SpaceX's Launch Record, China's Lunar Mystery, and AI Life Detectives

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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

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brings you the universe, one story at a time.

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I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Today we're talking about a

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historic launch milestone in Florida, a

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major roundup of news from China's ambitious

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space program, and some big upgrades from

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Blue Origin.

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Avery: Plus we'll dive into a new AI tool that

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could revolutionize the search for life on

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Mars. And we'll revisit the moon's dramatic

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origin story with some fascinating new

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research. Let's get started.

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First up, a truly staggering achievement from

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Florida Space Coast. This week, a SpaceX

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Falcon 9 rocket is set to become the

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100th launch from the Cape Canaveral and

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Kennedy Space center area in a single

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year.

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Anna: 100 launches. It's a number that would have

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been pure science fiction just a decade ago.

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To put it in perspective, the space coast saw

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31 launches in all of 2021.

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And in 2022, that number nearly

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doubled to 57. And now we're at

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100.

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Avery: It's a testament to the incredible success

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and efficiency of reusable rocket

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technology, which SpaceX has pioneered.

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Being able to re fly these first stage

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boosters again and again has completely

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changed the economics and the cadence of

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spaceflight.

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Anna: Absolutely. And this milestone launch isn't

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just symbolic. The Falcon 9 is carrying

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another batch of 29 Starlink satellites,

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continuing to build massive Internet

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constellation. It's routine, yet

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revolutionary at the same.

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Avery: Time, A, uh, perfect example of the new

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normal in space access. It's an amazing

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milestone for the entire industry.

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Anna: Speaking of bustling space programs, let's

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turn our attention to China, where there's a

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flurry of activity and some unexpected

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developments. We've got four big updates.

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Avery: All right, let's break it down.

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Anna: First, of course, is the drama with their

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Senzhou spacecraft. An uncrewed

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Senzhou is launching in a few days, but it's

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a replacement for a previous one that was

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damaged. As we reported earlier this week,

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the crew of Shenzhou 20 who were on the 10

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Gong Space Station had to return to Earth in

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a different spacecraft.

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Avery: For listeners who missed the earlier stories,

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can you give us a quick recap?

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Anna: The report says there was a crack in a window

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of their original return module. That is a

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serious issue, and it's a stark reminder of

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how unforgiving space can be. Thankfully,

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they had a backup ready to go with the

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arrival of the Shenzhou 21 crew and more

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importantly, spacecraft. Hence the need for

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the Shenzhou 22 to get their ASAP as

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an uncrewed mission.

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Avery: Wow, that's a Close call. Glad the crew is

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safe. What's the next update?

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Anna: On a more positive note for the Tengong

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station, it's set to host its first

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international astronaut in 2026. This

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is a major step for China's goal of making

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ten Gong a hub for for international

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cooperation, much like the iss.

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Avery: That's a significant diplomatic and

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scientific milestone.

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Anna: It is. However, the third piece of news

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shows it's not all smooth sailing. Many of

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China's commercial launch companies, which

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are trying to emulate SpaceX's success, are

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seeing significant delays with their maiden

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flights. It highlights just how difficult

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developing reliable rockets really is.

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Avery: Right. It's not as simple as just copying a

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design. They are. Immense engineering

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challenges.

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Anna: Exactly.

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And finally, perhaps the most scientifically

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intriguing story from China. The analysis of

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the Chang' e 6 lunar samples brought back

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from the far side of the moon has revealed

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signs of rust.

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Avery: Rust on the moon. But rust

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requires oxygen and water. How is

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that possible in a vacuum?

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Anna: That's the big question. Scientists think

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that oxygen might be delivered from Earth's

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upper atmosphere via the solar wind when the

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moon passes through Earth's magnetotail. And

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the water could come from micrometeorite

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impacts. It suggests the Moon's surface

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chemistry is far more complex and has

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unexpected oxidizing conditions. A ah, very

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cool puzzle.

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Avery: From one ambitious program to another,

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let's talk about Blue Origin. Jeff

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Bezos company is making some major

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upgrades to its heavy lift rocket, New

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Glenn.

