Auroras on Ganymede, Superflare Warnings and Japan’s Very Bad Week

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.790
Hey everyone, welcome back to Astronomy


00:00:02.800 --> 00:00:04.070
Daily. I'm Anna.


00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.630
>> And I'm Avery. And Anna, today's episode


00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:08.470
is genuinely one of those ones where I


00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:10.390
kept saying, "Wait, what?" out loud


00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:11.669
reading the headlines.


00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.990
>> Right. We've got auroras on Jupiter's


00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:15.669
biggest moon that look just like the


00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:18.230
ones here on Earth. A solar storm early


00:00:18.240 --> 00:00:19.910
warning system that could give us a


00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.070
whole year's notice before the really


00:00:22.080 --> 00:00:24.710
dangerous ones hit. A cosmic image that


00:00:24.720 --> 00:00:26.550
is genuinely going to make you stop


00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:28.630
scrolling. And Japan's struggling


00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.790
private rocket company has had yet


00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.830
another very bad day. This is series 5,


00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.870
episode 55 of Astronomy Daily. Let's get


00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:37.670
into it.


00:00:37.680 --> 00:00:40.310
>> So, our first story is a beautiful one.


00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:42.549
Scientists have just published detailed


00:00:42.559 --> 00:00:44.549
new research showing that Jupiter's


00:00:44.559 --> 00:00:47.910
largest moon, Ganymede, has auroras. And


00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.470
not just auroras, auroras that look


00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:52.229
strikingly similar to the northern


00:00:52.239 --> 00:00:54.630
lights here on Earth. which already


00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:56.630
sounds incredible for listeners who


00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:58.950
might not know. Ganymede is fascinating


00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:01.110
in its own right. It's actually bigger


00:01:01.120 --> 00:01:02.950
than Mercury. It's thought to have a


00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:05.429
vast liquid saltwater ocean beneath its


00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.910
icy crust. And it's the only moon in our


00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:09.910
entire solar system known to have its


00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:11.590
own magnetic field.


00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:13.830
>> And that magnetic field is the key to


00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:15.910
this story. The research was led by


00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:17.990
astrophysicists at the University of


00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.630
Lege in Belgium. And they used data from


00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.270
NASA's Juno spacecraft which made a


00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.310
close flyby of Ganymede back in 2021


00:01:26.320 --> 00:01:27.910
coming within about a thousand


00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:29.670
kilometers of the surface.


00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:31.510
>> So what did they find? Previous


00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:33.749
observations had suggested Ganymede had


00:01:33.759 --> 00:01:35.910
auroras but they were blurry and low


00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.310
resolution. With Juno's ultraviolet


00:01:38.320 --> 00:01:40.390
spectrograph, the team could finally see


00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:42.550
the fine detail. And what they found


00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.670
surprised them,


00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:45.990
>> right? They expected to see smooth,


00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.550
continuous, oval-shaped, glowing bands


00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.710
like a diffused curtain of light.


00:01:50.720 --> 00:01:52.789
Instead, Ganymede's auroras are


00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.109
fragmented into a chain of distinct


00:01:55.119 --> 00:01:58.630
bright patches. Each one roughly 50 km


00:01:58.640 --> 00:01:59.590
across.


00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:01.670
>> And crucially, those same structures


00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:03.749
called beads are something we see in


00:02:03.759 --> 00:02:05.910
Earth's own auroral displays. They're


00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:07.830
linked to large scale rearrangements of


00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.070
the magnetosphere that release enormous


00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:11.990
amounts of energy. The fact that we're


00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:13.830
seeing the same thing on Ganymede


00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:15.750
suggests that the fundamental physical


00:02:15.760 --> 00:02:18.150
processes creating auroras might be


00:02:18.160 --> 00:02:20.390
essentially universal, which is a


00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.229
beautiful idea when you think about it.


00:02:22.239 --> 00:02:24.550
That the same magnetic dance that lights


00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.110
up our polar skies on Earth is happening


00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.390
on a moon half a billion km away. The


00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:31.990
research was published in the journal


00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.229
Astronomy and Astrophysics.


00:02:34.239 --> 00:02:35.750
>> And if you're wondering when we'll get


00:02:35.760 --> 00:02:38.309
another look, frustratingly, Juno will


00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.710
never fly over Ganymede again. The next


00:02:40.720 --> 00:02:43.110
close-up opportunity will come in 2031


00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:45.430
when issa's juice spacecraft arrives at


00:02:45.440 --> 00:02:47.990
Jupiter. Until then, these 15 minutes of


00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.790
data from 2021 are all we have.


