SpaceX's Reboost Success; Unpacking Eclipse Predictions and Martian Discoveries

WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:03.000
Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your

1
00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.560
trusted source for the latest space and

2
00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:07.760
astronomy news. I'm Anna.

3
00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:11.040
Avery: And I'm Avery. We've got some fascinating

4
00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:13.600
Stories today from SpaceX Testing new

5
00:00:13.600 --> 00:00:15.920
capabilities at the International Space Station

6
00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:19.480
to some surprising revelations about solar eclipse

7
00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:20.080
predictions.

8
00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:23.440
Anna: Plus we'll dive into a long awaited

9
00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:26.280
discovery involving Jupiter's moons and

10
00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:28.880
get an update on SpaceX's ambitious

11
00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.910
Starship programme in Florida. Let's jump

12
00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:35.100
right in. Before we dive into today's

13
00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:37.980
main stories, I have to say this has been

14
00:00:37.980 --> 00:00:40.980
an incredible week for space news. It feels like

15
00:00:40.980 --> 00:00:43.500
we're living through a real renaissance in space

16
00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:44.300
exploration.

17
00:00:44.940 --> 00:00:47.340
Avery: Absolutely, Anna. Between private companies

18
00:00:47.819 --> 00:00:50.540
pushing the boundaries and NASA's missions

19
00:00:50.540 --> 00:00:53.500
revealing new discoveries, it's hard to keep up

20
00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.420
sometimes. Speaking of which, our listeners have

21
00:00:56.420 --> 00:00:59.180
been asking for more technical detail in our discussions,

22
00:00:59.580 --> 00:01:02.220
so we'll be diving deeper into the science today.

23
00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:05.540
Anna: Our first story takes us to the International Space

24
00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:08.460
Station, where SpaceX just completed a

25
00:01:08.460 --> 00:01:11.380
crucial test that could be game changing for the

26
00:01:11.380 --> 00:01:14.060
station's future. On September 3rd,

27
00:01:14.300 --> 00:01:16.980
a dragon cargo spacecraft successfully

28
00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:19.980
performed what's called a reboost of the ISS

29
00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:23.540
using two of its Draco engines for just

30
00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:24.540
over five minutes.

31
00:01:25.180 --> 00:01:27.900
Avery: That's pretty impressive, Anna. So what

32
00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:30.900
exactly does reboosting mean for those who might

33
00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:31.740
not be familiar?

34
00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:34.970
Anna: Great question. Basically, the ISS

35
00:01:35.370 --> 00:01:38.050
is constantly losing altitude due to

36
00:01:38.050 --> 00:01:40.730
atmospheric drag, even though it's about

37
00:01:40.730 --> 00:01:43.610
250 miles up. Without regular

38
00:01:43.610 --> 00:01:46.330
boosts, it would eventually fall back to Earth.

39
00:01:46.730 --> 00:01:49.130
This particular test raised the station

40
00:01:49.450 --> 00:01:52.130
from roughly 250 miles to an

41
00:01:52.130 --> 00:01:55.050
orbit between 256 and

42
00:01:55.050 --> 00:01:56.650
261 miles.

43
00:01:57.290 --> 00:01:59.850
Avery: And I'm guessing this is especially important

44
00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:03.250
because of the whole situation with Russia potentially

45
00:02:03.250 --> 00:02:05.670
leaving the iss programme by 2028.

46
00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:09.310
Anna: Exactly. Right now, Russian progress

47
00:02:09.310 --> 00:02:11.990
vehicles handle most of the reboosting duties.

48
00:02:12.230 --> 00:02:15.230
If Russia withdraws, NASA needs alternative

49
00:02:15.230 --> 00:02:18.110
capabilities and this test proves that

50
00:02:18.110 --> 00:02:21.030
SpaceX can step up. They actually did their

51
00:02:21.030 --> 00:02:23.990
first reboost test back in November 2024,

52
00:02:24.390 --> 00:02:26.910
and now they're planning longer burns for fall

53
00:02:26.910 --> 00:02:29.790
2025 to really put the system through

54
00:02:29.790 --> 00:02:32.670
its paces. It's worth understanding just

55
00:02:32.670 --> 00:02:35.190
how complex these reboost manoeuvres are.

