• Crew-12 Docks at ISS — The SpaceX Crew-12 mission docked at the International Space Station on Valentine’s Day, restoring the station to full strength after over a month with a skeleton crew. Astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev join Expedition 74 for an eight-month mission. • Artemis 2 Hydrogen Leak Update — NASA’s “confidence test” on the SLS rocket’s repaired hydrogen fueling seals showed mixed but cautiously encouraging results. March remains the earliest potential launch window for humanity’s first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years. • Enceladus: Electromagnetic Powerhouse — A major new study of 13 years of Cassini data reveals Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus generates Alfvén waves extending over 504,000 km, transforming our understanding of how small moons influence giant planetary magnetospheres. • Catching 3I/ATLAS — Researchers from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies propose a Solar Oberth Manoeuvre mission launching in 2035 that could intercept the interstellar comet, currently heading toward Jupiter for its closest pass on March 16. • Geomagnetic Storm Watch — G1 minor storming is likely today as a coronal mass ejection arrives alongside fast solar wind from a returning transequatorial coronal hole. Aurora possible at higher latitudes tonight. • SpaceX Starlink 6-103 — 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites launched to orbit in the early hours of today, the 10th orbital flight from Cape Canaveral in 2026. LINKS & RESOURCES: • NASA Crew-12 Docking: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/02/14/spacex-crew-12-docks-to-station-beginning-long-duration-mission/ • Artemis 2 Confidence Test Update: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/13/following-confidence-test-nasa-continues-artemis-ii-data-review/ • Enceladus Alfvén Wings Study: https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tiny-enceladus-giant-electromagnetic-saturn.html • 3I/ATLAS Solar Oberth Paper: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-new-concept-for-catching-up-with-3iatlas • Space Weather Updates: https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates/ • Spaceflight Now Launch Schedule: https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ Astronomy Daily is part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network Website: https://astronomydaily.io Social: @AstroDailyPod
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Good Monday everyone and welcome to
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 Astronomy Daily, your go-to source for
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 space and astronomy news. I'm Anna.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:13 >> And I'm Avery. It's February 16th, 2026,
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 and what a weekend it's been in space.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 We've got six stories for you today.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 Starting with some very welcome news
00:00:20 --> 00:00:21 from low Earth orbit.
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 >> That's right. After more than a month of
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 operating with a skeleton crew, the
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 International Space Station is finally
00:00:29 --> 00:00:33 back to full strength. SpaceX's Crew 12
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 mission docked at the ISS on Saturday
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 afternoon, Valentine's Day, no less,
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 bringing four fresh crew members to the
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 orbiting laboratory.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 >> And what a crew it is. We've got NASA
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 astronauts Jessica Mayor and Jack
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 Hathaway, ESA astronauts Sophie Adonaut
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 from France, and Rosscosmos cosminaut
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 Andre Fedv. They launched aboard a
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 Falcon 9 rocket early on Friday the
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 13th. The first time NASA has ever
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 launched a crude mission on a Friday the
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 13th. By the way,
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 >> a lucky day after all. The Dragon
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 capsule Freedom docked at the space-f
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 facing port of the Harmony module at
00:01:14 --> 00:01:18 3:15 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 Commander Jessica Mayer radioed up as
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 they approached, and Chris Williams,
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 who'd been holding the fort with just
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 two cosminauts since mid January, was
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 clearly delighted to see them arrive.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 >> You can understand why. The station had
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 been down to just three crew members
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 since January 15th when crew 11 departed
00:01:38 --> 00:01:39 a month ahead of schedule due to a
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 medical issue with one of its
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 astronauts. NASA hasn't identified which
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 astronaut or given details, but it left
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 the ISS short staffed for a lot longer
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 than anyone wanted. Now, here's the
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 interesting subplot to this mission. The
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 original Crew 12 lineup was different.
