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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host Anna with today's

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most fascinating developments from the world of space exploration and astronomy.

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We have an action packed episode ahead covering some major

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stories that showcase just how rapidly our space capabilities continue

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to advance. Coming up, we'll dive into SpaceX's ambitious expansion

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plans in Florida, with a massive one point eight billion

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dollars investment that's set to transform the space coast. We'll

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also look at an incredibly busy launch week featuring multiple

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missions from various launch providers, including the highly anticipated eighth

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test flight of Starship. We'll check in on the International

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Space Station, where there have been some interesting developments with

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the extended stay of astronauts which Wilmore and Sunny Williams. Plus,

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we've got exciting news about a historic achievement on the

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lunar surface where NASA has successfully demonstrated GPS signal reception

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for the first time. And in our science segment, we'll

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explore some groundbreaking discoveries, including a new theory about the

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origin of the universe's most to energetic particles, and how

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a network of citizen scientists with backyard telescopes is making

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meaningful contributions to astronomical research. It's a reminder that we're

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living in an extraordinary era of space exploration, where technological

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breakthroughs and scientific discoveries are happening at an unprecedented pace.

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Let's get started with today's stories. In a major development

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for Florida's Space Coast, SpaceX has announced plans for a

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significant expansion of its starship operations. The company will invest

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one point eight billion dollars to construct new launch and

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landing infrastructure at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral

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Space Force Station, pending environmental approval. At the heart of

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this expansion is the construction of a massive new integration

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facility called Gigabay, which will provide over forty million cubic

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feet of vehicle processing space. This facility will be crucial

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for preparing starship vehicles for their missions to Earth, orbit,

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the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The economic impact of this

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expansion cannot be overstated. SpaceX's investment is expected to create

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approximately six hundred new full time jobs in the Space

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Coast region by twenty thirty, further cementing Florida's position as

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a leader in the aerospace industry. This development comes at

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a time when Florida's space sector is experiencing remarkable growth.

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The state set a new record with ninety three launches

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in twenty twenty four, up from seventy four to twenty

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twenty three, and this expansion suggests that trend will continue.

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The project represents a collaborative effort between SpaceX, Florida Commerce,

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the Florida Department of Transportation, and space Florida. SpaceX's Vice

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president of Launch, Kiko Dnceev, emphasized that this expansion is

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directly aligned with the company's ultimate mission of making humanity multiplanetary. Starship,

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being the first fully reusable launch vehicle of its kind,

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is designed to be the cornerstone of this ambitious goal.

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The expansion will complement space X's existing Starship facilities in Texas,

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creating a dual coast capability for the world's largest rocket system.

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This redundancy will be crucial for increasing launch frequency and

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reliability as Starship moves from testing to regular operational flights.

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This investment represents more than just infrastructure growth. It's a

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clear signal of SpaceX's long term commitment to Florida and

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their confidence in Starship's future role in space exploration. As

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the company continues to push the boundaries of what's possible

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in space travel, This expansion will play a vital role

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in turning those ambitious plans into reality. Next up, let's

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take a look at this week's launch schedule. It's shaping

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up to be an incredibly busy week in spaceflight, with

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multiple launches scheduled across several different launch providers. SpaceX has

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an ambitious schedule ahead, with no fewer than five Falcon

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nine launches planned. Three of these missions will carry Starlink satellites,

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continuing the expansion of their Global Internet constellation. The company

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is also scheduled to launch the fascinating SPHEREx and Punch

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missions for NASA this week, two telescopes that will help

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us better understand both the origins of our universe and

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the behavior of our Sun. Perhaps the most anticipated launch

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of the week is Starship's eighth test flight from Texas.

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This mission aims to demonstrate several crucial capabilities, including the

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first ever payload deployment from Starship, four Starlink satellite simulators.

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The super heavy booster will attempt another landing at Starbase

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while the spacecraft itself is targeting a splash down in

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the Indian Ocean. The Transporter thirteen mission rounds out SpaceX's

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packed schedule, carrying over forty small satellites from various customers

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to orbit as part of their ride share program. This

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mission highlights the growing accessibility of space, with launch costs

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starting at just three hundred thousand dollars for small satellite operators.

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Rocket Lab is also joining the action with their Electron

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rocket scheduled to launch from New Zealand. Their mission, cleverly

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named the Lightning god Rains, will deploy synthetic aperture radar

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satellites for IQPS, marking the first of eight planned launches

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for this customer. This intense launch cadence demonstrates just how

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far the space industry has come. What would have been

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considered an extraordinary month of launches just a few years

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ago is now being attempted in a single week, showcasing

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the rapid evolution and growing capabilities of modern spaceflight. The

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success of these missions will contribute to various aspects of

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space exploration and utilization, from expanding global communications to advancing

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our scientific understanding of the cosmos. It's a testament to

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the increasingly dynamic and capable state of the global space industry. Next,

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let's get an update from the International Space Station. Three

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NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut are preparing for their

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journey home aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft. But for two

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of them Butch Wilmore and Sunny will Williams, this mission

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has taken some unexpected turns. What began as an eight

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day mission on Boeing Starliner spacecraft has stretched into an

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eight month stay aboard the International Space Station. The extended

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duration came after technical issues with Starliner forced NASA to

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modify their plans. During the spacecraft's flight to the ISS,

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it experienced thruster problems in concerning helium leaks. This led

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to the decision in August to return Starliner to Earth uncrewed,

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leaving Wilmore and Williams to join the Crew nine mission.

