Lunar Ambitions: China's Race to the Moon, Cosmic Discoveries Unveiled

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go

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to podcast for the latest news from across the

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cosmos. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. We're thrilled to have you join us today

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as we dive into some truly fascinating updates

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that are reshaping our understanding of space.

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Anna: Absolutely, Avery. We'll be looking

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at the evolving lunar race with

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some significant developments from China's space

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programme that could see them reaching the moon

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soon. Sooner than anticipated.

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Avery: That's right. And we'll explore what those

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geopolitical implications can mean for the future of

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space exploration. Plus, we'll journey

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deep into the galaxy to witness a stunning

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cosmic discovery. Astronomers have captured an

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image resembling the eye of Sauron,

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revealing secrets about powerful blazars.

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Anna: And for all you planet hunters, we'll delve

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into new research suggesting that many

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exoplanets might be far larger than

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we ever believed, completely changing our

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perspective on alien worlds.

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Avery: Then, as always, we'll wrap things up with our launch

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roundup, including the much anticipated

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10th flight of SpaceX's Starship and a

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unique biological mission sending mice and

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fruit flies into orbit.

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Anna: Alright, Avery, let's jump right into

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what's quickly becoming the most talked about

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development in space exploration.

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The new space race.

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China's secretive space programme has been making

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some incredibly significant strides and it

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seems their firmly on track to achieve their

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lunar ambitions.

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Avery: They certainly are, Anna. Uh, in recent weeks, the

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Chinaman Space Agency, or CMSA, has

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reported some major milestones. For

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instance, on August 6, they successfully tested

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a high fidelity mockup of their 26 tonne

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Lanyue Lunar lander. This test

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was quite impressive, conducted outside

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Beijing using giant tethers to

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simulate lunar gravity. As the vehicle fired

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its main engines and fine control thrusters

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to land and take take off from a cratered

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surface.

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Anna: That's a huge step. The

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CMSA even released a statement calling

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it a key step in their manned lunar

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exploration programme and marking the first

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time China has carried out an

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extraterrestrial landing and takeoff test

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for a manned spacecraft. They also

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reconfirmed their plan to land astronauts on the

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moon before 2030.

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Avery: And it wasn't just the lander. Just last Friday,

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the CMSA and their state operated rocket

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developer, the China Academy of Launch

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Vehicle Technology, successfully conducted

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a 30 second test firing of the Long March

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10 rocket's centre core. This rocket uses

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seven YF100K engines that burn

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kerosene and liquid oxygen. And the

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primary variant will combine three of these cores

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to lift about 70 metric tonnes to low Earth

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orbit.

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Anna: So what we're seeing here is demonstrable

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progress across all three major elements of

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their lunar the large rocket to launch

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a crew spacecraft, the human rated

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spacecraft itself, and the lander to

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take astronauts to the surface and back.

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This really suggests that China is well

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on course to put their taikonauts on the moon

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before the end of this decade.

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Avery: It does now. For the United States and its

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allies, there's always been a bit of ah, a been there, done

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that attitude given NASA's Apollo programme

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landed humans on the moon nearly six decades ago.

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NASA's Artemis programme is of course aiming for

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something different, focusing on sustainability

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with in space propellant storage and

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refuelling technology for reusable lower cost

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missions.

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Anna: That's the ideal, right? Building a robust

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government, commercial enterprise and a lunar

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economy. However, Recent setbacks with

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SpaceX's Starship vehicle, which is one

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of NASA's two lunar landers under contract,

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the other being Blue Origin's Mark 2

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lander, indicate that these newer

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technologies are still several years away

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from being fully operational. This

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means it's increasingly probable that China

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will indeed be beat NASA back to the

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moon this decade, winning at least the

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initial heat of this new space race.

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Avery: And that brings us to the profound

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geopolitical implications of this potential

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shift. Ars Technica UH recently spoke

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with Dean Chiang, a highly respected

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analyst focusing on China space policy

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and the geopolitical aspects of this new

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space competition. He shed some light

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on just how significant China's progress

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is.

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Anna: Cheng emphasised that the Lanyu

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lander test is part of China's crawl

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walk run approach to major space

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projects. He noted that while they can

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benefit from open information like NASA's,

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they still have to build and operate the spacecraft

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themselves. So these tests,

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successful or not, are a crucial part of their

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process.

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Avery: He also highlighted the successful static test of the

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Long March 10 or LM10, their lunar

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satellite launch vehicle. Chang sees the

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LM10 even more than the Lanyue as

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significant because it's a new launch vehicle, especially

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given past issues with the LM5 and the

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cancellation of the LM9, which was their potential

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Saturn 5 equivalent. Both of these successes

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indicate that the Chinese lunar programme is definitely pushing

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ahead.

