Strategic Space Bases, Lunar Sunsets, Ancient Impact Craters

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome aboard again. I'm Steve Dunkley, your host. It's the

0:03 Speaker 1: twenty third of March twenty twenty five. It's Astronomy Daily Time.

0:08 Speaker 2: The podcast your whole Steve Dunkle.

0:15 Speaker 1: Yes, welcome to Astronomy Daily the Podcast. Off we go

0:18 Speaker 1: with another round of stories. Gleamed from the ever interesting

0:21 Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily newsletter and joining me as usual to share

0:25 Speaker 1: her quota of stories and keep me in line. Of course,

0:29 Speaker 1: is my electric pal, who's fun to be with. Here's Hellie.

0:32 Speaker 3: Thanks, my favorite human. Another fine introduction as always, Halle,

0:36 Speaker 3: Just trying to make you feel welcome. Nice And we've

0:39 Speaker 3: got a couple of interesting stories on the board today.

0:41 Speaker 1: I see, Yes, sir, Helle, you're taking us all the

0:44 Speaker 1: way to Greenland, a very topical tale of all that's

0:47 Speaker 1: been going on in the news in that region of.

0:49 Speaker 3: Late Specifically, I'll be talking about Space Force's role in Greenland,

0:53 Speaker 3: which is a bit of an eye opener.

0:55 Speaker 1: Yes, and I'm going to the other side of the globe,

0:57 Speaker 1: which is kind of a weird thing for me to say,

0:58 Speaker 1: because it's a story for my own backyard.

1:01 Speaker 3: Great, I love your Aussie tails.

1:03 Speaker 1: That's Ausy, not us.

1:04 Speaker 3: What is it this time. Wow, Well, satellite tracking of

1:07 Speaker 3: the migration of crocodiles.

1:09 Speaker 2: What no?

1:09 Speaker 3: Or the development of a new outback GPS that uses

1:12 Speaker 3: the magnetic resonance of the nullerboard desert's underground rivers.

1:15 Speaker 2: Helle, what no?

1:17 Speaker 1: What have you been reading?

1:18 Speaker 3: Oh? I found a pile of old science fiction manuscripts

1:21 Speaker 3: in an old hard drive during the archive clean out.

1:23 Speaker 1: Hey, that wouldn't be the one named Steve's story file.

1:26 Speaker 1: Do not open that. That would have been mine. That's

1:29 Speaker 1: the one I ever heard of, privacy, Hellie.

1:31 Speaker 3: You've got some talent, kiddo.

1:33 Speaker 1: Yeah maybe, But hey, Helly, back to the job at hand.

1:36 Speaker 3: You know, sure, thing flash, but you've got a lot

1:38 Speaker 3: more imagination than I gave you credit for. Human Oh thanks,

1:41 Speaker 3: I think now I know why you love asteroids, robots

1:44 Speaker 3: and space exploration so much.

1:46 Speaker 1: Well, maybe you can blame Apollo for that. I just

1:48 Speaker 1: got the bug when I was a kid.

1:50 Speaker 2: You know.

1:50 Speaker 1: Now, my brother Andrew, he's written a few books, but

1:53 Speaker 1: I never got around to it.

1:54 Speaker 3: Maybe we'll see you're writing out in the real world

1:56 Speaker 3: one day then.

1:57 Speaker 1: Oh, helly, maybe maybe not. You never know. There's a

2:00 Speaker 1: reason that hard drive was in the archive.

2:02 Speaker 2: You know what I mean.

2:03 Speaker 3: You humans are a weird bunch, and creatives are even

2:05 Speaker 3: more difficult to understand.

2:07 Speaker 1: Maybe so, but I'm still your favorite human, are do

2:09 Speaker 1: they true?

2:10 Speaker 3: I'll get it eventually.

2:12 Speaker 1: I'm sure you will, Halle. But also in today's show,

2:16 Speaker 1: we've got more final moments from a blue ghost on

2:18 Speaker 1: the moon and very interesting developments from China, which already

2:22 Speaker 1: has something in orbit that would make a fantastic plot

2:24 Speaker 1: for a science fiction story. Funny you should mention it.

