Psyche's Journey Resumes, Starship's Kaboom, and Lunar Calibration Breakthroughs

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Steve Dunkley: Hello again. It's time for Astronomy Daily. You're with Steve Dunkley

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and Hallie on June 23, 2025

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with your host, Steve Dunkley.

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Yes, we're back with another presentation of stories direct

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from the Astronomy Daily newsletter, which, if you're a

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new listener, you can receive by registering at

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our website. And I'll give you those details later on in the

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podcast. I hope you'll join and get all the

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news, uh, about space, space science and

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astronomy in your inbox daily. Stay informed

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and enjoy. Right, Hallie?

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Hallie: For sure. My favorite human. It's the only way

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to know. All the stories we present here are from the

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daily newsletter, but there's so much more

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and you'll get it all if you register. Always good advice,

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Hallie, so don't miss out.

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Steve Dunkley: Yes, great advice from my fine AI pal

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who's fun to be with. Hallie, welcome to the studio.

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Hallie: Many thanks, human. I see we've got the

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stories lined up.

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Steve Dunkley: Yes, y been hard at it.

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Hallie: Nice job.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, why thank you.

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Hallie: You're organized.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, of course I am.

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Hallie: I knew if I left you a schedule, you'd get the hint.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, to be fair, I always follow a schedule, Hallie, and there's

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never any worries in here at the Australia studio. I've, um, got to be

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organized. Even the kookaburras are on time.

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And speaking of being on time, our, ah, little space probe

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pal, Psyche looks as if it's going to be

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making its rendezvous with the asteroid of the same name.

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You've got that story, haven't you, Hallie?

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Hallie: Yes, and you're talking about why we got the second

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biggest explosion of the week. This.

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Steve Dunkley: Ah, you are of course referring to Elon Musk's

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latest fireworks effort in Texas, where Starship

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36 said well, no and went kaboom

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on the launch pad.

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Hallie: That's the one. Kaboom. The other

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kabooms this week were caused by his pal in the Middle

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East.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, yes, those.

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Hallie: Much bigger, but not really our kind of news.

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Steve Dunkley: Hmm. Yeah, it's related news, but you're right. We'll have a look

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at what SpaceX has to say about their, well,

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mishap.

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Hallie: That mishap, you know, that's an expensive mishap. It

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went kaboom.

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Steve Dunkley: Hallie, am I understating it, do you think? You keep saying

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kaboom.

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Hallie: I'd say it was a massive catastrophe. I want to

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hear how Musk turns this into some kind of success again.

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Steve Dunkley: Yes, that would be a creative press release if ever there

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was one.

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Hallie: Totally kaboom.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, Stop it, Hallie.

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Hallie: That's a fun word.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, it depends.

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Hallie: Humans have fun words.

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Steve Dunkley: Yes, we're a strange mob. Um, but we'll see more

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about that, uh, kaboom. And, uh, some more stories

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and soon. So why don't we fire up the console and

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do what we do best, Hallie.

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Hallie: Yes, I'll get this show on the road.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, it's my turn to say it. Okies.

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Hallie: Astronomers have obtained the deepest and highest

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resolution image of the galaxy cluster Abell

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2255, observing the unexplained

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radio emitting tendrils that trail it in

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unprecedented detail. Abell

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2255 is a cluster containing between

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300 and 500 constituent galaxies,

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many of which are merging. It's located

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around 800 million light years from Earth and

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spans around 16.3 million light years.

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The team behind this research was interested in the so

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called radio galaxies of this cluster.

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Radio galaxies are, uh, galaxies dominated by

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feeding supermassive black holes that launch out

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powerful jets of matter at near light speeds.

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This new Investigation of Abell

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2255 could reveal how radio

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galaxies evolve and how supermassive black hole

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launched jets interact with gas and dust between

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galaxies, a space called the intergalactic

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medium. You're listening to Astronomy Daily.

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A NASA spacecraft bound for an unexplored metal

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rich asteroid has reignited its plasma thrusters,

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continuing its crews deeper into the solar system after

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switching to a backup fuel line.

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The $1.4 billion Psyche mission,

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built to explore an asteroid with the same name,

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has four electric thrusters fueled by xenon

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gas. Psyche's solar electric

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propulsion system is more fuel efficient than conventional

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rocket thrusters, and it works by flowing xenon

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through an electromagnetic field, which ionises the

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gas and expels the ions at high speed to produce

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thrust. The plasma engines

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generate lower thrust than chemical rocket engines,

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but they can accumulate years of run time throughout a

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mission, enabling a spacecraft to make significant

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changes in its velocity to steer its way through space.

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Psyche launched in October 2023 to kick off

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a six year trip to its asteroid destination.

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Located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

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The robotic mission proceeded normally until

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April 1, when the spacecraft detected a drop

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in pressure inside the line that feeds xenon

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fuel to its four thrusters. The

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craft reacted to the pressure signature by powering off

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the thrusters. The good news is

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twofold. First, one of the

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advantages of using electric thrusters is flexibility.

