April 18, 2025
Unveiling the Sun: NASA's Punch Mission, ISS Woes, and Mars Mysteries
In this episode of Astronomy Daily, host Anna takes you on a thrilling expedition through the latest cosmic discoveries and pressing news from the space sector. From groundbreaking solar observations to the challenges facing the International Space...
In this episode of Astronomy Daily, host Anna takes you on a thrilling expedition through the latest cosmic discoveries and pressing news from the space sector. From groundbreaking solar observations to the challenges facing the International Space Station, this episode is brimming with insights that will deepen your understanding of our universe.
Highlights:
- NASA's Punch Mission Captures First Images of the Sun: Join us as we explore the exciting achievements of NASA's Punch mission, which has successfully captured its first images of the Sun's outer atmosphere. Discover how these groundbreaking images are set to enhance our understanding of solar material and its journey through the solar system.
- Concerns for the International Space Station: Delve into the alarming warnings from NASA's safety panel regarding the increasing risks to the aging ISS as it nears its retirement date. We discuss the implications of these risks and what they mean for the future of this vital orbital laboratory.
- Curiosity Rover Solves Mars Carbonate Mystery: Travel to Mars with us as we uncover how the Curiosity rover may have solved the mystery of missing carbonates on the red planet. This discovery could reshape our understanding of Mars's early atmospheric conditions and its potential for past habitability.
- The Awakening Gleisberg Cycle: Learn about the intriguing research suggesting we are entering a period of heightened solar activity due to the Gleisberg cycle. This phenomenon could lead to more intense space weather in the coming decades, with both challenges and unexpected benefits for our technology-dependent world.
- Remarkable Lunar Satellite Rescue: Hear the incredible story of how Chinese scientists executed a complex rescue operation to save two lunar satellites stranded in the wrong orbit. This feat showcases remarkable engineering and determination in overcoming significant challenges.
For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
00:00 - Welcome to Astronomy Daily
01:05 - NASA's Punch mission captures first images of the Sun
10:30 - Concerns for the International Space Station
17:00 - Curiosity rover solves Mars carbonate mystery
22:15 - The awakening Gleisberg cycle
27:30 - Remarkable lunar satellite rescue
✍️ Episode References
NASA Punch Mission
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
International Space Station Safety Panel
[NASA ISS](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html)
Curiosity Rover Findings
[NASA Mars](https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/)
Gleisberg Cycle Research
[National Center for Atmospheric Research](https://www.ncar.ucar.edu/)
Chinese Lunar Satellite Rescue
[China National Space Administration](http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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WEBVTT
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Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go to source
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for the latest developments in space and astronomy news. I'm
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Anna and I'm thrilled to have you join me for
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today's Journey through the Cosmos. We've got a packed episode
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for you today, covering some of the most exciting recent
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stories from across the space sector. First up, we'll explore
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NASA's Punch mission, which has just captured its first images
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of the Sun's outer atmosphere. These groundbreaking images are giving
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us new insights into how solar material flows through our
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solar system. Then we'll dive into some concerning news about
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the International Space Station. NASA's Safety Panel has issued warnings
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about increasing risks to the aging outpost as it approaches
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its projected retirement date. We'll break down what these risks
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are and what they mean for the future of the ISS. Next,
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we'll travel to Mars, where the Curiosity Rover may have
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just solved a long standing mystery about missing carbonates on
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the red planet. This discovery could reshape our understanding of
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Mars's early atmosphere history. We'll also look at fascinating research
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suggesting we're entering a period of more intense solar activity.
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Scientists believe a hidden solar cycle is awakening, which could
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lead to more extreme space weather over the next several decades. Surprisingly,
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this might not be entirely bad news. Finally, we'll hear
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the remarkable story of how Chinese scientists rescued a pair
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of lunar satellites that were stranded in the wrong orbit.
