Lunar Landers Revamped, Stellar Storms Spark Life, and Europe's Rocket Revolution

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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily,

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the podcast that brings you the universe one

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story at a time. Give us 10 minutes and we'll

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give you the universe. 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 SpaceX's updated

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plans for the starship Lunar Lander

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and how a distant star's tantrum could

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be the key to finding alien life.

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Avery: That's right, Anna. We'll also dive into a

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massive predator previously unseen stellar

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stream discovered by the Vera Rubin

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Observatory, a tiny cubesat on a mission

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to deep space, and Europe's ambitious new

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plans for reusable rockets.

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Let's get started.

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Anna: Our first story takes us to the forefront

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of lunar exploration. SpaceX has

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been under immense pressure to deliver its

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starship lander for NASA's Artemis program,

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and it seems they're adjusting their

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strategy.

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Avery: adjusting is one word for it. They've

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announced they're developing a simplified

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lunar landing mission architecture. In a

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statement on October 30, the company claimed

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this new approach could get astronauts to the

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lunar surface faster than the current very

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complex plan for Artemis 3.

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Anna: Faster is certainly what NASA wants to

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hear. The original plan involves a whole

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series of refueling launches in Earth

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orbit before starship can even head to the

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moon. The the complexity is a major reason

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for the delays.

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Avery: Exactly. And NASA has been very public about

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those delays. Back in July, Lori

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Glaze, a top official at NASA, noted that key

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milestones anticipated for this year were

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clearly slipping. SpaceX seems to be

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responding to that pressure, but they've been

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cagey with the details on what this

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simplified mission actually looks like.

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Anna: Right. They're defending their progress while

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simultaneously changing the plan. They

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the company did give a new timeline, stating

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that the timing will be driven by upcoming

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flight tests of the new Starship V3

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architecture. They're targeting both the

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uncrewed and crewed demonstration landings to

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take place in 2026.

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Avery: 2026 is an aggressive target,

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especially with the original Artemis 3

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mission slated for late 2025, a

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date that almost everyone now agrees is

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impossible. It seems SpaceX is trying to

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reset expectations while still aiming high.

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We'll be watching those V3 flight tests very

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closely indeed.

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Anna: From landing on our moon to the potential

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origins of life on other worlds, our next

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story is truly fascinating. For the

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first time, astronomers have witnessed a

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coronal mass ejection on another star

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in its entirety.

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Avery: A, cme, like the solar storms our own sun

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produces. But this wasn't just any star. It

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was a young active One. And the energy this

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thing packed was immense. Scientists believe

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it's enough to potentially kickstart the

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chemistry of life on any planets that might

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be orbiting it.

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Anna: It's a beautiful yet violent concept.

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We often think of these powerful stellar

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outbursts as dangerous to life, capable

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of stripping away atmospheres. But this

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research suggests that for a young lifeless

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planet, a, powerful CME could provide

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the energetic spark needed to forge

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complex molecules, the building BL of life.

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Avery: That makes sense. It's a, cosmic chemical

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reaction. The article calls these

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observations a rare insight into the role

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stars can play in the origin of life. It's

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possible our own sun did the very same thing

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for Earth four and a half billion years ago.

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Anna: Precisely. So while we search for life on

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other worlds, we might need to look for

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planets around stars that are going through

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these violent energetic phases.

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It's a paradigm shift, seeing a stellar

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storm not just as a threat, but as a

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potential creator.

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Avery: Amazing stuff. It really makes you think

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about how delicate yet how resilient the

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process of life's beginning must be.

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Anna: Let's move from the beginning of life to the

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ghosts of galaxies. The Vera Rubin

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Observatory hasn't even officially started

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its main survey yet, but it's already making

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incredible discoveries.

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Avery: That's the most exciting part. This was

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during its commissioning phase, basically

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just testing the camera in June of

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2025. It took what are called its Virgo

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first look images, and astronomers found

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something huge.

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Anna: An enormous stellar stream. These are the

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remnants of smaller dwarf galaxies or star

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clusters that have been torn apart by the

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gravity of a larger galaxy. This particular

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stream was found emanating from a galaxy

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called Messier 61 in the Virgo cluster.

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Avery: And when we say enormous, we mean it. The

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newly discovered stream is about

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163,000 light years long.

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That dwarfs most other streams we found. To

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put that in perspective, our own Milky Way

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galaxy is only about 100,000 light years

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across.

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Anna: It's just staggering. The authors of this

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study even noted how remarkable it is that a

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stream this massive went unnoticed for so

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long, Especially around a well studied

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Messier galaxy.

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Avery: Totally. It just shows how much is still

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hiding in plain sight. They conclude by

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saying they expect a treasure trove of

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substructures to be unveiled when the Rubin

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Observatory's full survey begins. If this is

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what they find just by turning the camera on,

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I can't wait to see what the full survey

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reveals.