00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.630
>> 15 minutes of data that have kept


00:02:52.640 --> 00:02:55.350
scientists busy for years. That's pretty


00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:56.710
remarkable, really.


00:02:56.720 --> 00:02:58.869
>> Okay, next up, and this one has real


00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:00.949
world stakes. An international team of


00:03:00.959 --> 00:03:02.550
scientists has developed what they're


00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.470
calling the first system that can


00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:06.869
actually predict when and where the most


00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:09.750
dangerous solar storms, super flares,


00:03:09.760 --> 00:03:11.110
are likely to occur.


00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:12.790
>> And the headline number here is


00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.030
remarkable. They're talking about up to


00:03:15.040 --> 00:03:17.270
a year's advanced warning, which if you


00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:18.869
know anything about how solar


00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.110
forecasting currently works, is a


00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:22.710
complete game changer.


00:03:22.720 --> 00:03:24.390
>> Right? Because today we can maybe


00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:26.550
predict a solar flare a few hours before


00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:28.710
it happens if we're lucky. And that's


00:03:28.720 --> 00:03:31.190
for regular flares. Super flares, the


00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:34.149
really extreme X10 or stronger events,


00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:36.710
happen so fast and so unpredictably that


00:03:36.720 --> 00:03:38.309
they have historically been almost


00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.670
impossible to foresee. So how does this


00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.270
new approach work? The team led by Dr.


00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.910
Victor Velascoerrera from the National


00:03:47.920 --> 00:03:51.030
Autonomous University of Mexico analyzed


00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:54.309
nearly 50 years of X-ray data from solar


00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:56.949
monitoring satellites. They identified


00:03:56.959 --> 00:03:59.670
two repeating natural cycles in solar


00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.350
activity. One lasting about 1.7 years


00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.990
and another of around 7 years. When


00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.949
those cycles align in certain ways, the


00:04:08.959 --> 00:04:12.070
risk of super flares increases sharply.


00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:13.990
>> And the system doesn't just give you a


00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.229
time window. It also identifies which


00:04:16.239 --> 00:04:18.229
specific regions of the sun are at


00:04:18.239 --> 00:04:21.270
greatest risk. For solar cycle 25, the


00:04:21.280 --> 00:04:23.670
one we're in right now, the model flags


00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:25.590
a high-risk window that runs roughly


00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:29.430
from mid 2025 through to mid 2026,


00:04:29.440 --> 00:04:31.110
focused on the sun's southern


00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:32.310
hemisphere,


00:04:32.320 --> 00:04:35.189
>> meaning we're in it right now.


00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:37.510
>> We are. And the reason this matters so


00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:39.749
much is what a serious super flare could


00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.469
actually do. We're talking widespread


00:04:42.479 --> 00:04:45.030
power grid failures, satellite damage,


00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.270
GPS disruption, communications


00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:49.590
blackouts. For astronauts traveling


00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:51.590
outside Earth's magnetic protection,


00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:53.350
like the Aremis 2 crew heading around


00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.350
the moon, it could pose serious


00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:56.710
radiation risks.


00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:58.790
>> The team actually validated this


00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:01.270
approach by demonstrating it correctly


00:05:01.280 --> 00:05:03.670
anticipated powerful eruptions on the


00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.870
far side of the sun in 2024, events


00:05:06.880 --> 00:05:09.590
nobody knew about until after the fact.


00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.909
That retroactive confirmation is what


00:05:11.919 --> 00:05:13.430
gives the scientific community


00:05:13.440 --> 00:05:15.510
confidence the model is genuinely


00:05:15.520 --> 00:05:17.590
working. It's been published in the


00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.909
Journal of Geoysical Research.


00:05:19.919 --> 00:05:22.710
>> Lead researcher Dr. Velasco Era put it


00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:25.189
well. We can't tell you the exact moment


00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:27.510
a storm will erupt, but we can tell you


00:05:27.520 --> 00:05:29.749
when the conditions are most dangerous,


00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:31.909
and that lead time is what makes all the


00:05:31.919 --> 00:05:33.830
difference for utilities, satellite


00:05:33.840 --> 00:05:36.230
operators, and space agencies planning


00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:38.629
missions. Think of it like a hurricane


00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:41.110
season forecast rather than a specific


00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:43.590
storm path prediction. You know when to


00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:46.150
be on guard that could genuinely save


00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:48.230
lives and billions of dollars in


00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:49.430
infrastructure,


00:05:49.440 --> 00:05:51.189
>> right? Let's take a breath from the


00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:53.590
we're all in danger stories and look at


