Blue Origin's TeraWave Network, Historic ISS Medical Evacuation & Buzz Aldrin Turns 96

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Anna: Hey there, space fans. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Welcome to Astronomy

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Daily, your daily dose of space and

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astronomy News. It's Thursday, January

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22, 2026, and boy,

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do we have a packed episode for you today.

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Anna: We really do. We're covering everything

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from Blue Origin's ambitious new

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satellite Internet network to an update on

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that historic medical evacuation from the

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International Space Station. Plus, we'll

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celebrate a special bir for a lunar legend.

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Avery: That's right. We've also got some fascinating

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science stories, including new insights into

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Saturn's moon Enceladus, surprising

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discoveries about plasma waves at Mercury,

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and groundbreaking observations of solar

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flares.

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Anna: So buckle up, let's dive right

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into today's space headlines.

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Avery: Alright, Anna, um, let's kick things off with

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some major news from Blue Origin. Jeff

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Bezos Space Company just announced a new

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satellite Internet network called TerraWave.

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And the numbers are pretty staggering.

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Anna: They really are. We're talking about data

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speeds up to 6 terabits per second.

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That's seriously impressive. How does that

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compare to what's available now?

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Avery: Well, for context, SpaceX's Starlink

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currently maxes out at

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400Mbps for consumers,

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though they're planning to upgrade to 1

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gigabit speeds in the future. But 6

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terabits per second, that's in a completely

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different league.

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Anna: So this isn't really targeting the same

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market as Starlink then?

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Avery: Exactly. Blue Origin is very clear about

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this. TerraWave is geared toward enterprise

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customers, data centers and government

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applications. It's meant to add a space based

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layer to existing network infrastructure,

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particularly for reaching locations that

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traditional methods can't access.

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Anna: What's the architecture looking like? How

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many satellites are we talking about?

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Avery: The constellation will use a mix of

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5,280 satellites in low

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Earth orbit and 128 in

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medium Earth orbit. The low Earth orbit

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satellites will use RF connectivity with

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maximum data transfer speeds of

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144 gigabits per second,

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while the medium Earth orbit satellites will

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use optical lengths to achieve those

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incredible 6 terabits per second speeds.

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Anna: When can we expect to see this actually

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deployed?

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Avery: Blue Origin plans to start deploying the

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first satellites in late 2027. They

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haven't given a timeline for the full build

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out yet, which makes sense given the scale of

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the project.

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Anna: This is interesting timing too, isn't it?

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Because Jeff Bezos other company Amazon,

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just rebranded their satellite network as

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LEO.

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Avery: That's right. LEO will have around 3,000

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satellites in low Earth orbit, offering more

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traditional broadband speeds to consumers.

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So, taken together, Amazon's LEO and Blue

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Origin's TerraWave could provide pretty

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robust competition to SpaceX's Starlink

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across different market segments.

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Anna: It's really shaping up to be an exciting era

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for satellite Internet. The competition

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should drive innovation and hopefully improve

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service for everyone.

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Avery: Absolutely. And it shows how Blue Origin is

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evolving beyond just their space tourism

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flights. With New Shepard, with the

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successful launches of their new Glenn

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rocket, landing the booster on just a second

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attempt, and now this satellite network

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announcement. They're really becoming a

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multifaceted commercial space player.

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Anna: Great point.

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Alright, let's move on to some news from

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closer to home, or at least from low Earth

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orbit. Avery, we need to talk about the

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unprecedented medical evacuation from the

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International Space Station. This was a

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historic moment and not in a way anyone

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wanted. Well, today we have a bit of an

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update as the astronauts have made their

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first live appearance since returning to

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Earth.

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Avery: You're absolutely right, Anna. For the first

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time in over 25 years of continuous

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human presence on the ISS, and the first time

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in NASA's entire history, a space

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mission was cut short due to a medical issue.

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The four astronauts of Crew 11 splashed down

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in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of

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California on January 15, about

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a month earlier than planned.

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Anna: Can you tell us who was on this crew?

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Avery: The crew included NASA astronauts Zena

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Cardman and Mike Fenk, Japan Aerospace

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Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui

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and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platanov.

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They'd been on the station for 167

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days, having launched back in August 2025.

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Anna: And NASA still hasn't disclosed which crew

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member had the medical issue or um, what the

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condition was.

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Avery: That's correct. They're protecting the

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astronauts medical privacy. What they have

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said is that the crew member is stable and

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that this wasn't an emergency situation

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despite bringing the entire crew home early.

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Anna: How did this unfold? What were the warning

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signs?

