Artemis 3 Delays, Hayabusa2's New Mission, and Earth's Mini Moon Gold Rush

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your essential

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guide to the cosmos. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. We're the podcast that brings

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you the day's biggest news in space and

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astronomy from our solar system and beyond.

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Anna: We have a packed show for you today. Our

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top story, NASA's Aerospace Safety

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Advisory Panel is sounding the alarm warning

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that the Artemis 3 mission to land humans on

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the moon is at high risk of delay.

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Avery: Plus, we'll check in on the extended mission

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of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, celebrate the

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recovery of a rare meteorite in Europe, and

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explore a potential gold rush for asteroid

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manners targeting Earth's mini moons.

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Anna: And later, we'll have a few quick updates on

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SpaceX, growing tea on the moon, and

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finding the history of our galaxy right here

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on Earth.

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Let's get started. All right, our main story

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today comes from a public meeting at the

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Johnson Space Center. NASA's Aerospace Safety

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Advisory Panel, or ASAP, issued a stark

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warning on September 18th regarding the

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timeline for the Artemis 30.

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Avery: Um, and this all centers on the human landing

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system, which is SpaceX's Starship. Right?

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The vehicle that's supposed to actually take

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the astronauts down to the lunar surface.

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Anna: Exactly. The panel is concerned that Starship

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will likely not be ready to support the

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mission in late 2026 as currently

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scheduled. They cited two key.

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SpaceX needs to get the vehicle flying

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successfully, and it needs to demonstrate

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propellant transfer in orbit.

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Avery: That first one is a pretty big hurdle. The

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first integrated test flight back in April

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failed a few minutes after liftoff, and,

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well, it completely obliterated its own

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launch pad.

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Anna: It certainly did. SpaceX has made

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repairs and upgrades, but they are still

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awaiting an updated launch license from the

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Federal Aviation Administration for their

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next test flight. The chair of the

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panel, Patricia Sanders, was very direct,

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stating the current schedule has a high risk

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of delays, and.

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Avery: It'S not just a safety panel. We've heard

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similar rumblings from senior NASA officials,

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though they've also mentioned concerns about

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the development of new spacesuits and other

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lander systems. But Starship seems to be the

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longest pole in the tent.

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Anna: It is. And that second point, propellant

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transfer, is critical. Starship needs to

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be refueled in orbit for a lunar mission, and

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transferring cryogenic propellants on that

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scale has never been done before.

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Avery: So what's the backup plan if the lander has

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problems? Is there a contingency?

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Anna: That's the other issue Sanders raised. NASA's

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Gateway, the planned outpost in lunar orbit,

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could serve as a safe haven for astronauts,

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but the gateway itself won't be ready for

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Artemis 3. It really puts all the pressure on

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starship performing as planned and on

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schedule.

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Avery: It sounds like a very high stakes

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development. We will certainly be watching

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for news on the next test flight moving from

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the moon to the asteroids.

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Let's talk about a mission that has already

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proven to be a great successJapan's

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Hayabusa2.

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Anna: Of course, the mission that returned a

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pristine sample from the asteroid ryugu back

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in 2020. What's next for the spacecraft?

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Avery: It's on an extended mission heading to a new

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target called asteroid, uh, 1998

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KY26. And this new destination

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is a very different kind of space rock.

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Anna: Different how?

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Avery: For starters, it's very small with a diameter

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of only 30 meters. It's also a fast

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rotator, spinning on its axis once every

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10.7 minutes.

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Anna: That is incredibly fast. That must give

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it a very low gravitational field, making

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any kind of landing or contact extremely

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difficult.

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Avery: You're exactly right. Because of that,

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Hayabusa2 will not be collecting a sample

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this time. Instead, it will study the

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asteroid from a distance when it arrives in

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July 2031.

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Anna: It's just fantastic that they can get more

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science out of an already completed mission.

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This extended mission will allow scientists

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to study a completely different type of

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asteroid and learn more about the early days

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of our solar system. A great example of

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mission efficiency.

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Well, from visiting asteroids, we now turn

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to an asteroid that visited us

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after two years. Scientists have recovered a

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very special meteorite from a fireball that

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exploded over Europe in February

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2023.

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Avery: I think I remember seeing videos of that one

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online. It was seen by thousands of people.

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Anna: It was. The recovered meteorite has been

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named Bliskvika, which is polish for

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lightning. And it's a rare type of meteorite

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known as an Aubrite.

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Avery: An Aubrite. What makes that type of meteorite

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special?

