Gaia's Farewell, NASA's Astronaut Shuffle, Neptune's Auroras Revealed

WEBVTT

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, where we bring you the latest news

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and developments from the world of space and astronomy.

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I'm your host Anna, and we have quite a packed episode

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for you today. We'll start with a bittersweet

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farewell to Europe's Gaia Space Telescope,

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which has mapped nearly 2 billion stars in our

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galaxy over the past decade before being officially

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retired this week. Then we'll look at

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NASA's decision to reassign several astronauts from

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Boeing's troubled Starliner program to

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SpaceX's Crew 11 mission as AH Starliner's

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return to flight gets pushed forward further into the future.

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We'll also cover a canceled cargo mission to the

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International Space Station due to spacecraft

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damage and dive into China's ambitious new

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planetary exploration roadmap that stretches all the way

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to Neptune. And finally, we'll explore a

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fascinating discovery from the James Webb Space

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Telescope, the first ever observation of auroras

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on the ice giant Neptune, revealing unexpected

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details about the distant planet's atmosphere and magnetic

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field. So buckle up for a journey across our solar system

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and beyond as we expl the latest frontiers in space

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science and exploration.

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Europe's Star Mapping Gaia Space Observatory has

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officially ended its mission after more than a decade of

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groundbreaking observations. On March

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27, the European Space Agency's control team

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in Paris shut down Gaia's subsystems

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and maneuvered the spacecraft into a safe

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retirement orbit around the sun. The

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move came after ESA had already shut down Gaia's science

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operations in January, when the spacecraft's fuel reserves

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were nearly depleted. The final retirement

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orbit was carefully calculated to ensure Gaia remains at

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least 6.2 million miles away from Earth for the next

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century. Despite its active mission coming to an

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end, Gaia's scientific impact will continue to

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unfold for generations. As Gaia mission

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manager Uwe Lammers eloquently put it, we will

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never forget Gaia and Gaia will never forget

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us. Since its launch in 2013,

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Gaia has charted the positions of nearly 2 billion

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stars, creating the most precise three dimensional map

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of our Milky Way galaxy ever made.

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Its contributions to astronomy have been

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immense, from discovering evidence of galactic

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mergers to identifying new star clusters,

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tracking hundreds of thousands of asteroids and comets,

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and even helping scientists discover exoplanets and

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black holes. The team releases large

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batches of mission data every couple of years, with the next

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major release data, release four planned for

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2026. Even more exciting, the final

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Gaia Legacy catalogs are scheduled for release around

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2030, ensuring that Gaia's contributions will

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continue shaping our understanding of the cosmos for

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decades to come. Decommissioning such a

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sophisticated spacecraft wasn't a simple task.

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Spacecraft operations engineer Giulia Fortuno

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described the mixed emotions involved. I have

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mixed feelings between the excitement for these important end of

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life operations and the sadness of saying goodbye

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to a spacecraft I have worked on for more than five

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years. The Gaia team had to

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systematically dismantle the spacecraft's built in

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redundancies features designed to help it survive

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extreme conditions like radiation storms and

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micrometeorite impacts. This meticulous

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process ensures that Gaia won't accidentally reactivate if

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its solar panels catch sunlight in the future.

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As this remarkable mission comes to a close, the

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astronomical community celebrates Gaia's legacy as what

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project scientist Johannes Salman called a unique

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treasure trove for astrophysical research that will

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influence almost all disciplines in astronomy for generations

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to come.

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Next up in today's news, NASA has made significant

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changes to its astronaut assignments, announcing Thursday

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evening that several astronauts previously slated for Boeing's

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Starliner missions will now fly on SpaceX's

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Crew 11 mission to the International Space Station.

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Leading the Crew 11 flight, now scheduled for no earlier than

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July 2025, will be NASA

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astronaut Zena Cardman. She'll be joined by NASA

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astronaut Mike Finke as pilot, along with JAXA

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astronaut Kimi Ayui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg

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Platonov as mission specialists.

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These four astronauts will have the honor of being aboard the space

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station during the 25th anniversary of continuous human

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presence on the orbiting laboratory, which began

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when Expedition 1 docked on November 2, 2000.

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This reassignment represents yet another setback for

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Boeing's troubled Starliner program.