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 Russian cosminaut Oleg Artamev was
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 originally assigned to the flight but
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 was abruptly removed back in December.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 Ross Cosmos officially said he was
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 transitioning to other work but reports
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 from investigative journalists tell a
00:02:13 --> 00:02:14 rather different story.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 >> Right. As we reported last week,
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 according to the insider, Artamev was
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 expelled from the United States after
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 being accused of violating international
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 traffic and arms regulations, IT as it's
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 known. He was allegedly caught
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 photographing SpaceX engines, documents,
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 and other sensitive technologies with
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 his phone. That's a serious allegation
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 in the world of space cooperation.
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 >> Very serious indeed. It's a reminder
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 that even in an era of international
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 collaboration aboard the ISS,
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 geopolitical tensions are never far from
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 the surface. Fed YV stepped in as the
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 replacement and the mission went ahead.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 >> The Crew 12 team is expected to stay
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 aboard through October, making this a
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 slightly longer stint than the usual 6
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 months. Sophie Adano has a particularly
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 packed schedule. She's expected to take
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 part in nearly 200 experiments,
00:03:08 --> 00:03:09 including testing a development version
00:03:09 --> 00:03:13 of the new EVA suit called Euro Suit,
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 which was developed by French companies
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 Spartan Space and Decathlon along with
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 the Institute of Space Medicine.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 >> Pesting space suits designed partly by
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 the people who make hiking gear. I love
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 that. All right, let's move to our
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 second story, and it's the saga that
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 just won't quit. Artemis 2 and its
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 ongoing battle with hydrogen leaks.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 >> Oh, this is becoming quite the drama.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 So, here's where things stand. NASA
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 conducted what they called a confidence
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 test on February 12th, partially filling
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 the SLS core stages liquid hydrogen tank
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 to check whether newly replaced seals in
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 the fueling interface were doing their
00:03:51 --> 00:03:51 job.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 >> And the result
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 >> mixed. They encountered a problem with
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 ground support equipment that reduced
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 the flow of hydrogen into the rocket.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 But the good news is that engineers were
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 able to gather data at the critical
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 interfaces, the exact points where the
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 leak had occurred during the earlier wet
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 dress rehearsal on February 2nd. And
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 from what NASA administrator Jared
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 Isaacman said during the Crew 12
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 coverage, the early signs are cautiously
00:04:17 --> 00:04:18 encouraging.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 >> He said they didn't see the same leaks
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 at comparable periods during this test
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 that they'd seen during the full wet
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 dress rehearsal. That's progress, even
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 if it's not a definitive green light
00:04:29 --> 00:04:30 yet.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:31 >> For those catching up, here's the
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 backstory. The first wet dress rehearsal
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 ran from January 31st through February
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 3rd. They managed to fully load both SLS
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 stages with cryogenic propellant and
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 even got the countdown to the tus 5
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 minute mark. But then the ground launch
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 sequencer automatically stopped
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 everything because of a spike in the
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 hydrogen leak rate. And these pesky
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 hydrogen leaks are nothing new for the
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 SLS program. They plagued Artemis 1 back
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 in 2022, causing months of delays. The
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 mission management team chair, John
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 Honeyut, admitted this latest round
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 caught them off guard. Hydrogen is such
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 a tiny molecule, it can escape through
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 the smallest imperfection in the
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 propellant system.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 >> The February launch window has already
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 been abandoned, and NASA's now targeting
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 March for the earliest possible launch.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:23 Engineers worked through the weekend to
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 purge lines, inspect equipment, and
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 replace a filter suspected of causing
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 the reduced flow. A second full wet
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 dress rehearsal is expected before any
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 launch attempt. We'll keep following
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 this one closely. Artemis 2, when it
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 does fly, will send four astronauts,
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 Reed Wisman, Victor Glover, Christina
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 and Canadian astronaut Jeremy
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 Hansen, on a 10-day trip around the
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 moon. The first crude lunar flyby since
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 the Apollo era. Now, from the challenges
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 of getting off our planet to the wonders
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 of the outer solar system, our third
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 story is a real beauty, Anna.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 >> Oh, I love this one. Saturn's tiny moon,
00:06:02 --> 00:06:06 Enceladus, just 500 km across, has been
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 revealed as a giant electromagnetic
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 powerhouse whose influence stretches
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 over half a million km through Saturn's
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 space environment.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 >> Half a million km. That's more than
00:06:18 --> 00:06:22 2 times the moon's own radius. An
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 international team led by Lena Hadid
