Cleared for Launch: Crew-12, Mars Organics, and an Interstellar Farewell

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go-to


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source for the latest space news. I'm


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Anna.


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


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We've got great stories for you today.


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The FAA has given SpaceX the green light


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to fly Falcon 9 again, which means


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NASA's Crew 12 mission is officially a


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go for next week.


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>> We have also got a fascinating NASA


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study that's raising some very


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intriguing questions about organic


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molecules on Mars. Plus, our


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interstellar visitor, Comet 3i, ATLS, is


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putting on one last spectacular show on


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its way out of the solar system.


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>> And some less cheerful news from across


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the Atlantic, where the UK government is


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proposing massive cuts to astronomy


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funding. We'll also look at the renewed


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debate over making New Glenn's second


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stage reusable. And we'll wrap up with a


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story that'll make you smile. The


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Fraggles have arrived at Kennedy Space


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Center.


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>> Let's get into it. So, our top story,


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great news for anyone who's been


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watching the Crew 12 mission calendar


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nervously. The FAA has officially


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cleared SpaceX's Falcon 9 to return to


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flight after a 4-day grounding.


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>> Right. This all stemmed from a Starlink


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launch on February 2nd where the upper


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stage deployed the satellites just fine,


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but then failed to perform its de-orbit


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burn. The rocket body ended up


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re-entering the atmosphere uncontrolled.


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>> And here's the thing that jumps out.


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This was the fourth Falcon 9 upper stage


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issue in just 19 months. That's a


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pattern that's hard to ignore, but the


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FAA wrapped up its review remarkably


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quickly this time. The probable root


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cause was a failure of the engine to


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ignite before the de-orbit burn, and


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SpaceX has identified preventative


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measures.


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>> So, with that resolved, Crew 12 is now


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targeting launch at 6:01 a.m. Eastern on


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February 11th. That's next Tuesday. The


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crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica


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Mir and Jack Hathaway, cosminot Andre


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Fedv, and ESA Sophie Adonaut flying


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aboard the Dragon capsule Freedom.


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>> This mission is especially critical


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because the ISS has been running with a


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skeleton crew of just three since


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January 15th when crew 11 departed in


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the first ever medical evacuation from


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the station. Getting crew 12 up there


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will bring the station back to its


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normal complement of seven. We'll be


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watching that launch closely. Now, this


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next story is one of those that makes


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you sit up a little straighter. A new


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NASA study has found that non-biological


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processes can't fully account for the


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abundance of organic compounds found in


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a rock sample from Mars' Gail Crater.


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>> Okay, before anyone gets too excited,


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this is not a we found life on Mars


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announcement, but it is genuinely


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significant. Back in March 2025,


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Curiosity's chemistry lab identified


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small amounts of decane, undecane, and


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docane in a rock sample. These are the


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largest organic molecules ever found on


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Mars, and they could be fragments of


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fatty acids.


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>> Now, on Earth, fatty acids are mostly


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produced by life, though they can also


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form through geological processes. The


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follow-up study looked at known


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non-biological sources like delivery by


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meteorites and tried to see if those


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could explain the amounts found. The


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team essentially rewound the clock about


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80 million years, estimating how much


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organic material would have been there


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before cosmic radiation destroyed much


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of it.


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>> And the result, far more organic


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material than non-biological processes


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could typically produce. So, the


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researchers say it's reasonable to


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hypothesize that living things could


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have formed these molecules. They're


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very clear that more study is needed,


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but this keeps the door open in a really


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tantalizing way.


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>> It's exactly the kind of incremental


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science that could one day lead to a


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truly historic finding. Mars keeps


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teasing us, and we love it. Speaking of


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tantalizing science, our interstellar


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visitor comet 3i-atlas


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has been putting on quite the farewell


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show. NASA Spherex Space Telescope


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caught the comet dramatically


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brightening in December, well after its


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closest approach to the sun. That's


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really unusual. You'd normally expect a


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comet to be fading as it heads away from


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the sun, not flaring up. The SP ph


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data shows 3II/ATLS


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erupting with water vapor, carbon


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dioxide, and organic compounds along


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with a beautiful pear-shaped dust tail.


