Rocket Lab's Hungry Hippos Arrive!| NASA Enlists Global Volunteers for Artemis II

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source

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for the latest space and astronomy news.

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I'm Anna.

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Anna: And I'm Avery. Thanks for joining us on, um,

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this Saturday, January 24,

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2026. We've got some

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fantastic stories lined up for you today.

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Anna: We certainly do. From rocket development

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milestones to prehistoric lunar

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discoveries, today's episode is packed

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with celestial intrigue.

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Anna: Let's dive right in with our top story.

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Rocket Lab's ambitious neutron rocket has

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hit a significant milestone, even though it

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came with a bit of a bump in the road. Anna,

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what's ah, the latest from Wallops Island.

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Anna: Well, Avery, it's a story of both triumph

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and setback. The good news first.

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Rocket Lab's innovative Hungry Hippo

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fairings have successfully arrived at Wallops

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Island, Virginia after a month long sea

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journey from New Zealand aboard, uh, the

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vessel Northstar Integrity. These aren't

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your typical payload fairings. They're part

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of Neutron's groundbreaking reusable

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system.

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Anna: Right. And, um, what makes these Hungry

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hippos so special?

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Anna: Great question. Unlike traditional fairings

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that are jettisoned and lost during flight,

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these clamshell like structures actually

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stay attached to the first stage as

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it returns home. They open to release the

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second stage and payload, then close back up

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for the ride home. It's a clever design that

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should help drive down launch costs through

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rapid reuse.

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Anna: That's fascinating engineering. But you

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mentioned a setback.

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Anna: Unfortunately, yes. While the Fairings

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were making their journey, Rocket Lab

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experienced a, uh, tank rupture during

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qualification trials at their Middle River,

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Maryland facility. A first stage

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carbon composite tank failed during

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hydrostatic pressure testing. That's where

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they fill the structure with water and

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gradually increase pressure to verify it

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can handle operational loads.

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Anna: Ouch. How, uh, significant is that?

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Anna: Well, Rocket Lab was quick to emphasize that

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testing failures like this, while

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disappointing, are actually part of the

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rigorous development process for high

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performance rockets. They deliberately stress

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hardware to its limits and beyond to ensure

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reliability. The tank was found

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collapsed into a pile of debris. But the

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company maintains this is exactly why they

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test. To find these issues on the ground

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rather than during flight.

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Anna: Silver lining thinking. And, um, the program

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moves forward.

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Anna: Absolutely. With the Hungry Hippo fairings

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now at Wallops, engineers can proceed with

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integration, testing, fit checks, electrical

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interfaces, and eventually static fire

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preparations. The launch mount is already

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in place with the test stand ready for

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major testing with the rocket's second stage.

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Anna: Exciting times for commercial spaceflight.

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Now, speaking of major missions, NASA has

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some news about tracking the upcoming Artemis

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2 mission, right?

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Anna: They do indeed. NASA has selected

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34 global volunteers from 14

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different countries. To track the Orion

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spacecraft during its journey around the

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moon. This is a significant expansion from

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the Artemis 1 mission, which had only 10

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volunteers.

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Anna: So what exactly will these volunteers be

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doing?

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Anna: They'll be using their own equipment.

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Everything from established commercial

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service providers to university research

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facilities to individual amateur

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radio enthusiasts to passively track radio

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radio waves transmitted by Orion during its

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approximately 10 day mission. We're talking

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about 47 ground assets spanning the

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globe.

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Anna: That's impressive international cooperation.

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Who made the cut?

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Anna: The list is quite diverse. Government

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agencies like the Canadian Space Agency

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and Germany's DLR are participating.

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Commercial companies include GUN Hilly Earth

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Station in the uk, Kongsberg Satellite

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Services in Norway, and Intuitive Machines

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in Houston. Universities like UC

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Berkeley, the University of Pittsburgh, and

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even Morehead State University in Kentucky

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are involved.

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Anna: What about amateur radio operators?

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Anna: Oh, yes, they're well represented. We've got

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individuals like Chris Swire from South

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Dakota and Dan Slater from California.

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Amateur radio organizations from Argentina,

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Germany, the Netherlands and France are also

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particip. It's truly a, uh, global

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effort.

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Anna: And this data they collect, what's NASA doing

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with it?

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Anna: The volunteers will submit their tracking

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data to NASA for analysis. This helps the

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agency assess the broader aerospace

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community's tracking capabilities and

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identify ways to augment future moon and

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Mars mission support. Kevin Coggins,

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NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for

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space communications and navigation, called

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it a real step toward scan's

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commercial first vision.

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Anna: Building that public private ecosystem for

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deep space exploration.

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Anna: Exactly.

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Now let's shift gears to some groundbreaking

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lunar research. Scientists

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analyzing samples from China's Chang' E6

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mission have made a discovery that helps

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explain one of the moon's most puzzling

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features.

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Anna: The asymmetry between the near and far sides.

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Anna: Precisely. You know how the near side of the

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moon has all those dark maria, those

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vast volcanic plains that formed the man in

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the Mo pattern we're all familiar with? The

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far side has barely any.

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Anna: I've always found that fascinating. What did

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they discover?