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Anna: When asked about the likelihood of China landing

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humans on the moon before NASA's Artemis programme

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returns, Cheng's response was quite direct.

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He stated the at the rate things are going,

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sadly it seems quite likely that the Chinese will

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land on the moon before NASA can return to the

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moon.

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Avery: That's a powerful statement and the

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geopolitical impact, according to Chang,

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would be enormous. He explained that it

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would signify the End of American

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exceptionalism. For decades, since

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1969, the US has been the

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only nation to land humans on another celestial

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body. The saying, we've put a man on

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the moon, we can do anything, would lose its

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resonance.

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Anna: It would also suggest that China can achieve

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big things while the US struggles to

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replicate projects it undertook 50 or more

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years ago. This, Cheng argued, would

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certainly affect other nations perceptions of who is

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winning or losing the broader technological

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and ideological competition between the

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US and China.

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Avery: He even connected it back to the idea of a

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Beijing Consensus as an alternative to the

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Washington Consensus. While the

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Washington Consensus promotes democracy,

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pluralism and capitalism, the Beijing

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Consensus suggests that authoritarianism is

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more likely to lead to modernization and

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advancement. If Beijing can achieve these

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grand space endeavours, it would reinforce that

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ideological element.

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Anna: And beyond just the landing, Cheng raised an

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important question about the language of cislunar

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space. China isn't just aiming for a

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single landing. Their likely choice of landing

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sites, such as the South Pole, suggests an

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intent to establish longer term facilities

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and a, uh, permanent presence. If they

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regularly dispatch lunar missions, they could

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rightfully argue that Chinese should be a primary

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language, if not the language of

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lunar and cislunar space traffic management.

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Avery: Not only that, but China would also have enormous

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influence over technical and data standards for

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CIS lunar activities. The PRC has

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already indicated it will deploy a lunar

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positioning, navigation and timing network

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and likely a uh, communication system.

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This long term systematic approach is what

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Chang sees as China's major advantage,

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contrasting it with what he describes as the

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US's lack of programmatic stability to

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despite its economic and industrial advantages,

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it's really a complex and evolving landscape.

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Speaking of powerful forces at play, let's shift

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gears from geopolitical competition to a uh,

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truly stunning astronomical discovery.

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Astronomers have recently captured an incredibly

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detailed image that's being dubbed the

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Eye of Sauron. And it's beaming

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directly at Earth.

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Anna: That's right, Avery. This isn't a new fantasy

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film, but a real cosmic phenomenon. This

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eye is actually the core of a powerful

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blazar named PKS1424

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240. Located

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billions of light years away. For years

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this particular blazar has puzzled scientists.

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It's known as the brightest source of neutrinos of its

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kind and also shines intensely in

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very high energy gamma rays.

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Avery: But here's the kicker. Its cosmic jet seemed

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to drift unusually slowly, which defied

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the assumption that only rapidly moving jets could

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produce such powerful emissions. It was a real

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head scratcher.

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Anna: Well, after 15 years of meticulous

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observations using the Very Long Baseline

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Array, or VLBA astronomers have

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finally gotten an unprecedented look into this

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jet structure. What they found was

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absolutely stunning. Near perfect

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ring shaped or toroidal magnetic

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fields. These magnetic fields act like

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a colossal coiled spring, accelerating

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particles to extraordinary energies.

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This mechanism finally explains both the high

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energy neutrinos and the gamma rays pouring

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from this blazar. It's a massive

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breakthrough in multi messenger astronomy,

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solidifying the link between these relativistic

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jets, high energy neutrinos, and the

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role of magnetic fields in shaping cosmic

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accelerators. It's truly like looking

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directly into the heart of a cosmic monster.

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And speaking of rethinking what we see, I want to

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talk about some new research that's completely changing

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our perspective on exoplanets. It turns

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out hundreds of distant planets we thought we knew

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might be far larger than we ever believed.

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Avery: That's quite a revelation. How did scientists

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miss something so significant?

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Anna: It comes down to how these exoplanets are

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detected. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet

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Survey Satellite TESS, launched in 2018,

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finds planets by observing tiny dips in

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starlight as a planet passes in front of its star.

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The size of that dip tells us the planet's

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size. But here's the TESS has

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relatively low resolution and sometimes light

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from other nearby stars can mix with the target

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star's light. This makes the planet's shadow

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appear smaller than it truly is, leading to

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an underestimation of its size.

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Avery: So it's like an optical illusion in space.

