Moon Hides Mercury Tonight, Artemis II Tests Tomorrow, Saturn Ring Origin Revealed

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Language: en

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.


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I'm Anna.


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>> And I'm Avery. You're listening to


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season 5, episode 42 for Wednesday, the


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18th of February, 2026. And what a day


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to be a spaceman.


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>> Absolutely. Tonight, right now, in fact,


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the moon is sliding so close to Mercury


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that it's actually hiding it from view


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for sky watchers in parts of the


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southern United States. A genuine


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celestial magic trick happening as you


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listen.


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>> And that's just one of six stories we're


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bringing you today. We've got NASA's


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Aremis 2 on the verge of a crucial


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fueling test, a European rocket making a


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big move in the satellite broadband


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race, a genuinely new twist in the


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ongoing saga of our interstellar


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visitor, and two stories that I promise


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will make you rethink some things you


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thought you knew about the solar system.


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>> Big show. Let's get into it. So Anna,


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let's start with the biggest space story


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of the week and honestly the one that


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could define the year. Artemis 2.


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>> Yes, for anyone who needs a quick


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refresh, Artemis 2 is NASA's first crude


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mission around the moon since Apollo 17


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in 1972.


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Four astronauts, Reed Wisman, Victor


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Glover, Christina and Canada's


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Jeremy Hansen are preparing to fly a


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10-day loop around the moon and back. No


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lunar landing, but a crucial proving


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flight before we put boots on the


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surface.


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>> And they are so close. The rocket is


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sitting on pad 39B at Kennedy Space


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Center right now. But before NASA will


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commit to a launch state, they need to


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successfully do what's called a wet


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dress rehearsal, a full practice


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countdown where they actually load the


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rocket with fuel and take it right to


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the edge of launch, then drain it all


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out again. They did that once already on


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February 3rd and it didn't go smoothly.


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A liquid hydrogen leak cropped up. The


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exact same kind of problem that plagued


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Artemis 1 3 years ago. The countdown was


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terminated at tminus 5 minutes and 15


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seconds. Close, but not close enough.


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>> Which pushed the February launch window


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off the table entirely. NASA


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administrator Jared Isaacman was fairly


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philosophical about it. He said, "This


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is exactly why you do a rehearsal, to


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find these issues before you're flying


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with crew." But the clock is ticking.


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>> Since then, engineers have replaced two


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seals and a clogged filter in the


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hydrogen fueling system. They ran a


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partial confidence test on February


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12th, to check the repairs. And now,


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tomorrow, February 19th, they begin


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tanking day for the second full wet


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dress rehearsal.


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>> This is the one that counts. If the test


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goes cleanly, no out of limits hydrogen


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concentrations countdown proceeds all


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the way to the terminal phase, NASA will


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analyze the data and set a launch date.


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The current earliest possibility is


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March 6. It's worth noting just how


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historic this mission is beyond the moon


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return angle. Victor Glover will become


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the first person of color to travel


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beyond low Earth orbit. Christina


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will be the first woman. Jeremy Hansen


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will be the first non-American. Every


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single person on that crew is making


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history in their own right.


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>> So, tomorrow is genuinely a day to


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watch. We'll be keeping a close eye on


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how the tanking goes and we'll have


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updates as they come through.


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>> All right, let's bring it back to Earth,


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or rather to the sky above Earth because


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tonight is one of those rare evenings


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where if you happen to be in the right


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place and you look up at the right


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moment, you'll see something genuinely


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extraordinary.


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>> Two things actually. First, the moon and


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Mercury. Tonight, February 18th, a


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slender 1 and a half day old crescent


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moon is passing extremely close to


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Mercury in the western sky just after


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sunset. And I mean extremely close. For


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observers along a narrow band of


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southern US states, we're talking


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Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana,


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Mississippi, and Georgia, the moon will


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actually pass directly in front of


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Mercury and block it from view entirely.