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Anna: Tonga6 brought back samples from the south

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pole Aitken Basin, which is one of the

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largest impact features in the entire solar

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system. About 1600 miles wide

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and between 4.2 and

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4.3 billion years old. Much

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older than the lunar maria, which are around

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3.6 billion years old.

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Anna: And what did these ancient samples reveal?

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Anna: The research team led by Heng Si Tian

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from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found

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something unusual in the basaltic rock

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samples. An abnormal ratio of

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potassium isotopes. Specifically, they

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found more of the heavier potassium 41

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relative to potassium 39 compared to

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samples from the near side.

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Anna: What Would cause that.

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Anna: After exploring several possibilities.

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Cosmic ray irradiation, magma

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processes, meteoritic contamination. They

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concluded that this isotopic signature is a

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relic of the giant impact that formed the

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south pole Aitken basin itself.

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Anna: So the impact actually changed the moon's

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chemistry?

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Anna: Not just changed it, it fundamentally

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altered it. The impact was so violent

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that it heated the moon's crust and mantle

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intensely, Causing many volatile elements,

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including potassium, to evaporate and escape

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into the lighter. Potassium 39.

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Isocope evaporated more easily than the

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heavier one, Leaving behind this unusual

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ratio.

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Anna: That's incredible detective work. And this

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explains the lack of Maria on the far side.

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Anna: Exactly. The reduction in volatiles would

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have suppressed magma formation, Limiting

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volcanism on the far side. It shows how

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deeply that ancient impact affected the

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moon's interior and why isotopic

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analysis can provide windows into the

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conditions of such catastrophic events.

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This research was published in the

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Proceedings of the National Academy of

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Sciences.

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Anna: Fascinating stuff.

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Now, here's something a bit more down to

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earth, Even if it's going to space. Anna, um,

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tell us about this startup that's making

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space memorials affordable.

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Anna: This is a really interesting story, Avery.

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A startup called Space beyond, founded by

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Ryan Mitchell, is planning to send up to

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1,000 people's ashes to space in

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October 2027 for as little as

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$249. Dramatically

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cheaper than traditional space memorial

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services that typically cost thousands of

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dollars.

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Anna: That's quite a price difference. How are they

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pulling this off?

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Anna: It's all about smart use of existing

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infrastructure. They're using a cubesat, one

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of those miniature cube shaped satellites

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that will launch as a rideshare payload on a

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rideshare

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model has really democratized access to

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space.

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Anna: And Ryan Mitchell, he's got some serious

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space credentials, right?

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Anna: Absolutely. He worked on NASA's space

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shuttle program and spent nearly a decade at

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blue origin. The idea actually came to him

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while attending a, uh, family member's ash

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spreading ceremony. He thought, how could I

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do this better? And thus Space beyond was

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born.

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Anna: But there must be some limitations with such

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an affordable service.

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Anna: There are. Customers can only send about one

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gram of ashes. A practical limit due to

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weight considerations and the need to fit

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many customers remains in the cubesat. The

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satellite will only orbit for about five

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years before burning up in Earth's

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atmosphere. So it's not forever.

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Anna: Though that fiery ending has a certain poetic

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quality to it.

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Anna: Mitchell certainly thinks so. Plus, the

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CubeSat will be in a Sun synchronous orbit at

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about 550km altitude,

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meaning it'll fly over the entire globe. With

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modern spacecraft tracking services, families

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should be able to locate it and know when

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it's passing overhead.

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Anna: That's actually really touching. And, um,

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importantly, they're not spreading the ashes

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in space, right?

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Anna: Correct. Mitchell called that an almost

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nightmare scenario because the particles

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could create a debris cloud that could

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endanger other spacecraft. Since customers

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only send about a gram, they can do what they

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wish with.

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Anna: The rest of the thoughtful approach to a

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sensitive service.

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Now, let's talk about something that might

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literally redefine astronomy. Anna,

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tell us about this massive potential exomoon.

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Anna: This one's mind bending, Avery.

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Astronomers using the gravity instrument on

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the Very Large Telescope in Chile have

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detected what might be an exomoon orbiting

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the gas giant HD

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206893B,

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located 133 light years from Earth.

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But here's the kicker. This moon is so

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massive that it might force us to rethink the

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word moon even means.

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Anna: How massive are we talking?

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Anna: Get this. They estimate it could be as much

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as 40% the mass of Jupiter, or

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about nine times the mass of Neptune. To put

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that in perspective, it's thousands of times

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heavier than any moon in our solar system.

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Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon and the

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biggest in our solar system, is thousands of

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times less massive than Neptune.

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Anna: Wow. So how did they even detect something

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like this?

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Anna: Through a technique called astrometry, which

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precisely tracks the position of celestial

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bodies over time. The team led by

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Quentin Crawl from the University of

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Cambridge observed a measurable wobble in

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HD20000

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6893B's motion, uh, a back and

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forth movement with a period of about nine

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months.

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Anna: And, um, that wobble is the Moon's

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gravitational tug.

