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Anna: Welcome everyone to Astronomy Daily, your

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regular guide to the biggest stories

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happening off world. Give us 10 minutes and

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we'll give you the universe. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. It's fantastic to have you

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with us, Anna. Uh, it feels like every week

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the pace just gets faster. We've got so much

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to talk about today.

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Anna: We really do on the docket. Today we're

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starting on the ground in Australia with some

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mysterious burning debris that appears to

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have fallen from orbit.

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Avery: From there we'll jump to the moon, or at

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least the plans to get there. NASA is

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signaling a major potential shakeup for its

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Artemis 3 landing contract. And it's all

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about competition and a new space race.

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Anna: Then we'll look at SpaceX's relentless launch

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cadence, including a very special satellite

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and a mind boggling milestone for their

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Starlink constellation.

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Avery: And after that, we're diving into one of my

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favorite topics. Are we alone?

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There's a huge update to the official

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playbook for what scientists should do if

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they actually detect a signal from ET.

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Anna: It's a big deal, it really is. And we'll

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finish by looking at our own moon and the

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strange flashes of light that have puzzled

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astronomers for centuries. With some new

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theories emerging, it's a packed show, so

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let's get right into it.

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Avery: Alright. Our first story takes us to

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Western Australia, where miners

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stumbled upon something you don't see every

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day. A large, still smoking

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piece of metal that had clearly fallen from

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the sky.

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Anna: Right. Pictures show this charred

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dome shaped object and authorities were

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quickly called in. The Australian Space

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Agency is now leading the investigation

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to formally identify the object.

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Avery: It must be quite a sight to just find that in

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a field. Now, while the official confirmation

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is pending, an astrophysicist has suggested

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it's very likely from the fourth stage of a

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Chinese Jielong 3 rocket which was launched

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last September.

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Anna: And that makes sense, given the trajectory

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and the materials. It really brings the issue

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of space debris into sharp focus.

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We often talk about it as a problem for

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satellites in orbit, but this is a reminder

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that it can and does have an impact right

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here on Earth.

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Avery: Exactly. Most of the tens of

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thousands of trackable objects are small but

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larger pieces like rocket stages and have

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a non zero chance of surviving re

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entry. We've seen it before with

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Skylab in 1979, also

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in Australia, and more recently with other

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Chinese rocket stages making uncontrolled,

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uh, re entries.

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Anna: Mhm. And that's the key term, uncontrolled.

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Most modern rockets are designed to re enter

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over the ocean or have systems to deorbit

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themselves safely. But some older designs

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or in some specific mission profiles, the

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stages are just left to tumble down wherever

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gravity and atmospheric drag take them.

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Avery: It's a bit like cosmic roulette.

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Thankfully, since so much of the Earth is

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water or uninhabited land, the

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risk to human life has been statistically

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very low. But it's not zero.

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And as the number of launches increases,

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that risk goes up.

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Anna: It's a problem that space agencies and

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private companies are taking more seriously

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with new technologies for active debris

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removal being developed. But for now, it

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seems we'll occasionally be getting these

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fiery visitors from above.

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Avery: Okay, from falling hardware to the hardware

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we're intentionally trying to send to the

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moon.

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Anna, uh, there's some major news from NASA

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about the Artemis 3 mission. The one that's

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supposed to put astronauts back on the lunar

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surface.

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Anna: This is a huge development. NASA's acting

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chief Sean Duffy has indicated that the

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agency is strongly considering opening up the

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moon landing contract to a second company in

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addition to SpaceX.

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Avery: Right. As it stands, SpaceX and its

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lunar Optimized Starship were the sole

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winners of that lucrative contract. But the

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new thinking at, uh, NASA is that relying on

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just one provider for such a critical

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national capability is risky.

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Anna: It definitely is. The acting chief cited a

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couple of key reasons. First, he acknowledged

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that SpaceX is behind schedule in developing

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the lander. They need to perform many test

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flights of starship, including an uncrewed

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lunar landing, before they can put astronauts

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on board. And that's taking longer than

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hoped.

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Avery: The second reason he gave was much more

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direct. He explicitly mentioned a race

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against China. China has its own

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ambitious lunar program with plans for a

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lunar base. And NASA is feeling the pressure

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to not fall behind.

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Anna: Yeah, you don't hear that kind of direct

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language every day. So the idea is to bring

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in another company like Blue Origin with

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their Blue Moon lander concept to develop a

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competing system. This creates redundancy and

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spurs competition.

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Avery: It's a return to the Apollo era model in a

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way where multiple contractors were often

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working on different parts of the same

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problem. This also comes with a more

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realistic timeline, with the Artemis 3

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landing now being publicly targeted for

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2028.

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Anna: It's a smart move in my opinion. It might

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cost more in the short term to fund two

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landers, but in the long term, it makes the

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entire enterprise more resilient and it

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signals that NASA is serious about creating a

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sustainable presence at the moon, not just a

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one off visit.

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Avery: Absolutely. The next few months will be

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critical as we wait to see if NASA formally

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opens up bids for this second contract, a

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very big story to watch.

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Anna: Well, while NASA might be worried about

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SpaceX's timeline for the moon, there's no

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question about their launch cadence here on

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Earth. This week alone, they're aiming for as

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many as four Falcon 9 launches.

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Avery: The pace is just relentless.

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It has fundamentally changed the launch

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industry. And one of this week's missions is

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particularly noteworthy because the Falcon 9

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first stage booster is going to be expended.

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Anna: Right? It's not going to attempt a landing.

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This is for the SpainSat NG1 satellite,

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a sophisticated communications satellite for

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the Spanish government. Why are they

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expending the booster for this one?

