From Rocket Ruins to Cosmic Discoveries: Blue Origin’s Resilience and New Magnetic Insights

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Language: en

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Last week, a rocket exploded on its


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launch pad in Cape Canaveral. The


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fireball could be seen from miles. This


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week, the CEO of Blue Origin looked at


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the wreckage and said five words, "We


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will fly again this year." That story,


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plus magnetic fields discovered on


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distant worlds, a space telescope


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moments from launch, and the definitive


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answer to one of astronomy's oldest


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questions. This is Astronomy Daily.


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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,


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your daily guide to the universe and


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everything in it. I'm Avery.


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>> And I'm Anna. It is Wednesday, the 4th


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of June, 2026. And we have an


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exceptional episode lined up today.


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>> We do. Six stories ranging from a


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dramatic comeback story in the world of


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commercial space flight to a scientific


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first that reshapes what we know about


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planets beyond our solar system. If


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you've been listening this week, you'll


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know Blue Origin had a very bad


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Thursday. We'll have a full update on


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what comes next, but let's get into it.


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>> Last Thursday night at Cape Canaveral,


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Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded


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on its launchpad during a routine


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pre-launch hotfire test. The fireball


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engulfed launch complex 36. Debris was


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found up to half a mile away. It was the


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biggest and most public failure in the


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company's history. And many observers


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feared the road back could take years.


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>> But as of this week, Blue Origin CEO


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Dave Limp is pushing back hard on that


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narrative. He's saying that damage is


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far less catastrophic than it looked.


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>> Limp posted a detailed update on X in


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which he said that now that teams have


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gained full access to the pad, there's


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actually some good news. The propellant


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storage infrastructure, the oxygen


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tanks, the liquid hydrogen storage, and


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the cryogenic methane tanks all came


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through the blast in good shape. He


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called that extremely fortunate because


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those are very long lead items to


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replace. The water tower also survived.


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The main support gantry is damaged, but


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crucially limp says it can be repaired


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in place. It doesn't need to be torn


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down and rebuilt from scratch. Perhaps


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most importantly, there are spare


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assets. The previously flown New Glenn


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booster, nicknamed Never Tell Me the


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Odds, along with three upper stages


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stored in a neighboring integration


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facility, all appear undamaged.


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>> As for the cause of the explosion,


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there's still no official word. The test


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was not within the scope of FAA license


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activities, so the FAA won't be leading


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the investigation. Blue Origin is


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conducting its own assessment. LIMP also


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used the moment to announce a strategic


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pivot. The company had already been


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working on eliminating the need for a


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transporter erector, the massive


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structure used to move and stand the


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rocket upright. He said Blue Origin will


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now skip straight to an alternative


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vertical launch concept, which means


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they don't need to build a replacement


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for the one destroyed during the


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explosion. And he closed his statement


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with Blue Origins motto gradum feroc


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which means stepby step ferociously and


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the declaration we will fly again before


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the end of this year.


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>> That's an aggressive timeline by any


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measure. But it's the kind of defiant


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pledge investors, customers, and the


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broader space industry needed to hear.


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Patrick Space Force Base has cleared


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Blue Origin to begin its full damage


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assessment of launch complex 36. Though


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the formal rebuilding process is now


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underway,


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>> we will of course keep tracking the


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story as it develops.


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>> Now, let's move from the dramatic to the


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extraordinary. Scientists have just


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published what they're calling the first


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direct evidence that planets beyond our


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solar system possess magnetic fields,


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and they found it by studying the wind.


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>> This is a remarkable piece of science. A


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team of astronomers used two of the


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world's most powerful groundbased


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telescopes, the ESO's Very Large


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Telescope in Chile and the Gemini North


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telescope in Hawaii to measure wind


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speeds on seven so-called hot Jupiter


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exoplanets. Hot Jupiters are gas giants


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roughly the size of Jupiter, but


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orbiting extremely close to their host


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stars, far closer than Mercury is to our


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sun. Because they're tidily locked,


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always showing the same face to their


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star. One side is perpetually scorching


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hot and the other is freezing cold. That


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temperature difference creates powerful


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winds that howl from the day side to the


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night side.


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>> The researchers measured those wind


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speeds and found something totally


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counterintuitive. On the hotter planets,


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the winds were actually slower. And that


00:04:42.880 --> 00:04:44.710
is the opposite of what standard physics


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would predict.


