Starship Catastrophe: The Latest Test Flight Explosion and Its Implications

[00:00:00] This is Space Time Series 28 Episode 75, full broadcast on the 23rd of June 2025. Coming up on Space Time, another starship explodes in a massive fireball during a test, a cosmic anomaly hinting at a possible frightening future for Earth and the Milky Way, and a new understanding of neutron stars. All that and more coming up on Space Time. Welcome to Space Time with Stuart Gary.

[00:00:45] SpaceX have suffered another major blow, with its planned 10th Starship test flight exploding on the test stand. The massive late evening blast at Starbase's Massey Test Stand in Boca Chica on the Texas Gulf Coast occurred just nine minutes ahead of a static fire test of the upper stage Starship 36. A huge explosion and subsequent fireball was so large it was seen from space by the GOES-19 or GOES-East

[00:01:12] on both its near-infrared and shortwave-infrared instruments. No one was injured in the explosion thanks to a clear safety cordon around the test pad prior to fuel loading. SpaceX says a full investigation into the failure is now underway. But early indications suggest a cloud of cryogenic methane appearing to leak out of the Starship forward fuel tank just moments before the ignition. And it looks like that may have generated a shockwave pulse which then slammed into the top of the lower

[00:01:41] tank causing the two chemicals liquid oxygen and liquid methane to mix and ignite in what was a spectacular fireball with quite clearly disastrous results. Static firings are standard pre-launch tests, during which a rocket's engines are briefly ignited while the vehicle remains anchored to the pad. SpaceX had already conducted a static fire test with one of the six Raptor engines on Starship 36.

[00:02:06] And this was to test all six engines at once. And previously, SpaceX successfully static fire tested Flight 10's Super Heavy booster, successfully igniting all 33 of its Raptor engines. Of course, this latest explosion follows a string of failures involving the Starship upper stage with the spacecraft experiencing so-called rapid unscheduled disassemblies on its last three test flights. On Test Flight 7 back in January and Test Flight 8 in March, failures occurred less than 10 minutes

[00:02:36] after launch. While its most recent test flight, number 9 last month, saw the vehicle achieve suborbital trajectory but failing to achieve attitude control in flight, tumbling widely out of control, dooming it to break apart during re-entry. Of course, space is hard. And getting Starship, the world's biggest and most powerful rocket to work, is proving extremely difficult. But the long-term goals for this vehicle are incredibly ambitious.

[00:03:02] You see, the 123-meter-tall spacecraft is designed to operate as the world's first interplanetary colonial transport vehicle, capable of carrying up to 100 people or 150 tons of payload on missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. It'll also play a key role in NASA's Artemis program to return humans to the Moon and eventually take them onto Mars. A modified version of Starship will rendezvous and dock with the Orion spacecraft in lunar orbit during the Artemis III mission and then transport crew down to the

[00:03:32] lunar surface. And once the Lunar Gateway space station is operational, acting as a jumping-off point between the Earth and the Moon, Starship will provide regular shuttle services transporting both humans and cargo between Gateway and the lunar surface. As I said, it's an ambitious program, but one which will undoubtedly ultimately provide amazing rewards. This is Space Time. Still to come, the cosmic

[00:03:57] anomaly hinting at a frightening future for both Earth and the Milky Way galaxy, and a new understanding of mysterious objects known as neutron stars. All that and more still to come on Space Time.

[00:04:24] A terrifying glimpse at one potential fate for Earth and our Milky Way galaxy has come to light, thanks to the discovery of a cosmic anomaly which is challenging science's understanding of the universe. A report in the monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society indicates that a massive spiral galaxy almost a billion light-years away harbors a supermassive black hole billions of times the mass of the Sun which is powering colossal radio jets stretching more than six million light-years

[00:04:51] across. Now to put that in perspective, the distance from our Milky Way galaxy to our nearest big companion galaxy Andromeda M31 is about two million light-years. So that makes these massive jets the largest ever seen from any spiral galaxy. And that upends conventional wisdom on galaxy evolution because such powerful jets are almost exclusively only found in elliptical galaxies, not spirals. What it means is that our own Milky Way galaxy's supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A-star,

[00:05:21] could potentially one day also create similar monstrous jets, generating powerful cosmic gamma and x-rays which would wreak havoc across our galaxy, firing our solar system with deadly radiation and causing mass extinction here on Earth. The study's lead author, Joda Baggi from Christ University, says this discovery is much more than just an oddity because it forces scientists to rethink how galaxies evolve and how

[00:05:46] supermassive black holes grow in them and shape their environments. If a spiral galaxy can not only survive but thrive under these extreme conditions, what does that mean for the future of galaxies like our own Milky Way? Could our galaxy wonder experience similar high-energy phenomena and what would be the consequences of such an event for the survival of life? Baggi and colleagues made the discovery while

