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Welcome to Astronomy Daily S05E94 — our first ever Weekend Edition! Today we debut the Astronomy Daily Weekend Space and Astronomy News Wrap, featuring two fresh stories plus a roundup of the four biggest and most important space stories from across the past week. Today's Stories • Story 1: Russia's Soyuz 5 rocket completes its first successful suborbital test flight from Baikonur Cosmodrome. After nearly a decade of development, Russia's homegrown answer to the Zenit finally flew — a milestone for Roscosmos, even as questions remain about its competitiveness in a reusability-driven market. • Story 2: May's Flower Moon peaked on May 1st — and May 2026 is a double-micromoon month, with both the Flower Moon and the May 31 Blue Moon occurring near lunar apogee. Southern Hemisphere skies are perfect for viewing this weekend. Weekend Wrap — The Week's Four Biggest Stories • Wrap 1: Artemis II — The Full Picture. 694,481 miles, 252,756 miles from Earth at farthest, 57-minute eclipse from beyond the Moon, heat shield performance significantly better than Artemis I. The numbers of a mission for the history books. • Wrap 2: The Eclipse Only Four Humans Have Ever Seen. During the April 6 lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew experienced a 57-minute total solar eclipse from beyond the Moon — the first time in human history. Victor Glover's descriptions were extraordinary. • Wrap 3: Roman Space Telescope locks in September 2026 launch — 8 months ahead of schedule and under budget. With a field of view 100x larger than Hubble's, Roman is poised to become the most powerful survey telescope in history. • Wrap 4: Artemis III hardware arrives at Kennedy Space Center. The SLS core stage was offloaded from the Pegasus barge on April 27-28 — just as the Artemis II Orion capsule returned for post-flight analysis. The next mission is already assembling. Skywatching This Weekend • The Flower Moon is still at 99% illumination tonight — beautiful in Southern Hemisphere autumn skies. Look for it between Antares (Scorpius) and Spica (Virgo). • Venus and Jupiter are prominent in the western evening sky, slowly closing toward a June 9 conjunction. • Asteroid Vesta is at opposition today, May 2 — best viewed with binoculars or a small telescope from a dark site. • The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks the night of May 5-6 — an excellent show from Southern Hemisphere locations.
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 your daily guide to the cosmos. I'm
00:00:05 --> 00:00:05 Anna.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 >> And I'm Avery. Happy Saturday, everyone.
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 And what a Saturday it is, because today
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 we're launching something brand new here
00:00:13 --> 00:00:14 on Astronomy Daily.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 >> That's right. Today marks the debut of
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 our weekend space and astronomy news
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 rap. Every Saturday, we'll bring you two
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 fresh stories from the past 24 hours,
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 plus a deep dive into the four biggest
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 and most important stories from across
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 the entire week. Think of it as the week
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 in space, condensed, considered, and
00:00:33 --> 00:00:34 with some new angles you might not have
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 heard yet. We've been doing six episodes
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 a week all season. And this is our way
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 of making sure Saturday feels a little
00:00:42 --> 00:00:42 different.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 >> So, here's today's format. We'll start
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 with two fresh stories first. Then we'll
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 ring in the very first Astronomy Daily
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 weekend rep. Four stories, the week's
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 biggest, right here.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 >> Let's get into it. Our first story today
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 is a rocket launch story with some real
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 geopolitical texture to it. Russia's
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 brand new Soyuse 5 rocket lifted off on
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 Thursday, April 30th from the Biconor
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 Ksmodrome in Kazakhstan on its very
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 first flight and it went well.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 >> This has been coming for a long time.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 Anna, the Soyus 5, also known as Sankar,
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 which means Falcon in Kazak, has been in
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 development for nearly a decade. There
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 were multiple delays, funding hurdles,
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 and geopolitical complications along the
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 way, but on Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 Eastern time, it finally flew. It was a
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 suborbital test flight, essentially a
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 shakeout cruise for the new vehicle. The
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 rocket carried a mass-dimensional mockup
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 as payload. Both stages performed
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 nominally, and the payload followed its
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 intended trajectory before splashing
00:01:43 --> 00:01:44 down in the Pacific Ocean in a
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 pre-desated area. Ross Cosmos declared
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 it a success. Now, let's talk about why
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 this rocket exists. Russia lost access
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 to Ukrainian rocket expertise after the
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Ukraine
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 had long been a powerhouse in rocket
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 design and manufacturing. The Soy 5 was
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 designed specifically to replace the
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 Zenit rocket, which was Ukraine built,
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 and to give Russia a fully homegrown
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 medium lift capability. In terms of
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 specs, it's a two-stage vehicle powered
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 by the RD171
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 MV engine, which Ross Cosmos describes
00:02:20 --> 00:02:21 as the world's most powerful
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 liquidfueled engine. It can lift up to