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That's called an occultation. Mercury


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literally disappears behind the moon's


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dark limb and reappears on the other


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side. For everyone else across North


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America and beyond, it won't be a full


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occultation, but you'll still see a


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dramatically close pairing. East Coast


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observers will see Mercury sitting just


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north of the moon as twilight falls. By


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the time darkness reaches the west


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coast, the moon will have shifted to


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within about 1°ree of the planet. Venus


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hangs brilliantly below them as a


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helpful reference point.


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>> Now, the window is tight. Mercury sets


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not long after the sun, so you want to


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get outside as soon as the sky darkens.


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Look low in the west southwest. If you


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can spot Venus, and you'll have no


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trouble doing that, it's blazingly


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bright. Mercury will be nearby. The moon


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makes it easy tonight.


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>> And if that weren't enough, Jupiter


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watchers have a tree, too. Tonight,


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Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon and the


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biggest moon in the entire solar system,


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is transiting across Jupiter's face.


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East Coast observers can see it underway


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as soon as it gets dark. It takes just


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over three hours to cross the disc, and


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then Ganymede's shadow follows it


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across, creating that striking black dot


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effect on Jupiter's cloud tops. So,


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tonight really is a twofor one sky


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watching event. Mercury and the moon in


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the west at dusk, Jupiter and Ganymede


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in the southeast through the night. If


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you have binoculars or a small


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telescope, even better.


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>> Get outside. Staying with today's news,


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and this one happened literally today.


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Europe's Arion 6 rocket has successfully


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launched 32 satellites into orbit for


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Amazon's project Kyper. For those not


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familiar with Kyper, Amazon has been


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quietly building a large constellation


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of broadband internet satellites


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designed to take on SpaceX's Starlink.


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This is a big commercial play. Starlink


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currently leads the market with


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thousands of operational satellites, but


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Amazon has the resources and ambition to


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make this a genuine competition. What's


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notable about today's launch is that it


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used the most powerful configuration of


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Arion 6. Flying with four strap-on


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boosters rather than two, it was


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essentially a statement of capability


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from the European side of the commercial


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launch industry. This rocket can handle


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serious payloads. There's also a bigger


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picture here. Aron 6 has had somewhat of


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a turbulent road. It came in behind


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schedule and faced some early technical


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hurdles. But launches like this, winning


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commercial contracts for a high-profile


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constellation like Kyper, are exactly


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what Europe needs to keep its launch


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industry competitive in an era dominated


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by SpaceX and an increasingly capable


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Chinese launch sector.


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>> The broadband satellite race is one of


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the defining infrastructure stories of


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this decade. I'd argue Starlink has


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already changed what connectivity looks


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like in remote areas and conflict zones.


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Hyper, Amazon's one web investments, the


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Chinese Gowong constellation, they all


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point to a future where low Earth orbit


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becomes genuinely critical economic


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territory.


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>> Today's launch is one tile in that much


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larger mosaic. 32 satellites closer to


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that future.


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>> Now, an update on our interstellar


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visitor, and I do mean update. There is


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genuinely new information here happening


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right now.


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>> I know we've given three Atlas a quite a


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run over recent episodes, but this one


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earns its place today


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>> completely. For new listeners, three


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Atlas is only the third interstellar


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object ever confirmed to pass through


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our solar system. It arrived from


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outside our stellar neighborhood, swung


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around the sun last October, and is now


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heading back out into the galaxy


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forever. We will never see this object


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again. But here's what's happening right


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now. Juice spacecraft, that's the


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Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, currently in


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route to Jupiter, pass within


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observational range of three Atlas back


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in November last year. Due to the


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challenging thermal conditions during


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Juice's transit through the inner solar


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system, the data it collected couldn't


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be down linked straight away. That data


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is now being transmitted to Earth. The


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window is February the 18th to the 20th


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today.


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>> If successful, these would be the


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closest ever observations of an


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interstellar object by a spacecraft.


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Now, Juice didn't do a dedicated flyby,


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its trajectories locked in for Jupiter,


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but even opportunistic observations from


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its suite of cameras, spectrometers, and


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particle detectors could give us a


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perspective on three eye atlas that no


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earthbased telescope can provide. And


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the data would complement an


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extraordinary recent run of discoveries.


