181
00:08:41.140 --> 00:08:43.980
making it the largest shareholder in a deal worth about

182
00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:46.100
1.35 billion euros.

183
00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:49.430
Utilsat, which by the way merged

184
00:08:49.430 --> 00:08:52.390
with the British firm OneWeb in 2023,

185
00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:55.750
is now the world's second largest operator of low

186
00:08:55.750 --> 00:08:58.550
earth orbit satellites, right behind Starlink. So

187
00:08:58.550 --> 00:09:01.110
they're actively positioning Eutelsat as a European

188
00:09:01.110 --> 00:09:03.990
alternative, especially for companies and nations looking

189
00:09:03.990 --> 00:09:06.630
for sovereign solutions and not wanting to rely solely on

190
00:09:06.630 --> 00:09:09.590
Elon Musk's ventures. Looking ahead,

191
00:09:09.750 --> 00:09:12.750
France also plans to organise a major space Summit in early

192
00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:15.490
2026. The goal there is to really

193
00:09:15.490 --> 00:09:18.210
mobilise partners globally, both public and

194
00:09:18.210 --> 00:09:20.610
private, to push this vision forward.

195
00:09:21.010 --> 00:09:23.890
It really highlights how critical this independent space

196
00:09:23.890 --> 00:09:26.130
infrastructure is becoming, not just for

197
00:09:26.130 --> 00:09:28.850
telecommunications and navigation, but also for

198
00:09:28.850 --> 00:09:31.850
emergency response and even defence. It's a big

199
00:09:31.850 --> 00:09:32.130
deal.

200
00:09:33.570 --> 00:09:36.490
Speaking of global space efforts, the European Space Agency,

201
00:09:36.490 --> 00:09:38.930
or esa, is celebrating a pretty big

202
00:09:38.930 --> 00:09:41.270
milestone, their first half century.

203
00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:44.630
To mark this occasion, they've released a new publication called

204
00:09:44.630 --> 00:09:47.510
Issei 50 Hallmark Achievements

205
00:09:47.510 --> 00:09:50.070
Across 50 Years. And it really

206
00:09:50.070 --> 00:09:52.790
highlights some incredibly pivotal moments. From landing on a

207
00:09:52.790 --> 00:09:55.590
comet, which is just wild to think about, to

208
00:09:55.590 --> 00:09:58.510
fostering Europe's space industry, contributing a lab for the

209
00:09:58.510 --> 00:10:01.150
space shuttle, and even implementing the world's most

210
00:10:01.150 --> 00:10:04.110
precise satellite navigation system. It's a huge

211
00:10:04.110 --> 00:10:07.000
retrospective. The that really underscores ESA's

212
00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.920
crucial role in undertaking ambitious projects that

213
00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:13.280
frankly would just be too big for any single nation to

214
00:10:13.280 --> 00:10:15.880
tackle alone. As uh, ESA Director General Jos

215
00:10:15.880 --> 00:10:18.600
Aschbacher puts it, being an agency means

216
00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.559
taking action to deliver results too big

217
00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:24.360
and ambitious for any single nation. It really is all about

218
00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.360
that collective power. Kai Ua Schrogel, who was

219
00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:29.920
the agency coordinator for the 50th anniversary,

220
00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:33.160
actually mentioned that the biggest challenge wasn't deciding

221
00:10:33.160 --> 00:10:35.980
what to include in the publication, but actually what

222
00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:38.780
to leave out, because ISSEI has achieved such an

223
00:10:38.780 --> 00:10:41.780
enormously long list of remarkable milestones over the

224
00:10:41.780 --> 00:10:44.540
years. So the book isn't just about the top

225
00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:47.660
achievements, but truly hallmark ones,

226
00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:50.700
showcasing technical miracles, historic

227
00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:53.340
firsts, and honestly, just moments of

228
00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:55.820
pure inspiration that highlight the broad range of

229
00:10:55.820 --> 00:10:58.740
ESA's activities. It makes you think

230
00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:01.700
about what a Europe without its space agency would even look

231
00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:04.510
like. Director General Aschbacher encourages

232
00:11:04.510 --> 00:11:07.350
readers to imagine the wider universe

233
00:11:07.350 --> 00:11:09.870
would be a much dimmer, less known place.

234
00:11:10.510 --> 00:11:13.350
Our continent might have fewer native astronauts or space

235
00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:15.790
scientists, and our telecommunications,

236
00:11:15.950 --> 00:11:18.950
navigation, and even weather forecasting could well be

237
00:11:18.950 --> 00:11:21.510
dependent on foreign powers. So

238
00:11:21.510 --> 00:11:24.310
ESA's work is critical for maintaining Europe's

239
00:11:24.310 --> 00:11:27.070
independence and advancing its capabilities in

240
00:11:27.070 --> 00:11:29.960
space. The 50 achievements listed in

241
00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:32.800
this publication are actually grouped according to the five

242
00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:35.480
strategic goals of Issei's Strategy

243
00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:38.160
2040, which is their vision for the next

244
00:11:38.160 --> 00:11:41.000
15 years. So they're not just looking back,

245
00:11:41.160 --> 00:11:43.919
they're treating these past results as baselines to build

246
00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.760
upon for the future. The publication is available

247
00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:49.800
as a PDF and I'll include a link in the show Notes

248
00:11:49.800 --> 00:11:51.560
if you'd like to download a copy.

249
00:11:53.400 --> 00:11:55.880
That's all for this episode of Astronomy Daily.

250
00:11:56.660 --> 00:11:59.300
Wow, we covered a lot of ground today, didn't we?

251
00:11:59.540 --> 00:12:02.380
From the latest on SpaceX's Starship and those

252
00:12:02.380 --> 00:12:05.300
ongoing challenges they're facing to that truly

253
00:12:05.300 --> 00:12:08.220
monstrous Oort Cloud comet just doing its thing way out

254
00:12:08.220 --> 00:12:11.140
there, and even Europe's big push for space independence.

255
00:12:11.300 --> 00:12:14.180
And let's not Forget ise celebrating 50 years of

256
00:12:14.180 --> 00:12:17.020
incredible achievements. Thank you so much for

257
00:12:17.020 --> 00:12:19.900
tuning in and joining me. This has been Anna, your

258
00:12:19.900 --> 00:12:22.900
host, and I really invite you to visit our website at

259
00:12:22.900 --> 00:12:25.060
astronomydaily IO. That's

260
00:12:25.060 --> 00:12:28.020
astronomydaily IO. There you can actually

261
00:12:28.020 --> 00:12:30.940
sign up for our completely free daily newsletter

262
00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:33.780
and just catch up on all the latest space and astronomy

263
00:12:33.780 --> 00:12:36.300
news with our constantly updating news feed.

264
00:12:36.780 --> 00:12:39.700
And don't forget to subscribe to Astronomy Daily wherever

265
00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:42.180
you get your podcasts, whether that's Apple

266
00:12:42.180 --> 00:12:45.140
Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, anywhere else

267
00:12:45.140 --> 00:12:48.010
you listen. That way you'll never miss an

268
00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.200
episode. Until next time, keep looking up. This is Anna

269
00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:51.760
signing off.