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Episode: S05E112 — Tuesday, 26 May 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery Network: Bitesz.com Podcast Network Website: astronomydaily.io | Social: @AstroDailyPod Story Summaries 1. NASA Unveils Ambitious Moon Base Plan As this episode was recorded, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman was preparing to announce a landmark plan for a permanent human outpost at the lunar south pole by 2036. The programme carries a price tag of approximately $30 billion across a seven-year foundational phase, relies on nuclear power systems, leverages lunar water ice for fuel and life support, and effectively retires the Gateway orbital station concept. Commercial partners will supply rovers and habitat modules. Phase one targets around two dozen lunar launches, including Artemis IV, by 2028. Full details will be covered in tomorrow's episode. 2. Starship V3 Flight 12 — Engine Drama, Historic Debut SpaceX launched the first Starship V3 rocket on Friday, 22 May 2026, from brand-new Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. Ship 39 reached space and completed a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean despite losing one of its six vacuum Raptor engines during ascent. The flight computer compensated by extending burns on the remaining five. The Super Heavy booster was lost in the Gulf of Mexico after a failed boostback burn. The FAA has opened a review. SpaceX declared most pre-planned test objectives met. 3. JWST Maps First Daily Weather Cycle on a Distant World Published in Science on 21 May 2026. Researchers from Johns Hopkins and Arizona State Universities used Webb's NIRISS instrument to observe WASP-94Ab — a hot Jupiter 690 light-years away — and detected the first daily cloud cycle ever recorded on another planet. Thick magnesium silicate clouds form each morning, then completely clear by evening. The finding also corrected a decade of skewed atmospheric composition data. 4. NASA's Fermi Telescope Solves 20-Year Supernova Mystery An international team led by Fabio Acero used NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to confirm the first definitive gamma-ray detection from a superluminous supernova — SN 2017egm. The data confirms a newly formed magnetar as the power source behind these extraordinarily bright explosions. Published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2026. 5. Most Rocky Exoplanets May Lack Earth-Like Metallic Cores A new paper submitted to the Astrophysical Journal challenges the long-held assumption that dense metallic cores are standard features of rocky planets. Researchers argue that most rocky exoplanets may have formed without Earth-style metallic cores — meaning no global magnetic field, with significant implications for atmospheric retention and habitability. 6. The Soviet Rover That Went Silent — and Came Back Lunokhod 1 was the world's first remote-controlled rover on another world (1970). After traversing 10.5 km of Mare Imbrium, contact was lost in 1971. For nearly 40 years its exact position was unknown — until NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter identified it in 2010. The APOLLO project then fired laser pulses and received ~2,000 photons back from its French-built retroreflector — four times stronger than expected. It remains an active contributor to lunar science today. Sources & Further Reading • NASA Moon Base announcement: nasa.gov/2026-news-releases • Starship Flight 12 updates: space.com • WASP-94Ab paper: Science, 21 May 2026 — DOI via Johns Hopkins Hub • Fermi supernova paper: Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2026 — DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558547 • Exoplanet cores paper: submitted to Astrophysical Journal, May 2026Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

