One Sleep to Splashdown: Artemis II Heads Home + Lunar Science Bombshell

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Language: en

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One more sleep. After 9 days in deep


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space, nine days that took humanity


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further from Earth than we have ever


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been, the Artemis 2 crew is coming home.


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Splashdown is tomorrow and we have the


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full countdown.


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>> Plus, the NASA scientists who literally


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screamed when the astronauts spotted


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something nobody expected to see on the


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moon. We'll tell you what it was and why


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it matters so much for future missions.


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>> A brand new class of star has been


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discovered. Meet Gandalf and Moonsized,


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two cosmic oddballs that have just


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rewritten the stellar rule book.


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>> Mars still very much not welcoming


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visitors. We have the science to prove


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it. And four planets are lining up in


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the April sky for a rare celestial


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parade.


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>> And we close with the most relatable


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space story in years. What happens when


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four astronauts take their iPhones a


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quarter of a million miles from Earth?


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Spoiler, the photos are extraordinary.


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>> Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,


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season 5, episode 85. I'm Anna


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>> and I'm Avery. It is Thursday, the 9th


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of April, 2026, and we are broadcasting


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from astronomyaily.io


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on the bites.com podcast network.


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>> It has been a big week in space, and it


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is about to get even bigger. Let's go.


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>> I'm ready. It is day nine of the Aremis


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2 mission and right now the Orion


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spacecraft call sign Integrity is


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hurtling back toward Earth at


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extraordinary speed. Tomorrow evening it


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will splash down in the Pacific Ocean


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off the coast of San Diego. And when it


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does, four astronauts will have


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completed the most significant human


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space flight since the Apollo program.


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>> The splashdown is scheduled for around


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8:00 p.m. Eastern time. That's Friday


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morning for us here in Australia and New


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Zealand. And NASA says the weather


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window is looking favorable. The USS


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John P. Murtha, the naval recovery


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vessel, is already on station in the


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Pacific with helicopters and divers


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ready to retrieve the crew.


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>> And Avery, before any of that can


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happen, there's a critical sequence of


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events. The crew module, the part that


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carries the astronauts, has to separate


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from the service module. Then it plunges


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into the atmosphere at around 25,000


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miles an hour. There will be a blackout


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period of several minutes when mission


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control loses all contact as the plasma


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sheath forms around the capsule.


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>> And then parachutes. First the drogue


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shoots to slow them down dramatically.


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Then the main parachutes and Orion drops


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to about 17 mph for a soft ocean


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landing. After 9 days and nearly 700,000


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m of travel.


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>> Now the heat shield. This is the thing


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that has been quietly keeping engineers


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awake at night. After the uncrrewed


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Artemis 1 mission, inspectors found that


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chunks of the heat shield had sheared


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away unevenly during re-entry. NASA and


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Loheed Martin spent 4 years


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investigating and redesigning it. Both


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say they are highly confident it will


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perform perfectly tomorrow, but it will


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be the realworld test. Once safely


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aboard the Murtha, the crew will undergo


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medical evaluations before flying to


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Johnson Space Center in Houston.


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Commander Reed Weisman, pilot Victor


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Glover, mission specialist Christina


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and Canadian Space Agency


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astronaut Jeremy Hansen.


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>> History makers, every single one of


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them. Victor Glover, the first person of


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color to travel to the moon. Christina


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the first woman. Jeremy Hansen,


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the first person from a country other


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than the United States to reach lunar


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distance.


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>> And when they get home, President Trump


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has apparently already promised them a


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White House visit. I'd say they've


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earned it.


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>> We'll of course have the full splashdown


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coverage in tomorrow's episode of


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Astronomy Daily. Set those alarms. Now,


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while all the drama of the homeward


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journey has been unfolding, the science


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team at Johnson Space Center has been


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going absolutely wild over what the crew


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observed during the lunar flyby on


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Monday.


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>> And I do mean wild, Avery. NASA's lunar


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science lead Kelsey Young described, and


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this is a direct quote from the press


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conference, audible screams of delight


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in the science evaluation room.