[00:06:08] studying the structure and evolution of a spiral galaxy known as 2MAS-X J23453268-0449256. It's about three times the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. Using observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Giant Meter Wave Radio Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array Radio Telescope and multi-wavelength analyses, the authors detected an enormous supermassive black hole at the galaxy's heart,

[00:06:37] with radio jets that are simply the largest known in any spiral galaxy, making this an incredibly rare phenomenon. Traditionally, scientists have long believed that the violent activity of such colossal jets shooting out from supermassive black holes would disrupt the delicate structure of spiral galaxies. Yet against all the odds, it appears this galaxy has retained its tranquil nature, with well-defined spiral alarms, a luminous central bar and an undisturbed stellar ring, all while hosting what is one of the most

[00:07:07] extreme black holes ever observed in such a setting. And adding to the enigma, the galaxy is surrounded by a vast halo of hot X-ray emitting gas, providing further key insights into its history. While this halo is slowly cooling over time, the black hole's jets are acting like a cosmic furnace, preventing new star formation, despite the presence of abundant star-forming material. Our own Milky Way galaxy's

[00:07:31] supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A star, has some 4.3 million times the mass of the Sun, but it's currently in an extremely quiet and dormant state. However, the study's authors are warning that that could change if a gas cloud, a star or even a dwarf galaxy were to be accreted onto the black hole, potentially triggering significant jet activity. See, these jets are created as the material falls onto the accretion disk of a black hole. The material is ripped and torn apart at the subatomic level,

[00:08:00] releasing huge amounts of energy in the process. While most of the material eventually passes the event horizon, the point of no return to the edge of a black hole, and eventually falls forever into the black hole's singularity, some of this material and energy gets channeled along magnetic field lines perpendicular to the black hole's event horizon and shoots out into space as powerful superluminal jets. At their most powerful, these jets, known as quasars, can be seen as beacons across the other

[00:08:27] side of the universe. And they're not that rare. Astronomers have often seen stars being ripped apart as they fall into black holes. These are known as total disruption events, and have been observed in lots of other galaxies, but not in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, at least not yet. Now, if such jets were to one day emerge from Sagittarius A star, their impact would depend on their strength, direction, and the amount of energy they output. One pointed near our solar system would strip away planetary

[00:08:55] atmospheres. It would damage DNA and increase mutation rates because of radiation exposure. Worse still, if Earth were directly exposed to a nearby jet, it would degrade our ozone layer and lead to mass extinction. A third possibility is that a powerful jet could alter the interstellar medium, affecting star formation, which is what happened in the galaxy the study is focusing on. Astronomers believe that the Milky Way likely had such large radio jets in the past,

[00:09:22] and it could potentially generate them again in the future. As a sidelight, the authors of this study also discovered that this distant galaxy contains 10 times more dark matter than our Milky Way, and that would be crucial for the stability of its fast-spinning disk. By revealing an unprecedented balance between dark matter, black hole activity, and galactic structure, the authors are opening up what really is a new frontier in astrophysics and cosmology.

[00:09:48] Understanding these rare galaxies could provide vital clues about the unseen forces governing our universe, including the nature of dark matter, dark energy, the long-term fate of galaxies, and maybe even the origins of life itself. This is space-time. Still to come, a new study has for the first time determined how massive neutron stars are when they're first formed. And later in the science report, a new study shows that people who use cannabis have doubled the risk of dying from

[00:10:18] cardiovascular disease. All that and more still to come on space-time. A new study has for the first time determined exactly how massive neutron stars are when they're first formed. Neutron stars

[00:10:46] are the dense core remnants of big stars more than eight times the mass of our sun. But scientists know very little about neutron stars, such as their internal structure or their composition. The one thing they do understand is how neutron stars are usually created. They're born at the end of a star's life, in a brilliant core-collapse supernova explosion. They're created as the down force of gravity and the outward force of energy, which normally keep a star in equilibrium during its life on the main

[00:11:15] sequence, ceases and gravity wins. And that causes the entire mass of the star to come crashing down onto its core, resulting in incredible temperatures and pressures. While most of the star then explodes as a supernova bright enough to outshine an entire galaxy, the crushed core collapses down to form one of the densest objects in the universe other than a black hole. In fact, just a teaspoon of neutron star

[00:11:40] material would weigh billions of tons. Now we know that these incredibly dense objects have masses between one and two times that of our sun, all compressed into a ball no bigger than a city, a radius of just 10 kilometers or so. Astronomers can usually only determine the mass of a neutron star when it's in a binary system with another object, such as another star. However, in these systems, the first-born neutron star typically gains extra mass from its companion through a process called

