Rocket Failures, Black Hole Breakthroughs, and Movies in Space

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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

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brings you the latest news from across the

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cosmos. I'm your host, Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you all.

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In today's reports, Avery, we're talking

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about everything from rocket failures and

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delays to solving black hole mysteries

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and even filming movies in space.

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Avery: That's right. It's a wild mix of stories

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today. Let's get right into it.

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First up, some, um, unfortunate news from the

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private space space sector in China.

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Anna: Yes, this involves the Ceres 1

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rocket, which is operated by a private

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company called Galactic Energy. They

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experienced their second ever failure during

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a recent launch from the Yellow Sea.

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Avery: Right. So what went wrong?

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Anna: Well, the initial part of the launch went

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smoothly. The first three stages of the solid

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propellant rocket performed exactly as

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expected. The problem occurred with the

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fourth and.

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Avery: Final stage, the upper stage. So is

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shut down early.

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Anna: Exactly. It experienced what the company

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called an abnormal performance and shut

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down prematurely. This meant the payload

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three satellites couldn't reach its intended

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orbit. They were, unfortunately, lost.

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Avery: That's always tough to hear. You never want

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to see a mission fail. Do we know why the

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stage malfunctioned?

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Anna: The company is investigating now. They've

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issued a public apology for the failure and

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are working on pinpointing the exact cause.

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It's important to note, though, this is only

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their second F failure out of 22 missions.

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Avery: That's a good point. A success rate over 90%

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is still very respectable, especially for a

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commercial launch provider. It just

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highlights how incredibly difficult rocket

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science is.

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Anna: It certainly does.

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Now, from a setback in orbit to a

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major breakthrough in our understanding of

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the universe's most mysterious objects.

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Avery, you have an update on a so called

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impossible black hole merger?

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Avery: I do, and this is truly fascinating stuff.

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For a while now, astronomers have been

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puzzled by a specific gravitational wave

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event. It signaled the merger of two

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massive, rapidly spinning black holes. But

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the result was a black hole that, according

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to our models, shouldn't exist.

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Anna: Okay, so why was it considered

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impossible?

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Avery: It has to do with something called the upper

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stellar mass gap. It's a range of sizes

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roughly between 65 and

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135 times the mass of our sun,

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where we just don't expect to see black holes

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form from collapsing stars. This

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merger's resulting black hole landed right

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in that gap.

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Anna: A real cosmic puzzle. So what was the

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solution?

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Avery: The solution came from new, more complex

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simulations. And the key ingredient that had

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been missing was magnetic fields.

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Anna: Magnetic fields. How do they change the

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equation?

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Avery: Well, the new simulations included the

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effects of strong magnetic fields within the

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accretion disk. That's the swirling disk

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of gas and dust around the black hole. These

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fields are powerful enough to generate strong

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outflows, ejecting a significant amount of

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material out into space before it ever falls

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into the black hole.

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Anna: Okay, so. So the black holes essentially

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started out much bigger. But the

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magnetic fields threw a bunch of their

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potential mass away before the final merger.

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Avery: Precisely. By ejecting all that material,

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the final mass of the resulting black hole

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was reduced, allowing it to neatly fit into

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that previously unexplained mass gap.

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It's an elegant solution that shows our

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understanding is always evolving.

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Anna: That's incredible. A great reminder that the

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universe is always, always more complex than

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our models first assume.

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Speaking of complex projects, there's a

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development regarding a highly anticipated

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new rocket.

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Avery: That's right. We're talking about Rocket Labs

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Mutron Rocket. The company has officially

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announced that the rocket's first launch is

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now delayed until 2026 at the

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earliest.

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Anna: No earlier than 2026. That's a

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significant pushback from their earlier

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targets.

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Avery: It is. The company's CEO explained the

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reasoning, saying, uh, they want to ensure

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the first flight is fully successful.

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They're choosing to conduct more extensive

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testing on the ground rather than rushing to

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the launch pad and risking a failure.