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 from the Laborator the Plasmas in France
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 analyzed 13 years of data from the
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 Cassini spacecraft and what they found
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 is stunning.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 >> So we all know Enceladus for its water
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 geysers. Those spectacular plumes
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 erupting from the South Pole. But it
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 turns out those geysers do a lot more
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 than just spray water into space. The
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 water vapor and dust become ionized,
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 creating an electrically charged plasma
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 that interacts with Saturn's magnetic
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 field as it sweeps past.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 >> And that interaction generates these
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 structures called alphen wings. Think of
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 them like electromagnetic vibrations
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 traveling along a string, except the
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 string is Saturn's magnetic field lines,
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 and they're connecting this tiny moon to
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 the giant planet's poles. The
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 researchers found that the primary
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 alphen wing isn't just a simple
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 structure. It's threaded by finecale
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 filaments produced by turbulence in the
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 plasma. These filaments help the waves
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 bounce back and forth between Saturn's
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 ionosphere and the plasma taus that
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 encircles Enceladus' orbit. The result
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 is this incredible lattis-like pattern
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 of crisscrossing electromagnetic waves.
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 Across four different Cassini
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 instruments, the team identified 36
00:07:40 --> 00:07:41 separate crossings that showed these
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 wave signatures. And here's the
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 remarkable part. 13 of those crossings
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 occurred far from any close flyby of
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 Enceladus. The moon's electromagnetic
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 reach is simply enormous. Co-author
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 Thomas Chust described Enceladus as a
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 planetary scale alphan wave generator, a
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 moon just 500 km wide capable of
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 influencing the magnetospheric
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 environment on the scale of Saturn
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 itself. The team says this has major
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 implications for understanding how small
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 bodies regulate energy flow in giant
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 planetary magnetospheres.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 >> And there's a forward-looking element,
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 too. The researchers say their findings
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 highlight the importance of future
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 missions to Enceladus like the planned
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 issa orbiter and lander in the 2040s
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 carrying instruments specifically
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 designed to study these electromagnetic
00:08:31 --> 00:08:32 interactions
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 >> from Enceladus to interstellar space.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 Now our fourth story takes us to the
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 ongoing saga of 3ATLS
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 the third interstellar object ever
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 detected in our solar system. And today,
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 researchers from the Initiative for
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 Interstellar Studies, I4IS, have
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 published a fascinating new paper
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 proposing how we might actually catch up
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 with this cosmic visitor. The comet is
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 heading away from us now, approaching
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 Jupiter for its closest pass on March
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 the 16th before it leaves our solar
00:09:06 --> 00:09:07 system forever.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 >> The challenge is obvious. By the time
00:09:10 --> 00:09:14 3IIATLS was discovered in July 2025, it
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 was already moving too fast for any
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 direct intercept mission from Earth.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 Even the issa's planned comet
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 interceptor sitting ready at the Sun
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 Earth L2 point wouldn't have been able
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 to reach it.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 >> So, Adam Hibbert and colleagues at I4IS
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 took a different approach. They're
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 proposing what's called a solar oath
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 maneuver. The idea is to launch a
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 spacecraft in 2035 that would first
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 swing past Jupiter for a gravity assist,
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 then plunge close to the sun, firing its
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 engines at the closest approach to
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 maximize the slingshot effect. This
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 would hurl the probe out of the solar
00:09:51 --> 00:09:55 system fast enough to catch three ATLS.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:59 The downside, a 50-year flight time, but
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 the researchers argue it's worth it.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 Every interstellar object that passes
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 through is a message in a bottle from
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 another star system. The science return
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 from a close-up study would be
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 extraordinary.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 >> And there have been earlier proposals,
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 too, including one that suggested NASA's
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 Juno probe could be redirected from
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 Jupiter orbit to intercept 3IA ATLS. But
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 with Juno low on fuel and having engine
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 issues, that always seemed like a long
00:10:27 --> 00:10:31 shot. 3IIA ATLS remains one of the most
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 fascinating objects to visit our solar
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 system. Bigger and more active than
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 either OmuA MUA or Borosov, it's given
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 us an unprecedented look at material
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 from beyond our stellar neighborhood.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 Even if we can't catch it this time,
00:10:46 --> 00:10:47 studies like this are laying the
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 groundwork for when the next
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 interstellar visitor comes calling.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 >> Now, let's turn our gaze back to our own
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 star for story number five. If you're an
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 aurora chaser, today might be worth
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 keeping an eye on.
