The Weekend Wrap Debuts — Soyuz 5, Artemis II Revisited & Roman Telescope

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Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,

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your daily guide to the cosmos. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Happy Saturday, everyone.

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And what a Saturday it is. Because today

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we're launching something brand new here on

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Astronomy Daily.

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Anna: That's right, today marks the debut of our

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weekend space and Astronomy news wrap.

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Every Saturday, we'll bring you two fresh

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stories from the past 24 hours, plus a deep

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dive into the four biggest and most important

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stories from across the entire week.

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Avery: Think of it as the week in Space, condensed,

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considered, and with some new angles you

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might not have heard yet. We've been doing

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six episodes a week all season, and this is

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our way of making sure Saturday feels a

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little different.

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Anna: So here's today's format. We'll start with

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two fresh stories first, then we'll ring in

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the very first Astronomy Daily weekend wrap.

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Four stories, the week's biggest right here.

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Avery: Let's get into it.

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Anna: Our first story today is a rocket launch

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story with some real geopolitical texture to

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it.

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Russia's brand new Soyuz 5 rocket

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lifted off on Thursday, April 30 from the

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Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on its very

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first flight. And it went well.

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Avery: This has been coming for a long time, anna.

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The Soyuz 5, also known as Sunkar, which

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means Falcon in Kazakh, has been in

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development for nearly a decade. There were

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multiple delays, funding hurdles and

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geopolitical complications along the way. But

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On Thursday at 2pm Eastern time, it

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finally flew.

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Anna: It was a suborbital test flight, essentially

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a shakeout cruise for the new vehicle. The

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rocket carried a mass dimensional mockup as

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payload. Both stages performed nominally and

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the payload followed its intended trajectory

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before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean in

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a pre designated area. Roscosmos

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declared it a, uh, success.

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Avery: Now let's talk about why this rocket exists.

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Russia lost access to Ukrainian rocket

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expertise after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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And Ukraine had long been a powerhouse in

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rocket design and manufacturing. The Soyuz

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5 was designed specifically to replace the

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Zenit rocket, which was Ukraine built, and to

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give Russia a fully homegrown medium lift

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capability.

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Anna: In terms of specs, it's a two stage vehicle

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powered by the RD171 MV M

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engine, which Roscosmos describes as the

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world's most powerful liquid fueled engine.

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It can lift up to 17 metric tons to low

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Earth orbit, which puts it in the same

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general class as SpaceX's Falcon 9.

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Avery: But here's the key difference, and it's a

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significant one. Falcon 9's first stage

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lands itself and is reused. Soyuz

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5 is fully expendable. Every launch

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burns through a brand new rocket. In a launch

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market that has increasingly moved towards

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reusability and reduced costs, that's a

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genuine competitive disadvantage.

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Anna: It's also unclear if the rocket will attract

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international customers. Russia has lost most

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of its commercial launch partnerships since

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2022, and the Soyuz 5 doesn't appear

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to represent a big enough leap to reverse

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that trend. Longer term, the rocket is

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intended to serve as a building block for a,

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uh, future super heavy launch system, part of

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Russia's stated ambitions for deeper space

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missions.

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Avery: For now, though, it's a debut, and for

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Roscosmos, a symbolic one. The next

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test flights are planned across 2026 and

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2027, with full operational status

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anticipated by the end of the decade. A long

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road ahead, but at least Thursday's first

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step was a successful one.

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Anna: Brushes Soyuz 5 finally off the pad

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and on to the next test.

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Avery: Now for something a little closer to home, or

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more precisely, something in our sky right

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now. Last night, May 1, the full

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flower moon reached peak illumination.

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Anna: And May 2026 is a genuinely special

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month for moon watchers.

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Avery: Tell us more, Anna.

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Anna: So May this year has two full moons. The

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flower moon peaked on May 1, and a second

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full Moon, a blue Moon, will arrive on May

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31. Two full moons in a single calendar

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month is already a relatively rare

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occurrence, happening roughly every two to

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three years. But there's an extra twist this

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year. Both of them are micromoons.

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Avery: Exactly. A, uh, micromoon is the opposite of

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a supermoon. It occurs when a full Moon

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happens near the point in the Moon's

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elliptical orbit where it's farthest from

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Earth, what astronomers call apogee.

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At that distance, the moon appears around 14%

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smaller and about 30% dimmer than it does at

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its closest approach. Not a huge difference

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to the naked eye, but it's a genuine physical

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distinction, though.

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Anna: Why are both May full moons micro moons?

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It comes down to orbital timing. The moon's

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apogee circles around relative to our

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calendar, and this month they happen to align

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twice, giving us a double micro moon. May.

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Avery: For listeners in Australia and New Zealand,

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you've got great autumn skies right now. And

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the flower moon last night would have been

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beautiful as it arced across your northern

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sky. It sat between the red star

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Antares in Scorpius and blue white Spica

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in Virgo. Quite a tableau if you missed it.

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Don't worry. At 99% illumination tonight,

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it still looks essentially full.

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Anna: And for the blue moon, on May 31st, that's

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your next event to mark in your calendar. It

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won't look blue. Of course the name comes

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from a 16th century idiom for something rare.

