NASA's Astronauts Adjust, A Cosmic Mystery Unveiled, China's Latest Launch

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Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna bringing

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you the latest developments in space and astronomy news.

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Today we have a packed episode covering a wide range

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of fascinating stories from across the cosmos.

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We'll check in with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and

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Suni Williams as they recover from what was meant to

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be an eight day mission, but turned into a nine month

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stay aboard the International Space Station.

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I'll also tell you about a truly mysterious star that

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pulses every 44 minutes in both radio waves and X

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rays, leaving scientists puzzled about its true

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nature. Then we'll explore China's ambitious

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Tianwen 2 mission that just launched to collect samples

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from a living fossil asteroid.

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We'll round up this week's busy launch schedule from around the

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world and end with some slightly unsettling news about

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Earth's long term orbital stability and a

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potential cosmic fate that thankfully remains

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extremely unlikely. Stay with me for all this and

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more on today's Astronomy Daily.

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Lets kick off with a story I'm sure most folks thought was done and

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dusted. Turns out there's an epilogue.

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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni

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Williams are making steady progress in their recovery

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after returning to Earth following what became an

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unexpectedly extended mission in space.

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What was originally planned as an eight day test flight aboard

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Boeing's Starliner capsule turned into a nine month

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stay on the International Space Station when

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propulsion system issues forced NASA to bring the

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capsule back without its crew. The

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astronauts, now back on solid ground since March,

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have been undergoing intensive physical therapy as part of the

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standard 45 day reconditioning period for long

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duration space travellers. Wilmore,

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who is 62, described the challenging

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readjustment to Earth's gravity in a recent interview,

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noting that gravity stinks for a period

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as astronauts deal with balance issues and muscle weakness

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as after extended time in microgravity.

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Williams, 59, shared that some of her post

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spaceflight side effects were slower to resolve.

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She experienced significant fatigue during the later

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stages of recovery as dozens of muscles re

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engaged after months of disuse. The

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veteran astronaut couldn't maintain her preferred early morning

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routine until recently when she happily reported

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then I'm up at 4 in the morning and I'm like aha, uh-huh,

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I'm back. For Wilmore, the return

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to Earth reintroduced him to some familiar discomfort.

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He had experienced neck pain before his mission that

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completely disappeared in the weightlessness of space.

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Remarkably, he felt that same pain return while

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still in the Starliner capsule bobbing in the ocean

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even before extraction teams had reached them.

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The human body, having evolved over millions of years in

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Earth's gravity undergoes significant changes during

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spaceflight. Without gravity's constant pull,

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astronauts experience muscle atrophy,

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cardiovascular shifts and other physical changes

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that require dedicated rehabilitation upon return.

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While recovering physically, both astronauts have been

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ramping up their work schedules with Boeing's Starliner

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programme, NASA's Space Station Operations in

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Houston, and agency researchers.

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Williams described the past months as a bit of

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a whirlwind as they balance their recovery with

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professional obligations. Meanwhile,

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NASA faces important decisions regarding Boeing's troubled

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Starliner programme. Williams has publicly

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advocated for requiring Boeing to fly Starliner

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uncrewed before putting humans aboard again, calling

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it the logical thing to do and drawing

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comparisons to SpaceX and Russian spacecraft that

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underwent similar safety validation.

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NASA officials have indicated that that additional

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testing, planned throughout the summer, will determine whether

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Starliner can carry humans on its next flight.

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As you know, I love a good mystery here on Astronomy Daily.

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And here's Today's Scientists have

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discovered a truly puzzling cosmic object that's

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breaking all the rules of what we thought we knew about stars.

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It's called ASCAP J

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1832, and what makes it so

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extraordinary is its unusual pulsing behaviour. It

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sends out bursts of energy every 44 minutes with

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clockwork precision. ASCAP

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J1832 belongs to a rare category

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known as long period radio transients, which were

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only first discovered in 2022. Unlike typical

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pulsars that flash multiple times per second, these

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objects pulse much more slowly. But what truly

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sets ASCAP J1832 apart is

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that it's the first of its kind to emit both radio

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waves and X rays on the exact same 44 minute

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cycle. This groundbreaking discovery came through

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the combined observations of NASA's powerful

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Chandra X Ray Observatory and Australia's

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ASCAP radio telescope. When scientists

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created composite images using data from these

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telescopes, along with infrared information from NASA's

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Spitzer Space Telescope, they revealed a vivid

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portrait of this stellar enigma. The mystery

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deepened when researchers noticed that ASCAP J

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1832's emissions

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faded dramatically over a six month period in both

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radio and X ray wavelengths. This

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combination of short term pulses with long term changes

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makes it unlike anything previously observed in our Milky

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Way galaxy. Astronomers are struggling to

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explain what could cause such behaviour.