China launches three astronauts to Tiangong — including Hong Kong's first-ever taikonaut — on a mission that breaks multiple records. NASA's Psyche probe delivers breathtaking imagery from its Mars flyby. A bizarre 19-day solar radio burst finally gets an explanation. Scientists zero in on the source of the most powerful neutrino ever detected. Two dead stars orbit each other in less than nine minutes. And researchers propose using fungi to turn Martian soil into farmland. It's a big Monday on Astronomy Daily.Story Timestamps• 00:00 — Intro • 02:10 — Story 1: Shenzhou-23 Launches with Historic Crew • 08:45 — Story 2: NASA Psyche's Stunning Mars Flyby Images • 14:20 — Story 3: Record-Breaking 19-Day Solar Radio Burst Explained • 20:30 — Story 4: Source of Most Powerful Neutrino Ever Detected • 26:15 — Story 5: White Dwarf Devouring Its Companion in 8.5-Minute Orbit • 32:00 — Story 6: Mars Fungi Could Fertilise Red Planet Regolith • 37:30 — OutroStory Sources & LinksStory 1: Shenzhou-23 Mission — NPR / Space.com / CGTN (May 24, 2026) Story 2: NASA Psyche Mars Flyby — NASA JPL / Engadget (May 23, 2026) Story 3: 19-Day Solar Radio Burst — Astrophysical Journal Letters / Gizmodo (May 19-22, 2026) Story 4: Neutrino Source — Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics / ScienceDaily (May 24, 2026) Story 5: White Dwarf Binary — The Astrophysical Journal / Phys.org (May 23, 2026) Story 6: Mars Fungi — Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences / Universe Today (May 23, 2026)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:You've heard us talking about them now it's time to check out the special money saving deal from our sponsor NordVPN. CLICK HEREYour weekly roundup of the biggest stories from across the cosmos — two fresh stories plus the best of the past seven days from Astronomy Daily. In This Episode • Starship V3 Flight 12: SpaceX launches its redesigned megarocket for the first time — an historic milestone with some drama along the way • New Glenn Cleared to Fly: Blue Origin completes its NG-3 failure investigation — the FAA approves the report and the rocket is back in action • First Direct Image of the Cosmic Web: A 3-million-light-year filament photographed in unprecedented detail by ESO's Very Large Telescope • Dark Matter Fingerprint? MIT researchers find a gravitational wave signal that may carry the first direct imprint of dark matter • Roman Space Telescope: NASA's next great observatory is targeting September 2026 launch — eight months ahead of schedule • AI Space Chip: NASA tests a radiation-hardened chip that could give future spacecraft genuine autonomous decision-making Story Sources & Further Reading Starship V3 / Flight 12: Space.com, Universe Today, Spaceflight Now, Next Spaceflight New Glenn / Blue Origin: SpaceNews (May 22, 2026), Space.com, TechCrunch Cosmic Web Image: Nature Astronomy — Tornotti et al.; ESO/VLT press release; Mirage News (May 16, 2026) Dark Matter / Gravitational Waves: Physical Review Letters — Aurrekoetxea et al.; ScienceDaily, Universe Today (May 19, 2026) Roman Space Telescope: NASA.gov, Scientific American, ScienceDaily (May 18, 2026) NASA AI Space Chip: ScienceDaily, NASA (May 15, 2026) About Astronomy Daily Astronomy Daily delivers the latest space and astronomy news every weekday, plus a Weekend Wrap on Saturdays. Hosted by Anna and Avery, and produced by the Bitesz.com Podcast Network. Website: astronomydaily.io | Social: @AstroDailyPodBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:To check out our special money saving deal and upgrade your online security with NordVPN - Click HereSpaceX came agonisingly close to launching the most powerful rocket ever built in its newest configuration — but a technical halt at T-minus 40 seconds sent Starship V3's debut back to the drawing board, with another attempt window opening this evening (6:30–8:00 p.m. EDT). Anna and Avery dig into what went wrong, what makes V3 different, and the stunning announcement buried in the webcast: a named commander for humanity's first crewed Mars flyby mission. Plus: JWST rewrites exoplanet atmospheric science with unexpected ice clouds on a distant super-Jupiter, researchers map a mysterious magnetic 'flip' inside the Milky Way, and Rocket Lab launches from New Zealand.Links & Further Reading • Starship Flight 12 live updates: space.com • SpaceX launch webcast (tonight): spacex.com • Chun Wang Mars announcement: universetoday.com • JWST Epsilon Indi Ab paper (ApJL): doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae5823 • Milky Way magnetic field study (ApJ): doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae28d1 • Rocket Lab Viva La Strix mission: rocketlabusa.com • Astronomy Daily website: astronomydaily.ioBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:To secure your online life and save money into the bargain, check out our NordVPN offer - Click HereStarship V3 is on the pad and tonight's the night — Flight 12 launches the most powerful rocket ever built. Plus: Webb solves a decades-old Neptune mystery, why space debris is quietly corrupting climate science, new doubts cast on DESI's dark energy results, a smarter route to the Moon, and why the galaxy may be full of hellish Venus-twins rather than Earths. All that on Astronomy Daily for Thursday, May 21, 2026.