Trump’s Mars Ambition: A New Space Race Begins - S04E18

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Language: en

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welcome to astronomy daily your daily


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dose of space and astronomy news I'm


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your host Anna and today we've got an


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absolutely packed show covering some


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incredible developments across the space


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and astronomy World from president


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Trump's bold vision of planting the


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American flag on Mars to revolutionary


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new theories about how our moon formed


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to groundbreaking research suggesting


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habitable worlds may have existed before


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the first galaxies we'll explore it all


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we'll also look at spacex's busy launch


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schedule dive into fascinating new


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limits on dark matter and examine the


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growing crisis of orbital debris stay


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with us for your complete update on


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everything happening in space


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exploration and astronomy let's get


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started with today's news in a striking


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return to the political stage former


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president Donald Trump has laid out an


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ambitious vision for America's future in


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space specifically targeting Mars as the


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next Frontier for American


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exploration during his inauguration


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speech as the 47th president Trump


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declared that the United States would


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pursue what he called our Manifest


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Destiny into the stars with the ultimate


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goal of planting the American flag on


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the red planet this bold Proclamation


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garnered immediate attention from key


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players in the space industry including


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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk who was present at


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the inauguration and showed clear


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enthusiasm for the announcement it's


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worth noting that this aligns well with


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musk's own long- stated goal of


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establishing a human presence on Mars


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the timing of this announcement is


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particularly interesting given recent


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developments in space


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technology SpaceX has just completed its


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7th Test Flight of the Starship rocket


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system which despite ending in an


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explosion achieved several crucial


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Milestones including the successful


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landing and capture of its super heavy


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booster this vehicle is currently our


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most promising candidate for future Mars


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missions the private space sector is


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showing remarkable progress with blue


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origin also ly achieving success with


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their new Glenn Rockets first orbital


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launch NASA has already contracted both


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companies for various missions with


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spacex's Starship selected for lunar


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Landings and blue origins new Glenn


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scheduled to launch the next robotic


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Mission to Mars however the path to Mars


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remains challenging current timelines


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suggest the earliest uncrewed missions


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to Mars might launch in 2026 with human


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missions following years later the


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technical hurdles are substantial from


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radiation protection to Landing systems


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capable of safely delivering large


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payloads to the Martian surface Trump's


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vision of American astronauts on Mars


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represents perhaps the most ambitious


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space exploration goal since the Apollo


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program whether this Vision can become


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reality will depend largely on sustained


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funding technological advancement and


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continued cooperation between government


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agencies and private space companies in


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the years


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ahead next up today a groundbreaking new


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study from researchers at the University


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of Gan and the max plank Institute for


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solar system research has challenged our


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long-held understanding of how the moon


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formed through detailed analysis of


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lunar samples and Earth minerals they've


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discovered evidence suggesting that our


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moon likely originated primarily from


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Earth's Own mantle rather than from a


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cosmic collision with a mars-sized


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object called Thea as previously


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believed the team conducted an extensive


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examination of oxygen Isotopes in 14


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lunar samples and performed nearly 200


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measurements on Earth minerals what they


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found was remarkable an exceptionally


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close match between Earth and Moon


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samples for a specific isotope called


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oxygen


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17 this similarity has long puzzled


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scientists who even dubbed it the


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isotope crisis because it seemed to


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contradict the prevailing theory of the


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moon's


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formation to explain these findings


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researchers propose that the


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hypothetical Planet Thea may have lost


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its Rocky mantle in earlier before


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impacting Earth they suggest it


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essentially hit our planet like a


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metallic Cannonball becoming part of


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Earth's core while ejecting material


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from Earth's mantle that would


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eventually form the moon this new model


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elegantly explains why the moon's


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composition so closely mirrors Earth's


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but perhaps even more intriguing are the


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implications this discovery has for


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Earth's water the conventional wisdom


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has been that Earth received its water


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later through a series of asteroid


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impacts after the moon formed


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however the new isotope data suggests


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otherwise the research team found that


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certain meteorites called entite condres


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could have been solely responsible for


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Earth's water indicating our planet may


