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Avery: Hey, everyone, and welcome to Astronomy

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Daily. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. We're here to bring you the

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most exciting space news and discoveries

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from around the universe.

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Avery: And wow, do we have some incredible stories

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for you today. We're talking about surprising

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discoveries on Mars that could reshape our

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understanding of the Red Planet's past.

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Dramatic developments in the new space race,

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with Russia announcing ambitious plans

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to challenge SpaceX, a, uh, major exoplanet

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milestone that brings us closer than ever to

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finding Earth's twin. Groundbreaking research

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on how ancient asteroid impacts might have

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actually helped life flourish on Earth. And

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some exciting updates on upcoming Mars

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missions. Plus, we'll dive into what all of

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this means for the future of space

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exploration and our search for life beyond

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Earth.

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Anna: That's right, Avery. It's been an

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absolutely fascinating week in space

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science news. So let's dive right in with our

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first story. And this one's coming from Mars

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with a discovery that has scientists

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rethinking the Red Planet's atmospheric

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history.

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Avery: Scientists have just discovered an unexpected

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ozone surge in Mars's polar vortex during

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winter. And this is honestly mind blowing

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when you think about the implications.

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Anna: It really is. So here's what's happening.

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During Mars's polar winter,

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temperatures plummet to a bone chilling

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-148 degrees Celsius.

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That's colder than the surface of Titan,

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Saturn's Moon. At these extreme temperatures,

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there's virtually no ultraviolet light from

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the sun to break down water vapor. Because

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Mars is tilted at 25 degrees,

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very similar to Earth's 23.5 degree

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tilt, this allows ozone to accumulate in

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ways we've never seen before. What makes

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this discovery even more remarkable is that

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researchers used data from the European Space

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Agency's Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been

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studying Mars's atmosphere since 2016.

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The readings showed ozone concentrations that

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were completely unexpected.

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Avery: And the big story here is what this tells us

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about Mars past. Dr. Kevin Olson from

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Oxford University presented this research at

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the europlanet Science Congress. And he's

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suggesting that Mars might have once had a

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protective ozone layer similar to Earth's.

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Anna: Exactly. And if Mars had a substantial

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ozone layer in its ancient past, that would

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have shielded the planet from harmful

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radiation, making it much more suitable for

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life as we know it. Think about this.

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Earth's ozone layer blocks about 97

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to 99% of, uh, the Sun's harmful

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ultraviolet radiation. Without it,

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life on our planet's surface would be

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impossible. So if ancient Mars had similar

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protection, we're talking about a

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fundamentally different world than the

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radiation blasted desert we see today. It's

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another piece of the puzzle in understanding

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whether Mars could have supported life

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billions of years ago. And here's something

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fascinating. This discovery also helps

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explain some of the chemical signatures we've

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been finding in Martian rocks and soil

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samples.

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Avery: You know, this ozone discovery becomes even

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more exciting when we consider what's

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happening with Mars exploration right now.

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NASA's Perseverance rover is still collecting

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samples in Jacero Crater, samples that could

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contain evidence of, uh, ancient microbial

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life. And with this new understanding of

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Mars's potential protective ozone layer,

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those samples become even more valuable. We

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might be looking at rocks that formed during

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a time when Mars was much more habitable than

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we previously thought.

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Speaking of space developments, our next

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story takes us from scientific discovery to

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geopolitics. Russia is making a major

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move to challenge SpaceX's dominance in

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satellite Internet.

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Anna: That's right. Dmitry Bakhanov from

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Roscosmos has confirmed that Russia is

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developing its own satellite Internet

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constellation called Sphere, to compete

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directly with Starlink. They're planning to

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launch the first batch of satellites later

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this year using their Soyuz 2 rockets.

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What's particularly interesting is that

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Russia is partnering with several countries,

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including Iran and North Korea, to develop

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this system. The project has been in

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development since 2018, but the Ukraine

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conflict has really accelerated their

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timeline.

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Avery: The scale is ambitious. We're talking about

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over 900 satellites planned by

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2035, with commercial services expected

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to begin in 2027. To put this

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in perspective, SpaceX currently has over

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5,000 Starlink satellites in orbit and is

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planning for up to 42,000 eventually.

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But here's the thing that makes this

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particularly interesting. This isn't just

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about market competition. Russia's Sphere

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constellation will operate in different

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orbital shells, including some in higher

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elliptical orbits that could provide coverage

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to polar regions better than Starlink's

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current configuration. The technical approach

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is actually quite clever, even if the scale

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is smaller.

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Anna: Right. There's definitely a geopolitical

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element here. Ukraine's successful use of

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Starlink during the ongoing conflict has

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clearly demonstrated the strategic importance

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of satellite Internet capabilities. Russia

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wants its own independent system. And it's

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worth noting that Russia isn't the only

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country developing alternative satellite

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Internet systems. China has its own ambitious

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plans with the, uh, Guang constellation,

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potentially 13,000 satellites. The

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European Union is working on its IRIS2S

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constellation, and even Amazon is still

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pushing forward with Project Cooper despite

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delays. We're really seeing the emergence of

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multiple sovereign satellite Internet

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capabilities, which could fundamentally

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change how Internet access works globally.

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Avery: It'll be fascinating to See how this plays

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out in the increasingly competitive satellite

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Internet market.

