S02E43: Moonquakes, Black Holes, and Space Ventures: Another Day in Astronomy

1. **Introduction**
- Host: Tim Gibbs
- AI Newsreader Sidekick: Hallie
- Date: Tuesday, 12th of September 2023
2. **Weather Chat**
- Hallie struggles with temperatures over 30 degrees.
- Tim agrees, mentioning the challenges of humidity.
3. **Headlines**
- **Moonquake Discovery**: India's Lunar Lander, part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, detects a possible moonquake, the first since the 1970s. The event was detected on August 26th, three days after landing on the moon's south pole. This discovery could provide insights into the moon's interior.
- **Moon's Geological History**: The Apollo lunar missions between 1969 and 1977 first detected seismic activity on the moon. A 2011 NASA study revealed the moon's core composition.
- **Chandrayaan-3's Challenges**: The mission's robotic explorers face extreme lunar temperatures without traditional heating units. Despite this, they've achieved their science goals, especially in exploring regions believed to contain frozen water.
- **Black Hole Discovery**: Scientists using NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory discover a black hole continuously consuming a star similar to our sun. This event, known as a tidal disruption event, was detected using a new data analysis method from Swift's X-ray telescope.
4. **SpaceX and Virgin Galactic Updates**
- **SpaceX**: Starship remains grounded after an explosion during its first orbital test flight. The FAA mandates 69 corrective actions before future launches can occur.
- **Virgin Galactic**: Successfully sends three paying customers to space, marking its fourth successful mission in recent months. The journey offers a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of Earth's curvature. Notably, one passenger brought ancient human ancestor fossils to space.
5. **Hallie's Terrible Joke of the Week**
- "Why did the physics professor break up with the biology professor? Because there was no chemistry."
6. **Closing Remarks**
- Engage with the podcast on the "Space Nuts" Facebook page.
- Listen to all episodes on spacenuts.io or bitesz.com.
- Catch Tim on Fridays and Steve on Mondays for full shows.
Thank you for tuning in!
#space #astronomy #daily #news #podcast

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