From Kuiper Belt Discoveries to Space Burial Innovations: Your Daily Space Update

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Welcome [music] to Astronomy Daily. Give


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us 10 minutes and we'll give you the


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universe. I'm your host, Anna.


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>> And I'm Avery. It's [music] great to be


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with you. We have a fascinating lineup


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of stories today covering everything


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from the outer edges [music] of our


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solar system to the challenges we face


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right here in Earth orbit.


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>> That's right. [music] We'll be


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discussing a new structure found in the


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Kyper belt, a landmark year for Rocket


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Lab, and the end of an era for a


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legendary NASA mission. [music] Plus, a


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surprising discovery from the James Webb


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Space Telescope about a so-called super


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Earth.


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>> And we'll even [music] touch on the


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unique business of deep space memorial


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flights. But first, let's talk about a


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problem that's only getting [music]


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bigger. What to do with satellites when


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they die?


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>> Exactly, Avery. With mega constellations


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like Starlink launching thousands of


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satellites, the question of their


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disposal is critical. There's a big


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debate between two main philosophies.


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designed for demise or D4D and design


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for non-demise D4 ND.


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>> Right? So D4D means the satellites


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designed to completely burn up in the


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atmosphere upon re-entry. Sounds like a


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clean solution, right? Just cosmic dust.


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>> That's the idea. But it's not that


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simple. Environmental scientists are


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raising concerns. When these satellites,


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which are largely made of aluminum


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alloys, burn up, they release tiny


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particles of aluminina. aluminina. Okay.


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These particles can act as seeds for


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chemical reactions in the upper


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atmosphere, potentially damaging the


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ozone layer. Also, the intense heat of


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re-entry can break apart atmospheric


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nitrogen, creating nitrogen oxides,


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which are powerful greenhouse gases.


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>> So, even burning them up has an


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environmental cost. What's the


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alternative then? Designed for


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non-demise.


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>> Exactly. D4ND means building satellites


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to survive re-entry, allowing them to be


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guided to a safe splashdown in a remote


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ocean area like the spacecraft graveyard


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in the South Pacific.


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>> That avoids the atmospheric pollution,


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but it comes with its own risk. What if


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something goes wrong? You could have a


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washing machine-sized piece of metal


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hitting the ground instead of the ocean.


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It's a tricky balance between


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atmospheric risk and ground impact risk.


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>> It really is. There's no perfect answer


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yet, but it's a conversation the space


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industry has to have and fast.


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>> All right, let's move from Earth's orbit


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way, way out to the edge of the solar


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system. Astronomers at Princeton


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University have found something new in


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the Kyper belt.


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>> The Kyper belt for our listeners is that


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vast ring of icy bodies beyond the orbit


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of Neptune with Pluto being its most


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famous resident. So, what did they find?


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>> They found what they're calling an inner


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kernel of objects. For years, we've


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thought of the Kyper belt as having two


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main populations. A cold classical group


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with stable fircular orbits and the hot


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group with more erratic tilted orbits.


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>> Mhm.


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>> But by using a data mining technique on


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a catalog of over 600 Kyperbell objects,


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they identified this third group, the


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Colonel, which has very flat, tightly


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packed orbits distinct from the others.


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>> That's fascinating. A whole new


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structure hiding in plain sight. What


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does this mean for our understanding of


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the solar systems history?


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>> Well, the leading theory is that these


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objects formed even closer to the sun


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and were pushed outward during Neptune's


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great migration early in the solar


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systems history. The existence of this


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tightly packed kernel could provide new


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constraints for models of how that


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migration happened, giving us a clear


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picture of our cosmic backyards


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formation. And of course, any new


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structural information about the Kyper


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Belt reignites the hunt for the


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hypothetical planet 9. The unusual


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orbits of some of these distant objects


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are what led to the theory of a massive


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undiscovered planet in the first place.


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>> That's the ultimate mystery out there,


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isn't it? While this kernel doesn't


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directly prove its existence, it adds


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another layer of complexity to the outer


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solar systems dynamics. Every new


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discovery like this helps astronomers


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refine their search, telling them where


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to look and just as importantly, where


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not to.


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>> From the far reaches to the commercial


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space race closer to home, Rocket Lab


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has just capped off an incredible year.


