The Astronomy, Technology and Space Science News Podcast. SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 124 *A new look at the early life of Jupiter and Saturn A new study has narrowed down the likely original orbits of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. *Why is the Moon rusting? Scientists think they may have solved one of the Moon’s little mysteries – how an airless bone-dry world can rust? *Studying climate and weather from space Scientists are seeing an increasing level of global warming on E...
Nov 20, 2020•37 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 123 *Virgin plans its first New Mexico space launch this month Virgin Galactic plans to undertake its first manned space flight from its new New Mexico spaceport within the next few weeks. *Rocket lab launches its fifth flight this year There’s still no launch date for Rocket labs first Electron flight from its new Wallops Island Launch complex on the Virginian Mid-Atlantic coast. *A second cable fails at the Arecibo Observatory Engineers are working ...
Nov 18, 2020•25 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 122 *More evidence linking Magnetars to mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Astronomers have identified a sudden and violent outburst from a type of neutron star called a magnetar, as the likely source for those mysterious events known as Fast Radio Bursts. *New data release helps explain the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy Astronomers have just released GALAH DR3 – the largest set of stellar chemical data ever compiled. The study was undertaken at the Sid...
Nov 16, 2020•39 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 121 *Ancient galactic mystery deepens A new study of distant galaxies in the very early universe has found that they were already far more massive and mature than previously thought. *Pristine extraterrestrial organic compounds discovered in fireball meteorite Scientists have discovered pristine extraterrestrial organic compounds in samples recovered from a fireball meteorite. *How NASA will phone home from the Moon NASA has selected Nokia Bell Labs t...
Nov 13, 2020•25 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 120 *A Mars-sized Rogue planet discovered Astronomers have detected a Mars-sized rogue planet travelling through interstellar space. *Celebrating twenty years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station The International Space Station has just celebrated twenty years of continuous human presence in space. *Russia’s new spy satellite cloaking technology The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos has patented a cloaking spacecraft to...
Nov 11, 2020•38 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 119 *NASA back in touch with Voyager 2 in interstellar space NASA has re-established command control of the Voyager 2 spacecraft. The Agency’s 70 metre Canberra Deep Space Network radio dish – the only antenna capable of contacting the 43-year-old spacecraft -- successfully sent a series of commands to the probe. *The mystery of the Centaurs Astronomers have discovered a rare active centaur in the dark expanse of the outer solar system. *The meaning o...
Nov 09, 2020•34 min
SpaceTime 20201106 Series 23 Episode 118 *When we look at the stars is there anyone looking back? Three decades after Cornell astronomer Carl Sagan suggested that Voyager 1 snap a picture of the Earth from billions of kilometres away -- resulting in the iconic Pale Blue Dot photograph -- two astronomers now offer another unique cosmic perspective. *Another delay for Russian Space Station module The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos says it now plans to launch its Nauka science module to the...
Nov 06, 2020•30 min
SpaceTime 20201104 Series 23 Episode 117 *OSIRIS-Rex sample return capsule overflowing with regolith Two days after touching down on asteroid Bennu, NASA OSIRIS-REx mission managers confirmed that the spacecraft collected more than enough material to meet one of its main mission objectives -- acquiring at least 60 grams of the asteroid’s surface material. *The best place in the universe to live isn’t Earth A new study claims Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe. Astronomers h...
Nov 04, 2020•34 min
The Astronomy, Technology and Space Science News Podcast. SpaceTime 20201102 Series 23 Episode 116 *Lunar water is more abundant than previously thought Astronomers have found that water may be far more abundant on the Moon than previously thought. *The Milky Way’s clumpy galactic halo A new study has concluded that our Milky Way Galaxy is surrounded by a lumpy halo of hot gases continuously being fed by material ejected by the birth and death of stars. *Expedition 63 crew return safely to Earth...
Nov 02, 2020•40 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 115 *BepiColombo undertakes its first Venus flyby The BepiColombo mission has completed the first of two Venus flybys needed to set it on course with the Solar System’s innermost planet, Mercury. *Problems worsen aboard the International Space Station Russian mission managers say the International Space Station is working normally with no threat to the safety of the crew despite a string of problems and equipment failures. *China carries out its first...