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Avery: It all comes down to performance. This

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satellite is very heavy and it's headed for a

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high energy geostationary transfer orbit.

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To get it there, the Falcon 9 has to burn its

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engine for longer and at a higher thrust,

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leaving no fuel reserves for the complex

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boostback and landing burns.

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Anna: So they're prioritizing the customer's

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mission over recovering the hardware. It's a

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good reminder that as routine as the landings

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have become, they are still secondary to

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the primary mission.

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Avery: Exactly.

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And Speaking of routine, SpaceX quietly

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passed a massive milestone recently. They

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successfully launched their 10,000th Starlink

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satellite. Just think about that number for a

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second.

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Anna: 10,000. The scale of that constellation is

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almost impossible to comprehend. It's

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providing Internet to remote places all over

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the world, which is incredible. But it's also

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causing ongoing headaches for ground based

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astronomers due to light pollution.

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Avery: It's a complex issue with passionate

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arguments on both sides. And to complete the

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global launch picture for the week, a Chinese

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Long March 5 rocket is also scheduled to lift

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off. But but its payload is a secret.

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Anna: A little bit of intrigue from the China

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National Space Administration. We'll be

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keeping an eye out for what that might be.

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Avery: Okay, for our next story, let's venture

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into the hypothetical. Let's say

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tomorrow. Astronomers using a radio

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telescope detect an unmistakable

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structured signal from a nearby star system.

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It's intelligent. What happens next?

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Anna: Well, for decades, the plan has been what's

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known as the post detection policy. But now

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the International Academy of Astronautics is

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proposing a major, major update. And

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it's a fascinating look at how our

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perspective has changed.

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Avery: It really is. The old protocol was largely

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about verification. A scientist who found a

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signal would first need to rule out all

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terrestrial sources and then get independent

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verification from another observatory.

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After that, the information would be released

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to the public.

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Anna: And crucially, the decision of whether or not

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to reply was left largely to the discoverers.

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There wasn't a Global consensus required. The

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new proposal completely changes that last

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part.

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Avery: That's the core of it. The new protocol

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states that no response should be sent to a,

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uh, confirmed alien signal until

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appropriate international consultations have

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taken place. Specifically through a body like

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the United Nations.

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Anna: So in essence, we have to talk amongst

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ourselves before we talk to them. It

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takes the decision out of the hands of a

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small group of scientists and places it on

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the world stage.

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Avery: Exactly. And the rationale is a

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reply to an alien signal would be sent on

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behalf of all of humanity. What would we say?

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Who would craft the message? What are the

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potential risks and rewards? These aren't

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just scientific questions. They're political,

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cultural and ethical.

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Anna: You can just imagine the debates at the un.

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It would be unbelievable. This reflects a,

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uh, growing understanding that contact isn't

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just a scientific discovery. It's a

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species level event. And it's probably

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wise to have a plan in place before we're

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forced to improvise.

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Avery: I agree. It's a sober, mature step

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for the SETI community to take.

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Anna: Alright, for our last story, we're heading

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back to the Moon to look at a genuine long

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standing astronomical mystery. Transient

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lunar phenomena or TLPs.

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Avery: Right. These are reports of short lived

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lights, colors or other changes on the lunar

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surface. They've been documented for

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centuries, even by pre telescopic observers,

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but they're notoriously difficult to confirm

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and study.

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Anna: So what are the leading theories for what's

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causing them? It seems like there's more than

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one answer.

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Avery: There likely is. For the briefest flashes.

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Just a blink and they're gone. The

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consensus is that these are meteoroid

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impacts. We have networks of telescopes

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that now monitor the Moon for these, and we

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see them fairly often. A small rock hitting

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the dark side of the moon at 30,000 miles per

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hour creates a visible flash of

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vaporized rock.

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Anna: Okay, that one makes sense. But what about

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the ones that last longer? The reports of

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areas that seem to glow or have a strange

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haze for minutes or even hours?

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Avery: That's where it gets more interesting. A

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strong candidate is the release of gas from

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the Moon's interior. The Moon isn't

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geologically dead. It's thought to have a

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molten core and still experiences

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moonquakes. These quakes could release

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pockets of trapped gas, like radon from

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below the surface.

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Anna: And that gas could glow.

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Avery: Potentially. The gas itself might

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fluoresce under the harsh solar radiation.

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Or, or it could stir up fine lunar dust which

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then reflects sunlight in a peculiar

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way. The Aristarchus Plateau is a known

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hotspot for these kinds of events. And it's

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also a region known for a gas release.

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Anna: Fascinating. And what about the really weird,

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long lasting lights?

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Avery: Those are the most contentious. One theory

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is electrostatic dust levitation,

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where solar radiation charges fine dust

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particles and makes them hover above the

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surface, forming a kind of temporary

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dusty atmosphere that can scatter light.

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Other scientists are more skeptical,

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suggesting these are just misidentified

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satellites or even phenomena in our

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own atmosphere projected against the Moon.

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Anna: So we still don't have a definitive answer.

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It's amazing to think that we've walked on

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the Moon, yet it still holds these

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fundamental mysteries. It's a good reason to

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keep sending robotic and eventually human

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observers back to investigate.

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Avery: And with that mystery, our time is up for

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this episode of Astronomy Daily. From cosmic

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litter in the outback to global debates about

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talking to aliens, it's been an episode full

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of incredible science.

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Anna: It certainly has. The universe never fails to

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keep us on our toes. We hope you've enjoyed

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this tour of the latest astronomical news.

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Avery: A, uh, huge thank you to all of you for

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listening. Be sure to join us again tomorrow

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for another deep dive into the cosmos.

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Until then, from both of us, clear

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skies and keep looking up.