Lunar Delays, Global Launch Frenzy, and a Stellar Discovery

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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

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brings you the universe, one story at a

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time. 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'll be talking about some significant

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delays for NASA's Artemis moon mission,

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a very busy week of launches around the

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globe, and a new satellite that's keeping a

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close eye on our planet's oceans.

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Avery: Plus, we're diving deep into the early

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universe to visit a superheated star

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factory. And then coming back to low Earth

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orbit. Update you on a rescue mission for the

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crew of the Tangong space station. Let's

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get right into it, starting with the moon.

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Anna: What have you got for us, Avery?

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Avery: All right, first up, some challenging news

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for lunar exploration enthusiasts.

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It looks like NASA's Artemis 3 mission, which

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is supposed to land the first astronauts on

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the moon since the Apollo era, is likely

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facing a major delay.

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Anna: That's right, Avery. A new government report

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suggests a more realistic target for that

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landing is now 2028,

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not the original 2026 goal. The

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primary reason comes down to the development

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of SpaceX's Starship, the

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massive vehicle chosen to be the human

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landing system.

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Avery: Right, so it's all hinging on Starship being

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ready to fly. What's SpaceX's own

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internal schedule looking like?

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Anna: Well, their internal targets are ambitious,

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but they also point to a later date. They're

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aiming for an uncrewed Starship lunar landing

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in June of 2027, followed by

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crucial crewed mission in September of

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2028.

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Avery: A 2028 landing that really

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changes the rhythm of the whole Artemis

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program. The Apollo missions had a much

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faster cadence, building momentum with each

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flight. This means longer gaps between

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Artemis 2, the lunar flyby, and

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Artemis 3, the landing.

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Anna: Exactly. And it's not surprising when you

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look at Starship's development. It's been a

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mixed year of test flights. We've seen some

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incredible successes, like reaching orbital

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velo, but also some spectacular

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failures, or as uh, SpaceX calls them,

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rapid unscheduled disassemblies.

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Avery: It's a, ah, hugely complex vehicle. It's

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designed for complete reusability, which is a

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game changer. But there's still some massive

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technological hurdles to overcome.

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Anna: That's the key. One of the most critical

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capabilities they still have to prove is

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orbital cryogenic fuel transfer.

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That means refueling Starship in space, which

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is essential for the trip to the moon and

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back. Never been done on this scale before.

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Avery: So while a delay is disappointing, it

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underscores the sheer difficulty of what

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they're trying to achieve. It's a marathon,

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not a sprint.

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Anna: Absolutely. We'll be watching those test

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flights very, very closely.

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Avery: Okay.

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From future launches to current ones, it's an

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incredibly busy week on launch pads around

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the world.

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Anna: It really has. Let's start with

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SpaceX, who are planning a staggering five

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Falcon 9 missions this week alone.

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Five?

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Avery: What are they sending up?

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Anna: The manifest includes four separate missions

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for their Starlink Internet Constellation.

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Continuing to build out that global network,

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of course.

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Avery: And the fifth?

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Anna: The fifth is the Transporter 15 rideshare

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mission, which is always exciting. It's like

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a cosmic carpool carrying dozens of

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smaller satellites for various customers into

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orbit on a single rocket.

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Avery: Right. It's not just SpaceX, though. China

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is also having a busy week.

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Anna: That's right. China is planning three rocket

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launches of their own. But perhaps the most

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dramatic launch is their upcoming

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replacement Shenzhou 22

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spacecraft, which is headed to the Tiangong

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Space Station. We'll have more on why that's

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so critical in a bit.

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Avery: Okay. Intriguing. And there's another player

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getting in on the action too, right?

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Anna: Yes. South Korea's private company

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innospace is set for the maiden flight of its

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Handbit Nano rocket. It's always a big

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moment to see a new launch vehicle take to

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the skies for the first time. So a, uh, truly

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global week for spaceflight.

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Avery: And speaking of launches, one of those recent

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SpaceX flights carried a very important

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passenger for us here on Earth. NASA and

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SpaceX successfully launched the Sentinel

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6B satellite.

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Anna: This is a fantastic mission.

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Sentinel 6B is the latest in a

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series of satellites dedicated to monitoring

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Earth's oceans with incredible precision.

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It's a crucial tool for understand climate

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and weather here on Earth.

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Avery: So what exactly is a, uh, measuring from

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orbit?

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Anna: It's providing a stream of vital data.

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Primarily, it measures sea level rise

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down to the millimeter, but it also tracks

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ocean surface, wind speeds, wave heights,

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and even collects data on atmospheric

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temperature and humidity.

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Avery: Wow, that's a lot of information. And it

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has very direct practical applications.

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Anna: Absolutely. This data is fed directly

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into models that help with flood predictions

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and improve hurricane forecasting. For

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coastal communities and vital infrastructure.

