Earth-Like Planet Abundance, Alien Signals, and a Milestone Mars Image

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Avery: Hello and welcome back to Astronomy Daily,

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the podcast that brings the cosmos down to

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Earth. I'm Avery.

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

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Today we're covering everything from the

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potential abundance of Earth like planets to

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a truly mind bending theory about our first

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contact with alien life.

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Avery: Plus, we'll be looking at a record breaking

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week for space launches around the globe, a

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major milestone for a long serving Mars

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orbiter, and an exciting opportunity for

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students to contribute to the future of space

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exploration. So let's get started.

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Anna: Avery.

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Let's start with one of the biggest questions

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in astronomy. Are we alone? A new study

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published in Science Advances suggests that

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planets like ours might be far more common

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than we previously thought.

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Avery: This is the kind of news I love. What's the

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new theory behind this?

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Anna: It's called the immersion theory. The basic

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idea is that the formation of rocky Earth

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like planets isn't just a gentle process of

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dust clumping together over millions of

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years. Instead, it might be kickstarted by a

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pretty violent event. A nearby supernova.

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Avery: A supernova. Wow. So the death of a star

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could trigger the birth of a planet like

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ours?

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Anna: Exactly. The study proposes that the shock

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wave and material from a supernova explosion

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can compress a cloud of gas and dust and

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inject it with heavy elements. This creates

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the perfect conditions for rocky planets rich

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in the materials needed for life to form

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around a young star.

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Avery: That's fascinating. So it's less of a random

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accident and more of a predictable outcome of

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cosmic events. A what does this mean for the

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numbers? How much more common are we talking?

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Anna: The estimates are really promising. The study

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suggests that anywhere from 10 to

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50% of sun like stars could have planetary

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systems formed under these conditions. It

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basically reframes Earth like planets from

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being cosmic rarities to potentially being a

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common class of planet throughout the galaxy.

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Avery: 50%. Just imagine that. It really

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changes your perspective when you look up at

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the night sky.

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Anna: It does.

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And speaking of what might be out there,

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another fascinating, exciting new idea has

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emerged about what our first contact with an

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extraterrestrial civilization might actually

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be like. And it's not what you see in the

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movies.

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Avery: Okay, you have my attention. I'm guessing

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it's not a friendly hello.

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Anna: Not exactly. David Kipping from

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Columbia University has proposed something

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called the Eschtachian hypothesis. The core

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idea is that our first contact won't be a

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typical representative signal from an average

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alien civilization. Instead, it's more

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likely to be a loud and atypical signal.

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Avery: Loud? What does he mean by that, like,

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powerful and easy to detect.

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Anna: Precisely. The hypothesis suggests that the

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first civilization we hear from might be one

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in a terminal phase, perhaps facing an

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existential crisis or nearing its end. In

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a final desperate act, they might unleash a

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powerful, information rich beacon into the

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cosmos, not necessarily for a reply, but

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as a final testament to their existence. A. A

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sort of cosmic message in a bottle.

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Avery: Wow, that is a sobering, thought. So

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we wouldn't be hearing from a thriving

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neighbor, but receiving a final broadcast

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from a civilization that may no longer exist

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by the time we get the message?

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Anna: That's the idea. It's based on a pattern we

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see in astronomy, where our first discoveries

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of a new phenomenon are often the most

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extreme or unusual cases, the easiest

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ones to spot. The first exoplanets we found

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were hot Jupiters, which we now know are not

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the most common type of planet.

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Avery: Right, that makes sense. The quiet, stable

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civilizations might be out there, but they'd

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be much harder to find than one. Shouting for

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all it's worth. It completely reframes the

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search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

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Anna: It certainly does.

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Now, bringing our focus back a little closer

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to home. The skies above Earth are about to

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get incredibly busy. We're looking at a,

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packed week for space launches from multiple

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agencies and companies around the world.

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Avery: It really feels like a new golden age for

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spaceflight. What are some of the key

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missions we should be watching?

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Anna: Well, there are some exciting debuts. We're

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anticipating the first ever launch of China's

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Long March 12A rocket. And South

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Korea is set to launch its first commercial

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rocket, the Hanbit Nano. Over in

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Europe, the Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch

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another batch of Galileo navigation

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satellites.