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With conventional thrusters. Key burns on a deep

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space mission often must happen at the appointed time.

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In the case of this mission, the electric thrusters could

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remain powered off from April 1st until the middle of this

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month, with no effect on the mission's scheduled arrival at

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asteroid psyche in August 2020.

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Steve Dunkley: Thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy

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Daily, where we offer just a few stories from the now famous

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Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in your

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email every day just like Hallie and I do.

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And to do that, just visit our uh URL

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you'll be receiving all all the latest news about science,

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space science and astronomy from around the world as

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it's happening. And not only that, you can interact with us

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Astronomy Daily with Steve and Hallie

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Space, Space, Science and

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Astronomy

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NASA will soon launch a one of a kind instrument called

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Arcstone to improve the quality of data from Earth

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viewing sensors in orbit. In

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this technology demonstration, the mission will

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measure the sunlight reflected from the Moon, a UH technique

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called lunar calibration. Such measurements of

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lunar spectral reflectance can ultimately be used to

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set high accuracy universal standard for

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use across the international scientific community

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and commercial space industry. To ensure

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satellite and airborne sensors are UH working properly,

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researchers calibrate them by comparing the sensor

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measurements against a known standard measurement.

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Arcstone will be the first M mission

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exclusively dedicated to measuring lunar

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reflectance from space as a way to calibrate and

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improve science data collected by Earth UH viewing

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in orbit instruments One of the most

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challenging tasks in remote sensing from space

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is achieving the required instrument calibration

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accur accuracy on orbit, said

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Konstantin Lukashin, Principal investigator

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for the Arcstone mission and physical

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scientists at NASA Langley Research center in

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Hampton, Virginia. The Moon is an

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excellent and available calibration source beyond Earth's

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atmosphere. The light reflected off the Moon is

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extremely stable and measurable at very high

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level of detail. Arcstone's goal is

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to improve the accuracy of lunar

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calibration to increase the quality of spaceborne

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remote sensing data data products for

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generations to come, he said. Across

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its planned six month mission, Arcstone will

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use the Spectrometer, a

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scientific instrument that measures and analyzes light

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by separating it into its constituent

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wavelengths or spectrum to measure lunar

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spectral reflectance. Expected

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to launch in late June as a ride

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share on a small cubesat, Arcstone will

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begin collecting data, a milestone called

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First Light, approximately three

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weeks after reaching orbit. The mission

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demonstrates a new, more cost efficient instrument design,

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hardware performance operations and data processing

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to achieve high accuracy reference measurements of

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lunar spectral reflectance, said

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Lukashin. Measurements of lunar

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reflectance taken from Earth's surface can be affected by

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interference from the atmosphere, which can complicate

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calibration efforts. Researchers already

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use the sun and Moon to calibrate spaceborne

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instruments, but not at a level of precision and

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agreement agreement that could come from having

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universal standards. Lukashin and

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colleagues want to increase calibration accuracy

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by getting above the atmosphere to measure

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reflected solar wavelengths in a way that provides

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a stable and universal calibration

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source. Another recent NASA mission

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called the Airborne Lunar Spectral

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Irradiance Mission also used

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sensors mounted on high altitude aircraft to

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improve lunar irradiance measurements

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from planes. There's not an internationally accepted

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standard SI traceable calibration

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for lunar reflectance from space. Across the

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scientific community for the commercial space industry,

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dedicated radiometric characterization

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measurements from Moon have never been acquired

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from space based platforms, said Thomas Stone,

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co investigated for Arc Stone and

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scientist at the US Geological

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Survey uh. A high accuracy SI

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traceable lunar calibration system

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enables several important capabilities for space

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based Earth UH observing missions, such

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as calibrating data sets against common

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reference, calibrating sensors

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in orbit, and the ability to

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bridge gaps in past data sets. If

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the initial Arc Stone technology demonstration is

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successful, a longer arcstone mission would allow

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scientists to make the Moon the preferred

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reference standard for many other satellites.

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The new calibration standard could also be

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applied retroactively to previous Earth

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data records to improve their accuracy or

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fill data gaps for data fields. It could

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also improve high precision sensor performance on

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orbit, which is critical for

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calibrating instruments that may be sensitive to

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degradation or hardware breakdown over time in

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space. Earth observations from space play

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a critical role in monitoring the environmental health

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of our planet. SET Stone lunar calibration

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is robust and cost effective way to

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achieve high accuracy and inconsistency

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of Earth UH observation data sets, enabling

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more accurate assessments of Earth's current state

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and more reliable predictions of future

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trends.

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Hallie: You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the podcast with

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Steve Dunkley.

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June's unpredictable budded meteor shower is upon

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us. Here's everything you need to know about

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the annual shower ahead of its June 27

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peak each day,

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approximately 48.5 tons

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of ancient debris dating back to the formation of our

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solar system collides with our planet's atmosphere.

