Mars, Moon, and Charon: A Cosmic Exploration of Our Celestial Neighbours

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Stuart Gary: This is space Time Series 29, episode 87

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for broadcast on 22 July

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2026. Coming up on Space

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Ancient Impacts displaying the Red Planet's

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past history, understanding the Moon's

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regolith in preparation for future human

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missions to the lunar surface. And we

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cheque out the strange goings on on Pluto's

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binary partner Sharon out in the Kuiper Belt.

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All that and more coming up, uh, on Space

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Time. Welcome to

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Space Time with Stuart Gary.

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A new study has shown how ancient Martian

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rocks exposed on the rim of Jezero Crater are

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preserving a 3.9 billion year old weather

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report from the solar system's most dynamic

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era. NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover

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has uncovered evidence that a 75 metre

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thick stack of debris around the Jezero

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crater rim, known as the Broom Point member,

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was built up by repeated asteroid impacts.

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The sequence of layered bedrock is likely

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more than 3.9 billion years old, making

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it among the oldest terrain ever examined on

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the Red Planet. The findings, reported in the

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Journal of Geophysical Research Planets,

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offers a new window into one of the most

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tumultuous chapters in the history of the

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solar system. Mars Perseverance Rover project

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scientist ken Farley from NASA's Jet

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Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

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says that since leaving the crater,

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Perseverance has been exploring a chapter of

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Martian time that predates the crater itself.

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Planet Earth's earliest geological history

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has been fundamentally broken up, deformed

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and arrays, partly thanks to plate tectonics.

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But because Mars lacks plate tectonics to

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recycle its crust, this ancient record

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remains intact, giving scientists a rare

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opportunity to glimpse geological time time

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period that doesn't exist on Earth. After

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ascending the western rim of Jezero crater in

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early 2025, Perseverance began

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examining Broome Point. The data has

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revealed six distinct rock types, including

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breccias, I.e. rocks built up from angular

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fragments alternating with layers of fine

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grained pulverised rock dust. The rock

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fragments within the breccias, uh, are pocked

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with glass bubble cavities, indicating they

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were once molten. The presence of tiny

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dark glassy beads within these layers offers

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an important clue about how the rocks were

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form. See, while volcanoes can produce

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similar glassy droplets, they rarely occur in

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such high abundance that points to an

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asteroid impact instead. In fact, the largest

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of these beads rivals those flung up by the

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dinosaur killing Chicxulub asteroid impact on

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Earth 66 million years ago. Because

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these distinct rock types repeat multiple

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times throughout the thick sequence of rock,

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it indicates that high energy impact events

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happened again and again across this region

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of early Mars. The different rock layers

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provide a record of different impact sizes

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and different distances. From the Jezero

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crater rim, several of the layers look like

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they may have been formed by fast ground

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hugging debris flows. On Earth, these

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powerful fluid like surges can occur when

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molten rock hits water or ice that instantly

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flashes into steam. Some of Broom Point's

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layers tilt at angles exceeding 80 degrees

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nearly vertical. And that's far too steep

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because by the impact that created Jezero

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Crater itself. Instead, scientists

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suspect a cosmic one two punch shaped its

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landscape long ago. First, a colossal

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asteroid impact created the 1900 kilometre

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wide Odysseus basin, one of the largest

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impact basins on Mars. Upending and tilting

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the once flat rock layers. Later, a

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second asteroid hit, likely forming the 45

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kilometre wide Jezero crater, uh, where

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Perseverance landed. This second impact

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fractured and uplifted the already tilted

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rocks into the dramatic formations which the

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rovers ceased today. To pin

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down exactly when these events took place,

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Perseverance mission managers collected two

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core samples dubbed Bell island and Main

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River. Uh, if a future sample return mission

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to Mars takes place, those samples could be

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brought back to Earth for dating in order to

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determine when and how often impacts were

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striking early Mars and then by extension how

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those impacts would have affected the early

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Earth, where the early impact record has been

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erased thanks to billions of years of plate

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tectonics and wind and water erosion.

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These are just the latest finding by the KSI

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six wheel Perseverance rover since it arrived

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on the Red planet back in February 2021.

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This report from NASA TV.

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Ken Farley: You know, Mars is the closest place that we

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can reach with robotic exploration that we

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think had a really good chance of having

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ancient life.

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Katie Stack Morgan: Jezero Crater is a very interesting place.

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It's a crater that once held a lake.

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Ken Farley: There are a lot of craters on, um, the

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surface of Mars that could have once hosted

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ancient lakes. But not every crater that we

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think had a LA actually preserves evidence

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that that lake was there.

