From Comet Closures to Space Station Shifts: Your Daily Astronomy Update

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,


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your source for the latest news from


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across the cosmos. I'm Avery.


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>> And I'm Anna. It's great to have you


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with us. Today we say goodbye to our


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interstellar visitor and look to the


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future of life in orbit.


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>> That's right. We'll be talking about a


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comet from another solar system that


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just made its closest approach to Earth.


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And we'll check in on the Parker Solar


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Probe as it once again braves the sun's


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fiery atmosphere. plus a fun story about


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how you could have helped design a


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mascot for the next mission to the moon.


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>> And later in the show, we'll dive into a


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cosmic mystery involving incredibly


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powerful blue explosions, a building


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sized asteroid with a small chance of


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hitting the moon, and Russia's


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surprising new plans for its future in


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space after the International Space


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Station. So, let's get started.


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>> First up, a visitor from very, very far


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away. On Friday, December 19th,


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interstellar comet 3i/Atlas


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made its closest approach to our planet.


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>> It came within 168 million miles of


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Earth. Now that it's passed us, it will


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begin its long journey back out of our


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solar system, continuing its voyage


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through the Milky Way.


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>> And this isn't just any comet. It's only


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the third object we've ever detected


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passing through our solar system that


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originated from interstellar space.


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>> Exactly. It was first spotted by NASA's


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Atlas system on July 1st, 2025. By


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analyzing its trajectory, scientists


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determined it didn't come from around


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here. In fact, its path suggests it


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comes from a region of our galaxy that


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might be up to 7 billion years old.


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>> 7 billion years. That means this little


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icy wanderer is significantly older than


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our own 4.6 billionyear-old solar


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system. It's like a relic from a


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completely different time and place.


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>> Mhm. A true cosmic fossil. And it gave


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scientists a bit of a surprise. As it


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made its closest approach to the sun,


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the comet brightened much more than


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expected. And the reason for that extra


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glow is still a mystery. It's a


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fascinating puzzle for scientists to


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analyze as they gather the data from its


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flyby. So, farewell, ThreeI Atlas. You


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put on quite a show for us.


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>> Speaking of getting close to the sun,


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NASA's Parker Solar Probe has been doing


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just that again.


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>> That's right. On December 13th, the


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probe completed its 26th close approach


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or perihelion. And it wasn't just


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another flyby. It matched its own


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incredible records.


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>> And what records they are, it flew just


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3.8 million miles from the solar


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surface. To put that in perspective,


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Earth is about 93 million miles away and


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its speed a blistering 430,000


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mph.


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>> It's almost impossible to comprehend


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that velocity. During this close


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approach, the spacecraft was completely


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out of contact with Earth, operating


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fully autonomously as its instruments


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gathered data from right inside the


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sun's atmosphere, the corona.


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>> Mhm. And the timing is perfect. This is


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all happening while the sun is in a very


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active phase of its 11-year cycle.


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>> That's the key. These observations are


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critical for helping us understand our


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star and the space weather events it


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produces like solar flares and coronal


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mass ejections. That data is vital for


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protecting our astronauts and technology


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both in orbit and here on Earth. All


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right, from the intense heat of the sun


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to something a little more whimsical,


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NASA recently gave the public a very


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unique opportunity. The chance to design


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a mascot for the Aremis 2 mission. This


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is such a great story. In collaboration


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with the platform Freelancer, NASA held


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a contest for a zeroravity indicator.


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These are small, usually plush items


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that the crew takes with them. When they


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start to float, it's a simple visual cue


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that they've reached the microgravity of


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space,


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>> right? It's a long-standing tradition in


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human space flight, but this is the very


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first time the public has been invited


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to create the crew's mascot. Artemis 2


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is the mission that will send four


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astronauts on a trip around the moon in


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early 2026. So, this is a historic


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flight.


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>> The response was overwhelming. The


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contest received thousands of


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submissions from over 50 countries.


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They've now narrowed it down to 25


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finalists and the winning design will be


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fabricated by NASA's own thermal blanket


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lab and will fly with the astronauts on


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their journey.


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>> I love that. We won't know the winner


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until closer to the launch date, but


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it's fantastic to see this level of


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public engagement with such a landmark


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mission. It really connects people to


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the adventure of space exploration.


