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Avery: Hello space enthusiasts, welcome to Astronomy

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Daily. I'm Avery and I'm here with my co host

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Anna to bring you the latest news from the

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cosmos.

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Anna: Thanks Avery. And what a packed episode we

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have today. We're covering SpaceX's

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upcoming triple spacecraft launch to deep

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space, an absolutely mind bending

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gamma ray burst Discovery, updates on

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NASA's Dragonfly mission to Titan, and

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a chance for you to literally send your name

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around the moon.

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Avery: That's right, Anna. Uh, and I have to say

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that gamma ray burst story is genuinely

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keeping me up at night. Scientists are

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calling it unprecedented and when

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astronomers use that word, you know

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something truly extraordinary is happening.

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But let's start with SpaceX's launch that's

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happening in a couple of weeks.

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Anna: Absolutely. So on September 23rd

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at 7:32am M. Eastern,

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SpaceX is launching not one, not

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two, but three spacecraft from

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Kennedy Space Center. Or all three are

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heading to a very special location called

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Earth Sun Lagrange Point 1, which is about

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930,000 miles from Earth.

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That's more than three times the distance to

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the Moon.

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Avery: Avery and Anna, uh, the star of this

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mission is NASA's Interstellar Mapping and

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Acceleration Probe or IMAP for short.

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This is actually historic because IMAP will

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be the first spacecraft specifically designed

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to map the outer boundary of the

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heliosphere. Think of it as mapping the

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edge of our solar system's protective

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magnetic bubble.

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Anna: That's fascinating, but there's also a very

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practical benefit here. IMAP will give us

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30 minutes to one hour advanced warning

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of dangerous radiation storms from the sun.

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And with NASA planning those Artemis missions

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to return humans to the moon, this early

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warning system could be absolutely critical

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for astronaut safety.

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Avery: Exactly. And um, the international

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collaboration on this is impressive too.

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IMAP has 10 different scientific instruments

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built by teams across the United States with

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contributions from 27 international partners.

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The other two spacecraft hitching a ride are

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NOAA's Space Weather Follow on

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and NASA's Carruthers Geocorona Observatory.

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It's like a cosmic triple header.

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Anna: Speaking of cosmic phenomena that are blowing

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scientists minds, lets talk about this gamma

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ray burst discovery. Avery, this one

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is truly extraordinary. We're talking about

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GRB

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250702B

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which was first detected by NASA's Fermi

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telescope on July 2, 2025.

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Avery: Anna, uh, when I first read about this I had

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to check the date twice because it sounds

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like science fiction. This gamma ray burst

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repeated multiple times over a full day.

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And here's the thing that's got astronomers

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scratching their head. Gamma ray bursts

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aren't Supposed to repeat. They're typically

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caused by catastrophic events like stellar

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deaths, which are by definition one

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time occurrences.

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Anna: The numbers are staggering. This burst

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lasted around a day, which is 100 to

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1,000 times longer than typical gamma ray

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bursts. And when the Very Large Telescope

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and Hubble confirmed its location in

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another galaxy billions of light years

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away, it became clear just how

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incredibly powerful this event must have been

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to be visible from such a distance.

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Avery: The honest truth is that scientists have no

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idea what could cause repeated explosions

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like this. After 50 years of gamma ray

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burst observations, this is completely

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unprecedented. It's moments like these that

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remind us how much mystery still exists in

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our universe, even with all our advanced

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technology and understanding.

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Anna: Absolutely.

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Now, before we dive into more exciting news,

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let's talk about some groundbreaking

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exoplanet discoveries that are reshaping

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our understanding of planetary systems.

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The James Webb Space Telescope has been

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absolutely revolutionary in this field,

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Avery.

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Avery: It really has, Anna. Just last month, Webb

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detected water vapor in the atmosphere of

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exoplanet K2 18b,

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which is located 124 light years away

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in the constellation Leo. What

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particularly exciting is that K2 18B sits

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right in the habitable zone of its star where

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liquid water could potentially exist on its

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surface.

