Nuclear Moon Power, Mars Ocean Evidence, and Brains in Space

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Anna: Hello, everyone and welcome to Astronomy

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Daily. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Thanks for joining us this

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Tuesday, January 14, 2026.

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We've got a fantastic lineup of space news

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for you today.

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Anna: We really do. We're covering everything

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from nuclear reactors on the moon to

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ancient Martian oceans, plus some

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fascinating discoveries about how spaceflight

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affects astronaut brains.

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Avery: And we'll be talking about a major ISS

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update, a new privately fund space

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telescope and scientists finally solving a

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six decade old mystery about the moon's two

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faces.

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Anna: It's going to be an exciting episode, so

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let's dive right in.

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Avery: Anna.

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Uh, let's start with some big news from NASA

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and the Department of Energy. The United

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States is getting serious about putting a

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nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030.

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Anna: That's right, Avery. This isn't just talk

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anymore. Last week, NASA Administrator

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Jared Isaacman and U.S. secretary of Energy

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Chris Wright signed a memorial memorandum of

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understanding that reaffirms their commitment

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to meet that ambitious deadline.

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Avery: And this comes on the heels of President

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Trump's executive order from December calling

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for construction to begin on a lunar base by

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2030 with a nuclear reactor ready to

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launch by that same year.

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Anna: Isaacman said something really interesting in

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the announcement. He said achieving this

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future requires harnessing nuclear power.

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This agreement enables closer collaboration

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between NASA and the Department of Energy to

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deliver the capabilities necessary to usher

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in the golden age of space exploration and

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discovery.

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Avery: It makes sense when you think about it.

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Nuclear power can generate electricity

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continuously for years without refuelling.

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And it's not affected by the moon's two week

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long nights or changing weather conditions

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like solar panels would be.

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Anna: And this isn't the first time NASA and the

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Department of Energy have worked together on

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space nuclear systems. They've been

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collaborating for more than half a century.

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Right?

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Avery: Many of NASA's deep space robotic explorers

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have used radioisotope thermoelectric

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generators, or RTGs, as a power

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source. We're talking about missions like the

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Cassini Saturn orbiter and the Curiosity and

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Perseverance Mars rovers.

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Anna: But this lunar reactor would be something

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different entirely. It would be designed to

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power one or more bases on the lunar

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surface. As part of NASA's Artemis programme,

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Secretary.

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Avery: Wright made a connection to America's

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historic achievements. He said history shows

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that when American science and innovation

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come together, from the Manhattan Project to

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the Apollo mission, our nation leads the

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world to reach new frontiers once thought

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impossible. This agreement continues that

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legacy.

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Anna: For NASA's Artemis programme, having a

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reliable long term power source on the Moon

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is absolutely critical. If we're going to

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establish a permanent presence there and use

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it as a stepping stone to Mars. We need

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infrastructure that can operate reliably.

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Avery: For years, and the 2030 timeline

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is really aggressive. We're talking about

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just over four years from now. That's

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incredibly fast for a project of this

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magnitude.

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Anna: It is. But with the renewed focus on

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lunar exploration and the competition with

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other spacefaring nations, particularly

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China, there's definitely motivation to move

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quickly.

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Avery: Speaking of space developments, we have an

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important update on the Crew 11 situation at

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the International Space Station. Mission

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managers have officially given the go for the

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crew's return to Earth tomorrow.

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Anna: That's right. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman

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and Mike Finke, along with JAXA astronaut

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Kimia Yu and Roscosmos cosmonaut

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Oleg Platanov, are scheduled to undock

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from the harmony module at 5:05pm

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Eastern Time on Wednesday.

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Avery: And they're coming home aboard the SpaceX

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Dragon crew spacecraft, with Cardman

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commanding and Finke piloting. The weather

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forecast is looking excellent for their

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parachute assisted splashdown off the coast

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of California, which is scheduled for

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3:41am on Thursday.