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Anna: They're thought to originate from the main

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asteroid belt and are made of a very distinct

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light colored rock. But. But what makes the

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Bliskavica meteorite so important is that

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it's the first abrite ever to be recovered

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from a fireball that was observed by so many

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people and captured on so many

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cameras.

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Avery: So all those dash cams and doorbell cameras

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actually contributed to the science

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immensely.

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Anna: It allowed scientists to precisely

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calculate the meteorite's trajectory. And

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this is the crucial part, determine its pre

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impact orbit. They have actually traced

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this specific rock back to its likely

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origin point in the asteroid belt.

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Avery: That's incredible. So they don't just have

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the rock, they have its return address?

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Anna: Essentially, yes. It's being called a major

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coup for planetary science. It provides a

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unique opportunity to study a rare

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meteorite with a known origin story

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which can tell us some so much more about the

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formation of our solar system.

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Avery: Speaking of getting our hands on space rocks,

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our next story sounds like something straight

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out of science fiction. Apparently Earth's

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next mini moon could create a gold rush for

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asteroid miners.

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Anna: A mini moon? Are we talking about a permanent

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second moon?

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Avery: Sort of, but temporary. The official term

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is a temporarily captured object or

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tco. These are asteroids that are

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captured by Earth's gravity, orbit, uh, our

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planet for a few months or even years and

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then get ejected back into space.

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Anna: Okay, so they're transient visitors.

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Where does the gold rush come in?

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Avery: A new study has found that a TCO with a

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diameter of just a few meters could

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contain billions of dollars worth of precious

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metals. The authors of the study propose a

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mission concept called a T class mission to

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to go out, collect the sample and bring it

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back to Earth.

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Anna: Billions of dollars in value. But

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surely the mission to retrieve it would cost

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just as much.

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Avery: That's the most exciting part. The study

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suggests such a mission could be launched for

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as little as $10 million.

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Because these TCOs are so much closer and

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easier to reach than main belt asteroids,

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they are far cheaper targets.

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Anna: That's incredible. So the authors believe

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these TCOs could be a game changer for the

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asteroid mining industry.

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Avery: They do. They say TCOs could provide a

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regular, accessible and much cheaper supply

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of precious metals to Earth. It turns these

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fleeting visitors into potential orbiting

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treasure chests.

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Alright, let's wrap up with a few quick

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updates from around the cosmos. First up, it

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was another Busy Sunday for SpaceX.

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Anna: Let me guess, more Starlink satellites?

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Avery: You got it. A Falcon 9 rocket launched

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another 22 Starlink spacecraft from Cape

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Canaveral. The first stage booster

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successfully landed for its 17th time. This

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marked the 65th orbital mission of the year

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for SpaceX. Just an incredible launch

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cadence.

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Anna: It really is.

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Now from low Earth orbit to the lunar

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surface, could future astronauts grow their

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own tea?

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Avery: It seems so. A new study found that it is

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possible to grow tea plants in a simulant of

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lunar soil. The plants were able to germinate

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and grow and they even produced catechins,

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the antioxidant compounds that make tea

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healthy.

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Anna: Being able to grow their own food, even

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something as simple as tea for a comforting

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drink, would be a huge logistical and

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psychological advantage for astronauts on

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long term space missions.

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Avery: Absolutely. And for a final story, we're

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going from the small scale to the galactic

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new research suggests that signs of our

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galaxy's spiral arms may be trapped in some

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of Earth's crystals.

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Anna: How is that possible?

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Avery: A study in the journal Nature analyzed

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ancient crystals from our planet's crust.

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They found traces of heavy elements like gold

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and platinum, which are thought to be

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produced in the supernova of massive stars.

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These supernovae are much more common in the

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spiral arms of galaxies.

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Anna: So the theory is that as our solar system

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passed through these dense star forming

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spiral arms over billions of years, the Earth

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picked up this stardust which which then got

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trapped in the crust.

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Avery: Exactly. The crystals act as a geological

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record of our planet's epic journey through

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the Milky Way.

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Anna: And that is our cosmic journey for today.

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From potential delays for our return to.

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Avery: The Moon to finding galactic history

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right here in the ground beneath our feet.

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Thank you for joining us on Astronomy Daily.

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Anna: You can find our show wherever you get your

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podcasts. Please be sure to subscribe so you

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don't miss an episode and subscribe. And if

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you would like even more space and astronomy

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news from around the globe, please visit our

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website at astronomydaily IO.

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You'll find all our back episodes there as

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well, plus our latest blogs. See you

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tomorrow.

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Avery: Until next time, keep looking up.