From Kuiper Belt Discoveries to Space Burial Innovations: Your Daily Space Update

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy daily. Give us 10

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minutes and we'll give you the universe. I'm

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your host, Anna.

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Avery: And I'm, um, Avery. It's great to be with

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you. We have a fascinating lineup of stories

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today covering everything from the outer

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edges of our solar system to the challenges

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we face right here in Earth orbit.

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Anna: That's right. We'll be discussing a new

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structure found in the Kuiper Belt, a

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landmark year for Rocket Lab and the end of

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an era for a legendary NASA mission.

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Plus a surprising discovery from the James

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Webb Space Telescop, a so called

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super Earth.

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Avery: And we'll even touch on the unique business

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of deep space memorial flights.

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But first, let's talk about a problem that's

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only getting bigger. What to do with

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satellites when they die?

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Anna: Exactly, Avery. With mega constellations

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like Starlink launching thousands of

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satellites, the question of their disposal is

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critical. There's a big debate between two

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main philosophies. Design for demise or

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D4D, and design for non

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demise, D4ND.

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Avery: Right. So D4D means the satellites designed

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to completely burn up in the atmosphere upon

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reentry. Sounds like a clean solution, right?

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Just cosmic dust.

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Anna: That's the idea, but it's not that simple.

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Environmental scientists are raising

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concerns. When these satellites, which are

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largely made of aluminum alloys, burn up,

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they release tiny particles of alumina.

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Alumina. Okay. These particles can act

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as seeds for chemical reactions in the upper

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atmosphere, potentially damaging the O

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layer. Also, the intense heat of re entry

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can break apart atmospheric nitrogen,

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creating nitrogen oxides, which are powerful

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greenhouse gases.

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Avery: So even burning them up has an environmental

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cost. What's the alternative then? Um,

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designed for non demise.

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Anna: Exactly. D4ND means building

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satellites to survive re entry, allowing them

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to be guided to a safe splashdown in a remote

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ocean area. Like the spacecraft graveyard in

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the South Pacific.

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Avery: That avoids the atmospheric pollution, but it

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comes with its own risk. What if something

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goes wrong? You could have a washi machine

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sized piece of metal hitting the ground

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instead of the ocean. It's a tricky balance

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between atmospheric risk and ground impact

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risk.

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Anna: It really is. There's no perfect answer

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yet, but it's a conversation the space

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industry has to have, and fast.

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Avery: Alright, let's move from Earth's orbit way

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way out to the edge of the solar system.

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Astronomers at uh, Princeton University have

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found something new in the Kuiper Belt.

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Anna: The Kuiper Belt, for our listeners is that

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vast ring of icy bodies beyond the orbit of

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Neptune, with Pluto being its most famous

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resident. So what did they find?

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Avery: They found what they're calling an inner

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kernel of objects. For years, we've thought

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of the Kuiper Belt as having two main

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populations. A, uh, cold classical group with

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stable furcular orbits, and the hot group

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with more erratic tilted orbits.

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Anna: Uh-huh.

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Avery: But by using a data mining technique on a

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catalog of over 600 Kuiper belt objects,

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they identified this third group, the kernel,

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which has very flat, tightly packed orbits,

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distinct from the others.

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Anna: That's fascinating. A whole new structure

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hiding in plain sight. What does this mean

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for our understanding of the solar system's

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history?

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Avery: Well, the leading theory is that these

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objects formed even closer to the sun and

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were pushed outward during Neptune's great

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migration early in the solar system's

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history. The existence of this tightly packed

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kernel could provide new constraints for

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models of how that migration happened, giving

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us a clearer picture of our cosmic backyard's

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formation.

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Anna: And of course, any new structural information

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about the Kuiper Belt reignites the hunt for

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the hypothetical planet nine. The unusual

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orbits of some of these distant objects are,

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uh, what led to the theory of a massive

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undiscovered planet in the first place.

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Avery: That's the ultimate mystery out there, isn't

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it? While this kernel doesn't directly prove

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its existence, it adds another layer of

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complexity to the outer solar system's

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dynamics. Every new discovery like this helps

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astronomers refine their search, telling them

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where to look. And just as importantly, where

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not to.

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Anna: From the far reaches to the commercial space

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race closer to home, Rocket Lab has just

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capped off an incredible year.