Oct 30, 2020•26 min
SpaceTime with Stuart GarySeries 23 Episode 114 *OSIRIS-REx successfully touches down on asteroid Bennu NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has successfully touched down on the surface of the boulder-strewn asteroid Bennu – collecting samples of the space rocks regolith before returning to orbit. *Pluto’s snow-capped mountains In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft discovered spectacular snow-capped mountains on Pluto, which are strikingly similar to mountains on Earth. *Another space junk near miss A...
Oct 28, 2020•30 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 113 *Betelgeuse closer and smaller than thought A new study has found the red supergiant star Betelgeuse is closer and smaller than previously thought. *Thunderbolts and lightning very very frightening Two extreme bolts of lightning have smashed previous records for duration and distance. *Dream chaser getting closer to its maiden flight Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser spaceplane has completed its wind tunnel testing as it moves closer to its planned first...
Oct 26, 2020•31 min
*Nearby supernova exploded just two and a half million years ago Scientists have found telltale chemical signatures of a massive star between 11 and 20 times the mass of our Sun going supernova just two and a half million years ago in our stellar neighbourhood. *A successful 13th test flight for New Shepard Blue Origin has successfully completed its13th and latest test flight of its New Shepard spacecraft which will eventually carry tourists to the edge of space. *New top-secret satellite ground...
Oct 23, 2020•27 min
*The Neutron Star collision that’s still producing X-rays three years later Astronomers are still detecting X-rays being emitted from where two neutron stars collided three years ago. *Record-setting flight to the space station The expedition 64 crew has safely arrived aboard the International Space Station following a record-breaking two-orbit fast rendezvous flight aboard their Russian Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft. *Crew fail to fix air leak on the space station The crew aboard the International Spa...
Oct 21, 2020•24 min
*One of life’s building blocks produced faster than thought A new study has found that stars produce carbon – one of the key building blocks of life as we know it -- 34 per cent faster than previously thought. *OSIRIS Rex about to touch down on asteroid Bennu The final countdown is now underway in preparation for NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft to touch down onto the surface of the asteroid Bennu to collect samples for eventual return to Earth. *North Korea’s monstrous new missile The world got a w...
Oct 19, 2020•41 min
*Venus might have been a habitable world if not for Jupiter A new study claims Venus might not be the sweltering, waterless hellscape it is today if Jupiter hadn't altered its orbit around the Sun. *A new view of the northern sky NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite – TESS – has provided astronomers with a new view of the northern skies revealing a panorama of both familiar stars and newly discovered worlds. *Is Earth about to get another moon Every now and then a passing near Earth aste...
Oct 16, 2020•27 min
*NASA’s Dragonfly drone mission to Titan A new study has found relatively fresh exposed water ice in impact craters on the surface of the Saturnian moon Titan. The findings could prove beneficial in plans for the proposed Dragon fly mission to send a drone aircraft to Titan. *Mars Close Approach The red planet Mars is putting on its best show in years right now. *New comic commode rockets into orbit – the dynamic space dunny To go where no man has ever gone before might no longer be accurate – b...
Oct 14, 2020•39 min
*More liquid water lakes found on Mars Researchers have found evidence of a patchwork of salty liquid water lakes below the surface of the red planet Mars. *Einstein’s description of gravity just got harder to beat They say you don’t bet against Einstein – and that’s been proven yet again in a new study of supermassive black holes. *COVID-19 delays NASA’s Northern Territory launch program Equatorial Launch Australia says it will be the middle of next year before NASA begins launching rockets fro...
Oct 12, 2020•34 min
*Discovery of an unknown stellar population at the galactic centre Astronomers have found an unknown population of stars near the very heart of the Milky Way galaxy. *Sweden to stop helping China’s space program Stockholm has announced that Sweden will cease providing satellite ground station services to China or accept new Chinese space business because of changes in what it euphemistically calls the global political landscape. *New Spanish Earth Observation satellite After leaving the Airbus p...
Oct 09, 2020•29 min
*A missing ingredient in dark matter theories Astronomers have discovered that there may be a missing ingredient in our cosmic recipe of how dark matter behaves. *First detection of a planet larger than the star it’s orbiting For the first time ever, astronomers have discovered a giant exoplanet orbiting a small white dwarf star. *New Chinese surveillance satellite China has launched a new ocean-monitoring satellite. *The Science Report Scientists have identified a new gene linked to obesity. St...
