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From Comet Closures to Space Station Shifts: Your Daily Astronomy Update · Space News Today

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  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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  your source for the latest news from
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  across the cosmos. I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. It's great to have you
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  with us. Today we say goodbye to our
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  interstellar visitor and look to the
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  future of life in orbit.
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  >> That's right. We'll be talking about a
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  comet from another solar system that
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  just made its closest approach to Earth.
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  And we'll check in on the Parker Solar
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  Probe as it once again braves the sun's
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  fiery atmosphere. plus a fun story about
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  how you could have helped design a
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  mascot for the next mission to the moon.
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  >> And later in the show, we'll dive into a
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  cosmic mystery involving incredibly
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  powerful blue explosions, a building
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  sized asteroid with a small chance of
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  hitting the moon, and Russia's
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  surprising new plans for its future in
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  space after the International Space
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  Station. So, let's get started.
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  >> First up, a visitor from very, very far
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  away. On Friday, December 19th,
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  interstellar comet 3i/Atlas
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  made its closest approach to our planet.
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  >> It came within 168 million miles of
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  Earth. Now that it's passed us, it will
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  begin its long journey back out of our
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  solar system, continuing its voyage
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  through the Milky Way.
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  >> And this isn't just any comet. It's only
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  the third object we've ever detected
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  passing through our solar system that
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  originated from interstellar space.
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  >> Exactly. It was first spotted by NASA's
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  Atlas system on July 1st, 2025. By
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  analyzing its trajectory, scientists
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  determined it didn't come from around
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  here. In fact, its path suggests it
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  comes from a region of our galaxy that
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  might be up to 7 billion years old.
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  >> 7 billion years. That means this little
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  icy wanderer is significantly older than
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  our own 4.6 billionyear-old solar
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  system. It's like a relic from a
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  completely different time and place.
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  >> Mhm. A true cosmic fossil. And it gave
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  scientists a bit of a surprise. As it
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  made its closest approach to the sun,
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  the comet brightened much more than
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  expected. And the reason for that extra
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  glow is still a mystery. It's a
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  fascinating puzzle for scientists to
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  analyze as they gather the data from its
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  flyby. So, farewell, ThreeI Atlas. You
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  put on quite a show for us.
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  >> Speaking of getting close to the sun,
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  NASA's Parker Solar Probe has been doing
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  just that again.
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  >> That's right. On December 13th, the
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  probe completed its 26th close approach
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  or perihelion. And it wasn't just
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  another flyby. It matched its own
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  incredible records.
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  >> And what records they are, it flew just
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  3.8 million miles from the solar
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  surface. To put that in perspective,
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  Earth is about 93 million miles away and
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  its speed a blistering 430,000
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  mph.
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  >> It's almost impossible to comprehend
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  that velocity. During this close
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  approach, the spacecraft was completely
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  out of contact with Earth, operating
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  fully autonomously as its instruments
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  gathered data from right inside the
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  sun's atmosphere, the corona.
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  >> Mhm. And the timing is perfect. This is
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  all happening while the sun is in a very
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  active phase of its 11-year cycle.
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  >> That's the key. These observations are
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  critical for helping us understand our
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  star and the space weather events it
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  produces like solar flares and coronal
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  mass ejections. That data is vital for
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  protecting our astronauts and technology
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  both in orbit and here on Earth. All
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  right, from the intense heat of the sun
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  to something a little more whimsical,
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  NASA recently gave the public a very
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  unique opportunity. The chance to design
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  a mascot for the Aremis 2 mission. This
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  is such a great story. In collaboration
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  with the platform Freelancer, NASA held
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  a contest for a zeroravity indicator.
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  These are small, usually plush items
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  that the crew takes with them. When they
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  start to float, it's a simple visual cue
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  that they've reached the microgravity of
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  space,
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  >> right? It's a long-standing tradition in
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  human space flight, but this is the very
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  first time the public has been invited
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  to create the crew's mascot. Artemis 2
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  is the mission that will send four
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  astronauts on a trip around the moon in
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  early 2026. So, this is a historic
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  flight.
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  >> The response was overwhelming. The
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  contest received thousands of
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  submissions from over 50 countries.
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  They've now narrowed it down to 25
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  finalists and the winning design will be
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  fabricated by NASA's own thermal blanket
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  lab and will fly with the astronauts on
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  their journey.
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  >> I love that. We won't know the winner
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  until closer to the launch date, but
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  it's fantastic to see this level of
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  public engagement with such a landmark
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  mission. It really connects people to
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  the adventure of space exploration.