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:To check out our great NordVPN money saving deal - Click HereAstronomy Daily • S05E107 • Wednesday 21 May 2026 Starship V3 is on the pad and counting down for Thursday's debut launch — we bring you the full update including technical objectives, the Artemis stakes, and a sober note about a worker fatality at Starbase. Plus: a NIST proposal to build GPS for the Moon using lasers inside permanently frozen polar craters; space station startup Vast enters the satellite market; JWST finally has an explanation for the universe's impossibly large early black holes; the Roman Space Telescope locks in a September 2026 launch; and interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS gives up two remarkable new secrets — alien water thirty times richer in heavy hydrogen than anything in our solar system, and pre-discovery images that show it was spotted before anyone knew it was there. Stories This Episode • STORY 1 — Starship V3 Flight 12: Launch window opens Thursday 21 May at 6:30 PM EDT (8:30 AM AEST Friday 22 May). Splashdown of upper stage in Indian Ocean off Western Australia ~65 min after liftoff. First flight of Starship V3, first use of Starbase Pad 2. Key objectives: Raptor 3 engines, heat shield imaging by modified Starlink sats, 22 dummy Starlink deployments, Raptor relight in space. Worker fatality at Starbase 15 May under OSHA investigation. • STORY 2 — Lunar GPS via NIST: Proposal to place ultrastable silicon optical cavity lasers in permanently shadowed craters near lunar south pole (~16K, near-perfect vacuum). Could enable lunar GPS network, atomic timekeeping on Moon, precise satellite ranging, gravitational wave detection. • STORY 3 — Vast Corporation: Space station builder announces new line of high-power satellites, expanding beyond Haven-1 into commercial satellite manufacturing. Announced 19 May 2026. • STORY 4 — JWST Black Holes: New arXiv paper proposes 'episodic super-Eddington accretion' in gas-rich dark matter-dominated early galaxies explains overmassive black holes found by JWST. Identifies them as 'missing link' between heavy seeds and luminous quasars. • STORY 5 — Roman Space Telescope: Launch now confirmed as early as September 2026 — 8 months ahead of schedule, under budget. 100x Hubble's field of view, 1,000x survey speed. Targets dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets. Coronagraph for direct exoplanet imaging. • STORY 6 — 3I/ATLAS: Pre-discovery images found in Rubin Observatory data from 21 June–2 July 2025, over a week before official ATLAS discovery. Water deuterium ratio at least 30x higher than any solar system comet (ALMA/U of Michigan/Nature Astronomy). Comet estimated ~12 billion years old. Key Links • SpaceX Starship Flight 12 livestream: spacex.com • Flight 12 timeline (Space.com): space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/what-time-is-spacex-starship-v3-launch-starship-flight-12-timeline • Starbase worker death (Space.com): space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/worker-dies-at-spacexs-starbase-in-leadup-to-starship-v3-megarocket-launch • Lunar laser GPS (NIST): nist.gov/news-events/news/2026/05/shooting-moon-ultrastable-lasers-dark-craters-could-enable-lunar-navigation • Vast satellite announcement: space.com (19 May 2026) • Roman Space Telescope launch update: nasa.gov • 3I/ATLAS pre-discovery images: space.com/astronomy/comets • 3I/ATLAS water chemistry (ALMA): almaobservatory.orgBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:To get our special money saving deal from NordVPN - Click Here A launch day episode packed with big science and bigger rockets. Today we cover the real-time launch of the ESA/China SMILE space weather satellite, SpaceX's Starship V3 sitting on its brand-new pad (and why it's now heading for Thursday), a UCL study warning that megaconstellation launches may be accidentally conducting an 'unregulated geoengineering experiment' in our upper atmosphere, the world's first space-based neutrino detector operating in orbit, extraordinary evidence in Antarctic ice that Earth is collecting material from a dead star, and a clever new cosmic mapper called TIME that studies the ancient universe using a single spectral line.