Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates

Today on Astronomy Daily: NASA's Artemis II mission is rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building today after a helium flow issue dashed hopes of a March launch. We cover the latest on what went wrong, what it means for the April window, and what happens next.   We also have five more stories to get through: Perseverance just gained the ability to locate itself on Mars with GPS-like precision — no Earth assistance required. Scientists have published a daring plan to intercept interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using a solar slingshot manoeuvre, with a launch in 2035 and a 50-year journey to follow. China's mysterious Shenlong space plane is back in orbit on its fourth mission, and we still know almost nothing about it. We run through this week's packed launch schedule — including Rocket Lab's hypersonic scramjet test flight happening today, and Firefly Aerospace's return to flight on Friday. And we close with a genuinely beautiful piece of science: researchers have used supercomputers to solve a 50-year-old mystery about how elements move inside red giant stars.   In This Episode 00:00 — Introduction 01:30 — Story 1: Artemis II rollback — the latest 05:30 — Story 2: Perseverance gets GPS on Mars 09:00 — Story 3: The 50-year mission to chase 3I/ATLAS 12:30 — Story 4: China's Shenlong space plane — Mission 4 15:00 — Story 5: This week's launch schedule 17:30 — Story 6: Supercomputers solve the red giant mystery 19:30 — Outro   Find Us Website: astronomydaily.io Social: @AstroDailyPod Network: Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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🚀 Astronomy Daily — Season 5 | Monday, February 23, 2026 NASA rolls back the Artemis 2 moon rocket, Europa's ocean gets a life-friendly upgrade, SpaceX breaks its own booster reuse record, Rocket Lab launches a hypersonic mission TODAY, Mars dust storms reveal how the Red Planet lost its water, and SIX planets are visible in tonight's sky. IN THIS EPISODE: 🌕  Artemis 2 rollback — the crew is released from quarantine and the moon launch is pushed to April 🌊  Europa's hidden ocean may be receiving nutrients from the surface — big news for the search for life 🛸  SpaceX flies two Falcon 9s in one day and sets a new booster reuse record 🔥  Rocket Lab's HASTE hypersonic test rocket launches TODAY from Wallops, Virginia 🌪️  A Mars dust storm was moving water at unexpectedly high rates — new clues to the Red Planet's past 🌟  Six-planet parade peaks this week + the crescent Moon passes through the Pleiades tonight   FOLLOW ASTRONOMY DAILY: 🌐  astronomydaily.io 📱  @AstroDailyPod on all platforms 🎙️  Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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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  

🌐 astronomydaily.io  |  📱 @AstroDailyPod  |  Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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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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