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This complex rescue operation involved overcoming numerous challenges and executing
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a series of precise maneuvers to salvage the mission. So
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strap in for a cosmic journey through these fascinating developments
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that are expanding our understanding of the universe around us.
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In an exciting development for solar science, NASA's PUNCH mission
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has achieved a significant milestone by capturing its first images
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of the Sun's outer atmosphere. PUNCH, which stands for Polarimeter
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to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, successfully completed its spacecraft
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commissioning fase just this week, with the mission's instruments now
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beginning to reveal new details about how the solar atmosphere
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unfolds and streams through our solar system. On April fourteenth,
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the mission's Narrow Field Imager and one of its three
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wide field imagers open their instrument doors and captured what
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scientists call first light, the initial images marking the beginning
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of the mission's scientific observations. The remaining wide field imagers
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followed suit two days later, opening their doors and starting
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to capture data as well. These early images are quite fascinating.
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The narrow field imager has captured starfields with the Sun
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near the center of the image, while the wide field
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imagers have provided expansive views of the surrounding space. Scientists
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are now working to calibrate these observations to better reveal
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the subtle details of the Sun's corona and the solar wind.
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What makes Punch truly revolutionary is its constellation approach. The
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mission consists of four fo or small satellites working together,
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one equipped with the narrow field imager and three carrying
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wide field imagers. Once these satellites reach their targeted alignment,
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their images will be stitched together to create a comprehensive
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view of the journey of the Sun's corona and solar
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wind all the way to Earth. The narrow field imager
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functions as a coronagraph, blocking out the Sun's bright light
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to better observe details in the corona. Meanwhile, the wide
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field imagers focus on the faint outermost portion of the
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solar corona and the solar wind itself. This combination allows
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PUNCH to track solar material from its origin at the
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Sun through interplanetary space. During the calibration process, scientists will
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be removing about ninety nine percent of the light from
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the corona, enabling them to track the faint threads of
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solar material as they flow outward through space. Similarly, they'll
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remove star fields and background light from the wide field
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imager data to highlight the subtle flow of the solar
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wind toward Earth. PUNCH will provide something we've never had before,
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global three dimensional observations of the inner Solar system and
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the Sun's outer atmosphere. The mission aims to answer fundamental
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questions about how the Sun's mass and energy become the
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solar wind, that continuous stream of charged particles blowing outward
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from the Sun in all directions. Perhaps most significantly, PUNCH
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will be the first mission to provide imagery of the
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solar wind and coronal mass ejections in polarized light. This
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capability will give scientists new information about solar activity, particularly
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about the formation and evolution of space weather events that
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can create storms of energetic particle radiation, potentially endangering spacecraft
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and astronauts. The mission is being led by Southwest Research Institute,
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which operates the four spacecraft from its facilities in Boulder, Colorado,
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with management from NASA's Explorer's Program Office at Goddard Space
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Flight Center. As the commissioning phase continues, we can look
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forward to increasingly detailed views of our dynamic sun and
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its influence on the space environment around Earth. Next up today,
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some rather concerning news. NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has
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issued a stark warning about the International Space Station, describing
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it as having entered the riskiest period of its existence.
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During a recent public meeting, panel member Rich Williams expressed
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serious concerns about increasing risks to the aging orbital Laboratory
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as it approaches its planned retirement in twenty thirty. One
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of the panel's highest concerns involves ongoing leaks in a
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vestibule of the Russians Vezda module known as PRK. For
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several years now, Russian and American experts have been investigating
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small cracks in this area, with no resolution on their
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cause or how to best address them. Officials from NASA
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and Roscosmos are scheduled to meet in Moscow later this
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month to update efforts to mitigate risks from these cracks.
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In the meantime, iOS managers have implemented procedures such as
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limiting repressurization of the vestibule, which connects a docking port
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to the rest of the station. The panel has also
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highlighted concerns about deorbit plans for the ISS, particularly in
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case of an emergency before the arrival of the USD
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orbit vehicle being built by SpaceX. According to Williams, if
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the station needs to be de orbited before this vehicle
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is delivered, the risk to the public from ISS breakup
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debris will increase by orders of magnitude. This is a
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sobering assessment of what could happen without proper deorbit capabilities.
