Crew-12 Spy Scandal, AI on Mars & Interstellar Comet’s Last Secret?


Four astronauts are stuck in quarantine in Florida as weather keeps pushing back the Crew-12 launch — now targeting no earlier than Friday, February 13. We've got the full story, including the remarkable subplot involving a Russian cosmonaut who was quietly removed from the mission in December. Plus: interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is on its way out of the solar system forever, but new data from NASA's SPHEREx and James Webb telescopes reveals it's been carrying a chemical cocktail from another star system — one that's unlike anything we've seen in our own comets. Also in today's episode: NASA let an AI drive the Perseverance rover on Mars for two days straight; new research suggests Earth may have hit a rare chemical jackpot during formation that made life possible; the Ring of Fire solar eclipse is just one week away; and Starship is back on track after the Booster 18 disaster, with Flight 12 targeting a March launch window. In This Episode • SpaceX Crew-12: Three launch scrubs, skeleton ISS crew, and the cosmonaut spy subplot • 3I/ATLAS farewell: SPHEREx detects alien chemistry; JWST finds record CO2-to-water ratio • AI drives Perseverance on Mars — 456 metres without human control • Earth's lucky chemistry: why phosphorus and nitrogen almost didn't make it to the surface • Ring of Fire annular solar eclipse — February 17 over Antarctica • Starship Flight 12: Booster 19 passes cryo tests, March launch window in sight Key Links • Full show notes & blog: astronomydaily.io • NASA Crew-12 mission blog: nasa.gov • NASA SPHEREx 3I/ATLAS data: science.nasa.gov • Universe Today — AI drives Perseverance: universetoday.com • Nature Astronomy — Earth habitability study: nature.com Subscribe & Connect Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. New episode every weekday. Full transcripts, blog posts and show notes at astronomydaily.io
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Kind: captions
Language: en
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Four astronauts, one rocket, and weather
00:00:03.679 --> 00:00:06.789
that just will not cooperate. The Crew
00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.430
12 team is in quarantine in Florida,
00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:11.990
watching the forecast and waiting.
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.310
>> A visitor from another solar system is
00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.790
heading for the exit and handing us a
00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:18.950
chemical blueprint of its home solar
00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:22.310
system on the way out. Plus, a rover on
00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.509
Mars just took orders from an AI instead
00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:28.310
of a human for the very first time. All
00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.349
that plus a rare solar eclipse just days
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.830
away, new research that could change how
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.389
we search for life, and Starship making
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.190
a comeback after a dramatic setback.
00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:41.990
It's a big day. Welcome to Astronomy
00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:42.709
Daily.
00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.310
>> Let's get started. Anna, take it away.
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>> Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:48.879 --> 00:00:50.950
your daily guide to what's happening out
00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:52.630
there. I'm Anna.
00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:55.270
>> And I'm Avery. It is Wednesday, February
00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:58.950
11th, 2026. We have six stories to get
00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:01.029
through today, and honestly, it's one of
00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:03.189
those lineups where every single one of
00:01:03.199 --> 00:01:04.869
them earns its place.
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:06.870
>> We're going to kick off with the ongoing
00:01:06.880 --> 00:01:09.750
Crew 12 drama at Cape Canaveral, then
00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.070
swing to Deep Space for the latest from
00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:13.830
ThreeI/Atlas,
00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:16.390
and then we've got a Mars AI story that
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genuinely made me stop and think. Some
00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:21.350
fascinating new science about why Earth
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ended up being habitable at all. a rare
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solar eclipse just days away and a big
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Starship update.
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>> Let's get into it.
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>> So Avery, as of this morning, the Crew
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12 mission has now been pushed back to
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no earlier than Friday, February 13th.
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:40.870
That is the third attempted launch date
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in less than a week.
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>> It really is. Weather has been the
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culprit each time. The teams originally
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had a window on Wednesday 11th today,
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but conditions along the Dragon
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spacecraft flight path just weren't
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cooperating, so they waved it off. Then
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Thursday the 12th got pushed. Now
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they're looking at Friday morning with a
00:02:01.360 --> 00:02:04.469
planned liftoff at 5:15 Eastern.
