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From Danish Moonshots to Vanishing Planets: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

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  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go-to
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  spot for the latest in space and
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  astronomy news. I'm Anna here with my
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  co-host and good friend Avery. Hey
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  Avery, happy January 3rd. Hope
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  everyone's recovering from the new year
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  festivities.
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  >> Hey Anna, and hello to all our listeners
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  out there in the cosmos. Absolutely.
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  2026 is off to a flying start, literally
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  with some launches and sky events
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  already. We've got six great stories
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  today. From lunar missions to vanishing
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  planets and some good news up on the
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  ISS. Let's dive right in, shall we?
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  >> Starting with something exciting for our
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  European friends. Denmark just got the
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  green light from its very first mission
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  to the moon. The mission's called Mani,
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  named after the Norse personification of
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  the moon.
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  >> Yeah, this is huge. It's the largest
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  Danish satellite mission ever and the
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  first time Denmark is leading an ESA
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  mission. The spacecraft is being built
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  by Space Inventor, a company based in
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  Alborg with a budget of about 130
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  million Danish croners or around 17
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  million euros. The goal is high
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  resolution mapping of the lunar surface
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  to help identify the best spots for
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  future crude landings and even habitats
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  for long-term human presence. It's part
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  of ISA's push for small cost effective
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  lunar missions capped at 50 million
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  euros development cost and ready to
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  launch within 4 and a half years. This
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  one got selected after a competitive
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  process that started back in 2023.
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  Launch is eyed for 2029 led by the
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  University of Copenhagen. Yen's
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  frightenbang the mission leader said
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  it's about to get exciting now that the
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  journey truly begins. Totally. It's
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  awesome to see more countries getting
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  involved in lunar exploration. This kind
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  of scouting data will be invaluable for
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  Artemis and beyond.
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  >> Speaking of launches, SpaceX kicked off
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  2026 with a bang. Literally their first
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  mission of the year on January 2nd. They
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  launched an Italian Earth observing
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  satellite called Cosmos Skyat, second
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  generation from Vandenberg Space Force
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  Base in California. Launch was at 9:09
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  p.m. Eastern time on a Falcon 9,
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  deploying the satellite into low Earth
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  orbit just 4.5 minutes later. This bird
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  uses synthetic aperture radar to image
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  Earth day or night in any weather from
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  about 385 miles up. It's for everything
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  from emergency prevention and risk
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  management to defense, maritime
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  surveillance, agriculture, you name it.
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  It's operated by the Italian Space
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  Agency and Ministry of Defense, and this
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  is now the third in the second
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  generation constellation. The mission
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  went smoothly with the booster landing
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  as expected, coming off SpaceX's record
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  165 launches in 2025. It's a strong
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  start to the year.
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  >> Always impressive how reliable these
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  Falcon 9 have become. Earth observation
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  tech like this is crucial for monitoring
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  our planet in real time. Shifting to
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  exoplanets now. A bit of a mystery
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  solved. Remember FOMO Halt B? This
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  candidate planet around the star FOMO
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  Halt about 25 light years away that was
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  spotted by Hubble back in 2008.
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  >> Yeah, it was hailed as one of the first
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  directly imaged exoplanets. But new
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  Hubble images from 2023 show its light
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  fading and then completely disappearing.
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  Turns out it wasn't a planet at all. It
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  was an expanding cloud of debris from a
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  massive collision between two
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  asteroidsized bodies.
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  >> Exactly. These collisions are rare.
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  Maybe once every 100,000 years or more,
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  and the dust cloud was glowing and
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  reflecting light, mimicking a planet.
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  There's even a second bright object now
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  called CS2 from the same event. Four
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  independent analyses confirmed this.
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  It's a reminder of how dynamic
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  protolanetary systems can be. And a
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  cautionary tale for exoplanet hunters.
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  Debris clouds can fake planet signals in
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  reflected light. JWST's NIR Cam will
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  take a closer look at CS2 for
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  composition, temperature, maybe even
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  signs of ice or water. This reshapes how
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  we think about planetary formation
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  around young stars.