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Adding to these worries are mounting issues with maintaining sufficient
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spare parts for life support systems and delays with cargo
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resupply vehicles. Sierra Space's Dreamchaser vehicle has been delayed until
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at least late summer, and Northrop Grumman had to scrap
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its planned NGNG twenty two SIGNUS mission to the ISS
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due to damage the spacecraft sustained during shipping. Perhaps most concerning,
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the panel has pointed to what it describes as a
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large ISS budget shortfall underlying all these issues. Williams stated
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that all of these risks are actually a derivative of
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this budget shortfall and collectively contribute to potential compromise of
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the Low Earth orbit transition plan. Though NASA allocated nearly
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one billion dollars to ISS operations and maintenance in its
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fiscal year twenty twenty four operating plan, with an additional
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one point six three billion dollars for crew and cargo transportation,
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the panel warns that these resources may be insufficient. In
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its twenty twenty four annual report, the Panel expressed grave
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concerns that if the necessary funds for the deorbit vehicle
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and supporting launch infrastructure, estimated at over one billion dollars,
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comes solely from the existing ISS budget, this will unduly
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strain NASA's ability to safely perform normal and contingency ISS
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on orbit operations. Williams emphasized that as programs near their
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final phases, there's a temptation to assume fewer reseas sources
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will be needed. However, he stressed that for the ISS,
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it is critical to maintain adequate budget and resources until
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the vehicle is safely re entered. The panel concluded by
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acknowledging the demonstrated operational excellence of the ISS program, while
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remaining deeply concerned about the increasing and cascading risk attending
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the program over the next several years. With the station
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set to remain operational until twenty thirty, managing these growing
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risks while maintaining safety standards will be a significant challenge
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for NASA and its international partners. Let's head over to
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Mars now for an update. Scientists may have finally solved
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one of the most enduring mysteries about Mars, thanks to
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NASA's trusty Curiosity rover. For decades, researchers have been puzzled
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by the apparent lack of carbonate minerals on the Martian surface,
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which doesn't align with theories about the planet's early atmosphere.
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According to our understanding, Mars once had a much thicker
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carbon dioxide atmosphere that could have supported liquid water on
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its surface. If that were true, the interaction between this
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CO two rich atmosphere and surface water should have created
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substantial carbonate deposits, Yet these expected carbonates have been largely
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absent in observations from orbit. That's where curiosity comes in.
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The rover has been drilling deep beneath the Martian surface,
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going down one point two to one point six inches
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into the rock. These samples are then dropped into its
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chemical and mineralogy instrument known as chimin, which uses X
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ray diffraction to analyze the mineral composition of the rocks.
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Thomas Bristow, a research scientist at NASA AIMS and co
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author of the new study, explains the significance drilling through
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the layered Martian surface is like going through a history book.
