Mars Mishaps, Earthly Tails, and the Hungry Hippo Rocket Fairing

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Hello and welcome to today's edition of


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Astronomy Daily, the podcast that brings


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you the universe one story at a time.


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I'm Avery


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>> and I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.


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Today we're covering some of the most


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exciting and slightly worrying news from


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the world of space exploration.


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>> Absolutely. We're going to be talking


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about a communications breakdown at


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Mars, a 2 million km tail trailing our


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own planet, and a brand new mission


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control center for future rovers.


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>> Plus, we'll dive into what the James Web


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telescope might have found on an


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exoplanet, a new dual mode drone from


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China, and a rocket fairing nicknamed


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the Hungry Hippo.


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>> It's a busy lineup, so let's get right


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into it. Anna, why don't you start us


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off with the news from the red planet?


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>> Of course. Our first story is a bit


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tense. NASA has temporarily, well, we


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hope it's temporary, lost contact with


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its Maven Orbiter. Maven, which stands


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for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile


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Evolution, has been a workhorse at Mars


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since 2014.


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>> Right. And it's not just studying the


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atmosphere. It's a critical


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communications relay for the rovers on


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the surface like Curiosity and


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Perseverance. Losing contact is a big


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deal.


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>> Exactly. The spacecraft went silent


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after passing behind Mars from our point


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of view, which is a standard procedure.


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But when it should have reemerged and


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checked in, there was nothing. The team


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at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is now


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working through procedures to try and


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reestablish a signal.


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>> Mhm. So, what does this mean for the


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rovers? Are they on their own for now?


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>> Well, thankfully NASA has redundancy.


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The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the


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European Space Ay's Trace Gas Orbiter


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can also act as relays, so the rovers


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aren't completely cut off. But losing


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Maven reduces their data downlink


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capacity significantly.


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>> That makes sense. Spacecraft issues like


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this happen, and usually the engineers


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find a way. We're certainly hoping they


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get Maven back online soon.


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>> Fingers crossed. Now for our next story,


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let's come a little closer to home.


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Avery, this one sounds like something


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out of science fiction.


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>> It really does. A new NASA study has


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confirmed that Earth has a tail. Not a


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physical one, of course, but a magnetic


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one. A magneto tail to be precise. That


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stretches an incredible 2 million km


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into space.


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>> 2 million km. That's more than five


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times the distance to the moon. How is


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that even formed? It's created by the


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interaction between Earth's magnetic


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field and the solar wind, which is a


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constant stream of charged particles


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flowing from the sun. As the solar wind


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blows past Earth, it stretches our


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magnetic field out on the night side,


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just like a wind sock.


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>> Right. And this tail isn't empty, is it?


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It's filled with plasma.


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>> Exactly. It's a plasma kale. and


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understanding its structure and dynamics


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is crucial for predicting space weather,


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which can affect our satellites and


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power grids. It's a stunning reminder of


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the complex invisible structures that


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dominate our corner of the cosmos.


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That's fascinating. From invisible tales


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to very visible new buildings, our next


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story takes us to NASA's Jet Propulsion


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Laboratory. They've just opened a new


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rover operation center, or ROC.


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>> Yeah, this is exciting. This isn't just


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a shiny new room with more computers.


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The ROC is designed to be the heart of


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future robotic missions to the moon and


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Mars. It's built to handle multiple


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missions simultaneously.


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>> And it incorporates some cutting edge


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technology, including advanced AI to


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help rover drivers plan their routes and


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analyze data more efficiently. They're


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also emphasizing partnerships with


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commercial space companies. That


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partnership piece is key. With programs


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like Artemis aiming to return humans to


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the moon and more ambitious Mars


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missions on the horizon, NASA needs a


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central hub that can coordinate between


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its own assets and those of its


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commercial partners. The ROC is that


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hub. It's basically mission control for


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the next generation of explorers.


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Speaking of next generation explorers,


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our next story comes from the James Webb


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Space Telescope, which is continuing to


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rewrite our understanding of distant


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worlds.