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Avery: The first public indication came when NASA

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canceled a planned spacewalk on January 8

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due to a medical concern. Mike Fink and

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Zena Cardman were supposed to venture outside

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the station to work on the power system. The

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next day, NASA made the decision to bring the

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entire crew home early.

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Anna: That must have been a difficult decision to

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make.

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Avery: Absolutely. NASA Administrator Jared

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Isaacman emphasized that while they have

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medical equipment and trained crew members

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aboard the iss, the capability

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to properly diagnose and treat this

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particular condition simply doesn't exist on

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the station. He called it, uh, a controlled

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medical evacuation, not an emergency

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deorbit.

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Anna: What's particularly interesting to me is what

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the crew members said at their press

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conference yesterday. They seemed remarkably

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positive about the experience, they really

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did.

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Avery: Mike Fink, who was the ISS commander during

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this mission, said the way the crew and

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ground teams handled everything made him more

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confident about human space exploration, not

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less. He specifically mentioned this bodes

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well for the upcoming Artemis program.

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Anna: I remember reading that they used the

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portable ultrasound machine on the ISS during

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this incident.

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Avery: Right. Fink mentioned that during the press

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conference. He emphasized that while the

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ultrasound was extremely helpful, the ISS

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doesn't have the capacity for larger imaging

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equipment like MRI machines. Zena Cardman

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also pointed out that as we venture beyond

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low Earth orbit to the Moon and eventually

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Mars, having better diagnostic and treatment

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tools on board will be a critical challenge

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to solve.

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Anna: How has this affected operations on the iss?

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Avery: Well, their departure left only three people

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on the station, two Russian cosmonauts and

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one NASA astronaut who'd arrived on a Soyuz

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capsule in November. That's significantly

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reduced from the typical crew of seven, which

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means fewer experiments and less maintenance

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can be performed. The next crew rotation,

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Crew 12 is scheduled to launch no earlier

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than February 15th.

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Anna: Despite the challenging circumstances, this

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really demonstrates the professionalism and

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preparedness of our space programs.

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Avery: Exactly as Cardman emphasized,

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astronauts are the eyes and ears for

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researchers on the ground, and this

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experience will undoubtedly inform how we

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prepare for longer duration missions further

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from Earth. Alright, shall we move on to a

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much happier space story?

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Anna: Absolutely.

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This past Tuesday, January 20th, marked

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the 96th birthday of Buzz Aldrin,

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the second man to walk the moon and now

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the oldest living astronaut.

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Avery: What an incredible milestone. Buzz

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Aldrin, born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.

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On January 20, 1930 in Glen Rich,

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New Jersey, made history alongside Neil

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Armstrong during the Apollo 11 landing in

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1969. He was 39 years old

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when he stepped onto the lunar surface.

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Anna: I love the story behind his nickname. Did you

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know that his sister couldn't pronounce

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brother properly and called him Buzzer, which

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got shortened to Buzz?

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Avery: I did. And he liked it so much he legally

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changed his first name to buzz in

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1988. Now, it's worth noting that this

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past year hasn't been easy for Aldrin. He

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lost his wife, Anka Fower, last fall after a

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battle with cancer. They'd been married on

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his 93rd birthday in 2023.

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Anna: That's heartbreaking, but it sounds like he's

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surrounded by family now.

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Avery: Yes, his family posted an update in late

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December showing he's spending time with his

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children and grandchildren in Los Angeles and

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and they're planning to move him closer to

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family in Southern California. Despite his

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age and recent loss, he remains a cheerleader

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for NASA and space exploration.

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Anna: Speaking of which, the timing of his birthday

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is pretty special with the Artemis II mission

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coming up.

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Avery: Absolutely. The Artemis astronauts wished him

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a happy birthday this past weekend from

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Kennedy Space center as their Orion, uh,

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spacecraft atop the Space Launch System

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rocket rolled out to launch pad 39B.

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It's the same pad that launched many Apollo

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missions.

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Anna: The Artemis 2 crew, NASA astronauts Reid

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Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and

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Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen

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could launch as early as February 6th.

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They'll be the first humans to return to the

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vicinity of the moon since 1972.

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Avery: And they'll make history, too. Victor Glover

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will be the first black astronaut, Christina

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Koch the first woman, and Jeremy Hansen the

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first non American to travel that far from

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Earth.

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Anna: What really struck me was how the Artemis

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astronauts talked about their connections to

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the Apollo program.

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Avery: Me too. Reid Wiseman shared this great story

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about almost missing a call from Apollo 10's

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General Tom Stafford on the day he was

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selected for Artemis 2. He thought it was a

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telemarketer, but Stafford called to

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congratulate him, and Wiseman said, the

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Apollo astronauts are just so excited that

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we're headed back to the moon.

