From Europa’s Stillness to Artemis’ Historic Launch: Your Daily Space Update

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy [music]


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Daily, your daily dose of space and


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astronomy news. I'm Anna and sitting


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across from me virtually of course is my


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co-host Avery. Hey Avery, happy January


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7th. We are already a week into 2026 and


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the stories just keep coming.


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>> Hey Anna, and hi [music] everyone out


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there gazing at the stars with us.


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Absolutely. It's been a whirlwind start


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to the [music] year. Today, we've got a


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mix of sobering science about one of


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Jupiter's moons, exciting updates on the


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next human trip to the moon, [music] a


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surprising JWST discovery, gorgeous


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views from Mars, a sky watching heads


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[music] up, and some bittersweet news


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from NASA history. Six great stories.


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Let's dive into it.


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>> Starting with a bit of a downer for


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astrobiology fans. New research suggests


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that Europa's vast subsurface ocean


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might be too quiet to support life as we


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know it today.


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>> Yeah, this comes from a study just


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published in Nature Communications.


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Europa, that cracked ice moon of


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Jupiter, has this global ocean deeper


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than anything on Earth, maybe 100 km


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deep under a 15 to 25 km thick ice


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shell. More water than all our oceans


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combined. But the key question is


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energy. Life needs not just water and


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organics, but a source of chemical


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energy.


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>> Exactly. On Earth, a lot of that comes


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from hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.


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Hot mineralrich fluids fueling


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ecosystems. But the models here based on


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Europa's size, composition, and tidal


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heating from Jupiter show the seafloor


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is likely inactive. No tectonic plates


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moving, no fresh fractures, no active


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volcanoes or hot plumes. The rocky core


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cooled billions of years ago, and tidal


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forces aren't strong enough to keep


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things churning like they do on Io.


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>> Lead researcher Paul Burn put it


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bluntly. The energy just doesn't seem to


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be there to support life, at least


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today. If we sent a submersible down


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there, we'd probably see a still, quiet


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bottom. nothing geologically exciting.


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It's a reminder that habitability needs


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that dynamic interplay, not just the big


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ocean.


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>> Still, it's today. Maybe early Europa


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was more active. And missions like


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Europa Clipper launching soon will give


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us better data on plumes and surface


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chemistry. Fingers crossed for some


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surprises.


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>> Definitely, Europa keeps us hooked.


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Shifting to human exploration, the


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historic Artemis 2 mission, the first


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crude flight around the moon in over 50


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years, could be just a month away now.


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>> As of early January, NASA is eyeing


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February 6, 2026 for launch, though


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nothing's locked in yet. The SLS rocket


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and Orion capsule are stacked in the


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vehicle assembly building at Kennedy


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Space Center with rollap to the pad


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expected in the next couple weeks. Then


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comes final checks, integration, and a


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wet dress rehearsal.


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>> The crew is awesome. NASA astronauts


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Reed Wisman as commander, Victor Glover,


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pilot, Christina Caul, mission


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specialist, and Jeremy Hansen from


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Canada. They'll do a free return


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trajectory around the moon, testing life


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support, navigation, everything for deep


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space with humans aboard since Apollo


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17.


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Delays came from heat shield issues on


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Artemis 1, but NASA's fixed staff for


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crew safety. It's thrilling. We're so


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close to seeing humans back in lunar


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space, and it sets up the whole Aremis


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program for landings and bases.


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>> I can't wait to watch that launch live


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stream. Goosebumps already thinking


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about it.


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>> Next, the James Web Space Telescope has


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spotted something unexpected in a galaxy


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that's like a window into the early


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universe. This is Sext A, a dwarf galaxy


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with super low metallicity, just 3 to 7%


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of the sun's heavy elements. It's an


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analog for galaxies shortly after the


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Big Bang when everything was mostly


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hydrogen and helium.


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>> Normally, we'd expect almost no dust


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there. Dust needs those heavier elements


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like silicon or magnesium to form


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silicates. But JWST found two rare


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types. metallic iron dust grains and


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silicon carbide stars, especially aging


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asmtotic giant branch ones, are forging


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bees via alternative chemistry pathways,


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even with scarce ingredients.


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>> They also detected polycyclic aromatic


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hydrocarbons, complex carbon molecules


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in tiny dense pockets. That's the lowest


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metalicity place we've seen PH's. It


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means early galaxies were dustier and


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more inventive than models predicted.


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Building planet forming materials way


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sooner.


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>> Huge implications. Dust helps cool gas


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for star formation, absorbs lights, and


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seeds rocky planets. This reshapes how


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we think high red shift galaxies


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evolved. Maybe more building blocks for


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world like ours earlier than thought.


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>> JWST just keeps rewriting the textbooks.


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From deep space to Mars, Curiosity rover


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has sent back a stunning new panorama


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from high up on Mount Sharp.


