S03E111: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Returns & Perseverance’s Organic Find

Space News Today

Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your Daily dose of all things space and beyond. I'm your host, Anna, and today we've got some exciting updates lined up for you from SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket getting the green light to return to space to NASA astronauts stuck at the International Space Station longer than expected, there's a lot to cover. We'll also delve into an intriguing discovery made by NASA's Perseverance rover and an unprecedented finding by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. So grab your telescopes and let's get started.

- SpaceX's Falcon 9 Cleared for Return: SpaceX's Falcon 9, the world's most used rocket, has been officially cleared to return to space following a rare and surprising mid-flight failure earlier this month. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given its approval after ensuring that there were no public safety issues stemming from the anomaly that occurred during the failed launch on July 11. SpaceX has identified the cause of the failure, a liquid oxygen leak that led to excessive cooling and subsequently damaged hardware. This return to flight operations couldn't come at a better time, as SpaceX is set to launch its Crew Dragon astronaut capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket for NASA's next mission to the International Space Station as early as August.

- - Extended Stay for NASA Astronauts: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams find themselves in an extended stay at the International Space Station thanks to some technical hiccups with Boeing's Starliner capsule. Originally scheduled to return in mid-June, the astronauts have been delayed while engineers work through a series of issues, including thruster failures and helium leaks. Despite earlier setbacks and a history of issues, including a failed uncrewed test in 2019 and more problems in 2022, NASA and Boeing are pressing forward in their collaborative effort to ensure safe and reliable missions.

- - Perseverance Rover's Organic Molecule Discovery: NASA's Perseverance rover has made an exciting new discovery on Mars—organic molecules in a rock. This isn't definitive proof of life on Mars, but it's certainly the most compelling evidence found so far. Perseverance drilled into a reddish rock named Cheava Falls, the first piece of Mars it has examined that contains these organic molecules. The presence of iron phosphate molecules in the rims could hint at biological activity, although non-biological processes could also be at play. The best way to confirm the origin of these organic molecules would be to bring the sample back to Earth for more detailed analysis.

- - Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's Groundbreaking Discovery: NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has made a groundbreaking discovery in the cosmos. Last October, a gamma-ray burst now famously dubbed the "BOAT" (Brightest of All Time) astounded astronomers with its unprecedented brightness. A few minutes after the BOAT's initial eruption, Fermi detected an unusual energy peak, marking the first high-confidence emission line ever observed in the 50-year history of studying gamma-ray bursts. This feature suggests unique interactions went on, potentially revealing the chemical elements involved or even specific particle processes like matter and antimatter annihilation.

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