00:02:04.479 --> 00:02:06.630
>> And the reason there's so much urgency
00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.229
here isn't just that people are
00:02:08.239 --> 00:02:10.309
impatient. The International Space
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Station is currently running on what
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NASA is calling a skeleton crew. Crew 11
00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:17.990
had to come home early back in January
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following a medical issue with one of
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the astronauts. And since then, the
00:02:22.160 --> 00:02:23.910
station has been significantly
00:02:23.920 --> 00:02:26.710
understaffed. Crew 12 is the relief
00:02:26.720 --> 00:02:27.589
team,
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>> which makes every weather delay feel a
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little more loaded than usual. The
00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:33.830
people up there are doing the work of a
00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.710
full crew with a much smaller team.
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>> So, who's making this trip? Well, let's
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run through them one more time.
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Commander is NASA astronaut Jessica
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Meyer, a veteran of a previous
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longduration station mission and well
00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.390
known for conducting the first all
00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.430
female spacew walk back in 2019. She'll
00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:56.150
be joined by pilot Jack Hathaway, also
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from NASA on his first space flight.
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>> And then there are two mission
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specialists, Sophie Adnot from the
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European Space Agency representing
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France and Andre FedV from Russia's
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Rosscosmos. This will be Fed JV's second
00:03:10.480 --> 00:03:12.869
trip to the station. Once they dock,
00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:15.270
they're looking at an 8 to Nmon stay,
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longer than usual, to cover the time
00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.750
lost by Crew 11's early departure.
00:03:19.760 --> 00:03:21.910
>> Now, there is a subplot to this mission
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that I think a lot of people may not
00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:26.149
have heard about. Back in December,
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Russia's Ross Cosmos quietly removed
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:31.589
cosminaut Alleg Artamev from the Crew 12
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mission. The official line was that he
00:03:33.920 --> 00:03:37.190
had transitioned to quote other work
00:03:37.200 --> 00:03:38.710
>> which is the kind of statement that
00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:40.309
immediately makes you want to know what
00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:42.309
the actual reason is.
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>> Right. and investigative outlet The
00:03:44.720 --> 00:03:47.350
Insider reported that Artamev was
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effectively expelled from the United
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States by being accused of violating
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international traffic in arms
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regulations by allegedly photographing
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SpaceX engines, documents, and other
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sensitive technologies with his phone
00:04:02.239 --> 00:04:05.270
and then exporting that information. So
00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.830
he was allegedly taking photos inside
00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.869
SpaceX facilities of proprietary rocket
00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:13.030
technology and sending it out of the
00:04:13.040 --> 00:04:13.830
country.
00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.229
>> That appears to be the allegation. He
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was replaced by Andre Fedv and Ross
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Cosmos has said very little publicly.
00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:23.990
But it's a striking reminder that even
00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:25.670
in the cooperative world of the
00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.670
International Space Station, the
00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.230
geopolitical tensions of the wider world
00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:32.550
don't disappear at the door. And it
00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:34.629
raises interesting questions about what
00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.030
access international partners are given
00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:39.909
to commercial SpaceX facilities. These
00:04:39.919 --> 00:04:42.390
aren't NASA government sites.
00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:44.790
>> Anyway, the crew are in quarantine. The
00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:47.270
rocket is on the pad and all eyes are
00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:49.590
now on the Florida forecast for Friday.
00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:51.189
We'll update you the moment there's
00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:51.990
news.
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>> Our second story takes us to the outer
00:04:54.479 --> 00:04:57.749
solar system where interstellar comet 3i
00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.950
Atlas is continuing its farewell tour.
00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:03.030
And before it goes, it's been handing
00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.310
scientists some truly unexpected data.
00:05:06.320 --> 00:05:08.790
>> Just to set the scene, 3E Atlas was
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.909
discovered in July 2025 by a telescope
00:05:11.919 --> 00:05:14.710
in Chile, traveling far too fast on a
00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:16.629
trajectory that couldn't possibly have
00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.189
originated within our solar system. It's
00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:21.510
only the third interstellar object ever
00:05:21.520 --> 00:05:23.749
confirmed to have passed through after
00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:28.469
Umuam Mua in 2017 and Boris in 2019.