00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:56.390
something beautiful. NASA and issa have


00:05:56.400 --> 00:05:58.469
released a stunning new combined image


00:05:58.479 --> 00:06:00.310
of the Cat's Eye Nebula, bringing


00:06:00.320 --> 00:06:02.390
together observations from two of our


00:06:02.400 --> 00:06:04.950
most powerful space telescopes, Uklid


00:06:04.960 --> 00:06:07.590
and Hubble. The Cats Eyee Nebula is one


00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:09.749
of those objects that just never gets


00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.390
old. It's a planetary nebula, the


00:06:12.400 --> 00:06:14.950
glowing remains of a star similar to our


00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:17.590
sun that expelled its outer layers as it


00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.710
died. Located about 3,000 light years


00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.590
away in the constellation Draco, it was


00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:25.990
actually one of the first nebula ever


00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.469
observed through a spectroscope way back


00:06:28.479 --> 00:06:30.390
in 1864.


00:06:30.400 --> 00:06:32.550
And Hubble has imaged it before


00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.950
famously. But this new composite uses


00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:37.830
Uklid's wide field infrared capability


00:06:37.840 --> 00:06:40.390
alongside Hubble's detailed optical and


00:06:40.400 --> 00:06:42.790
ultraviolet data to produce something


00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:45.270
genuinely new. You can see the layered


00:06:45.280 --> 00:06:47.510
billowing shrouds of expelled material


00:06:47.520 --> 00:06:50.070
in extraordinary detail along with the


00:06:50.080 --> 00:06:51.909
intricate inner structures around the


00:06:51.919 --> 00:06:53.350
central white dwarf.


00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.670
>> What I love about this story is what it


00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:57.350
says about where we are with our


00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.749
telescope infrastructure right now. We


00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.029
have Hubble, Web, Uklid, all operating


00:07:03.039 --> 00:07:05.189
simultaneously, each with different


00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:07.749
strengths, and scientists are combining


00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:09.909
their data to produce views of the


00:07:09.919 --> 00:07:12.070
universe that no single instrument could


00:07:12.080 --> 00:07:13.270
achieve alone.


00:07:13.280 --> 00:07:15.909
>> This is also in a very direct sense a


00:07:15.919 --> 00:07:18.629
preview of our own sun's future. In


00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:21.110
about 5 billion years, our sun will go


00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:23.110
through the same process, shedding its


00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.510
outer layers, leaving behind a glowing


00:07:25.520 --> 00:07:27.830
nebula and a dense white dwarf at its


00:07:27.840 --> 00:07:30.469
core. The cat's eye is one possible


00:07:30.479 --> 00:07:33.270
version of our cosmic obituary.


00:07:33.280 --> 00:07:36.710
>> Cheerful, but genuinely awe inspiring.


00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:38.469
We'll have a link to the full image in


00:07:38.479 --> 00:07:40.790
the show notes. It is absolutely worth


00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:42.230
seeing full size.


00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:43.909
>> It's just incredible what they keep on


00:07:43.919 --> 00:07:45.909
finding out there. Staying in the


00:07:45.919 --> 00:07:47.670
beautiful corner of the universe for a


00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.070
moment, the James Webb Space Telescope


00:07:50.080 --> 00:07:52.230
has delivered another jaw-dropping


00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.869
image, this time of a spiral galaxy


00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.990
called NGC 5134,


00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.710
sitting about 65 million lighty years


00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.550
away. So, not exactly next door, but in


00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:07.029
infrared, Web is able to pierce through


00:08:07.039 --> 00:08:09.350
the dust that normally obscures so much


00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:11.749
of the galactic structure. And what it


00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.710
reveals is extraordinary. Glowing clouds


00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:17.110
of gas, stellar nurseries where new


00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.350
stars are actively forming, and the


00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.909
intricate spiral arms traced in enormous


00:08:21.919 --> 00:08:25.670
detail. NGC 5134 is what's called a


00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:28.309
barred spiral galaxy. It has a central


00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:29.990
bar-shaped structure from which its


00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.550
spiral arms extend. Galaxies like this


00:08:32.560 --> 00:08:34.469
are really important to study because


00:08:34.479 --> 00:08:36.870
they let us trace the entire stellar


00:08:36.880 --> 00:08:39.110
life cycle in one place. from dense


00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.190
clouds of gas where new stars are just


00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.509
beginning to form right through to older


00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.269
stellar populations in the central


00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:46.310
regions.