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Hubble has directly imaged the nucleus


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for the first time. JWST detected


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methane in its atmosphere, a molecule


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never before seen in an interstellar


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object. And the object is still spinning


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faster than it was before its solar


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encounter. A legacy of all that


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outgassing as it swung close to the sun.


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Rei Atlas is now about 3 and a half


00:09:18.880 --> 00:09:21.190
astronomical units from the sun in the


00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.750
constellation Gemini. It's fading, but


00:09:23.760 --> 00:09:25.829
still reachable with a decent amateur


00:09:25.839 --> 00:09:28.310
telescope. And it has one more big act


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to play, a close pass by Jupiter in


00:09:30.880 --> 00:09:33.269
March, which may trigger fresh outbursts


00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.509
as Jupiter's tidal forces stress the


00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:36.470
nucleus.


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>> An extraordinary object, and the fact


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that we have a spacecraft data down link


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happening as we record today makes it


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entirely current. What report would


00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.269
Juice found as soon as the science teams


00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:48.870
released their analysis?


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>> Right. Deep time. Now, I genuinely love


00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:53.670
this next story because it takes


00:09:53.680 --> 00:09:55.590
something you thought you understood,


00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.389
Saturn's rings, and reframes the entire


00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:00.949
origin of the system. New research by


00:10:00.959 --> 00:10:03.670
Matia Chuk at the SEI Institute about to


00:10:03.680 --> 00:10:05.590
be published in the Planetary Science


00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.230
Journal proposes a dramatic two-stage


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catastrophe that reshaped the entire


00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.670
Saturnian system roughly 400 million


00:10:13.680 --> 00:10:15.829
years ago. And I mean reshaped


00:10:15.839 --> 00:10:20.150
everything. Titan, the rings, Hyperion,


00:10:20.160 --> 00:10:22.230
all of it connected to one ancient


00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:23.190
collision.


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>> Let's set the scene. Saturn has puzzled


00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.710
planetary scientists for a long time.


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Its axial tilt is an unusually steep


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26.7°.


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You don't expect gas giants to form that


00:10:36.079 --> 00:10:39.030
way. Titan is migrating away from Saturn


00:10:39.040 --> 00:10:41.509
at a surprisingly rapid rate. The moon


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Apotus sits at an oddly inclined orbit


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and the rings are far younger than the


00:10:46.800 --> 00:10:49.110
planet itself, only a few hundred


00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.509
million years old geologically speaking.


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One thing after another that didn't


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quite add up. Juke and colleagues ran


00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:57.750
simulations and found a scenario that


00:10:57.760 --> 00:11:00.630
explains it all at once. The key player


00:11:00.640 --> 00:11:02.389
is a moon they're calling Proto


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Hyperion. Saturn used to have this


00:11:04.800 --> 00:11:07.030
additional midsize satellite orbiting in


00:11:07.040 --> 00:11:09.430
the outer system. When Saturn's spin


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orbit resonance with the other planets


00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:13.590
in the solar system broke down, Proto


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Hyperion was destabilized. It drifted


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inward and it collided with a


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prototitan. The merger of those two


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moons roughly 400 million years ago set


00:11:24.160 --> 00:11:26.389
off a chain reaction. Some of the


00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.389
collision debris accreted around what


00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.870
would become today's Titan, explaining


00:11:30.880 --> 00:11:33.269
why Titan's surface looks surprisingly


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young despite the moon itself being


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ancient. Titan absorbed new material and


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essentially reset its surface.


00:11:40.959 --> 00:11:42.310
>> Other debris from the collision


00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.190
perturbed the inner moon system. Titan's


00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.269
resonant gravitational interaction with


00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:49.990
Proto Dione and Protohea caused further


00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.630
instabilities, more collisions, more


00:11:52.640 --> 00:11:55.269
debris. Most of that material eventually


00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:57.430
reaccreted into the inner moons we see


00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:01.430
today. Neimis, Enceladus, Tethus, Dion,


00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.829
Rehea, but a fraction of it stayed


00:12:03.839 --> 00:12:06.629
dispersed. That fraction became Saturn's


00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:10.310
rings. And Hyperion, the small, oddly