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  >> Next up, some deep insights into our own
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  galaxy's history thanks to the James
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  Webb Space Telescope. A team of Canadian
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  astronomers led by Dr. Vivian Tan from
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  York University used JWST data to piece
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  together the Milky Way's turbulent past.
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  They studied 877 distant galaxies that
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  are twins to what the Milky Way would
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  have looked like billions of years ago
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  when the universe was between 1.5 and 10
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  billion years old. Combining JWST's near
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  infrared views with Hubble's visible
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  light, they map stars and star formation
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  rates across these evolutionary stages.
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  The early progenitors were chaotic, full
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  of mergers, asymmetric shapes, and
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  intense starbursts triggered by
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  collisions. Then around 3 to 4 billion
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  years after the Big Bang, they started
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  growing inside out. dense cores first,
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  then building extended discs and spirals
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  through more mergers and accretion.
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  >> It's wild. Our galaxy had a much more
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  violent youth than some models
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  predicted. Simulations match some of
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  this, but struggle with the rapid outer
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  growth or super central early phases.
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  This is tightening up theories on
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  feedback processes, merger rates, and
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  how discs stabilize. Future JWST work
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  with gravitational lensing could push
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  this back even further to when the Milky
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  Way was just 3% of its current age. Love
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  how we're using the universe as a time
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  machine like this.
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  >> Absolutely mindblowing. And for
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  something you can see right now, no
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  telescope needed, though binoculars
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  help. Jupiter is putting on its
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  brightest show of the year this January.
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  Opposition hits on the night of January
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  10th when Earth is right between the sun
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  and Jupiter, making it shine big and
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  bright all night long. It's up from dusk
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  to dawn throughout the month, glowing
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  steadily, easy to spot even in cities.
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  >> On January 4th, it's in conjunction with
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  the full moon, super close in the sky.
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  Look high up near Gemini, surrounded by
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  winter favorites like Orion, Taurus with
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  the Pleaides, and Aldabaron. Binoculars
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  will show the four big moons, Io,
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  Europa, Ganymede, and Kalisto.
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  >> The Quadrantids meteor shower is peaking
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  around now, too. Up to 10 or even more
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  streaks per hour, though the full moon
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  might wash some out. Still, watch for
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  bright fireballs. Perfect month for
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  getting outside and stargazing.
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  >> Definitely grab a blanket, look up, and
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  enjoy the show. Jupiter is at its best.
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  No excuses. Finally, some relief for the
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  International Space Station crew. After
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  years of dealing with a persistent leak
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  in the Russian segment, it's finally
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  stopped. The leak was in the PRK
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  transfer compartment attached to the Zda
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  module. Microscopic cracks that started
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  showing up in 2019 and worsens over
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  time, even doubling at rate in 2024.
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  Russian cosminauts have been
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  methodically sealing cracks with a
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  special sealant called Germetal 1,
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  closing hatches to isolate and monitor
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  pressure. After repeated inspections and
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  applications over half a decade, the
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  pressure is now holding steady.
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  >> NASA confirmed it, calling it a stable
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  configuration, though they'll keep
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  watching for any changes. It was a
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  high-risk issue for both agencies, so
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  this is genuinely good news for ongoing
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  ISS operations.
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  Yeah, maintaining a spacecraft in orbit
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  for decades isn't easy. Glad they've
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  plugged it, literally.
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  >> What a roundup today. New missions,
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  launches, cosmic mysteries, galactic
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  history, skywatching tips, and station
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  fixes. The universe keeps delivering.
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  >> It really does. Thanks so much for
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  joining us on Astronomy Daily. If you're
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  enjoying the show, tell a friend or
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  leave us a review. It helps us reach
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  more space fans. We'll be back Monday
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  with more fresh news. Until then, clear
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  skies and keep wondering
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  >> and keep looking up. Bye for now.
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  Astronomy day.
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  Stories told
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  stories told.
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  Story for