Space Nuts: Moon impact, Roman Observatory launch, and Neptune’s
odd moons
Andrew Dunkley is joined by Professor Jonti Horner, Professor of
Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland, for a
wide-ranging astronomy update. They cover SpaceX’s out-of-control
rocket body hitting the Moon, the imminent launch of the Nancy
Grace Roman Observatory, and a new result that may explain the
strange origin of some of Neptune’s moons.
We discuss why lunar impacts matter far beyond the Moon itself, how
Roman will study exoplanets and dark energy, and why clay minerals
on Neptune’s small moons are such a big clue about a violent early
solar system.
Key topics
SpaceX’s rocket body impacted the Moon after being left in a long,
uncontrolled orbit
Why lunar impacts are a real concern for future habitats,
infrastructure, and Apollo heritage sites
The sheer scale of human-made objects that have already hit or
landed on the Moon
Elon Musk’s vision for lunar factories, rail-gun launches, and
large-scale off-Earth manufacturing
Why the same company could end up both creating the risk and
needing to solve it
The Nancy Grace Roman Observatory launching around 9 months ahead
of schedule
Roman’s 2.4 metre mirror, 300 megapixel wide-field camera, and
hydrazine-fueled journey to L2
How Roman will study dark energy, gravitational lensing,
exoplanets, and free-floating planets
New James Webb observations of Neptune’s moons showing clay-type
minerals on Larissa and Galatea
Why those clays suggest a much older, more violent system shaped by
Triton’s capture and moon-to-moon collisions
Timestamps:
00:00 - Studio prep, muting phones, and getting ready to
record
01:53 - Episode intro: SpaceX lunar impact, Roman Observatory, and
Neptune moons
03:00 - Jonti Horner joins the show
04:26 - SpaceX rocket body crashes into the Moon
07:03 - Predicted impact plume and expected crater size
08:54 - Korean spacecraft Danuri captures post-impact images
10:19 - Why Moon impacts matter for future lunar bases
11:47 - Protecting Apollo landing sites and lunar archaeology
12:15 - More than 3,000 human-made objects have hit the Moon
14:32 - Law, responsibility, and the problem of cleanup beyond
Earth
16:07 - Musk’s plans for Moon factories and Starlink-style
expansion
18:12 - Rail guns, Optimus robots, and scaling lunar industry
19:34 - SpaceX’s own industry could be threatened by its own
debris
21:24 - Balancing commercial benefits and environmental costs
23:46 - The Nancy Grace Roman Observatory launch approaches
26:03 - Roman’s orbit, hydrazine fuel, and five-year mission
plan
27:57 - From WFIRST to Roman: how the telescope evolved
29:23 - Roman’s mirror, 300 megapixel camera, and survey
power
30:14 - Exoplanets, microlensing, and the coronagraph
33:29 - Roman’s launch status and the excitement ahead
34:17 - Neptune’s moons and the role of Triton
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