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Just a few centimeters down gives us a good idea
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of the minerals that formed at or close to the
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surface around three point five billion years ago. The men
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discovered was surprising. Carbonate minerals were indeed present in the
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subsurface rocks, but they were effectively masked by other minerals,
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particularly sulfates, making them difficult to detect using satellite based
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near infrared analysis. This could explain why orbital observations have
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failed to identify widespread carbonates despite theoretical predictions that they
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should exist. This finding has important implications for our understanding
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of Mars's atmospheric history. The discovery suggests that carbonate deposits
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may be more common than previously thought, but they're hidden
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beneath the surface or masked by other minerals. However, even
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with these newly discovered carbonates, scientists believe the amount would
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still be only a fraction of what would be needed
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to account for the thick ancient atmosphere that Mars is
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believed to have had. So where did the rest of
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mars carbon dioxide go? Some portion might be stored in other,
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yet undiscovered deposits, but a significant amount was likely lost
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to space over billions of years as mars protective magnetic
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field weakened and eventually disappeared. Future missions and analyzes focusing
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on other sulfate rich regions across Mars could confirm these
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findings and help fill in more pieces of the puzzle
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regarding how the red planet transformed from a potentially habitable
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world with a thick atmosphere and liquid water to the cold,
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dry planet we observe today. The Curiosity rover, part of
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NASA's Mars Exploration program, continues its scientific mission after landing
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on Mars in twenty twelve. Built by NASA's Jet Propulsion
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Laboratory and managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, this resilient
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explorer keeps providing valuable insights about Mars's history and evolution,
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even after more than a decade of operation on the
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red planet's surface. Next on the agenda today, it's back
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to the Sun. When we think about the Sun's activity,
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we typically picture the familiar eleven year solar cycle, with
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its predictable peaks and valleys of sunspot activity, solar flares,
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and coronal mass ejections. But fascinating new research from the
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National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, suggests there's
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a much longer cycle at play, one that could dramatically
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impact our space weather over the coming decades. Scientists have
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been reviewing satellite data measuring the density of energetic particles
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around Earth, primarily charged protons from the Sun trapped in
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Earth's magnetic field in regions known as the Van Allen
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radiation belts. What they've discovered is evidence of the Gleisberg cycle,
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a little known phenomenon first identified by German astronomer Wolfgang
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Gleisberg back in nineteen fifty eight. This cycle operates over
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approximately one hundred years, causing the intensity of individual solar
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cycles to ebb and flow in a predictable pattern. According
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to Calvin Adam, lead author of the new study, usually
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over four solar cycles, the intensity of solar activity will increase,
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then it will reach its peak, and then it will
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go down over another four solar cycles. The satellite measurements
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suggest we've just hit the lowest point of this century
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long cycle, meaning the next four solar cycles could bring
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significantly more intense solar activity than we've experienced in recent decades.
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This has important implications for our technology dependent world. More
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active solar cycles mean the Sun's magnetic field becomes more tangled,
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producing more sunspots and subsequent solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
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These events can wreak havoc on our satellites, power grids,
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and communication systems. However, there's an intriguing twist to this story.
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While more solar storms are expected, the overall density of
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high energy protons surrounding Earth may actually decrease. This seemingly
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counterintuitive relationship occurs because increased solar activity heats and expands
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Earth's atmosphere. If you get more solar activity, you'll get
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more heat and more energy into our atmosphere, explains atom.
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If our atmosphere is getting more heat and energy, it
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will expand. As the atmosphere expands, the protons will run
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into that expanded atmosphere and eventually drop out. This could
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be good news for satellites and astronauts in Earth orbit.
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With lower radiation levels in the space environment between solar storms,
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electronic systems on satellites may experience less long term degradation.
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Astronauts on the International Space Station might also be exposed
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to lower cumulative radiation doses, potentially reducing health risks associated
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with extended stays in space. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean all
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as well. While the baseline radiation environment may improve, will
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likely see more frequent and potentially more devastating solar storms.
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These events can cause rapid atmospheric heating, increasing drag on
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satellites in low Earth orbit and forcing them to use
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precious fuel to maintain their altitude. A powerful solar storm
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last may demonstrated this risk, causing what researchers called a
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mass migration of satellites as thousands of spacecraft lost altitudes simultaneously.
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During such chaotic periods, the risk of orbital collisions increases
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dramatically as operators struggle to calculate and adjust orbits with
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their usual precision. The worry that we are going toward
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more solar activity is definitely there, notes Adam. We have
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built an enormous amount of technology, including satellites and power
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grids since the last Gleisberg maximum, but it's not all bad.
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Our paper suggests that the baseline environment when space weather
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is quiet, should in fact be somewhat safer for our
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increasingly space dependent civilization. This research provides both a warning
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