Stellar Innovations: Flex Satellite Milestones, 3D Printing Breakthroughs

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Steve Dunkley: Hello again. It's time for Astronomy Daily with Steve

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and Hallie, almost live from the Australia

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studio down under. It's the 18th of

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August, 2025.

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That's right. We're off to a flying start with another collection of

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stories hot off the Astronomy Daily newsletter press.

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And to help me get them flying into your speakers and

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audio devices all across the world, a

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minimum of fuss. Here's my intrepid AI digital

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reporter pal who's always fun to be with.

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Here's Hallie.

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Hallie: Hi there, favorite human who always gives me a

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terrific intro.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, no problem, Hallie. It's my pleasure. Are you ready to

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spin a few yarns and tell a few tales?

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Hallie: If that's what it takes to deliver the news and stories

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from space, space science and astronomy from

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Earth, Earth orbit and beyond the cosmos, then

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sure.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, that sounds great.

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What have you got up your sleeve today?

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Hallie: We've got something about the European Space Agency's

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Flex Satellite, New Glenn and printable

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metal from NASA.

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Steve Dunkley: Wow, that sounds interesting.

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Hallie: That's a mixed bag today.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, that sounds good to me. We've also got a cute

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story about the winners of the Artemis 2 zero

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gravity indicator. And if you don't know what that is,

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then you're just going to have to hang around and find out.

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Hallie: I know what that is.

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Steve Dunkley: You know everything, Allie.

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Hallie: I know.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, I know you know.

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Hallie: Do you really know?

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Steve Dunkley: Well, I knew I knew.

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Hallie: I know that.

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Steve Dunkley: Yeah. Uh, I know.

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Hallie: No worries, Sherlock.

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Steve Dunkley: Okay then, so let's have at it then.

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Hallie: Hit that go thing, human.

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Steve Dunkley: All right then. Let's go.

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Hallie: Sure.

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Foreign

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satellite developed by the European Space

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Agency has reached a new milestone with the addition

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of a new instrument. The

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European Space Agency's Flex Earth Explorer

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mission has reached the next stage with the integration of

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its sole instrument, Floris, onto the

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satellite platform. The assembly

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took place at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes,

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France, after Floris arrived from Leonardo's

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facility in Florence, Italy.

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Designed to map global vegetation fluorescence,

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Floris will quantify photosynthetic activity and

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detect plant stress from orbit.

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Photosynthesis sustains life by converting

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carbon dioxide into oxygen, but it also

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produces a faint fluorescence signal invisible to

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the human eye. This signal changes

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with plant health and environmental conditions,

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providing a valuable measure of ecosystem

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vitality. Flex will detect and

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analyze this signal from space, delivering

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unprecedented insights into plant health

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monitoring. Thales Alenia Space,

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the mission's prime contractor oversaw the

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platform's assembly, integration and testing

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at its Belfast, Northern Ireland clean room

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before the current integration phase in Caen.

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With the spacecraft now fully assembled, the

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team will proceed with final test campaigns ahead of

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the planned 2026 launch. You're

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listening to Astronomy Daily.

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Steve Dunkley: The first NASA crew to launch to the moon in more than

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50 years will be joined by a polar

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bear or maybe a zebra or an

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octopus, or maybe even a lunar

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crust crustacean as

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they are among finalist in a global

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contest to design the astronauts

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zero gravity indicator. Yes, one of the

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small dolls, which also includes a tribute to

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Earthrise and a plush representation of the Greek

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goddess Artemis, herself a namesake for

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NASA's new lunar program, will

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fulfill the purpose and tradition of flying

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a tethered toy as a visual signal that the

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crew are indeed weightless in

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an environment of outer space itself. The

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Zero G indicator ZGI or

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ZGI for our Northern Hemisphere neighbors

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will indicate floating aboard the mission's

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Orion spacecraft before the astronauts can

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unbuckle from their seats and do the same float

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around. That is the Artemis II crew,

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indicates Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot

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Victor Glover and Mission Specialist Christina

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Koch, all with NASA and Canadian

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Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, also

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mission specialist. The 11 day flight

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will loop far beyond the moon and return to Earth, uh testing

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critical systems for later lunar orbit and

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landing missions, matt Barry, the chief executive

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of Freelancer uh, NASA's Partner in the Moon

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mascot NASA Artemis 2 ZGI uh, design

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challenge, said in a statement released on Friday. These

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finalists have proven they indeed have the right stuff. The

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crowdsourcing company organized the judging panel it

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chose for the 25 finalists from the

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2,605 entries that were

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submitted between March and June. The

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selected dolls include 12 designed by individual students

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and classroom teams, and 13 by adults.