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Anna: Precisely. A new study led by Tay

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Han at the University of California, Irvine

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uncovered how serious this problem is. They

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found that many planet sizes have been underestimated

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by about 6.1%. While that

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might not sound like much because density is

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calculated using both size and mass, a

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small error in radius leads to a much bigger

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mistake in density, around 20% too

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high. This has huge implications for how

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we understand planet formation, density,

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and even the potential for life beyond Earth.

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Avery: So what does this mean for our search for Earth like worlds?

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Anna: Well, it means we might have found fewer Earth like

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planets so far than we thought we had.

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Many planets once classified as rocky Earth

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sized worlds could now be reclassified as

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larger, less Earth like planets, perhaps

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water rich ocean worlds, or even larger gas

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layers like Uranus or Neptune. This doesn't rule

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out life, but it shifts our focus and makes us

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rethink where to look and how we interpret the data.

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Especially when prioritising targets for follow up

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observations with telescopes like the James Webb Space

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Telescope.

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Avery: That truly sheds new light on our understanding of

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exoplanets. Anna, huh?

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And speaking of things that are constantly changing, we have

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a packed week ahead with several crucial launches across

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the globe.

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Anna: Absolutely, Avery. From a highly

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anticipated starship flight to unique biological

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missions, let's dive into our launch roundup.

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Avery: First up, all eyes are in Texas for the much

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anticipated 10th flight of SpaceX's

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Starship. Ship 37, mounted on

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booster 16 is scheduled to launch this Sunday,

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August 24th from Starbase. This

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mission is pivotal as the starship programme is looking to

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recover from recent setbacks, including the

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explosion of ship 36 during a test.

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Anna: That's right, SpaceX has been working hard,

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even designing a special mount to static fire

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ship 37 on the orbital launch padding

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after their Massey's test facility was knocked out of service.

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As we reported last week on this flight,

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ship 37 will deploy eight dummy

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Starlink satellites and collect crucial re

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entry data before a planned splashdown in

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the Indian Ocean. It's also notable as the

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fourth Starship flight of 2025, and

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hopefully the first entirely successful Block

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2 flight if it splashes down intact.

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Avery: Over in Russia, Roscosmos has a

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fascinating biological mission scheduled. The

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Bon M M number two mission is set to launch on

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Wednesday, August 20 aboard a

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Soyuz 2.1A rocket from Baikonur

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Cosmodrome. This mission is particularly

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interesting because its 6300 kilogramme

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bion m m spacecraft is derived from the

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Vostok capsule which launched Yuri Gagarin

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into space back in 1961.

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Anna: It's a piece of history. Flying again. The Bion

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m m number two will carry 75 mice and a thousand

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fruit flies, along with plants and

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microorganisms to study how they're affected by

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radiation at a molecular level. The mission is

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slated to last 30 days before the spacecraft

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returns to Earth with its living cargo.

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Avery: And that's not all. For the week. China

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CAS Space is flying its second

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Connecticut 1 mission of the year, carrying

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seven satellites to to sun synchronous orbit,

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including two Mexican Femto satellites.

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Russia also has an Angara 1.2

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rocket launching from Plesetsk with an

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unknown payload, likely a military

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satellite.

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Anna: Not to be outdone, SpaceX has several

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other Falcon 9 launches on the manifest.

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We're looking forward to the United states Space Force

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36 National Security Mission

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featuring the X37B Orbital Test

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Vehicle and and a cargo Dragon flight to the

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International Space station, delivering over

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2,200 kilogrammes of supplies

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and experiments, including studies on

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engineered liver tissue and bone marrow

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stem cells. It's truly a, uh, busy week in

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space.

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Avery: What an incredible day for space and astronomy

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news. We've covered everything from China's

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significant strides in the lunar race,

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potentially beating the US Back to the Moon,

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and and the profound geopolitical implications of

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that.

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Anna: We also delved into the cosmic wonders of the

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Eye of Sauron Blazar, revealing how

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magnetic fields accelerate particles to extreme

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energies, and learned that exoplanets might

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be much larger than we initially thought,

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shifting our perspective on where life might exist.

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Avery: And of course, we wrap things up with a, uh, look at the

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exciting launches on the horizon, including

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starship's anticipated Flight 10 and

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Russia's unique biological mission carrying

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mice and fruit flies into orbit. Thank

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you so much for joining us on Astronomy Daily.

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We hope you enjoyed today's deep dive into the

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cosmos.

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Anna: If you did, please consider subscribing and leaving

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us a review on your favourite podcast platform.

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Your support helps us bring you more of the latest space

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news.

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Avery: And for more updates and all the stories we discussed

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today, we plus all our back episodes, be

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sure to Visit our website,

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astronomydaily.IO.

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we'll be back tomorrow with more fascinating news from

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across the universe.

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Anna: Until then, keep looking up.

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Avery: Goodbye.