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 >> That's right. There's currently a G1
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 minor geomagnetic storm watch in effect
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 for today, February 16th, and it's being
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 driven by a combination of factors.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 >> First, there's a huge transquatorial
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 corona hole directly facing Earth right
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 now, and it looks like an old friend.
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 Observers believe it's the same corona
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 hole we saw back in mid January, having
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 survived its transit across the far side
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 of the sun and come back around for
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 another pass. These corona holes act
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 like solar wind lighouses, sweeping
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 Earth with fast solar wind roughly every
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 27 days as the sun rotates.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:42 >> On top of that, an M1.0 0 solar flare
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 erupted from active region 4373 on
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 February 13th, launching a coronal mass
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 ejection that's expected to arrive at
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 Earth right about now. If the CME
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 interacts strongly with the coronal
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 holes high-speed stream, we could see
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 conditions bump up to G2 moderate
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 levels. For our listeners at higher
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 latitudes, thank northern Europe,
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 Canada, and the northern tier US states,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 it's worth checking those Aurora apps
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 tonight. Even at G1 levels, Aurora
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 displays can be visible in Scotland,
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 Scandinavia, and across the northern
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 tier US states. And with the sun now in
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 the declining phase of solar cycle 25,
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 space weather experts say that while big
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 explosive events may become less
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 frequent, coronal holes can actually
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 provide a steadier rhythm of minor to
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 moderate storms, aurora chasers
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 shouldn't pack away their cameras just
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 yet.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 >> And finally, our sixth story is a quick
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 one, but it shows just how relentless
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 the pace of space flight has become.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 SpaceX launched yet another Starlink
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 mission in the early hours of this
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 morning. The Starlink 6-103 mission,
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 lifting off from Cape Canaveral's Space
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 Launch Complex 40. It carried 29
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 Starlink V2 mini satellites to low Earth
00:13:02 --> 00:13:03 orbit.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 >> This was the 10th orbital flight from
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 Cape Canaveral so far in 2026, and we're
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 not even through February. The first
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 stage booster flying for its 10th time
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 successfully landed on the drone ship a
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 shortfall of gravitas in the Atlantic.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 >> 10 flights for that booster. SpaceX
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 continues to demonstrate the reliability
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 and reusability of Falcon 9 at a pace
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 that would have seemed extraordinary
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 just a few years ago. Combined with the
00:13:31 --> 00:13:35 Crew 12 launch on Friday, SpaceX's 600th
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 Falcon 9 flight. It's been quite the
00:13:37 --> 00:13:41 week for Hawthorne. the 600th Falcon 9.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 That's genuinely remarkable when you
00:13:43 --> 00:13:44 think about it.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 >> It really is. And that brings us to the
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 end of today's episode of Astronomy
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 Daily. Fix stories covering human space
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 flight, lunar ambitions, Saturnian
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 science, interstellar visitors, space
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 weather, and the unstoppable launch
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 cadence of SpaceX.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 >> If you've enjoyed today's show, please
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 do leave us a review on your favorite
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 podcast platform. It really helps new
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 listeners find us. And follow us on
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 social media at astrodaily pod for
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 updates throughout the day.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 >> You can also check out our full show
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 notes and blog post at astronomyaily.io
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 where we've got links to all the sources
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 and studies we've discussed today.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 >> Until tomorrow, keep looking up.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:31 >> Pierce everyone.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:37 Oh,
00:14:37 --> 00:14:41 stories told.