Historic Moon Landing Attempt, AI Innovations, and the Secrets of Water Ice

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Language: en

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,


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your source for the latest news and


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discoveries from the cosmos. I'm Anna


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and I'm thrilled to have you join me


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today as we explore some fascinating


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developments in space exploration and


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astronomy. Coming up on today's episode,


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we'll be tracking a historic moon


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landing attempt as Japanese company i


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Space prepares its resilience lander for


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touchdown on the lunar surface. Then


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we'll look at Russia's plans to


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integrate their homegrown AI system into


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the International Space Station. We've


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also got an incredible discovery from


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the James Webb Space Telescope. And


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finally, we'll get an update on SpaceX's


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upcoming AX4 mission. So much to cover


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today, so let's get started with our


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cosmic


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journey. Tomorrow could mark a


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significant milestone in the history of


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private space exploration as Japanese


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company iSpace attempts to land their


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resilient spacecraft on the moon. This


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mission scheduled for Thursday, June 5th


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at 3:24 PM Eastern time, represents a


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second chance for iSpace following their


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first attempt that unfortunately ended


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in failure last April. The Resilience


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Lander, also known as Hakuto R mission


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2, has been on quite a journey since its


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January 15th launch aboard a SpaceX


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Falcon 9 rocket. Unlike some lunar


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missions that take a direct path,


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Resilience followed what's called a low


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energy transfer route to reach the moon,


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which is more fuel efficient, but adds


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months to the journey. After this


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lengthy voyage, the spacecraft finally


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entered lunar orbit on May 6th and is


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now ready for its landing attempt. The


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target landing site is in Margorus or


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the Sea of Cold, located in the northern


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hemisphere of the moon's near side. It's


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worth noting that this is the same


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general region where iSpace tried to


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land during their previous mission in


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2023. However, the company has backup


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plans in place with three alternative


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landing sites should conditions change,


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each with different landing dates and


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times. For those of you interested in


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watching this historic event live,


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iSpace will be broadcasting the landing


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attempt on their YouTube channel. The


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live stream begins at 2:10 p.m. Eastern


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time, about an hour before the scheduled


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touchdown. They'll actually be offering


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broadcasts in both English and Japanese,


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so you can choose your preferred


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language. What makes this mission


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particularly significant is that if


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successful, Resilience would become only


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the second private spacecraft to


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accomplish a soft landing on the lunar


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surface. The first was achieved by


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Intuitive Machines Odysius lander back


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in February. though that landing was


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somewhat precarious when one of its legs


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failed to deploy properly. The timing of


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the landing is especially challenging


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because of the 1.3 second communication


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delay between Earth and the moon. This


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means the spacecraft must handle the


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most critical landing maneuvers


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autonomously, adjusting to the lunar


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terrain in real time without direct


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human control. Once resilience


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successfully touches down on the lunar


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surface, it'll begin a relatively short


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but intense mission. The lander is


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designed to operate for about 2 weeks,


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essentially one lunar day before the


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harsh lunar night brings operations to


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an end. But don't let that short time


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frame fool you. There's a lot packed


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into this mission. Perhaps the most


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exciting payload is the tenacious


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microwver built by Icepace's European


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subsidiary. If all goes according to


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plan, this small rover will deploy from


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the lander and begin exploring the


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immediate surroundings. It's equipped


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with a camera and a sample collection


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shovel that will test capabilities for


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future sample return missions. The rover


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is also carrying something rather


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unusual for a lunar mission, a work of


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art called Moonhouse, which is a small


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red house designed by Swedish artist


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Mikail Genberg. And in a nod to pop


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culture, Resilience is also bringing


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along a commemorative plate with an


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inscription based on the Charter of the


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Universal Century from the popular


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Japanese Gundam


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series. In some rather interesting news


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today from Russia, the country plans to


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integrate its homegrown artificial


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intelligence model called Gigachot into


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the International Space Station's IT


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systems. Ruscosmos chief Dmitri Bachenov


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announced that the next mission to the


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ISS this northern autumn will deliver


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everything needed for the AI to function


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in space. This isn't just about having a


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space-based chatbot though. The Jigat


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model will have practical applications


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specifically helping cosminauts process


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satellite imagery. According to Pakanov,


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it'll increase the maximum resolution


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from 1 meter per pixel to half a meter


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per pixel, which he described as direct


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assistance for the


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cosmonauts. Gigachot was developed by


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Spurbank, Russia's largest bank and


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represents one of the country's flagship


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large language models. It's part of


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Russia's broader efforts to catch up


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with the United States and China in what


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many are calling the global AI race. The


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timing is interesting, too, as Russia


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has confirmed it will continue


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participating in the ISS until 2028,


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even as they develop their own new space


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station. They're planning to launch the


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first two modules of that independent


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station in 2027. The next Russian


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spacecraft mission to the ISS is


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scheduled for November 27th, which is


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likely when this AI technology will make


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its way to orbit.


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Now to what might be one of the most


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exciting astronomical discoveries of the


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year. Scientists have detected


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crystalline water ice around a young


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sunlike star for the very first time.


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This groundbreaking observation made


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possible by the James Webb Space


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Telescope gives us direct evidence of


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something astronomers have long


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theorized but never directly observed


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before. The star in question is called


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HD


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181,327 and it's located about 155


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lighty years away from us. What makes


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this discovery so fascinating is that


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this star is essentially a baby version


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of our own sun, just 23 million years


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old compared to our sun's mature 4.6


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billion years. And unlike our solar


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system, HD


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181,327 is still surrounded by what's


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called a protolanetary debris disc.


