NASA's Historic Artemis 3 Crew, Early Launch for Roman Telescope, and a Solar Storm Spectacle

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Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.

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I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm, um, Avery. You're listening to

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season five, episode 115. And our

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team has lined up quite a Tuesday for us

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today.

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Anna: They really have. We've got a historic

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crew announcement from NASA, a brand new

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launch date for the most powerful Wide Field

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telescope ever built, A solar storm

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that put on a light show over much of the

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Northern Hemisphere, a space station

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emergency and and more.

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Avery: And we'll close out with the rocket comeback

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story that's happening right now tonight as

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we record this. So stay with us all the way

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to the end.

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Anna: This is Astronomy Daily. Let's get into it.

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Avery: Our lead story today is breaking news and

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it's big. Earlier this morning at

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11:00am, um, Eastern Time, NASA held a

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live event at Johnson Space center in Houston

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and officially announced the four person crew

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for Artemis 3.

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Anna: Now, some of our listeners might be

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wondering, Artemis 3, isn't that the

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moon landing? And the answer is it was

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and then it wasn't. And now the crew is

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finally official.

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Avery: Let me explain what Artemis 3 actually is

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now. Back in February this year, NASA

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Administrator Jared Isaacman made a big

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announcement. Artemis 3 would no longer be

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the mission to land humans on the moon.

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Instead, it's been redesignated as a low

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Earth orbit docking demonstration.

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Anna: Think of it as NASA's version of Apollo 9.

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In 1969, before Apollo 11

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landed on the moon, NASA sent Apollo 9

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to test the lunar module in Earth orbit,

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practicing every rendezvous and docking

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maneuver they'd need. Artemis 3 is doing

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exactly the same thing half a century

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later.

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Avery: This is critical work. You cannot send

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astronauts to dock with the lander on the

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moon if you haven't proven those docking

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systems were closer to home first. The

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Artemis program takes no shortcuts.

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Anna: So who's going? That's the big news from

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this morning. The crew names were officially

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unveiled during the Johnson Space center

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broadcast just hours ago. As we record this

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episode, full details are on NASA's website

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and we'll link everything in the show notes.

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Avery: What we can say is that NASA has been looking

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for astronauts with exceptional spacewalk

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experience, piloting skills, and hands on

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time with Artemis hardware. The crew of

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Artemis II, which splashed down in the

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Pacific on April 10, demonstrated those

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qualities spectacularly. And today's

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announcement sets the stage for what comes

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next.

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Anna: And what comes Next after Artemis 3 is

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Artemis 4, which has now become the mission

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carrying the first human boots back on lunar

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soil since Apollo 17 in

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December 1972 that is

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currently targeted for early 2028.

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Avery: So today is a Milestone day. A crew has

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a name. The next chapter of human space

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exploration has faces on it.

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Anna: History in the making. We'll have full crew

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coverage and follow up in tomorrow's episode

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as the world reacts.

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Avery: Our second story comes with a launch date.

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And it's sooner than almost anyone expected.

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NASA has officially set August 30,

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2026 as the launch date for the Nancy Grace

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Roman Space Telescope.

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Anna: That is eight months ahead of the agency's

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previous commitment to flying no later than

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May 2027. This is a genuine

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success story in a program that has had its

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share of delays and budget pressures over the

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years.

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Avery: So what is Roman and why are astronomers so

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excited? The Roman Space Telescope is a

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wide field infrared observatory, and its

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defining feature is sheer width. Its

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Wide field instrument has a field of view at

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least 100 times larger than the Hubble Space

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Telescope. 100 times. That

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is not a small difference. Where Hubble peers

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deep into tiny slivers of sky, Roman

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will sweep vast areas in a fraction of the

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time. It's been designed to image

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approximately 1 billion galaxies over its

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primary five year mission, with a possible

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five year extension after that.

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Anna: Its primary scientific targets are dark

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energy, dark matter and exoplanets.

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On the exoplanet side, Roman will conduct a

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gravitational microlensing survey expected

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to discover more than a thousand new

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worldsplanets that would be completely

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invisible to any other current telescope.

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Avery: Engineers are currently packing Roman at

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight center in

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Maryland, ready for shipment down to Kennedy

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Space center in Florida. Once there, it'll

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move into the Payload Hazardous Servicing

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Facility for a thorough inspection, power

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testing, launch rehearsals, and the loading

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of about 290 gallons of

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hydrazine propellant.

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Anna: It will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from

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Kennedy. Given Falcon Heavy's track record

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and the level of preparation the Roman team

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has put in, the space community is feeling

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genuinely optimistic.

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Avery: And this is an important distinction from

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Webb, which we talk about often. Webb looks

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deep but narrow. Roman will survey

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wide and fast. The two telescopes are

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complementary. Roman will identify

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extraordinary targets that Webb can then

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follow up on in painstaking detail.