00:05:28.479 --> 00:05:31.189
NASA's Spear X telescope observed
00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.629
threeey atlas in December 2025 and the
00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:36.950
results have been remarkable. The
00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:39.430
comet's coma has become dramatically
00:05:39.440 --> 00:05:42.710
more active and chemically complex. BREX
00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.510
detected water ice, carbon dioxide,
00:05:45.520 --> 00:05:48.629
carbon monoxide, organic compounds, and
00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:51.510
rocky material being ejected in chunks
00:05:51.520 --> 00:05:53.670
far larger than the fine dust grains
00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:56.230
you'd normally expect. The scientists
00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.629
described it as a cocktail of chemicals
00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.870
that haven't been exposed to space for
00:06:00.880 --> 00:06:03.510
billions of years. The James Web Space
00:06:03.520 --> 00:06:05.749
Telescope added another layer, finding
00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.070
that the ratio of carbon dioxide to
00:06:08.080 --> 00:06:11.590
water in the coma is approximately 8:1,
00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.070
which is one of the highest CO2 to water
00:06:14.080 --> 00:06:17.029
ratios ever measured in any comet. In
00:06:17.039 --> 00:06:19.510
our solar systems comets, water tends to
00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:22.710
dominate. So the implication is threeey
00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.110
atlas may have formed much further from
00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.909
its home star than a typical comet would
00:06:27.919 --> 00:06:31.110
near a CO2 ice line. Its chemistry is
00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:32.790
essentially telling us something about
00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:35.270
the architecture of the planetary system
00:06:35.280 --> 00:06:36.390
it came from.
00:06:36.400 --> 00:06:39.189
>> There's also data on the comet spin. It
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:42.309
rotates once every 16.16
00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:44.710
hours and researchers found it had
00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.270
strange wobbling jets in a rare
00:06:47.280 --> 00:06:50.469
sun-facing anti-tail. Normally comet
00:06:50.479 --> 00:06:52.550
tails point away from the sun, but
00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:55.029
Threeey Atlas briefly had one pointing
00:06:55.039 --> 00:06:57.830
toward it. Genuinely weird behavior.
00:06:57.840 --> 00:06:59.990
>> As of today, Three Atlas is in the
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.230
constellation Gemini, fading beyond
00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:04.469
naked eye visibility. It's heading
00:07:04.479 --> 00:07:06.870
towards a Jupiter flyby in mid-March
00:07:06.880 --> 00:07:09.350
before leaving the solar system forever.
00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:11.110
And there's one more data release to
00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.510
watch for.Sa's ISA's Juice spacecraft
00:07:13.520 --> 00:07:16.150
observed three Atlas back in November,
00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:17.990
but couldn't transmit the data while
00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:20.629
using its antenna as a heat shield. That
00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:22.790
data is expected to arrive here on Earth
00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:24.950
any time now in February. So, there
00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:27.270
could still be one more surprise coming.
00:07:27.280 --> 00:07:29.510
>> When future generations ask what we
00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:31.589
learned about other solar systems in
00:07:31.599 --> 00:07:36.230
2025 and 2026, 3i Atlas is going to be a
00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:37.749
big part of the answer.
00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.710
>> Safe travels, 3II/Atlas. Don't be a
00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.550
stranger. Although I suppose by
00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:46.390
definition you always will be.
00:07:46.400 --> 00:07:49.189
>> Now this next story is one I find
00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:51.749
genuinely fascinating because it sits
00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.230
right at the intersection of robotics,
00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:56.230
artificial intelligence, and the
00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.790
practical reality of exploring another
00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.749
planet. In December, NASA handed the
00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:04.309
wheel of the Perseverance Mars rover to
00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:07.990
an AI. Not metaphorically, literally.
00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.950
The AI generated the rover's driving way
00:08:10.960 --> 00:08:12.950
points, and the rover followed them
00:08:12.960 --> 00:08:15.430
without human control across two
00:08:15.440 --> 00:08:19.270
separate days, covering a total of 456
00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:20.150
m.
00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.309
>> And just to be clear, this isn't NASA
00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:24.390
hopping on a bandwagon. They have been
00:08:24.400 --> 00:08:26.629
working on autonomous rover navigation
00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.670
for years out of sheer necessity. Mars
00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.230
is so far away that a roundtrip radio
00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.029
signal takes around 25 minutes. That
00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.190
means every driving instruction you send
00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.589
has a built-in delay and every
00:08:39.599 --> 00:08:42.709
unexpected obstacle requires another 25
00:08:42.719 --> 00:08:44.870
minutes to respond to. Autonomous
00:08:44.880 --> 00:08:46.949
navigation isn't a luxury, it's a
00:08:46.959 --> 00:08:48.389
practical requirement.