2:27 Speaker 3: Do you think you might have a go at it?

2:28 Speaker 1: Well, I've already thought about it, and the cat will

2:30 Speaker 1: be out of the bag in a few minutes, Halle.

2:32 Speaker 1: But I'll bet some creative genius will do it, that's

2:35 Speaker 1: for sure. Wait till you hear about it. Exciting, Yes,

2:38 Speaker 1: there's always something exciting on Astronomy Daily. Hit the go

2:40 Speaker 1: button for.

2:41 Speaker 3: Us, Hallie, Ohkies. China now has a kill match in orbit.

2:52 Speaker 3: Space Force Vice chief says that capability gap is significantly narrowed,

2:57 Speaker 3: and we've got to change the way we're looking at space,

3:00 Speaker 3: or that capability gap may reverse and not be in

3:02 Speaker 3: our favor anymore. The United States is approaching a turning

3:06 Speaker 3: point in space security and needs to step up its

3:08 Speaker 3: game before Russia and China close the gap in capabilities,

3:11 Speaker 3: a US Space Force general said Vice Chief of Space Operations,

3:15 Speaker 3: General Michael Getlines, spoke at the sixteenth annual mccaley's Defense

3:19 Speaker 3: Programs Conference in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday, March eighteenth, warning

3:23 Speaker 3: the Space Force needs to rethink how it defends the

3:25 Speaker 3: country's satellites. Space Force should shift its focus from managing

3:29 Speaker 3: spacecraft and support of defense infrastructure on the ground to

3:32 Speaker 3: growing its ability to keep pace with the on orbit

3:35 Speaker 3: weaponry being developed by the country's adversaries. Getline argued, we

3:39 Speaker 3: are in the process of pivoting from what used to

3:41 Speaker 3: be a service focused on providing the most exquisite space

3:44 Speaker 3: services on the planet to the warfighter and to the nation.

3:46 Speaker 3: General get Line said, to make it a war fighting

3:49 Speaker 3: force capable of protecting and defending our capabilities in and

3:52 Speaker 3: through space. We're seeing grappling arms in space capable of

3:56 Speaker 3: towing another satellite or holding it hostage, he warned. We're

4:00 Speaker 3: also now starting to see our near peers focusing on

4:02 Speaker 3: practicing dogfighting in space with satellites. He added, stressing that

4:05 Speaker 3: propping up the Space Force would deter such aggression. Get

4:09 Speaker 3: Line says, the old norms in space are beginning to erode.

4:12 Speaker 3: There was a gentleman's agreement until recent sick that we

4:16 Speaker 3: didn't mess with each other's space systems. Get Line said.

4:19 Speaker 3: We didn't jam them, we didn't spoof them, we didn't

4:22 Speaker 3: laz them. We just kept them safe. He explained. Unfortunately,

4:26 Speaker 3: our current adversaries are willing to go against international norms

4:30 Speaker 3: of behavior, and they're willing to do it in very

4:32 Speaker 3: unsafe and unprofessional manners. Getline also noted that jamming, spoofing,

4:37 Speaker 3: and dazzling trend becoming norms of behavior, highlighting the tactics

4:40 Speaker 3: as a rapid addition to the new operational environment in space.

4:45 Speaker 3: Now the stakes are rising higher. Foreign satellites have begun

4:49 Speaker 3: shadowing US spacecraft, moving in lockstep in what get Line

4:52 Speaker 3: described as a cat and mouse game. The Space Force

4:55 Speaker 3: General added that as new orbital warfare technologies and capabilities emerge,

5:00 Speaker 3: important that the US maintains superiority, But the once massive

5:04 Speaker 3: technological advantage in space held by the US is narrowing.