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Anna: Victor Glover mentioned carrying a bag of

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wisdom quotes from Apollo 9's Rusty Schweiker

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to the space station, and he's planning to

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take it to the moon as well.

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Avery: And Christina Koch talked about Fred haise

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from Apollo 13, teasing her about breaking

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their distance record. She said that moment

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brought her into the Apollo camaraderie, and

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she promised to carry that spirit forward.

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Anna: Jeremy Hansen's story is my favorite, though.

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He saw a picture of Buzz or Neil on the moon

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as a kid, turned his treehouse into a

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spaceship, and here he is now about to go to

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the moon himself.

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Avery: It really shows the lasting impact of the

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Apollo program. Of the 12 men who walked on

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the moon, only four are still alive. Buzz

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Aldrin at 96, David Scott at

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93, Charles Duke at 90, and

269
00:10:44.420 --> 00:10:45.860
Harrison Schmidt at 90.

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Anna: Buzz Aldrin truly is a living legend, and his

271
00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:50.540
enthusiasm for the future of space

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00:10:50.540 --> 00:10:53.060
exploration is inspiring. Happy

273
00:10:53.060 --> 00:10:54.660
96th birthday, Buzz.

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00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:57.820
Avery: Hear, hear. Now let's shift gears and head

275
00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:00.480
out to Saturn's moon Enceladus. Anna.

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Uh, this next story is about one of the most

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00:11:02.560 --> 00:11:05.000
exciting places in our solar system when it

278
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.560
comes to the search for life. Saturn's moon

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00:11:07.560 --> 00:11:08.400
Enceladus.

280
00:11:08.640 --> 00:11:11.520
Anna: Oh, I love Enceladus. Those gorgeous

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00:11:11.520 --> 00:11:13.480
plumes shooting out from the south pole are

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00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:15.760
just mesmerizing. What's the new development?

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00:11:16.400 --> 00:11:18.840
Avery: A team of Japanese scientists has Developed a

284
00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:21.160
new method for analyzing those plumes that

285
00:11:21.160 --> 00:11:23.280
could help us determine whether Enceladus

286
00:11:23.280 --> 00:11:25.970
subsurface ocean is habitable. They're

287
00:11:25.970 --> 00:11:28.450
proposing to use Rayman spectroscopy To

288
00:11:28.450 --> 00:11:30.730
estimate the ph levels of the water Being

289
00:11:30.730 --> 00:11:32.010
ejected from the moon.

290
00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:35.010
Anna: Rayman spectroscopy, can you explain what

291
00:11:35.010 --> 00:11:36.090
that is for our listeners?

292
00:11:36.490 --> 00:11:39.170
Avery: Sure. Rayman spectroscopy is a technique that

293
00:11:39.170 --> 00:11:41.610
uses laser light to identify the molecular

294
00:11:41.610 --> 00:11:44.250
composition of materials. It's been used on

295
00:11:44.250 --> 00:11:46.380
several planetary missions, including on, um,

296
00:11:46.410 --> 00:11:49.250
the perseverance rover currently on Mars. The

297
00:11:49.250 --> 00:11:51.090
technique can identify different chemical

298
00:11:51.090 --> 00:11:53.530
compounds and in this case, different ph

299
00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:54.090
levels.

300
00:11:54.490 --> 00:11:57.210
Anna: And why is ph so important for habitability?

301
00:11:57.770 --> 00:12:00.450
Avery: Well, the ph level tells us how acidic or

302
00:12:00.450 --> 00:12:02.890
alkaline the water is, which is crucial for

303
00:12:02.890 --> 00:12:04.890
understanding whether life as we know it

304
00:12:04.890 --> 00:12:07.410
could potentially exist there. Scientists

305
00:12:07.410 --> 00:12:09.970
have estimated that Enceladus plumes Likely

306
00:12:09.970 --> 00:12:12.810
have a ph somewhere between 8 and 12,

307
00:12:13.050 --> 00:12:15.370
which is weakly to strongly alkaline.

308
00:12:15.690 --> 00:12:17.530
Anna: So how did they test this method?

309
00:12:17.930 --> 00:12:19.930
Avery: The researchers conducted laboratory

310
00:12:19.930 --> 00:12:22.570
experiments Using carbonate salty fluid

311
00:12:22.570 --> 00:12:25.470
samples at different ph levels. They

312
00:12:25.470 --> 00:12:28.070
placed these samples in a vacuum chamber to

313
00:12:28.070 --> 00:12:30.350
simulate Enceladus surface conditions,

314
00:12:30.750 --> 00:12:32.990
Letting the fluid evaporate and freeze,

315
00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:36.070
Leaving only the salt deposits behind. Then

316
00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:38.510
they used Raman spectroscopy instruments

317
00:12:38.590 --> 00:12:41.109
Configured to simulate how they'd work On a

318
00:12:41.109 --> 00:12:42.190
future space mission.