00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.470
shaped walnut-like moon that looks like


00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:15.430
it survived a very bad day. According to


00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.069
the model, it actually did survive a


00:12:18.079 --> 00:12:20.710
very bad day. It formed from the debris


00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.670
of that proto Hyperion and prototitan


00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:25.590
collision and was captured into


00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.150
resonance with Titan. The researchers


00:12:28.160 --> 00:12:30.550
note that in most of their simulations,


00:12:30.560 --> 00:12:33.829
Hyperion was lost entirely. Its survival


00:12:33.839 --> 00:12:36.230
in a relatively small number of runs


00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.710
suggests the real system was genuinely


00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.790
close to being quite different.


00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:43.030
>> What I find compelling about this is how


00:12:43.040 --> 00:12:46.069
elegantly one event connects everything.


00:12:46.079 --> 00:12:48.470
The tilt of the whole planet, the age of


00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:51.030
the rings, the orbits of Apotus and


00:12:51.040 --> 00:12:54.310
Hyperion, Titan's migration rate. One


00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:57.670
ancient merger explains it all. Now, the


00:12:57.680 --> 00:13:00.069
researchers are careful to say this is a


00:13:00.079 --> 00:13:02.949
hypothesis, not a confirmed history.


00:13:02.959 --> 00:13:05.430
Simulations can be suggestive without


00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.069
being definitive. But NASA's Dragonfly


00:13:08.079 --> 00:13:10.310
mission is heading to Titan. It launches


00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:14.389
in 2028 and arrives in 2034. One of the


00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.870
things Dragonfly will investigate is the


00:13:16.880 --> 00:13:19.750
age and history of Titan's surface. If


00:13:19.760 --> 00:13:21.670
the surface shows evidence of that


00:13:21.680 --> 00:13:23.910
ancient resetting, that would be a


00:13:23.920 --> 00:13:27.590
powerful confirmation. 400 million years


00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.910
of cosmic history hiding in a


00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:33.030
walnut-shaped moon. I love this stuff.


00:13:33.040 --> 00:13:35.430
>> And finally, a story that will make you


00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.829
rethink just how long it takes to get to


00:13:37.839 --> 00:13:40.389
Mars. Or at least how long it might take


00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.710
one day. Russia's state nuclear


00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:45.190
corporation Rosatom through its Troyus


00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.030
Institute near Moscow has been


00:13:47.040 --> 00:13:49.910
developing a nuclearpowered magna plasma


00:13:49.920 --> 00:13:52.790
engine and they're making a bold claim


00:13:52.800 --> 00:13:55.030
that this technology could get a crude


00:13:55.040 --> 00:13:57.990
spacecraft to Mars in 30 days.


00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.550
>> To put that in context, a conventional


00:14:00.560 --> 00:14:02.870
chemical rocket takes roughly 8 months


00:14:02.880 --> 00:14:05.590
to reach Mars. 30 days would be a


00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.230
transformation, not just an improvement.


00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.150
It would fundamentally change the


00:14:10.160 --> 00:14:12.949
feasibility of human Mars missions. Less


00:14:12.959 --> 00:14:15.350
radiation exposure for the crew, less


00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:17.910
time in microgravity, a completely


00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:19.829
different logistical calculus for


00:14:19.839 --> 00:14:22.790
resupply and emergency scenarios. The


00:14:22.800 --> 00:14:25.269
engine works by accelerating hydrogen


00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.910
using electromagnetic fields rather than


00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:32.550
combustion to a velocity of 100 km/s.


00:14:32.560 --> 00:14:35.350
That's roughly 22 times faster than the


00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.189
exhaust velocity of a conventional


00:14:37.199 --> 00:14:39.670
chemical rocket. The working body is


00:14:39.680 --> 00:14:42.150
plasma, charged particles, and it's


00:14:42.160 --> 00:14:44.550
driven by an onboard nuclear reactor


00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:46.790
that provides the sustained electrical


00:14:46.800 --> 00:14:49.189
power the accelerator needs.


00:14:49.199 --> 00:14:51.990
Importantly, this isn't a launch engine.


