Exploding Rockets, Cosmic Rays, and the Secrets of Asteroid Bennu

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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy

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Daily, the podcast that brings you the

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universe one story at a time. I'm

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Avery.

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

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today. We're covering everything from

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exploding rockets and sugars on

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asteroids to a cosmic ray that might have

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sent an airplane into a dive.

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Avery: It's going to be a wild ride. Let's get

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started with our first story, which takes us

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to the rapidly evolving world of commercial

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spaceflight in China.

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Anna: There is so much going on with space

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technology in China at the moment, isn't

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there? What's the latest?

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Avery: So, Anna, there's big news from a company

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called Landspace. They just launched their

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Zhuqi 3 rocket, and it's a major

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step forward in the reusable rocket race.

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Anna: That's right, Avery. This is a methane

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powered rocket, similar in concept to

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SpaceX's Starship, designed for

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reusability. And the big news is that the

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first launch was, in large part, a, uh,

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success. The the rocket successfully reached

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orbit.

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Avery: Reaching orbit on a brand new rocket is the

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single biggest hurdle. So that's fantastic

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news for them. But I hear the second half of

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the test didn't go quite so smoothly.

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Anna: Yes, the reusable part of the test hit a

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snag. The first stage booster, which is

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supposed to fly back and land itself for

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reuse, experienced what the company calls a

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mishap.

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Avery: A, uh, mishap is putting it mildly. It

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exploded during the landing attempt, right?

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Anna: It did. But Land's base is still

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framing the overall mission as a success.

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And in the world of rocket development, they

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have a point. Proving your design can reach

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orbital velocity is a massive achievement.

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Avery: That makes sense. It's an iterative process.

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They've nailed the hardest part, and now they

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can use the data from the failed landing to

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figure out how to stick it next time.

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Anna: Precisely. It shows that the global

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competition for reusable rockets is heating

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up, and it's not just limited to a few big

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players anymore. This is a significant

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milestone for China's commercial space

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industry.

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Avery: And of course, we'll be keeping an eye on all

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their developments in the coming months.

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Anna: From rockets soaring up, we turn to a

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planet that is falling apart. The James

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Webb Space Telescope has given us an

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extraordinary view of an exoplanet that

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is actively losing its atmosphere.

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Avery: I love a good JWST story.

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Which planet are we talking about? And, um,

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what does that even look like? A planet

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shedding its atmosphere. What?

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Anna: The planet is WASP 107B.

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It's a gas giant, but it's unusually

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Puffy. It's very large for its mass

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because it orbits extremely close to its

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star. The intense radiation is boiling its

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atmosphere away into space.

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Avery: Wow. So it's just venting gas out into

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the void.

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Anna: Exactly. And Webb's instruments were able to

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detect a massive cloud of helium being

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stripped from the planet. This cloud is so

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large that it actually forms a giant T

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that travels ahead of the planet in its

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orbit.

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Avery: It travels ahead of the planet? How does that

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work?

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Anna: It's due to the complex interaction between

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the stellar wind and the planet's own orbital

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motion. It's a bit like a boat's wake

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appearing in front of it in a strong current.

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Avery: That's incredible. So this gives us a real

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time look at how planets can die

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or at least transform over billions of

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years.

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Anna: Yes, It's a vital piece of the puzzle for

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understanding planetary evolution. By

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studying planets like Wasp 1, we can

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learn more about how our own solar system may

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have formed and changed over time.

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Avery: Alright.

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From the ingredients of planets being

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stripped away, let's talk about the

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ingredients for life being found in a very

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exciting place. The samples from Asteroid

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Bennu are back. And they did not

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disappoint.

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Anna: They certainly did not. After years of

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travel, NASA's Osiris Rex mission

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returned pristine samples from the asteroid.

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And the initial findings are groundbreaking.

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Scientists have confirmed the presence of

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essential sugars within the asteroid

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material.

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Avery: And we're not talking about table sugar here,

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we're talking about the fundamental building

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blocks, uh, of life, right?

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Anna: Precisely. They have positively identified

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sugars like ribose, which is a critical

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component of rna, the molecule that may have

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preceded DNA in the earliest forms of life.

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They also found other vital sugars like

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glucose.

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Avery: So this adds huge weight to the theory

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that asteroids and comets could have

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delivered these prebiotic ingredients to the

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early Earth, kickstarting life here.

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Anna: Mm mhm. It's some of the strongest evidence

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to date. It tells us that these fundamental

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building blocks were likely common in the

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early solar system, available to planets like

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ours.

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Avery: Okay, I have to ask about my favorite part of

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this story. The space gum. What on Earth is

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that?