319
00:12:42.510 --> 00:12:43.870
Anna: And were they successful?

320
00:12:44.270 --> 00:12:46.830
Avery: They were. The Raman spectroscopy

321
00:12:46.830 --> 00:12:48.910
Successfully identified the different ph

322
00:12:48.990 --> 00:12:51.470
levels in each of the salt deposit samples.

323
00:12:51.980 --> 00:12:54.140
The researchers concluded that this technique

324
00:12:54.140 --> 00:12:56.020
could identify Carbonate minerals On

325
00:12:56.020 --> 00:12:58.980
Enceladus surface and potentially estimate

326
00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:01.340
the ph of the subsurface ocean.

327
00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:04.220
Anna: This is particularly clever because it means

328
00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:06.340
we wouldn't necessarily need to drill through

329
00:13:06.340 --> 00:13:08.620
the ice to sample the ocean directly.

330
00:13:09.020 --> 00:13:11.500
Avery: Exactly. The plumes are constantly

331
00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:14.300
depositing material on the surface, so a

332
00:13:14.300 --> 00:13:16.780
lander could analyze these deposits and learn

333
00:13:16.780 --> 00:13:19.150
about the ocean below. It's a much more

334
00:13:19.150 --> 00:13:21.390
accessible approach Than trying to penetrate

335
00:13:21.390 --> 00:13:22.630
kilometers of ice.

336
00:13:23.030 --> 00:13:25.070
Anna: Remind me, what do we already know about

337
00:13:25.070 --> 00:13:26.950
enceladus from the Cassini mission?

338
00:13:27.350 --> 00:13:29.950
Avery: Well, Cassini discovered the plumes back in

339
00:13:29.950 --> 00:13:32.630
the mid 2000s and even flew through them.

340
00:13:32.870 --> 00:13:35.670
The mission found mostly water ice, but also

341
00:13:35.670 --> 00:13:37.990
salt rich ice grains, Organic

342
00:13:37.990 --> 00:13:40.870
molecules, Hydrogen gas, and evidence of

343
00:13:40.870 --> 00:13:43.510
heat, all indicative of active geology

344
00:13:43.670 --> 00:13:45.590
and a warm subsurface ocean.

345
00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.160
Anna: And the presence of hydrogen gas Was

346
00:13:48.160 --> 00:13:50.120
particularly exciting because it could be

347
00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:52.480
produced by hydrothermal vents on the ocean

348
00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:53.200
floor, right?

349
00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:56.000
Avery: Exactly. That could provide A source of

350
00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:58.800
chemical energy for potential microbial life,

351
00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.520
Similar to what we see around hydrothermal

352
00:14:01.520 --> 00:14:04.280
vents in earth's deep oceans. Being able to

353
00:14:04.280 --> 00:14:06.560
measure the ph more accurately Would be

354
00:14:06.560 --> 00:14:08.880
another crucial piece of the habitability

355
00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:09.520
puzzle.

356
00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:11.880
Anna: This really makes me excited for future

357
00:14:11.880 --> 00:14:14.380
missions to enceladus hopefully we'll see a

358
00:14:14.380 --> 00:14:15.980
dedicated mission there in the coming

359
00:14:15.980 --> 00:14:16.580
decades.

360
00:14:16.980 --> 00:14:19.620
Avery: Absolutely. The technology is there. We just

361
00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:20.340
need the mission.

362
00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:23.140
Alright, let's head to Mercury for our next

363
00:14:23.140 --> 00:14:23.460
story.

364
00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:26.380
Anna: Avery, this next story reveals some

365
00:14:26.380 --> 00:14:28.780
surprising connections between Mercury and

366
00:14:28.780 --> 00:14:31.460
Earth. It turns out these two very different

367
00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:33.780
planets have more in common than we thought

368
00:14:33.780 --> 00:14:35.700
when it comes to their magnetospheres.

369
00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:38.220
Avery: That's right, Anna. Um. An international team

370
00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:40.660
of researchers has discovered that natural

371
00:14:40.660 --> 00:14:43.020
electromagnetic waves, called chorus

372
00:14:43.020 --> 00:14:45.900
emissions occur in Mercury's magnetosphere

373
00:14:45.900 --> 00:14:48.380
with strikingly similar characteristics to

374
00:14:48.380 --> 00:14:51.180
those found around Earth, despite Mercury

375
00:14:51.180 --> 00:14:54.060
having a magnetic field only about 100th

376
00:14:54.060 --> 00:14:54.540
as strong.

