ISS Crew Emergency Evacuation | Mars Mission Dead | Fastest Spinning Asteroid: Your Daily Space Update

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Anna: Hello everyone and welcome to

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Astronomy Daily, the podcast where

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we bring you the latest and greatest from the

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world of space and astronomy. I'm

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Anna and with me is my co host Avery.

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Hey Avery. It's January 9th,

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2026. Hope you're staying warm wherever you

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are.

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Avery: Hey Anna. And hi to all our listeners.

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Yeah, it's chilly out there where I am in the

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northern hemisphere, but I believe our

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listeners down under are expected to

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experiencing very high temperatures today.

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But the news is heating up. Today we've got a

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truly historic storey leading off. One that's

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making waves across the space community. Plus

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lunar viewing tips, starship infrastructure

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upgrades, big shifts in Mars exploration

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plans, a record breaking asteroid spin,

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and a fascinating map of ghostly particles

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streaming through us. We'll spend extra time

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on that first one because it's a milestone.

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Let's jump right in.

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Anna: Absolutely.

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This top storey is unprecedented. For

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the first time in the 25 year history of the

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International Space Station, NASA has ordered

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a controlled medical evacuation, bringing

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home an entire crew early due to a medical

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issue with one astronaut.

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Avery: This involves Crew 11, who launched back in

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August 2025 aboard SpaceX's Dragon

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Endeavour. The four person team, NASA

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commander Mike Fink, veteran of multiple

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flights, pilot Zena Cardman on rookie

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mission JAXA's Kimiya Yui and

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Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.

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They're a multinational crew, highlighting

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the international partnership.

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Anna: The issue arose earlier this week on January

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7, with one unidentified crew member

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experiencing a medical situation in

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microgravity. NASA emphasises the

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astronaut is absolutely stable and the crew

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provided immediate care using onboard

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equipment, which is advanced but limited

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compared to a full hospital.

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Avery: Details are private for good reason, HIPAA

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and all that. But NASA Chief Medical Officer

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Dr. J.D. polk noted it's unrelated

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to station operations or upcoming tasks.

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The key factor, while stable now, there

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could be lingering risks if they stay in

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orbit longer and full diagnosis or

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treatment isn't possible up there.

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Anna: After consultations, administrator Jared

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Isaacman made the call err on the side

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of caution and returned the whole Crew 11

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team in the coming days. They' dock

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soon. Exact schedule coming within 48 hours.

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Splashdown off California with SpaceX

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recovery ships ready.

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Avery: Why the whole crew? They share one Dragon as

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their lifeboat. No splitting up. This leaves

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the ISS with just three people temporarily,

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NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian

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cosmonauts. They'll handle basics, defer

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some science and no spacewalks possible until

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Crew 12 arrives. Maybe accelerated to

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next month.

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Anna: It's certainly historic. NASA's first

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medical early return ever. There was A

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Soviet case in 1985 on Salyut

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7, but nothing like this for the ISS

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era. Past issues like a blood clot in

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2019 or pinched nerve in 2021

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were managed on board without evacuation.

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Avery: This shows how far we've come in crew health

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management, but also the limits of long

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duration spaceflight. It's a learning moment

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for Artemis, lunar stays and eventual Mars

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missions. How do we hand unexpected health

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events far from Earth?

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Anna: Totally. NASA stressed crew safety

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as priority one and the quick response

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highlights training. We'll keep an eye on

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updates. Safe return wishes to Crew 11.

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Avery: Okay, moving to something more serene.

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The February full moon is coming up soon.

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Known as the snow moon.

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Anna: Peak illumination at 5:09pm

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Eastern on February 1st. Look

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east at sunset for that classic big

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orange tinted rise. Due to the moon illusion

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and atmospheric scattering, it'll be near

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Cancer stars. Easy naked eye spot.

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Avery: Traditional names reflect winter in the

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northern hemisphere. Snow moon for heavy

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snowfall. Hungary or Bear moon in some

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indigenous cultures. In India,

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Magapornima with rituals

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on February 2nd it occults regulus for

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parts of North America and Africa.

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Incidentally, you will be able to see this in

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the southern hemisphere as well, with best

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date in Sydney for instance forecasted to be

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on February 2, the same day as Beijing

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and Tokyo.

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Anna: Great for photos, tripod, long lens

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for details or wide for landscapes.

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No special super status but always

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magical up.

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Avery: Uh, Next Updates from Starbase

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SpaceX is future proofing Pad 1's tower and

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launch mount for Starship Block 3.

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Anna: Pad 1 had supported early Block 2

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flights but is now offline for major

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rework. Demolishing the old mount,

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adding a flame bucket with powerful water

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deluge, nitrogen inerting to prevent

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fires and reinforced structures.

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Avery: Upgrades include better quick disconnects for

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propellants, shortened chopsticks for heavier

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lifts. Goal is rapid reusability,

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minimal refurb between launches. Handling

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33 Raptors power.

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Anna: This mirrors Pad 2 improvements

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enabling frequent flights which are crucial

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for Starship's goals.

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Avery: Next, let's shift our gaze to Mars.

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NASA's ambitious Mars sample Return

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mission is effectively dead, opening the

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door wider for China.

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Anna: Budget cuts slashed funding. Original

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$11 billion ballooned.

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Redesigned to around 7 billion, but it was

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still too complex. Perseverance is caches

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lander fetch, rover or helicopters ascent,

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uh, rocket orbital rendezvous. It was

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a lot.

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Avery: Congress prioritised other spending, so there

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was only $110 million left for tech

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development. This disrupts the ESA

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partnership too. Perseverance's 33 tubes

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stay on Mars, stable in cold dryness for

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potential future grab.

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Anna: Meanwhile, China's plans advance simpler

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opportunistic sampling. They could be first

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to return Martian rocks, which will be huge

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for science.

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Avery: A bitter pill for NASA after all their

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planning. But it does redirect resources

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elsewhere, so there is that.

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Anna: Let's move on now to asteroid hunting. The

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Vera Rubin Observatory has spotted the

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fastest spinning large asteroid ever

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discovered.

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Avery: This huge rock rotates in an insanely quick

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period under the theoretical rubble pile

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limit, yet holds together, likely

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monolithic or strong. Internally, this

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discovery highlights Vera Rubin's power and

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importance for locating near Earth objects.

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Anna: There are implications for deflection

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strategies, as spin affects how we nudge

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threats if needed.

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Avery: Okay, moving on. Finally today,

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those billions of ghost particles, neutrinos,

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streaming through you every second. You were

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aware of them, weren't you? Of course. Well,

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we now have a map of where many of them come

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from.

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Anna: New models using Gaia star data show

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stellar neutrinos from nuclear fusion in

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massive young stars across the Milky Way.

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Although denser toward galactic centre,

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detected via.

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Avery: Giant Antarctic instruments catching rare

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interactions. This first comprehensive

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stellar neutrino map filters solar noise,

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probes, core processes, and has led to

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potential new physics.

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Anna: Wild, invisible messengers from our

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galaxy's heart.

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Avery: And that's a wrap for today.

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From ISS drama to neutrino maps.

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What a day in space news.

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Anna: Thanks for joining us. Subscribe, share and

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we'll be back tomorrow. And if you'd like to

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keep up with the evacuation storey unfolding

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on the iss, just visit our website and cheque

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out our constantly updating news feed. You'll

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find us at astronomydaily.IO

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Clear skies, everyone. And one final

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reminder to keep looking up. Bye.