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have been wet from the very beginning


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these findings fundamentally reshape our


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understanding of both lunar formation


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and Earth's early history they suggest


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that rather than being the product of a


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cosmic accident our moon might be more


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accurately described as a direct


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offspring of Earth itself carrying with


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it piece of our planet's primordial


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story now let's take a look at this


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week's SpaceX launch schedule following


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spacex's dramatic week with the Starship


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test flight the company is maintaining


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its ambitious Pace with an impressive


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lineup of four starlink missions


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scheduled for the coming days these


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launches Mark the continuation of


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spacex's efforts to deploy their


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internet constellation with nearly 3,000


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satellites currently in orbit SpaceX has


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recently unveiled an upgraded version of


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of their starlink satellites featuring a


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significant weight reduction of 22%


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compared to the previous Design This


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optimization allows each Falcon 9 rocket


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to carry more satellites per launch


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improving the efficiency of their


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deployment strategy the latest version


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weighs in at approximately 575 kg a


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notable Improvement that could enable


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launches of up to 27 satellites at once


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the first launch of the week will kick


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off Group 13 from Kennedy Space Center


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carrying 21 satellites including 133


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equipped with direct toell capabilities


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this will be followed by the group 11


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eight mission from Vandenberg space


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Force Base featuring 27 of the lighter


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satellites two more launches are


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scheduled later in the week maintaining


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spacex's remarkable launch


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Cadence these missions aren't just about


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numbers they represent significant


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progress toward spacex's goal of


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launching approximately 7,500 V2 mini


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starling satellites of the nearly 3,000


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satellites launched so far about 97 have


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completed their missions and deorbited


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demonstrating the company's commitment


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to responsible space


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operations what's particularly


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noteworthy about this intensive launch


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schedule is how routine these missions


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have become the Falcon 9 Rockets being


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used are proven workhorses with some


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boosters having completed up to 25


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flights this reusability has been key to


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maintaining such an aggressive launch


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schedule while keeping cost manageable


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these launches will continue to expand


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Global Internet coverage bringing


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connectivity to previously underserved


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areas around the


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world here's one of those stories that


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come along from time to time that have


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the potential to rewrite the textbook


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and what could be one of the most


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fascinating Revelations about our


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universe's timeline new research


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suggests that habitable worlds might


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have existed long before we thought


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possible even before the first galaxies


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formed this challenges everything we


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thought we knew about the sequence of


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cosmic Evolution the conventional wisdom


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has always been clear first came the Big


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Bang then the first stars and galaxies


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and only after that could Rocky


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potentially habitable planets form this


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made sense because the early Universe


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contained only the lightest elements


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hydrogen and helium with just traces of


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lithium the heavier elements needed for


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rocky planets simply didn't exist yet


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but researchers from the University of


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Portsmouth have presented a comping


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alternative scenario their Works


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suggests that the very first Stars


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massive and shortlived might have been


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the key these Stars known as population


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three stars exploded as primordial


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supern noi creating the first heavy


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elements in the


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universe what makes this Theory


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particularly intriguing is the timing


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according to their simulations when


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these early supern noi exploded they


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enriched their surrounding space with


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heavy elements like carbon oxygen and


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iron the building blocks of rocky


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planets in the aftermath of these


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explosions smaller Stars could have


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formed and around them the first


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potentially habitable Worlds the


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researchers models show that these early


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planetary systems might have contained


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amounts of water similar to what we see


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in our own solar system all the


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ingredients necessary for Life as we


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know it could have been present in these


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ancient solar systems long before the


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first galaxies had fully assembled if


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this Theory proves correct it would


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dramatically expand our search window


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for potentially habitable worlds we


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might need to look for signs of ancient


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planets around some of the oldest most


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metal poor stars in our galaxy literal


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Cosmic fossils that could tell us about


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the very first chapters of our


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universe's story while this remains


00:09:17.800 --> 00:09:20.430
theoretical for now it opens up exciting


00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:22.310
new possibilities about when and where


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life might have first emerged in our


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universe it suggests that the cosmic


