Starship V3 Flight 12: A Giant Leap for SpaceX | Neptune’s Moon Mystery Unveiled

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Language: en

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The world's biggest rocket is sitting on


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a launchpad in South Texas right now.


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And tonight, for the first time ever,


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it's going to fly.


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>> Starship version 3, Flight 12. And it is


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absolutely the biggest story in space


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flight today.


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>> We've also got a deep solar system


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mystery wrapped up by the James Webb


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Space Telescope and some genuinely


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unsettling news about what the galaxy


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may be full of.


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>> Spoiler, not very many Earths. I'm Anna.


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>> And I'm Avery. This is Astronomy Daily.


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Today's space news from the universe to


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you.


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>> We've been tracking the Starship V3


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story for a couple of days now. The


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delays, the wet trust rehearsal, the


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OSHA investigation, and today is finally


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the day. The launch window opens at 5:30


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this afternoon, Texas time, and SpaceX


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is going for it. This is flight 12 in


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the Starship program overall, but it's


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the first flight of the V3 design, which


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is by some measures an almost entirely


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new rocket. Elon Musk himself said that


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nearly every part has been redesigned


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compared to V2. The rocket now stands


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124.4 m tall. That's just over 400 ft,


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making it officially the tallest rocket


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humanity has ever built.


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>> And it's not just bigger for the sake of


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it. The big structural change on this


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version is that Starship V3 is designed


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for inorbit refueling for the first


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time. That's the capability that unlocks


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deep space missions to the moon and


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eventually Mars.


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>> NASA is counting on exactly that.


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Starship has been selected as the human


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landing system for the Aremis program.


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The current plan is for a docking test


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in low Earth orbit as early as 2027 with


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a moon surface landing targeted for the


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Aremis 4 mission in 2028. But there's a


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mountain to climb before any of that.


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SpaceX still hasn't sent Starship into


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full orbit. The program has seen


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explosions, delays, and last week a


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contractor working at Starbase in Texas


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died in a fall. The US Occupational


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Safety and Health Administration has


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opened an investigation.


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>> Today's flight profile is suborbital,


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similar to recent missions. The plan is


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to deploy 20 Starlink simulator


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satellites, attempt a single Raptor


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engine relight in space, and test the


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heat shield by deliberately removing one


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tile to measure aerodynamic load on


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neighboring tiles during re-entry.


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>> That tile experiment is actually quite


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clever. You need to understand the


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failure modes before you can fix them.


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>> Weather is sitting around 55% favorable


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right now. Not ideal, but workable. And


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there is a lot writing on this beyond


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engineering pride. SpaceX's planned IPO,


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which could value the company at up to


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$1.75 trillion, would be the largest


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public offering in history. Today's test


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flight is very much in the shop window.


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>> No pressure then.


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>> None whatsoever. We'll have the result


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in tomorrow's episode. Whatever happens


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tonight, it's a pivotal moment for the


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program and for the future of human


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space flight.


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>> Next up today, billions of years ago,


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Neptune had a tidy family of moons.


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Then, a rogue intruder arrived and tore


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everything apart. New research published


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in the journal Science Advances suggests


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that one moon survived the chaos, and


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we've known about it since 1949.


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That moon is Nared, Neptune's third


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largest satellite and one of the


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strangest orbits in the solar system. It


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swings as close as 1.4 million km to


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Neptune and as far away as 9.6 million.


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For comparison, our moon is a pretty


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consistent 384,000


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km from Earth.


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>> For decades, astronomers have known that


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Nared's extreme elliptical orbit was


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unusual, but they couldn't agree on why.


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The leading theory was that it was a


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captured object, something that drifted


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in from the outer solar system and got


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gravitationally trapped. But this new


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study led by Matthew Belellikoff at the


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California Institute of Technology


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strongly rules that out. The team used


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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to


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study Nari in detail and what they found


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changes the story significantly. Their


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observations are consistent with Narid


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being an original moon of Neptune, one


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that formed right alongside the planet,


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but was thrown into its wild orbit when


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Neptune captured its largest moon,


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Triton.


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>> And Trion's story is quite the tale


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itself. Tryion is thought to have


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originated in the Kyper belt, the frigid


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region beyond Neptune, where objects


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like Pluto live. At some point, Triton


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was captured by Neptune's gravity, and


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the gravitational chaos of that event


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scattered Neptune's original moons onto


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collision courses with each other. Both


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were destroyed.


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>> Neptune's innermost moons are thought to


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be the shattered remnants of those


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originals. Rubble that coalesed after


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Triton's arrival. Married, according to


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this new research, escaped that fate by


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being thrown into its current extreme


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orbit. far enough out to survive, but


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close enough to still be bound to


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Neptune.