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But let's move on to a really exciting

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milestone that has me genuinely excited about

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the future of astronomy. NASA has

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officially confirmed 6,000

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exoplanets. Actually, it's

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6,007 as of right now, which is just

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incredible when you think about how far we've

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come.

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Anna: I remember when the first exoplanet around a

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Sun like Star51 Pegasi B was discovered

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back in 1995 by Michelle Mayer and Didier

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Quelhos, who won the Nobel Prize for that

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discovery. To go from one to over

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6,000 in less than 30 years, that,

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that's exponential progress. And the methods

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have evolved dramatically, too. We went from

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radial velocity detection to transit

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photometry with Kepler. And now we have tests

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continuing the search. There are still over

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8,000 more candidates awaiting confirmation.

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And with the James Webb Space Telescope now

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operational, we're starting to actually

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analyze the atmospheres of these worlds.

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Avery: The diversity is what really strikes me.

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We've got 2035 Neptune like

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worlds, 1984 gas

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giants, 1761 super

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earths and 700 terrestrial planets.

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NASA is calling this the next great chapter

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of exploration. And I couldn't agree more.

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Speaking of James Webb, the telescope has

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already started revolutionizing our

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understanding of exoplanet atmospheres. Just

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recently, it detected water vapor clouds

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and even weather patterns on, um, planets

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hundreds of light years away. We're not just

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finding planets anymore. We're actually

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studying their climates in real time.

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Wasp 96B, for instance, shows clear

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signatures of sodium and water in its

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atmosphere m along with evidence of cloud

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formation. It's like having a weather report

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from another star system.

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Anna: But here's the thing that keeps us searching.

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Despite all these discoveries, we still

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haven't found that perfect Earth twin. Every

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new world teaches us something different

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about planetary formation and the

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incredible variety of worlds that exist in

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our galaxy.

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And speaking of life in unexpected places,

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our final story today is absolutely

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fascinating. It involves an ancient asteroid

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impact in Finland and how catastrophic

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events might actually foster life rather than

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destroy it.

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Avery: This story completely flips our understanding

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of asteroid impacts on its head. So,

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78 million years ago, a, uh, 1.6

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kilometer asteroid slammed into what is now

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Finland, creating the Lupuyarvi Crater.

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Anna: Now, here's where it gets really interesting.

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New research led by scientists from the

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University of Helsinki shows that microbial

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life colonized the crater's hydrothermal

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system within 4.4 million years of the

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impact, which in geological terms is

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incredibly fast. They found

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fossilized biofilms and chemical signatures

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that are Unmistakably biological in origin,

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this is the first direct evidence linking

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microbial activity to asteroid impacts.

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What's remarkable is that they used advanced

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microscopy and geochemical analysis to

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identify these ancient microbes preserved in

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the rock record. These organisms were likely

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chemosynthetic, meaning they got their energy

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from chemical reactions rather than sunlight.

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Avery: What this tells us is profound. While

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asteroid impacts can certainly be

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destructive, we all know what happened to the

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dinosaurs. They can also create unique

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environments where life can actually thrive.

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The impact creates hydrothermal systems that

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become perfect habitats for certain

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microorganisms organisms.

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Anna: This has huge implications for astrobiology,

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especially when we think about planets like

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Mars or even moons like Europa and

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Enceladus. Impact craters aren't just scars

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from cosmic violence. They might be cradles

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for life.

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Before we wrap up today, I want to quickly

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mention that Rocket Lab is proposing

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something really cool. They want to build a,

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uh, Mars telecommunications orbiter that

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would provide high speed Internet between

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Mars and Earth. Imagine streaming data

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from the Red planet. Currently, Mars missions

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have to rely on NASA's aging deep space

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Network, which creates bottlenecks and

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delays. Rocket Lab's proposal would create

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dedicated high bandwidth communication links

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that could handle the massive data

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requirements of future Mars missions,

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including eventual human settlements. We're

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talking about gigabit speeds across

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interplanetary distances. It's science

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fiction becoming reality. And

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SpaceX has moved their next starship to the

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launch pad for flight testing. The pace

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of development is just breathtaking.

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Each test flight incorporates lessons learned

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from the previous ones. They've made

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remarkable progress with the Raptor engines,

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heat shield technology and landing systems.

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Flight 10 successfully demonstrated

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controlled re entry and landing burns,

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bringing us closer to fully reusable

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interplanetary transportation. When you

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consider that just a few years ago, landing a

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rocket was considered impossible, and now

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SpaceX is preparing vehicles for Mars

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missions. It's genuinely awe

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inspiring.

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Avery: What an incredible time to be alive and

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watching these developments unfold. From

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ancient ozone on Mars that suggests a more

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habitable past. To asteroid impacts fostering

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life in the most unexpected ways. From

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intense competition and satellite Internet

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that will reshape global communications, to

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thousands of new worlds being discovered and

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analyzed in unprecedented detail, the

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universe continues to surprise and inspire

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us. Each discovery builds upon the others,

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creating a more complete picture of our

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cosmic neighborhood and our place within it.

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We're not just passive observers anymore.

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We're active participants in a truly

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interplanetary civilization that's taking its

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first steps.

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Anna: Thanks for joining us on this cosmic journey

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today. Remember to visit our website at ah,

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astronomydaily, IO where you'll find more

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space and astronomy news. And you can drop us

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a line, too, if you wish. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Keep looking up, and we'll see

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you tomorrow on Astronomy Daily.