[00:12:06] accretion, dragging material off its binary partner, therefore making it difficult to determine what was the original neutron star birth mass. But now, astronomers have developed a workaround using Bilby, a software package which OzGrab scientists have developed to model neutron star mass distributions. The findings, reported in the journal Nature Astronomy, analyzed a sample of 90 neutron stars in binary systems with accurate mass measurements to determine the distribution of neutron star masses

[00:12:33] at the time of their formation by accounting for the mass gained since the birth of each neutron star in a probabilistic manner. The authors found that neutron stars are typically born with a mass of around 1.3 times that of our sun, and the heavier the neutron star, the more rarely they're formed. The findings equate reasonably well with the Chandrasekhar limit. That shows that stellar cores greater than 1.44 times the mass of our sun during the core collapse supernova event will have enough mass

[00:13:02] temperature and pressure to surpass what's known as the electron degeneracy limit. That prevents two fermions such as electrons from occupying the same quantum space at the same time, thanks to the Pauli exclusion principle. But stellar cores greater than 1.44 solar masses can break through this Chandrasekhar limit, resulting in the creation of a neutron star. Interestingly, those greater than around 2.3 solar masses can collapse further to break through the neutron degeneracy limit,

[00:13:30] eventually evolving into black holes. One of the study's authors, Simon Stevenson from Swinburne University, says understanding the birth masses of neutron stars is key to unlocking their formation history. He says these new findings provide a crucial foundation for interpreting gravitational wave detections of neutron star mergers. This report from Swinburne University Media.

[00:13:53] So neutron stars are the dense cores left over at the end of the life of a massive star. So you can kind of think of it a bit like the the stone in the middle of an avocado. When a massive star, maybe more than eight times the mass of our sun, reaches the end of its life, it explodes in this brilliant supernova explosion and leaves behind this little neutron star. So we studied a population of 90

[00:14:16] neutron stars, mostly in binaries and mostly in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. And what we found is that neutron stars are typically about 1.3 times the mass of our own sun when they're born, with more massive neutron stars being born rarely. The only way we can measure the weight of a neutron star is when it's in a binary star system with another star. But what can happen during the lives of these stars is that the neutron star can eat some of its companion star. Fun fact, there's actually a class of neutron star

[00:14:46] called the spider pulsars, the red backs and black widows, because of the way that they devour their their companions. So as the neutron star accretes mass from its companion, it starts to spin faster and faster. What we expect is that the more mass that a neutron star has accreted, the faster it's spinning. The neutron star birth mass distribution tells us how common low mass neutron stars are versus high mass neutron stars. By doing this, we can learn about how massive stars end their lives and how the

[00:15:12] the supernova mechanism works. So for the last few years, astronomers have started to detect gravitational waves from neutron stars in other galaxies colliding with other neutron stars and black holes. And so this gives us a way to study neutron stars in other galaxies. And so by understanding the population of neutron stars here in our own galaxy, we can learn whether neutron stars in other galaxies look the same as in our own galaxy, or if they look different. And so this is all part of how we can

[00:15:39] explore the universe from from right here on planet Earth. This is space time. And time now to take a brief look at some of the other stories making use in science this week with the science report.

[00:16:04] A new study has found that people who use cannabis may be at double the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. The findings reported in the journal heart based on an analysis of 24 studies involving around 200 million people. The authors found a 29% higher risk of acute coronary syndrome, a 20% higher risk of stroke and a doubling in the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease among cannabis users. A new study has shown that human activity has caused a two to three-fold

[00:16:34] increase in mercury levels in the world's rivers since the onset of the industrial revolution. The findings reported in the journal Science Advances warns that this contamination poses a serious risk to human health. The authors used computer simulations to calculate mercury levels in rivers globally in the pre-industrial era from 1845 to 1859, finding the total was around 390 tons of

[00:16:59] mercury annually. That figure was confirmed by analyzing riverbed mud. The authors then looked at mercury levels today, finding that they've increased by 595 tons since the 1850s. The thing is, mercury is highly toxic, and the researchers warn that we should be aiming to cut levels of mercury in our rivers back to those baseline levels of the 1850s. Scientists have identified a new species of octopus in the deep sea canyon off the Australian coast.

[00:17:27] A report in the Australian Journal of Taxonomy says this unique species of flapjack octopus has massive eyes and blood-red tentacles. It's the 10th and latest new species to be described from specimens which were collected during a 2022 voyage by the CSIRO research vessel investigator. There's a new story during the rounds, actually it's a really old story, but it's claiming that the CIA

[00:17:51] has found the biblical Ark of the Covenant, all very reminiscent of Indiana Jones. According to the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was built by the Jews shortly after their escape from Egypt, during their journey back to their original homeland of Israel 3,300 years ago. The Book of Exodus describes the Ark of the Covenant as being 2.5 cubits in length, that's about 1.3 meters, and 1.5 cubits, or 79 centimeters, in both width and height.