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>> As Belellikov puts it, it takes a long


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time to do science. This mystery began


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with Merid's discovery in 1949, and we


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may finally have some answers in 2026,


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thanks to Web. The researchers note that


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this work would simply not be possible


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with any previous telescope. It really


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is a testament to what Web continues to


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deliver. A survivor of 4 billion years


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of cosmic chaos. Not a bad story for a


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Thursday.


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>> Here's a number that should give you


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pause. In 2005, the European Space


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Agency was tracking around 16,000 pieces


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of debris in orbit. By 2026, that number


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has grown to more than 44,000, an


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increase of roughly 180%. And that's


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only what we can track. The vast


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majority of debris is too small to track


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at all. Estimates there are millions of


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fragments out there. Paint flex, bolt


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fragments, shards from old rocket


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stages. Moving at orbital velocities.


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Even something tiny can cause


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catastrophic damage.


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>> But new research is drawing attention to


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a consequence that gets less coverage


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than the collision risk. The scientific


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cost. A study looking at NASA's Earth


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observing satellites, specifically Aqua,


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Terra, and Aura, found that since 2005,


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this fleet has had to execute avoidance


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maneuvers at least 32 times to dodge


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debris.


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>> And those maneuvers aren't free. Not in


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terms of fuel and possibly not in terms


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of data, according to records from the


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land data products evaluations


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assessment. Some of those avoidance


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burns may have corrupted climate data


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during the collection window. You move


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the satellite, the instruments point


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somewhere different, and the record has


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a gap or an artifact.


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>> These satellites were not designed with


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this level of debris in mind. Aqua, for


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instance, has lasted 18 years longer


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than its original design life. It's been


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incredibly productive, but it only has


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so much fuel left. Every avoidance


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maneuver burns some of that reserve. And


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as one insurance analyst put it to


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space.com, even without collisions,


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space debris has an economic cost. Each


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time a satellite has to maneuver to


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avoid a potential collision, it uses


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fuel, which is a finite and precious


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resource. The headline quote from


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researchers is blunt. Things will get


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worse before they get better.


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>> The good news is that two companies have


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announced plans to begin active debris


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removal from orbit in 2027. The


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technology exists, the will and the


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regulation need to catch up quickly.


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>> Next on today's agenda, over the past


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year or so, results from the dark energy


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spectroscopic instrument, DESI, have


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been causing excitement and


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consternation in equal measure. The data


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appeared to hint that dark energy, the


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mysterious force driving the


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accelerating expansion of the universe,


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might be evolving over time, changing in


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strength as the cosmos ages,


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>> which if true would be a genuinely


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enormous deal. The standard cosmological


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model treats dark energy as a fixed


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cosmological constant. If it's changing,


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the model needs to be rebuilt from the


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ground up.


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>> Exactly. But new research published in


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physical reviewd is urging caution.


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Scientists at the Tatada Institute of


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Fundamental Research in Mumbai have


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found something subtle. A small but


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significant mismatch between two key


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data sets used to measure dark energies


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properties. Supernova brightness data


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and Barryon acoustic oscillations which


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are essentially ripples in the


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distribution of galaxies across the


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universe. And the mismatch matters


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because the DEESI results that pointed


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to evolving dark energy relied on


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combining those two data sets. If they


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aren't mutually consistent, if there's a


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small but real discrepancy in what


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they're measuring, then the apparent


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signal of evolving dark energy could be


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a systematic artifact rather than a


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genuine physical phenomenon. The


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researchers traced the mismatch back to


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a potential violation of what's called


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the cosmic distance duality relation, a


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fundamental geometric relationship that


00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.829
underpins how we calculate distances in


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the universe. If that relation is being


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violated or if there are subtle


00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:41.030
calibration errors in the data sets,


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then the apparent evolution of dark


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energy may simply disappear.


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>> What does this mean in practical terms?


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It means we don't know yet. This paper


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doesn't prove dark energy is constant.


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It just raises a serious methodological


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flag. Science is working exactly as it


00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:01.430
should. Extraordinary claims get


00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:04.070
extraordinary scrutiny. More data from


00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:06.949
Desi's third release and from Uklid


00:10:06.959 --> 00:10:09.190
mission should help clarify things later


00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:10.150
this year.


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>> The universe remains stubbornly


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mysterious,


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>> which is honestly what keeps us in a


00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:17.670
job. Now, here's a question that sounds


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simple, but turns out to be


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extraordinarily complex. What's the most


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efficient way to get from Earth to the


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moon?


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>> I mean, you point the rocket at it.


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>> You'd think, right? But no, because in


00:10:28.959 --> 00:10:31.190
space flight, the most direct path is


00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.430
almost never the most efficient one. And


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the new study published in the journal


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Astronamics has found the trajectory to


00:10:36.959 --> 00:10:38.790
the moon that is better than any route


00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:40.389
previously described in the scientific


00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:41.269
literature.