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>> I love a good JWST story. What has it


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spotted now?


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>> It's been looking at the Trappist 1


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system, which you'll remember as a


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system of seven rocky Earth-sized


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planets orbiting a small star. JWST


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focused on Trappist 1E, a planet in the


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habitable zone, and the data hints at


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the possibility of a methane rich


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atmosphere.


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>> Wow. Methane. On Earth, that's often


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associated with life, but the key word


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here is hints, right?


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>> Precisely. The data is still ambiguous.


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Scientists are quick to point out that


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methane can also be produced by


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geological processes, not just


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biological ones. The signal is also


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faint and could be an instrument


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artifact or something else entirely.


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>> So, it's not time to announce aliens


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just yet.


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>> Not just yet, but it is an incredibly


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tantalizing result. It shows that JWST


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is capable of detecting potential bio


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signatures on rocky exoplanets, which is


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exactly what it was designed to do. More


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observations are already planned to get


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a clearer picture.


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>> It's amazing to watch science unfold in


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real time. And while JWST looks out,


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other nations are looking at new ways to


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explore up close. Our fifth story is


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about a new type of Mars drone being


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developed in China.


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>> Mhm. We all remember the success of


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NASA's Ingenuity helicopter. This new


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concept takes that a step further.


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Chinese scientists are designing a drone


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that can both fly and roll on the


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Martian surface.


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>> Fly and roll. So, it's a transformer


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>> in a way. Yes. The idea is to conserve


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energy. Flying in Mars' thin atmosphere


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takes a lot of power. So, the drone


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would roll on its wheels for long


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distance travel across flat terrain and


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only use its rotors to fly over


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obstacles or explore hard-to-reach areas


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like canyons or cliffs.


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>> That's a very clever solution. It


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combines the endurance of a rover with


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the agility of a helicopter.


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>> It is. And the design could even allow


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it to enter and explore Martian lava


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tubes or caves, something no previous


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mission has been able to do. It's a


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concept that could dramatically expand


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our exploration capabilities on other


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worlds.


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>> That is a fascinating concept. It really


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shows how we're getting smarter about


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exploring other planets.


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>> It's certainly an exciting time in space


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innovation.


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>> All right, for our final story, let's


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talk about getting to space in the first


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place. This one involves Rocket Lab and


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a piece of hardware with a fantastic


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name, the hungry hippo fairing.


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>> I was waiting for this one. This is


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about their upcoming neutron rocket,


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which is designed to be fully reusable.


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The fairing is the nose cone that


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protects the satellite during launch.


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Typically, fairings are just jettisoned


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and fall into the ocean,


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>> right? Which is wasteful. SpaceX


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recovers theirs with nets on ships, but


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Rocket Lab has a totally different


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approach. The neutron's fairing isn't


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jettisoned at all. It's integrated into


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the first stage of the rocket.


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>> So, how does the satellite get out?


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>> This is the brilliant part. The fairing


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pedals open up like a giant clamshell or


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a hungry hungry hippo to release the


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payload. Then they close again before


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the entire first stage returns to Earth


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for a landing. Rocket Lab just completed


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successful tests of this mechanism.


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>> That's an elegant piece of engineering.


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It eliminates the entire process of


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fairing recovery at sea. It just comes


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back with the booster.


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>> It's a huge step towards rapid


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reusability, which is the key to


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lowering the cost of access to space. A


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very cool innovation to watch.


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>> And that's all the time we have for


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today's news roundup. From a silent


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orbiter at Mars to a hippo-like rocket


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here on Earth, it's been another busy


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time in space.


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>> It certainly has. Thank you all so much


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for tuning in to Astronomy Daily. You


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can find us wherever you get your


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podcasts, and we'd love it if you'd


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leave us a review. Join us next time as


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we take a dive into more mysteries from


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deep space.


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>> Until then, keep looking up. Astronomy


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day.


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Stories be told.


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Stories to tell.