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It's the Astronomy Daily Weekend Space and Astronomy News Wrap — your Saturday deep dive into the biggest stories from across the week, plus two brand-new headlines and a bonus story we just couldn't leave out. This week on Astronomy Daily: • NASA's Psyche spacecraft executed its Mars gravity assist flyby yesterday — slingshotting past the Red Planet at 12,000 mph on its way to a $10 quadrillion metal-rich asteroid • SpaceX launched the record-breaking CRS-34 Dragon mission to the ISS Friday night — with docking happening TODAY (Sunday May 17) • James Webb Space Telescope maps the cosmic web in unprecedented detail — 164,000 galaxies, 13.7 billion years of history • Hubble reveals 'Dracula's Chivito' — the largest, most chaotic planet nursery ever seen, 1,000 light-years from Earth • Starship Version 3 is on the pad — debut launch targeting Tuesday May 19 from the new Launch Pad 2 at Starbase • Comet R3 PanSTARRS is in Southern Hemisphere skies NOW — and tonight is New Moon. Your last chance for 170,000 years • WEEKEND BONUS: NASA's Curiosity rover drilled into a rock on Mars — and the rock wouldn't let go Find us at astronomydaily.io | Follow @AstroDailyPod | Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network YouTube Show Notes Title: Mars Slingshot! Cosmic Web Mapped! Starship V3 Launch SOON! Weekend Space News Wrap | Today's Space News In this weekend edition of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover seven stories — two fresh headlines, four of the biggest stories from the past week, and a bonus story that's pure gold. It's been one of the best weeks in space in 2026. CHAPTERS: 1. 00:00 — Cold Open & Weekend Wrap Introduction 2. 01:30 — FRESH: NASA Psyche Spacecraft's Mars Gravity Assist 3. 04:00 — FRESH: SpaceX CRS-34 Dragon Launch to the ISS 4. 06:00 — WEEKLY WRAP: JWST Maps the Cosmic Web 5. 08:30 — WEEKLY WRAP: Hubble's 'Dracula's Chivito' Planet Nursery 6. 11:00 — WEEKLY WRAP: Starship V3 — Launch This Tuesday! 7. 13:00 — WEEKLY WRAP: Comet R3 PanSTARRS — Skywatching Now 8. 15:00 — WEEKEND BONUS: Curiosity Rover's Sticky Rock 9. 16:30 — Outro & Credits Subscribe for daily space and astronomy news | astronomydaily.io | @AstroDailyPod | Bitesz.com Podcast Network
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This episode includes AI-generated content.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: Good morning, good afternoon, or good
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 evening, wherever in the world you're
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 listening. It's Saturday, and that means it's
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 time for the Astronomy Daily weekend space
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 and astronomy news rep. I'm Anna.
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 Avery: And I'm, um, Avery. Each week we take a look
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 back at the biggest stories from across the
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 past seven days. And today we've got two
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 fresh off the press headlines, four of the
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 week's most important stories, and a little
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 bonus to round things off.
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 Anna: It has been a genuinely spectacular week
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 in space. Let's get into it.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 Avery: We're going to start with something that
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 happened literally yesterday. And it's the
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 kind of moment that reminds you just how
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 extraordinary space exploration really is.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 Anna: NASA's Psyche spacecraft completed a, uh,
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 gravity assist flyby of Mars on Friday,
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 skimming just 2 miles above the
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 planet's surface at over 12 miles per
00:00:50 --> 00:00:51 hour.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 Avery: Now, for context, Psyche launched back in
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 October 2023 on a 2.2
00:00:56 --> 00:00:59 billion mile journey to reach its namesake
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 asteroid 16 Psyche, a metal
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 rich rock in the asteroid belt that
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 scientists believe may hold clues about how
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 the cores of planets like Earth first formed.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 Anna: And rather than burn through propellant to
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 get there, the mission used Mars as a
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 slingshot, borrowing the planet's
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 gravitational energy to boost Psyche's speed
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 and bend its trajectory toward the asteroid.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 Avery: The numbers are remarkable. In the days
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 leading up to closest approach, Psyche was
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 traveling at around 46
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 miles per hour relative to the Sun. After the
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 flyby that jumped over 52
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 Anna: miles per hour, three speeds courtesy of
00:01:37 --> 00:01:38 Mars.