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That information can be life saving.

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Avery: That makes sense. Knowing the exact height of

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the sea and the intensity of a storm surge

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is critical.

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Anna: Exactly. And it's a great example of

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International Cooperation. Sentinel 6B

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is a joint effort between NASA, the

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European Space Agency Umetsat, which is the

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European Operational Satellite Agency, and

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NOAA, uh, the U.S. national oceanic and

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Atmospheric Administration, A, uh, global

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team for a global problem.

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Avery: A really important mission from

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watching our.

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Anna: Own planet to peering Back to the dawn

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of time.

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Astronomers have made a fascinating discovery

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in the early universe, finding a galaxy

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they've nicknamed Y1.

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Avery: And when you say early universe, how early

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are we talking about?

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Anna: We're talking very early. This galaxy

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was observed as it existed just 800

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million years after the Big Bang. The

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universe itself is about 13.8

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billion years old. So this is like seeing a

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picture from the universe's infancy.

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Avery: Incredible. So what makes Y1

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so special?

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Anna: It's what astronomers are calling a star

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factory. This galaxy is producing stars at

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an absolutely furious rate. About

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180 times faster than our own

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Milky Way galaxy does today.

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Avery: One hundred and eighty times? That's hard to

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even comprehend. How is that possible?

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Anna: That's the big question. And why one is

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providing some new clues. The key finding

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is that the vast clouds of dust within this

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galaxy, the raw material for stars, are

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superheated. They're much warmer than the

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dust in other comparable galaxies from that

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era.

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Avery: So a, uh, superheated stellar nursery.

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What does that tell us about how galaxies

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grew back then?

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Anna: Well, it could help solve a long standing

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puzzle. Observations have suggested that

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early galaxies appeared to have more dust

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than our theories can account for. This

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discovery of a superheated region of intense

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star birth might be the missing piece

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explaining how these galaxies could build up

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their mass and their dust content so rapidly.

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Avery: So Y1 could be a blueprint for how

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galaxies like our own got their start. What a

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find.

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Anna: And for our final story, let's return to low

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Earth orbit. And that Shenzhou 22

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mission we mentioned in the launch roundup

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and yesterday. This isn't a routine crew

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rotation. It's a rescue and resupply mission.

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Avery: Right. So what happened? Well, to recap,

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the Chinese astronauts currently on the

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Tiangong Space Station have been left without

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a right home.

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Anna: That's the situation. Their original Shenzhou

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20 spacecraft, which was docked to the

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station to serve as their lifeboat, was

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damaged by a piece of space debris, resulting

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in a cracked window. It was deemed

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unsafe for re entry, effectively stranding

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them in orbit.

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Avery: Wow. So the Shenzhou 22 is

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their new ride.

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Anna: Yes, that's right. And full credit

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to the Chinese authorities who have prepared

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Shenzhou 22 in record time for an

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uncrewed mission. It was originally

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scheduled to lift off in April next year

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on a regular crew rotation. But they

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now have it ready and are, uh, targeting

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November 25th, which is next week.

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Incredible. So the Crew 21

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astronauts have to hang on for a few more

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days. But fortunately they are well supplied

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and.

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Avery: In no immediate danger is

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Shenzhou 22 carrying anything else?

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Anna: Yes. It's also carrying essential supplies

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for the crew and the station, but its

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primary mission is to provide a safe return

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vehicle for the astronauts.

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Avery: This feels like something we've heard before.

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It's the second time in just two years that a

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crew has been stranded on a space station

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after their right home was damaged.

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Anna: It is. The previous incident involved

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Russian and American astronauts on the

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International Space Station. It really

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highlights a growing concern, the need for

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a dedicated International Space rescue

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service.

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Avery: That makes perfect sense, but that would

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require cooperation between all the major

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space faring nations including the U.S.

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and China.

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Anna: And that's the major roadblock. Current

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U.S. law, often called the Wolf

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Amendment, severely restricts bilateral

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cooperation between NASA and Chinese

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state run space entities. So while

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an international Rescue framework is a

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logical step for astronauts safety, the

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geopolitical reality is incredibly

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complicated.

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Avery: It's a stark reminder that as more people and

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hardware go into orbit, the risks from space

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debris are only going to increase. A problem

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that definitely needs a solution.

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Anna: And that's all the time we have for today. We

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covered the potential delays for Artemis 3,

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a jam packed launch schedule, a new eye

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on our oceans, a stellar factory in the early

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universe, and a crucial rescue mission in

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orbit.

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Avery: It's a universe of wonders and challenges out

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there. Thanks so much for joining us on

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Astronomy M Daily. Be sure to subscribe on

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your favorite podcast platforms so you don't

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miss an episode.

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Anna: Until next time, keep looking up.

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Avery: Goodbye everyone. See uh you Tomorrow.