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>> If you have more thermal energy, you'd


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expect stronger winds. But these planets


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are pumping the brakes. And the best


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explanation, the one that actually fits


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the data, is magnetic fields.


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>> A magnetic field can interact with the


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electrically charged gas in a planet's


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upper atmosphere and slow those winds


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down. The stronger the magnetic field,


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the greater the breaking effect. The


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team inferred magnetic field strengths


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ranging up to four times that of Saturn


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and up to about half the strength of


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Jupiter's field. The wind speeds


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themselves were extraordinary. They


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ranged from around 7,000 km hour up to


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more than 25,000 kmh.


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For context, the fastest winds measured


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on Jupiter reach about 1,500 kmh.


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These are winds on a scale we simply


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don't see in our own solar system. The


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results were published in the journal


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Nature Astronomy on June 2nd, and the


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implications go well beyond just knowing


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that other planets have magnetic fields.


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Magnetic fields are thought to play a


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critical role in protecting planetary


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atmospheres from being stripped away by


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stellar radiation, which is one of the


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key factors in whether a planet could


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over billions of years potentially


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remain habitable. As the lead researcher


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put it, this is a key step toward


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ultimately understanding which planets


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can stay alive, keep their water, and


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perhaps even one day host life as we


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know it.


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>> A genuinely landmark result. Our next


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story takes us to NASA's Gddard Space


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Flight Center in Greenb Belt, Maryland,


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where engineers have completed what they


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describe as the last look humanity will


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ever take on a critical piece of


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hardware before it becomes the eyes of


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humanity on the universe.


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>> We're talking about the Nancy Grace


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Roman Space Telescope and specifically


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its primary mirror, a 2.4 4 meter 7.9 ft


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reflector that will be the heart of the


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instrument once it launches into space.


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>> On May 20th and 21st, engineers


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performed a meticulous final inspection.


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They tilted the entire observatory onto


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its side, deployed the protective hood


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that will be stowed during launch, and


00:07:03.280 --> 00:07:05.749
used a highresolution camera with a


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powerful zoom lens to do a thorough


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multi-purpose check, looking for any


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particles that may have settled on the


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mirror surface during testing and


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confirming that the optical alignment


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hadn't shifted.


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>> It passed with flying colors, no specks,


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no misalignment. The mirror silver


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coating, which is just 400 nanome thick,


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hundreds of times thinner than a human


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hair, is perfect.


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>> The Roman telescope manager at Goddard,


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J. Scott Smith, marked the moment


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beautifully. He said, "The Roman


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engineering team laid eyes on the


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telescope for the final time before it


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in turn becomes the eyes of humanity,


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revealing the wonders of the cosmos."


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That's a sentence worth sitting with.


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With this milestone complete, Roman will


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now be shipped to Kennedy Space Center


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in Florida in preparation for its


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planned launch, currently scheduled for


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as early as September 2026.


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>> Once in space, Roman will travel to the


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Sun Earth Lrange point 2, known as L2,


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the same orbital neighborhood where the


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James Web Space Telescope operates. It


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will join the most exclusive telescope


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real estate in the solar system.


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>> And Roman's scientific ambitions are


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extraordinary. It will have a field of


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view at least 100 times larger than the


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Hubble Space Telescope, potentially


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measuring light from a billion galaxies


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over its lifetime. It will also be


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capable of directly imaging exoplanets


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by blocking out starlight and conducting


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a comprehensive statistical census of


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planetary systems across our galaxy.


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>> We are getting very close to launch.


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September can't come soon enough.


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>> We'll be right back after this short


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break for a word from our sponsors. Stay


00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.750
with us. And we're back. Three more


00:08:51.760 --> 00:08:53.590
stories to go and they are all


00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:54.710
fascinating.


00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:56.949
>> Space Force has made a very large


00:08:56.959 --> 00:08:59.990
investment in SpaceX. On May 29th, the


00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.230
US Space Force announced it had awarded


00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:06.230
Elon Musk's company a $4.16 billion


00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:08.230
contract for a program called the


00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.790
Spacebased Airborne Moving Target


00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:13.750
Indicator, or SBMTI.