56
00:02:35.510 --> 00:02:37.910
The Dragon spacecraft has to fire its

57
00:02:37.910 --> 00:02:40.710
thrusters in precise coordination with

58
00:02:40.710 --> 00:02:43.590
the ISS's attitude control systems.

59
00:02:43.910 --> 00:02:46.830
Too much thrust and you could destabilise the

60
00:02:46.830 --> 00:02:49.630
station's orientation. Too little and

61
00:02:49.630 --> 00:02:52.390
the reboost is ineffective. The fact that they

62
00:02:52.390 --> 00:02:55.110
achieved a 5 mile altitude increase with

63
00:02:55.110 --> 00:02:58.030
just a 5 minute burn shows incredible

64
00:02:58.030 --> 00:02:58.550
precision.

65
00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:02.310
Avery: It's also worth noting that SpaceX will eventually

66
00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:05.070
need these same capabilities when it comes time.

67
00:03:05.070 --> 00:03:07.630
To safely deorbit the ISS in a

68
00:03:07.630 --> 00:03:10.550
controlled fashion. So this testing

69
00:03:10.550 --> 00:03:12.390
serves multiple purposes.

70
00:03:13.110 --> 00:03:15.870
Anna: Now shifting our focus from low Earth orbit

71
00:03:15.870 --> 00:03:18.790
to much deeper space, we have some Fascinating

72
00:03:18.790 --> 00:03:21.510
news from NASA's James Webb Telescope.

73
00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:24.470
Researchers have identified what might be the

74
00:03:24.470 --> 00:03:27.360
most deep distant galaxy ever observed,

75
00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:29.920
designated Jades GS

76
00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.480
Z13.0, which appears

77
00:03:33.480 --> 00:03:36.160
to have formed just 325

78
00:03:36.160 --> 00:03:38.320
million years after the Big Bang.

79
00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:41.439
Avery: That's incredibly early in cosmic history.

80
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.800
Just to put that in perspective for our listeners, if the

81
00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:47.120
Universe is about 13.8

82
00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.360
billion years old, this galaxy formed

83
00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.240
when the universe was less than 3% of

84
00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:56.220
its current age. How were astronomers able to

85
00:03:56.220 --> 00:03:59.220
determine such precise ages for these ancient

86
00:03:59.220 --> 00:03:59.900
objects?

87
00:04:00.700 --> 00:04:03.500
Anna: It all comes down to redshift, the phenomenon

88
00:04:03.500 --> 00:04:06.380
where light from distant objects is stretched to

89
00:04:06.380 --> 00:04:09.060
longer, redder wavelengths as the universe

90
00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:11.860
expands, The Webb telescope can detect

91
00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:14.340
these incredibly redshifted signatures in

92
00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:17.260
infrared light. What's remarkable about this

93
00:04:17.260 --> 00:04:19.780
particular galaxy is that it's not just

94
00:04:19.780 --> 00:04:22.580
distant, but it's also surprisingly massive

95
00:04:22.580 --> 00:04:25.300
and mature for its age, suggesting that

96
00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:28.240
galaxy form happened much faster in the early

97
00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.040
universe than we previously thought.

98
00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.320
Avery: This discovery is really challenging our

99
00:04:33.320 --> 00:04:36.240
models of early cosmic evolution. The

100
00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.080
fact that we're finding these large, well developed

101
00:04:39.080 --> 00:04:42.040
galaxies so early suggests that the first stars

102
00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.640
in galaxies formed even faster than our

103
00:04:44.640 --> 00:04:47.480
simulations predicted. It's discoveries like

104
00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.480
these that make the James Webb Space Telescope such

105
00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:52.280
a game changer for astronomy.