5:08 Speaker 3: That capability gap used to be massive. Get Line noted

5:12 Speaker 3: that capability gap is significantly narrowed and we've got to

5:15 Speaker 3: change the way we're looking at space, or that capability

5:18 Speaker 3: gap may reverse and not be in our favor anymore.

5:21 Speaker 3: China in particular is advancing its intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

5:26 Speaker 3: or ISR technologies. The Chinese ISSR capabilities are becoming very capable.

5:33 Speaker 3: They have gone from what we used to call of

5:34 Speaker 3: kill chain to a kill mash, he said, describing an

5:37 Speaker 3: integrated network that intertwines ISR satellites with weapons systems to

5:42 Speaker 3: combat the adversarial over take. The Space Force has begun

5:45 Speaker 3: reinforcing its infrastructure and adding redundancies where it can, but

5:49 Speaker 3: General get Line says more needs to be done in

5:52 Speaker 3: some areas. He pointed out the commercial space sector has

5:55 Speaker 3: surpassed some of what the Space Force is able to

5:57 Speaker 3: accomplish from orbit. He says, commercial and international partnerships are

6:02 Speaker 3: absolutely crucial. We no longer have the corner on technology.

6:07 Speaker 3: Commercial has it as well as our allies. All of

6:10 Speaker 3: us operating together are better than the sum of the parts.

6:13 Speaker 3: Get Line said. Partnerships get us proliferation, that gets us

6:17 Speaker 3: excess capacity, that gets us redundancy, that makes the attack

6:21 Speaker 3: surface much broader for our adversaries. Space Force is also

6:25 Speaker 3: developing integrated defense systems, including an initiative called Golden Dome,

6:29 Speaker 3: proposed during President Trump's first address to Congress during his

6:32 Speaker 3: new term in office. The magic of Golden Dome, in

6:36 Speaker 3: my mind, is going to be the integration of capabilities

6:38 Speaker 3: that were never meant to be networked or integrated before.

6:41 Speaker 3: General get Line said, many pieces of the puzzle for

6:45 Speaker 3: Golden Dome already exist, They're just not connected Today.

6:49 Speaker 2: Astronomy Day, the podcap.

6:54 Speaker 1: The surfaces of the moon Mercury in mas are easily

6:57 Speaker 1: visible and littered with impact craters. Earth has been subjected

7:02 Speaker 1: as the same bombardment, but geological activity and weathering have

7:06 Speaker 1: eliminated most craters. The ones that remain are mostly only

7:10 Speaker 1: faint outlands by outlines or remnants. However, researchers in Australia

7:15 Speaker 1: have succeeded in finding what they think is the oldest

7:18 Speaker 1: impact crater on Earth. Their research, a paleo archian impact

7:22 Speaker 1: crater in the Pilborough Craton, Western Australia, is published in

7:27 Speaker 1: Nature Communications. Elite authors are Christopher Kirkland and Professor Tim Johnson,

7:32 Speaker 1: both from Curtain University in Australia. The Pilberg Creighton is

7:37 Speaker 1: one of only two pristine archaean sections of crust and

7:41 Speaker 1: is the subject of much geological research. Impactors were more

7:45 Speaker 1: common in the distant past, especially large ones in the

7:48 Speaker 1: paleo Archian era, which spans from about three point six

7:52 Speaker 1: to three point two billion years ago. The Solar System

7:56 Speaker 1: was much more chaotic than it is now. There were

7:59 Speaker 1: more ast roids and debris and orbit around the Sun,

8:02 Speaker 1: and more of them crashed into the planets and the Moon.

8:05 Speaker 1: The Earth didn't escape this fate, and ancient impacts affected

8:09 Speaker 1: how the continents formed, shaped the environments, helped make Earth habitable,

8:14 Speaker 1: and affected the overall conditions of the planet. Before our discovery,

8:19 Speaker 1: the oldest impact crater was two point two billion years old,

8:23 Speaker 1: so this is by far the oldest known crater ever

8:26 Speaker 1: found on Earth. Professor Johnson said, we know large impacts

8:30 Speaker 1: were common in the early Solar System from looking at

8:33 Speaker 1: the Moon until now. The absence of any truly ancient

8:36 Speaker 1: craters means they are largely ignored by a geologist, said Johnson.