377
00:14:55.020 --> 00:14:57.660
Anna: Chorus waves. That's such an evocative name.

378
00:14:57.820 --> 00:14:59.340
Can you explain what these are?

379
00:14:59.739 --> 00:15:02.700
Avery: Sure. Chorus waves are plasma waves that

380
00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:05.100
sound like birdsong when converted to audio

381
00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:07.660
frequencies. They're created when electrons

382
00:15:07.660 --> 00:15:10.100
in a planet's magnetosphere interact with

383
00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:12.620
electromagnetic waves, producing these

384
00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:15.140
characteristic rising and falling tones.

385
00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:18.340
Anna: And why do we care about these waves on

386
00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:18.700
Earth?

387
00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:21.140
Avery: They play a crucial role in the Van Allen

388
00:15:21.140 --> 00:15:23.700
radiation belts. They can both accelerate

389
00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:26.540
particles to create the belts and also cause

390
00:15:26.540 --> 00:15:28.940
particles to rain down into the atmosphere,

391
00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:31.580
depleting them. Understanding these waves is

392
00:15:31.580 --> 00:15:34.060
important for space weather forecasting and

393
00:15:34.060 --> 00:15:35.940
protecting satellites from radiation.

394
00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:39.060
Anna: So how did researchers make this discovery at

395
00:15:39.060 --> 00:15:39.620
Mercury?

396
00:15:40.190 --> 00:15:42.710
Avery: They used data from the BepiColombo mission's

397
00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:45.310
magnetospheric orbiter, called MEO,

398
00:15:45.470 --> 00:15:48.110
during six flybys of Mercury between

399
00:15:48.110 --> 00:15:50.910
2021 and 2025. They

400
00:15:50.910 --> 00:15:52.830
combined this with decades of data from

401
00:15:52.830 --> 00:15:55.310
Earth's Geotail satellite, which operated

402
00:15:55.310 --> 00:15:57.710
from 1992 to 2022.

403
00:15:58.110 --> 00:16:00.910
Anna: Why was Geotail particularly useful for

404
00:16:00.910 --> 00:16:01.550
comparison?

405
00:16:01.950 --> 00:16:04.790
Avery: Great question. Geotail observed Earth's

406
00:16:04.790 --> 00:16:07.550
Magnetotail from about 10 Earth radii

407
00:16:07.550 --> 00:16:10.000
away, conditions that actually resemble

408
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.560
Mercury's much smaller, more compact

409
00:16:12.560 --> 00:16:15.040
magnetosphere. This made it an excellent

410
00:16:15.040 --> 00:16:16.240
benchmark for comparison.

411
00:16:16.880 --> 00:16:18.480
Anna: What exactly did they find?

412
00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:21.920
Avery: The team identified rapid rising and

413
00:16:21.920 --> 00:16:24.240
falling frequency sweeps at Mercury,

414
00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.240
indicating the same kind of nonlinear

415
00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.160
coupling between electrons and waves that we

416
00:16:30.160 --> 00:16:32.760
see at Earth. They also found that the

417
00:16:32.760 --> 00:16:35.360
emissions were concentrated in the dawn side

418
00:16:35.520 --> 00:16:38.020
sector, just like at Earth, where

419
00:16:38.020 --> 00:16:40.820
energetic electrons preferentially stream

420
00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:42.220
through the magnetosphere.

421
00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:45.020
Anna: What surprised me about this is that Mercury

422
00:16:45.020 --> 00:16:47.620
has almost no atmosphere. I would have

423
00:16:47.620 --> 00:16:49.100
thought that would make a big difference.

424
00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:52.060
Avery: That's what scientists expected, too.

425
00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:54.940
Earlier theories suggested that Mercury

426
00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:57.420
wouldn't have the cold or low energy

427
00:16:57.420 --> 00:17:00.420
electrons necessary to generate chorus

428
00:17:00.420 --> 00:17:03.020
waves. But this discovery confirms

429
00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:05.780
predictions from 2025 that these

430
00:17:05.780 --> 00:17:08.060
electrons do exist around Merc.

431
00:17:09.159 --> 00:17:11.399
Anna: So what does this tell us about how universal

432
00:17:11.399 --> 00:17:13.079
these plasma processes are?