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conditions necessary for life might have


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been present far far earlier than we


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ever imagined fundamentally changing our


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perspective on the timeline of potential


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life in the


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universe moving on to another puzzle


00:09:39.560 --> 00:09:41.230
Dark Matter continues to be one of the


00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:43.230
most perplexing mysteries in modern


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cosmology and now scientists have


00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:46.949
discovered another fascinating Wrinkle


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In This Cosmic puzzle new research


00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.230
suggests that dark matter particles


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can't be too heavy or they would


00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.150
essentially break our best model of how


00:09:55.160 --> 00:09:57.829
the universe works we've known for


00:09:57.839 --> 00:09:59.550
decades that something invisible is


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affecting the motion of stars and


00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:04.190
galaxies stars orbit too quickly within


00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:06.829
galaxies galaxies move too fast within


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clusters and Cosmic structures grow and


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evolve more rapidly than they should


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based on the visible matter we can


00:10:13.560 --> 00:10:16.150
detect this invisible influence is what


00:10:16.160 --> 00:10:18.870
we call dark matter and it appears to


00:10:18.880 --> 00:10:21.550
make up most of the mass in our universe


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despite numerous attempts to detect it


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dark matter has remained stubbornly


00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.470
elusive most experiments have focused on


00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:30.710
searching for partic with masses between


00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:34.030
10 and 1,000 gig electron volts roughly


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in the range of the heaviest known


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particles like the W bosin and top cork


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but with no successful detections


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scientists have begun wondering if we


00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:43.910
should be looking for something much


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lighter or


00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.509
heavier however new research has


00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:49.870
revealed an unexpected constraint it


00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:51.550
turns out that if Dark Matter particles


00:10:51.560 --> 00:10:53.550
were too massive they would create


00:10:53.560 --> 00:10:55.230
serious problems with our understanding


00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:57.350
of the higs bosan the particle that


00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:59.590
gives other particles their Mass the


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interactions between heavy dark matter


00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:03.150
and the higs would fundamentally alter


00:11:03.160 --> 00:11:05.629
the higs bosen's properties away from


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what we observe essentially breaking


00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.310
down the mechanisms that make particle


00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:11.470
physics work this discovery is


00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:12.990
particularly significant because it


00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.269
helps narrow down our search while we


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still don't know exactly what dark


00:11:16.760 --> 00:11:19.110
matter is we now have a better idea of


00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.269
what it can't be this could lead us to


00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:22.750
focus more attention on lighter


00:11:22.760 --> 00:11:25.030
particles such as axians which are


00:11:25.040 --> 00:11:26.670
becoming increasingly attractive


00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:29.829
candidates for dark matter the find also


00:11:29.839 --> 00:11:31.949
demonstrate how interconnected our


00:11:31.959 --> 00:11:33.990
understanding of the universe is we


00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:35.389
can't simply make dark matter


00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:37.509
arbitrarily heavy without considering


00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.350
how it would affect other fundamental


00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:41.269
aspects of physics this


00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:43.150
interconnectedness provides valuable


00:11:43.160 --> 00:11:44.670
constraints that can help guide our


00:11:44.680 --> 00:11:46.910
search for this mysterious substance


00:11:46.920 --> 00:11:50.030
that makes up roughly 85% of all matter


00:11:50.040 --> 00:11:51.389
in the


00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:55.030
universe finally today the growing


00:11:55.040 --> 00:11:56.629
problem of space debris has reached a


00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:58.550
critical point with Scientists now


00:11:58.560 --> 00:12:00.470
calling for un precedented International


00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.990
action an international research team


00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:04.829
including experts from NASA's jet


00:12:04.839 --> 00:12:06.990
propulsion laboratory is urging the


00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.069
United Nations to add the protection of


00:12:09.079 --> 00:12:11.269
Earth's orbit to its sustainable


00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.829
development goals marking a significant


00:12:13.839 --> 00:12:16.189
shift in how we approach space


00:12:16.199 --> 00:12:18.389
sustainability the situation has become


00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:20.110
particularly urgent with the rise of