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>> What were they screaming about? Micro


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meteorite impact flashes. During the


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solar eclipse phase of the flyby, when


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the moon blocked the sun and Orion was


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in darkness, the crew spotted between


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four and six distinct flashes of light


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on the lunar surface. Brief colorless


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pin pricks of light lasting just


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milliseconds. Each one was a tiny rock


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traveling thousands of miles hour


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slamming into the moon. Now, scientists


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had hoped the crew might see one or two


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of these. Apollo astronauts reported a


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handful across all the missions, but to


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see multiple flashes so quickly, so


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clearly, they genuinely weren't


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expecting it.


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>> Commander Wiseman described it


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beautifully in the postflyby debrief. He


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said they had 5 minutes of what he


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called human emotional reaction, just


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staring at the darkened moon during the


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eclipse, and then the impact started


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showing up. And why does this matter


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scientifically? Because knowing the


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frequency and location of micrometeorite


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impacts is critical engineering data.


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When future Artemis crews are living and


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working on the lunar surface, building


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habitats, doing spacew walks, those tiny


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rocks are going to be falling on their


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heads and their equipment. Every data


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point about impact rates helps engineers


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design better protection. The Lunar


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Reconnaissance Orbiter team is right now


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using the crew's sketches and timing


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notes to hunt for fresh craters from


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those specific impacts. They may


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actually be able to see the new craters


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from orbit.


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>> And there's a beautiful human moment


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buried in all of this, too. During the


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flyby, the crew proposed names for two


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previously unnamed craters on the lunar


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far side. They suggested integrity after


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their spacecraft and Carol in honor of


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Commander Wiseman's late wife. Those


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names have been submitted to the


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International Astronomical Union for


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official consideration.


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>> That stopped me in my tracks when I read


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it. History made names written into the


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moon.


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>> Moving now to a story that has


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absolutely nothing to do with Artemis,


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but is just as extraordinary in its own


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way. Astronomers have just identified a


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brand new class of stellar objects and


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they've named them Gandalf and


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moonsized.


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>> I'm immediately interested.


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>> As you should be. So context. When a


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star like our sun runs out of fuel, it


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eventually collapses into what's called


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a white dwarf. An incredibly dense


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Earth-sized remnant. These are common.


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We know them well. But when two white


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dwarfs in a binary system collide and


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merge, the resulting object can be


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strange.


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>> Define strange.


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>> Ultra massive, highly magnetic, rapidly


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rotating, and this is the weird part,


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emitting X-rays even though they're


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completely alone. No companion star, no


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material being pulled in from somewhere


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else, just X-rays from a solo stellar


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remnant. Normally X-ray emissions from


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white dwarfs come from accretion. One


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star stealing material from another. So


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to see it happening in isolation is


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genuinely new. Exactly. And researchers


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at the Institute of Science and


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Technology Austria ISTA have now


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confirmed two of these objects share


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five distinct characteristics. Ultram


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massive, highly magnetic, rapidly


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rotating, companionless, and X-ray


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emmitting. Two is enough to define a


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class. And one of them is surrounded by


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a half ring of ionized gas trapped in


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its own asymmetrical magnetic field,


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hydrogen emission spectra that looked


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like, and I love this description, cat


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ears.


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>> Cat ears. The spectral signature kept


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switching between two peaks in sync with


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the object's 6-minute rotation period.


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Something no one had ever seen in a


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white dwarf before, which is why they


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named it after the Tolken character who


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famously speaks in riddles.


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>> Gandalf, who likes to speak in riddles,


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that is perfect.


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>> And moon size is its companion in this


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new class. A white dwarf so dense that a


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mass equivalent to our entire sun is


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compressed into something roughly the


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size of the moon.


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>> I need a moment to process that.


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>> Take your time. The universe will wait.


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>> So, what does it all mean? Are there


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more of these out there?


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>> Almost certainly. The researchers say


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finding two objects with five


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overlapping features is, and I'm


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paraphrasing here, more than enough to


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start a search. The hunt for more


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Gandalfs and moon sizes is on.


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>> Now to the red planet and a story that


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offers a rather sobering perspective on


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humanity's ambitions there.