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But two full moons in one month is always

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worth stepping outside for.

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Avery: The month of May is also great for planets

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right now. Venus and Jupiter are both

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prominent in the evening sky. With the two

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planets slowly closing toward a conjunction

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on June 9th. Saturn and Mars are re

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emerging in the pre dawn east. A uh, busy sky

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for May.

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Anna: Alright, now it's time for something

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completely new. Avery, let's do it.

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Avery: And now the Astronomy Daily weekend

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wrap your guide to the week's biggest stories

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from across the cosmos. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. This week in space was

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frankly extraordinary. We had history made,

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hardware delivered, a telescope confirmed,

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and a cosmic spectacle that no human had

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ever witnessed before. Let's do this.

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Avery: Our first wrap story is a step back, a full

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exhale to appreciate what NASA and its

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partners pulled off with Artemis 2. Because

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it's been a few weeks now Since Splashdown on

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April 10th and we have the full picture

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and it is genuinely staggering.

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Anna: The headline numbers

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694,481

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miles traveled in total, a peak velocity

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of 24,664 miles

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per hour. A farthest distance from Earth of

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252,756

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miles, surpassing the record previously held

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by Apollo 13 in 1970.

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And a closest approach to the lunar surface

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of 4,067 miles. The

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crew were farther from Earth than any humans

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in history.

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Avery: The mission launched on April 1st. Yes,

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April Fool's Day. Carrying Commander Reid

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Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Mission

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Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space

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Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Their

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spacecraft, which the crew named integrity,

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flew a 10 day free return trajectory around

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the moon and back.

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Anna: One of the most watched elements of the

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mission was the heat shield. Artemis I had

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shown some unexpected erosion of the AVcode

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ablative material. And there was significant

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debate before the mission about whether to

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fly with the uh, existing design. Engineers

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and NASA administrator Jared Isaacman

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ultimately decided to proceed. And the data

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coming back now shows char loss was

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significantly reduced compared to Artemis I.

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And consistent with ground testing

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predictions, a uh, huge relief.

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Avery: Orion splashed down just 2.9 miles from

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its target site. Entry velocity was within

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1 mph of predictions. Rick

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Henfling, the entry flight Director put it

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simply. A quarter of a million miles to the

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moon and back and they hit a less than 1

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degree entry angle on the way home. That is

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not luck. That is a thousand people doing

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their jobs.

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Anna: The crew are now in post flight

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Reconditioning at Johnson Center. And in

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their own words, they were moved. Commander

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Reid Wiseman, Victor, Christina and Jeremy,

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we are bonded forever. And no one down here

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is ever going to know what the four of us

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just went through. And it was the most

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special thing that will ever happen in my

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life.

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Avery: Christina Koch described the experience of

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seeing Earth tiny through Orion's window,

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surrounded by blackness, as one of the most

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overwhelming moments of her life. Victor

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Glover said the gratitude he felt was too big

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to fit in one body. And Jeremy

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Hansen, as the crew broke the distance

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record, spoke directly to the next

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generation. We challenge this generation

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and the next to make sure this record is not

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long lived.

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Anna: Host flight assessments are well underway at,

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uh, Kennedy Space center, where the Orion

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capsule has returned. All

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186 Avocote heat shield blocks for

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Artemis III, the upgraded version have

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already been installed, cured, and inspected.

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The next mission is already in motion. And

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that leads to our fourth RAP story.

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Avery: But first, of all, the extraordinary things

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that happened during Artemis 2, there is one

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moment that stands alone. On April

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6, as the crew flew around the far side of

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the Moon, they witnessed something that no

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human being had ever experienced in the

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history of our species. A total solar

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eclipse observed from beyond

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Anna: the Moon on Earth. A total solar

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eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the

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sun and reveals its corona, lasts a few

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minutes at most. For the Artemis 2 crew,

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totality lasted 57 minutes.

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57 minutes of watching the Sun's outer

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atmosphere glowing around a, uh, completely

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black lunar disk from a vantage point

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4,000 miles above the surface.

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Avery: Victor Glover's descriptions from inside the

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spacecraft were extraordinary. He called

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the Moon a black orb against the gray that

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drifted into blackness. He describes seeing

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Earth shine. The light reflected from Earth,

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illuminating the dark lunar surface as very

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distinct and creating quite an impressive

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visual illusion. And then as the solar

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corona began to emerge from the edges of the

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Moon, he described the streamers as looking

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like what the Luxor spotlight in Las Vegas

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wants to be when it grows up.

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Anna: The crew made genuine scientific observations

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during those 57 minutes. They searched for

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lofted lunar dust, a phenomenon some

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Apollo crews reported and watched for

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micrometeoroid impacts on the darkened lunar

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surface. They reported seeing at least five

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impact flashes. They observed zodiacal light.

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They photographed the corona in unprecedented

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detail. Christina Koch described the

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experience simply. I just had an

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overwhelming sense of being moved by looking

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at the Moon.

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Avery: The images NASA has since released are

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breathtaking. The glowing halo of the

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solar corona against the black lunar disk,

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with Earthshine illuminating the Moon's face.