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Cardman was previously assigned as Commander of the

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Crew 9 mission before being removed from the

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Starliner crew flight test mission last August,

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when NASA decided the spacecraft would return to Earth

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without crew. Mike Finke's journey has been

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particularly complicated. Originally named to the

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Starliner crew flight test back in

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2018, he was later designated as part of the

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cadre of Starliner astronauts and then moved

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to the Starliner 1 mission as pilot in

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2022. Now he finds himself

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reassigned to SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

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JAXA UH astronaut Kimi Ayui, who had been training

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with the Starliner team and was likely intended for a

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Starliner mission, has also been shifted to the Crew 11

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roster. Meanwhile, Boeing and

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NASA continue working through technical challenges with the

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Starliner spacecraft. According to NASA, more

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than 70% of the flight observations and in

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flight anomalies from last summer's test mission have

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been addressed. But the major in flight

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propulsion system anomalies remain outstanding issues

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that likely won't be resolved until further into

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2025. A new testing campaign is

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planned for this spring and summer at the White Sands Test Facility in

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New Mexico, focusing on the propulsion issues that

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prompted NASA's decision to return the Starliner

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without astronauts. Engineers will conduct

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integrated firing of key Starliner thrusters

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within a UH service module doghouse to

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validate thermal models and develop potential upgrades for

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the propulsion and thermal protection systems.

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NASA is weighing its options for Starliner's next

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flight while still planning for a crew capable post

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certification mission. The agency is also considering a

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cargo only option depending on its needs. Steve

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Stitch, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program,

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indicated the next Starliner flight would likely occur in late

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2025 or early 2026.

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These developments represent a uh continued shift in

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NASA's commercial crew strategy, with SpaceX's

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Dragon spacecraft taking on additional missions

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while Boeing works to resolve Starliner's technical

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challenges.

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And in more NASA news, In a disappointing turn

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of events for NASA's cargo resupply schedule,

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the space agency has called off a planned mission to the

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International Space Station due to damage discovered

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on the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft.

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The mission, designated NG22,

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was scheduled to launch this June from Florida's Space

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coast, carrying several tons of critical supplies,

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including food, fuel and scientific

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equipment to the orbiting laboratory. The

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problems began on March 5th when NASA announced

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that the spacecraft's shipping container had sustained

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damage during transportation to the launch site.

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At that time, mission teams were hopeful that the Cygnus

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spacecraft itself might have remained intact

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despite the damage to its container.

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However, after completing a thorough inspection,

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NASA confirmed on Wednesday that the cargo module

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itself had also been damaged

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following initial evaluation. There also is damage to the

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cargo module, NASA officials stated in an

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emailed announcement, leading to the difficult decision to cancel

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the June flight entirely. The good news

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is that this cancellation isn't expected to significantly

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impact the astronauts aboard the space station.

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NASA had already taken precautionary measures by planning

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to send additional food and other consumables on

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SpaceX's next cargo flight, which is scheduled to

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launch next month. Northrop Grumman and NASA

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aren't giving up on this particular Cygnus spacecraft just

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yet. According to NASA's statement, the

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international Space Station program will continue working with

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Northrop Grumman to assess whether the Cygnus cargo

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module is able to safely fly to the space station on a

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future flight. In the meantime, Northrop

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Grumman is already shifting focus to its next mission

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with NG23 now scheduled to launch no

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earlier than this fall. The current Cygnus

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spacecraft, NG21, remains berthed at

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the ISS but is scheduled to depart

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tomorrow. Unlike SpaceX's Dragon

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capsules, which are designed to survive reentry and be recovered

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after splashing down in the ocean, Cygnus

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spacecraft are expendable. At the end

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of their missions, they're loaded with trash and other unneeded

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items from the station before being released to burn

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up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

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China has unveiled an ambitious new roadmap for deep

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space exploration that places a strong emphasis

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on the search for extraterrestrial life and studying

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planetary habitability. This strategy,

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recently shared by the country's Deep Space Exploration

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Laboratory, outlines a series of missions

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spanning from 2028 to

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2039 that will take Chinese spacecraft

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across our solar system. The journey begins with

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the Tianwen 3 Mars Sample Return

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Mission, scheduled for launch around late

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2028. This already approved mission

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aims to collect samples from the Martian surface and return them

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to Earth, with one of its primary objectives

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being to investigate potential traces of past or present

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life on the Red planet. Hot on its heels will be

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Tianwen 4, planned for 2029, which will

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venture to the Jupiter system and eventually enter orbit

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around Callisto, one of Jupiter's largest moons.

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This mission could yield valuable insights about potential

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ocean worlds and habitability conditions in the outer Solar

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system. Around 2030, China

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plans to build a UH ground simulation device for planetary

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habitable environments, allowing scientists

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to recreate and study conditions that might support

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life elsewhere in our solar system.

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Perhaps one of the most intriguing missions on the roadmap

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is scheduled for 2033. A UH

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spacecraft designed to collect particles from Venus's

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atmosphere and return them to Earth. This

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mission could help scientists better understand the

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microenvironment of Venus, a planet that might once

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have been much more habitable than it is today. By

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2038, China aims to establish a Mars

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Research Station focused on in situ

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resource utilization and conducting long term

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environmental and biological research. While

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there's no indication this facility will host human crew

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initially, it represents a significant step in

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China's long term Mars exploration strategy.