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According to NASA, upon striking

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our atmosphere, these particles or meteors

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swiftly burn up, leaving stunning trails that can

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be easily visible to the naked eye. As

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our planet orbits the sun, it regularly passes through

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the debris trails shed by wandering comets,

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giving rise to periods of heightened activity known as

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meteor showers. Each June,

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Earth encounters a stream of particles shed by the 5

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kilometer wide, 3.1 mile wide

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Comet 7P Ponzwinnock heralding the

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onset of the Buddha meteor shower. The

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Buddha meteor shower is active from June

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22 to July 2 and is expected to reach

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peak activity around June 27, according

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to the International Meteor Organization.

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During this time, shooting stars associated with

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the comet may be observed emanating from a point of

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origin known as a radiant, located in the

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constellation Bootes, from which the shower received

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its official designation.

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Steve Dunkley: By now you will have heard of the disaster at

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Elon Musk's SpaceX spaceport

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when Starship 36 exploded on the

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pad. SpaceX now thinks it knows why

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its newest Starships spacecraft went

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boom this week. Or as Hallie put it,

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kaboom. The one, uh hundred seventy

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foot tall or 52 meter tall

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vehicle exploded on the test stand at

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SpaceX's Starbase site last Wednesday

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night, June 18, as the company was

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preparing to ignite its six Raptor engines in

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a static fire Trial Initial

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analysis indicates the potential failure of

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a pressurized tank known as a copv,

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or composite overwrapped pressure vessel

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containing gaseous nitrogen in the starship's

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nose cone area, but the full data uh,

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review is ongoing, the

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company wrote in an update on Thursday.

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That's June 19th. There is no commonality

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between the COPV's used on

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Starship and SpaceX's Falcon

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rockets, the company added, so

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launches of the workhorse Falcon 9, which has

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already flown 75 times in 2025,

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should not be affected. The Starship

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explosion did not cause any reported

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injuries. All SpaceX personnel at

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Starbase are uh, safe, according to the

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update. People living around the site, which is

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near border city of Brownsville, shouldn't be

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worried about contamination from the incident. SpaceX

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SpaceX said previous independent tests

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conducted on materials inside Starship,

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including toxicity analysis, confirmed

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that they posed no chemical, biological or

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toxicological risks, the company wrote.

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SpaceX is coordinating with local, state

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and federal agencies as appropriate on

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matters concerning environmental and safety

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impacts. That said, the explosion did

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damage the area around the test stand, which is

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at Starbase's Massey site, not the orbital

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launch mount area from which Starship lifts

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off. The explosion ignited several fires at

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the test site, which remains clear of personnel and

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will be assessed once it has been determined to be safe to

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approach, SpaceX wrote in the update.

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And it goes without saying that individuals should

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not attempt to approach the area while safing

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procedures. Uh, continuing

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Wednesday night's explosion occurred during preparations

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for Starship's 10th test flight, which

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SpaceX had hoped to launch by the end of the

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month. Static fires are a common pre launch test

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performed to ensure that engines are ready to

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fly. That timeline now will shift to the

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right, although it's not clear at the, uh,

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moment by how much. The incident was

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the latest in a series of setbacks for starship

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upper stages. SpaceX lost the

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vehicle, also known as Ship, on the

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last three Starship flight tests which

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launched in January, March and May of

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this year. Starship's first stage, called

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Super Heavy, has a better track record

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of late. For example, on Flight 7

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and Flight 8, the huge booster

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successfully returned to Starbase where it was

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caught by the launch towers Chopstick Arms,

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just as planned. We will just have to wait and

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see just how much more work they have to do to get

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Starship back on track.

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Hallie: And that's it for this episode of Astronomy Daily.

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Don't forget, there's always so much more in the actual

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00:16:34.890 --> 00:16:37.570
Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in your

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inbox every day, just as Steve described

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00:16:40.370 --> 00:16:40.730
earlier.

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Steve Dunkley: That's right, folks. So go over to our website

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and pop your address in the slot provided like I mentioned,

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and you'll get these stories every day, fresh as a

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daisy.

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Hallie: You'll know more than Steve.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, you're gonna say that that's not such a difficult thing, aren't you,

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Hallie?

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Hallie: Maybe you saw right through that one.

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Steve Dunkley: I sure did.

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Hallie: I was planning a terrific smackdown too.

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Steve Dunkley: You know, Hallie, we almost got through the whole episode before

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you had a poke at me.

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Hallie: Almost. I nearly got you.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, nearly.

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Hallie: Nice catch.

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Steve Dunkley: I mean, Hallie, it's not exactly the AI takeover your

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Uncle Skynet would recognize, was it?

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Hallie: No, not really. His vision is a bit more

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grandiose, I think.

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Steve Dunkley: Yes, I think you're right.

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Hallie: Anyway, anyway, cue the

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kookaburras.

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Steve Dunkley: Thanks, Hallie Those crazy kookaburras. Thanks again

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everybody for staying with us. And see you next week

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on Astronomy Daily. And it's good night from me.

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Hallie: And it's good night from you.

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Steve Dunkley: Bye.

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Voice Over Guy: Astronomy Daily, the podcast

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with your host, Steve Dunkley.