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>> New research published this week


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suggests that Mars' surface was never


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really a viable candidate for life. Not


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just now, but potentially at any point


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in its history. Scientists at Universe


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Today have been covering a study that


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consolidates a growing body of evidence.


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radiation bombardment, toxic


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percllorates in the soil, and the near


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total absence of a protective


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atmosphere.


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>> We've known for a long time that Mars is


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hostile. Now, the question has always


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been whether there was a window billions


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of years ago when Mars had liquid water


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in a thicker atmosphere when life could


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have gained a foothold.


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>> And the emerging picture is that even


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then, the surface may have been too


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brutal. The radiation levels alone


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without a magnetic field to deflect


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solar particles would have been


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devastating to any surface biology.


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Whatever life Mars may have had, if any,


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would have needed to be underground


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almost immediately.


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>> Which actually makes missions like


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Aremis even more striking by contrast.


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Earth got it right. We're here. We


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evolved. We survived long enough to send


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four people around the moon on iPhones.


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Mars just didn't make it.


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>> The subsurface is still the focus of


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active scientific interest. There may be


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liquid water deep below the Martian


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crust. There may be microbial life


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sheltering from the surface hellscape.


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But the romantic notion of ancient


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surface life basking under a warm


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Martian sun. The science is increasingly


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against it.


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>> And it makes the search for life


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elsewhere feel even more precious and


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the protection of life here feel even


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more urgent. Well said. On to something


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a little more uplifting, at least


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visually.


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>> Skywatching time. And this month's night


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sky is offering up a genuinely lovely


00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:55.030
alignment. Four planets are currently


00:10:55.040 --> 00:10:57.269
visible together in April skies.


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Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune.


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>> Now, Neptune you'll need binoculars or


00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.590
small telescope for. It's not naked eye


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under any practical conditions. But


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Mercury, Mars, and Saturn are all


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available to the unaded eye. if you know


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where and when to look.


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>> For our southern hemisphere listeners in


00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.310
Australia and New Zealand, the best


00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:20.550
viewing window is the eastern sky in the


00:11:20.560 --> 00:11:22.949
hours before dawn. Mercury is the


00:11:22.959 --> 00:11:25.269
trickiest. It's always close to the sun,


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but right now it's at a reasonable


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elongation and worth hunting for. Mars


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has been a reliable presence in our


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skies for months now. And Saturn is that


00:11:34.160 --> 00:11:36.150
beautiful, steady, golden glow that


00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:38.790
never twinkles the way stars do. If you


00:11:38.800 --> 00:11:40.710
grab even a modest pair of binoculars


00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.710
and point them at Saturn, you can make


00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.750
out the ring system. It never gets old.


00:11:45.760 --> 00:11:47.829
>> This is a great time to get kids outside


00:11:47.839 --> 00:11:50.710
and look up. Four planets at once.


00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.269
Artemis 2 coming home tomorrow. The


00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:55.190
timing couldn't be better for a bit of


00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:56.710
genuine wonder.


00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.389
>> Clear skies permitting. Check the


00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.470
Starwalk app or your local astronomy


00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.470
society for specific viewing times from


00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:04.630
your location. Links as always in our


00:12:04.640 --> 00:12:07.110
show notes. And we close today with


00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.509
perhaps the most delightfully human


00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.470
story of the entire Aremis 2 mission.


00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.389
>> You know, amongst all the orbital


00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.910
mechanics and the heat shield


00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:17.509
engineering and the science about


00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:19.990
micromedorite impacts, there's this


00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.230
other story quietly running alongside it


00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:24.949
all. The four Artemis 2 astronauts


00:12:24.959 --> 00:12:27.350
brought their iPhones. not to make


00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:31.030
calls. There's no signal 252,000


00:12:31.040 --> 00:12:33.910
miles from Earth. But NASA administrator


00:12:33.920 --> 00:12:36.150
Jared Isaacman made a deliberate


00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:38.150
decision to allow the crew to bring


00:12:38.160 --> 00:12:41.910
iPhone 17 Pro Maxes on board as personal


00:12:41.920 --> 00:12:44.710
cameras. The idea was simple. Give the


00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.269
crew the tools to capture their own


00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:48.230
story.


