From Lunar Power Plants to Wobbling Comets: Your Daily Space Update

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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

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brings you the universe one story at a time.

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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

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ambitious plans for lunar colonization to

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fascinating new discoveries about visitors

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from beyond our solar system.

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Avery: That's right. We'll be talking about a

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nuclear powered future on the moon, a sci

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fi concept for artificial gravity that's

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getting closer to reality, and a record

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breaking satellite launch. We've also got

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news of a major setb for one nation space

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program and a wobbly interstellar

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comet.

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Anna: So let's get right to it. Our first story

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takes us to the moon, where Russia has

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announced some truly monumental plans.

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Avery: You can say that again, Avery.

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Anna: This isn't just about setting up a temporary

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outpost. Russia's space agency has

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stated its intention to build a full fledged

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nuclear power plant on the lunar surface

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within the next decade or so.

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Avery: A nuclear power plant on the moon? That's a

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huge undertaking and they're not doing it

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alone, right?

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Anna: Exactly. This is part of a joint effort

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with China. The goal is to have the plant

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constructed and operational by 2036.

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The purpose is to provide a consistent and

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powerful energy source for a planned joint

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Russian Chinese research station.

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Avery: That makes sense. Solar power is great, but

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a, uh, lunar night lasts for about 14 Earth

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days. If you want a permanently functioning

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scientific station, you need a power power

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source that doesn't depend on sunlight.

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Anna: Right. This really signals a shift in

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lunar exploration from temporary visits

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to establishing a long term sustainable

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human presence. It's a foundational step for

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what could become a true lunar settlement one

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day.

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Avery: It's fascinating.

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And speaking of ambitious Russian plans for

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the future of space travel, our next story

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sounds like it was pulled directly from a

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science fiction movie.

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Anna: Sounds intriguing. The details please.

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Avery: The state owned Energia rocket company has

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just secured a patent for a new spacecraft

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design. And its main feature is something

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astronauts have dreamed of for decades.

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Artificial gravity.

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Anna: This is a critical piece of the puzzle for

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long duration space missions. We know that

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extended time in zero G has serious

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negative effects on the human body.

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Avery: Mm mhm. Serious effects. Things like muscle

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atrophy and significant bone density loss.

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It's one of the big hurdles for say, a manned

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mission to Mars.

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Anna: So how does this new design work? The concept

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of a rotating system to create centrifugal

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force isn't new, but what are the specifics

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here?

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Avery: Well, the patent describes a rotating system

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designed to generate a gravitational force of

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about 0.5g. So half

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of Earth's gravity while Not a, uh, full one

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G. It's believed that even this level could

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profoundly mitigate the health problems

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astronauts face.

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Anna: Halfigy would make a world of difference. It

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means crews could arrive at Mars or return to

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Earth in much better physical condition. This

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could be a genuine game changer for the

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future of human spaceflight.

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Avery: Absolutely.

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From future tech to current accomplishments,

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let's shift our focus to a remarkable

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satellite that's now in orbit. Anna, uh, tell

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us about Bluebird 6.

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Anna: This is a story about connectivity.

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An Indian rocket recently launched the

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Bluebird 6 satellite, and it's a

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record breaker. It was built by a Texas based

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company, AST Space Mobile. And

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its mission is to provide broadband Internet

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service directly to standard off the shelf

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smartphones on the ground, directly to

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phones.

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Avery: So no special equipment needed. That's the

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key. But what makes it a record breaker?

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Anna: Its size. To talk to a small device like

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a cell phone from orbit, you need a very,

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very large. Bluebird 6

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features a, uh, communication array of nearly

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2,400 square feet.

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Avery: Wow, 2,400 square feet. That's

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massive.

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Anna: It is. In fact, it's the largest

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communication array ever deployed in low

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Earth orbit. The potential impact here is

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enormous, offering a way to connect the

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unconnected in the most remote parts of the

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globe.

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Avery: That's an incredible piece of engineering

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with a very noble goal. But as we know,

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getting these complex machines into orbit is

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the hardest part.

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Which brings us to our next story.

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Unfortunately, not all recent launches have

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been successful.

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Anna: That's right, Avery. Japan's ambitions for

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an independent satellite navigation system

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suffered a significant blow after the second

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major failure of its flagship H3

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rocket.

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Avery: This is a tough one for the Japanese space

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program. The rocket was supposed to deliver

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the Michibiki 5 satellite into orbit, but it

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failed during its flight.

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Anna: And this satellite was a crucial component of

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their Quasi Zenith Satellite System, or

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qzss.

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Avery: Mhm. The QZSS is designed to augment

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GPS signals, providing much more accurate and

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reliable positioning for Japan and the rest

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of East Asia. This failure represents a major

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delay to the expansion and improvement of

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that system.

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Anna: It's a stark reminder that even for

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established spacefaring nations, rocket

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science is incredibly challenging. There's

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just no room for error. We certainly hope

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they can identify and fix the issue for

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future flights.

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Avery: Indeed, it's a reminder of the high stakes in

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space exploration.

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Anna: It truly is.

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And for our final story, we're venturing far

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from Earth to look at one from another solar

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system that's been paying us a bit of a

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visit.

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Avery: Astronomers have been studying the

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interstellar comet 3I

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ATLAS, which has begun leaving our solar

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system. And they've observed some very

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unusual behavior. First, it has

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a rare sun facing anti tail.

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Anna: An anti tail. So a tail of

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dust and gas pointing towards the sun instead

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of away from it.

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Avery: It's an optical illusion caused by our, uh,

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viewing angle of the comet's dust trail. But

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what's truly remarkable is what's happening

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within that tail. As the comet approached the

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sun, scientists observe jets of outgassing

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material that appear to be wobbling.

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Anna: Wobbling jets. That's new.

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Avery: Completely. This is the first time such an

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outgassing pattern has ever been observed

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from an interstellar comet. The jets were

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seen to wobble on a very specific cycle every

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7 hours and 45 minutes.

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Anna: And that tells us something fundamental about

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the comet itself, doesn't it?

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Avery: It does. This wobble implies a rotational

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period for the comet's solid nucleus. Based

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on the data, scientists have calculated that

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the nucleus is spinning on its axis once

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every 15 and a half hours.

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Anna: That is so cool. To be able to determine

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the length of a day on an object that came

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from an entirely different solar system just

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by watching its jets wobble. It's an amazing

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piece of cosmic detective work.

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Avery: It certainly is.

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And that's all the time we have for today's

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top stories. From ambitious plans for nuclear

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power on the Moon to the rotation of an

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interstellar comet, the cosmos never

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fails to inspire a.

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Anna: Uh, big thank you to all of you for tuning

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in. We hope you'll join us again next time

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for another dose of Astronomy Daily. Until

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then, you can find us on all major podcast

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platforms and on social media. Just search

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for AstroDailyPod Daily Pod full details on

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our website@astronomydaily.IO

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from both of.

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Avery: Us here, keep looking up.