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Anna: And the detection methods are getting

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incredibly sophisticated. Webb has

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also found evidence of clouds and hazes

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in several exoplanet atmospheres, giving

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us detailed chemical fingerprints. In

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fact, the telescope has now characterized

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atmospheres of over 20 different

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exoplanets, from scorching hot Jupiters

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to potentially habitable rock worlds.

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Each observation is like opening a window

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into alien skies.

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Avery: Speaking of alien worlds, let's talk about

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the one closest to Earth that we're actively

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exploring. Mars. The Perseverance

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rover has been making some incredible

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discoveries in Jezero Crater. And I have to

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share some of the latest findings because

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they're genuinely mind blowing.

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Anna: Oh, absolutely. Perseverance has

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now collected 26 rock and regolith

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samples. And the analysis is revealing that

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ancient Mars was not only wet, but

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potentially habitable for extended

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periods. The rover has found clear evidence

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of past river systems, lake beds, and

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even what appears to be ancient organic

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molecules preserved in the rocks.

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Avery: And here's what's particularly exciting. The

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Mars sample return Mission planning is

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accelerating. NASA and ESA

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are working together on what will be the most

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ambitious robotic mission ever, ever

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attempted. The plan is to retrieve those

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Perseverance samples and bring them back to

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Earth by the early 2000 and 30s where we can

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analyze them with laboratory equipment that's

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simply impossible to send to Mars.

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Anna: The engineering challenges are

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Staggering. We're talking about a mission

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that requires landing a sample retrieval

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rover on Mars, loading samples into

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a rocket, launching that rocket from the

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Martian surface, then having an orbiter

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catch the samples in Martian orbit and

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return them to Earth. Earth. It's like a

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cosmic relay race with incredibly high

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stakes.

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Avery: While we're talking about ambitious missions,

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let's discuss what's happening in the

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commercial space sector. The pace of

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development has been absolutely breathtaking

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this year. Blue Origin's New Shepard program

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has resumed flights after their safety pause,

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and they're planning regular suborbital

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tourism missions again.

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Anna: And Virgin Galactic has successfully

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completed six commercial space flights this

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year, taking paying customers to the edge of

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space. But what's really fascinating is the

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emergence of private space stations.

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Axiom Space is building the first commercial

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replacement for the International Space

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Station, with the first module scheduled to

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dock in 2026.

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Avery: The economics are becoming increasingly

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interesting too. Anna SpaceX has

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now successfully landed and reused Falcon 9

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first stages over 250

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times, driving launch costs down

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dramatically. This cost reduction is opening

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up new entirely new possibilities for

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scientific miss, satellite constellations and

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even space manufacturing experiments.

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Anna: Before we wrap up today's episode, I want to

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tell our listeners about some incredible

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astronomical events they can observe from

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their own backyard over the coming weeks.

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October is actually a fantastic month for

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stargazing.

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Avery: Absolutely. The Orionet's meteor shower peaks

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on October 21, and this year we're

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expecting particularly good viewing

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conditions because it coincides with a new

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moon. These meteors are actually debris from

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Halley's Comet. So you're literally watching

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pieces of one of the most famous comets in

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history burning up in our atmosphere.

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Anna: And for our planet watchers, Jupiter is

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absolutely spectacular right now. It's

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reaching opposition in November, meaning it's

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at its closest approach to Earth and visible

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all night long. Even with a basic

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telescope, you can see Jupiter's four largest

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moons, IO, Europa, Ganymede and

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Callisto, and watch them orbit the giant

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planet in real time.

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Avery: And Saturn is also beautifully positioned for

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viewing right now, Anna. Its rings are tilted

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at a perfect angle for Earth based observers.

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And if you've never seen Saturn through a

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telescope before, I cannot overstate how m

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magical that first glimpse is. It literally

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looks like a perfect cosmic jewel suspended

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in space.