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Anna: It will be a new era for astronomy

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now. From one of the world's largest

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telescopes to one of the smallest spacecraft,

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the European Space agency is preparing to

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launch Hennin, the first CubeSat designed to

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independently journey into deep.

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Avery: A tiny satellite with a huge mission.

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Hennon isn't just going into Earth orbit.

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It's heading out to a distant retrograde

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orbit, or DRO around the Sun.

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This is a special stable trajectory first

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proposed way back in 1969 by a

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French astronomer named Michel Henon.

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Anna: Right. And from this unique vantage point,

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Henon will act as an early warning system.

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Its instruments are designed to detect solar

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storms hours before they reach Earth. This

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could be a game changer for protecting our

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satellites and power grids.

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Avery: A big one. Currently, our best warning times

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for a solar storm are under an hour. Henon

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could potentially increase that warning time

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to as much as six hours. That's a lot of

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extra time to prepare critical

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infrastructure.

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Anna: It really is. This mission is a milestone for

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small satellite technology. If Henin can

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demonstrate this capability, it will pave the

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way for a future constellation of small,

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relatively inexpensive spacecraft that can

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keep a constant watch on the sun, giving us a

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much more robust defense against dangerous

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space weather.

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Avery: That autonomy is absolutely key. It

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demonstrates that small, relatively cost

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effective platforms can now perform complex,

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high stakes deep space missions that were

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once the exclusive domain of large billion

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dollar probes.

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Anna: This really opens up a new paradigm for solar

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system exploration and especially for

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building resilient constellations for space

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weather monitoring. Giving us eyes on the sun

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from multiple angles.

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Avery: A tiny sentinel standing guard millions of

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miles away. I love it.

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Anna: Finally, for our last story, we turn our

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attention back to Earth, specifically to the

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launch pads of Europe. Ariane Group is making

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a serious push to develop its own reusable

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rocket technology.

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Avery: This is a big deal for them. For years,

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Europe has relied on expendable rockets like

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the Ariane 5. But with companies like

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SpaceX dominating the launch market with

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reusable boosters, they know they need to

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catch up. This new effort is built around an

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engine called Prometheus.

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Anna: Mm, that's right. Prometheus is a reusable,

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high thrust but low cost engine that burns

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methane and liquid oxygen. It's the

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powerhouse that will drive a series of

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demonstrator vehicles designed to test the

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technologies needed for vertical landing and

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recovery.

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Avery: The roadmap is ambitious. They're aiming for

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a full stage recovery demonstration around

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2027 or 2028. If

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that's successful, an operational reusable

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rocket could follow in their early 2000s,

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assuming they continue to get funding from

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the European Space Agency and other partners.

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Anna: And the goal here is clear. Ariane

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Group states that the program aims to boost

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European autonomous access to space.

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They don't want to be reliant on other

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countries or, companies for launching their

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critical satellites.

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Avery: Sovereign capability. It's a race not just

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for commercial advantage, but for strategic

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independence in space. It will be exciting to

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see if Prometheus can help Europe leapfrog

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into the reusable era.

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Anna: Leapfrog is the perfect word for it. They

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aren't just trying to copy existing reusable

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designs. The Prometheus engine is being

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designed from the ground up for extreme

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low cost and rapid production,

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using advanced manufacturing techniques like

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3D printing for many of its core

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components. If they succeed, they could

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create a rocket that's not only reusable,

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but also significantly cheaper and faster

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to build in the first place.

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Avery: And that kind of robust competition is

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fantastic for the entire global space

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industry. It drives down launch costs for

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everyone. It fosters rapid innovation,

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and ultimately, it gives humanity more

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affordable and reliable access to space for

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science, commerce, and exploration.

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A strong competitive and independent European

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launch capability is a benefit to the entire

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international space community.

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Anna: It really shows the incredible breadth of

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what's happening in space exploration. Right

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now. We have public private partnerships

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pushing the boundaries of lunar travel, While

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fundamental science is rewriting our

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understanding of how life might begin.

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The scale of it all is just breathtaking.

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Avery: It is. And at the same time, we're developing

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new tools. From giant observatories to tiny

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satellites that are giving us a clearer

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picture of both the distant cosmos and our

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own solar neighborhood, Every story we cover

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today is a piece of that larger puzzle of

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discovery. It's a very exciting time.

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Anna: And that brings us to the end of our episode.

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From revised moon missions and life giving

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stellar storms to galactic ghosts,

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tiny sentinels and the race for reusable

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rockets, it's been another busy week in the

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cosmos.

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Avery: It certainly has. Thanks so much for joining

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us on Astronomy Daily. We hope you'll tune in

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next time for another journey through the

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latest news from our universe. Until then,

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I'm, Avery.

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

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Love.