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The most distant target in the roadmap is Neptune,

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with a potential nuclear powered mission launching around

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2039. This ambitious mission would

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study the ice giant's ring system

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atmosphere and its fascinating moon

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Triton, exploring the habitability of the

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Neptunian system and searching for other potential ocean

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worlds. While some of these missions are already

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approved and in development, others face

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significant technological and economic hurdles.

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For example, a UH mission to Neptune would require

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China to make considerable advances in nuclear power for

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deep space applications, ultra long distance

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communications and spacecraft designed for

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extended mission lifetimes. This roadmap

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demonstrates China's growing ambitions in space

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exploration and particularly in

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astrobiology. Combined with China's Earth

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2.0 inches Exoplanet Observatory

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scheduled for launch in 2028, which aims

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to detect Earth like planets around other stars,

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it's clear that the search for potentially habitable worlds

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and signs of life beyond Earth has become a central

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focus of China's space program.

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Lets pay the JWST a UH visit now.

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In a remarkable astronomical breakthrough, the

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James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first

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ever clear images of auroras on Neptune.

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This significant discovery has eluded scientists for

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decades as previous instruments aboard NASA's

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Voyager 2 probe and even the Hubble Space

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Telescope weren't able to definitively observe this

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elusive phenomenon. On our solar system's most

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distant planet, the auroras appear as

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lighter blue or cayenne areas against Neptune's deep

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blue atmosphere. Unlike Earth's auroras,

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which are concentrated around our magnetic poles,

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Neptune's auroral activity occurs at mid

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latitudes, roughly equivalent to where South America would

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be positioned on our planet. This unique

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distribution is due to Neptune's unusual magnetic

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field, which is tilted by a remarkable

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47 degrees from the planet's rotation axis.

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What makes this discovery particularly exciting is that it required

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Webb's exceptional infrared sensitivity to detect.

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Henrik Mellon of Northumbria University, who led

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the research while at the University of Leicester, expressed

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his astonishment at the clarity of the images, noting that

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the detail and definition of the auroral signature was truly

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shocking. The basic mechanism behind

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Neptune's auroras is similar to Earth's

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northern and southern lights solar particles

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interacting with the planet's atmosphere. But the

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configuration and conditions are distinctly different.

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The location of Neptune's auroral glow

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directly correlates to where the planet's magnetic fields

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converge into its atmosphere, explaining why

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they appear far from its rotational poles.

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Perhaps equally surprising was what Webb's data

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revealed about Neptune's atmospheric temperature.

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For the first time since Voyager 2's 1989

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flyby, scientists were able to measure the

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temperature at the top of Neptune's atmosphere,

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discovering it has cooled dramatically by

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several hundred degrees. In fact, the temperature

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recorded in 2023 was just over half of

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what it was in 1989, which may explain why

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these auroras have gone undetected until now.

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This discovery opens an entirely new field of study

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regarding ice giant planets and how solar

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particles interact with their atmospheres, providing

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astronomers with fresh insights into these mysterious

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distant worlds.

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Well, that brings us to the end of another fascinating

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journey through the cosmos. From the final retirement

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of Europe's Gaia telescope after its remarkable

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decade mapping our galaxy, to the ongoing

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challenges with Boeing's Starliner prompting NASA to

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reassign astronauts to SpaceX missions,

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we've covered quite the astronomical landscape today.

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We've seen how even the best laid plans can change when

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hardware gets damaged, as with Northrop Grumman's

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Cygnus spacecraft. We've explored China's

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ambitious roadmap for planetary exploration, with

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its focus on finding habitable environments and

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possibly life beyond Earth. And we've marveled at

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the James Webb Space Telescope's groundbreaking discovery of

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Neptune's auroras. Hiding in plain sight for

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decades until now, the universe

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continues to surprise and inspire us with each new

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discovery and mission. Whether it's mapping billions of

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stars or detecting the faint glow of auroras on distant

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ice giants, our quest to understand the cosmos keeps

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pushing forward despite setbacks and challenges.

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I'm Anna, and it's been my pleasure to guide you through

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today's space news. If you'd like to stay updated on all

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things astronomy, please visit our

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website@astronomydaily.IO where you can

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find our constantly updating news feed and listen to all our

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episodes anytime. For more astronomical

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content and updates, you can also find us across

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00:15:22.814 --> 00:15:25.782
social media. Just search for Astro Daily Pod on

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00:15:25.806 --> 00:15:28.742
X, Facebook, YouTubeMusic, YouTubeMusic Music and

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00:15:28.766 --> 00:15:31.590
TikTok. Until next time, keep looking up and

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wondering about the mysteries that await us among the stars. See

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you tomorrow.

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The world.