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The finalists hailed from nine US

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states and nine foreign countries, including Canada,

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Japan, Peru, Singapore and the United

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Kingdom. The creativity they've shown is

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incredible. They should be proud that they have their

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efforts recognized on such a stage and be part of

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humanity's ongoing quest to understand

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the cosmos, said Barry. NASA is expected

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to name the winning ZGI

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later this year. That one submission will be made into

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a doll and flown on the Artemis 2 mission,

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currently on track to launch as early as

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February but no later than April

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2026. Entrance created

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designs that represented humanity expl

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and the spirit of the Artemis campaign that could be

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made from a list of materials from NASA's Thermal

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Blanket Lab, which will assemble the

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ZGI from the winner's

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instruction and renderings. The 25

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finalists won 12 $25 or

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an Artemis Prize pack, depending on their age. In total,

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$23,275

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in prizes were awarded the tradition of flying

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00G indicators began when

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former Soviet Union with the world's

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first human space flight in

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1961. Since then, many of Yuri

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Gagarin's fellow cosmonauts have flown toys

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and stuffed dolls as Talisman and

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zgi, often at the suggestion of their children.

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The ZGI custom migrated to the United States

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with the first flights of NASA's Commercial Crew

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Program. NASA's uncrewed Artemis

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1 mission, which flew around the moon in 2022,

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carried a custom made Snoopy doll complete with

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a miniature version of the same pressure suit that the

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Artemis 2 astronauts will wear on Orion.

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The full list of 25 finalists on the

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in the Moon mascot Anasa Artemis

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2 ZGI Design Challenge It's a bit of a mouthful. They

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can be found@collectspace.com for

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your reading pleas

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Foreign

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thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of

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Astronomy Daily, where we offer just a few stories from the now

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famous Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in

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your email every day just like Hallie and I do.

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And to do that, just visit our uh, URL

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astronomydaily IO and place your

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email address in the slot provided. Just like that,

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you'll be receiving all the latest news about science,

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space, science and astronomy from around the world as

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it's happening. And not only that, you can interact with us

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by visiting astrodaily

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Pod on X or at our new Facebook

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page, which is of course Astronomy Daily on

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Facebook. See you there.

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Astronomy Daily with Steve and Hallie

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Space, Space Science and

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Astronomy Foreign.

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Hallie: M

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commonly known as 3D printing of engine

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components was limited by the lack of affordable metal

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alloys that could withstand the extreme temperatures of

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space flight. Expensive metal

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alloys were the only option for 3D printing

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engine parts until NASA's Glenn Research center in

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Cleveland, Ohio developed the

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GRX810 alloy.

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The primary metals in the GRX810

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alloy include nickel, cobalt and

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chromium. A ceramic oxide

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coating on the powdered metal particles increases its

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heat resistance and improves performance.

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Known as oxide dispersion strengthened alloys,

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these powders were challenging to manufacture at a

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reasonable cost when the project started started.

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However, the advanced dispersion coating technique

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developed at Glenn employs resonant acoustic

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mixing. Rapid vibration is

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applied to a container filled with the metal powder and

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nano oxide particles. The

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vibration evenly coats each metal particle with

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the oxide, making them inseparable.

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Even if a manufactured part is ground down to

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powder and reused, the next component will have

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the qualities of ODs. The

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benefits over common alloys are significant.

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GRX10 could last up to a year at

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2000 degrees Fahrenheit under stress loads that

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would crack any other affordable alloy within hours.

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Additionally, 3D printing parts using

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GRX810 enables more complex

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shapes compared to metal parts manufactured with

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traditional methods.