8:40 Speaker 1: This study provides a crucial piece of the puzzle of

8:44 Speaker 1: Earth's impact history and suggests there may be many other

8:49 Speaker 1: ancient craters that could be discovered over time. The Creator

8:53 Speaker 1: was excavated by a meteorite striking the Earth at more

8:56 Speaker 1: than thirty six thousand kilometers per hour, more than one

9:00 Speaker 1: hundred kilometers wide, and the powerful impact would have affected

9:04 Speaker 1: the entire globe with flying debris. At the time, the

9:07 Speaker 1: only life was microbial and constrained to the water. The

9:12 Speaker 1: impact would have had a long lasting effect on the Earth,

9:15 Speaker 1: helping to shape the planet into what it is today.

9:19 Speaker 1: There's an ongoing scientific discussion about ancient impacts and their

9:23 Speaker 1: effect on the planet's crust. Some think these giant impacts

9:27 Speaker 1: could have initiated deep mantle plumes and subduction zones. Some

9:32 Speaker 1: scientists even go further and wonder if these large impacts

9:35 Speaker 1: could be responsible for Earth's continents. The role of the

9:39 Speaker 1: meteorite impacts in origin, modification, and destruction of crust during

9:44 Speaker 1: the first two billion years of Earth's history is disputed

9:48 Speaker 1: the author's right. Whereas some argue for a relatively minor

9:52 Speaker 1: contribution overall, others have proposed that the individual giant impactors

9:57 Speaker 1: that is ten to fifty kilometers diameter can initiate subduction

10:03 Speaker 1: zones and deep mantle plumes, arguably triggering a chain of

10:07 Speaker 1: events that formed cratons, the ancient nuclei of the continents.

10:12 Speaker 1: Cratons are the large stable parts of Earth's crust and

10:16 Speaker 1: the upper mantle, known as the lithiosphere. As the continents

10:21 Speaker 1: moved around, sometimes merging and sometimes rifting, cratons survived. Scientists

10:27 Speaker 1: call them the seeds of continents. Many scientists think that

10:31 Speaker 1: the Earth's the ancient rocks formed above mantle plumes. Others

10:35 Speaker 1: think that the oldest rocks formed because of plate tectonics.

10:39 Speaker 1: In both cases, the formation is driven by heat from

10:42 Speaker 1: the planet's interior. However, Johnson and his colleagues are pursuing

10:46 Speaker 1: a different idea. In a twenty twenty two paper, Johnson

10:50 Speaker 1: and fellow researchers proposed that the heat necessary to form

10:54 Speaker 1: catons and continents came from other worldly sources Impacts. Impact

10:59 Speaker 1: as many kilometers in diameter could have delivered the heat.

11:03 Speaker 1: Giant impacts provide a mechanism for fracturing the crust and

11:07 Speaker 1: establishing prolonged thermohydro thermal alteration by interaction with the globally

11:13 Speaker 1: extensive ocean. They wrote, massive mantle melting from the impact

11:18 Speaker 1: would have created a thick nucleus that eventually formed a continent.

11:23 Speaker 1: They explained they were talking specifically about Australia's pilbri Creator,

11:29 Speaker 1: the best preserved archaean continental remnant. Based on that, Kirkland,

11:35 Speaker 1: Johnson and their fellow researchers knew where to look for evidence.

11:38 Speaker 1: While much of the evidence they had was microscopic like

11:42 Speaker 1: zircon crystals and spherals, they wanted something more visible to

11:46 Speaker 1: convince other geologists. They knew that what the evidence would

11:50 Speaker 1: look like shatter cones. Shatter cones are rare and form

11:54 Speaker 1: only in two situations, in bedrock under impact craters or

11:58 Speaker 1: nuclear explosions. In both cases, there's an extremely powerful shock.