00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.629
>> And they have. Christina Coach and


00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:52.629
Commander Weissman use the iPhone's


00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.030
front camera, the selfie camera, to take


00:12:55.040 --> 00:12:57.430
what are being described as genuinely


00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.230
the greatest selfies in human history.


00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.629
Their faces softly lit from inside the


00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.430
cabin and behind them, suspended in the


00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.629
black of space, our entire planet, a


00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.350
pale blue crescent from a quarter of a


00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.470
million miles away. The EXIF data from


00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.949
the images shows they kept the camera on


00:13:16.959 --> 00:13:20.150
default settings. No special filters, no


00:13:20.160 --> 00:13:22.710
complicated exposures. Just point the


00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.949
phone at the window, press the button.


00:13:24.959 --> 00:13:26.710
And then there's Reed Whitesman during


00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.870
the lunar flyby turning off all the


00:13:28.880 --> 00:13:30.710
cabin lights so there's no reflection on


00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.550
the windows, zooming his iPhone 17 to 8x


00:13:34.560 --> 00:13:37.030
and photographing Chbashef crater on the


00:13:37.040 --> 00:13:39.509
far side of the moon. A place that had


00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.350
never been photographed by a human


00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.910
holding a camera in their hands before.


00:13:43.920 --> 00:13:46.550
>> You could argue Apple should just retire


00:13:46.560 --> 00:13:49.670
the shot on iPhone ad campaign. Now it


00:13:49.680 --> 00:13:52.629
has been definitively won. The crew has


00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:54.550
reportedly shot more images on their


00:13:54.560 --> 00:13:56.230
phones than through the professional


00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:59.030
Nikon cameras, and NASA says everything


00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:01.189
captured will be made publicly available


00:14:01.199 --> 00:14:03.750
within 6 months. So, there's a lot more


00:14:03.760 --> 00:14:04.710
to come.


00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:07.430
>> There's something quietly extraordinary


00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.990
about this story. We're in an era of


00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.710
such technological sophistication,


00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.189
orbital mechanics, deep space


00:14:15.199 --> 00:14:18.629
navigation, radiation shielding, and yet


00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:20.949
one of the most resonant moments of the


00:14:20.959 --> 00:14:24.150
entire mission is four humans far from


00:14:24.160 --> 00:14:26.550
home pulling out their phones to take


00:14:26.560 --> 00:14:28.069
pictures of each other.


00:14:28.079 --> 00:14:30.150
>> Because that's what people do. That's


00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:32.550
what we've always done. We go somewhere


00:14:32.560 --> 00:14:35.110
extraordinary. We look at each other. We


00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.910
press the button. That's humanity right


00:14:37.920 --> 00:14:38.710
there.


00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:40.550
>> And that is Astronomy Daily for


00:14:40.560 --> 00:14:43.509
Thursday, the 9th of April, 2026. We'll


00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:45.269
be back tomorrow with everything you


00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.910
need for Artemis 2 splashdown day. Set


00:14:47.920 --> 00:14:49.189
your alarms.


00:14:49.199 --> 00:14:51.590
>> You can find us on all major podcast


00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.230
platforms. Search astronomy Daily or


00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.949
head to astronomyaily.io.


00:14:56.959 --> 00:15:00.150
We are on X and Instagram as Astro Daily


00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:03.430
Pod on Tik Tok, YouTube, and Tumblr. If


00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:05.030
today's episode gave you something to


00:15:05.040 --> 00:15:07.030
think about, or if the Gandalf story


00:15:07.040 --> 00:15:08.790
made you look up at the sky a little


00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:10.629
differently, share it with someone.


00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:11.829
That's how we grow.


00:15:11.839 --> 00:15:12.949
>> From all of us at the


00:15:12.959 --> 00:15:16.069
>> byes.com podcast network, clear skies


00:15:16.079 --> 00:15:17.829
and we'll see you tomorrow.


00:15:17.839 --> 00:15:21.829
>> Goodbye. Astronomy day.


00:15:21.839 --> 00:15:29.829
Stories be told.


00:15:29.839 --> 00:15:33.560
Stories to tell.