Soviet Probe Alert, China's Venus Mission, and the Hunt for Rogue Planets

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Anna: Welcome to a new episode of Astronomy Daily. I'm

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Anna, and today we're diving into some truly fascinating

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developments from across the cosmos. We have a packed

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show exploring everything from relics of the space race to cutting

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edge astronomical research. Coming up, we'll

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update you on a story I brought you last week as we track a, uh,

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Soviet Venus probe making its return to Earth

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after more than 50 years in orbit.

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Then we'll examine China's bold plan to sample

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Venus's toxic atmosphere. We'll also

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explore how the upcoming Roman Space Telescope will

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hunt for mysterious rogue planets wandering

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through our galaxy without a star to call home.

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Plus, we'll hear about an ingenious satellite rescue

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mission using gravity as a slingshot. And

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finally, look at new data that might challenge

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Einstein's theories about dark energy. It's an

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exciting day in space science, so let's get started.

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To kick things off, let's get an update. In

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the early 1970s, as the space race between the

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United States and Soviet Union was in full swing,

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the Soviets launched an ambitious mission to explore our

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nearest planetary neighbor. The Cosmos

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482 probe was designed to land on

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the inhospitable surface of Venus, protected by

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a 3.3-foot wide titanium shell lined with

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thermal insulation. Launched in

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1972, the mission unfortunately never

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reached its Venusian destination. A

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rocket anomaly during launch left the spacecraft

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stranded in an elliptical orbit around Earth,

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where it has remained for over five decades,

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silently circling our planet as a relic of early space

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exploration. That lengthy orbital

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journey appears to be coming to an end. The

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1,190 pound spacecraft is expected

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to re enter Earth's atmosphere shortly, with new

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predictions suggesting it would return around

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1:54am um, Eastern Time on May 10,

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though with a substantial margin of error of plus or

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minus nine hours due to its

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orbital path. Scientists calculated that the craft

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could re enter anywhere between 52 degrees north

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and 52 degrees south latitude, a

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zone covering most of Earth's surface. This

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created some uncertainty about exactly when and where the

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probe might return. However,

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experts stressed there was little cause for concern.

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Unlike other space debris that often breaks into multiple

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pieces, Kosmos 482

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was expected to remain largely intact during

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re entry, presenting a lower risk

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profile. As the Aerospace Corporation

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noted, while the risk is non zero, any

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one individual on Earth is far likelier to be struck by

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lightning than to be injured by Kosmos

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482. Astronomers and

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satellite trackers have been monitoring the probe for years.

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Astrophotographer Ralph Vanderburg of the Netherland

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has captured images of the craft for over a decade,

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recently photographing what some speculated might be a

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deployed parachute, though other experts

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attributed this to optical distortion.

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Cosmos 482 represents an important

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chapter in Venus exploration history. It

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was part of the Soviet Union's groundbreaking Venera

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program, which achieved remarkable firsts,

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including landing the first probe on Venus's surface in

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1970 with Venera 7, and later

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capturing the first color images from the planet's surface with

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Venera 13 in 1982.

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As this cold War artifact makes its final journey,

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it serves as a testament to the ambitious early days of

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planetary exploration and the technological

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challenges involved in venturing to our most extreme

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neighboring world.

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While on the subject of Venus, China

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has set its sights on one of the most hostile environments in our

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solar system with an ambitious new plan to collect samples from

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Venus's toxic atmosphere and return them to Earth.

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This joint initiative involves several major Chinese space

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organizations, including the Chinese Academy of

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Sciences, the China National Space Administration,

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and the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

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The mission is tentatively scheduled for launch somewhere

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between 2028 and

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2035, though specific

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details about the methodology remain limited.

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What we do know is that the mission faces extraordinary

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challenges and due to Venus's extreme environment,

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a planet where surface temperatures reach nearly 900

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degrees Fahrenheit, atmospheric pressure is

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90 times that of Earth, and the air consists

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primarily of carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric

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acid. Despite these hostile conditions,

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Venus continues to intrigue scientists,

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particularly after recent research suggested that microbial

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life could potentially exist there in some form.

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This Chinese mission aims to help settle that debate by bringing

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actual atmospheric samples back to Earth for

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detailed analysis. The mission

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will also investigate one of Venus's most puzzling

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features, how its clouds apparently absorb

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ultraviolet radiation when, according to

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our understanding of physics, they shouldn't be able to.

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This mysterious phenomenon has generated several

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scientific hypotheses that this mission could

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help confirm or rule out. Based on

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preliminary information, the ambitious undertaking

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will likely require at least two spacecraft working

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in tandem. One vessel would remain in orbit around

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Venus, while another would brave the planet's

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intensely stormy conditions, descending into the

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atmosphere to collect gases and particles before returning

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the samples to the orbiter. A similar

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concept was previously proposed by researchers

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at the Massachusetts Institute of technology in

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2022, though NASA ultimately didn't select

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it for development. That design featured a

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Teflon coated corrosion resistant balloon that

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would carry a collection canister through Venus's clouds

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before sending the samples back to orbit and eventually,

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Earth. The value of returning physical

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samples to Earth cannot be overstated.