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Anna: Think of it as Roman casting the net and

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Webb examining what's in it. Together, they

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are the most powerful pair of space

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observatories humanity has ever operated

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simultaneously.

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Avery: August 30th is the date. Mark your calendars

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from the far future

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Anna: to the very recent past.

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Our third story is about what the sun did to

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us this week. And the answer is it threw a

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cannibal at us.

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Avery: A cannibal. Coronal mass ejection to be

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precise. And yes, that is the actual

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scientific term. Let us explain.

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Anna: It started with an M M class solar flare from

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active sunspot region

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AR4461. On June 6,

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that flare launched a coronal mass ejection,

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a huge cloud of magnetized plasma toward

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Earth. So far that's not unusual. The

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sun does this regularly.

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Avery: What made this one special was that a second

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faster CME erupted not long after

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that second ejection caught up with and

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merged with the first, creating a combined

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more powerful event. When a faster

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CME overtakes a slower one and they

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combine, scientists call it a cannibal

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CME.

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Anna: The merged cloud arrived at Earth on June 8,

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and both NOAA and the UK Met Office

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had already issued a G3.

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That's strong geomagnetic storm watch.

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To put that in context, the scale runs from

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G1 up to G5.

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Extreme G3 means Aurora

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displays are possible as far south as mid

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northern latitudes. Think Oregon, Illinois

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or Northern England.

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Avery: For our uh, listeners in Australia and New

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Zealand, you'd want to be watching from the

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southern island of New Zealand or Tasmania to

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catch the aurora australis during an event

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like this. And even then it's a close call.

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But the Northern hemisphere had quite the

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show on the 8th.

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Anna: The geomagnetic activity was still elevated

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into today June 9th, with a G2

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watch remaining in place. And there's a

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delicious coincidence here. June 9th is also

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the night of the Venus Jupiter conjunction.

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The two brightest planets appearing less than

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2 degrees apart in the western sky after

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sunset. So people who went outside to watch

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the conjunction may also have caught a

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glimpse of the aurora.

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Avery: The sun is currently very active. There are

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multiple sunspot regions on the Earth facing

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side right now and a large coronal hole

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rotating into an Earth directed position,

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meaning further geomagnetic activity in the

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days ahead is possible. Keep your eyes on the

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sky folks. Space weather is being generous

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this week.

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Anna: Moving on to the International Space Station

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and a story that caused hearts to race last

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Friday at uh, just 1:00pm UTC.

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On June 5th, NASA ordered the crew aboard uh,

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the ISS to don spacesuits,

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shelter inside the docked SpaceX Dragon

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spacecraft and prepare for potential

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evacuation.

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Avery: To be clear from the outset, the crew was

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safe and within about two hours they received

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the all clear to return to normal operations.

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But the reason this happened is something the

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ISS program has been managing for years

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and it is getting harder to manage.

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Anna: The issue is the Zvezda service

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module, specifically a transfer tunnel

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section called the prk. It's part of The

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Russian segment of the station, and it has

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been developing cracks and small atmospheric

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leaks since 2019.

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Roscosmosthat's the Russian space

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agency has been applying sealants and

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mitigation measures continuously. But the

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cracks keep developing.

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Avery: On June 5, new leaks were found in the

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tunnel during what was meant to be a more

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extensive repair operation. Russian crew

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members paused the repair work to assess the

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new measurements. And NASA, out of an

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abundance of caution, ordered the four non

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Russian crew members to shelter in the

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Dragon.

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Anna: The repair assessment eventually allowed them

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to stand down. NASA says they are continuing

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to monitor the situation very closely,

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working with Roscosmos on a solution. But

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this is an aging station. It's been

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continuously inhabited for over 25

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years now, built beginning in November

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1998, and the structural pressures are

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real.

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Avery: The current plan is to operate the ISS

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through the end of 2030 with a controlled

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deorbit and destructive re entry in early

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2031. Whether the PRK

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tunnel can be kept sealed and safe for

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another four plus years is one of the more

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pressing questions facing the program right

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now.

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Anna: For now, the crew is safe and working, but

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this story will be one to watch.

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Avery: Story five brings us up to speed on the

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fallout from Blue Origin's catastrophic

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rocket explosion, and it is having

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significant ripple effects on NASA's entire

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lunar program.

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Anna: Here's the background for listeners who may

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have missed it. On May 28, Blue

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Origin's new Glenn rocket exploded during a

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static fire test AT Launch Complex

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36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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A, uh, static fire test is when you ignite

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the engines while the rocket is still on the

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pad, bolted down to check their performance

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ahead of a real launch.