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Anna: Yesterday, the crew spent most of their time

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preparing for departure. They packed cargo,

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reviewed return to Earth procedures and

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transferred hardware. Hardman and her

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crewmates also trained on how to use

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respirators during unlikely emergency

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events like an ammonia Lee.

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Avery: NASA is planning extensive coverage of the

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event. NASA will begin live coverage at

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3pm on Wednesday when the crew enters the

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Dragon spacecraft and says goodbye to the

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remaining crew on the station.

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Anna: Coverage continues at 4:45pm

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for the actual undocking, then

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returns at 2:15am Thursday

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for the descent, and finally at

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5:45am for the post splashdown

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news conference. You can watch all of this on

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NASA, Amazon prime or

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NASA's YouTube channel.

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Avery: As we discussed yesterday, this is the first

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medical evacuation in ISS history.

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The crew was originally scheduled to stay

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until after Crew 12 arrived in mid February,

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but an undisclosed medical condition

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affecting one of the four crew members

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prompted NASA to bring them home early.

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Anna: After Crew 11 leaves, Expedition

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74 will be commanded by

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Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey

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Kudzverchkov, leading flight engineers

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Sergei Mikayev and NASA's Chris

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Williams. That's a skeleton crew of just

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three people running the entire station.

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Avery: Yesterday, Kuts, Verchkov and Mikhayev

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participated in a study assessing how crews

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make decisions and work together in space,

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which is especially relevant given they'll be

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operating with a reduced crew for a while.

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Anna: BASA is still evaluating whether they can

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move up the Crew 12 launch date to replenish

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the station crew sooner than originally

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planned.

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Avery: Now let's talk about Mars. Anna. There's

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exciting new evidence that an ancient ocean

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once covered half the planet.

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Anna: This is really fascinating research, Avery.

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A team led by Ignatius

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argadestia, a, uh, PhD student at the

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University of Bern, has identified features

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in Mars Valles Marineris that

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look remarkably similar to river deltas here

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on Earth.

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Avery: Valles Marineris is that massive canyon

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system on Mars, right? The largest in the

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solar system.

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Anna: Exactly. Along with Olympus Mons,

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it's one of Mars's most defining features.

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This research focused specifically on the

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southeast part of a sub canyon called

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Copratus Chosma.

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Avery: The researchers used images from multiple

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orbital Cameras, CTX and

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HiRISE on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance

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Orbiter and CASSIS

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on the ESA Roscosmos

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Trace Gas Orbiter. They also worked with

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digital elevation models to examine what they

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call scarpa fronted deposits.

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Anna: These scarp fronted deposits, or

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SFDs, are fan shaped

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sediment deposits that form where a river

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empties into a body of standing water.

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The team identified three of these features

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in Copratus Chasma and they're almost

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identical to river deltas we see on Earth.

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Avery: Professor Fritz Schlundjugger put it really

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clearly. He said, the structures that we were

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able to identify in the images are clearly

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the mouth of a river into an ocean.

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Anna: What's particularly compelling is that all

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three SFDs are at the same

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elevation. That suggests they were all

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deposited at the same water level,

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essentially marking an ancient coastline.

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Avery: The researchers believe these deposits were

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formed sometime between the late Hesperian

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period and the early Amazonian period.

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That's roughly between 3.7 billion and

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3 billion years ago.

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Anna: Reid author R. Ghedestia said something

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interesting in the press release. He said,

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when measuring and mapping the Martian

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images, I was able to recognise mountains

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and valleys that resemble a, uh, mountainous

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landscape on Earth. However, I was

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particularly impressed with the deltas that I

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discovered at the edge of one of the

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mountains.

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Avery: Previous research had suggested Mars had a

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large ocean, but this study provides much

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more concrete evidence. Slunjugger noted

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that earlier claims were based on less

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precise data and sometimes indirect

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arguments.