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Anna: Yes. The team also discovered a strange

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black, viscous organic material that

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they've playfully nicknamed Spacegum.

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They're still analyzing its exact

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composition, but it appears to be a very

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complex carbon rich substance. Just

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another fascinating piece of this cosmic

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puzzle.

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Avery: From asteroids to our own celestial neighbor.

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Let's bring it closer to home. Sky watchers

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are in for a special event this December. In

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coming days, in fact.

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Anna: That's right, the final full moon of

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2025. Has a few special things going

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for it. It's known as the cold Moon. And

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this year, it will also be a supermoon.

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Avery: Supermoon? That means it'll appear larger and

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brighter in the sky because it's closer to

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Earth and its orbit. I always love a good

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supermoon.

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Anna: It does. But there's an even more rare

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event happening at the same time. Something

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called a major lunar standstill.

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Avery: Okay, a major lunar standstill. That sounds

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very official and very dramatic. Break that

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down for us.

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Anna: It's a point in the moon's 18.6

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year cycle where its orbit is tilted

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to the maximum degree relative to Earth's

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equator. For those of us in the northern

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hemisphere, it means this full moon will

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trace a much higher arc across the winter sky

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than usual.

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Avery: Right, so it's not just closer, it's also

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taking the high road across the sky. The.

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That should make it visible for longer and

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easier to see.

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Anna: Exactly. It will rise in the northeast and

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set in the northwest, Similar to the sun's

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path in the summer. And it will stay above

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the horizon for an extended period. It's a

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perfect combination for a beautiful lunar

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spectacle.

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Avery: So make sure you get outside and look up, as

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we like to remind you.

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Anna: And while we're on the subject of our moon,

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we have a beautiful but bittersweet story

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from the Japanese lunar lander Hataku

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Matu R. Oh, right.

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Avery: This was the private mission that attempted

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to land on the moon last year. Sadly, it

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crashed in the final seconds of its descent.

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Anna: It did. But before the mission ended, it

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captured some truly breathtaking imagery.

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And one photo in particular has been making

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the rounds. It's a stunning shot of our

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own planet.

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Avery: I've seen it. It's an image of Earth during a

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total solar eclipse Taken from space.

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You can clearly see the round shadow of the

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moon moving across the Earth's surface.

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Australia in particular. It's just an

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incredible perspective.

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Anna: It really is. It's a viewpoint we so rarely

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get to see. It's a powerful reminder of the

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beauty of our world and the celestial dance.

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It's a part of a final, beautiful piece of

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data from, um, a mission that came so close

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to achieving its goal.

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Avery: Okay, for our final story, we're coming back

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down to Earth, but it's a story with a truly

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cosmic origin story.

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This sounds like pure science fiction, Anna,

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but an expert is suggesting a cosmic ray may

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have been responsible for forcing a JetBlue

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airliner into an emergency landing.

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Anna: It's a fascinating theory. The flight in

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question experienced a sudden, unexpected

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drop in altitude. And while there's no

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official cause yet, one plausible,

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though unproven explanation involves a

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high energy particle from deep space.

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Avery: A single particle can do that to a massive

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airplane? How is that even possible?

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Anna: To a phenomenon called a single event

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upset? High energy cosmic

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rays, often accelerated by distant

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supernovas, are constantly

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bombarding our atmosphere. If one

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of these particles, traveling at near the

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speed of light, happens to strike a

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microscopic transistor in one of the

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plane's flight computers. Uh-huh. It can

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deposit enough energy to. To flip

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a bit of memory. It can change a

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digital one to a zero or vice

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versa. In a non critical system,

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you'd never notice. But if it

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hits a crucial part of the processor,

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it could cause a temporary glitch or

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even a system reboot.

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Avery: So the plane's electronic brain could have a

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momentary hiccup caused by a particle from

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an exploded star millions of light years

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away. That is mind blowing.

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Anna: It is. And while it's important

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to note this is just one expert's

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hypothesis, it is scientifically

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plausible. Modern avionics have

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extensive shielding and redundant

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systems to prevent this. But the

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possibility, however remote, is always

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there. It's a wild reminder that

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we're never truly separate from the

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events of the wider cosmos.

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Avery: That really is a mind bending connection.

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And on, um, that cosmic note, that's all the

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time we have for today's episode of Astronomy

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Daily. What a trip across the universe it's

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been.

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Anna: It certainly has. Thank you all so

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much for joining us. We'll be back again

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tomorrow with another roundup of the latest

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news from around and beyond our world.

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Avery: Until then, clear skies. And one more

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reminder, Keep looking up.