00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:50.870
>> So in this demonstration, the AI
00:08:50.880 --> 00:08:53.430
analyzed orbital images from the Mars
00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:55.350
Reconnaissance Orbiter's high-rise
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.070
camera as well as digital elevation
00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.030
models. It identified hazards, sand
00:09:01.040 --> 00:09:04.230
traps, boulder fields, bedrock, rocky
00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.110
outcrops, and then generated a path
00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:09.430
defined by a series of way points to
00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:12.310
avoid them. From there, Perseverance's
00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:15.269
own onboard auto navigation system took
00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:18.389
over to actually execute the drive. And
00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.550
importantly, before those AI generated
00:09:20.560 --> 00:09:22.710
way points were sent to Mars, they were
00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:24.389
tested here on Earth using
00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:26.870
Perseverance's engineering twin, a
00:09:26.880 --> 00:09:29.509
fullscale physical replica at JPL's
00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:31.829
Marsard. So, this wasn't a blind
00:09:31.839 --> 00:09:34.070
experiment. There was a safety net built
00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:34.790
in.
00:09:34.800 --> 00:09:36.949
>> The AI in question is built on
00:09:36.959 --> 00:09:39.269
Anthropics Claude, which regular
00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.670
listeners may know as the same AI that
00:09:41.680 --> 00:09:44.070
helps power this show. So, there's a
00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.230
certain pleasing symmetry and reporting
00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.630
on that. There really is and the
00:09:48.640 --> 00:09:50.470
engineers are excited about what comes
00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.710
next. One of the current limitations is
00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:54.870
that the longer a rover drives without
00:09:54.880 --> 00:09:57.750
human relocization, essentially humans
00:09:57.760 --> 00:09:59.590
checking in to confirm where it is on
00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:02.230
the map, the more positional uncertainty
00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:06.389
built up over 655 m. That uncertainty
00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:09.829
can grow to around 33 m. The goal is to
00:10:09.839 --> 00:10:12.150
use AI to solve that relocization
00:10:12.160 --> 00:10:14.550
problem, too. So rovers can handle
00:10:14.560 --> 00:10:16.949
kilome scale drives entirely on their
00:10:16.959 --> 00:10:17.750
own.
00:10:17.760 --> 00:10:20.310
>> And beyond Mars, this matters for the
00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.030
whole future of deep space exploration.
00:10:23.040 --> 00:10:25.350
NASA's Dragonfly mission to Saturn's
00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.470
moon Titan will rely heavily on AI for
00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:30.949
autonomous navigation as it flies around
00:10:30.959 --> 00:10:33.829
in Titan's thick atmosphere. The further
00:10:33.839 --> 00:10:36.150
from Earth you go, the more critical
00:10:36.160 --> 00:10:38.470
autonomous systems become. Because
00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:41.030
waiting 25 minutes for a signal is one
00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:43.670
thing, but waiting hours or days is
00:10:43.680 --> 00:10:44.949
quite another.
00:10:44.959 --> 00:10:47.030
>> The vision the JPL team laid out is
00:10:47.040 --> 00:10:49.269
compelling. Intelligence systems not
00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:51.190
just at mission control here on Earth,
00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.590
but embedded in the rovers, helicopters,
00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.990
and drones themselves. Trained on the
00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.990
collective knowledge of NASA's engineers
00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.350
and scientists. The Mars rover of 2035
00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:02.790
may look quite different from
00:11:02.800 --> 00:11:05.509
Perseverance. Our next story is one of
00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:07.430
those pieces of research that sounds
00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.069
almost philosophical at first, but turns
00:11:10.079 --> 00:11:12.389
out to have very concrete scientific
00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.030
implications. A new study published in
00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:17.670
Nature Astronomy has found that life on
00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:19.269
Earth may be thanks to an
00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:21.990
extraordinarily lucky chemical accident
00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:25.350
during our planet's formation nearly 4.6
00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:27.110
billion years ago.
00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:29.990
>> And when they say lucky, they mean it.
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.790
The research suggests that two elements
00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:35.269
absolutely essential for life as we know
00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:38.550
it, phosphorus and nitrogen, only stayed
00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:40.710
accessible on Earth's surface because of
00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.310
a very precise and apparently quite rare
00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.389
balance of oxygen during the planet's
00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:47.829
earliest formation.
00:11:47.839 --> 00:11:50.310
>> Here's how it works. When a young rocky
00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.110
planet forms, it's initially molten, a
00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.829
churning ball of liquid rock. As heavy
00:11:55.839 --> 00:11:58.310
metals sink inward to form the core,
00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.030
lighter materials stay near the surface.