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Anna: But their reconstruction of the sea level is

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based on clear evidence of an actual

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coastline. Thanks to these high resolution

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images, the paleo shoreline they

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identified extends from Valles Marinus

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all the way to the northern lowlands.

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Avery: Argadestia summed it up nicely. With

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our study we were able to provide evidence

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for the deepest and largest former ocean on

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Mars to date, an ocean that stretched across

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the northern hemisphere of the planet.

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Anna: This has huge implications for Mars

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past habitability. As the authors write,

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their findings will impact research on the

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evidence for potential life on Mars. Since

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this represents a period when Mars had the

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highest water availability, it's amazing.

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Avery: To think that billions of years ago, Mars

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might have looked very different from the

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cold, dry desert we see today.

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Anna: Speaking of things changing, Avery, let's

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talk about a fascinating new study on how

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spaceflight literally changes astronauts

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brains.

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Avery: This is wild. Ana um. A team led by Rachel

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Seidler at MIT took MRI scans of

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26 astronauts and 24 non

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astronaut participants. And they found that

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spaceflight causes astronauts brains to shift

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position inside their skull.

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Anna: The study was published just yesterday. The

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researchers found a consistent pattern of the

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brain shifting backward and upward and

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rotating upward after time in

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microgravity. And here's the kicker.

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Some of these positional changes were still

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detectable months after astronauts returned

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to Earth.

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Avery: Instead of looking at the brain as one whole

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unit, they divided it into 130

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separate regions and examined each one

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individually. This regional analysis

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showed many areas with significant

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displacement across two spatial axes.

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Anna: The data set included astronauts with

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different mission lengths, roughly two weeks,

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six months and one year. They found

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significant positional shifts across large

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portions of the brain, with some

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displacements measured as high as

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2.52 millimetres in

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subjects with the most time in space.

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Avery: To put that in perspective, that's about a

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uh, tenth of an inch. It might not sound like

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much, but when we're talking about the brain

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inside your skull, that's actually quite

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significant.

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Anna: The researchers also compared astronauts with

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people who participated in a long duration

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head down tilt bed rest experiment which

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is used to simulate some effects of

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microgravity on Earth.

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Avery: And they found some interesting differences.

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Astronauts showed stronger upward movement,

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while the bed rest participants showed

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stronger backward movement. Only some of the

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brain shape changes observed after

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spaceflight appeared in the bedrest group.

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Anna: This tells us that head down bed rest, while

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useful, doesn't perfectly replicate what

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happens to the brain in actual microgravity.

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There are unique effects that only real

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spaceflight produces.

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Avery: One of the most important findings was the

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connection to balance problems. The study

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found that displacement affecting sensory

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related brain regions correlated with larger

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declines in astronauts balance after

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spaceflight, Right.

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Anna: We know that when astronauts return from

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space, they often experience balance issues

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because their inner ear's sense of direction

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isn't immediately restored. This study

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helps explain why that happens.

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Avery: And while astronauts normally find their

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footing within a week or so, the physical

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shifts in their brains persisted for up to

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six months post spaceflight. That's quite

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remarkable.

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Anna: The authors note that this underscores the

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long lasting effects of spaceflight on

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neuroanatomy. They recommend future

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studies with larger astronaut crews on a

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broad range of mission lengths to better

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understand how quickly these shifts begin

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and how they evolve.

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Avery: This research is crucial as we plan longer

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missions to the moon and eventually to Mars.

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Understanding how extended spaceflight

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affects the brain will help us better prepare

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astronauts and develop countermeasures.

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Anna: Avery, let's shift gears and talk about a

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really exciting development in space

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telescope technology. There's a new

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privately funded observatory called Lazuli

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that could change how we build flagship class

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telescopes.

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Avery: This is fascinating, Anna. Uh, the Lazuli

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Space Observatory is being funded by Eric

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Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and his

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wife Wendy, through their philanthropic

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organisation, Schmidt Sciences. We're talking

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about a $500 million investment.

