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Why scientists launched two little robots to the moon

6/19/202611 min

Two tiny transforming robots landed on the moon! These baseball-sized bots accompanied Japan's first successful lunar lander. They rolled out of SLIM as balls and transformed into a rover. The bots cracked down the middle to reveal a little camera in the center. The halves then acted as spinning wheels that helped them waddle, bounce and roll over hard terrain as they explored. In this roundup of space news, we also get into the latest turn about how much the universe is expanding and the Earthly analogs NASA astronauts are using to prepare for the forthcoming Artemis mission.

Interested in more space science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Clips

Tiny Transformers On Moon
Cold Death Or Big Crunch
"Big If True" Moment
Iceland Astronaut Bootcamp

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 10:00

    [mellow music] 48 teams.

  2. Speaker 20:02

    We want to be one of the soccer powerhouses that people talk about.

  3. Speaker 10:04

    16 cities.

  4. Speaker 30:05

    The joy of the World Cup is that it holds up a mirror to the society that surrounds it.

  5. Speaker 10:10

    One beautiful game.

  6. Speaker 40:11

    I think everyone knows that nothing is like a, a World Cup game.

  7. Speaker 10:15

    The World Cup is here, and we have you covered. Follow along on and off the pitch with the NPR app.

  8. Regina Barber· Host0:21

    [mellow music] [gentle music] You're listening to Short Wave from NPR. Hey, Short Wavers, Regina Barber here, and it's time for my favorite monthly episode, our space news segment, Spacing Out with Gina. We're here today with my space buddy, my partner in Spacing Out crime, All Things Considered host, Scott Detrow. Welcome back to the show, Scott.

  9. Scott Detrow· Guest0:47

    I'm excited to be here. Since we last taped, I now have a giant picture of the moon at my desk, and I love it.

  10. Regina Barber· Host0:53

    Oh, nice.

  11. Speaker 10:53

    You do. I've seen it.

  12. Scott Detrow· Guest0:54

    It's big.

  13. Regina Barber· Host0:55

    And joining us today, Scott, uh, is our producer, Burle McCoy. Burle, welcome to your first Spacing Out with Gina.

  14. Speaker 11:01

    Hey, Gina. Hey, Scott. I'm excited to be here. It sounds like my jam. I'm a big nerd.

  15. Scott Detrow· Guest1:06

    I'm excited. I am excited you're here. Welcome.

  16. Regina Barber· Host1:08

    She is a big nerd because she's the other, like, PhD scientist on Short Wave, so she's gonna feel right at home f- in our nerd space, I think.

  17. Scott Detrow· Guest1:16

    You know- I agree ... I'll just represent all the non-PhD holders out there and do my best.

  18. Regina Barber· Host1:21

    [laughs] [laughs] [laughs] Um, I have a question for both of you, though.

  19. Scott Detrow· Guest1:24

    Yes.

  20. Speaker 11:25

    Okay.

  21. Regina Barber· Host1:25

    Have you seen any of the Transformer movies?

  22. Scott Detrow· Guest1:27

    Of course.

  23. Regina Barber· Host1:28

    I haven't seen any of them.

  24. Scott Detrow· Guest1:29

    Oh.

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