Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates

Astronomy Daily — Season 5, Episode 45 | February 21, 2026 "Countdown to the Moon: Artemis II Crew in Quarantine" The Artemis II crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch (NASA), and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen (CSA) — have officially entered quarantine ahead of a targeted March 6, 2026 launch. With the second Wet Dress Rehearsal completed successfully on February 19th, humanity is just two weeks away from returning to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Anna and Avery break down everything you need to know about this historic mission. Also on today's episode: •  DARK MATTER UNDER PRESSURE: A new paper in Physical Review D claims its findings represent the first step toward the end of dark matter theory as we know it — researchers have found a plethora of baryonic (ordinary) dark matter signals that challenge the standard cosmological model. •  AURORA WATCH: A large coronal hole on the Sun has rotated into a geoeffective position, with fast solar wind expected to reach Earth around February 22nd. Skywatchers at higher latitudes should keep their eyes on the skies tomorrow night. •  MARS WATER UPDATE: New research suggests water ice on Mars may be accessible far closer to the equator than previously believed — a game-changing development for future human exploration of the Red Planet. •  SERIAL KILLER BLACK HOLES: Astronomers using James Webb Space Telescope data have confirmed that active supermassive black holes don't just shut down star formation in their own galaxies — they can suppress star formation in neighbouring galaxies too. •  SPACEX NEAR MISS: SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 booster in The Bahamas for only the second time ever after launching 29 Starlink satellites — but someone at SpaceX admitted they 'almost did have a really terrible day.' Full show notes and episode sources available at astronomydaily.io Follow us: @AstroDailyPod on all platforms Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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S05E44 | Friday, February 20, 2026   It's a big one today! We cover EIGHT stories including breaking news from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a damning independent report into the Boeing Starliner crisis, two astonishing dark matter discoveries, the first ancient Jellyfish Galaxy, SpaceX rocket pollution science, and a cosmic farewell to a comet we'll never see again. Plus — yes — we briefly and responsibly address the UFO/UAP conversation.   Stories in this episode: •       Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal — Did NASA just clear the path to a March 6 launch? •       Starliner Independent Report — NASA says 'we failed them' as Type A mishap is confirmed •       UAP Files — Trump hints at declassification: should we get excited? •       Hubble finds CDG-2: the most dark matter-dominated galaxy ever discovered •       Jellyfish Galaxy spotted 5 billion years after the Big Bang — earlier than thought possible •       First real-time observation of SpaceX rocket re-entry pollution cloud •       First confirmed dark galaxy — a structure with no stars at all •       Comet Wierzchoś at closest approach today — and it's never coming back  

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S05E43 | February 19, 2026 🚀 Artemis Fuels Up LIVE | Pulsar at Our Galaxy's Heart | Universe's Fate Revealed | City Killer Asteroids | Mercury Tonight! It's a big one today — and we mean that literally. As we record, NASA is fuelling its Artemis II Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in a make-or-break second wet dress rehearsal. But that's just the start. We've also got a cosmic discovery that could let us test Einstein's theories like never before, new data suggesting the universe will end in a 'Big Crunch', a sobering warning about thousands of undetected city-killing asteroids, a perfect night to spot Mercury, and a music video filmed in orbit. Welcome to Astronomy Daily.   IN THIS EPISODE: •     🚀 Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal: NASA loads 700,000+ gallons of cryogenic propellant in its second fuelling test — critical step toward a March 6 crewed launch around the Moon •     🌌 Pulsar Near Sagittarius A*: Columbia University & Breakthrough Listen detect a candidate millisecond pulsar spinning at 8.19ms next to our galaxy's supermassive black hole — a potential new test of General Relativity •     💥 Big Crunch Theory: Cornell physicist Henry Tye uses fresh DESI and DES dark energy data to calculate the universe has a ~33 billion year total lifespan — challenging the 'Big Freeze' consensus •     ☄️ City Killer Asteroids: NASA's Planetary Defense Officer warns 25,000 mid-sized asteroids capable of devastating cities orbit near Earth — and we've only found 40% of them •     🔭 Mercury Tonight: The innermost planet reaches greatest eastern elongation — your best evening viewing chance of 2026. Look west after sunset! •     🎵 Space Music Video: China's Shenzhou 21 crew celebrate the Year of the Horse with a music video filmed aboard Tiangong Space Station   Follow NASA's Artemis II live stream at nasa.gov | Follow us @AstroDailyPod

