Google’s Galactic Data Centres, Near Misses in Orbit, and Mars’ Hidden Influence

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast


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bringing you the biggest 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'll be looking at


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Google's ambitious plan to build data


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centers in space, a dangerously close


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encounter between two satellites in


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orbit, and a new theory that a rogue


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planet may have reshaped our entire


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solar system. Plus, we'll explore how


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Mars might be secretly influencing


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Earth's climate and celebrate an


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incredible new milestone for the


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legendary Voyager 1 spacecraft. Let's


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get right into it.


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>> Ready when you are.


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>> So, Anna, our first story sounds like


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it's straight out of science fiction.


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Google wants to put data sensors in


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space. It's called Project Suncatcher.


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>> It does have that futuristic feel, but


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the reasoning behind it is actually very


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practical. On Earth, data centers


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consume an immense amount of electricity


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and a huge portion of that just goes to


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keeping them cool.


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>> Right? So, the idea is in space, you've


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got unlimited solar power and the cold


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vacuum is a perfect and free cooling


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system.


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>> That's the core concept. They envision a


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constellation of satellites, each


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equipped with powerful TPU chips,


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forming a distributed data center in


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orbit. They're planning to launch the


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first two prototype satellites in early


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2027 to test the idea.


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>> But it can't be that simple. I imagine


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space throws a few curve balls at


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sensitive electronics.


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>> Mhm. Several big ones. Cosmic radiation


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is a constant threat that can corrupt


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data and damage hardware. Thermal


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management is also more complex than you


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think. You have to actively radiate heat


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away from the sun-facing side. And I'm


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guessing the launch costs aren't cheap.


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>> They're astronomical. So even if the


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2027 demonstration is a success, Google


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is very clear that this is just the


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first step in a project that could take


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decades to realize. It's a bold


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long-term vision.


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>> This is a developing story, so we'll be


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sure to keep an eye out for updates.


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>> Speaking of crowded skies, our next


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story is a bit of a cautionary tale. A


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recently launched Chinese spacecraft


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from a Kinetic One rocket had a very


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close pass with one of SpaceX's Starlink


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satellites.


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>> Okay, how close is very close when


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you're in orbit?


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>> The two came within 200 m of each other


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at orbital speeds of thousands of miles


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hour. That is an incredibly small margin


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for error. A collision would have been


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catastrophic.


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>> Wow. So, what went wrong?


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>> SpaceX used the incident to highlight a


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growing problem. a fundamental lack of


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coordination and communication between


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different satellite operators. Low Earth


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orbit is becoming dangerously congested.


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>> I believe it. The number of satellites


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has just exploded in the last few years.


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>> It has. We're now at about 13,000


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functional satellites, which is a huge


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jump from just 3,400 back in 2020. Most


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of that increase is from Starlink. And


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don't the Starling satellites have an


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autonomous collision avoidance system?


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>> They do, and it performs thousands of


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maneuvers, but the system is only as


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good as the tracking data it has. When


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new uncoordinated objects appear, it


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makes the situation far more dangerous


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for everyone. This is the exact scenario


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that could lead to the Kesler syndrome,


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>> where one collision creates a cloud of


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debris, which causes more collisions,


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creating a feedback loop until orbit is


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unusable. Precisely. This near miss


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serves as a stark warning. Better


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international space traffic management


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isn't a luxury anymore. It's a


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necessity.


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>> All right, let's journey from the chaos


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of the near future back to the chaos of


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the distant past. I love these stories.


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A new study proposes that a rogue planet


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may have completely rearranged our early


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solar system.


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>> Mhm. It's a really compelling idea that


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tries to solve a long-standing puzzle


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called the giant planet instability.


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>> Okay, what's that?


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>> Well, evidence suggests that the giant


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planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and


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Neptune, didn't form in their current


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stable orbits. Billions of years ago,


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they went through a violent


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reshuffleling with their orbits shifting


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dramatically.


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>> Right? And this instability event


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explains a lot of weird things about our


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solar system, like the structure of the


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Kyper belt and the existence of


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Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.