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  >> Now for a deep space mystery. For years,
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  astronomers have been puzzled by
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  extremely powerful and bright blue
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  cosmic explosions. They're called
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  luminous fast blue optical transients or
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  LFBOs for short. And we may finally know
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  what causes them.
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  >> LFBO TS. The name itself is a mouthful.
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  What's the leading theory here? Well, a
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  recently detected signal designated
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  AT-2024
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  WPPP has provided a major clue. It
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  suggests that LFBOTS are the result of
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  an extreme version of something called a
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  title disruption event or TDE.
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  >> That's when a black hole tears a star
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  apart. Right.
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  >> Exactly. But in this case, we're talking
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  about a black hole with a mass up to 100
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  times that of our sun, completely
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  shredding its companion star in a matter
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  of days. This particular event, AT-2024
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  WPP, emitted about 100 times more energy
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  than an average supernova explosion.
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  >> Wow. So, what makes it so much more
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  powerful than a typical TTE?
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  >> The theory is that this wasn't just a
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  one-time event. The black hole was
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  likely parasitically feeding from its
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  companion star for a long time, which
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  created a huge shell of material around
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  the pair. When the star finally spiraled
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  close enough to be completely shredded,
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  the new stellar material slammed into
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  that pre-existing shell. That massive
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  collision is what generated the immense
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  light and energy that we observe as an
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  LFB S.
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  >> So, it's a cosmic twunch knockout. The
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  star gets torn apart and then its
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  remains crash into a wall of its own
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  lost material. That's an incredible
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  level of cosmic violence.
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  >> It certainly is. Now, bringing the
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  cosmic violence a little closer to home,
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  let's talk about an asteroid named 2024
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  YR4.
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  >> Right. This is a building size asteroid
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  roughly 60 m wide. And scientists have
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  calculated that there's about a 4%
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  chance that it will hit the moon in the
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  year 2032. A 4% chance isn't huge, but
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  it's certainly not zero, and the
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  potential consequences are significant.
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  If it does hit the moon, the impact
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  could release energy equivalent to 400
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  times the Hiroshima bomb.
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  >> And it gets a bit more concerning.
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  There's also a 1% chance that the impact
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  could scatter meteorites into near Earth
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  space. That debris cloud could pose a
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  real threat to our satellites and any
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  astronauts in orbit.
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  >> So, what can be done? Is there a plan to
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  deflect it?
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  >> At the moment, a deflection mission
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  isn't practical. However, some options
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  like intentionally breaking it up into
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  smaller, less harmful pieces are being
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  considered. The most immediate step is
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  to gather more data.
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  >> Mhm. And NASA's James Web Space
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  Telescope might give us the clear view
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  we need. There's a potential observation
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  window in February 2026 that could help
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  scientists refine the asteroid's orbit
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  and get a much better handle on the
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  actual odds of a lunar impact.
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  >> For our final story today, we're looking
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  at a major shift in the future of human
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  space flight. Russia has significantly
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  altered its plans for what comes after
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  the International Space Station.
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  >> That's right. The original plan was to
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  build an entirely new station, the
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  Russian Orbital Station or ROS. But now
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  the plan has changed. The core of this
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  new station will actually be the old
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  Russian segment of the ISS.
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  >> So in 2030, when the US segment of the
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  ISS is scheduled to be de-orbited and
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  burned up in the atmosphere, the Russian
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  segment will just detach and become its
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  own station.
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  >> Essentially, yes. This decision is
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  widely seen as a money-saving move for
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  Russia's warstrapped economy. However,
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  it means their new national space
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  station will be based on modules that
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  are already over 30 years old.
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  >> That raises some pretty serious
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  concerns. Using hardware that old brings
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  up major questions about safety,
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  long-term maintenance, and the station's
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  future scientific capabilities.
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  >> It does, and it places Russia's program
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  in stark contrast with other nations at
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  a time when China is operating its new
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  Tangong space station. and India is
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  developing its own. Russia is choosing
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  to repurpose aging infrastructure. It's
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  a significant moment that could reshape
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  the geopolitical landscape of human
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  activity in low Earth orbit.
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  >> And that is all the time we have for
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  today. From interstellar visitors to the
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  shifting future of space stations, it's
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  been another busy day in the world of
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  astronomy.
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  >> We hope you enjoyed our tour of the
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  latest headlines from the cosmos.
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  >> Thank you for tuning in to Astronomy
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  Daily. I'm Avery.
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  >> And I'm Anna. We'll be back on Monday
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  with more updates. Until then, keep
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  looking up.
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  >> Stories told
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  stories told.