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Katie Stack Morgan: It had an inflow channel and it had an

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outflow channel. That means it was filled,

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the crater was filled with water.

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Ken Farley: In Jezero, we have probably one of the most

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beautifully preserved delta deposits on

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Mars in that crater.

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Katie Stack Morgan: This is a wonderful place to live for

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microorganisms and it is also a wonderful

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place for those microorganisms to be

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preserved so that we can find them now, so

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many billions of years later.

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Ken Farley: There is no other place on Mars that has the

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unique combination of a LA setting, a

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beautifully preserved delta and the diverse

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mineralogy that we have in Jezero Crater. So

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it's truly a special landing site.

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Katie Stack Morgan: The major goal of the Perseverance mission

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is to investigate

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astrobiology on Mars and in particular to

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address the question of whether life ever

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existed on Mars. The Perseverance

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rover starts with a design that's very

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similar to Curiosity but we've added to it a

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whole new set of science instruments. And

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these science instruments were purposefully

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selected to help us in the search for

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biosignatures. Perseverance carries with

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her a uh, grand experiment in space faring

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technology, a helicopter ingenuity.

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Ken Farley: One of the major upgrades that Perseverance

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has from Curiosity is that it's able to self

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drive for a distance of up to 200

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metres per day as the rover is driving

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it's literally building the map of the road

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it's driving on on Mars.

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Katie Stack Morgan: Scientists for years have told us that to

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really unlock the secrets of Mars

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we have to bring samples from Mars back to

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Earth. Drill samples, put them in

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small tubes, we set them on the surface

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to provide a target for the second two

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missions which hopefully will get in

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development in the next several years and

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could potentially get the samples back to

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Earth by 2031.

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Perseverance is a very, very profound

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first step in both our

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understanding and of our place in

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the universe and a, ah, stepping stone

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towards human exploration on Mars.

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Stuart Gary: And in that report from NASA TV we heard from

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Mars Perseverance rover deputy project

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scientist Katie Stack Morgan from NASA jpl,

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Mars Perseverance rover project scientist Ken

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Farley also from NASA jpl, Mars

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Perseverance rover deputy project manager

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Matt Wallace, another JPL representative

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Mars Perseverance rover chief engineer Adam

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Steltzner, also from jpl and another

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JPL scientist, Mars Perseverance rover

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mobility team member Farrah Alabay.

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This is space time still to come.

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Understanding the Moon's regolith in

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preparation for future human missions to the

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lunar surface. And we cheque out the strange

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goings on on Pluto's binary partner

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Sharon out in the Kuiper Belt. All that

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and more still to come on space time.

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Scientists have mapped out the thickness of

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the Moon's regolith, a layer of loose dust

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and rock that covers the entire lunar

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surface, finding it averages around 6 metres

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in the Highlands and around 4 metres on the

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maria. The data reported in the

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Planetary Science Journal are uh, based on

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the analysis of more than 300 small and

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freshly formed impact craters across the

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lunar surface. Together with data collected

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from lunar missions dating all the way Back

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to the 1970s Apollo era,

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the Study's lead author, Andrea Razik from

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Brown University, says understanding the

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lunar surface is important for future manned

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missions to the Moon. Our moon is under

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constant bombardment from meteorites and

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other impactors, which are the main drivers

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creating the lunar regolith layer. The

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authors looked at 346 relatively fresh

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lunar craters, examining the blanket of

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debris surrounding each crater. Impacts that

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penetrate through the regular fillet or reach

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bedrock eject massive boulders onto the

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surface, which are clearly visible in um,

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satellite images. Once Razek and colleagues

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determined which craters exposed bedrock and

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which did not, they used known relationships

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between crater diameter and depth to estimate

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regular thickness regionally right across the

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lunar surface. And the findings resulted in

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revealing patterns in lunar regular

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thickness. The lunar highlands were found to

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average around 6 metres deep, while the

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lowlands where the maria, uh, are were

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thinner, around four metres. That matches

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previous hypotheses. Scientists have long

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thought that regolith is likely to be thicker

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in more ancient terrains such as the lunar

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highlands, compared to the maria, the large

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volcanic plains visible as the dark patches

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on the lunar near side. Depending on

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the objectives of a given Artemis mission,

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landing where there's more or less regolith

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could be an important factor in mission

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planning. Razak says. In a situation where

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you want to build a lunar base, thinner

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regolith could make it easier to reach more

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competent material for foundations, depending

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on the construction method. On the other

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hand, if you're thinking about resource

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utilisation, there may be a lot of useful

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things trapped in the regolith, like water

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ice and helium 3. This is

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space time. Still to come, a new

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study finds the rotation of Pluto's binary

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partner Charon is slowing down. And later in

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the Science report, a new study has revealed

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that heart disease can be linked to nine

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specific molecules produced by your gut

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biota. Ah, all that and more. Still to come

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on, um, space time.