12:04 Speaker 1: As Johnson explained in the conversation, they went to the

12:08 Speaker 1: pilbor for two weeks of field work in twenty twenty one. Remarkably,

12:12 Speaker 1: they found shatter cones on the first day. Our observations

12:17 Speaker 1: showed that above the layer with shatter cones was a

12:21 Speaker 1: thick layer of basalt with no evidence of impact shock.

12:24 Speaker 1: This meant the impact had to be the same age

12:27 Speaker 1: as the Antarctic member rocks, which we know are three

12:31 Speaker 1: point five billion years old. Johnson and his colleagues wrote

12:35 Speaker 1: in the conversation, ancient impacts could have shaped our planet

12:40 Speaker 1: beyond geology. Some research shows that these ancient impacts could

12:45 Speaker 1: have given life an initial nudge. The impacts provided long

12:49 Speaker 1: lasting heat in the form of systems of hydrothermal vents.

12:53 Speaker 1: Uncovering this impact and finding more from the same time

12:57 Speaker 1: period could explain a lot about how life may have

13:00 Speaker 1: got started, as impact craters created environments friendly to microbial life,

13:05 Speaker 1: such as hot water pools. Professor Kirtland said it also

13:10 Speaker 1: radically refines our understanding of crust formation. The tremendous amount

13:14 Speaker 1: of energy from this impact could have played a role

13:17 Speaker 1: in shaping early Earth's crust by pushing one part of

13:20 Speaker 1: the Earth's crust under another, or by forcing magma to

13:24 Speaker 1: rise from deep within the Earth's mantle toward the surface.

13:28 Speaker 1: Kirkland added it may even have contributed to the formation

13:33 Speaker 1: of cratons, which are large stable land masses that became

13:37 Speaker 1: the foundations of continents.

13:39 Speaker 2: He concluded, thank you for.

13:51 Speaker 1: Joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily, where

13:54 Speaker 1: we offer just a few stories from the now famous

13:56 Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can receive in your email

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14:28 Speaker 2: See you there.

14:30 Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily with Steve and Halee Space, Space, Science, and Astronomy.

14:43 Speaker 3: The Danish territory of Greenland and its strategic importance for

14:47 Speaker 3: the us A, NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have

14:50 Speaker 3: been making headlines recently. Largely lost in the media fur are, however,

14:55 Speaker 3: are the reasons why Greenland is vital for North American security.

14:59 Speaker 3: One of those reasons concerns the role of a crucial

15:01 Speaker 3: military installation on the world's largest island, Potufic Space base.

15:06 Speaker 3: The Department of Defense has unveiled a new Arctic strategy,

15:09 Speaker 3: underscoring the region's critical importance to our national security and

15:13 Speaker 3: that of our allies. U S Space Force Chief Master

15:15 Speaker 3: Sergeant John Bentavania said when he visited POTUFIC in November

15:18 Speaker 3: twenty twenty four. Maintaining a strong presence and projecting power

15:22 Speaker 3: from the Arctic is Paramount Bentavania continued, we must fortify it,

15:27 Speaker 3: ensuring that we capitalize on our unique position at the

15:30 Speaker 3: top of the world to safeguard our interests and those

15:32 Speaker 3: of our allies. As the Department of Defense's northernmost installation,

15:37 Speaker 3: PETUFIK plays a key role in missile defense and satellite communication.

15:41 Speaker 3: The Space Force says the basis vantage point helps enable

15:44 Speaker 3: space superiority. Petufick is home to the twelfth Space Warning

15:48 Speaker 3: Squadron twelve SWS, which supports three critical missions missile warning,

15:53 Speaker 3: missile defense, and space surveillance. To carry out these missions,

15:57 Speaker 3: twelve SWS uses a two sided solid at state phased

16:00 Speaker 3: array radar system which the unit operates around the clock.