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Anna: New Glenn has been in development for a

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while. What's new?

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Avery: They're focusing on enhancing three key

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propulsion structures and

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reusability. This involves tweaks

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to their powerful BE4 engines and

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improvements to the rocket's overall design

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to make it more robust for repeated flights.

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But the biggest news is what they're building

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next. Oh, uh, they are planning

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a super heavy version called New Glenn

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9x4. This big beast of a

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rocket is designed to lift an incredible 70

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metric tons to low Earth orbit.

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Anna: 70 metric tons? That's huge.

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That puts it in direct competition with

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SpaceX's Starship and

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NASA's Space Launch System.

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Avery: Exactly. It uh, signals that Blue Origin

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isn't just aiming to compete in the current

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market. They're aiming for the future of

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large scale space infrastructure missions to

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the Moon, Mars and beyond.

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Anna: It's a bold move from the colossal

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scale of super heavy rockets.

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We now go to the microscopic. In

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the search for life on Mars, scientists

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have developed a new AI tool called

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Life Tracer.

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Avery: I saw this. The approach is

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fascinating. For decades, our, uh, search for

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life has been about Looking for specific

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biomarkers, certain molecules that we

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associate with life on Earth. But LifeTracer

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does something different.

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Anna: It does, instead of hunting for

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individual molecules, it analyzes the

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entire chemical inventory of a sample.

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It uses machine learning to look for patterns

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of complexity and diversity in the

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molecules present. The underlying

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idea is that life as a process

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creates much more varied and complex

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chemical signatures than non living geology.

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Avery: So it's not looking for a needle in a

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haystack, it's looking at the entire

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haystack and saying, does this haystack look

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like it was made by something alive?

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Anna: That's a great way to put it. And the results

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are promising. In tests on terrestrial

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samples, it has an accuracy of over

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87% in distinguishing

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between samples with a biological origin

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and those with a non biological origin.

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Avery: That's incredibly powerful. It could help us

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analyze data from the perseverance rover

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samples without the bias of only looking for

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Earth. Like life, it could detect life

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that's truly alien.

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Anna: And a very positive use of modern AI

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technology.

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Avery: For our final story, we journey billions

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of years into the past to uncover a new

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clue in the mystery of how our moon was

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formed.

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Anna: The giant impact hypothesis. The

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theory that a, um, Mars sized object,

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which we call Theia, slammed into the

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proto Earth. And the debris from that

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collision eventually formed the moon.

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Avery: Exactly. But a key question has always

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been, where did Theia, uh, come from?

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New research suggests it wasn't some rogue

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planet from the outer solar system that

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wandered in it. It may have been a close

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neighbor of early Earth.

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Anna: A neighbor? How could they possibly know

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that?

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Avery: It comes down to chemistry, specifically

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isotopes. You see, the chemical

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composition of planets varies depending on

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where in the solar system they formed. By

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meticulously analyzing isotopes of elements

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like oxygen in rocks from both Earth and

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the Moon.

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Anna: Scientists can work backwards, right,

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because the moon is made of material from

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both the early Earth and theia.

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Avery: Precisely. The isotopic signatures

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in lunar rocks Are remarkably similar to

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Earth's. This new analysis suggests

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this is because Theia itself formed in the

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inner solar system in a very similar orbit

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to Earth. It was, for all intents and

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purposes, Earth's planetary siblings.

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Anna: So this colossal moon forming impact

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wasn't an attack from a stranger, but a

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collision between neighbors. It paints a

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picture of the early solar system as an

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even more chaotic and crowded place than we

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imagined.

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Avery: A, uh, cosmic fender bender that gave us our

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beautiful moon.

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

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From a historic 100th launch and rust

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on the moon to, to super heavy rockets and

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new insights into our own cosmic origins.

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Avery: The universe is never short on stories.

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Thanks for joining us on Astronomy Daily. I'm

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Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Until next time, keep

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looking up.

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Avery: The story.