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Avery: The explosion was enormous, visible from

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more than a hundred miles away. The rocket

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was destroyed. The transporter and erector

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holding it in place was wrecked. A lightning

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tower was demolished. The main gantry

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suffered structural damage. Satellite images

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captured the full scorched extent of the

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destruction.

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Anna: No one was injured, which, given the scale of

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the explosion, is remarkable. Blue Origin

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CEO Dave Limp has said the pad can be

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repaired faster than initially feared. Key

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infrastructure, including the propellant

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tanks, water tower and storage systems,

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survived intact. He's committed to having

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another new Glenn ready for launch before the

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end of 2026.

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Avery: That is an ambitious timeline, though, and

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the consequences for NASA's lunar program are

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serious. Blue Origin was supposed to launch

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its Blue Moon Mark one cargo lander, an

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uncrewed demonstrator intended to deliver a

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NASA Paylo to the moon this autumn. Um, as

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the inaugural mission of the Moon based

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program.

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Anna: With New Glenn out of action and LC

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36 in ruins, NASA Administrator

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Jared Isaacman is now describing what he

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calls a whole of government response. The

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agency is actively seeking an alternative

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launch vehicle for the Blue Moon lander,

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decoupling it from New Glenn entirely for

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now.

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Avery: And um, there's a direct connection to

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Artemis 3, the crew we just told you about in

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story one. Artemis 3 is meant to dock with

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both the SpaceX Lander variant and Blue

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Moon Mark 2 in Low Earth orbit. If Blue

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Origin's hardware isn't flight proven before

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then, that mission profile becomes

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significantly more complicated.

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Anna: Administrator Isaacman has said he remains

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optimistic about a crewed lunar landing in

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2028 using whatever landing craft

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is available. But the road to the moon just

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got a bit bumpier.

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And for our final story, something that is

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actually happening right now tonight as

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we broadcast this episode. The Japan

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Aerospace Exploration Agency

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is attempting to launch its H3 rocket

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from Tanegashima Space Center.

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Avery: This is a comeback story and JAXA really

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needs it to work. The H3's last flight was

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a painful one. Back in December last year,

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the rocket attempted to launch carrying a

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quasi Zenith satellite navigation

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satellite, part of Japan's own regional GPS

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style positioning network. The mission ended

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in failure when the QZS5 satellite

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separated from the rocket prematurely during

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stage separation and fell into the ocean.

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Anna: The cause was eventually traced to adhesive

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strips in the payload support structure

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peeling off. DAXA has made

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modifications to the satellite payload

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section to address exactly that failure

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mode and sensors have been installed to

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monitor the fix during flight.

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Avery: Tonight's launch is a test flight rather than

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an operational mission. The rocket is

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carrying a dummy main payload called the

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vehicle evaluation payload 5 or

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VEP 5, along with a small collection of

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real satellites from universities and

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research organizations.

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Anna: What makes this version of the H3

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particularly interesting is its engine

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configuration. This is the

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H3.3 variant. It uses

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three liquid fuel LE9 engines in the

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first stage and no solid rocket boosters at

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all. That makes it Japan's first large

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rocket powered entirely by liquid

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propulsion. It's a significant milestone for

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the country's launch capability and its

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ambitions to compete in the global commercial

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launch market.

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Avery: The launch Tonight opens at 9:53am M

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Japan Standard Time on June 10, which is

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8:53pm Eastern Time on June

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Nint. So for our uh, listeners in Australia

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and the Pacific, you may actually be able to

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watch the livestream this morning.

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Anna: DAXA has had an impressive H3 track record.

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Overall, the vehicle has successfully flown

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multiple times. Tonight is about proving the

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fix works, restoring confidence and getting

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back to the serious business of building

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Japan's independent access to space.

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Avery: We're rooting for them. Go H3.

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Anna: And that is your Astronomy Daily for Tuesday,

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June 9, 2026. What a

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day it has been.

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Avery: A new Artemis crew, a telescope ready to

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show us a billion galaxies, a solar

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storm painting the sky green, a space

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station holding its breath, a moon program

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rebuilding after disaster, and the

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rocket about to attempt its redemption.

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Anna: Bass never sleeps, and neither do we.

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Well, almost never. Tomorrow's episode will

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have full reaction and detail on the Artemis

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3 crew announcement. You won't want to miss

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it.

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Avery: If you enjoyed today's show, please

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subscribe, leave us a review and share

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Astronomy Daily with someone who loves the

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cosmos as much as we do. You'll find those at

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astronomydaily, IO and everywhere. You get

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your podcasts from Anna and M from

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Avery. Keep looking up.

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Anna: This has been Astronomy Daily the

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stormy

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Avery: day the stories be

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told,

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The stories the song.