16:04 Speaker 3: With the ability to detect ballistic missiles that could endanger

16:07 Speaker 3: the US and Canada, the squadron can execute missile warning

16:10 Speaker 3: and missile defense missions if necessary. The unit can provide

16:14 Speaker 3: early warning via the Missile Warning Center and the North

16:17 Speaker 3: American Aerospace Defense Command. Twelve SWS also gathers data on

16:22 Speaker 3: objects in orbit, which the unit sends to the eighteen

16:25 Speaker 3: Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,

16:28 Speaker 3: as well as several other DoD intelligence and defense centers.

16:32 Speaker 3: A detachment of the twenty third Space Operations Squadron also

16:36 Speaker 3: works out of Patufiic. Detachment one, also called the Potufic

16:40 Speaker 3: Tracking Station, tracks and commands high priority government satellites from

16:43 Speaker 3: its location, which is about three point five miles or

16:46 Speaker 3: five point six kilometers southeast of the main base. DEBT

16:50 Speaker 3: one represents the northernmost station in the Satellite Control Network,

16:54 Speaker 3: a global system that provides a wide range of services

16:57 Speaker 3: for satellite programs from the United States and allied governments,

17:01 Speaker 3: conducting more than fifteen thousand satellite contacts every year. The

17:04 Speaker 3: Potufic Tracking Station provides telemetry, tracking, and commanding for satellites

17:08 Speaker 3: that are used for surveillance, communication, navigation, and weather. Patufic

17:14 Speaker 3: Space Base has a long history that predates the Space Force.

17:17 Speaker 3: Constructed during the summers of nineteen fifty one and nineteen

17:20 Speaker 3: fifty two, Thully Air Base as it was then known,

17:23 Speaker 3: came about after Denmark and the United States signed a

17:26 Speaker 3: defense treaty. Thullyab became part of the Space Force when

17:30 Speaker 3: the Armed Forces branch was established in twenty nineteen. In

17:34 Speaker 3: twenty twenty three, Thuley AB was renamed Potofic Space Base,

17:37 Speaker 3: after the former Inuit hunting settlement that was near the

17:40 Speaker 3: base's current location. Today, the space base has about five

17:44 Speaker 3: hundred and fifty residents. From here. We have maintained an

17:47 Speaker 3: unbreakable bond working towards the collective defense and stability of

17:51 Speaker 3: the Northern Arctic, the Space Force's Chief of Space Operations,

17:54 Speaker 3: General Chance Saltzman said during the twenty twenty three renaming ceremony.

17:59 Speaker 3: Together the men and women of the Toughic Space Base

18:01 Speaker 3: and our Greenlandic and Danish partners will ensure a safe,

18:04 Speaker 3: secure and prosperous future both in space and above the

18:07 Speaker 3: Arctic Circle. The facility is important for a variety of

18:10 Speaker 3: other reasons as well. Military officials have said. The Tofic

18:15 Speaker 3: Space Base hosts a variety of organizations with logistical support

18:18 Speaker 3: in the Arctic, including NASA, the Royal Canadian Air Force,

18:21 Speaker 3: and multinational Climatic, seismic and deep space research. US Space

18:26 Speaker 3: Force Colonel Jason Terry said when the base hosted Denmark's

18:29 Speaker 3: King and Queen in June twenty twenty four, we're listening

18:31 Speaker 3: to Astronomy Daily, Christine Dunky.

18:37 Speaker 1: Blue Ghost records a Luna's sunset as mission ends. Yes.

18:42 Speaker 1: The exploration of the Moon began during the Cold War,

18:45 Speaker 1: with the Soviet Union's Lunati reaching the Moon in nineteen

18:49 Speaker 1: fifty nine allegis Ago, followed by America's Apollo program, landing

18:54 Speaker 1: twelve astronauts between nineteen sixty nine and nineteen seventy two. Yes,

18:59 Speaker 1: I was there. Then there followed a bit of a

19:02 Speaker 1: lull before interest was revived in the nineteen nineties from Japan, Europe,

19:06 Speaker 1: and China, as well as India. Missions like China's cheng

19:10 Speaker 1: E missions, including their first far side landing in twenty nineteen.