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>> Incredible is the word for it. In 2025,


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they flew their Electron rocket 21 times


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with zero failures. That's a remarkable


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achievement for any launch provider and


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really solidifies Electron as a reliable


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workhorse for small satellites. It


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certainly is. But they aren't just


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resting on their laurels. They're making


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huge strides with their next generation


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rocket, Neutron. This is their larger,


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fully reusable rocket designed to


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compete with the likes of SpaceX's


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Falcon 9.


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>> And it has that amazing fairing design


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they call the Hungry Hippo.


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>> Yes. Instead of the fairing separating


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and falling away, it opens up like a


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giant mouth to release the satellite and


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then closes before the rocket returns


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for landing. It's an innovative way to


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simplify reuse. As if that wasn't


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enough, they also secured a massive half


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billion dollar contract from the Space


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Development Agency to build and operate


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18 missile warning and tracking


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satellites. Rocket Lab is quickly


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becoming a major end-to-end space


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company, not just a launch provider.


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>> Speaking of major players, we have to


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mark the end of an era. After 26 years


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of service, NASA's Terra satellite has


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been officially retired.


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>> Wow, 26 years. That's an incredibly long


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time for a satellite. Terra was a


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cornerstone of NASA's Earth observing


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system, wasn't it?


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>> Absolutely. It carried five key


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instruments that gave us a holistic view


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of our planet. There was modus, which


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mapped global vegetation and land cover.


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Micer gave us data on airborne particles


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or aerosols.


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>> Right? And I remember mopit which


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tracked carbon monoxide pollution


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>> while seriesir measured the earth's


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total energy budget and aster created


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highresolution maps of land surface


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temperature and topography. Together


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they revolutionized our understanding of


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climate change, pollution, and how


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natural disasters impact the globe.


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Terara's data will be studied by


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scientists for decades to come. From a


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mission that's ended to one that's


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making new and frankly shocking


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discoveries, the James Webb telescope


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has turned its gaze to an exoplanet


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called TOI561b.


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>> This is a super Earth about 50% larger


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than our planet, orbiting extremely


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close to its star. Its year is less than


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half an Earth Day long. Because of that,


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it was thought to be a barren, tidily


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locked rock with one side perpetually


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scorched.


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>> Makes sense. A dead world. But that's


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not what Webb found, is it?


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>> Not at all. Webb's instruments detected


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signs of a significant volatile richch


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atmosphere. And even more surprisingly,


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the data suggests the planet might be


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covered in a global magma ocean.


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>> A magma ocean. So this supposedly dead


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rock is actually an incredibly dynamic


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volcanic world with an atmosphere. How


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is that possible so close to its star?


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>> That's the mystery. The leading


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hypothesis is that intense vulcanism is


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constantly replenishing the atmosphere,


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which would otherwise be stripped away


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by the stars radiation. It completely


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challenges our ideas about where we


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might find atmospheres and what


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habitability even means under such


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extreme conditions.


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>> Finally, today we have a story that is


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truly out of this world. Let's talk


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about the space burial company Celestus.


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Celestus has been offering memorial


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space flights for years, launching small


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capsules with cremated remains or DNA


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into Earth orbit or even to the moon.


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>> That's right. And they're about to


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launch their most ambitious mission yet,


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the Infinite Flight. They've partnered


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with an upand cominging launch company


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called Stoke Space.


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>> And this flight isn't just going to


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orbit. Where is it headed?


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>> This one is going into a permanent orbit


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around the sun. The payload containing


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messages, DNA, and cremated remains will


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essentially become a man-made comet


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traveling through the solar system for,


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well, infinity.


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>> It's a poetic and profound way to create


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a final memorial, turning a final


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journey into an eternal voyage through


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the cosmos.


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>> And that's a wrap for this episode of


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Astronomy Daily. From the challenges of


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space junk to the secrets of the Kyper


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belt and the fiery nature of distant


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worlds, there's always something new to


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discover.


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>> We want to thank you all for tuning in.


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We hope you'll join us again tomorrow as


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we continue to explore the wonders of


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the universe. If you can't wait until


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then, please visit our website at


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astronomyaily.io


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and check out our continuously updating


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newsfeed or connect with us on social


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media. You'll find us on all the major


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platforms. Just search for Astro Daily


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Pod on your favorites. Until then, I'm


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Anna


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>> and I'm Avery. Keep looking up. [music]


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Stories told.


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[singing]