106
00:04:53.190 --> 00:04:56.110
Now, speaking of precision and accuracy, our next

107
00:04:56.110 --> 00:04:58.830
story might surprise anyone who's ever looked at those

108
00:04:58.830 --> 00:05:01.190
crisp, clean solar eclipse maps.

109
00:05:01.510 --> 00:05:04.070
Turns out those neat lines showing the path of

110
00:05:04.070 --> 00:05:06.990
totality. They're not nearly as precise as they

111
00:05:06.990 --> 00:05:07.270
appear.

112
00:05:07.910 --> 00:05:10.310
Anna: Oh, uh, this is fascinating stuff.

113
00:05:10.790 --> 00:05:12.150
What's the issue exactly?

114
00:05:12.550 --> 00:05:15.310
Avery: Well, it turns out the edges of totality are

115
00:05:15.310 --> 00:05:17.910
actually fuzzy and can be off by hundreds of

116
00:05:17.910 --> 00:05:20.470
metres. The problem stems from something

117
00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.350
pretty. We're still debating the

118
00:05:23.350 --> 00:05:26.130
sun's act size. The canonical

119
00:05:26.130 --> 00:05:29.010
radius that's been used for over a century is

120
00:05:29.010 --> 00:05:31.650
696,000 kilometres.

121
00:05:31.890 --> 00:05:34.610
But new measurements suggest that might be outdated.

122
00:05:35.490 --> 00:05:37.890
Anna: So how much difference are we talking about here?

123
00:05:38.450 --> 00:05:41.050
Avery: Researchers Luca Qualia suggests the sun's

124
00:05:41.050 --> 00:05:42.210
angular size is

125
00:05:42.210 --> 00:05:45.170
959.95 arcseconds

126
00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:46.530
versus the traditional

127
00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:48.930
959.63.

128
00:05:49.250 --> 00:05:51.930
That's a tiny difference, but it can shift the

129
00:05:51.930 --> 00:05:53.530
eclipse path edge by up to

130
00:05:53.530 --> 00:05:56.510
2,000ft. When you factor in the

131
00:05:56.510 --> 00:05:59.510
sun's fuzzy photosphere and the moon's jagged mountain

132
00:05:59.510 --> 00:06:01.950
peaks, things get even more complicated.

133
00:06:02.670 --> 00:06:04.510
Anna: So what are researchers doing about this?

134
00:06:05.070 --> 00:06:08.070
Avery: They're creating new maps with zones of uncertainty

135
00:06:08.070 --> 00:06:11.030
at the edges instead of those precise lines. We're used

136
00:06:11.030 --> 00:06:13.710
to seeing. This is especially important for the

137
00:06:13.710 --> 00:06:16.710
August 12, 2026 eclipse that will affect

138
00:06:16.710 --> 00:06:19.630
Spain and Iceland. People planning trips definitely

139
00:06:19.630 --> 00:06:21.790
want to know about these potential variations.

140
00:06:22.510 --> 00:06:25.110
Anna: This research is also revealing some fascinating

141
00:06:25.110 --> 00:06:28.070
details about the lunar limb profile, the jagged

142
00:06:28.070 --> 00:06:30.670
edge of the Moon created by mountains and valleys.

143
00:06:30.830 --> 00:06:33.110
These irregularities can create what

144
00:06:33.110 --> 00:06:35.910
astronomers call the diamond ring effect and

145
00:06:35.910 --> 00:06:38.750
Baily's beads during eclipses. Some areas

146
00:06:38.750 --> 00:06:41.150
along the eclipse path might experience these

147
00:06:41.150 --> 00:06:43.950
phenomena more prominently than others, depending

148
00:06:43.950 --> 00:06:46.750
on which lunar mountains are silhouetted against

149
00:06:46.750 --> 00:06:47.310
the sun.

150
00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:50.760
Avery: Before we head out to Jupiter, let's take a detour to

151
00:06:50.760 --> 00:06:53.760
Mars, where NASA's Perseverance rover has made

152
00:06:53.760 --> 00:06:56.360
a potentially groundbreaking discovery.