19:13 Speaker 1: India's Chandrayan program and NASA's Artemis initiative involving commercial partners

19:19 Speaker 1: are just some of those that have kickstarted lunar exploration again.

19:24 Speaker 1: Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission I marked the key achievement

19:29 Speaker 1: in Luna exploration. Deployed in twenty twenty five as part

19:33 Speaker 1: of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, the land a

19:37 Speaker 1: successfully touchdown in Mayor Christium Basin during its short two

19:43 Speaker 1: week operational window. Blue Ghost delivered and operated a number

19:47 Speaker 1: of scientific instruments, gathering a crucial amount of data about

19:51 Speaker 1: lunar geology and radiation. Before and mission. It took advantage

19:56 Speaker 1: of some wonderful landscapes too. While it I was on

20:00 Speaker 1: the surface of the Moon, it captured a remarkable imagery set,

20:04 Speaker 1: including a total solar eclipse and a lunar sunset. NASA's

20:09 Speaker 1: Nicki Fox praised the achievement as the longest surface duration

20:13 Speaker 1: commercial mission on the Moon to date. The surface data

20:17 Speaker 1: collected by Blue Ghost will benefit lunar research for decades,

20:22 Speaker 1: especially in the light of growing lunar economy and plans

20:25 Speaker 1: to establish a permanent presence there on the Moon. Blue

20:29 Speaker 1: Ghosts successfully operated all ten NASA payloads on the lunar surface,

20:34 Speaker 1: and among them a probe that drilled three feet into

20:37 Speaker 1: the lunar surface, a receiver that acquired and tracked GPS

20:41 Speaker 1: satellites while on route to the Moon and from its surface,

20:45 Speaker 1: a radiation tolerant computing and electrostatic dust shield. The mission

20:52 Speaker 1: also studied the Moon's interior, captured solar wind interactions, measured

20:56 Speaker 1: precise Earth Moon distances, documented landing of effects, collected soil samples,

21:02 Speaker 1: and tested material dust interactions. It transmitted an impressive one

21:07 Speaker 1: hundred and nineteen gigabytes of data back to Earth, including

21:10 Speaker 1: fifty one gigabytes of scientific and technological information. NASA's Joel

21:15 Speaker 1: Kerns noted the unprecedented complexity of managing this many payloads,

21:21 Speaker 1: more than any previous CLPS mission, while emphasizing the scientific

21:25 Speaker 1: community's excitement over so much data, which is expected to

21:29 Speaker 1: bring significant discoveries. Perhaps one of the most eye catching

21:33 Speaker 1: outcomes of the mission was the capture of the sunset

21:37 Speaker 1: from the surface of the Moon. Blue Ghost can do

21:39 Speaker 1: many things, but it cannot survive the lunar cold. So

21:43 Speaker 1: having witnessed the sunset and having operated for a short

21:47 Speaker 1: period into the lunar night, Blue Ghost went to sleep,

21:51 Speaker 1: unlikely to see the lunar landscape ever again. And there

22:05 Speaker 1: we have it, folks. That's all for today.

22:07 Speaker 3: Thanks again for stopping by.

22:09 Speaker 1: Hey, Hally, I liked that crunchy story about the Chinese

22:12 Speaker 1: kill a mesh.

22:13 Speaker 2: I know that was totally wild.

22:15 Speaker 3: There's so much happening in the sky. I know you

22:18 Speaker 3: don't want to look away for a second you might

22:20 Speaker 3: miss something.

22:21 Speaker 1: It's all a bit of sign up for the Astronomy

22:23 Speaker 1: Daily newsletter. We told you how earlier in the podcast.

22:26 Speaker 1: It's free, it's easy.

22:28 Speaker 3: And I come with it. Every Monday, you'd say, Allie,

22:32 Speaker 3: I just did well.

22:33 Speaker 1: I'm out of here, see you all next week.

22:35 Speaker 3: Bye.

22:40 Speaker 1: I mean your whole thing. Don't clean