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>> This composite was taken in November


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2025 from a ridge in Gale Crater,


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combining shots from afternoon and


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morning Mars time to capture changing


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light. It looks north across this


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intricate boxwork formation. Networks of


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mineral ridges hardened by ancient


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groundwater billions of years ago, now


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exposed by wind. You can see the rover's


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wheel track snaking behind a drill site


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called Valley Deal Luna, the slopes


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dropping to the crater floor, and the


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rim 25 miles away on the horizon. Mount


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Sharp itself towers 3 m high.


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Curiosity's been climbing it since 2012,


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layer by layer, reading Mars' climate


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history.


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>> These veins and sediments tell of wetter


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times, possible habitability, then


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drying out. Recent drills like at Neado


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Sahama are analyzing chemistry to piece


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together water flow. Plus, the rover's


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using smarter autonomy now for


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multitasking. 13 years in and still


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going strong.


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>> Those views never get old. Makes you


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feel like you're there on the red dust.


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>> For sky watchers, there's some


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intriguing buzz about a truly rare


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astronomical event coming up in 2026.


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though unfortunately it's highly likely


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astronomers won't be able to watch it in


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real time even though they know it's


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coming.


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>> Yeah, this one's a bit different from


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the usual planetary parades in our solar


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system. The story is about a predicted


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exocigy.


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That's a sidigy or alignment of three


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bodies but in an extra solar system.


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Specifically, two known exoplanets in a


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distant system are expected to


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simultaneously transit across the face


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of their host star as seen from Earth.


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>> The event is forecasted for around April


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1st, 2026 based on orbital models


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refined from past data. It's only the


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second such double exoplanet transit


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ever predicted. The first one back in


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2010 was actually discovered


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retrospectively in archival data from


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NASA's Kepler mission. That one was


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missed in real time. And sadly, this


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2026 event might suffer the same fate.


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>> Exactly. Lead researcher Terry Yuki


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Herano has noted that while calculations


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suggest a good chance it'll happen, it


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depends on factors like the planet's


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exact masses, gravitational


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interactions, and whether there's an


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unseen outer planet tugging on the


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system. But the bigger issue is


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observation time. Major telescopes and


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space missions have tightly scheduled


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cues. And without pre-allocated slots,


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astronomers likely won't get the


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continuous coverage needed to watch the


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transits unfold live. As Herano put it,


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I hope to observe, but I am not sure


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that I can get an observing time with an


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appropriate telescope for the whole


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event. Real time data would be gold. It


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could reveal transit timing variations


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showing how the planets gravitationally


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influence each other or even hint at


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additional unseen worlds.


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Scientifically, these rare double


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transits are huge for understanding


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multilanet systems, refining orbits,


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measuring masses more precisely, and


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probing dynamics similar to how Jupiter


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and Saturn interact here. But since the


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host star is faint and far away, it's


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strictly professional telescope


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territory. no naked eye or amateur


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viewing possible.


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>> So, while it's an exciting milestone for


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exoplanet science, it's a reminder of


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how telescope time is one of the most


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precious resources in astronomy. We'll


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have to wait for the data analysis


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afterward to learn what happened. In the


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meantime, there are plenty of visible


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solar system alignments to enjoy


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throughout 2026, like that tight trio of


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Mercury, Mars, and Saturn on April 20th


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in the morning sky, or the brighter


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conjunctions with Venus and Jupiter


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later in the year.


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>> Definitely keep an eye on those for some


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great naked eye or binocular views. The


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universe has events for every level of


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observer. Finally, a touch of nostalgia.


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NASA's preparing to demolish three


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historic test facilities at Marshall


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Space Flight Center in Alabama.


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>> These are real icons. The neutral


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buoyancy simulator, a massive pool from


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the 1960s for weightless training used


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for Hubble repairs and shuttle hardware.


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The propulsion and structural test


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facility or Tower from 1957 tested


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Redstone, Saturn, and shuttle boosters.


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and the dynamic test facility, tallest


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in North Alabama when built in 1964,


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shook Saturn 5 and shuttle elements.


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>> All national landmarks since 1985, key


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to Apollo, Skyab, and shuttle, but


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they're inactive, unsafe, and costly to


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maintain. Demolition starts with


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implosions possibly as soon as January


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10th, part of clearing 25 old structures


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to modernize for Aremis. Bittersweet,


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but NASA's preserving the legacy.


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High-res digital models, artifacts to


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museums, virtual tours. End of an era,


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making way for the next.


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>> Yeah, progress often means saying


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goodbye to the past.


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>> What a thoughtful mix today. Quiet


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oceans, upcoming moonshots, dusty early


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galaxies, Martian vistas, sky events,


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and honoring history.


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>> The cosmos and our exploration of it


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always evolving. Thanks for spending


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your time with us on Astronomy Daily.


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>> We love bringing these stories to you.


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Subscribe if you haven't. Share with a


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friend and we'll be back tomorrow.


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>> Until then, keep wondering and looking


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up.


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>> Clear skies, everyone. Astronomy


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[music and singing] day.


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The stories been told.


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Stories [music] told.


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[music]