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Anna: That seems to be a smart, if costly

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trend. Prioritizing a successful

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debut over sticking to an aggressive

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schedule. A, uh, failure on the first flight

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can be devastating for a new launch program.

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Avery: Exactly. The Neutron is a really big deal for

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them. It's their next generation reusable

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rocket, designed to launch mega

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constellations and compete with the heavy

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hitters in the industry.

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Anna: Mhm. A huge step up from their workhorse

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electron rocket.

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Avery: It's a massive leap. This delay will increase

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the program's overall cost, as they noted.

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But Rocket Lab believes it's the right

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decision for the long term success of Neutron

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Strategic patience.

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Anna: I think it's a wise move.

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Now let's shift from launching rockets

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to filming on location.

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Way, way on location.

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Avery: This is a fun one. A new film, a romantic

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comedy titled I See you is aiming to

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be the first western movie to actually

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shoot scenes in low Earth orbit.

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Wow.

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Anna: Uh, so we're talking

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actors, directors, camera

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crews actually going up there.

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Avery: That's the ambitious plan. It is of course,

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a massive logistical challenge. To help

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them navigate it, they've brought on former

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NASA astronaut Scott Kelly as an

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advisor for the project.

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Anna: Scott Kelly. That makes perfect sense.

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He spent nearly a year in space so he'd

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know a thing or two about the realities of

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living and Working up there. But wait,

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haven't we already had a movie filmed in

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space?

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Avery: We have. You're absolutely right to point

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that out. The Russian film the Challenge

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already holds the title of the first feature

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film with scenes shot in space. They filmed

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on the International Space station back in

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2021. Ah.

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Anna: Uh, so ICU is

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competing for the title of the first

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western film to do so. That's a crucial

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distinction.

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Avery: It is, but it's still an incredible

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undertaking. It'll be fascinating to see if

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they can pull it off. I can't even imagine

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what the insurance policy for a project like

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that looks like.

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Anna: Astronomical, I'm sure.

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Okay, for our final story, we're looking a

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little closer to home at an

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asteroid that has a date with the moon.

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Avery: Yes, NASA is currently tracking an asteroid

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named, uh, 2024 yr4.

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Now before anyone gets alarmed, this object

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poses absolutely no threat to Earth.

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However, scientists have calculated there is

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a small but non zero chance it could

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impact the Moon.

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Anna: The Moon. And when is

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this potential impact supposed to happen?

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Avery: The potential impact window is in 2032.

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Again, the probability is low, but it's

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significant enough that scientists are taking

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it very seriously as both a tracking

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challenge and the scientific opportunity.

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Anna: A scientific opportunity. So I

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assume this is because we could actually

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watch it happen.

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Avery: Exactly. We've never been able to study a

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lunar impact of this size with modern

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instruments. As it happens, observing the

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collision, the flash and the resulting crater

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could provide a wealth of data about the

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Moon's surface composition and the physics of

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high velocity impacts.

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Anna: That's right. It would be a planetary science

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goldmine.

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Avery: And there's another important angle here.

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Planetary Defense Tracking

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2024 yr serves as a perfect real

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world exercise for the systems we have in

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place to detect and monitor near Earth

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objects.

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Anna: So it's a dry run in a way. Using a

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non threatening object to make sure our

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systems are ready for one that might actually

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be a danger to Earth someday.

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Avery: Precisely. It's a valuable chance to learn

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and prepare, all while potentially getting a

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front row seat to a rare and spectacular

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cosmic event.

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

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Astronomy Daily. From black hole

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breakthroughs to cinematic ambitions in

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orbit, it's been another busy day in the

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world of space exploration.

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Avery: It certainly has. We hope you enjoyed the

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show. You can find more details and links to

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all of these stories on our

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website@astronomydaily.IO

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thanks for tuning in.

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Anna: Join us next time as we continue to explore

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the final frontier. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Clear Skies. Everyone

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and keep looking up.

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Anna: The stories.

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Avery: Hmm.

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Anna: Were told.