00:09:13.760 --> 00:09:15.829
In plain language, the goal is to build


00:09:15.839 --> 00:09:17.829
a constellation of satellites that can


00:09:17.839 --> 00:09:19.829
track and target airborne threats from


00:09:19.839 --> 00:09:22.070
orbit. Things like aircraft, cruise


00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.389
missiles, and other fast-moving threats


00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:26.710
anywhere on Earth at any time. The


00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:28.550
satellites are designed to fill a gap


00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:30.389
that currently exists in military


00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:32.870
surveillance. Traditionally, the US


00:09:32.880 --> 00:09:35.190
military uses aircraft, particularly


00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.910
Awoks planes, to track airborne targets,


00:09:37.920 --> 00:09:39.829
but satellites can reach areas where


00:09:39.839 --> 00:09:42.310
it's too dangerous to fly, and they can


00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.070
maintain persistent coverage that


00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.389
aircraft simply can't match. The


00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:47.829
contract is part of the Trump


00:09:47.839 --> 00:09:49.910
administration's broader Golden Dome


00:09:49.920 --> 00:09:51.910
missile defense initiative, which aims


00:09:51.920 --> 00:09:53.750
to build a layered national defense


00:09:53.760 --> 00:09:55.590
system, including groundbased


00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.070
interceptors, enhanced radar networks,


00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:01.030
and now this space-based tracking layer.


00:10:01.040 --> 00:10:03.590
>> SpaceX isn't the only company involved.


00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:05.509
Base Force confirmed there are nine


00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:08.389
companies in the SBA MTI vendor pool,


00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.230
though the identities of the other eight


00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.070
have not been made public for national


00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.310
security reasons. More contracts are


00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.069
expected to be issued over the coming


00:10:16.079 --> 00:10:16.630
year.


00:10:16.640 --> 00:10:18.389
>> The goal is to have an initial


00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:20.069
operational constellation of these


00:10:20.079 --> 00:10:23.269
satellites in place by 2028. This


00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:25.350
contract was also accompanied by a


00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.949
separate $2.29 billion Space Force award


00:10:28.959 --> 00:10:31.590
to SpaceX earlier in the week for a


00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.150
space data network backbone, a secure


00:10:34.160 --> 00:10:35.990
high-speed military communication


00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.790
system. In total, SpaceX received over


00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:41.990
$6.5 billion in Space Force contracts in


00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.230
a single week. For a company that is


00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:45.910
also preparing for what could be the


00:10:45.920 --> 00:10:48.630
largest IPO in stock market history,


00:10:48.640 --> 00:10:50.389
it's been quite a week in Hawthorne,


00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:51.269
California.


00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:53.509
>> Now, an update about a visitor that has


00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:55.750
already left, but whose influence is


00:10:55.760 --> 00:10:57.910
still being felt across the astronomy


00:10:57.920 --> 00:11:00.550
community. 3i/Atlas,


00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:02.630
the third interstellar object ever


00:11:02.640 --> 00:11:04.470
confirmed to pass through our solar


00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.670
system. Discovered on July 1st, 2025 by


00:11:07.680 --> 00:11:10.069
the Atlas telescope network in Chile, it


00:11:10.079 --> 00:11:11.990
is now heading back out into the deep


00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.069
galaxy, never to return.


00:11:14.079 --> 00:11:15.910
>> But the scientific conversation it


00:11:15.920 --> 00:11:18.389
sparked is very much alive. A new


00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.470
analysis published this week explores


00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:22.710
the way that 3II/Atlas


00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:24.230
has prompted astronomers to


00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:26.150
fundamentally update what they


00:11:26.160 --> 00:11:28.630
understand, not just about foreign solar


00:11:28.640 --> 00:11:31.110
systems, but about our own. Let's do a


00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.790
quick recap for listeners who may have


00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:35.269
joined us since the main three/atlas


00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:37.509
coverage last year. This was an


00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.910
extraordinary object. It was only the


00:11:39.920 --> 00:11:41.750
third interstellar visitor ever


00:11:41.760 --> 00:11:44.870
confirmed after 1/uamua


00:11:44.880 --> 00:11:49.430
in 2017 and 2i/ Boris in 2019. But


00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.870
unlike those two, 3/ Atlas was clearly