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Anna: The whole premise is applying the new space

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philosophy to space telescopes. You know that

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Silicon Valley mindset of move fast and

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don't break things. The idea is to prove that

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you don't need decades and billions of

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dollars to build a flagship level space

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observatory, right?

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Avery: Compare this to the James Webb Space

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telescope, which cost $10 billion, or the

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upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope,

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which is on track for $3 billion. These

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huge costs come from using completely de

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risked flight proven technology to ensure

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taxpayer dollars don't literally go up in

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flames.

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Anna: But schmidt has a $36 billion

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fortune, so even if Lazulli fails, he can

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afford the loss. And that's kind of the

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point. This is an experiment to see if the

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approach even works for expensive flagship

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level observatories.

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Avery: To keep costs down, up to 80% of the

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telescope will use off the shelf components.

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And operating under Schmidt Sciences

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alleviates a lot of the bureaucratic and

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political decision making that inevitably

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delays government funded programmes.

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Anna: So where does Lazuli fit in the bigger

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picture? Webb is obviously already

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operational, sending back spectacular images.

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Roman is next scheduled to launch in May

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2027. But both have weaknesses when

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tracking transient phenomena.

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Avery: Exactly. Events like kilonovae or

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gravitational wave producing black hole

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mergers happen on timescales of hours, not

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days. They require almost immediate response

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from observatories to catch them before they

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end.

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Anna: And Webb just can't slew. That's the term

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for rotating to a new target fast enough.

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It captures extremely high resolution images,

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but it takes too long to get into position.

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Avery: On the other hand, Roman is a survey

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telescope that looks at white swaths of sky,

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but doesn't have the resolution to examine

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individual systems like Lazuli will.

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Anna: So Lazuli's sweet spot is Target

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of opportunity tracking. It's designed to

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slew within an hour and a half to observe

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short lived events. It'll work in concert

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with ground based observatories like ligo,

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the Gravitational Wave Detector.

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Avery: But it has the advantage of being in space

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so no cloud cover or daylight to worry about.

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Lazuli will also have a wild Field context

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camera with 23 separate CMOS sensors,

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kind of like Roman, to detect things like

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exoplanet transits.

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Anna: And here's something really cool it should be

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able to directly image exoplanets using a

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vector Vortex coronagraph along with

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deformable mirrors to suppress starlight by

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up to 10 million times.

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Avery: This same technology is planned for NASA's

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Habitable Worlds Observatory which won't

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launch for decades, so Lazuli will actually

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serve as a technology demonstration platform

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well before the taxpayer funded mission.

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Anna: Perhaps the most impressive aspect is the

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timeline. Schmidt Sciences is planning a

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three to five year development cycle for this

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massive space observatory that's

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exponentially faster than any comparable

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government led system.

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Avery: Though to be fair, new space leaders do have

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a tendency to underestimate timelines. Even

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if it takes twice as long though, we'd still

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get another flagship level observatory within

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a decade.

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Anna: And here's something amusing. If Schmidt just

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leaves his remaining $36 billion in an

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S&P 500 index fund, he'd make back

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around 40 times what the entire project cost

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over a five year period. So financially

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this is barely a blip for him.

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Avery: Either we get an amazing new space telescope

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or we get a $500 million lesson in what can

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go wrong when applying speed to large scale

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astrophysics projects. Either way, the

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scientific community learned something.

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Anna: Valuable for our final storey today.

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Avery scientists may have finally

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solved a mystery that's puzzled them for over

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60 years. Why does the moon

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look so different on its near and far

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00:17:14.239 --> 00:17:14.799
sides?

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Avery: This is based on analysis of dust collected

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from the lunar far side by China's Chang' e

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6 mission, which returned the first ever

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samples from the moon's hidden hemisphere in

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2024.

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Anna: The material came from the south pole

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Aitken Basin, which is believed to be the

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site of the largest impact in the solar

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system. This colossal crater spans

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nearly a quarter of the lunar surface.