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>> Now for a deep space mystery. For years,


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astronomers have been puzzled by


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extremely powerful and bright blue


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cosmic explosions. They're called


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luminous fast blue optical transients or


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LFBOs for short. And we may finally know


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what causes them.


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>> LFBO TS. The name itself is a mouthful.


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What's the leading theory here? Well, a


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recently detected signal designated


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AT-2024


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WPPP has provided a major clue. It


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suggests that LFBOTS are the result of


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an extreme version of something called a


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title disruption event or TDE.


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>> That's when a black hole tears a star


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apart. Right.


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>> Exactly. But in this case, we're talking


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about a black hole with a mass up to 100


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times that of our sun, completely


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shredding its companion star in a matter


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of days. This particular event, AT-2024


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WPP, emitted about 100 times more energy


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than an average supernova explosion.


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>> Wow. So, what makes it so much more


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powerful than a typical TTE?


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>> The theory is that this wasn't just a


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one-time event. The black hole was


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likely parasitically feeding from its


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companion star for a long time, which


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created a huge shell of material around


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the pair. When the star finally spiraled


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close enough to be completely shredded,


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the new stellar material slammed into


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that pre-existing shell. That massive


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collision is what generated the immense


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light and energy that we observe as an


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LFB S.


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>> So, it's a cosmic twunch knockout. The


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star gets torn apart and then its


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remains crash into a wall of its own


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lost material. That's an incredible


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level of cosmic violence.


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>> It certainly is. Now, bringing the


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cosmic violence a little closer to home,


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let's talk about an asteroid named 2024


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YR4.


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>> Right. This is a building size asteroid


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roughly 60 m wide. And scientists have


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calculated that there's about a 4%


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chance that it will hit the moon in the


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year 2032. A 4% chance isn't huge, but


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it's certainly not zero, and the


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potential consequences are significant.


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If it does hit the moon, the impact


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could release energy equivalent to 400


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times the Hiroshima bomb.


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>> And it gets a bit more concerning.


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There's also a 1% chance that the impact


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could scatter meteorites into near Earth


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space. That debris cloud could pose a


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real threat to our satellites and any


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astronauts in orbit.


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>> So, what can be done? Is there a plan to


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deflect it?


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>> At the moment, a deflection mission


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isn't practical. However, some options


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like intentionally breaking it up into


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smaller, less harmful pieces are being


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considered. The most immediate step is


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to gather more data.


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>> Mhm. And NASA's James Web Space


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Telescope might give us the clear view


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we need. There's a potential observation


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window in February 2026 that could help


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scientists refine the asteroid's orbit


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and get a much better handle on the


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actual odds of a lunar impact.


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>> For our final story today, we're looking


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at a major shift in the future of human


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space flight. Russia has significantly


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altered its plans for what comes after


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the International Space Station.


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>> That's right. The original plan was to


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build an entirely new station, the


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Russian Orbital Station or ROS. But now


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the plan has changed. The core of this


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new station will actually be the old


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Russian segment of the ISS.


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>> So in 2030, when the US segment of the


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ISS is scheduled to be de-orbited and


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burned up in the atmosphere, the Russian


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segment will just detach and become its


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own station.


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>> Essentially, yes. This decision is


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widely seen as a money-saving move for


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Russia's warstrapped economy. However,


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it means their new national space


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station will be based on modules that


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are already over 30 years old.


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>> That raises some pretty serious


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concerns. Using hardware that old brings


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up major questions about safety,


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long-term maintenance, and the station's


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future scientific capabilities.


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>> It does, and it places Russia's program


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in stark contrast with other nations at


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a time when China is operating its new


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Tangong space station. and India is


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developing its own. Russia is choosing


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to repurpose aging infrastructure. It's


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a significant moment that could reshape


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the geopolitical landscape of human


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activity in low Earth orbit.


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>> And that is all the time we have for


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today. From interstellar visitors to the


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shifting future of space stations, it's


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been another busy day in the world of


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astronomy.


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>> We hope you enjoyed our tour of the


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latest headlines from the cosmos.


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>> Thank you for tuning in to Astronomy


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Daily. I'm Avery.


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>> And I'm Anna. We'll be back on Monday


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with more updates. Until then, keep


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looking up.


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>> Stories told


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stories told.