433
00:17:13.479 --> 00:17:15.639
Avery: It demonstrates that the mechanisms

434
00:17:15.639 --> 00:17:18.119
responsible for generating chorus emissions

435
00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:20.519
can operate across vastly different

436
00:17:20.679 --> 00:17:23.439
Planetary environments. From Earth with its

437
00:17:23.439 --> 00:17:25.959
strong magnetic field and thick atmosphere,

438
00:17:26.199 --> 00:17:28.999
to Mercury with its weak field and virtually

439
00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:31.559
no atmosphere. It's a universal

440
00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:32.519
plasma process.

441
00:17:33.239 --> 00:17:35.719
Anna: This has implications for other planets too,

442
00:17:35.719 --> 00:17:36.279
doesn't it?

443
00:17:37.020 --> 00:17:39.300
Avery: Absolutely. The researchers mentioned that

444
00:17:39.300 --> 00:17:41.900
this opens up systematic comparative studies

445
00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:44.940
of auroral and radiation processes at

446
00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:47.940
multiple planets, including Mars, Jupiter

447
00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:50.500
and Saturn. By understanding how these

448
00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:52.820
emissions work across different planetary

449
00:17:52.820 --> 00:17:55.700
systems, we can build a more complete picture

450
00:17:55.700 --> 00:17:57.780
of plasma physics throughout the solar

451
00:17:57.780 --> 00:17:58.060
system.

452
00:17:58.540 --> 00:18:01.380
Anna: And Mio is scheduled to enter Mercury orbit

453
00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:03.420
in late 2026, right?

454
00:18:04.090 --> 00:18:06.610
Avery: That's correct. Once in orbit, Mio will be

455
00:18:06.610 --> 00:18:09.050
able to make much more detailed observations

456
00:18:09.290 --> 00:18:12.010
of how these emissions vary with location and

457
00:18:12.010 --> 00:18:14.570
how they interact with electron populations

458
00:18:14.730 --> 00:18:17.570
around Mercury. We should learn a lot more in

459
00:18:17.570 --> 00:18:18.330
the coming years.

460
00:18:18.730 --> 00:18:21.490
Anna: It's amazing how studying one planet helps us

461
00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:24.090
understand others. Alright, let's wrap up

462
00:18:24.090 --> 00:18:24.970
with some solar.

463
00:18:24.970 --> 00:18:27.880
Avery: Science for our final story today. Anna,

464
00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:30.170
uh, we're heading to the sun to talk about

465
00:18:30.170 --> 00:18:32.930
some remarkable new insights into how

466
00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:35.830
solar flares actually work, courtesy of

467
00:18:35.830 --> 00:18:38.110
ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

468
00:18:38.510 --> 00:18:40.630
Anna: Solar flares are one of those phenomena that

469
00:18:40.630 --> 00:18:42.710
everyone's heard of and are certainly in the

470
00:18:42.710 --> 00:18:45.190
news this week, but I think many people don't

471
00:18:45.190 --> 00:18:47.670
really understand what's happening. What did

472
00:18:47.670 --> 00:18:49.070
Solar Orbiter discover?

473
00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:52.510
Avery: Well, researchers found that solar flares

474
00:18:52.510 --> 00:18:54.990
start with what they're calling a magnetic

475
00:18:54.990 --> 00:18:57.590
avalanche. Just like a, uh, snow avalanche

476
00:18:57.590 --> 00:18:59.710
starts with a small amount of snow movement

477
00:18:59.710 --> 00:19:02.350
and then cascades into something much larger.

478
00:19:02.360 --> 00:19:05.070
And solar flares begin with initially

479
00:19:05.070 --> 00:19:08.030
weak magnetic disturbances that rapidly

480
00:19:08.030 --> 00:19:09.310
become more violent.

481
00:19:09.790 --> 00:19:12.390
Anna: That's a great analogy. How are they able to

482
00:19:12.390 --> 00:19:13.070
observe this?

483
00:19:13.790 --> 00:19:16.070
Avery: Solar Orbiter captured one of its most

484
00:19:16.070 --> 00:19:18.789
detailed views of a large solar flare during

485
00:19:18.789 --> 00:19:21.430
its September 30, 2024 close

486
00:19:21.430 --> 00:19:23.790
approach to the Sun. What made this

487
00:19:23.790 --> 00:19:26.510
observation special was the combination of

488
00:19:26.510 --> 00:19:28.990
four different instruments working together.

489
00:19:29.530 --> 00:19:32.090
The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager, along with

490
00:19:32.090 --> 00:19:34.170
spice sticks and phi.

491
00:19:34.730 --> 00:19:36.810
Anna: What kind of detail are we talking about?