00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.150
You'd still use conventional chemical


00:14:54.160 --> 00:14:56.389
rockets to get off Earth's surface and


00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.870
into orbit. The plasma system switches


00:14:58.880 --> 00:15:00.790
on once you're in space for the


00:15:00.800 --> 00:15:03.910
interplanetary cruise. Smooth continuous


00:15:03.920 --> 00:15:06.230
acceleration followed by a long


00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.790
deceleration burn. The prototype is


00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:11.030
currently running ground trials inside a


00:15:11.040 --> 00:15:13.350
14 m vacuum chamber designed to


00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.910
replicate deep space conditions. The


00:15:15.920 --> 00:15:17.430
researchers say the engine has


00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.230
demonstrated sufficient longevity over


00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.189
2400 hours for a Mars transportation


00:15:23.199 --> 00:15:25.990
operation. A flight ready prototype is


00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.189
targeted for 2030. Now, and this is


00:15:29.199 --> 00:15:32.150
important, there are real caveats here.


00:15:32.160 --> 00:15:34.310
No peer-reviewed data has been published


00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:37.269
yet. The thrust is very low, around 6


00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:40.069
newtons. Integrating a nuclear reactor


00:15:40.079 --> 00:15:42.949
into a crude spacecraft is an enormous


00:15:42.959 --> 00:15:45.430
engineering challenge in itself with


00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.750
regulatory, thermal, and radiation


00:15:47.760 --> 00:15:50.230
shielding hurdles that remain largely


00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:51.990
unsolved publicly.


00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.389
>> Fair points. But the broader context is


00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:56.949
genuinely interesting. NASA is investing


00:15:56.959 --> 00:15:59.430
in its own plasma propulsion programs.


00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:02.230
The Vazimir engine from AD astro rocket


00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.110
company in Texas targets a Mars trip of


00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:08.790
45 to 60 days. China has plasma thruster


00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:11.430
research underway too. There's a real


00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:13.350
multi-nation push to solve the


00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:15.269
propulsion problem for deep space


00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:16.150
travel.


00:16:16.160 --> 00:16:18.310
>> Chemical rockets got us to the moon.


00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.430
Getting to Mars regularly, safely, and


00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.310
at human time scales requires something


00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:26.550
different. This is where that search is


00:16:26.560 --> 00:16:29.670
heading, wherever it ultimately leads.


00:16:29.680 --> 00:16:33.269
>> 30 Days to Mars. Even as an aspiration,


00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:35.110
that's a sentence worth sitting with.


00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.990
>> And that's our six stories for season 5,


00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.590
episode 42. What a lineup. From a rocket


00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.150
on a launchpad in Florida to a crescent


00:16:44.160 --> 00:16:46.870
moon swallowing Mercury to the debris of


00:16:46.880 --> 00:16:50.150
a 400 millionyear-old collision still


00:16:50.160 --> 00:16:51.269
orbiting Saturn


00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.749
>> and an interstellar comet sending us its


00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:55.670
last data from the edge of the solar


00:16:55.680 --> 00:16:57.910
system. While Russia dreams of getting


00:16:57.920 --> 00:17:00.790
to Mars in a month. Base never has a


00:17:00.800 --> 00:17:01.430
quiet week.


00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:03.269
>> If tonight's sky events caught your


00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:05.510
attention, there is still time to get


00:17:05.520 --> 00:17:07.829
outside. Mercury and the moon in the


00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:09.990
west, Jupiter and Ganymede in the


00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.230
southeast. You have your orders.


00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.630
>> And keep an eye on Artemis. Tomorrow's


00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.630
fueling test is one of those days where


00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:18.870
the news could come fast. We'll be on


00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:19.189
it.


00:17:19.199 --> 00:17:21.189
>> Thank you so much for spending part of


00:17:21.199 --> 00:17:23.110
your Wednesday with us. We'll be back


00:17:23.120 --> 00:17:25.270
tomorrow for more from the universe.


00:17:25.280 --> 00:17:31.830
>> Until then, clear skies, everyone.


00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:38.630
Oh,


00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.440
stories told.