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Avery: And, you know, it wouldn't be a busy launch

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week without SpaceX. I assume they have a few

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flights planned.

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Anna: Naturally. They have multiple Starlink

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missions on the manifest, as usual. But they

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aren't the only ones building out satellite

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Internet. United Launch alliance, or

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ula, has a mission for Amazon's

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Project Kuiper Pontellation as well.

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Avery: It's a truly global effort. Who else is on

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the list?

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Anna: We're also expecting launches from Japan's

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JAXA and Rocket Lab. And for the human

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spaceflight, Blue Origin is planning

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another crewed suborbital flight, sending

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more citizen astronauts to the edge of space.

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It's an amazing time to be a space

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enthusiast.

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Avery: Absolutely. And all those launches depend on

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having reliable infrastructure on the ground.

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On that note, there's some surprisingly good

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news coming out of the Baikonodrome

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Cosmodrome.

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Anna: That's right. Russia's space agency

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Roscosmos has been working on repairs to a

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launch pad that was damaged back in November

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during a crewed Soyuz launch. Initially, the

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timeline for getting it back in service

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looked pretty long, which is.

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Avery: A big deal considering how historic and vital

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that launch site is. So what's the update?

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Anna: The news is excellent. Roscosmos

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now expects the pad to be fully operational

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by late February 2026.

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That's significantly sooner than many had

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anticipated, which is great news for the

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operational tempo of their launches. It's a

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real testament to the engineering teams

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working on the problem.

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Avery: That really is fantastic news.

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Now let's travel from the launch pads of

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Earth to the orbit of Mars, where a veteran

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spacecraft has just hit an incredible

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milestone.

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Anna: This is such a wonderful story. NASA's

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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO,

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which has been circling the Red Planet for

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nearly two decades, has just captured its

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100,000th image with its most powerful

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camera.

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Avery: 100,000 images. The camera is

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HiRISE, right? The high Resolution Imaging

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Science Experiment. The level of detail it,

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captures is just breathtaking. What did they

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choose the photograph for this landmark

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image?

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Anna: This is the best part. The target wasn't

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chosen by a NASA scientist or a principal

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investigator. It was suggested by a high

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school student through a public outreach

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program called HiWish.

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Avery: No way. That's brilliant. So anyone can

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suggest a target for one of the most powerful

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cameras orbiting another planet.

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Anna: That's the program. And for its

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100,000th photo, HiRise captured

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a stunning view of mesas and dunes in a

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region called Syrtis Major. It's a

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beautiful image and a fantastic example of

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how NASA involves the public in the journey

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of exploration.

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Avery: What a legacy for that student. And, for the

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MRO mission itself.

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Anna: And speaking of getting involved in space

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exploration, that brings us to our final

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story. NASA has just launched a new

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competition for college students and it's a

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big one.

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Avery: Oh, excellent. Tell us about it.

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Anna: It's called the Orbit Challenge. That's O R

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B I T. The goal is to get college

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students to develop innovative solutions that

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can be used both for life here on Earth and

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for deep space exploration, especially with

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an eye towards the Artemis program and future

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missions to Mars.

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Avery: That sounds like an amazing opportunity. Is

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it just conceptual or are they looking for

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real technical development?

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Anna: It's quite serious. There's a prize

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pool of up to

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$380,000.

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Students are encouraged to work with NASA's

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existing portfolio of patents or to

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come up with their own brand new concepts.

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They're really looking for the next

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generation of innovators.

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Avery: That's fantastic. A huge resume builder

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and a chance to make a real impact for any

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students or educators listening. What's the

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deadline?

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Anna: Registration is open now and runs until

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February 9, 2026. So

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there's plenty of time to form a team and

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start brainstorming.

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Avery: From potentially common Earths to final

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alien broadcasts from the jam packed launch

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schedule to a student photographed Mars,

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it's been another incredible week in space

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news. And that just about does it for today's

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episode of Astronomy Daily.

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Anna: We hope we've given you a few new things to

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wonder about. The universe is a vast and

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fascinating and we're learning more about it

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every single day.

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Avery: A huge thank you for tuning in and joining us

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on this journey. We'll be back soon with more

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news from across the cosmos. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Until next time, keep

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looking up.

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