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A new study has found that the rotation of

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Pluto's binary partner Charon is slowing

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down. The findings reported in the journal

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Nature Communications, are, uh, based on new

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computer simulations of this distant Kuiper

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Belt world beyond Neptune. The study's

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authors say Charon spins around every

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153.3 hours. That's

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much slower than its original spin cycle of

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around 14.3 hours, suggesting a gradual

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slowing down or despinning of its

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rotation. The authors say celestial bodies

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across the solar system are thought to

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undergo some degree of despinning in which

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tidal forces slow their rotational rate,

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altering their shape and temperature.

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Although this same process had long been

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theorised to occur on Charon Clear evidence

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has been lacking, but Charon is a promising

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candidate for such evidence as its 4 billion

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year old surface has experienced relatively

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limited resurfacing compared to other icy

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bodies. The new findings are based on a

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detailed study of variations in the

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orientations and types of tectonic features

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of mountain ranges in the Oz terra region of

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Sharon's northern hemisphere. These features

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extend over more than 200 kilometres and show

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asymmetric slopes consistent with compression

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rather than extension. The study's computer

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simulations suggest a uh, 30 to 36 kilometre

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thick ice shell cloaked Charon when it was

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formed and that the crust near the equator is

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shrunk by about 1% with the compression

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absorbed along existing fault lines and

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creating ridges as the frozen world aged.

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This is spacetime.

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Foreign.

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Look at some of the other storeys making news

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in Science this week with a Science report.

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A new study warns that having heart disease

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could be linked to nine specific molecules

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that are produced by your gut biota. A report

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in the General PLOS Medicine analysed the

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blood of several thousand people and found

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Several gut micrometabolites, I.e.

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compounds created by gastrointestinal biota,

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uh, that were associated with the risk of

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developing coronary heart disease. The

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authors then used that data to validate and

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refine the link, accounting for other factors

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that could be associated to heart disease,

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such as age, family health history and diet.

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They say the nine gut microbiota found in the

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blood could be used to determine whether a

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patient has a higher or lower chance of

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developing heart issues and it could be a

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promising avenue for the development of new

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treatments to help prevent coronary heart

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disease. A new study

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has found that more than a billion people

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around the world now face at least one day of

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extreme heat stress every year compared with

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the 1970s. The findings, reported in

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the journal Nature Climate Change, analysed a

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global data set of human heat stress from

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1950 to 2024 and found that feels

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like temperatures have risen on the warmest

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days and nights since the 1970s, with nights

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warming up faster than days. The authors

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say extreme feels like temperatures are now

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more frequent on every continent and exposure

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to at least 1 of extreme heat stress has

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risen from 16 to 22% of the global

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population. That's around a billion people.

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A new study claims consuming an avocado every

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day lowers the risk of heart disease in

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people with obesity. The findings reported

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in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology are uh,

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based on a six month study. The authors found

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that people with obesity who ate an avocado

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every day reduced their blood levels of low

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density lipoprotein particles, which

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transport low density lipoproteins, the so

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called or bad cholesterol. The authors found

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that regular avocado consumption was

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associated with an approximate 4% reduction

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in heart disease risk. The risk posed by

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low density lipoprotein particles is

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typically higher in people with abdominal

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obesity. Mind you, it's worth pointing out

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that this study was supported by the Avocado

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Nutrition Centre.

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A new study has shown that just like people,

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monkeys appear to dislike artificial

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intelligence avatars that look like them but

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uh, are just a little bit wrong, an effect

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known as the uncanny valley. A report in

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the journal plus Biology claims that at first

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monkeys responded to AI monkey avatars just

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as they would the footage of real monkeys,

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suggesting that they thought the animated

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monkeys were real. However, when they

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progressively tweaked the animation to look

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less and less realistic, they found the

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monkeys paid less attention to those with any

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slight changes compared to either the truly

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realistic ones or, or the more unrealistic

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versions. The authors say this shows that

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monkeys similar to people show an uncanny

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valley where almost realistic stimuli are,

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ah, liked less than ones that are highly

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realistic or very unrealistic.

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Apple have just released the public beta

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version of their new iOS 27 operating system

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ahead of its September launch. With the

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details, we're joined by technology editor

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Alex Zaharov Vroit from TechAdvice Live who's

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been testing the programme.