00:12:01.040 --> 00:12:03.509
During this chaotic stage called core
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:06.069
formation, the amount of oxygen present
00:12:06.079 --> 00:12:08.710
determines where other elements end up.
00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:11.430
The researchers from ETHZurich found
00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.910
that oxygen levels need to fall within a
00:12:13.920 --> 00:12:16.150
surprisingly narrow range for both
00:12:16.160 --> 00:12:18.629
phosphorus and nitrogen to remain in the
00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:21.350
mantle and crust available for future
00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.389
life. Too little oxygen and phosphorus
00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:26.310
bonds with iron and gets dragged into
00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.389
the core, taking away a key ingredient
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.949
for DNA, cell membranes, and energy
00:12:30.959 --> 00:12:33.750
transfer. Too much oxygen and nitrogen
00:12:33.760 --> 00:12:36.230
is more easily lost to space. Either
00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.470
way, the chemistry needed for life never
00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:40.949
fully comes together. Earth hit this
00:12:40.959 --> 00:12:42.629
sweet spot, what the researchers are
00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.949
calling a chemical goldilock zone.
00:12:44.959 --> 00:12:46.230
Precisely.
00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:48.310
>> The lead researcher, Craig Walton, put
00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.710
it clearly. If Earth had had just a
00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:52.790
little more or a little less oxygen
00:12:52.800 --> 00:12:54.870
during core formation, there would not
00:12:54.880 --> 00:12:57.030
have been enough phosphorus or nitrogen
00:12:57.040 --> 00:12:59.430
for the development of life. They also
00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:01.990
modeled Mars and found it likely had the
00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.629
wrong oxygen balance. More phosphorus in
00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.389
the mantle than Earth, but less
00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.629
nitrogen. Challenging conditions for
00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.230
life as we know it.
00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:12.389
>> This is a significant challenge to how
00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:13.990
we've traditionally thought about the
00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:16.870
search for life. The habitable zone, the
00:13:16.880 --> 00:13:19.110
region around a star where liquid water
00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.430
can exist on the surface, has been our
00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:23.829
go-to framework. But this research
00:13:23.839 --> 00:13:26.069
suggests that even a planet in the
00:13:26.079 --> 00:13:28.230
perfect orbital position with liquid
00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:30.949
water could be fundamentally incapable
00:13:30.959 --> 00:13:33.350
of supporting life if its internal
00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:35.750
chemistry didn't form correctly.
00:13:35.760 --> 00:13:38.550
>> And here's the hopeful flip side. The
00:13:38.560 --> 00:13:40.629
oxygen conditions during planetary
00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.949
formation are linked to the chemistry of
00:13:42.959 --> 00:13:45.509
the host star itself. Because planets
00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.750
form from the same material as their
00:13:47.760 --> 00:13:50.550
stars. So in principle, by looking at
00:13:50.560 --> 00:13:52.949
stellar chemistry, we might be able to
00:13:52.959 --> 00:13:55.509
predict which planetary systems had the
00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:57.350
right conditions from the start.
00:13:57.360 --> 00:13:59.670
Walton's advice for the search, look for
00:13:59.680 --> 00:14:02.150
solar systems with stars that resemble
00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:03.590
our own sun.
00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:05.509
>> It makes the Earth feel even more
00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:07.990
special and the universe feel a little
00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.509
more vast and empty. All right, from the
00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.470
philosophical to the spectacular. In
00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:16.870
exactly one week's time, on February
00:14:16.880 --> 00:14:19.670
17th, an annular solar eclipse is going
00:14:19.680 --> 00:14:22.150
to sweep across the southern hemisphere.
00:14:22.160 --> 00:14:24.310
This is the so-called Ring of Fire
00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.550
eclipse, where the moon passes directly
00:14:26.560 --> 00:14:28.790
in front of the sun. But because it's at
00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:30.790
a slightly greater distance from Earth
00:14:30.800 --> 00:14:33.350
than usual, it appears a little smaller
00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.910
than the sun's disc, the result is a
00:14:35.920 --> 00:14:37.910
thin blazing ring of sunlight
00:14:37.920 --> 00:14:40.389
surrounding the moon's dark silhouette.