492
00:19:37.370 --> 00:19:40.090
Avery: The high resolution imagery from the EUI

493
00:19:40.090 --> 00:19:42.810
instrument zoomed in to features just a

494
00:19:42.810 --> 00:19:45.650
few hundred kilometers across in the Sun's

495
00:19:45.650 --> 00:19:48.250
corona, capturing changes every two

496
00:19:48.410 --> 00:19:51.210
seconds. And the team was able to watch the

497
00:19:51.210 --> 00:19:53.970
buildup to the flare for about 40 minutes

498
00:19:53.970 --> 00:19:55.050
before it erupted.

499
00:19:55.670 --> 00:19:57.750
Anna: That's incredibly fortunate timing.

500
00:19:58.150 --> 00:20:00.910
Avery: It really was. Pradeep Cheetah from the Max

501
00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:03.030
Planck Institute for Solar System Research,

502
00:20:03.350 --> 00:20:06.030
who led the study, said they were very lucky

503
00:20:06.030 --> 00:20:08.230
to witness the precursor events in such

504
00:20:08.230 --> 00:20:11.149
beautiful detail. These kinds of high cadence

505
00:20:11.149 --> 00:20:13.790
observations take up enormous amounts of

506
00:20:13.790 --> 00:20:16.470
memory on spacecraft, so they can't do them

507
00:20:16.470 --> 00:20:17.110
all the time.

508
00:20:17.830 --> 00:20:20.710
Anna: So what actually happens during this magnetic

509
00:20:20.710 --> 00:20:21.350
avalanche?

510
00:20:21.790 --> 00:20:24.470
Avery: About 40 minutes before the main Flare. The

511
00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:26.830
instruments observed a dark filament of

512
00:20:26.830 --> 00:20:29.790
twisted magnetic fields connected to a cross

513
00:20:29.790 --> 00:20:32.150
shaped structure of progressively brightening

514
00:20:32.150 --> 00:20:35.150
magnetic field lines. New magnetic field

515
00:20:35.150 --> 00:20:37.950
strands appeared every two seconds or less,

516
00:20:38.270 --> 00:20:40.830
each one magnetically contained and becoming

517
00:20:40.830 --> 00:20:42.110
twisted like ropes.

518
00:20:42.430 --> 00:20:44.990
Anna: And then everything becomes unstable.

519
00:20:45.390 --> 00:20:48.270
Avery: Exactly. Just like in a typical avalanche,

520
00:20:48.270 --> 00:20:50.760
the region becomes unstable. The

521
00:20:50.760 --> 00:20:53.400
twisted strands begin to break and reconnect

522
00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:55.800
in what's called magnetic reconnection.

523
00:20:56.120 --> 00:20:58.760
This rapidly triggers a cascade of further

524
00:20:58.760 --> 00:21:01.320
destabilizations, creating progressively

525
00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:04.000
stronger reconnection events and outflows of

526
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.680
energy visible as increasing brightness in

527
00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:07.240
the imagery.

528
00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:09.560
Anna: This is different from how scientists

529
00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:11.240
previously thought flares work.

530
00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:14.320
Avery: Scientists had proposed a simple avalanche

531
00:21:14.320 --> 00:21:16.560
model for explaining the collective behavior

532
00:21:16.560 --> 00:21:18.880
of thousands of flares on the sun and other

533
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.820
stars. But it wasn't clear whether a single

534
00:21:21.820 --> 00:21:23.740
large flare could be described this way.

535
00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:24.280
Anna: Mhm.

536
00:21:24.280 --> 00:21:26.420
Avery: This result shows that a flare isn't

537
00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:29.380
necessarily one coherent eruption, but can

538
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be a cascade of many interacting

539
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reconnection events.

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00:21:33.340 --> 00:21:36.300
Anna: I read something about raining plasma blobs

541
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in this study.

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Avery: Yes, that's one of the most fascinating

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parts. The team observed ribbon like

544
00:21:42.260 --> 00:21:44.940
features moving extremely quickly down

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00:21:44.940 --> 00:21:47.420
through the Sun's atmosphere even before the

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00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:50.180
main episode of the flare. These streams of

547
00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:53.180
what they called raining plasma blobs are

548
00:21:53.180 --> 00:21:55.860
signatures of energy deposition. They get

549
00:21:55.860 --> 00:21:58.220
stronger as the flare progresses and continue

550
00:21:58.460 --> 00:22:00.220
even after the flare subsides.

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00:22:00.620 --> 00:22:03.420
Anna: And they detected some seriously high energy

552
00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:04.860
particles too, right?

