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Avery: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the

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podcast bringing you the biggest news from

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across the cosmos. I'm your host,

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Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you

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today, Avery. We're talking about a threat to

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one of Earth's best windows to the universe.

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Some big reveals from Blue Origin, and a

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star that's singing a strange cosmic song.

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Avery: That's right. Plus we'll dive into why

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time literally moves m faster on Mars

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and a, uh, fascinating new idea for building

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Martian homes using

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bacteria.

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Let's start with that story from Earth, Anna.

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It sounds pretty serious.

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Anna: It is. We're talking about Chile's

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Atacama Desert, home to the Paranal

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Observatory and the Very Large Telescope.

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It's one of the best places on the planet for

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astronomy because of its clear, dark and

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stable skies.

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Avery: An, um, absolutely critical location

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for science.

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Anna: Exactly. But now that's under what some top

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scientists, including a Nobel Laureate,

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are calling an imminent threat. A, uh,

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massive renewable energy project is planned

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for a site nearby. While green energy is

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vital, the scale of this project has

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astronomers deeply concerned.

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Avery: So what are the specific worries? Is it just

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light pollution?

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Anna: That's a big part of it. The project could

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brighten the night sky, kick up dust that

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obscures faint objects, and the heat could

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disrupt the state atmosphere that makes

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imaging so sharp.

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Avery: Wow. So it's a triple threat to

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visibility. It's a tough situation. A, uh,

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conflict between two positive

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advancing sustainable energy and

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protecting our ability to explore

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the universe.

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Anna: It is. The open letter from the scientific

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community isn't trying to stop the project,

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but to raise the alarm and work with the

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developers to find a solution that mitigates

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the these impacts. Hopefully a compromise can

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be found.

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Avery: It's, uh, a truly delicate balance.

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Are there any specific technical solutions

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being discussed? I imagine it's more complex

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than just asking them to build it somewhere

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else. We're talking about things like

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specialized light shielding or perhaps

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operational agreements to limit dust

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creating activities during

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critical observation windows at night.

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Anna: Precisely. They're suggesting technical

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solutions like advanced dust suppression,

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special lighting to minimize sky glow, and

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even pausing industrial activity. Based on

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observatory schedules.

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Avery: Let's hope so.

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From a project threatening our view of space,

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let's turn to one that's actively building

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our way into it. Blue Origin has been

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making some serious announcements.

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Anna: Mm mhm. They've been very busy. Fresh off a

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successful New Shepard launch, they pulled

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the curtain back on a lot of new hardware.

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Avery: They sure have. First they unveiled the blue

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moon mark one robotic lander.

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Scheduled to fly by 2026.

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It's the precursor to the crewed lander

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for NASA's Artemis 5 mission.

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Anna: Right. This is their cargo version. It's

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designed to test the landing systems and

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deliver payloads to the lunar surface ahead

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of the astronauts. They also announced a more

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powerful version of their new Glenn rocket.

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Right?

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Avery: That's right, the 9 times 4

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variant. But what really caught my eye were

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the other two announcements. They revealed

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details on something called Blue Ring,

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which is essentially a space tug.

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It can host payloads, refuel other

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spacecraft, and basically act as a logistics

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vehicle in Earth orbit and beyond.

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Anna: A space tug makes sense for building out in

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space infrastructure. And what was the last

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one? Something from Mars.

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Avery: Exactly. A new deployable aerobrake

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technology, like a giant parachute

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using a planet's atmosphere to slow a

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spacecraft for future Mars missions.

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It shows they're thinking about the entire

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ecosystem of space exploration.

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Anna: And that's a huge piece of the puzzle. We

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hear a lot about launching things, but not as

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much about what happens once they're up

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there. A versatile platform like Blue Ring

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could be used for satellite servicing,

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refueling, or maybe even tackling the

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growing problem of orbital debris. Right?

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Avery: Exactly. The long term vision is a

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sustainable cislun. We're

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talking about a future where space isn't just

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a destination, but a domain for industry and

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commerce. A vehicle like Blue Ring could

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refuel satellites, giving them a new lease on

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life, move infrastructure into place for

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future space stations, or even act as a

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mobile data relay. It transforms

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orbital space from a passive location into

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a dynamic workspace.

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Anna: It's an ambitious roadmap.

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Speaking of ambitious missions, NASA's test

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satellite, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey

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Sate Satellite, has helped uncover a

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fascinating cosmic mystery. It's about

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a star that's singing a very strange song.

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Avery: Singing? Tell me more. Are we

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talking about vibrations?

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Anna: In a way, yes. Astronomers detected

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starquakes from a red giant. These

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seismic waves cause the star's brightness to

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vary, which is how TESS detected them.

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This star is orbiting a black hole known as

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Gaia BH2.

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Avery: Okay. A, uh, red giant and a black hole.

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That's already an interesting pair. So what's

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so strange about the starquakes?

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Anna: Well, the data revealed a couple of odd

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things. First, the star is spinning

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way faster than a red giant should. They tend

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to slow down as they expand. Second,

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its chemical composition is weird.

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It seems to be relatively young, but it's

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made of very ancient materials. It's low in

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heavy elements.