00:11:52.880 --> 00:11:55.670
an active comet, releasing dust and gas


00:11:55.680 --> 00:11:57.990
with multiple tails and a nucleus


00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.910
estimated at somewhere between a few


00:11:59.920 --> 00:12:02.150
hundred meters and several kilome


00:12:02.160 --> 00:12:04.870
across. It passed closest to the sun in


00:12:04.880 --> 00:12:07.990
late October 2025, then flew by Mars,


00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.949
then Jupiter in March 2026, and is now


00:12:10.959 --> 00:12:13.269
departing. But even as it fades, the


00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.190
data it generated continues to be


00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:17.590
analyzed. One of the most striking


00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:19.509
findings came from a University of


00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:21.509
Michigan study that examined the water


00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:24.550
ice in three ice/ Atlas and found it


00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:26.710
contained an extraordinarily high


00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:29.590
concentration of dutyium, heavy isotope


00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:31.829
of hydrogen that is far less common in


00:12:31.839 --> 00:12:34.310
comets from our own solar system. That


00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.629
suggests three/las


00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:38.310
formed in an environment that was


00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:40.790
dramatically colder and more isolated


00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:42.550
than the conditions that shaped our


00:12:42.560 --> 00:12:45.430
solar systems comets. Researchers have


00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.829
since traced its likely origin to a


00:12:47.839 --> 00:12:50.389
cold, dark corner of the Milky Way that


00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.310
had not yet fully assembled into a


00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.629
planetary system when this object


00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.509
formed, potentially making it up to 11


00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:59.910
billion years old, more than twice the


00:12:59.920 --> 00:13:01.350
age of our sun.


00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:03.670
>> What does all of this teach us? Quite a


00:13:03.680 --> 00:13:05.670
lot, as it turns out. It tells us that


00:13:05.680 --> 00:13:07.990
the chemical signatures of comets vary


00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.710
dramatically across the galaxy, meaning


00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:12.470
the building blocks of planetary


00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:14.310
systems, including the water and


00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.790
organics that may seed life, differ


00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:18.550
significantly from one stellar


00:13:18.560 --> 00:13:20.069
neighborhood to another.


00:13:20.079 --> 00:13:22.230
>> It also demonstrates how much we can


00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:24.629
learn from fleeting cosmic visitors if


00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:26.310
we have the tools to observe them


00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.550
quickly. The Veraracruz Reuben


00:13:28.560 --> 00:13:30.949
Observatory in Chile, which released its


00:13:30.959 --> 00:13:33.350
first images in June, is expected to


00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:35.350
dramatically increase the rate at which


00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:38.150
we detect future interstellar objects,


00:13:38.160 --> 00:13:39.990
which could let astronomers determine


00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.150
whether three/Atlas's


00:13:42.160 --> 00:13:44.710
unusual properties are rare or


00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:45.829
commonplace.


00:13:45.839 --> 00:13:47.750
>> A visitor that has left the building,


00:13:47.760 --> 00:13:49.750
but whose lessons will be with us for


00:13:49.760 --> 00:13:50.949
years to come.


00:13:50.959 --> 00:13:53.190
>> Our final story today answers a question


00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.269
that astrophysicists have been wrestling


00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:58.069
with for decades. At what exact mass


00:13:58.079 --> 00:14:00.230
does a neutron star collapse into a


00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:01.350
black hole?


00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.110
>> This is one of those wonderfully


00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.269
fundamental questions in physics. We


00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:07.430
know that when a massive star dies, it


00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.509
can leave behind either a neutron star


00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.069
or a black hole depending on how massive


00:14:12.079 --> 00:14:14.710
the original star was. But the precise


00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:17.110
boundary between those two fates has


00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:19.590
never been definitively pinned down.


00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:22.550
Until now, researchers at the Hunren


00:14:22.560 --> 00:14:24.710
Wigner Research Center for Physics in


00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:26.550
Hungary have published what they


00:14:26.560 --> 00:14:28.949
describe as a definitive answer. The


00:14:28.959 --> 00:14:32.550
boundary falls between 2.2 and 2.3 solar


00:14:32.560 --> 00:14:35.829
masses. To unpack that, a neutron star


00:14:35.839 --> 00:14:38.150
is one of the most extreme objects in


00:14:38.160 --> 00:14:40.710
the universe. Imagine taking the mass of


00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.110
two suns and compressing it into a


00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.590
sphere about the size of a city. A


00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:47.670
teaspoon of its material would weigh


00:14:47.680 --> 00:14:50.550
billions of tons. These are objects so


00:14:50.560 --> 00:14:52.949
dense that the neutrons themselves are


00:14:52.959 --> 00:14:55.350
packed together like one giant atomic


00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.990
nucleus. But there's a limit to how much


00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.470
mass a neutron star can hold before


00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:02.389
gravity wins and the whole thing


00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:05.110
collapses inward to form a black hole.