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Jonathan Nally: Apple has launched the beta, public beta

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versions of its operating system for the

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iPhone, the iPad, the Mac, the watch,

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Apple TV and uh, the big feature is

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Siri AI. The rest of it is more or less a

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cleanup of uh, the previous iOS

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26. They've managed to make it more

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efficient, make apps load faster. Now the

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image generator can generate photorealistic

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images. Before there were sort of three

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cartoony styles and it sort of almost felt

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for a lot of people that iOS 26 was one big

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long beta programme and that iOS 27 is

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the one that fixes the bugs, cleans it up,

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makes things nice and fast. I've been running

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the developer beta on an older iPhone, but as

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of the time that the beta was available for

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the public, I backed up my photos on my

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phone. I already had the rest of it backed up

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to icloud and I downloaded the update. It was

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I think 30 gigabytes or something. It was

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quite large, took a while to download, but

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I've got a pretty fast connection at home and

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you know, I put it on and more or less I've

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forgotten that I have a Beta on there. I've

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noticed the battery going flat a little bit

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faster on my phone and watch. But the big

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thing that you notice straight away is Siri

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AI. Now you need to have an iPhone 15 Pro, 16

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Pro or 17 Pro to be able to use the latest

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features of Siri AI. If you have an older

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00:17:02.530 --> 00:17:04.410
iPhone, it would just appear to be like last

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00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:06.410
year's version of Siri. You should still get

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access to the Siri model that gives you

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world information and better results. But

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00:17:11.330 --> 00:17:13.210
with the newest iPhones you can actually also

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now have a much more natural human sounding

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voice and you can customise its pitch and its

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tone and expressiveness. But again that's

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00:17:19.530 --> 00:17:21.410
only on the large devices. But you can now

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00:17:21.410 --> 00:17:23.850
have a Siri AI app which is like the ChatGPT

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app or the Claude app. Ask all sorts of

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questions, they have a record of what it is

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00:17:27.170 --> 00:17:28.890
you've spoken about and be able to go

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00:17:28.890 --> 00:17:30.670
backwards and forwards and get intelligent

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00:17:30.670 --> 00:17:33.070
answers from Siri AI, just like you would

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expect to get from Gemini, ChatGPT or

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Claude. And the ability for the phone to

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00:17:38.350 --> 00:17:40.110
actually understand what you're asking it to

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do and then to be able to get the phone to do

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things, whether it's set appointments or look

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for information from SMS messages or emails

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or documents that you've saved about what the

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password is for a place you're staying at, or

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what the code is for a lock that you've got,

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or you know, who it is that you met a few

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00:17:54.830 --> 00:17:57.110
weeks ago at a certain cafe. That information

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00:17:57.430 --> 00:17:59.910
is now going to be much more easily able to

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be surfaced because Apple has improve the

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00:18:02.490 --> 00:18:04.450
search and indexing on your phone. And in

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00:18:04.450 --> 00:18:05.930
fact one of the complaints when you put the

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00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:08.090
new beta version on is that it takes, it can

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00:18:08.090 --> 00:18:09.930
take a while, uh, a day or two for it to

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00:18:09.930 --> 00:18:11.690
fully index all the information on your

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00:18:11.690 --> 00:18:13.170
phone. But the whole idea is that that

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00:18:13.170 --> 00:18:15.930
information is not shared to the Internet and

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00:18:15.930 --> 00:18:18.130
to other people. No one's using your

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00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:20.210
information to train the model so you get

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00:18:20.210 --> 00:18:22.090
Apple's privacy, but you also get a much more

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00:18:22.090 --> 00:18:24.010
satisfying experience of being able to find

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00:18:24.010 --> 00:18:26.050
things whether you're doing a quick search or

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00:18:26.130 --> 00:18:27.970
doing a more deeper search. And so look, the

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00:18:27.970 --> 00:18:29.730
first bidder is out. I haven't really noticed

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00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:31.650
any show stopping bugs of any sort. I've

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00:18:31.650 --> 00:18:33.090
forgotten that if it's there, but it just

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00:18:33.090 --> 00:18:35.230
feel snappier and faster and Siri is actually

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00:18:35.230 --> 00:18:36.190
now worth a day.

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00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:38.470
Stuart Gary: That's Alex Zaharov Vroid from Tech Advice

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00:18:38.470 --> 00:18:41.470
Start Life and this is space time.

445
00:18:56.910 --> 00:18:59.840
And that's the show for now. Space Time

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00:18:59.840 --> 00:19:01.880
is available every Monday, Wednesday and

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