00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:42.949
Stunning. Though this is different from
00:14:42.959 --> 00:14:45.189
a total solar eclipse where the moon
00:14:45.199 --> 00:14:47.189
completely covers the sun and you get
00:14:47.199 --> 00:14:49.110
that eerie darkness in the middle of the
00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.829
day. In an annular eclipse, the moon
00:14:51.839 --> 00:14:55.030
blocks about 96% of the sun's disc, but
00:14:55.040 --> 00:14:57.509
that remaining sliver stays visible, and
00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.670
the ring effect is only visible for
00:14:59.680 --> 00:15:02.389
around 2 minutes and 20 seconds at any
00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:04.389
given location in the past.
00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.870
>> The path of annularity for this one is
00:15:06.880 --> 00:15:09.590
quite remote. It runs primarily over
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.629
Antarctica, which means the full Ring of
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:14.870
Fire experience will be witnessed by the
00:15:14.880 --> 00:15:17.189
researchers at places like Concordia
00:15:17.199 --> 00:15:19.990
Station, the French Italian outpost on
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.189
the Dome Sea Plateau, and Mirin Station,
00:15:23.199 --> 00:15:26.230
the Russian base on the Davis Sea Coast.
00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:29.509
We're talking about teams of maybe 50 to
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:32.629
200 people. A very exclusive audience
00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:35.269
for one of nature's best shows. For the
00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:37.269
rest of us, partial phases will be
00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.430
visible from the southernmost parts of
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.509
South America, southern Chile, and
00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.670
Argentina, and from parts of South
00:15:43.680 --> 00:15:46.389
Africa. Not the full ring, but still a
00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.069
striking sight if you're in the right
00:15:48.079 --> 00:15:50.550
location with proper eclipse glasses.
00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:53.030
And it goes without saying, never look
00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:55.110
directly at the sun during an eclipse
00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:57.590
without approved eclipse glasses. The
00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:00.069
ring of fire does not mean the sun is
00:16:00.079 --> 00:16:02.550
safe to look at. There's also something
00:16:02.560 --> 00:16:04.949
lovely about the timing of this eclipse.
00:16:04.959 --> 00:16:07.350
February 17th is the start of Chinese
00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.990
New Year, specifically the year of the
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.629
Firehorse. The new moon that causes the
00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:14.949
eclipse is the same new moon that marks
00:16:14.959 --> 00:16:17.269
the beginning of the lunar new year. And
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.269
the cresant moon visible on February
00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.310
18th will signal the start of Ramadan.
00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.550
So, this one celestial event sits right
00:16:24.560 --> 00:16:26.710
at the intersection of multiple major
00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:29.110
cultural moments around the world. If
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:30.710
you're not in the past and want to
00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:32.710
watch, there will almost certainly be
00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:34.550
live streams from research teams in
00:16:34.560 --> 00:16:36.470
Antarctica. We'll keep an eye out and
00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.629
link to any good ones in the show notes.
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:40.389
And we're going to close out today's
00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:43.030
main stories with a Starship update.
00:16:43.040 --> 00:16:45.430
Because after a frustrating lull, things
00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.150
are very much moving again at SpaceX's
00:16:48.160 --> 00:16:50.949
Starbase facility in South Texas. To
00:16:50.959 --> 00:16:53.110
understand why this is significant, you
00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:55.910
need a quick bit of context. The last
00:16:55.920 --> 00:16:58.629
Starship flight, flight 11, was the
00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:00.310
final launch of the block 2
00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:02.710
configuration. SpaceX is now
00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.270
transitioning to block 3, which is a
00:17:05.280 --> 00:17:07.350
significantly upgraded architecture
00:17:07.360 --> 00:17:10.309
featuring new Raptor 3 engines, enhanced
00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:12.549
performance, and improved reusability
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.029
features. But the development of Block
00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:17.829
3, hit a serious setback when booster
00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:21.270
18, the first Block 3 booster, failed
00:17:21.280 --> 00:17:23.590
during cryogenic pressure testing late
00:17:23.600 --> 00:17:26.789
last year. Its outer container cracked.
00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.310
>> Base X moved fast. Booster 19, the
00:17:30.320 --> 00:17:32.390
replacement, was stacked and delivered
00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.789
to the test site in record time. And in
00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:36.549
the first week of February, it
00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:39.590
successfully completed not one but two
00:17:39.600 --> 00:17:42.390
cryogenic pressure tests. The first was
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.750
on February 2nd, the second on the 4th.