153
00:06:56.520 --> 00:06:59.000
The rover has detected what scientists are calling

154
00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.880
convincing evidence of ancient microbial

155
00:07:01.880 --> 00:07:04.640
life preserved in a rock sample from Jezero

156
00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:05.080
Crater.

157
00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:08.520
Anna: This is huge news. If confirmed, what

158
00:07:08.520 --> 00:07:11.480
exactly did Perseverance find that's got scientists

159
00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:14.360
so excited? I, uh, know they've been looking for signs

160
00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.120
of ancient life in Jezero craters since the rover

161
00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:17.640
landed.

162
00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:20.860
Avery: The evidence comes from a rock nicknamed Chayava

163
00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:23.820
Falls. Perseverance found distinctive chemical

164
00:07:23.820 --> 00:07:26.420
signatures and microscopic structures that are

165
00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:29.100
consistent with ancient bacterial mats.

166
00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:32.220
The rock contains organic compounds, mineral

167
00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:35.020
deposits that typically form in the presence of water,

168
00:07:35.100 --> 00:07:38.060
and what appear to be fossilised biofilms.

169
00:07:38.460 --> 00:07:41.100
Of course, scientists are being very cautious.

170
00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:43.820
They need the samples to return to Earth for definitive

171
00:07:43.820 --> 00:07:46.780
analysis, which won't happen until the Mars sample

172
00:07:46.780 --> 00:07:48.620
return mission in the2030s.

173
00:07:49.550 --> 00:07:52.350
Anna: What makes this discovery particularly compelling

174
00:07:52.430 --> 00:07:55.150
is the location. Jezero Crater was

175
00:07:55.150 --> 00:07:58.070
chosen precisely because it contains the remains of

176
00:07:58.070 --> 00:08:00.950
an ancient river delta, an environment that would have

177
00:08:00.950 --> 00:08:03.910
been perfect for microbial life billions of years

178
00:08:03.910 --> 00:08:06.790
ago. If these findings are confirmed, it

179
00:08:06.790 --> 00:08:09.790
would be the first concrete evidence that life once

180
00:08:09.790 --> 00:08:12.750
existed beyond Earth, fundamentally changing

181
00:08:12.830 --> 00:08:15.230
our understanding of biology in the universe.

182
00:08:16.200 --> 00:08:18.760
Okay, our third story takes us to Jupiter,

183
00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:21.600
where NASA's Juno mission has finally

184
00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.560
solved a long standing mystery. After years

185
00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.480
of searching, they've detected auroral footprints

186
00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:30.360
from Callisto, the fourth and most distant of

187
00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:31.960
Jupiter's Galilean moons.

188
00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:35.320
Avery: Wait, so the other three moons, IO,

189
00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.840
Europa and Ganymede, they already had detected

190
00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:38.520
footprints?

191
00:08:38.760 --> 00:08:41.720
Anna: That's right. These are basically auroral

192
00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.440
signatures that show up in Jupiter's atmosphere

193
00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:47.230
as each moon passes through the planet's magnetosphere

194
00:08:47.300 --> 00:08:49.940
magnetic field. Think of them like cosmic

195
00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:52.900
breadcrumbs. The other three moons had been spotted

196
00:08:52.900 --> 00:08:55.780
before, but Callisto's remained elusive

197
00:08:55.780 --> 00:08:58.740
despite multiple attempts with the Hubble telescope.

198
00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:02.420
Avery: So what changed? How did they finally spot it?

199
00:09:02.900 --> 00:09:05.620
Anna: The breakthrough came in September 2019,

200
00:09:05.940 --> 00:09:08.660
when a massive solar stream hit Jupiter.

201
00:09:09.060 --> 00:09:11.540
This shifted Jupiter's main auroral

202
00:09:11.540 --> 00:09:14.180
oval. And in that shifted configuration,

203
00:09:14.180 --> 00:09:17.060
Callisto's faint signature finally became

204
00:09:17.060 --> 00:09:19.590
visible. It's much weaker than the others,

205
00:09:19.910 --> 00:09:22.550
which explains why it took so long to detect.