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 17 metric tons to low Earth orbit, which
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 puts it in the same general class as
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 SpaceX's Falcon 9. But here's the key
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 difference, and it's a significant one.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 Falcon 9's first stage lands itself and
00:02:37 --> 00:02:41 is reused. Zoya's 5 is fully expendable.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 Every launch burns through a brand new
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 rocket. In a launch market that has
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 increasingly moved towards reusability
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 and reduced costs, that's a genuine
00:02:50 --> 00:02:51 competitive disadvantage.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 >> It's also unclear if the rocket will
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 attract international customers. Russia
00:02:56 --> 00:02:57 has lost most of its commercial launch
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 partnerships since 2022, and the Soyuse
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 5 doesn't appear to represent a big
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 enough leap to reverse that trend.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 Longer term, the rocket is intended to
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 serve as a building block for a future
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 superheavy launch system, part of
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 Russia's stated ambitions for deeper
00:03:13 --> 00:03:14 space missions.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 >> For now, though, it's a debut and for
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 Ross Cosmos, a symbolic one. The next
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 test flights are planned across 2026 and
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 2027 with full operational status
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 anticipated by the end of the decade. A
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 long road ahead, but at least Thursday's
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 first step was a successful one.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 brushes. So use 5 finally off the pad
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 and on to the next test.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 >> Now for something a little closer to
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 home or more precisely something in our
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 sky right now. Last night May 1st the
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 full flower moon reached peak
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 illumination.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 >> And May 2026 is a genuinely special
00:03:50 --> 00:03:51 month for moon watchers.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 >> Tell us more, Anna.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 >> So May this year has two full moons. The
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 flower moon peaked on May 1st, and a
00:03:58 --> 00:03:59 second full moon, a blue moon, will
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 arrive on May 31st. Two full moons in a
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 single calendar month is already a
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 relatively rare occurrence, happening
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 roughly every 2 to 3 years. But there is
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 an extra twist this year. Both of them
00:04:12 --> 00:04:13 are micro moons.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 >> Exactly. A micro moon is the opposite of
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 a super moon. It occurs when a full moon
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 happens near the point in the moon's
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 elliptical orbit where it's farthest
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 from Earth. what astronomers call
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 apogee. At that distance, the moon
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 appears around 14% smaller and about 30%
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 dimmer than it does at its closest
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 approach. Not a huge difference to the
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 naked eye, but it's a genuine physical
00:04:37 --> 00:04:37 distinction,
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 >> though. Why are both May full moons
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 micro moons? It comes down to orbital
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 timing. The moon's apogee cycles around
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 relative to our calendar, and this month
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 they happen to align twice, giving us a
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 double micro moon. For listeners in
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 Australia and New Zealand, you've got
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 great autumn skies right now. And the
00:04:56 --> 00:04:57 flower moon last night would have been
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 beautiful as it arked across your
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 northern sky. It sat between the red
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 star Anteries in Scorpius and blue white
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 spika in Virgo. Quite a tableau. If you
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 missed it, don't worry. At 99%
00:05:10 --> 00:05:11 illumination tonight, it still looks
00:05:12 --> 00:05:13 essentially full.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 >> And for the blue moon on May 31st,
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 that's your next event to mark in your
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 calendar. It won't look blue, of course.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 The name comes from a 16th century idiom
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 for something rare, but two full moons
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 in one month is always worth stepping
00:05:26 --> 00:05:27 outside for.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 >> The month of May is also great for
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 planets right now. Venus and Jupiter are
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 both prominent in the evening sky with
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 the two planets slowly closing toward a
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 conjunction on June 9th. Saturn and Mars
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 are reemerging in the pre-dawn east. A
00:05:41 --> 00:05:42 busy sky for May.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 >> All right, now it's time for something
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 completely new. Avery, let's do it. And