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Anna: Exactly. Prall explained that the wobble has

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a size comparable to the Earth Moon distance,

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which is the exact signature you'd expect

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from an unseen companion. The potential

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Moon's orbit is also tilted by roughly 60

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degrees, suggesting a turbulent history of

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gravitational interactions.

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Anna: So at, uh, what point does something stop

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being a moon and become a binary companion?

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Anna: That's the million dollar question. Krall

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noted that at these masses, the distinction

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between a massive moon and a low mass

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companion becomes blurred. There's currently

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no official definition of an exomoon,

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so astronomers generally refer to any object

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orbiting a planet as a Moon.

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Anna: This could force a redefinition, potentially.

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Anna: Crawl suggested that as observational

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techniques improve, our definitions and

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understanding of what constitutes a moon will

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almost certainly evolve. He also pointed out

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that we're likely only seeing the tip of the

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iceberg just as the first exoplanets

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discovered were massive ones close to their

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stars because they were easiest to detect.

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The first exomoons we identify will be the

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most massive and extreme examples.

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Anna: Finding exomoons is challenging, I

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imagine.

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Anna: Extremely. The signals they produce are

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minute, often lost in the noise of their

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parent planet's data. The transit method

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that's revolutionized exoplanet discovery

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is less effective for moons because they

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produce light dips too faint to distinguish.

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But astrometry offers a new path

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forward, especially for detecting companions

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in far orbits where large stable

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moons are more likely to exist.

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Anna: This research was published in Astronomy and

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Astrophysics.

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Anna: It's been accepted for publication there, and

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it's currently available as a pre peer

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reviewed paper on arXiv. If confirmed,

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this would not only expand our catalog of

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celestial bodies, but force astronomers to

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rethink one of the oldest definitions in

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planetary science.

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Anna: Incredible.

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And finally, Anna, uh, we have a story that

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might rewrite history, or at least rename

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a famous comet.

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Anna: That's right. New research suggests that

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Halley's Comet might be wrongly maimed.

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Turns out an 11th century English monk

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named Elmer of Malmesbury understood

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the comet's periodic nature centuries before

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the British astronomer Edmund Halley.

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Anna: Wait, so Halley wasn't the first to figure

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this out?

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Anna: According to research by Professor Simon

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Portage Zwart and colleagues published in the

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book Doristat. And everything after,

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Gilmer witnessed Halley's comet twice in

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989 CE and again in

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1066 CE and realized it was

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the same comet returning.

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Anna: How do we know this?

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Anna: The events are described by the 12th century

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chronicler William of Malmesbury. But this

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connection had gone unnoticed by scholars

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until now. The 1066 appearance

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is actually depicted on the famous Bayeux

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Tapestry, which illustrates the events of

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that year, including the Norman Conquest of

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England.

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Anna: So Ilmer must have been quite elderly to see

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it twice.

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Anna: Exactly. Given that the Comet appears

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roughly 76 years, he would have been

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advanced in age when he witnessed it for the

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second time. And here's a fascinating detail.

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As was customary at the time, when he saw it

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in 1066, the king was warned

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of impending disaster. The

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comet appeared during the brief reign of King

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Harold Godwinson, who died at the Battle of

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Hastings that October.

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Anna: Medieval people really did see comets as

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omens, didn't they?

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Anna: They did indeed. The research shows that

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comet appearances around this time were

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consistently associated with the deaths of

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kings, war or famine in the British Isles.

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The researchers even found what might be

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historical fake news. Uh, a comet

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supposedly seen before the death of

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Archbishop Seidrich of Canterbury in

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995, which wasn't actually recorded

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in the chronicles. Possibly an exaggeration

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to frighten people.

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Anna: So what are the researchers calling for?

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Anna: They're arguing that Halley's Comet should be

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given a, uh, different name since it had been

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observed twice and its periodicity

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understood centuries before Halley's work.

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Portuguese Wort mentioned that while the

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research was fun to do, it was challenging

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working in such an interdisciplinary project

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alongside a historian. Nevertheless, they

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plan to carry out further research into

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periodic comet it's amazing how.

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Anna: Interdisciplinary research can uncover these

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historical oversights.

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Anna: It really is. And it shows that scientific

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discovery isn't always about new

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observations. Sometimes it's about looking at

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old records with fresh eyes.

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Anna: Well, that's all the time we have for today's

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episode. What a journey we've been on. From

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rocket fairings to ancient lunar impacts,

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affordable space memorials to massive

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exomoons and.

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Anna: Historical comet discoveries, it never

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ceases to amaze me how much is happening in

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space and astronomy every single day. From

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cutting edge engineering to billion year old

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mysteries, there's always something new to

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learn.

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Anna: Thanks so much for tuning in to Astronomy

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00:16:50.900 --> 00:16:52.980
Daily. Be sure to visit our website at

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astronomydaily IO for detailed shown

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notes, transcripts and links to all the

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stories we discussed today.

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Anna: And don't forget to follow us on social

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media. We're astrodaily, pod on

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00:17:04.280 --> 00:17:06.960
X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,

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YouTubeMusic, and Tumblr.

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Anna: Until next time, keep looking up and keep

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exploring the wonders of our universe.

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Anna: Clear skies everyone.

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Love.