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Laboratory facilities here would allow for far more

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sophisticated and comprehensive analysis than any

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spacecraft could perform on its own at Venus.

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However, the technical challenges of accomplishing this

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across tens of millions of kilometers presents

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extraordinary engineering hurdles.

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While several Russian probes did successfully land on

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Venus's surface in previous decades, they only

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survived for a couple of hours before succumbing to the extreme

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conditions, and none attempted a return

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journey. If China's mission succeeds,

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even with just a small sample of Venus's atmosphere,

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it would transform our understanding of Earth's nearest

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planetary neighbor and potentially provide insights

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into the evolution of our own world's climate and

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atmosphere.

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Next up, have you ever wondered about planets that don't

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orbit stars? Astronomers call these

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wandering worlds rogue planets, and they might

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be more common in our galaxy than we ever imagined.

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The upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is

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poised to revolutionize our understanding of these

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mysterious cosmic nomads. Over the

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past decade, scientists have speculated extensively

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about rogue planets in the Milky Way. These

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free floating worlds don't have a home star providing them

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warmth and light. Instead, they roam through

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the vastness of interstellar space, ejected

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from their original star systems with

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current technology, they're incredibly difficult to detect

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precisely because they don't shine or reflect light

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like planets orbiting stars.

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Astronomers estimate the Milky Way could contain millions

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or possibly billions of these planetary wanderers.

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If those numbers prove accurate, there could be more

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rogue planets in our galaxy than there are planets

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orbiting stars, a truly mind boggling

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possibility. Without the warming influence of

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a star, these worlds are likely frozen,

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icy, and seemingly inhospitable.

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The Roman Space Telescope will employ a specialized search

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called the Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey

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to detect these elusive objects. Scientists expect

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this survey will help them find anywhere from several hundred

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to several thousand free floating planets,

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providing an unprecedented census of these mysterious

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worlds. Roman will use both the transit

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method and microlensing to spot these

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rogues. The transit method detects the dimming of

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light when one object passes in front of another.

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Microlensing, meanwhile, observes how gravity from

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a foreground object will warps the light from a background

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star, creating a distinctive pattern that can

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reveal even non luminous objects like rogue

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planets. What's particularly

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exciting is that Roman might help answer

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fundamental questions about how these planets

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form and get ejected from their original systems.

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The dynamics of early planetary systems are

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chaotic, with gravitational forces sometimes

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flinging newly formed planets out into interstellar

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space. By analyzing the mass

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distribution of rogue planets, scientists can

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better understand these formative processes.

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The telescope will be especially valuable for detecting

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smaller rogue planets, worlds less massive

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than Earth that have previously escaped our notice

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These smaller planets would theoretically require less

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energy to eject from their star systems than

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their larger counterparts, potentially making them the

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most common type of rogue planet. Though

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the Roman telescope is still a couple of years from launch,

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astronomers are already anticipating the transformative

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impact its observations will have beyond

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rogue planets. It might even detect other non

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luminous objects wandering through our galaxy,

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potentially including primordial black holes.

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When it comes to understanding the full population and

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characteristics of objects in our galaxy, the

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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope promises to fill

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in crucial gaps in our knowledge, helping complete

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the cosmic census of our galactic neighborhood like never

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before.

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Next Today, more Chinese space news. In what

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can only be described as an impressive display of cosmic

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problem solving, China's Technology and Engineering

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center for Space Utilization recently pulled off

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a remarkable rescue mission in space, saving a

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pair of wayward lunar satellites through an ingenious gravity

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slingshot technique. Back in March

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2024, China launched two satellites named

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Dro A and Dro B aboard a Long

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March rocket. These satellites were

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destined for what's called a, uh, distant retrograde orbit around

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the moon. That's what the DRO in their name stands

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for. Their mission was to provide navigation and

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tracking for spacecraft operating in Earth Moon space,

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essentially serving as celestial lighthouses.

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While the rocket's first and second stages performed

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flawlessly, a technical issue with the Yuan

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Zheng one's upper stage prevented the satellites

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from reaching their intended orbit. To make matters

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worse, mission control temporarily lost contact with

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the duo entirely. When the team

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finally located the satellites, they discovered the

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pair were spinning in an orbit much closer to Earth

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than planned. This could have spelled

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disaster for the mission, with years of work and

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significant investment potentially wasted.

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As Zhang Hao, a member of the rescue team, explained,

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it would also be a mental blow to the team.

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The challenge was particularly complex because the

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satellites had sustained partial damage during the launch,

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limiting their ability to capture enough sunlight to power

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the necessary course correction. This is where

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the team's creativity truly shined.

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Rather than attempting to force the satellites into position

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using their limited power resources,

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engineers devised a plan to use the natural

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gravitational forces of the Earth, moon, and sun

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to gradually slingshot the satellites toward their

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destination. This gravity assist

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technique essentially borrowed energy from these celestial

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bodies rather than relying on the satellite's own

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limited fuel reserves. As UH CSU

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researcher Mao Xinyuan put it, if you don't want

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to consume much energy, you must replace it with something

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else. We chose to consume more time in order to

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save energy. The patience paid off, though.