Oct 07, 2020•28 min
*Answering the question: is anyone out there? Forget what you’ve seen on Star Trek, it looks like our part of the Alpha Quadrant is quite devoid of advanced alien life. *Second alignment plane of solar system discovered Astronomers have found a second alignment plane in the solar system. The findings have important implications for models of how comets originally formed in the solar system. *School bus-sized asteroid sweeps past Earth An asteroid the size of a bus has zoomed past the Earth flyin...
Oct 05, 2020•28 min
*Asteroid Bennu proves life is full of Vesta situations A new study suggests material from the main belt asteroid Vesta has been discovered on the surface of the near Earth asteroid Bennu. *NASA signs agreement with US Space Force NASA has signed a new memorandum of understanding with the new United States Space Force. *Nebra Sky Disk iron not bronze age A new study claims the Nebra Sky Disk – an ancient cosmological sky map – thought to be the world's oldest depiction of the cosmos -- is actual...
Oct 02, 2020•38 min
*New study claims the Sun may have had a binary partner A new study suggests the Sun may once have been part of a binary star system with a companion of similar mass. *A new more puzzling view of the universe New data from the Slone Digital Sky Survey suggests the current rate of expansion of the universe – known as the Hubble Constant -- is about 10 percent lower than the expansion rate measured from distances to very nearby galaxies. *Astra Rocket Launch failure Space is hard as Astra aerospac...
Sep 30, 2020•21 min
*A new type of supernovae A new study suggests that an unusual fast-spinning highly magnetic type of exploding star in the early universe may be responsible for creating some of the heaviest naturally occurring elements on the periodic table. *New data shows Saturnian ice moon Enceladus resurfacing its frozen crust New data suggests the northern hemisphere of Saturn’s ice moon Enceladus has recently been resurfaced with material from the frozen world’s interior. *China’s toxic space program The ...
Sep 28, 2020•34 min
*Solar cycle 25 formally underway Scientists have determined that our local star has now formally moved into a new solar cycle which is expected to peak with a new Solar Maximum in 2025. *Asteroid Bennu ejecting particles into space When NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu, mission scientists knew that their spacecraft was orbiting something strange. *Sentinel 6A getting ready for launch Records show that, on average, global sea levels have risen by 3.2 millimetres per year be...
Sep 25, 2020•34 min
*First flights from Southern Launch’s new Australian rocket range a big success Southern Launch has undertaken its first flights from its new rocket test range in western South Australia. *263 new Near-Earth objects detected over the past month The latest data from the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Objects co-ordination centre indicates there are now at least 23 thousand 423 asteroids and 111 comets on orbits which bring them close to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. *Another successful test f...
Sep 23, 2020•25 min
SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 98 - Special Edition *A signature for life discovered in the clouds of Venus A special edition looking at the discovery of a potential signature for life in the form of phosphine in the clouds enshrouding the planet Venus. *What does the detection of phosphine really mean? *And how excited should we really get *I speak with astronomers and astrobiologists to look at all those questions and more on this special episode of SpaceTime. Sponsor Details: Th...
Sep 21, 2020•34 min
*The possibility of life below the surface of Mars A new study suggests there’s enough evidence of liquid water below the Martian surface to make it the prime target in the search for life on the red planet. *Rocket Lab formally licenced to launch from Wallops Island The US Federal Aviation Administration has formally licenced Rocket Lab to begin flying its Electron rocket from its new launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility on the Virginian Mid Atlantic coast. *The mysteries of Auro...
Sep 18, 2020•35 min
Hubble maps a giant halo around Andromeda Astronomers have mapped an immense halo of gas surrounding our nearest large galactic neighbour -- the Andromeda galaxy M-31. *Rogue planets could outnumber the stars An upcoming NASA mission could find that there are more rogue planets - planets that float in space without orbiting a star - than what there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy. *Vega’s return to flight The European Space Agency’s Vega rocket has returned to flight status with a successful l...
Sep 16, 2020•30 min
*Biggest black hole collision ever detected Scientists have observed the most massive black hole collision ever seen. The event appears to have originated from a point some seven billion light-years away – at a time when the universe was just half its present age – and making it one of the most distant gravitational wave sources ever detected. *A new estimate for the age of Earth’s core A new study suggests the Earth’s solid inner core is between one and 1.3 billion years old. *China launches to...
Sep 14, 2020•35 min