[00:18:18] It was constructed out of acacia wood covered entirely in gold, and with a crown or molding of gold around it. Four rings of gold were attached to its four corners, two on each side. And through these rings, wooden poles also overlaid in gold were inserted for carrying the Ark. An ornamental gold lid known as the Seat of Mercy, and decorated with two cherubim or angels, was fitted on top of the Ark, and a blanket or covering was then placed over the entire assembly. According to the Bible,

[00:18:47] Moses placed the Ten Commandments he received on Mount Sinai inside the Ark, which then developed special but terrible powers. It guided the children of Israel through the desert as a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. And while it protected the Jewish people, it would kill anyone who gazed upon it or touched it. After the building of the Great Temple of Jerusalem, also known as the First Temple or Solomon's Temple some 3,000 years ago, the Ark was placed

[00:19:15] inside the Temple's Holy of Holies, a place where only the high priests could enter. There are many differing stories about its ultimate fate. But Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics says this latest story about the Ark of the Covenant and the CIA isn't new, and it's certainly not accurate. Basically in the 70s and 80s and things, the CIA were doing experiments on psychics to see if they could find psychics that would help them locate enemy forces or can use some sort of power against them or whatever. The CIA were looking at everything at that stage.

[00:19:44] This is viewing and things like that. Yes, this is remote viewing in this case. And yeah, they were sort of farming this out to universities to do research and particularly an offshoot of Stanford University called Stanford Research Institute. Yumi Geller was being tested, a whole range of different people were being tested for their ability supposedly to see things a long way away, remote viewing outside of psychic powers or influencing like doing the exciting thing of bending a spoon. And they had this whole bunch of

[00:20:10] psychics in quotes who were given coordinates or they say, find something. And during this, which was called at this stage Project Sunstreak, although the full thing I was always led to believe was Project Stargate. So maybe this was a subset, some astronomical minor diversion or something. To quote the story headlines, the secret CIA files suggest the Ark of the Covenant was found. That is clickbait. It's not true. The secret files are not very secret. They were released in,

[00:20:38] I think, 2000, not long after these experiments were supposed to be going on. That the Ark of the Covenant was found. No, a psychic said he had located it. I don't know if he was exactly sure it was the Ark because there were people around in hooded outfits, etc. And there was a box and inside was another box. That was in the 80s that this story came up, that this remote viewing experience came up. And when the Ark of the Covenant was supposed to be a thing from the Bible, which great powers, anyone who's seen the first Indiana Jones film knows what it is, knows what it looks

[00:21:06] like. No one seems to have gone there to find it, to see, oops, we know where it is, let's go get it, like an Indiana Jones thing. Did they find it and did they hide it away in a giant warehouse? Some other people said it's under the temple in Jerusalem. That's where the Knights Templar were supposed to have been looking for it. And another story goes that Queen Eshiba took it back to Ethiopia and it's in one of the temples there. That's right. I mean, did the Persians or the Babylonians who came and invaded Jerusalem, did they take it back too? That's what the Bible says, doesn't it? Yeah.

[00:21:36] But what happens is that they didn't find it. The CIA did not endorse the finding. They just recorded what this psychic self-professed said that he had found it. And I'm sure there were a lot of things that the psychic said they had found that were pretty much unsubstantiated, non-substantiated, debunked, or just nothing more we can do with it. So the CIA would have been justified in saying using any source of information they could find just in case. Okay, you throw a few thousand bucks at these things and it comes to naught, which is what they said,

[00:22:04] eventually, nothing worthwhile seeing here. Then they said, let's move on to something else. Let's move on to people who can knock goats over with their bare minds. Let's move on to all sorts of different things to see if you can walk through walls, all these things that are being checked out. Funny enough, none of them actually came to anything, any good use. Secret files, they weren't secret. It's found. It wasn't found. No one knows where it is. No one knows if it existed, what it was. But yeah, it's in the Old Testament. I think in the first book of the book. Is it in Genesis or

[00:22:31] probably Exodus? And in the early first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, which is all the ancient history. Headline, misleading, move on. That's Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics.

[00:22:40] And that's the show for now. Space Time is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Acast, Amazon Music,

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[00:23:38] as well as lots of bonus audio content which doesn't go to air, access to our exclusive Facebook group and other rewards. Just go to SpaceTimeWithStuartGary.com for full details. You've been listening to Space Time with Stuart Gary. This has been another quality podcast production from Bytes.com.