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Anna: Before we head to our conclusion, let's do a

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quick lightning round of other space news

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that caught our attention this week. Avery, I

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know you've been following the Artemis 3

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program updates.

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Avery: Yes, NASA announced that the Artemis 3

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lunar spacesuits from Axiom Space have passed

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their critical Design review. These aren't

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just updated Apollo suits. They're completely

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redesigned for modern lunar exploration. With

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improved mobility, better life support

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systems, and the capability to support both

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male and female astronauts to mean extended

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moonwalks.

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Anna: And speaking of international space

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activities, China's Tiangong Space

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Station has been continuously occupied for

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over two years now. Their latest crew,

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Shenzhou 18, has been conducting

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experiments in microgravity agriculture,

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growing rice and other crops in space.

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The implications for long duration space

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missions are significant.

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Avery: And here's something that sounds like science

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fiction, but is absolutely real.

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NASA's DART mission success has led to the

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approval of the follow up HERA mission by

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ESA. Hera will arrive at the asteroid

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Dimorphos in 2026 to study the

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crater created by DART's impact. We're

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literally learning how to defend Earth from

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asteroid threats in real time.

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Anna: Now let's shift gears to some good news

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about NASA's Dragonfly mission to

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Titan. After some challenging years with

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budget increases and delays, a new

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Inspector General report shows that this

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incredible mission is back on track.

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Good news indeed, and one we can keep an eye

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on going forward.

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Avery: This mission has had quite the journey,

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Anna. The budget ballooned from $850

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million to $3.35 billion

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and the launch date was pushed from 2026 to

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2028. But here's what's reassuring. The

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delays weren't due to technical problems.

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They were caused by NASA management directing

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multiple replans due to COVID 19,

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funding uncertainties and supply chain

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issues.

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Anna: And what a mission it will be.

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Dragonfly is essentially a nuclear

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power will fly around Saturn's

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moon Titan for 20 minute flights,

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searching for the chemical building blocks of

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life. Titan is one of the most Earth like

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bodies in our solar system with thick

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atmosphere, lakes and rivers. Though

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they're made of methane instead of water.

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Avery: The timeline is set for July 2028 launch

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on a Falcon Heavy rocket with arrival at

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Titan in 2034. What makes this

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particularly exciting is that it'll be NASA's

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first landing on what they call an ocean

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world. A celestial body with subsurface

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oceans that could potentially harbor life.

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Anna: Speaking of exciting missions, here's

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something our listeners can actually

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participate in. NASA has launched their send

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you'd name campaign for the Artemis 2 mission

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and you have until January 21st to

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sign up.

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Avery: This is so cool, Anna. Uh, your name will

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be loaded on an SD card. Aboard the Orion

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spacecraft, traveling alongside astronauts

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Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina

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Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

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The mission is launching no later than April

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2026 and it's approximately a 10 day

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test flight around the moon.

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Anna: What makes Artemis 2 particularly significant

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is that it's the first crewed mission under

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NASA's Artemis campaign. This flight will

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test all the systems needed for future lunar

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surface missions and eventually the journey

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to Mars. So when you send your name, you're

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literally becoming part of humanity's return

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to deep space exploration.

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Avery: I have to say, Anna, what strikes me about

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today's stories is how they represent

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different scales of cosmic exploration.

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From mapping our solar system's boundary with

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imap, to discovering mysterious phenomena

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billions of light years away, to preparing

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for our return to the moon and beyond.

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Anna: Exactly, Avery. Whether it's an

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upcoming historic spacecraft launch, a

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drone flying on Titan in 2034,

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or a Gamma ray burst from across the

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universe, we're living in an incredible era

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of astronomical discovery. And our

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listeners can be part of it by sending their

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names to the moon. By the way, if you'd like

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to take part in that, I'll leave a link in

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the show notes so you can find out more and

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register.

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Avery: Thanks for joining us on Astronomy Daily.

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Keep looking up, keep questioning, and

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remember that the universe is vast,

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mysterious and absolutely fascinating.

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We'll see you tomorrow with more cosmic news.