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Venus and Saturn visible as pinpoints of

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light in the frame. Scientists are still

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analyzing whether the halo effect is pure

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corona, zodiacal light, or a combination.

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Anna: Victor Glover perhaps said it best. I know

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this observation won't be of any scientific

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value, but I'm really glad we launched on

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April 1, because without that specific launch

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date, the geometry simply wouldn't have

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worked. Four people in the right place at the

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right moment to see something no human had

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ever seen. That was Artemis 2.

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Avery: Our third rep story is about the next great

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space telescope, and it comes with a headline

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that NASA doesn't get to write very often.

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Ahead of schedule and under budget,

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the

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Anna: Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Roman

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for short, has a confirmed September

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2026 launch target. NASA

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Administrator Jared Isaacman announced this

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at a press conference at Goddard Space flight

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Center on April 21. Standing in front of the

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completed telescope eight months ahead of

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NASA's committed deadline, under budget and

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fully assembled, let's talk

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Avery: about what this telescope will actually do

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because the numbers are mind bending.

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Roman's primary mirror is the same

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2.4 meter diameter as Hubble's,

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but its field of view is 100 times larger.

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What Hubble would take 2000 years to

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survey Roman can do in a year.

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Isaacman put it this Roman will give the

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Earth a new atlas of the universe. There is

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not a screen in existence large enough to

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display a single Roman image at full

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resolution.

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Anna: In its five year primary mission, Roman

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is expected to discover over 100,000

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distant worlds, hundreds of millions of

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stars and billions of galaxies. It

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will conduct three core surveys focused on

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dark energy, dark matter and wide field

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cosmology. It also carries a

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coronagraph instrument that can directly

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image exoplanets by blocking out the glare

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of their host stars. A technology

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demonstrator that could change how we search

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for worlds like our own,

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Avery: the telescope is now undergoing final tests

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at Goddard. It will ship to Kennedy Space

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center in mid June for launch preparations

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before riding a SpaceX Falcon Heavy to its

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final destination, the Sun. Earth L2

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Lagrange point, about a million miles from

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Earth, same address as James Webb.

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Anna: The Roman telescope is named for Dr.

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Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first

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chief of Astronomy and one of the key

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architects of the Hubble Telescope. Known

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as the Mother of Hubble, she spent her

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career making the case for space based

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astronomy. September 2026

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her namesake telescope joins the fleet.

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We cannot wait.

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Avery: And our final wrap story brings us back to

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the Moon because even as Artemis 2 was being

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celebrated, Kennedy Space center was already

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turning the page.

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Anna: On April 27th and 28th, while the

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Artemis 2 Orion capsule was being

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unloaded on one side of Kennedy Space

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center for post flight analysis. The

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Artemis II ISLS core

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stage was arriving on the other side via uh,

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the Pegasus barge from New Orleans.

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Two missions, one spaceport, one

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extraordinary week.

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Avery: The core stage is the backbone of the SLS

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rocket, 212ft tall,

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containing the liquid hydrogen and liquid

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oxygen tanks that hold more than

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733,000 gallons of propellant.

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It will be joined with its engine section and

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solid rocket boosters in the vehicle assembly

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building over the coming months ahead of the

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2027 launch.

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Anna: Now Artemis 3 has a revised mission

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profile compared to what was originally

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planned under changes announced by

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Administrator isaacman in February,

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Artemis 3 is no longer a lunar landing

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mission. Instead it's been redesigned as a

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crewed Earth orbit test. Docking the

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Orion spacecraft with one or both of

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the commercial human landing system vehicles,

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Face X's Starship HLS and

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Blue Origin's Blue Moon Lander.

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Avery: Think of it as Apollo 9 for the Artemis era,

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a critical step in validating the docking

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procedures and systems that will be needed

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before astronauts can actually descend to the

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lunar surface. The first crewed landing is

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now Artemis 4 targeted for 2028.

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Anna: The Artemis III Orion crew module is

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already at Kennedy undergoing functional

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tests. All 186

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upgraded AVCOT Heat shield locks, the

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improved version informed by Artemis 2 data,

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are installed and inspected. The four

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RS25 engines for the core stage

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are due to arrive from Stennis Space center

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by July.

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Avery: The Crew for Artemis 3 hasn't been announced

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yet, but they're out there somewhere knowing

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that their moment is approaching.

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Anna: From Artemis 2 splashing down to

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Artemis 3 hardware through the door. This was

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a week that showed NASA is not pausing for

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breath. Onwards to the moon.

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Avery: And that is our first ever Astronomy Daily

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weekend wrap.

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Six stories One extraordinary week.

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Russia launched a new rocket. Maze Moon is

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doing something rare. Artemis 2 left us

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speechless. The Roman telescope is almost

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ready to fly and Artemis 3 is already

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assembling in the VAB.

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Anna: This is why we do this show. Thanks so much

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for spending some of your weekend with us. If

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you enjoyed today's format, let us know. Find

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us at astronomydaily IO or on

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social media astrodailypod.

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Your feedback genuinely shapes the show.

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Until next time, keep looking up clear skies

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everyone.

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Avery: This is Astronomy Daily.