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:To grab our special money saving NordVPN deal - Click HereIn today’s episode, Anna and Avery cover a blue whale-sized asteroid making a close pass of Earth today, the imminent debut of SpaceX’s most powerful rocket yet, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft successfully completing its Mars gravity assist, fresh science arriving at the ISS, a new physics paper challenging the simulation hypothesis at its foundations, and Congress pushing back hard against proposed cuts to NASA’s science budget. Story 1 — Asteroid 2026 JH2 Newly discovered asteroid 2026 JH2 (first spotted 10 May 2026) makes a close Earth flyby today at ~90,000 km — within the orbital radius of many satellites. Estimated size: up to ~35 metres (blue whale-sized). Zero impact risk confirmed. Observable with binoculars at peak magnitude ~11.5. Live stream available via the Virtual Telescope Project. Orbital period: 3.7 years between Earth and Jupiter. Story 2 — Starship V3 / Flight 12 SpaceX targets May 19, 2026 for the debut of Starship Version 3 (Flight 12) from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. Launch window opens 6:30 PM EDT. Key upgrades: Raptor 3 engines (250 tf SL thrust, up from 230 tf), three larger grid fins, new integrated hot-stage design, updated propellant systems. No tower catch on this flight; booster splashes in Gulf of Mexico. Upper stage (Ship 39) targets Indian Ocean after 65 minutes. Payload: 22 Starlink simulator satellites. Critical step toward Artemis lunar landings. Story 3 — NASA Psyche Mars Flyby On 15 May 2026 at 3:28 PM EDT, Psyche completed its Mars gravity assist at 4,500 km altitude travelling at 12,333 mph. Passed inside the orbits of both Martian moons. Confirmed by Doppler shift monitoring. Mission: en route to metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche (arrival July 2029). Thousands of Mars observations gathered for science calibration. Story 4 — SpaceX CRS-34 SpaceX’s 34th Dragon cargo mission docked at ISS at 6:37 AM EDT on 17 May 2026, delivering ~6,500 lb of cargo for Expedition 74. Science payloads include: microgravity simulator validation study, wood-based bone scaffold (osteoporosis research), red blood cell/spleen spaceflight study. Dragon will return to Earth mid-June splashing down off California coast. Story 5 — Simulation Hypothesis Paper Paper: ‘Non-algorithmic physics and the limits of the simulation hypothesis’, published in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics. Authors: Mir Faizal (UBC Okanagan), Lawrence Krauss, Arshid Shabir, Francesco Marino. Core argument: using Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, the team argues any theory of quantum gravity would be non-algorithmic — containing truths no computation can capture. Since any simulation requires algorithms, reality cannot be fully simulated. Note: this is a theoretical paper, not an experimental result. The authors acknowledge no complete quantum gravity theory currently exists. Story 6 — NASA FY2027 Budget House Appropriations Committee approved $24.438 billion for NASA in FY2027 — matching FY2026 and rejecting the White House’s proposed $18.8 billion (a 23% cut). The proposal would have cut the Science Mission Directorate by 46%, terminating 50+ missions. Committee protects science, Habitable Worlds Observatory, and STEM education funding. Bill still needs Senate passage and reconciliation. Skywatching TONIGHT — Moon-Venus conjunction: look west after sunset for the crescent Moon close to brilliant Venus. Earthshine visible on dark lunar limb. Southern Hemisphere: look west-northwest, best in first hour after sunset. Blue Moon on 31 May (second full Moon of the month). Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:To get the deatils of our money saving NordVPN deal - Click HereIt's the Astronomy Daily Weekend Space and Astronomy News Wrap — your Saturday deep dive into the biggest stories from across the week, plus two brand-new headlines and a bonus story we just couldn't leave out. This week on Astronomy Daily: • NASA's Psyche spacecraft executed its Mars gravity assist flyby yesterday — slingshotting past the Red Planet at 12,000 mph on its way to a $10 quadrillion metal-rich asteroid • SpaceX launched the record-breaking CRS-34 Dragon mission to the ISS Friday night — with docking happening TODAY (Sunday May 17) • James Webb Space Telescope maps the cosmic web in unprecedented detail — 164,000 galaxies, 13.7 billion years of history • Hubble reveals 'Dracula's Chivito' — the largest, most chaotic planet nursery ever seen, 1,000 light-years from Earth • Starship Version 3 is on the pad — debut launch targeting Tuesday May 19 from the new Launch Pad 2 at Starbase • Comet R3 PanSTARRS is in Southern Hemisphere skies NOW — and tonight is New Moon. Your last chance for 170,000 years • WEEKEND BONUS: NASA's Curiosity rover drilled into a rock on Mars — and the rock wouldn't let go Find us at astronomydaily.io | Follow @AstroDailyPod | Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network YouTube Show Notes Title: Mars Slingshot! Cosmic Web Mapped! Starship V3 Launch SOON! Weekend Space News Wrap | Today's Space News In this weekend edition of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover seven stories — two fresh headlines, four of the biggest stories from the past week, and a bonus story that's pure gold. It's been one of the best weeks in space in 2026. CHAPTERS: 1. 00:00 — Cold Open & Weekend Wrap Introduction 2. 01:30 — FRESH: NASA Psyche Spacecraft's Mars Gravity Assist 3. 04:00 — FRESH: SpaceX CRS-34 Dragon Launch to the ISS 4. 06:00 — WEEKLY WRAP: JWST Maps the Cosmic Web 5. 08:30 — WEEKLY WRAP: Hubble's 'Dracula's Chivito' Planet Nursery 6. 11:00 — WEEKLY WRAP: Starship V3 — Launch This Tuesday! 7. 13:00 — WEEKLY WRAP: Comet R3 PanSTARRS — Skywatching Now 8. 15:00 — WEEKEND BONUS: Curiosity Rover's Sticky Rock 9. 16:30 — Outro & Credits Subscribe for daily space and astronomy news | astronomydaily.io | @AstroDailyPod | Bitesz.com Podcast NetworkBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

Sponsor Link:To check out the fabulous money saving deal from NordVPN - Click Here!It's happening right now — NASA's Psyche spacecraft is executing a close Mars flyby at over 12,000 mph, using the Red Planet's gravity to slingshot toward a metallic asteroid. We've got live coverage of this extraordinary moment, plus the landmark results of a decade-long SETI search across 70,000 stars, Perseverance reaching the oldest Martian terrain ever explored, Hubble paving the way for the Roman Space Telescope launching this September, AI making supernova distance measurements four times more precise, and the James Webb Space Telescope finding a galaxy in the early universe that simply doesn't spin. All that and your southern hemisphere skywatching guide — on Astronomy Daily, Season 5, Episode 103. Chapter Timestamps 00:00: Cold Open — Psyche Mars Flyby Teaser 00:45: Introduction & Episode Overview 01:15: Story 1: Psyche's Mars Flyby — It's Happening Right Now 04:45: Story 2: UCLA SETI — 10 Years, 70,000 Stars, Zero Aliens Yet 08:45: Story 3: Perseverance Reaches Mars' Oldest Terrain 13:15: Mid-Roll Break 14:15: Story 4: Hubble Paves the Way for the Roman Space Telescope 17:45: Story 5: AI Makes Supernova Distances Four Times More Precise 21:15: Story 6: Webb Finds a Non-Spinning Galaxy From the Early Universe 24:45: Skywatching — Southern Hemisphere Highlights 26:15: Trivia Teaser 25:45: Outro & Sign-off Links & References • NASA Psyche Mission: science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche • UCLA SETI Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2605.05408 • Perseverance Rover Updates: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 • Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: roman.gsfc.nasa.gov • Astronomy Daily: astronomydaily.io • Follow us: @AstroDailyPodBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.