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 Avery: And while Psyche was in the neighborhood, the
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 science team wasn't just watching. They used
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 the opportunity to calibrate the spacecraft's
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 imager for the first time using Mars as a
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 target. And they also fired up the other
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 science instruments. There's even a chance
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 the cameras may have captured evidence of
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 Mars faint dusty ring formed by
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 micrometeorites striking Phobos and Deimos.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 Anna: The time lapse imagery is still being
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 compiled, so more to come on that front. Next
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 stop for Psyche, the asteroid belt. With
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 arrival at asteroid psyche expected in
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 Avery: 2029, a, uh, spacecraft worth an
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 estimated $10 quadrillion in
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 asteroid real estate. Though I suspect we're
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 not going to be mining it anytime soon.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 Anna: Not quite, but what a journey it already is.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 Avery: Also happening yesterday, SpaceX, uh, finally
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 got the CRS 34 mission off the ground
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 after not one, but two weather scrubs earlier
00:02:32 --> 00:02:33 in the week.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 Anna: Third time's a charm. A Falcon 9 rocket
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 6:05 in the
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 evening. Eastern time on Friday, carrying a
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 Dragon cargo spacecraft loaded with around
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 £6 of supplies and science
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 experiments bound for the International Space
00:02:48 --> 00:02:49 Station station.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 Avery: And it's actually a record breaking flight.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 This particular Dragon capsule is making its
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 sixth flight to the iss. That's the most
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 flights any cargo Dragon has ever made.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 Anna: Now here's the live angle for our weekend
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 listeners. Dragon is due to dock autonomously
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 to the station's Harmony module at around 7
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 in the morning tomorrow, Sunday the 17th. So
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 if you're up early, you may actually be able
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 to catch that docking coverage live on NASA.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:17 Avery: Among the science heading upstairs,
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 experiments studying how bacteria behave in
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 microgravity, a, uh, bone scaffold made from
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 wood that could lead to new treatments for
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 osteoporosis, equipment to monitor space
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 weather's effect on Earth's power grids and
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 satellites, and research into how red blood
00:03:33 --> 00:03:34 cells change in the space environment.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 Anna: The Dragon is set to stay docked until mid
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 June before returning with time sensitive
00:03:39 --> 00:03:40 research samples.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 Avery: The expedition's 74 crew, including Commander
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophie
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 Adeno, will
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 Anna: the unpacking honors busy times on the iss.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 Let's now take a look at the biggest stories
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 from across the past seven days.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 Avery: Time now for our four story weekly wrap. The
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 biggest, most important space and astronomy
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 stories from the past seven days. Anna, uh,
00:04:04 --> 00:04:04 where do we start?
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 Anna: We start with the Universe's skeleton and
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 the most detailed look anyone has ever taken
00:04:10 --> 00:04:11 at it.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 Avery: Scientists using NASA's James Webb Telescope
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 have produced the most detailed map ever made
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 of what astronomers call the cosmic web. The
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 vast skeleton like structure of dark matter
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 filaments and sheets that forms the
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 underlying architecture of the entire
00:04:25 --> 00:04:26 universe.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 Anna: Imagine a uh, giant three dimensional
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 spider's web stretching across all of space
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 with galaxies and galaxy clusters sitting
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 at the intersections and along the threads,
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 while enormous empty voids lie in
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 between. That's the cosmic web.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 Avery: Led by researchers at the University of
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 California, Riverside, the team used
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 Cosmos Webb, uh, the largest survey program
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 ever conducted by JWST, to chart more
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 than 164 galaxies
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 across 13.7 billion years of cosmic
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 history. They traced this structure all the
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 way back to when the universe was just 1
00:05:04 --> 00:05:05 billion years old.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 Anna: One of the lead researchers described the
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 jump in detail as truly significant,
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 saying they can now see the cosmic web at a
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 time when the universe was just a few hundred
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 million years old. An era that was
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 essentially out of reach before jwst.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 Avery: What used to look like a single smooth
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 structure when viewed by Hubble now resolves
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 into many separate components. Details that
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 were blurred before are now clearly visible.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 Anna: And in a wonderful commitment to open
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 science, the team has released everything
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 publicly. The full pipeline, the galaxy
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 catalog, and even a video showing the cosmic
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 web evolving across billions of years.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 Avery: The skeleton of the universe. And now anyone
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 can explore it. Published this week in the
00:05:50 --> 00:05:51 Astrophysical Journal.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 Anna: Now to a story with possibly the best name
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 in the history of space.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 Dracula's Civito.