206
00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:25.190
But now we can confirm that all four

207
00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:27.510
Galilean moons leave their mark on

208
00:09:27.510 --> 00:09:30.230
Jupiter's magnificent auroral displays.

209
00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:33.510
Avery: This discovery also tells us something important about

210
00:09:33.510 --> 00:09:36.070
Callisto itself. Unlike, um, the other

211
00:09:36.070 --> 00:09:38.510
Galilean moons, Callisto was thought to have a

212
00:09:38.510 --> 00:09:41.070
relatively simple, undifferentiated

213
00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:43.750
interior. But the fact that it creates detectable

214
00:09:43.750 --> 00:09:46.630
auroral footprints suggests it has some kind of

215
00:09:46.630 --> 00:09:49.380
conducting layer, possibly a subsurface

216
00:09:49.380 --> 00:09:52.300
ocean like Europa and Ganymede, which would

217
00:09:52.300 --> 00:09:54.740
make it another potential target in the search for life.

218
00:09:55.380 --> 00:09:58.260
And finally, let's talk about what's happening much closer to

219
00:09:58.260 --> 00:10:01.100
home here in Florida. SpaceX is making

220
00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:03.819
rapid progress on their starship infrastructure at

221
00:10:03.819 --> 00:10:06.620
Kennedy Space Centre. And the scale of what they're

222
00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:08.420
building is pretty remarkable.

223
00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:12.020
Anna: This is at Both Launch Complex 39A

224
00:10:12.100 --> 00:10:14.580
and Space Launch Complex 37. Right.

225
00:10:15.470 --> 00:10:18.030
Avery: What exactly are they building at

226
00:10:18.030 --> 00:10:20.950
39A? They've assembled a large crane and are

227
00:10:20.950 --> 00:10:23.870
erecting a, uh, service structure with the launch mount

228
00:10:23.870 --> 00:10:26.670
potentially in place by the end of this year. But

229
00:10:26.670 --> 00:10:29.470
Space Launch Complex 37 could be even

230
00:10:29.470 --> 00:10:31.990
more impressive. It might support dual launch

231
00:10:31.990 --> 00:10:34.550
towers and could handle up to 76

232
00:10:34.550 --> 00:10:35.630
annual launches.

233
00:10:36.430 --> 00:10:39.350
Anna: That's an incredible launch cadence. When

234
00:10:39.350 --> 00:10:42.220
are they targeting their first Florida Starship flight?

235
00:10:42.930 --> 00:10:45.650
Avery: SpaceX is aiming for late 2025 from

236
00:10:45.650 --> 00:10:48.450
Launch Complex 39A, though many

237
00:10:48.450 --> 00:10:51.410
observers think 2026 is more realistic.

238
00:10:51.810 --> 00:10:54.610
Environmental reviews are currently evaluating up to

239
00:10:54.610 --> 00:10:57.250
44 annual Starship launches from Florida,

240
00:10:57.410 --> 00:11:00.250
which would represent a massive increase in the state's

241
00:11:00.250 --> 00:11:01.170
launch capacity.

242
00:11:01.970 --> 00:11:04.770
Anna: The scale of this infrastructure development is

243
00:11:04.770 --> 00:11:07.570
really staggering. We're talking about launch

244
00:11:07.570 --> 00:11:10.490
towers that will dwarf even the vehicle assembly

245
00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:13.220
building at Kennedy Space Centre. It's each

246
00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:16.220
Starship super heavy booster stands nearly

247
00:11:16.220 --> 00:11:18.900
230ft tall. And the

248
00:11:18.900 --> 00:11:21.500
complete stack with starship reaches about

249
00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:24.340
400ft taller than the Statue of

250
00:11:24.340 --> 00:11:27.020
Liberty. The ground systems needed to support

251
00:11:27.020 --> 00:11:29.420
this massive vehicle require

252
00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:31.820
entirely new approaches to fueling,

253
00:11:32.380 --> 00:11:34.460
servicing and launch operations.