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ASCAP J1832

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doesn't fit neatly into any known category of stellar

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objects. It's unlikely to be a typical pulsar

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or a neutron star pulling material from a companion star

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because the intensities of its radio and X ray signals

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don't match what we'd expect. Some of its

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properties suggest it could be an extremely magnetic

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neutron star, what astronomers call a Magnetar

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that's over 500,000 years old.

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However, other features, like its bright and variable radio

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emission, are difficult to explain for such an aged

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magnetar. Initially, scientists

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thought ASCAP J1832 might be

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associated with a nearby supernova remnant, as

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these exploded stars often contain neutron stars.

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However, further investigations suggested this

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proximity is likely just coincidence. The

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research team is now considering more exotic possibilities,

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including that it might be a white dwarf star with a

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companion. If true, it would require the strongest

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magnetic field ever recorded for a white dwarf in our

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galaxy. For now, ASC

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APJ1832 remains a, one of a kind

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cosmic mystery that could potentially represent an

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entirely new class of astronomical objects.

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Next up Today, China has taken a major step forward

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in its space exploration programme with the successful launch of the

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Tianwen 2 probe, the country's first ever

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asteroid sample return mission. A long March 3rd

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B rocket carrying the spacecraft blasted off from the

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Sichung launch site in southwestern Sichuan Province

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early Thursday morning local time. About

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18 minutes after liftoff, the probe was successfully

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inserted into its transfer orbit from Earth to asteroid

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20002016 HO3, also known

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by its official name, Kamo Oalawa. The

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China National Space Administration confirmed that the

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spacecraft deployed its solar panels as planned

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and declared the launch a complete success. This

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ambitious mission targets what scientists describe as a

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living fossil asteroid. Measuring between

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40 to 100 metres in diameter, Kamu'

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Oalawa orbits relatively close to Earth and

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consists of ancient materials that could provide crucial

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insights and into the formation of our early solar system.

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What makes Chen Wei particularly interesting is its

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complex mission profile. The spacecraft will spend

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approximately 30 months on its journey to and from the

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asteroid. Once it arrives, it will perform

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two different types of sample collection. First,

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the probe will touch down on the asteroid's surface to collect

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material using a drill. Then it will perform a

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touch and go sample collection similar to NASA's Osiris

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Rex mission. In total, the spacecraft

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aims to collect about 1000 grammes of asteroid

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material. But the mission doesn't end there.

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After delivering the precious samples back to Earth, the main

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spacecraft will continue its journey through space.

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Using Earth's gravity as a slingshot. Tianwen

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2 will be redirected toward a fascinating

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object called 311P

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Panstars in the main asteroid belt between

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Mars and Jupiter. This second target is

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particularly intriguing to scientists because it exhibits

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characteristics of both asteroids and comets,

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making it a valuable subject for further investigation.

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The entire mission is expected to last approximately a

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decade. This latest achievement represents another

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significant milestone in China's rapidly advancing

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space programme, which President Xi Jinping has

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described as the country's space dream.

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In recent years, China has established its own

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space station, landed rovers on Mars and the moon,

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and is planning crewed lunar missions later this decade.

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It's been an exceptionally busy week in the rocket launch sector,

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with multiple missions taking off from launch pads around

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the world. SpaceX continues its

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rapid fire cadence with several Starlink deployments

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already underway or scheduled in the coming days.

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On Wednesday, a Falcon 9 rocket thundered off

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Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space

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Centre in Florida carrying 27 Starlink

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V2 mini satellites into low Earth orbit.

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Despite only a 60% chance of favourable weather,

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SpaceX managed to launch right at the beginning of

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their four hour window. The mission used booster

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B1080, which incredibly was flying for its

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19th time, a remarkable testament to

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SpaceX's reusability programme. Looking

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ahead, SpaceX has at least two more launches planned

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this week. On Friday, they're scheduled to launch the

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GPS 3 SV08 mission for the

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US Space Force from Cape Canaveral. This mission was

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actually originally assigned to ULA's Vulcan rocket

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before being reassigned to Falcon 9. Then

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just one minute after the GPS launch window opens in

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Florida, another Falcon 9 is set to lift off from

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Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with yet another batch

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of Starlink satellites. Then early next

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week, SpaceX has scheduled Starlink Group 12th 9

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to launch from Cape Canaveral, continuing their rapid

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deployment of their Internet constellation. China

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has also been active beyond the Tianwen 2 mission we just

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discussed. The China Aerospace Science and Technology

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Corporation launched another mission on Thursday

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using a, Changjiang 2D rocket from the

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Jukwan satellite launch Centre. The

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payload for this particular flight remains undisclosed,

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marking the fifth Changjiang 2D mission of

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2025 and the 99th overall for this

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reliable Chinese launch vehicle. Meanwhile,

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Blue Origin is preparing for its fourth New Shepard mission

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of the year. Scheduled for Saturday morning.