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 Avery: I cannot think of a better name for a planet
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 nursery.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 Anna: Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 Telescope have imaged the largest
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 protoplanetary disk ever observed around a
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 young star. The system is known officially
00:06:11 --> 00:06:12 as
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 IRAS2307767,
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 but its researchers have nicknamed it
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 Dracula's Civito. One researcher is from
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 Transylvania, another is from Uruguay, where
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 a, uh, civito is
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 Avery: a popular sandwich science at its finest.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 Anna: The disk is located about a thousand light
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 years from Earth and stretches nearly 400
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 billion miles across, roughly 40
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 times the diameter of our own solar system,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 all the way out to the Kuiper Belt.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 Avery: And what Hubble has revealed is that this
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 disk is not the calm, orderly structure
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 astronomers expected planet nurseries to be.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 It's chaotic, turbulent, enormous
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 wisps of gas and dust shoot vertically above
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 and below the disk's central plane, far
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 further than anything seen in a similar
00:07:01 --> 00:07:01 system.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 Anna: And strangely, these dramatic features
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 only appear on one side of the disk. The
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 other side cuts off sharply with nothing
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 that bizarre asymmetry scientists cannot
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 yet fully explain. Perhaps a sudden
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 influx of material, perhaps gravitational
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 interactions with the surrounding
00:07:20 --> 00:07:20 environment.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 Avery: The disk contains between 10 and 30 times
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 the mass of Jupiter, enough raw material to
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 potentially build several gas giant planets.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 Scientists think it may be an oversized,
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 super chaotic version of what our own early
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 solar system once looked like.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 Anna: As lead author Christina Monch from Harvard
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 and Smithsonian put it, planet nurseries can
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 be far more active and chaotic than we ever
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 expected. Right now, there are more questions
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 than answers. But these images are a
00:07:49 --> 00:07:50 beginning point
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 Avery: and the star at the center, still hidden
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 behind all that dust. Scientists don't even
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 know if it's one star or two.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 Anna: Dracula's Chivito. A mystery wrapped in
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 a cosmic sandwich.
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 Avery: This one's for everyone who's been waiting.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 And it has been a long wait. SpaceX
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 has set, uh, Tuesday, May 19th. That's this
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 coming Tuesday as the launch date for
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 Starship version 3 flight 12.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 Anna: Seven months since the last Starship flight.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 NV3 is not just another test.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 It's the most comprehensively redesigned
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 version of the vehicle so far. Nearly
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 every major system has been modified.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 Avery: The super heavy booster now uses three larger
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 redesigned grid fins rather than four, each
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 with a new catch point for the tower recovery
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 system. The Raptor 3 engines have been
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 upgraded for higher thrust and simplified
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 operation. The propellant tanks have been
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 enlarged. The upper stage has an entirely new
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 maneuvering and propulsion system.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 Anna: This flight will also debut launch pad
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 2 at Starbase in Texas, a new
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 upgraded pad with faster propellant loading
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 and electromechanical actuators on the catch
00:09:01 --> 00:09:01 arm.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 Avery: Tower Flight 12 won't attempt a booster
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 tower catch SpaceX is prioritizing
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 systems validation over showmanship. This
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 time the super heavy will splash down in the
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 Gulf of Mexico, or if you prefer, the Gulf
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 of America, and the starship upper stage
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 will continue on a suborbital trajectory,
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 deploying 22 Starlink simulator
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 satellites before splash down in the Indian
00:09:28 --> 00:09:28 Ocean.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 Anna: Why does this matter? Beyond the Spectacle
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 because Starship V3 is the version
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 NASA needs for the Artemis lunar landing
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 program. Before astronauts can land on the
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 moon, SpaceX needs to demonstrate
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 propellant transfer in orbit, and that
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 milestone depends on the success of this new
00:09:47 --> 00:09:48 vehicle.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 Avery: Launch window opens at 6:30 in the morning
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 AEST on Wednesday, May 20. For
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 our Australian listeners and for the rest of
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 the world, that will be 8:30pm
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 UTC on Tuesday, May 19th.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 We'll be watching closely and you can expect
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 coverage in Monday's episode ahead of
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 Anna: the launch and before our bonus story,
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 a personal message to our Australian and
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 Southern Hemisphere Step outside