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Avery: Incredible is the word for it. In 2025,

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they flew their Electron rocket 21 times

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with zero failures. That's a remarkable

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achievement for any launch provider and

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really solidifies electron as a reliable

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workhorse for small satellites.

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Anna: It certainly is. But they aren't just resting

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on their laurels. They're making huge strides

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with their next generation rocket, Neutron.

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This is their larger, fully reusable rocket,

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designed to compete with the likes of

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SpaceX's Falcon 9.

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Avery: And it has that amazing fairing design they

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called the Hungry Hippo.

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Anna: Yes, instead of the fairing separating and

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falling away, it opens up like a giant mouth

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to release the satellite and then closes

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before the rocket returns for landing. It's

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an innovative way to simplify reuse.

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Avery: As if that wasn't enough, they also secured a

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massive half billion dollar contract from the

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Space Development Agency to build and operate

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18 missile warning and tracking satellites.

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Rocket Lab is quickly becoming a major end to

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end space company, not just a launch

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provider.

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Anna: Speaking of major players, we have to mark

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the end of an era. After 26 years

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of service, NASA's Terra satellite has been

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officially retired.

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Avery: Wow, 26 years. That's an incredibly long

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time for a satellite. Terra was a cornerstone

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of NASA's Earth Observing System, wasn't it?

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Anna: Absolutely. It carried five key instruments

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that gave us a holistic view of our planet.

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There was modis, which mapped global

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vegetation and land cover. MICER gave us

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data on airborne particles, or aerosols.

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Avery: Right, and I, um, remember Mopit, which

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tracked carbon monoxide pollution.

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Anna: While CERES measured the Earth's total energy

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budget. And ASTER created high resolution

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maps of land surface temperature and

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topography. Together they revolutionized

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our understanding of climate change,

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pollution, and how natural disasters impact

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the globe. Terra's data will be studied by

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scientists for decades to come.

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Avery: From a mission that's ended to one that's

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making new and frankly shocking discoveries.

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The James Webb Telescope has turned its gaze

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to an exoplanet called

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TOI561b.

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Anna: This is a super Earth about 50% larger than

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our planet, orbiting extremely close to its

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star. Its year is less than half an Earth

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day long. Because of that, it was thought to

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be a barren tidally locked rock with one side

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perpetually scorched.

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Avery: Makes sense, a dead world. But that's not

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what Webb found, is it?

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Anna: Not at all. Webb's instruments detected signs

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of a significant volatile rich atmosphere.

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And even more surprisingly, the data suggests

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that the planet might be covered in a global

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magma ocean.

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Avery: A magma ocean? So this supposedly

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dead rock is actually an incredibly dynamic

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volcanic world with an atmosphere. How is

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that possible so close to its star?

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Anna: That's the mystery. The leading hypothesis

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is that intense volcanism is constantly

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replenishing the atmosphere, which would

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otherwise be stripped away by the star's

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radiation. It completely challenges our ideas

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about where we might find atmospheres and

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what habitability even means under such

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extreme conditions.

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Avery: Finally, today we have a story that is truly

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out of this world. Let's talk about the space

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burial company, Celestis.

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Anna: Celestis has been offering memorial space

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flights for years. Launching small capsules

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with cremated remains, or DNA into Earth

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orbit, or even to the moon.

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Avery: That's right, and they're about to launch

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their most ambitious mission yet. The

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Infinite Flight. They've partnered with an up

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and coming launch company called Stoke Space.

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Anna: And this flight isn't just going to orbit.

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Where is it headed?

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Avery: This one is going into a permanent orbit

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around the sun. The payload containing

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messages, DNA and cremated remains

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will essentially become a man made comet

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traveling through the solar system for,

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well, infinity.

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Anna: It's a poetic and profound way to create

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a final memorial turning a final

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journey into an eternal voyage through the

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cosmos.

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Avery: And that's a wrap for this episode of

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Astronomy Daily. From the challenges of space

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junk to the secrets of the Kuiper Belt and

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the fiery nature of distant worlds, there's

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always something new to discover.

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Anna: We want to thank you all for tuning in. We

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hope you'll join us again tomorrow as we

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continue to explore the wonders of the

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universe. If you can't wait until then,

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please visit our

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website@astronomydaily.IO

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and check out our continuously updating

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newsfeed or. Or connect with us on social

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media. You'll find us on all the major

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platforms. Just search for AstroDailyPod

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Daily Pod on your favorites. Until then.

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I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Keep looking up.

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Sam.