254
00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:38.100
Avery: From an economic perspective, this could transform

255
00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:40.900
Florida's Space coast. With up to 76

256
00:11:40.900 --> 00:11:43.780
annual launches from just one complex, we

257
00:11:43.780 --> 00:11:46.360
could see launch frequency frequency that rivals the entire

258
00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.120
global launch industry today. That means

259
00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:52.120
thousands of jobs, not just for SpaceX, but for the

260
00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:54.680
entire ecosystem of suppliers,

261
00:11:54.760 --> 00:11:57.560
contractors and service providers that support these

262
00:11:57.560 --> 00:12:00.400
operations. It's reminiscent of the Apollo

263
00:12:00.400 --> 00:12:02.600
era, but potentially even bigger.

264
00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:06.000
Anna: It's amazing to think that 39A, which

265
00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:08.640
launched Apollo missions to the moon and space

266
00:12:08.640 --> 00:12:11.520
shuttle flights for decades, will soon be home

267
00:12:11.520 --> 00:12:13.800
to the next generation of spacecraft

268
00:12:14.040 --> 00:12:16.900
designed to take humans back to the Moon and

269
00:12:16.900 --> 00:12:18.100
eventually to Mars.

270
00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:19.780
Avery: Absolutely.

271
00:12:20.020 --> 00:12:22.740
And that wraps up today's episode of astronomy daily.

272
00:12:22.900 --> 00:12:25.460
From SpaceX testing new ISS capabilities

273
00:12:26.020 --> 00:12:28.740
to discovering the limitations of eclipse maps,

274
00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:31.460
from completing Jupiter's Aurora Moon collection

275
00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:34.500
to building the launch infrastructure of the future, it's

276
00:12:34.500 --> 00:12:36.260
been quite a journey through the cosmos.

277
00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:39.660
Anna: Looking at all these stories together, there's a

278
00:12:39.660 --> 00:12:41.780
common thread. We're witnessing

279
00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:44.740
unprecedented precision and capability

280
00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:47.780
in space exploration. From SpaceX

281
00:12:47.780 --> 00:12:50.160
Fine Tuning Orbital mechanics at the ISS

282
00:12:50.800 --> 00:12:53.560
to JWST revealing the distant

283
00:12:53.560 --> 00:12:56.480
past of our universe. From potentially finding

284
00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.000
ancient life on Mars, to mapping

285
00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:01.880
Jupiter's complex magnetosphere, each

286
00:13:01.880 --> 00:13:03.680
discovery builds on the others.

287
00:13:04.160 --> 00:13:06.680
Avery: What's particularly exciting is how these

288
00:13:06.680 --> 00:13:09.440
developments are accelerating. Ten years ago,

289
00:13:09.680 --> 00:13:12.480
many of, uh, today's stories would have seemed like science

290
00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:15.440
fiction. Routine commercial operations at

291
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.280
the iss, telescopes seen back to the

292
00:13:18.280 --> 00:13:21.060
cosmic dawn, potential biosign signatures on

293
00:13:21.060 --> 00:13:24.060
Mars. The next decade promises to be

294
00:13:24.060 --> 00:13:26.860
even more remarkable, with lunar bases,

295
00:13:27.020 --> 00:13:29.940
Mars sample returns, and interstellar missions

296
00:13:29.940 --> 00:13:32.060
moving from concept to reality.

297
00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:35.380
Anna: Thanks for joining us today. Don't forget to

298
00:13:35.380 --> 00:13:38.180
subscribe and share Astronomy Daily with fellow space

299
00:13:38.180 --> 00:13:40.980
enthusiasts. We'll be back tomorrow with more

300
00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:43.580
exciting discoveries from the universe around us.

301
00:13:44.300 --> 00:13:47.270
Avery: Until then, um, keep looking up. I'm Avery.

302
00:13:47.590 --> 00:13:50.150
Anna: And I'm Anna. Clear skies everyone.