00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.630
>> And this image also serves as a kind of


00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:50.710
reference point for understanding galaxy


00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.110
evolution more broadly by comparing


00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.190
infrared observations of galaxies like


00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:59.110
NGC 5134 across cosmic time. Astronomers


00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:01.110
can build a picture of how galaxies


00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.750
grow, change, and eventually in some


00:09:03.760 --> 00:09:07.269
cases stop forming stars altogether. web


00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.670
continues to deliver. Every single week


00:09:09.680 --> 00:09:11.590
there's something new. Link to the full


00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.829
image in the show notes as always.


00:09:13.839 --> 00:09:16.470
>> Okay, we've had two gorgeous images and


00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.110
some landmark science. Time to talk


00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:21.670
about Japan's very unlucky rocket


00:09:21.680 --> 00:09:22.710
program.


00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:25.190
>> Poor Chyros. So to set the scene for


00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:27.590
anyone just joining this story, Space 1


00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.829
is a Tokyo-based startup founded in


00:09:29.839 --> 00:09:33.269
2018, backed by Canon, IHI Aerospace,


00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.670
Shamzu Corporation, and the Development


00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:37.750
Bank of Japan. They've been trying to


00:09:37.760 --> 00:09:39.910
become the first fully private Japanese


00:09:39.920 --> 00:09:42.070
company to put satellites into orbit


00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:44.550
using a domestically developed rocket.


00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:46.870
>> Their first Chyros rocket exploded


00:09:46.880 --> 00:09:50.150
seconds after liftoff in March 2024. The


00:09:50.160 --> 00:09:51.829
second one made it off the pad in


00:09:51.839 --> 00:09:55.030
December 2024, but lost attitude control


00:09:55.040 --> 00:09:57.190
about 2 minutes in, creating what one


00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:59.110
commentator described as a very


00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:01.990
expensive corkcrew in the sky. And so


00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.630
all eyes were on Chyros number three,


00:10:04.640 --> 00:10:06.310
which has been through a genuinely


00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.550
painful week. The launch was originally


00:10:08.560 --> 00:10:11.030
scheduled for February 25th, scrubbed


00:10:11.040 --> 00:10:13.590
for weather. Ben rescheduled for Sunday,


00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.590
scrubbed for weather again. then


00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:17.750
rescheduled for Wednesday, March 4th,


00:10:17.760 --> 00:10:19.430
which seemed promising.


00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.590
>> And then a safety monitoring system


00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.389
activated 30 seconds before liftoff due


00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:26.389
to unstable signal reception from a


00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.310
positioning satellite, and the launch


00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.790
was aborted. No new date has been set,


00:10:30.800 --> 00:10:32.310
though the launch window runs until


00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:33.590
March 25th.


00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:35.990
>> And to be clear, that system activating


00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.990
is actually the system doing exactly


00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.230
what it's supposed to do. This is not a


00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:41.829
failure in the sense that the previous


00:10:41.839 --> 00:10:43.990
two launches were. It's the safeguard


00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:46.550
working correctly, but it's still deeply


00:10:46.560 --> 00:10:48.470
frustrating for everyone involved,


00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:49.910
including the local community in


00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:52.230
Kushimoto who've embraced this as a kind


00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.790
of space tourism attraction. There's


00:10:54.800 --> 00:10:56.550
something genuinely compelling about


00:10:56.560 --> 00:10:58.150
this story because it's about a


00:10:58.160 --> 00:11:00.150
country's private space industry trying


00:11:00.160 --> 00:11:02.150
to find its feet in a market now


00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:04.949
dominated by Space X. Japan has


00:11:04.959 --> 00:11:07.590
excellent government rockets. The H3 has


00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.590
been going well, but the commercial


00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.590
small satellite launch market is where


00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:13.990
everyone wants to be, and Space 1 is


00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:15.750
fighting hard to get there.


00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:18.069
>> We will absolutely be watching. Still a


00:11:18.079 --> 00:11:19.750
few weeks in the launch window. Fingers


00:11:19.760 --> 00:11:21.750
crossed for Chyros number three.


00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:23.269
>> We'll keep you updated.


00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:25.829
>> And finally, a story I find genuinely


00:11:25.839 --> 00:11:27.590
exciting because it's about solving a


00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.670
problem we've been quietly ignoring for


00:11:29.680 --> 00:11:32.310
decades. Europe is developing orbital


00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.550
repair robots, autonomous spacecraft


00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:36.949
that could refuel, fix, and reposition


00:11:36.959 --> 00:11:38.550
satellites in orbit.