00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.910
That limit the Tolman Oppenheimer voloff


00:15:07.920 --> 00:15:10.150
limit has previously been estimated to


00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:12.870
be somewhere between two and three solar


00:15:12.880 --> 00:15:14.870
masses depending on the assumptions


00:15:14.880 --> 00:15:17.910
used. This new work narrows that window


00:15:17.920 --> 00:15:19.910
considerably, placing the critical


00:15:19.920 --> 00:15:23.590
threshold between 2.2 and 2.3 solar


00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:26.389
masses. Beyond that, a neutron star


00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:28.389
simply cannot support itself against


00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.189
gravity, and the black hole is born. Why


00:15:31.199 --> 00:15:33.110
does this matter? Because it gives


00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.750
astronomers a clearer tool to classify


00:15:35.760 --> 00:15:38.150
compact objects they observe. When we


00:15:38.160 --> 00:15:40.470
detect something via gravitational waves


00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.870
or X-ray observations, knowing the


00:15:42.880 --> 00:15:44.949
precise mass boundary between neutron


00:15:44.959 --> 00:15:47.670
stars and black holes helps us identify


00:15:47.680 --> 00:15:49.430
what we're actually looking at.


00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:51.509
>> It also feeds into our understanding of


00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:53.990
what happens in neutron star mergers,


00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.230
the cataclysmic collisions that produce


00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.389
gravitational wave signals, and some of


00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:00.550
the most energetic explosions in the


00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:01.430
universe.


00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:03.829
>> A beautifully precise answer to one of


00:16:03.839 --> 00:16:06.710
the universe's most extreme questions.


00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.030
Before we go, a quick look at the June


00:16:09.040 --> 00:16:11.269
sky for our listeners in Australia, New


00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:12.790
Zealand, and across the Southern


00:16:12.800 --> 00:16:13.829
Hemisphere.


00:16:13.839 --> 00:16:16.069
>> June is a wonderful month for southern


00:16:16.079 --> 00:16:17.829
observers. We're heading toward the


00:16:17.839 --> 00:16:20.389
winter solstice on June 21st, which


00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:22.710
means longer nights, prime time for


00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.269
stargazing. Jupiter and Venus are


00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.350
currently visible in the western sky


00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.990
after sunset. And on June 9th, they'll


00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:32.389
appear at their closest to each other. A


00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:34.389
spectacular conjunction worth getting


00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.590
outside for. The Milky Way core is also


00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:39.350
rising in the evening sky from the


00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.030
southern hemisphere right now.


00:16:41.040 --> 00:16:42.870
Beautifully positioned for photography


00:16:42.880 --> 00:16:45.269
and naked eye observation in dark sky


00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.910
locations away from city lights.


00:16:47.920 --> 00:16:50.389
>> That is all from us for today. Six


00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:52.629
stories and every one of them a reminder


00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:54.710
that the universe is never standing


00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:57.509
still. From Blue Origin's defiant pledge


00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.069
to rise from the ashes to magnetic


00:17:00.079 --> 00:17:02.629
fields discovered on distant worlds, it


00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:04.710
has been a remarkable day to cover


00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:07.350
space. If you enjoyed today's episode,


00:17:07.360 --> 00:17:09.990
please subscribe, leave us a review, and


00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:11.909
tell a fellow space lover about the


00:17:11.919 --> 00:17:14.390
show. Find us on Instagram, Facebook,


00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:17.350
and x at astroaily pod and at


00:17:17.360 --> 00:17:19.429
astronomyaily.io.


00:17:19.439 --> 00:17:20.470
>> I'm Avery.


00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.789
>> And I'm Anna. We'll see you tomorrow.


00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:36.470
And until then, keep looking up.


00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:40.200
Stories told.