00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:23.350
Mega constellations just 15 years ago we


00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:24.870
had barely a thousand satellites


00:12:24.880 --> 00:12:27.069
orbiting Earth today that number has


00:12:27.079 --> 00:12:29.430
exploded to more than 10,000 and it's


00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.310
still climbing rapidly as these


00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:32.750
satellites reach the end of their


00:12:32.760 --> 00:12:34.829
operational lives they don't simply


00:12:34.839 --> 00:12:37.470
disappear they become potential hazards


00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:39.750
in our orbital highways the numbers are


00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:42.030
staggering we're currently tracking over


00:12:42.040 --> 00:12:45.269
40,000 pieces of debris larger than 4 in


00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:46.829
more than a million pieces between half


00:12:46.839 --> 00:12:50.150
an inch and 4 in and an estimated 130


00:12:50.160 --> 00:12:52.030
million tiny fragments smaller than half


00:12:52.040 --> 00:12:54.269
an inch these objects aren't just


00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:56.310
floating peacefully they're hurdling


00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.150
around our planet at speeds of nearly 5


00:12:58.160 --> 00:13:00.389
miles per second making them potential


00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:01.790
catastrophic threats to active


00:13:01.800 --> 00:13:03.030
satellites and


00:13:03.040 --> 00:13:05.150
spacecraft experts are increasingly


00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:06.829
concerned about a phenomenon known as


00:13:06.839 --> 00:13:09.629
Kesler syndrome a cascading effect where


00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:11.350
collisions between objects in orbit


00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:13.590
create more debris which in turn causes


00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.110
more collisions some scientists believe


00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:18.030
this destructive cycle may already be


00:13:18.040 --> 00:13:20.389
beginning the problem isn't just about


00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:22.350
space these satellites don't stay in


00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:24.470
orbit forever when they fall back to


00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.230
Earth and burn up in the atmosphere they


00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.110
release aluminum oxide which can damage


00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.069
Dage our ozone layer and affect earth's


00:13:31.079 --> 00:13:33.629
ability to reflect sunlight this could


00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:35.389
potentially undermine Decades of


00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:37.069
Environmental Protection efforts and


00:13:37.079 --> 00:13:39.949
worsen climate change drawing parallels


00:13:39.959 --> 00:13:42.310
with ocean pollution researchers suggest


00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:43.949
we can apply Lessons Learned From


00:13:43.959 --> 00:13:46.030
managing Marine debris to prevent a


00:13:46.040 --> 00:13:48.990
similar crisis in orbit just as we once


00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.550
viewed oceans as infinite resources that


00:13:51.560 --> 00:13:53.829
could absorb endless waste we're now


00:13:53.839 --> 00:13:56.030
realizing that space isn't the Limitless


00:13:56.040 --> 00:13:58.670
Frontier we once imagined it's a finite


00:13:58.680 --> 00:14:00.430
resource that requires careful


00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:01.670
management and


00:14:01.680 --> 00:14:04.310
protection the call for un intervention


00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.069
represents a critical step toward


00:14:06.079 --> 00:14:07.829
establishing International Frameworks


00:14:07.839 --> 00:14:09.189
for space


00:14:09.199 --> 00:14:10.949
sustainability without coordinated


00:14:10.959 --> 00:14:13.430
Global action we risk turning Earth's


00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.069
orbit into an unusable junkyard


00:14:16.079 --> 00:14:17.749
potentially cutting ourselves off from


00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:19.790
the very space-based Services we've come


00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:22.509
to rely on in our daily


00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:24.509
lives well that's all for today's


00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:27.230
episode of astronomy daily I'm Anna and


00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:28.629
I want to thank you for joining me on


00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:30.110
this journey through the latest


00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:32.430
developments in space and astronomy if


00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:33.910
you'd like to stay up toate with all


00:14:33.920 --> 00:14:36.269
things space visit us at astronomy


00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:38.350
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00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:40.189
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00:14:40.199 --> 00:14:42.110
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00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:02.150
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00:15:02.160 --> 00:15:08.490
universe


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[Music]