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>> How much better?


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>> The new route uses 58.8 8 m/s less fuel,


00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.030
what engineers call delta V, compared to


00:10:49.040 --> 00:10:51.269
the previous best known path. That might


00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:53.910
sound tiny, but consider the total fuel


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budget for an Earth to moon transfer is


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around 3,343


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m/s. Shave nearly 60 off that and you've


00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.670
made a real difference. Every meter/s


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saved is, as the researchers put it, a


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massive amount of fuel consumption.


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>> So, how did they find it? The team from


00:11:10.800 --> 00:11:13.030
the universities of Kolimbra, Porto and


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Evora in Portugal and the University of


00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.750
Sa Paulo in Brazil used a mathematical


00:11:17.760 --> 00:11:19.590
approach called the theory of functional


00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.829
connections. It dramatically reduces the


00:11:21.839 --> 00:11:23.350
computing power needed to simulate


00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.829
trajectories which let them test around


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30 million different routes. Previous


00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.269
studies had managed around 280,000.


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>> That's an enormous leap in the search


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space.


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>> And it paid off. The most efficient


00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:38.470
route they found is counterintuitive.


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Instead of heading more or less directly


00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.389
toward the moon, the spacecraft first


00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.470
swings toward a point called the L1


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Lrange plane, the gravitational balance


00:11:46.880 --> 00:11:48.949
point between Earth and the moon about


00:11:48.959 --> 00:11:51.829
85% of the way there. It enters a stable


00:11:51.839 --> 00:11:54.550
orbital pathway around L1, then departs


00:11:54.560 --> 00:11:56.710
on an unstable pathway that transitions


00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.470
it into lunar orbit,


00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:00.949
>> essentially using the moon's own gravity


00:12:00.959 --> 00:12:03.269
as part of the propulsion system.


00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:05.829
>> Exactly. The team also notes that the L1


00:12:05.839 --> 00:12:07.670
point maintains constant line of sight


00:12:07.680 --> 00:12:09.750
with Earth, which means communication is


00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:11.590
uninterrupted throughout the journey.


00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:13.350
And crucially, this method can be


00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.590
adapted. You could use it for any planet


00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:17.670
moon system or any orbital transfer


00:12:17.680 --> 00:12:19.829
problem. As a researcher say, the


00:12:19.839 --> 00:12:21.829
systematic analysis they developed could


00:12:21.839 --> 00:12:23.670
be adopted much more widely going


00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:24.710
forward.


00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.509
>> Small savings scaled across dozens of


00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:30.310
future Artemis missions. That adds up to


00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.150
a lot of rocket fuel


00:12:32.160 --> 00:12:33.990
>> and a lot of money.


00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:36.069
>> Speaking of money, here's a way you can


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offer, just look for the link in the


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show notes.


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00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.190
>> All right, on to our next story. And


00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.829
this one will surprise many. If you've


00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:58.310
ever looked up at the night sky and felt


00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.190
reassured that the galaxy must be full


00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:03.910
of Earth's worlds with oceans,


00:13:03.920 --> 00:13:07.030
atmospheres, and the potential for life.


00:13:07.040 --> 00:13:08.870
New research from the European


00:13:08.880 --> 00:13:11.910
Geocsciences Union Conference in Vienna


00:13:11.920 --> 00:13:13.590
may give you pause.


00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.910
>> That's not the most comforting preamble.


00:13:15.920 --> 00:13:18.150
Preliminary results presented by Shaun


00:13:18.160 --> 00:13:20.389
Jordan, a post-doal researcher at


00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:23.509
ETHZurich, suggest that our galaxy may


00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.750
be filled with a far greater number of


00:13:25.760 --> 00:13:28.150
Venuslike worlds than true Earth


00:13:28.160 --> 00:13:30.790
analoges, and that this might simply be


00:13:30.800 --> 00:13:33.110
how rocky planet formation works.


00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:34.710
>> Walk us through the science.


00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:36.790
>> When a rocky planet forms, it goes


00:13:36.800 --> 00:13:38.870
through what's called a magma ocean


00:13:38.880 --> 00:13:41.590
phase. Essentially, the entire surface


00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:44.230
is molten. As it cools, the atmosphere


00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:46.389
it develops heavily depends on its


00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.389
chemistry and its distance from its


00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:51.190
star. Jordan and colleagues argue that


00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.190
it's actually quite straightforward to


00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.509
end up with a carbon dioxide dominated


00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:59.030
atmosphere. Thick, hot, crushing Venus


00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:01.430
style after that cooling phase. Getting


00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.750
to an Earthlike nitrogen oxygen


00:14:03.760 --> 00:14:05.509
atmosphere is harder.


00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:07.269
>> Meaning a Venus outcome might be the


00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.189
path of least resistance.