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Episode: S05E42 — Wednesday, February 18, 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery Network: Bitesz.com Podcast Network   In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover six unmissable stories from across the cosmos. Here's what we're talking about in S05E42:   1. Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal Round Two NASA begins fuelling the SLS moon rocket tomorrow (Feb 19) for a second critical practice countdown. Engineers have replaced two seals and a filter after hydrogen leaks forced the February launch window to be abandoned. A clean test is required before NASA will commit to a launch date — currently no earlier than March 6. The four-person crew includes Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, each of whom will make history on the flight. 2. Moon Occults Mercury Tonight — Plus a Ganymede Transit Tonight, February 18, a thin crescent Moon passes so close to Mercury that observers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia will see the Moon hide Mercury in a rare occultation. For everyone else, a stunning close conjunction is visible in the western sky just after sunset. Simultaneously, Jupiter's moon Ganymede transits the gas giant's face through the night. Two events, one evening. 3. Ariane 6 Launches Amazon Kuiper Satellites Europe's most powerful Ariane 6 configuration successfully launched 32 satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband constellation today — a direct competitor to SpaceX's Starlink. The launch highlights both the commercial ambitions of Amazon's internet satellite programme and the ongoing resurgence of European launch capability. 4. 3I/ATLAS Update: JUICE Data Downlinking Now ESA's JUICE spacecraft is currently transmitting data it collected on interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS back to Earth — the downlink window runs February 18–20. If successful, this would be the closest-ever spacecraft observations of an interstellar object. Meanwhile, 3I/ATLAS heads toward a close Jupiter flyby in March that may trigger fresh outbursts. 5. How Titan Formed — And Why Saturn Has Rings New research from the SETI Institute proposes a single ancient catastrophe that explains multiple Saturn mysteries at once: a moon called proto-Hyperion collided with proto-Titan about 400 million years ago. The merger debris re-accreted into Saturn's inner moons and left behind the iconic ring system. The hypothesis also explains Saturn's unusual axial tilt, Iapetus's orbital inclination, and the surprising youth of Titan's surface. 6. Russia's 30-Day Mars Engine Rosatom's Troitsk Institute is ground-testing a nuclear-powered magnetoplasma engine that its developers claim could reach Mars in 30 days — compared to 8 months for chemical rockets. With a plasma exhaust velocity of 100 km/s, the system is part of a global race toward deep-space plasma propulsion also being pursued by NASA's VASIMR programme and Chinese researchers. A flight prototype is targeted for 2030.   
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Astronomy Daily — S05E41 | Tuesday 17 February 2026 Ring of Fire, Farewell Comet, and the Smell of Rotten Eggs in Space   Two celestial events happen TODAY — an annular solar eclipse transforms the Antarctic Sun into a ring of fire, and a rare hyperbolic comet makes its closest pass to Earth before leaving the solar system forever. Plus, JWST uses the smell of rotten eggs to solve a major exoplanet mystery, NASA performs a CT scan on the northern lights, a startup plans to fuel rockets with water, and we preview why 2026 is the dawn of a golden age of eclipses.   In This Episode: •      Ring of Fire solar eclipse over Antarctica — happening today, February 17, with up to 96% of the Sun covered and a 616km-wide path of annularity •      Comet Wierzchoś (C/2024 E1) makes its closest approach to Earth today at 151 million km — a one-way trip out of the solar system, never to return •      JWST detects hydrogen sulfide in giant exoplanets orbiting HR 8799, proving they formed like planets, not brown dwarfs — published in Nature Astronomy •      NASA’s BADASS and GNEISS twin rocket missions launch from Alaska to “CT scan” the electrical circuitry of the aurora •      General Galactic, led by ex-SpaceX engineer Halen Mattison, reveals plan to make rocket fuel from water — satellite test in October 2026 •      2026: A golden age of eclipses begins — total lunar eclipse March 3, total solar eclipse over Europe August 12, and much more ahead   Hosted by: Anna & Avery Produced by: Huw at Bitesz.com Website: astronomydaily.io Social: @AstroDailyPod across all platforms Network: Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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