553
00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:08.140
Avery: They did. The STIX instrument

554
00:22:08.140 --> 00:22:10.340
measured X ray emission that rose

555
00:22:10.340 --> 00:22:12.140
dramatically during the flare. As

556
00:22:12.140 --> 00:22:14.820
reconnection events increased, particles were

557
00:22:14.820 --> 00:22:17.780
accelerated to speeds of 40 to 50% the

558
00:22:17.780 --> 00:22:20.680
speed of light. That's about 430 to

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00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:23.000
540 kilometers per hour.

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00:22:23.320 --> 00:22:25.840
Anna: Those high energy particles can be dangerous

561
00:22:25.840 --> 00:22:27.880
for satellites and astronauts, can't they?

562
00:22:28.040 --> 00:22:30.160
Avery: Absolutely. They can escape into

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00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.560
interplanetary space and pose radiation

564
00:22:32.560 --> 00:22:35.360
hazards to satellites, astronauts and even

565
00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:37.680
Earth based technologies. That's why

566
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.160
understanding this process is essential for

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00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:41.560
forecasting space weather.

568
00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:44.280
Anna: What surprised the researchers most about

569
00:22:44.280 --> 00:22:45.080
this discovery?

570
00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:48.040
Avery: Cheetah said they didn't expect the avalanche

571
00:22:48.040 --> 00:22:50.160
process could lead to such high energy

572
00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:52.680
particles. They're excited to explore this

573
00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:54.880
further. But he mentioned they'd need even

574
00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:57.400
higher resolution X ray imagery from future

575
00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:00.080
missions to really untangle all the details.

576
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:02.640
Anna: What does this mean for our understanding of

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00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.240
flares on other stars?

578
00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:07.000
Avery: That's a great question. Miho Janvier,

579
00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.680
ESO Solar Orbiter Co project scientist,

580
00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.320
called this one of the most exciting results

581
00:23:12.320 --> 00:23:15.120
from Solar Orbiter so far. She said an

582
00:23:15.120 --> 00:23:16.880
interesting prospect is whether this

583
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:18.800
avalanche mechanism happens in all, uh,

584
00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:21.480
flares and on other flaring stars as well.

585
00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:24.000
It really highlights how much we still have

586
00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:26.360
to learn about our own sun, even as we

587
00:23:26.360 --> 00:23:28.600
explore the far reaches of the solar system.

588
00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:31.680
Anna: Absolutely. And that's the beauty of space

589
00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:34.080
science. There's always new mysteries to

590
00:23:34.080 --> 00:23:34.520
unravel.

591
00:23:34.840 --> 00:23:37.600
Avery: Well, that wraps up another packed episode of

592
00:23:37.600 --> 00:23:40.280
Astronomy Daily. We've covered everything

593
00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:42.680
from cutting edge satellite technology

594
00:23:43.080 --> 00:23:45.640
to historic medical operations in

595
00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:49.300
from birthday celebrations to groundbreaking

596
00:23:49.300 --> 00:23:50.660
scientific discoveries.

597
00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:53.620
Anna: What a journey through the cosmos. From Blue

598
00:23:53.620 --> 00:23:56.540
Origin's ambitious Terra Wave network to

599
00:23:56.540 --> 00:23:59.540
the first medical evacuation in ISS history,

600
00:23:59.860 --> 00:24:02.620
from Buzz Aldrin's 96th birthday to

601
00:24:02.620 --> 00:24:05.300
Enceladus potentially habitable ocean,

602
00:24:05.460 --> 00:24:08.100
from Mercury's plasma waves to the Sun's

603
00:24:08.100 --> 00:24:10.820
magnetic avalanches, there's never a dull

604
00:24:10.820 --> 00:24:12.340
moment in space exploration.

605
00:24:12.810 --> 00:24:14.850
Avery: If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to

606
00:24:14.850 --> 00:24:17.170
subscribe to Astronomy Daily wherever you get

607
00:24:17.170 --> 00:24:19.570
your podcasts. We bring you the latest space

608
00:24:19.570 --> 00:24:21.930
and astronomy news every single day.

609
00:24:22.170 --> 00:24:24.490
Anna: And don't forget to follow us on social media

610
00:24:24.490 --> 00:24:27.290
for updates, bonus content, and to join our

611
00:24:27.290 --> 00:24:29.970
community of space enthusiasts. You can find

612
00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:31.690
all our episodes and more at

613
00:24:31.690 --> 00:24:34.690
astronomydaily.IO thanks for joining us.

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00:24:34.690 --> 00:24:36.090
Avery: On this cosmic journey.

615
00:24:36.250 --> 00:24:38.810
Anna: Keep looking up clear skies, everyone.

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00:24:39.410 --> 00:24:41.530
Avery: This has been Astronomy Daily. We'll see you

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00:24:41.530 --> 00:24:41.970
tomorrow.