00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:40.870
>> The framing I love here is space tow


00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:42.790
trucks, which is how the project manager


00:11:42.800 --> 00:11:45.430
at Thalus Alenia Space, Stephanie Behar


00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.470
Lefanetka, described it. The idea is a


00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.550
robotic satellite with a mechanical arm


00:11:50.560 --> 00:11:52.550
that can approach a stricken or aging


00:11:52.560 --> 00:11:55.269
satellite, capture it, service it, and


00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:57.110
if necessary, push it to a different


00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.670
orbit. The scale of the problem this


00:11:59.680 --> 00:12:02.630
addresses is significant. There are now


00:12:02.640 --> 00:12:06.230
nearly 15,000 operational satellites in


00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:09.030
orbit. The vast majority were designed


00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:11.990
to be entirely disposable. Once they


00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.470
malfunction or run out of fuel, they


00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.110
either drift into a graveyard orbit or


00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:18.790
contribute to the growing debris


00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:21.269
problem. Repair was never part of the


00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:22.470
business model.


00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.470
>> Dallas Alena Space is planning a


00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:27.350
demonstration mission for 2028. So still


00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.670
a few years away that will prove out the


00:12:29.680 --> 00:12:32.150
capture and servicing technology. One of


00:12:32.160 --> 00:12:34.069
the clever insights in the engineering


00:12:34.079 --> 00:12:36.790
is that around 3/4 of all satellites in


00:12:36.800 --> 00:12:39.430
orbit have robust metal rings that were


00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:41.590
originally designed for launch. Those


00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.069
rings turn out to be ideal grab points


00:12:44.079 --> 00:12:46.470
for a robotic arm. Even though nobody


00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.550
designed them with that in mind,


00:12:48.560 --> 00:12:50.949
>> there are fascinating legal questions,


00:12:50.959 --> 00:12:54.069
too. If a French company's robot repairs


00:12:54.079 --> 00:12:56.949
a South Korean military satellite, who


00:12:56.959 --> 00:12:59.110
bears liability if something goes wrong


00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.030
during the procedure? These are


00:13:01.040 --> 00:13:03.269
genuinely unsolved problems in


00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:05.590
international space law that need to be


00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.470
worked out before this market can scale.


00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.230
And it's not just Europe. There are


00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.030
parallel programs in the US and China.


00:13:13.040 --> 00:13:15.350
But this story shows Europe is serious


00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.590
about staking a claim in what could be a


00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:19.350
very large market. For


00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:21.190
telecommunications companies running


00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:23.670
aging geostationary satellites worth


00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:25.750
hundreds of millions of dollars, the


00:13:25.760 --> 00:13:27.910
economics of repair versus replacement


00:13:27.920 --> 00:13:29.269
are compelling.


00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.710
>> It's also just a nice idea, isn't it?


00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:35.030
Space is full of expensive hardware


00:13:35.040 --> 00:13:37.750
we've abandoned. The idea that we might


00:13:37.760 --> 00:13:40.150
start going back up there to fix things


00:13:40.160 --> 00:13:42.790
rather than just launch new ones feels


00:13:42.800 --> 00:13:44.870
like a more mature relationship with the


00:13:44.880 --> 00:13:46.550
orbital environment.


00:13:46.560 --> 00:13:48.949
>> And that's our six for today. Auroras on


00:13:48.959 --> 00:13:51.910
Ganymede, solar superflare forecasting,


00:13:51.920 --> 00:13:54.629
the Catsai Nebula re-imagined, a


00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:57.430
stunning web galaxy, Japan's ongoing


00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:59.670
rocket struggles, and Europe's plans to


00:13:59.680 --> 00:14:01.670
send robots to fix our orbital


00:14:01.680 --> 00:14:03.990
infrastructure. If you want to see any


00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.310
of the images we talked about today, the


00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.590
cat's eye, NGC5134,


00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:11.750
Ganymede's auroras, they're all linked


00:14:11.760 --> 00:14:13.829
in the show notes and the blog post over


00:14:13.839 --> 00:14:16.310
at astronomyaily.io.


00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.069
>> If you're enjoying the show, the best


00:14:18.079 --> 00:14:19.910
thing you can do is leave us a review on


00:14:19.920 --> 00:14:22.389
Apple Podcast or Spotify and share the


00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.310
episode with a friend who loves space.


00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.710
It genuinely makes a difference. You can


00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.750
also find us at Astro Daily Pod across


00:14:29.760 --> 00:14:32.629
X, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, and


00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:35.030
Facebook. We're back tomorrow with more.


00:14:35.040 --> 00:14:48.069
Until then, keep looking up.


00:14:48.079 --> 00:14:51.800
Stories told.