00:14:09.199 --> 00:14:11.430
>> That's the implication. And there's a


00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.509
philosophical reframe buried in here,


00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:16.310
too. Jordan suggests that Venus may not


00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.949
have gone wrong. It may simply have been


00:14:18.959 --> 00:14:21.350
born that way. A planet that came out of


00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.990
its magma ocean phase looking exactly


00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.389
like Venus does today without ever


00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:28.790
having oceans or a temperate climate.


00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:31.189
>> How many exenus candidates are we


00:14:31.199 --> 00:14:32.550
actually talking about?


00:14:32.560 --> 00:14:35.110
>> At least a few dozen rocky exoplanets


00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.670
are considered potential Venus analoges,


00:14:37.680 --> 00:14:39.990
though none have been confirmed as such.


00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:41.829
We don't yet have the atmospheric


00:14:41.839 --> 00:14:44.069
characterization tools to be certain.


00:14:44.079 --> 00:14:46.150
The challenge is that a Venuslike


00:14:46.160 --> 00:14:48.550
atmosphere, all those sulfuric acid


00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:50.870
clouds, looks very similar to a


00:14:50.880 --> 00:14:52.790
featureless atmosphere in our current


00:14:52.800 --> 00:14:53.910
observations.


00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:55.750
>> There's a telling phrase in the coverage


00:14:55.760 --> 00:14:58.230
of this research that our own Venus has


00:14:58.240 --> 00:14:59.829
been described as criminally


00:14:59.839 --> 00:15:02.629
underexplored. Only one mission has sent


00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.790
a lander since the Soviet program in the


00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:05.590
80s.


00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:07.910
>> That's the awkward irony. We are looking


00:15:07.920 --> 00:15:10.790
for Venus twins across the galaxy while


00:15:10.800 --> 00:15:12.870
barely understanding the one we have


00:15:12.880 --> 00:15:15.829
next door. ESA's Envision mission and


00:15:15.839 --> 00:15:18.150
NASA's Da Vinci program are both in


00:15:18.160 --> 00:15:20.230
development, and they can't come soon


00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.350
enough. Our nearest twin, the cautionary


00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.990
tale, deserves a much closer look.


00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.310
>> From a habitable paradise candidate to


00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:30.870
the galaxy's most common world, quite


00:15:30.880 --> 00:15:32.069
the demotion.


00:15:32.079 --> 00:15:34.550
>> Science rarely flatters our assumptions.


00:15:34.560 --> 00:15:36.870
Before we head out, a quick look at the


00:15:36.880 --> 00:15:38.470
sky for our southern hemisphere


00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:41.110
listeners, particularly in Australia and


00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:43.670
New Zealand. This week is a beautiful


00:15:43.680 --> 00:15:46.069
time to watch the evening sky. Jupiter


00:15:46.079 --> 00:15:48.310
is blazing brightly in the west after


00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.790
sunset, and the waxing moon is sliding


00:15:50.800 --> 00:15:52.949
past it over the next couple of nights.


00:15:52.959 --> 00:15:54.710
Tonight, they're particularly close


00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:57.030
together, making for a stunning naked


00:15:57.040 --> 00:15:57.990
eye pairing.


00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.150
>> No equipment needed. Just step outside


00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:02.710
about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset.


00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:04.790
Look west and you'll see the moon and


00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:06.870
the brightest star near it. That's


00:16:06.880 --> 00:16:08.949
Jupiter. It's one of those simple


00:16:08.959 --> 00:16:10.629
wonderful reminders that the solar


00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.189
system is right there every clear night.


00:16:13.199 --> 00:16:15.269
>> Cloud-free skies to all of you.


00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:17.350
>> That is Astronomy Daily for Thursday,


00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.470
May 21st, 2026. Six stories from the


00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.389
launchpad in Texas to the farthest


00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:24.069
reaches of Neptune's battered moon


00:16:24.079 --> 00:16:24.790
system.


00:16:24.800 --> 00:16:27.269
>> And the Starship result, whatever it is,


00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:29.350
we'll have it for you tomorrow. If you


00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:30.949
enjoyed the show, please take a moment


00:16:30.959 --> 00:16:32.710
to subscribe and leave a rating wherever


00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:34.790
you get your podcast. It genuinely makes


00:16:34.800 --> 00:16:35.910
a difference.


00:16:35.920 --> 00:16:39.829
>> You can find us at astronomyaily.io


00:16:39.839 --> 00:16:43.590
and on socials at astroaily pod. We're


00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:47.110
part of the byes.com podcast network.


00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:49.670
>> Until tomorrow, keep looking up.


00:16:49.680 --> 00:16:54.790
>> Clear skies.


00:16:54.800 --> 00:17:01.990
told


00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:09.990
stories told


00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.640
stories