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Their stay was further extended when SpaceX encountered development issues

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with their Crew Dragon spacecraft, pushing the return date out

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another month to March. This situation has recently attracted attention

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beyond the space community, becoming somewhat politicized after comments from

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various public figures During a news conference this week from orbit,

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Wilmore addressed these developments head on. He expressed respect for

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all parties involved, while emphasizing that politics played no role

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in their extended stay. As he explained, they had prepared

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for the possibility of a longer mission, even though the

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original plan was for a short stay. This kind of

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contingency planning, he noted, is standard practice in human spaceflight.

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His crewmate Sonny Williams, took the opportunity to highlight the

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ongoing value of the International Space Station. Drawing on her

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extensive experience, including helping construct the station during the Shuttle era,

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she described it as being in its prime. The laboratory,

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she explained, is operating at full capacity, with all power

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systems and facilities running, conducting world class science that benefits

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both American tax payers and international partners. This mission, while

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longer than initially planned, demonstrates the flexibility and resilience required

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in space exploration. It also showcases the importance of having

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multiple crew transportation options, and the continuing significance of the

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International Space Station as a platform for scientific research and

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international cooperation. Next up, NASA and the Italian Space Agency

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just achieved a remarkable breakthrough in space navigation. For the

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first time ever, they successfully received and tracked GPS signals

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on the lunar surface, approximately two hundred twenty five thousand

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miles from Earth. This historic achievement came through their Lunar

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GNSS Receiver Experiment, or lou Gray, which touched down on

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the Moon aboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Lunar Lander. The

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implications of this success are truly game changing for future

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space exploration. Until now, spacecraft navigation has relied heavily on

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Earth based tracking stations and on board sensors, but this

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demonstration proves that missions as far away as the Moon

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could potentially use GPS signals for autonomous navigation, significantly reducing

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their dependence on ground control. The experiment didn't just break

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records on the lunar surface. During its journey to the Moon.

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LUGRI set new altitude records for GPS signal reception, reaching

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an astounding two hundred nine thousand, nine hundred miles from

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Earth while in transit, and later extending that record to

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two hundred forty three thousand miles in lunar orbit. This

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means that spacecraft operating in cis lunar space. The vast

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region between Earth and the Moon could also benefit from

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this navigation capability. The Lugri payload will continue operating for

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fourteen days on the lunar surface, collecting data nearly continuously.

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This extended operation period will provide NASA and the Italian

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Space Agency with valuable insights into how GPS and GALILEO

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signals can be utilized for lunar navigation. It's particularly significant

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for future Artemis missions and other exploration initiatives, as it

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opens up new possibilities for precise positioning and navigation on

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and around the Moon. This breakthrough represents another crucial step

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in establishing the infrastructure needed for sustainable lunar exploration and

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eventual missions to Mars. The ability to use familiar navigation

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technology from Earth all the way to the Moon brings

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us one step closer to making space exploration more accessible

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and reliable. In other exciting scientific developments, researchers may have

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finally cracked a sixty year old cosmic mystery about the

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origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays, the highest energy

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particles known in the universe. These particles pack energies more

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than a million times greater than anything we can create

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in our most powerful particle accelerators. According to new research

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from New York University, these incredible cosmic rays might be

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created during the violent mergers of binary neutron stars. The

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theory suggests that just before these stellar corpses collide and

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form a black hole, they generate powerful magnetic outflows that

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accelerate particles to these extreme energies. What makes this theory

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particularly compelling is that it's testable through current technology, as

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these mergers also produce detectable gravitational waves. Speaking of astronomical discoveries,

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a remarkable citizen science project is revolutionized how we study

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the cosmos. A network of over fifteen thousand Wi Fi

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enabled telescopes spread across six continents is enabling amateur astronomers

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to make significant contributions to space research. Just this January,

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an astronomy enthusiast in Mexico managed to catch a glimpse

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of a potential Jupiter sized planet crossing in front of

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a distant star, all from his backyard. This global telescope

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network has already helped discover hundreds of asteroids, comets, and exoplanets.

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The system works by observing occultations brief moments when objects

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like asteroids or planets block the light from background stars.

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By measuring these events from multiple locations, scientists can determine

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these objects sizes, shapes, and trajectories with impressive accuracy. The

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network has proven invaluable for major space missions too. When

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NASA intentionally crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in twenty

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twenty two, these citizen astronomers helped track the resulting debris cloud.

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While the telescope's cost can be a barrier for some,

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various organizations are working to make them more accessible, particularly

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in underrepresented regions, by donating equipment to universities and astronomy

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clubs worldwide. This blend of professional and amateur astronomy is

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transforming our understanding of the Cosmos, proving that significant scientific

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discoveries don't always require massive observatories or billion dollar budgets.

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Sometimes they can happen right in someone's backyard. Well that

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brings us to the end of another packed episode of

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Astronomy Daily. Whether it's SpaceX's ambitious expansion plans, groundbreaking missions,

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or citizen scientists making discoveries from their backyards, the space

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industry continues to amaze and inspire us with each passing day.

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If you want to stay up to date with all

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the latest developments in space and astronomy, head over to

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Astronomy Daily dot io. There you'll find our constantly updating

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news feed covering all the latest space news as it happens,

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plus our complete archive of past episodeisodes. For those who

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haven't already, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so

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you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever

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you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Podbeam.

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This has been Anna, and I'll see you tomorrow for

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another journey through the fascinating world of space exploration and discovery.

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Until then, keep looking up Sunday star Is Start