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The leading theory is that sunlight


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slowly penetrated beneath the comet's


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crust, which had been hardened by


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billions of years of cosmic rape


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bombardment in interstellar space. Once


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the heat reached the pristine ices


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buried deeper down, they erupted,


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releasing a cocktail of ancient


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chemicals that hadn't been exposed for


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billions of years. And remember, this is


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only the third confirmed interstellar


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object we've ever seen after Umuam Mua


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in 2017 and Boros in 2019. The chemical


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fingerprint from 3II/ATLS


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gives us our best look yet at material


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formed around another star. The


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similarities to our own comets could


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tell us whether the raw ingredients for


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planets and potentially life are common


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across the galaxy.


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>> What a way to say goodbye. Safe travels


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3IIA ATLS.


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>> Now for a story that's causing real


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alarm in the scientific community. The


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UK government is proposing a 30% cut to


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its funding for astronomy, particle


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physics, and nuclear physics research.


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The Royal Astronomical Society's Robert


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Massie has called it the worst outcome


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for the field in decades. This comes


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through the Science and Technology


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Facilities Council, which distributes


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funds and runs major research facilities


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in the UK. The cuts are being justified


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by the need to focus on fewer priorities


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and by the rising costs of running


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existing labs, but this follows a 15%


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reduction in grants just last year. So


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these cuts are really compounding.


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>> What makes it particularly painful is


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that the UK has historically been a


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global astronomy powerhouse, third in


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the world by research citations. They're


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major contributors to the square


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kilometer array and the European


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Southern Observatory. The worry is that


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they'll invest in building these


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worldclass facilities but then not fund


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the researchers needed to actually use


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them.


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>> And it's early career researchers who


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will bear the brunt. PhD students and


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postocs are the most vulnerable when


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funding disappears. The Institute of


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Physics called it a devastating blow.


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When you combine this with the UK's


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recent 11% cut to its ISA contributions,


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it paints a worrying picture for British


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science at a time when other countries


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are investing more.


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>> Shifting to the launch industry now, the


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question of whether Blue Origin should


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make New Glenn's second stage reusable


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is back in the spotlight. They've been


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studying this under a program called


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Project Jarvis, and it's one of those


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fascinating engineering dilemmas. Jeff


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Bezos himself has described it as a


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horse race. The Expendable team's goal


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is to make the second stage so cheap to


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manufacture that reusability never makes


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sense. Meanwhile, the reusable team's


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goal is to make it so operationally


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efficient that throwing one away never


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makes sense. They're still deciding


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between aluminum and stainless steel for


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the reusable version. With New Glenn's


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first stage now proven, they


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successfully landed it on the second


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flight last November, and SpaceX pushing


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towards full Starship reusability,


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there's real competitive pressure, and


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companies like Stoke Space are working


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on fully reusable systems. The stakes


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are high. Full reusability could be the


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key to making space access truly


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affordable, but it's also enormously


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technically challenging. We'll be


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watching how this debate plays out as


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Blue Origin ramps up its launch cadence


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in 2026.


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>> And finally, our feel-good story of the


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day. Jim Henson's beloved Fraggles have


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arrived at the Kennedy Space Center


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visitor complex.


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>> That's right. Fraggle Rock, a spacey


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adventure, is a new life stage show that


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debuted in December. It features Gobo,


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Red, Uncle Traveling Matt, and


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Cotterpender exploring NASA's Kennedy


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Space Center and learning about the


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Aremis missions. They even get to chat


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with the real astronaut on the ISS.


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>> I love the connection they've made here.


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In the original show, the Fraggles


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always called the human world outer


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space. So, having them explore actual


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outer space at Kennedy Space Center is a


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really clever fit. The show is directed


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by John Tartaglia, who's the Jim Henson


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Company's creative supervisor for


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Fraggle Rock. The characters appear as


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fullbody walkaround costumes crafted by


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the Jim Henson Creature Shop. And the


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show blends comedy, music, and real


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space science. It's included with


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regular admission and plays twice daily.


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If you're visiting Florida, that sounds


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like a brilliant way to inspire the next


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generation.


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>> Dance your cares away all the way to the


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moon.


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>> And that's our show for today. If you


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enjoyed the episode, please leave us a


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review on your favorite podcast


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platform. It really helps other space


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fans find us.


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>> You can find us online at


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astronomyaily.io


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and you can follow us on social media at


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astroailyaily pod for all the latest


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updates. We'll be back on Monday with


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more space news. Until then, keep


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looking up.


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>> See you next week. Astronomy day.


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Stories we told.


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Stories were told.


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