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>> Exactly. But the big question has always


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been, what kicked it all off? This new


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research ran simulations and found that


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a close flyby from a wandering


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substellar object could have been the


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trigger. So, you mean a rogue planet or


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something even bigger just drifted


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through our cosmic neighborhood and


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stirred the pot?


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>> Essentially, yes. The simulations show


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an object between three and 30 times the


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mass of Jupiter. So, a super Jupiter or


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a small brown dwarf passing through the


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outer solar system could have provided


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just the right gravitational nudge to


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send the giant planets into that chaotic


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dance that ultimately shaped the solar


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system we see today. That is amazing to


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think that the layout of our home is


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potentially the result of a chance


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encounter with a cosmic wanderer


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billions of years ago.


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>> And speaking of cosmic connections, our


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next story suggests that one of our


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neighbors has had a much bigger


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influence on us than we thought. It


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turns out Mars may have been secretly


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pulling the strings on Earth's climate


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for eons.


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>> Mars? But it's so much smaller than


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Earth. How could it have such a big


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impact? Through the subtle, persistent


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tug of gravity, a new study analyzed


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deep sea sediment cores, which hold a


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record of Earth's past climate. They


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found that the gravitational


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interactions between Earth and Mars


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appear to amplify long-term climate


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rhythms here on Earth.


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>> What kind of rhythms are we talking


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about? Like seasons?


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>> Much, much longer. The study focused on


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the 100,000year cycles that are strongly


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linked to the coming and going of our


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ice ages. These are primarily driven by


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predictable changes in Earth's orbit and


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tilt known as Malinkovich cycles.


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>> Okay, so where does Mars fit in?


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>> The combined gravity of Earth and Mars


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creates a sort of resonance in the solar


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system. A grand cycle that repeats every


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2.4 million years. This resonance


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amplifies the effects of the Malinkovich


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cycles, making the swings between


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glacial and interglacial periods more


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pronounced.


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>> So, the red planet is helping to dictate


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our ice ages. I always think of the sun


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and moon as the big players, but I never


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would have guessed Mars had a say. The


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solar system is more interconnected than


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I thought.


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>> It's a beautiful reminder that no planet


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is an island. For our final story today,


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we're heading out of the solar system


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and into the vastness of interstellar


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space. The legendary spacecraft Voyager


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1 is about to hit an absolutely


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staggering milestone.


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>> This one is truly mind-bending. In


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November of 2026, Voyager 1 will be one


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light day from Earth.


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>> One light day. Let's put that in


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perspective. That means a radio signal


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traveling at the absolute fastest speed


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possible, the speed of light, will take


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a full 24 hours to travel from Earth to


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the spacecraft.


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>> And then another 24 hours for a reply to


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get back to us. That's a 48-hour round


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trip just to send a command and confirm


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it was received. The distance is almost


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incomprehensible.


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>> It really is. And to think it launched


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in 1977. It's the most distant


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human-made object still operating on


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1970s technology.


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>> It's an absolute marvel of engineering.


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It is overcome so many challenges over


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the decades, including a very serious


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memory failure just recently that the


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team at NASA managed to diagnose and fix


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from nearly 24 billion km away.


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>> That's like performing remote surgery


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from across the solar system.


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Unbelievable. And it's still sending


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useful data.


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>> It is. It's our only direct source of


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information about the interstellar


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medium, the space between the stars.


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Unfortunately, its nuclear power source


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is slowly fading. It's expected to go


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silent for good sometime in the 2030s.


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>> But even then, its journey isn't over.


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It will just keep drifting through the


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Milky Way forever.


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>> Exactly. A silent ambassador carrying


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its golden record with the sights and


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sounds of humanity. It will likely


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outlast Earth itself. A true legend of


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exploration.


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>> And what a perfect humbling note to end


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on. From data centers in our own


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backyard to a lonely probe tasting the


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space between stars. What a day for


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astronomy news.


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>> It certainly was. To recap, we discussed


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Google's orbital ambitions, a traffic


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jam in space, a rogue planet shaking up


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our past, Mars' surprising influence on


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our climate, and Voyager 1's incredible


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lonely journey.


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>> Thanks so much for joining us on


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Astronomy Daily. We'll be back tomorrow


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with more news from across the universe.


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Until then, keep looking up.


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>> Clear skies.


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Stories we told.