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This suborbital flight will lift off from their West

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Texas facility carrying six passengers just

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above the Carmen line, where they'll experience a brief period

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of weightlessness before the capsule returns to Earth.

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This will be New Shepard's 12th crewed

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flight overall, continuing to advance private

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human spaceflight capabilities.

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Rocket Lab had planned a launch of their electron rocket from New Zealand

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this week, but They've postponed until June 3rd

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due to additional checks needed and unfavourable weather

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conditions at the launch site.

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Finally today, please don't let this news keep you up

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at night. But I've got some potentially unsettling news

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about Earth's cosmic future. New computer

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simulations have revealed, a previously underestimated risk

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to our planet's orbit. While it's not exactly time

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to panic, the findings are certainly intriguing.

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Astronomers Nathan Kaib from the Planetary Science

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Institute and Sean Raymond from the University of Bordeaux

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have discovered that passing stars could disrupt our

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solar system in ways we hadn't fully appreciated

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before. Their research shows that these

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stellar flybys could exacerbate an existing

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vulnerability in our planetary neighbourhood.

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It turns out Mercury is the potential troublemaker here.

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The innermost planet already has a fairly elliptical

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orbit, and Jupiter's gravitational influence can make

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that orbit even more oval shaped over time. What

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these new simulations reveal is that when you

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add the gravitational effects of passing stars,

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Mercury's orbit can become dramatically more eccentric.

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Once Mercury goes haywire, chaos can unfold.

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In typical scenarios, Mercury might collide with Venus

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or plunge into the Sun. But the resulting orbital

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disruption can then trigger a cascade of planetary

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instability. In some simulations, Venus

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or Mars crash into Earth, or Earth itself collides with the

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Sun. Another possibility is that Venus and

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Mars could gravitationally slingshot Earth toward Jupiter,

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which could then eject our planet from the solar system

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entirely. Before you start planning for

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cosmic doom, the researchers emphasise that the

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probability of such catastrophes is

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extremely low. Over the next 5 billion

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years, roughly the remaining lifespan of our sun,

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there's only a 0.2% chance of Earth meeting

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such a fate. However, that's significantly

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higher than previous studies had calculated, as they

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didn't fully account for the cumulative effects of passing

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stars. The most dangerous scenarios

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involve stars that pass particularly close to our solar

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system, within 100 times Earth's

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distance from the sun. Or stars that move

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relatively slowly, extending their gravitational

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influence. There's about a 5%

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chance of such a close stellar encounter over the next 5

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billion years. Interestingly, the

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simulation suggests that distant Pluto faces even

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greater risks despite its protective

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orbital resonance with Neptune. Passing stars could

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disrupt this arrangement, giving Pluto a 4% chance

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of being ejected or colliding with a planet over the same

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timeframe, 20 times the risk Earth faces.

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While these cosmic timescales far exceed human

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planning horizons, they provide fascinating insights

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into the long term dynamics of our solar system and

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remind us that even in space, nothing lasts forever.

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And with that cheery news, I'll conclude our

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cosmic journey for today on Astronomy Daily.

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From astronauts readjusting to Earth's gravity after

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an extended space mission to mysterious

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pulsing stars, asteroid sample missions, and

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even the potential long term fate of our planet,

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the universe continues to surprise and fascinate us.

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I'm Anna and I hope these stories have sparked your

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curiosity about the vast cosmos we're all a part of.

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The beauty of astronomy is that there's always something new to

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discover, whether it's a strange stellar object

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pulsing every 44 minutes, or understanding

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how our own planet is might navigate

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cosmic challenges billions of years from now.

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If you'd like to stay connected with the latest developments

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in space and astronomy, please visit our

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website at astronomydaily IO where you can

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sign up for our free daily newsletter. Our

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site features a constantly updating news feed with

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all the latest space and astronomy news. As it happens.

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Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on Apple

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Your support helps us continue bringing these fascinating

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stories to you, and if you could, a review

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would be greatly appreciated too. Thank

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you for listening to Astronomy Daily. Until next time, keep looking up

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The story.