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The rescue operation took a substantial 123

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days to complete by mid July

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2024, both satellites had successfully reached their

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intended orbits around the moon. And about six weeks

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later, DRO A and DRO B separated

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from each other as planned. They're now working alongside

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a third satellite, drol, which had

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previously launched to low Earth orbit. Together,

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these satellites form a navigation network that can

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dramatically reduce the time needed to locate spacecraft

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in Earth Moon space. According to Mao, they

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can now pinpoint a spacecraft's position in just three

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hours compared to the two days or more required by

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traditional land based positioning systems.

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This remarkable save demonstrates not only China's growing

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expertise in space operations, but also the

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ingenuity that makes space exploration possible

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even when things don't go according to plan.

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And wrapping things Up Today,

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some of the most fundamental aspects of our universe may be up

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for reconsideration, as

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recent findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic

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Instrument, or dece, suggest that

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dark energy, the mysterious force thought to be

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driving the accelerated expansion of our cosmos,

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might not be constant after all. This

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potential discovery challenges one of modern physics

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cornerstone ideas. Einstein's

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cosmological constant. For those unfamiliar with

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the history, Einstein originally introduced this concept in

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1917 as an addition to his

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equations of general relativity. At the

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time, he was trying to create a model for a static

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universe, one that neither expanded nor

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contracted. When astronomers later discovered the

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universe was indeed expanding, Einstein

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reportedly called the cosmological constant

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his greatest blunder. Fast forward to

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the 1990s, when astronomers made the shocking discovery

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that the universe wasn't just expanding, it was

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doing so at an accelerating rate. This

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unexpected cosmic acceleration led scientists to

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revive the idea of a cosmological constant,

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but now, as an explanation for the mysterious dark

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energy driving this acceleration. For years,

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the simplest explanation has been that dark energy

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maintains a constant value throughout space and time.

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But DC's first year observations hint at something

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potentially revolutionary dark energy that

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changes over time. Andrew Hearin, a physicist

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at Argonne National Laboratory and DESE member,

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puts it in perspective. If the DECE result

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holds up, it means that a cosmological constant is not the

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origin of cosmic acceleration. It's much more

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exciting. It would mean that space is pervaded by a

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dynamically evolving fluid with negative gravity,

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which has never been observed in any tabletop experiment on

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Earth. To help investigate these potentially

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groundbreaking observations, research researchers at

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Argonne have turned to aurora, one of the world's most

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powerful exascale supercomputers. They're

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running enormous simulations that model how the universe

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evolves under different dark energy scenarios.

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The team created two massive simulations, one

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assuming constant dark energy, as Einstein's theory

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suggests, and another where it changes over time.

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Starting with identical initial conditions, they can track

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even the smallest differences that emerge as these

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virtual universes evolve. These

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simulations would have taken weeks of compute time on our earlier

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supercomputers, but each simulation took just

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two days on Aurora, explained computational scientist

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Adrian Pope. This dramatic speedup

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allows researchers to respond much faster to new

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cosmological observations. Gillian

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Belts Morman, a postdoctoral research fellow

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at Argonne, emphasized the value of these

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simulations. Since we can't create a, uh, mini

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universe to conduct experiments, we can test

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theories by using really big computers like Aurora

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to simulate the growth of structure in the universe over

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time. While these simulations can't

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directly confirm dese's findings, they provide

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a crucial testing ground for examining different measurement

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techniques and determining whether the patterns observed

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by DECE represent genuine new physics

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or are uh, artifacts of how we collect and analyze

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data. To maximize the impact of this

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work, the Argonne team has made all their simulation

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data publicly available, allowing the broader

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scientific community to explore different analysis

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methods and help determine whether Einstein's

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cosmological constant truly needs to be replaced

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with a more dynamic model of dark energy.

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If confirmed, this finding would represent

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one of the most significant shifts in our understanding of

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the universe in decades, potentially opening

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doorways to entirely new physics beyond our

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current standard model of cosmology.

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That wraps up today's episode of Astronomy Daily.

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What an incredible journey through our cosmic neighborhood

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we've had. From a Soviet probe completing its 50

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year orbit of Earth to China's ambitious plans

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to sample Venus's toxic atmosphere, the hunt

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for rogue planets wandering our galaxy, an

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ingenious satellite rescue mission, and potentially

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revolutionary discoveries about the very nature of dark energy.

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I'm your host, Anna, and I want to thank you for joining

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me as, uh, we explored these fascinating developments in space science

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and astronomy. The universe continues to surprise

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us, challenging our understanding and pushing the

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boundaries of what we know. And before I go,

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a quick reminder to visit our website at

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astronomydaily IO um, where you can sign up for our

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free daily newsletter and listen to all our back episodes

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we're constantly updating with the latest astronomical

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discoveries and space explorations. Exploration news that you won't want

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to miss. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast

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on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

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YouTubeMusic, or wherever you get your podcast to

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stay connected to the cosmic frontier. Until

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next time, keep looking Up

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Is the soul

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Mhm.