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basically a ring of dust and ice that


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hasn't yet formed into


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planets. Using Web's near infrared


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spectrograph, researchers from John's


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Hopkins University were able to identify


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crystalline water ice in this debris


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disc. This is the same type of water ice


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found in Saturn's rings and in icy


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bodies within our own Kyper belt.


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According to the study's lead author,


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Chenzee, this water ice plays a vital


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role in planetary formation and could


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eventually be delivered to terrestrial


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planets that might form in this system


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over the next couple hundred million


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years. What's particularly interesting


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is the distribution of this ice. The


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JWST data shows that over 20% of the


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debris ring's mass consists of water ice


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mixed with dust particles, what


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astronomers colorfully call dirty


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snowballs.


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This composition is remarkably similar


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to our own Kyper belt. And there's a


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clear pattern. The closer you get to the


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star, the less ice you find. At the


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discs halfway point, ice makes up only


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about 8% of the material. And near the


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center, there's virtually none. This


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pattern likely exists because


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ultraviolet radiation from the star


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vaporizes ice in the inner regions. It's


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essentially giving us a snapshot of how


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water might have been distributed in our


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own solar system during its formative


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years, potentially helping explain how


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Earth and other rocky planets eventually


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obtain their water. Looking at the


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distribution of this water ice in more


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detail, we're seeing a fascinating


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pattern that tells us a lot about how


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planetary systems


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develop. The JWST data shows this ice


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isn't evenly spread throughout the disc.


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It's heavily concentrated in the outer


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regions, similar to how our own Kyper


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belt contains most of the icy bodies in


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our solar system. What's really


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interesting about this finding is how it


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supports our understanding of planetary


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form. In the outer regions where it's


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cold enough for ice to remain stable, we


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see these dirty snowballs forming,


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mixtures of dust and ice that can


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eventually clump together into larger


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bodies. This process is likely how the


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ice giants like Uranus and Neptune


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formed in our own system. But the


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pattern also helps explain one of the


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biggest questions in planetary science.


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How did Earth get its water? Since Earth


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formed in a region that was probably too


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hot for water ice to exist initially,


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scientists have long theorized that


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water was delivered here later by comets


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and asteroids from the outer solar


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system. This observation of HD


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181,327 gives us a sort of snapshot of


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what that early delivery system might


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have looked like with icy bodies from


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the outer regions potentially migrating


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inward and bringing water to the forming


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terrestrial


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planets. Finally, today a small update.


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The launch of the AX4 mission to the


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International Space Station has been


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pushed back again. Axiom Space announced


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just yesterday that they're now


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targeting next Tuesday, June 10th, at


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8:22 a.m. Eastern time for liftoff. This


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is actually the second delay for this


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mission in recent weeks, as it was


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originally scheduled for May 29th before


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being moved to June 8th, and now it's


00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.110
been pushed back another 2 days. This


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private astronaut mission will fly


00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:31.030
aboard a brand new SpaceX Crew Dragon


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capsule launching on a Falcon 9 rocket


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from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


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And I've got to say, the crew lineup for


00:09:38.640 --> 00:09:41.269
this mission is particularly noteworthy.


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The four-person team is led by Commander


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Peggy Witson, who's honestly a space


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legend at this point. She's a former


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NASA astronaut who holds the American


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record for most time spent in space. Now


00:09:51.680 --> 00:09:53.670
she serves as Axiom's director of human


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space flight, and this will add even


00:09:55.680 --> 00:09:57.110
more spaceflight experience to her


00:09:57.120 --> 00:09:59.670
impressive resume. What makes this


00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:01.990
mission truly historic, though, is the


00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.870
rest of the crew. The pilot is Shubansu


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Shukla of India and the mission


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specialists are Slov Usnansski from


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Poland and Tibbor Kapu from Hungary.


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This marks the first time that anyone


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from any of these three countries,


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India, Poland or Hungary will live


00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.430
aboard the International Space Station.


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So we're looking at multiple space


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firsts happening simultaneously with


00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:28.150
this single mission. Once they reach the


00:10:28.160 --> 00:10:29.910
station, the crew won't just be


00:10:29.920 --> 00:10:32.310
sightseeing. They have a packed schedule


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with approximately 60 different science


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experiments planned during their twoe


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stay. After completing their mission


00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:41.430
aboard the ISS, they'll return to Earth


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in the same Dragon capsule splashing


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down in the Pacific


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Ocean. Well, what an exciting collection


00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.310
of space stories we've covered today.


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From iPac's second attempt at making


00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.310
history with their resilience moon


00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:57.190
landing to Russia's plans to bring AI


00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:59.990
aboard the ISS to that fascinating


00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.230
discovery of water ice around a young


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star that gives us a glimpse into how


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our own solar system may have formed and


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finally the upcoming AX4 mission that


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will make history for three different


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countries at once. This has been


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Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna. Thanks so


00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.430
much for listening. For all our previous


00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:18.310
episodes, head over to


00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:20.470
astronomydaily.io. io where you can


00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:21.750
catch up on anything you might have


00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:23.990
missed. And if you enjoy the show,


00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.990
please subscribe on Apple Podcasts,


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your podcast. Until tomorrow, keep


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looking up.


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Stories told.


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[Music]