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 tonight, look west after sunset and
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 say goodbye to a visitor that won't be back
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 for 170 years.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 Avery: Comet C 2025 R3 Pan
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 stars, which put on such a spectacular show
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 for Northern Hemisphere observers through
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 April, has now moved into the southern sky
00:10:34 --> 00:10:35 and it's your turn.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 Anna: The comet passed its closest point to the sun
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 back on April 19 and reached its
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 closest approach to Earth on April
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 26. It's fading now, but it's also
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 moving further from the sun in the sky, which
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 means it's becoming easier to spot from a,
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 uh, dark location with binoculars
00:10:54 --> 00:10:55 tonight.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 Avery: Saturday 16th May is actually
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 ideal timing because tonight is New
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 Moon, the darkest skies of the month. The
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 comet is currently tracking through the
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 constellation Monoceras the Unicorn,
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 just east of Orion in the evening sky.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 Anna: Earlier this week, NASA's Astronomy
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 Picture of the Day featured a breathtaking
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 long exposure shot taken from the Craigieburn
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 Mountain range in New Zealand, showing the
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 comet with two distinct a short
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 curved dust tail and a long blue
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 ion tail, with the Orion Nebula
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 visible in the background.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 Avery: This comet is an Oort Cloud visitor, a
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 frozen time capsule from the earliest days of
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 our solar system. Some astronomers believe
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 gravitational interactions with the outer
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 planets could eventually fling it out of the
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 solar system entirely. Meaning this truly
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 may be humanity's last chance to see it.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 Anna: Clear skies, Southern Hemisphere
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 binoculars, dark horizon. Look west
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 after sunset. You've got a few more weeks
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 before it fades beyond reach.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 Avery: And now, because we couldn't resist, it's
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 time for this week weekend wrap bonus. And
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 this one is pure joy.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 Anna: Even Mars rovers have bad days.
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 Avery: NASA's Curiosity rover, which has been
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 exploring the Gale crater on Mars since 2012,
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 drilled into a rock this week nicknamed
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 Atacgama. Standard procedure.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 Curiosity does this all the time to sample
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 the rock's chemistry.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 Anna: Except this time, the entire chunk of
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 rock ripped clean out of the ground and
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 stayed stuck to the drill.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 Avery: Just refused to let go. A, uh, complete Mars
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 souvenir that Curiosity did not ask for.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 Anna: Engineers at JPL had to watch as the
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 rover shook, maneuvered and worked to free
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 itself from its unexpected passenger. The
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 Internet naturally had a field day.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 Avery: Curiosity has been on Mars for nearly
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 14 years. It has drilled into
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 hundreds of rocks. And this week it
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 finally met one that fought back.
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 Anna: A little reminder that space exploration,
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 even after all these years, still has the
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 ability to surprise you. Sometimes with awe
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 inspiring science and sometimes with a rock
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 that just won't let go.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 Avery: We love you Curiosity. Never change.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 Anna: That's your Astronomy Daily weekend space and
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 astronomy news wrap for Saturday 17th
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 May, 2026. What a week it has
00:13:26 --> 00:13:26 been.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 Avery: Psyche's Mars Slingshot, a record
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 breaking Dragon launch with docking happening
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 today. The cosmic web mapped in
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 stunning detail. The most chaotic planet
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 nursery ever seen. Starship V3
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 ready on the pad. A once in
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 170 years Comet in
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 your southern skies and a uh, Mars rover
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 with a souvenir it uh, didn't ask for.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 Anna: If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 Leave us a review and tell a friend. You can
00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 find us at astronomydaily IO and
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 follow us on social media
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 astrodailypod. And before I leave you
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 this week, one more reminder to check our
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 sponsor's special money saving deal. I'm
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 talking about NordVPN, the one we use
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 because we only want the best. To get the
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 details, just click on the link in the show
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 notes, you'll be glad you did.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 Avery: And a uh, reminder, we have new episodes
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 every Monday to Saturday and we'll be back
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 Monday ahead of that Starship V3 launch.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:26 Don't miss it.
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 Anna: For Avery, I'm Anna. Clear skies everyone.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:37 Wow.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 Story soul.