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Avery: Young, but made of old stuff and

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spinning too fast. That doesn't add up.

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What's the theory?

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Anna: The leading hypothesis is a dramatic one,

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that this star is actually two stars that

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merged. A cosmic merger would explain both

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the strange chemical mix and its high spin

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rate.

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Avery: It really is. And the fact that they could

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deduce all this from tiny fluctuations in

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starlight is incredible. This field of

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astroseismology, studying starquakes

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is like listening to the inside of a star

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with a stethoscope. It's revealing details we

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could never see directly.

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Anna: It's a perfect example of multi mission

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astronomy. Gaia provided the position and

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motion, while TESS provided the internal

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diagnostics. Combining the data let them

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piece together.

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Avery: A hidden history from

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cosmic collisions to cosmic clocks.

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And I saw a story that sounds like it's

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straight out of science fiction. Uh,

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apparently time itself moves at a different

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speed on Mars.

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Anna: It does. And it's not science fiction. It's

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just pure Einstein. Based on calculations

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from his theory of general relativity, Time

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on Mars passes slightly faster than it does

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here on Earth.

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Avery: Uh, how much faster are we talking? Am I

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going to age noticeably quicker if I move to

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Mars?

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Anna: Hardly. The difference is a tiny fraction of

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a second per day. It comes down to

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relativistic effects. Mars, weaker gravity

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and slower orbit mean time passes slightly

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faster there relative to us.

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Avery: Okay, so I won't need extra anti aging cream.

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I believe the figure is 477

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microseconds a day. That sounds small, but I

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bet it adds up when you're dealing with high

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precision technology.

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Anna: That's the critical point. Just like our GPS

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satellites. Future Martian missions will need

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to account for this time diagn violation for

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synchronized communications and navigation.

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It's fundamental for our interplanetary

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future.

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Avery: It really puts into perspective how

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interconnected everything is at that level of

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physics. Does this also mean we'd need a

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separate time standard for Mars? Something

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like coordinated Mars time similar to

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UTC on Earth?

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Anna: That's exactly what space agencies are

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working on. A defined Martian time standard

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is essential for mission coordination.

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Without it, every mission would be using its

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own reference frame, leading to chaos. It's

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not just about convenience, it's about safety

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and precision. Imagine trying to coordinate a

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landing while your orbiter and ground control

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are seconds out of sync. Establishing a

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common clock that accounts for the

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relativistic drift is a foundational step

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before we can have rovers, orbiters and

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future human bases all working in perfect

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sync. It's a complex problem of

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interplanetary timekeeping that has to be

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solved.

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Avery: Speaking of our interplanetary future, let's

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talk about actually living on Mars. Our final

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story today is about a really innovative

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Approach to construction on the red planet

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using what scientists call in situ resource

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utilization.

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Anna: Right. The idea of living off the land.

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It's far too expensive to launch everything

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we'd need from Earth. So we have to use

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what's already on Mars.

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Avery: Exactly. And this new proposal is brilliant.

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It suggests using martian soil, or

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regolith, mixed with two specific types of

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Earth bacteria to create building materials.

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Anna: Bacteria as cement mixers. How would

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that work?

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Avery: It's a, uh, two part system. The first

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bacterium, Sporosarcina

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pasteuri, creates calcite, a, uh,

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powerful binding agent. When mixed with

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martian soil, it creates a solid, concrete

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like material, bioconcrete.

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Anna: That's incredible. So you can create

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bricks and foundations right there.

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What about the second bacteria?

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Avery: That's where it gets even better. The second

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one, Caracocidaxis, is a type

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of cyanocos nanobacteria. Its superpower is

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photosynthesis. It would be engineered to

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take in the martian atmosphere, which is

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mostly carbon dioxide and sunlight, and

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produce oxygen as a byproduct.

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Anna: So you get building materials and a life

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support system in one package. One set

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of microbes builds your house and the other

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helps you breathe inside it.

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Avery: That's the concept. It's a truly elegant

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solution that integrates construction and

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life support. We are essentially using

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nature's own nanotechnology to solve

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monumental engineering challenges light years

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from home. It's still in the early stages, of

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course, with huge hurdles around planetary

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protection and ensuring these microbes

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perform as expected in the harsh martian

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environment. But it's this kind of creative

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biological engineering that might just make

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living on Mars a reality. Turning the

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planet's own resources into a sustainable

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habitat.

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Anna: Okay, that's a game changer. But what

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about the conditions on Mars? We're talking

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about extreme cold, low

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atmospheric pressure, and intense

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radiation. Can these Earth based

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bacteria actually survive there long enough

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to do their jobs?

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Avery: That's the focus of the research. One of the

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bacteria is an extremophile, Incredibly tough

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and radiation resistant. The plan is to use

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them in shielded bioreactors to create

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building materials in a controlled

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environment.

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Anna: And what a future that would be.

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And that brings us to the end of today's

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episode of Astronomy Daily. From

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protecting our view of the stars in Chile, to

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listening to their songs, and even planning

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our homes among them, it's been quite a

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journey.

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Avery: Thanks for tuning in. Join us again tomorrow

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as we continue to explore the universe. Until

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then, keep looking up.

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The world.