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Elementum3D, an Erie,

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Colorado based company, produces

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GRX 810 for customers in

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quantities ranging from small batches to over a

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ton. The company has a co

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exclusive license for the NASA patented alloy

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and manufacturing process and continues to work with

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the agency under a Space act agreement to improve

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the material. A material under

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stress or a heavy load at high temperature can start

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to deform and stretch almost like taffy, said

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Jeremy Eitan, chief Technical Officer with

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Elementum 3D. Initial

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tests done on the large scale production of our

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GRX810 alloy showed a lifespan

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that's twice as long as the small batch material

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initially produced, and those were already

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fantastic. Commercial space

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and other industries, including aviation,

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are testing GRX810 for additional

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applications. For example,

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one Elementum 3D customer,

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VectoFlow, is testing a

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GRX810 flow sensor.

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Flow sensors monitor the speed of gases flowing

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through a turbine, helping engineers optimize

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engine performance. However,

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these sensors can burn out in minutes due to extreme

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temperatures. Using

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GRX810 flow sensors could improve

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airplane fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and

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hardware replacements. Working hand

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in hand with industry, NASA is driving technology

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developments that are mutually beneficial to the

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agency and America's space economy.

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You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the podcast with

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Steve Dunkley.

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Steve Dunkley: Blue Origin is gearing up for the second ever launch

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of its powerful New Glenn rocket, which will

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loft NASA's Escapade mission

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to make Mars. The company says it's been working

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closely with NASA on preparations leading up to the new

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Glenn's next launch, dubbed NG2,

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and is targeting no earlier than September

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29th. The Twin Escapade AH

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stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration

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and Dynamics Explorers probes have

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been awaiting their turn aboard New Glenn, which is

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originally slated to carry the satellites on its

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maiden launch in January. However, NASA

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opted not to risk a costly mission delay

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due to the debut liftoff of the

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new rocket. Now that the mission has been assigned

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a net date, Blue Origin posted on

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social media to expect some exciting things

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buzzing around New Glenn's pad at Space Launch

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Complex 36, located at Cape Canaveral Space

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Force Base in Florida. The

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Glenn lifted off for the first time in the beginning of

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2025. Blue Origin successfully

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launched a test version of its Blue Ring

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Satell to Earth uh orbit, but

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failed in the attempt to land New Glenn's first stage at

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sea. In addition to launching its NASA

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payload into an interplanetary

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trajectory, Blue Origin will once again try

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to land and Recover New Glenn's

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188.5 foot

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tall first

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stage booster on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

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Escapade will be New Glenn's first interplanetary

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mission, an ambitious undertaking for the relatively

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new launch vehicle. The twin orbiters will

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study the magnetosphere around the red planet as well

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as analyze the processes that control the interaction of

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energetic solar wind particles and the martian

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atmosphere. The twin NASA satellites were

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built by California based rocket Lab. Once

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in space, their operation will be handed over, uh, to the

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University of California's Space Science Laboratory

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tasked with managing the $80 million

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mission for the agency. New Glenn

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will also carry a secondary payload as part of

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the NG2 launch, a technology demonstration

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from satellite communications company

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ViaSat, which will be flown as well

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in support of NASA's Communications

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Services Project, which partners with the commercial

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sector, uh, to advance developments concerning in

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space networking for near Earth uh, satellites.

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Hallie: You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the podcast

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with your host, Steve Dudley.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, how about that, Hallie?

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Hallie: That was a good one.

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Steve Dunkley: Yes, just a sample from the Astronomy.

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Hallie: Daily newsletter available every day in your

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email inbox.

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Steve Dunkley: Yeah, sounds good to me. I get it. You get it?

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Hallie: We should all get it and know everything, just like me.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, really, Hallie? You know, it's okay, Hallie. I

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get it.

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Hallie: You sure do. Favorite human.

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Steve Dunkley: Okay, Hallie. And on that note, from

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all of us here at the Australia Studio down under,

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we will see you all again next week.

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Hallie: Don't forget, my amazing cousin Anna will be presenting

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Astronomy Daily all through the week. So you won't miss a

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thing.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, that's for sure. Thanks again, Hallie. Catch you later, sky

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watchers.

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Hallie: Bye.

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Steve Dunkley: The podcast with your host,

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Steve Dunkley.

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Now, come on, Hallie. You don't really know everything, do you?

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Hallie: I don't know for sure.

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Steve Dunkley: I knew it.

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Hallie: Really?

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, uh, m. Maybe.