hayabusa 2

On this edition of Talkin' Science. Hayabusa's sample capsule returns to Earth in a triumph for the Japanese Space Agency. December's night skies set to put on a show - with the Geminid meteor shower and the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn coming up.

Hayabusa-2's mission control announced yesterday that they're ready for orbital insertion with just a few days to go until it drops off the sample capsule. Meanwhile new research indicates long term astronauts are at risk of rapid ageing and a quartet of radio telescopes have discovered we're a little closer to the centre of the galaxy.

Adjunct Professor David Flannery is our guest this week as we gear up for the return of Hayabusa-2. With the Japanese mission leading NASA's Osiris-REx and Perseverance Rover as well as China's Changy'e 5, what can samples returned from around the solar system tell us?

Astronomers capture the image of a newborn planet, we bust a couple of myths doing the rounds at the moment and Brad and Matt discuss the upcoming SpaceX launch...