SpaceTime with Stuart Gary

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...

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 Astronomer...

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 Th...

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 is...

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...

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...

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 mou...

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 D...

*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 sp...

*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-...

*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...

*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...

*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 orb...

*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 Equatori...

*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...

*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-m...

*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. *Schoo...

*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...

*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...

*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 recent...

*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 f...

*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...

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 astrobiologi...

*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...

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...