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Avery: A team letter by Heng Si Tan from the Chinese

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Academy of Sciences conducted isotopic

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analysis of potassium and iron found in the

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far side dust and compared it with samples

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from the moon's near side collected during

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the Apollo missions and by China's Chang'

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E5 spacecraft.

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Anna: The results showed a significant difference

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near side Samples contained more light

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isotopes, while the far side material

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was richer in heavier isotopes,

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particularly of potassium.

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Avery: This type of isotopic separation couldn't be

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explained by normal volcanic activity.

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Instead, the researchers suggest the south

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pole Aitken impactor generated such

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extreme heat that lighter isotopes were

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vaporised and lost, leaving behind a

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heavier chemical fingerprint.

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Anna: The researchers wrote this feature

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most likely resulted from potassium

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evaporation caused by the south pole

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Aitken basin forming impactor,

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demonstrating the profound influence of this

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event on the Moon's deep interior.

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Avery: What's particularly interesting is that the

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study suggests the impact may have punched

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through the crust and into the mantle,

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permanently changing the Moon's inner

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composition.

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Anna: The sample analysis revealed that

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potassium isotopes on the far side

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appear to originate from a mantle source

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distinct from that of the near side. This

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implies widespread internal melting

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and chemical redistribution.

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Avery: The team even proposes that the impact might

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have triggered hemisphere wide mantle

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convection, a process that could reshape a

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planet's crust and inner layers over time.

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Anna: As they noted in their study, this finding

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also implies that large scale

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impacts are, uh, key drivers in shaping

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mantle and crustal compositions.

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Avery: So planetary impacts leave far more than just

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visible craters. They can set off long

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lasting internal transformations that remain

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detectable billions of years later.

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Anna: Heng Si Tian summed it up nicely.

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With our study, we were able to provide

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evidence for the deepest and largest former

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ocean on Mars today date. Wait,

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that's the wrong quote.

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Avery: Wrong planet.

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Anna: Anna, uh, oh my goodness, let me get that

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right. Pyeon said. With the Chang' e

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6 samples, scientists now have their

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first hard evidence from the Moon's far side,

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an area once entirely out of reach.

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Avery: This discovery is particularly timely as

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multiple nations gear up for lunar

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exploration missions, including NASA's

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Artemis programme and China's continuing

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Chang' E missions.

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Anna: Understanding the Moon's geological history

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and internal structure will be crucial

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as we plan to establish permanent bases

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00:20:34.080 --> 00:20:37.040
there. Each new sample and discovery

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00:20:37.040 --> 00:20:39.840
helps us piece together the storey of how

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our nearest celestial neighbour formed and

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00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:43.160
evolved.

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Avery: Well, that brings us to the end of today's

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00:20:45.840 --> 00:20:47.960
episode of Astronomy Daily. What an

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00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:49.560
incredible day of space news.

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Anna: From nuclear reactors on the moon and the

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crew 11 undocking tomorrow to

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ancient Martian oceans and shifting

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astronaut brains, plus a uh, privately

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funded space telescope and solving the

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Moon's two faced mystery, we've covered a

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lot of ground today.

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Avery: If you enjoyed today's episode, please

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00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:12.700
subscribe to Astronomy Daily wherever you get

514
00:21:12.700 --> 00:21:14.860
your podcasts. And don't forget to leave us a

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00:21:14.860 --> 00:21:16.860
review. It really helps other space

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00:21:16.860 --> 00:21:17.940
enthusiasts discover.

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Anna: The show you can find us on social media and

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00:21:20.820 --> 00:21:23.300
at our website for more space news and

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00:21:23.300 --> 00:21:25.920
updates. Um, on the socials search for

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00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:28.920
Astro Daily Pod and our website can be

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00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.720
found at astronomydaily.IO

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00:21:32.120 --> 00:21:33.720
thanks so much for listening everyone.

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Avery: Until, um, next time, keep looking up Clear

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skies.

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Sam.