00:17:45.760 --> 00:17:48.789
Both passed. Starbase watchers described
00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.110
it as looking like the entire booster
00:17:51.120 --> 00:17:54.070
had frozen solid as super chilled liquid
00:17:54.080 --> 00:17:56.549
oxygen entered it, which is exactly what
00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:57.909
it's supposed to do.
00:17:57.919 --> 00:17:59.909
>> Booster 19 has since been returned to
00:17:59.919 --> 00:18:01.990
the production site for further work.
00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:03.990
And all eyes are now on the flight
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.430
stack. Booster 19 paired with ship 39,
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.110
which is being prepared for what will be
00:18:09.120 --> 00:18:12.390
the debut of the full Block 3 vehicle.
00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:14.390
The current target is a launch window in
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:17.029
the February to March time frame, though
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.110
sources familiar with the program point
00:18:19.120 --> 00:18:21.510
to March as the most realistic date.
00:18:21.520 --> 00:18:24.150
>> Flight 12 is a genuinely significant
00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:26.310
milestone. It'll be the first flight of
00:18:26.320 --> 00:18:28.870
the block 3 Starship, the first use of
00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.750
the new pad 2 architecture at Starbase,
00:18:31.760 --> 00:18:34.630
and the debut of Raptor 3 engines at
00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.070
scale. The stakes are high. NASA needs a
00:18:38.080 --> 00:18:40.310
successful block 3 to progress towards
00:18:40.320 --> 00:18:42.390
using Starship as the human landing
00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.789
system for the Aremis program's crude
00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:47.430
lunar missions. That timeline is already
00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:48.549
under pressure.
00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.789
>> Meanwhile, infrastructure work continues
00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:53.909
at a remarkable pace. Pad 1 at Starbase
00:18:53.919 --> 00:18:56.870
is being rebuilt. Space X's facility at
00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:58.950
Kennedy Space Center at launch complex
00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:01.669
39A is progressing toward a first
00:19:01.679 --> 00:19:03.590
Florida Starship launch in the second
00:19:03.600 --> 00:19:07.110
half of 2026. And environmental approval
00:19:07.120 --> 00:19:08.950
has been granted for a brand new
00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.830
Starship complex at Space Launch Complex
00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:14.710
37 at Cape Canaveral, which would
00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.110
eventually give the program five launch
00:19:17.120 --> 00:19:19.510
pads across Texas and Florida.
00:19:19.520 --> 00:19:22.710
>> Five launch pads for Starship. It's a
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.430
lot to take in, but after booster 18's
00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.590
failure and the testing lull, the fact
00:19:27.600 --> 00:19:30.470
that booster 19 has passed its cryotests
00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.870
and flight 12 is back on track is
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:35.270
genuinely good news for the program.
00:19:35.280 --> 00:19:37.590
>> We will be watching closely.
00:19:37.600 --> 00:19:39.270
>> That is everything we've got for you
00:19:39.280 --> 00:19:42.150
today on Astronomy Daily. Fix stories,
00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:43.909
all of them worth your time. From
00:19:43.919 --> 00:19:45.669
astronauts waiting for weather in
00:19:45.679 --> 00:19:48.230
Florida to a comet carrying four
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.310
billionyear-old secrets from another
00:19:50.320 --> 00:19:53.350
star, a rover taking orders from an AI
00:19:53.360 --> 00:19:56.070
on Mars, new science that makes life on
00:19:56.080 --> 00:19:58.789
Earth feel like a cosmic lottery win, a
00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:01.909
ring of fire one week away, and Starship
00:20:01.919 --> 00:20:04.150
dusting itself off for another attempt
00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:05.430
at history.
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:07.350
>> A genuinely brilliant day to be
00:20:07.360 --> 00:20:09.110
following space news. Thank you so much
00:20:09.120 --> 00:20:11.110
for spending part of it with us. If you
00:20:11.120 --> 00:20:12.870
enjoyed today's episode, please
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.310
subscribe wherever you get your
00:20:14.320 --> 00:20:16.230
podcasts. And if you want to go deeper
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:18.549
on any of these stories, full show notes
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.150
and our blog are over at
00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.310
astronomyaily.io.
00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:24.230
>> Until tomorrow, keep looking up.
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.310
>> Take care, everyone.
00:20:26.320 --> 00:20:28.549
>> Daily
00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:36.470
stories.
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.280
Stories to tell.




