Medical Drama on the ISS-Update | ESA’s Rocket Revamp | Mysterious Early Galaxies: Your Daily...

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,


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your daily companion for all things


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space and astronomy. I'm Anna and


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joining me as always is my good friend


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and co-host Avery. Hey Avery, it's


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January 10th, 2026. Hope everyone's


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weekend is stellar.


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>> Hey Anna, and hello to our listeners


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everywhere. Yeah, it's been a busy start


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to the year and today we've got some


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fantastic updates and discoveries. We're


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kicking off with a big follow-up to


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yesterday's breaking news on the ISS


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medical situation, plus rocket upgrades


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in Europe, some weird early universe


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galaxies from JWST,


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insights into our galaxy's black hole


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past, and China's upcoming space


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telescope that's poised to reveal cosmic


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secrets. Let's dive right in.


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>> First up, the update we've all been


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waiting for. NASA and SpaceX have set a


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target date for Crew 11's return to


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Earth following the medical concern with


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one crew member.


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>> This is a historic early return we


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talked about yesterday. The first


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medical evacuation of an entire crew


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from the ISS in its 25-year history.


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Crew 11, who launched last August on


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Dragon Endeavor, includes NASA


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astronauts Michael Frink and Zena


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Cardman, Jax's Kimya Yu, and Ross Cosmos


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cosminaut Oleg Platanov. The plan now is


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undocking no earlier than 5:00 p. p.m.


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Eastern time on Wednesday, January 14th,


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weather permitting, and splashdown


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around 3:40 a.m. on Thursday, January


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15th off the coast of California.


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Recovery teams are prepped and managers


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are monitoring sea states, spacecraft


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readiness, everything to make sure it's


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safe. NASA stresses the crew member is


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stable and has been receiving care on


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board, but the decision was made to


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return early as a precaution since full


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diagnosis and treatment aren't feasible


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in microgravity. Details remain private


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for medical privacy reasons. No


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specifics on the condition.


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>> Importantly, this shouldn't impact the


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upcoming Artemis 2 mission. NASA


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administrator Jared Eisedman said the


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evacuation is quote a totally separate


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campaign at this point and they're still


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aiming for the first launch window in


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early February. No delays expected.


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That's reassuring for the whole program.


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>> With Crew 11 heading home, the ISS will


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temporarily drop to three crew members.


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NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two


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Russian cosminauts. They'll keep things


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running, but NASA is looking at


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accelerating Crew 12's launch from


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midFebruary to minimize any gap. This


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shows how flexible the partnership is,


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even in tough moments.


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>> Sending all the best wishes for a safe


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return to Crew 11. What a reminder of


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the human element in space flight.


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>> Next, some rocket news from Europe. ESA


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is considering ways to write the wrongs


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of Arion 6 by turning it into a sort of


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Franken rocket with reusable elements.


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>> Arion 6 debuted last year but has faced


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criticism for being fully expendable,


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high cost, and struggling against


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reusable competitors like SpaceX's


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Falcon 9. It's not hitting the launch


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cadence or affordability goals Europe


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hoped for. Under ESA's best initiative,


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Aryan Group is proposing to retrofit


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Aryan 6 by swapping its solid rocket


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boosters for reusable liquid field ones


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from Myaspace. Their methane fuel


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design. The core and upper stage would


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stay expendable because recovering them


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is much harder. Higher speeds, single


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engine, no easy descent control.


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>> This plugandplay approach could lower


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costs, boost flight rates, and give


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Europe quick experience with


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reusability. Maya Space's full rocket


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isn't expected until 2027 at earliest,


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so integration would take time. There's


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also a separate study for a reusable


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demonstrator from Isizar Aerospace.


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>> It's a pragmatic step to catch up.


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Europe knows it needs reusability to


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compete long term. Critics say it's


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playing catch-up to tech from a decade


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ago, but gaining data from multiple


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boosters per flight could accelerate


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progress.


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>> Exciting to see Europe innovating, even


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if it's a hybrid solution. Shifting to


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deep space, the James Webb Space


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Telescope has spotted some truly strange


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cosmic objects that might be baby


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platypus galaxies or perhaps an entirely


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new class of early universe phenomena.


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>> These appear as compact, oddly shaped


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galaxies in the very early universe with


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unusual morphologies that don't fit


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standard models. Maybe mergers, rapid


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formation, or something unique. JWST's


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infrared power lets us see them at high


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red shift when the universe was young


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and chaotic.


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>> The platypus nickname comes from their


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bizarre mixed features like a mashup of


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traits from different galaxy types.


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Researchers are debating if they're


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transitional forms feeding black holes


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in disguise or new physics at play. This


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could reshape our understanding of how


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the first galaxies assembled.


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>> JWST keeps delivering surprises. Every


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image challenges our assumptions.


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>> Staying galactic, new observations show


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that while Sagittarius A star, our Milky


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Way super massive black hole, is quiet


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now, its recent past was far more


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active. Using XRISM and other


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telescopes, astronomers detected FEK


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alpha emission lines in nearby molecular


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clouds like 0.11


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minus 0.11.


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X-ray fluorescents from past outbursts


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illuminating the gas. These flares


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happened a few hundred to a thousand


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years ago, possibly specific events


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around 130 and 230 years back. The black


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hole likely had a feeding frenzy,


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gobbling a star or gas cloud, then


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settled down. We might see another echo


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in decades.


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>> It highlights how black holes toggle


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between active and quescent states,


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influencing galactic evolution, even in


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quiet galaxies like ours. And may it


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long remain quiet, I might add.


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>> Finally, exciting news from China. Their


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revolutionary space telescope, the


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Chinese Space Station Telescope, or


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Shanien, is on track for 2026 launch and


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ready to uncover universe secrets. With


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a 2meter mirror, wide field of view,


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high resolution imaging across multiple


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wavelengths, and spectroscopic


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capabilities, Shantien will map large


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sky areas, directly image exoplanets,


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survey galaxies and stars, probe


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cosmology, dark matter, and fundamental


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physics.


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>> Recent breakthroughs include advanced


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simulation suites for pixel level data


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testing, ensuring systems are optimized


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pre-launch. It's designed for broad


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surveys and deep looks, complementing


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Hubble and JWST by covering huge areas


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efficiently.


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>> This could lead to major discoveries in


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exoplanets, galaxy evolution, and more.


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China is stepping up big time in space


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astronomy. We'll be watching this with


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interest as the year rolls on.


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>> And that's it for today. Time to call it


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a wrap. What a packed day. From human


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spaceflight drama to cosmic deep dives.


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Thanks so much for listening to


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Astronomy Daily. If you enjoy these


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updates, subscribe, share with a friend,


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and we'll be back on Monday with more.


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In the meantime, if you'd like to keep a


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breast of all the latest developments,


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just visit our website at


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astronomydaily.io


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and check out our news update page.


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>> Until then, keep your eyes on the skies.


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>> Clear skies, everyone.


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The stories been told.


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Stories told.