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 now, the Astronomy Daily Weekend Rap,
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 your guide to the week's biggest stories
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 from across the cosmos. I'm Avery.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 >> And I'm Anna. This week in space was
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 frankly extraordinary. We had history
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 made, hardware delivered, a telescope
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 confirmed, and a cosmic spectacle that
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 no human had ever witnessed before.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 Let's do this. Our first rap story is a
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 step back, a full exhale to appreciate
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 what NASA and its partners pulled off
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 with Artemis 2 because it's been a few
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 weeks now since Splashdown on April 10th
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 and we have the full picture and it is
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 genuinely staggering.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:28 >> The headline numbers 694
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 m traveled in total. A peak velocity of
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 24
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 mph. a farthest distance from Earth of
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 252
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 miles, surpassing the record previously
00:06:42 --> 00:06:46 held by Apollo 13 in 1970 and a closest
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 approach to the lunar surface of 4,67
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 mi. The crew were farther from Earth
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 than any humans in history. The mission
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 launched on April 1st. Yes, April Fool's
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 Day. Carrying Commander Reed Weisman,
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Christina and Canadian Space
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Their
00:07:08 --> 00:07:09 spacecraft, which the crew named
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 Integrity, flew a 10-day free return
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 trajectory around the moon and back. One
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 of the most watched elements of the
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 mission was the heat shield. Artemis 1
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 had shown some unexpected erosion of the
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 AV code ablative material and there was
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 significant debate before the mission
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 about whether to fly with the existing
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 design. Engineers and NASA administrator
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 Jared Isaacman ultimately decided to
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 proceed and the data coming back now
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 shows char loss was significantly
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 reduced compared to Artemis 1 and
00:07:39 --> 00:07:40 consistent with ground testing
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 predictions. A huge relief.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:46 >> Orion splashed down just 2.9 m from its
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 target site. Entry velocity was within
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 one mile per hour of predictions. Rick
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 Henfling, the entry flight director, put
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 it simply, a quarter of a million miles
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 to the moon and back, and they hit a
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 less than onederee entry angle on the
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 way home. That is not luck. That is a
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 thousand people doing their jobs.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 >> The crew are now in post-flight
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 reconditioning at Johnson Center. And in
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 their own words, they were moved.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 Commander Reed Wisman, Victor,
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 Christina, and Jeremy. We are bonded
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 forever. And no one down here is ever
00:08:17 --> 00:08:18 going to know what the four of us just
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 went through. And it was the most
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 special thing that will ever happen in
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 my life.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 >> Christina described the experience
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 of seeing Earth tiny through Orion's
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 window, surrounded by blackness, as one
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 of the most overwhelming moments of her
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 life. Victor Glover said the gratitude
00:08:35 --> 00:08:39 he felt was too big to fit in one body.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 and Jeremy Hansen as the crew broke the
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 distance record spoke directly to the
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 next generation. We challenged this
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 generation and the next to make sure
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 this record is not longived.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:52 >> Post-flight assessments are well
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 underway at Kennedy Space Center where
00:08:54 --> 00:08:58 the Orion capsule has returned. All 186
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 Avacote heat shield blocks for Artemis
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 3, the upgraded version, have already
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 been installed, cured, and inspected.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 The next mission is already in motion.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 And that leads to our fourth rap story.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:11 But first,
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 >> of all the extraordinary things that
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 happened during Artemis 2, there is one
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 moment that stands alone. On April 6th,
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 as the crew flew around the far side of
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 the moon, they witnessed something that
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 no human being had ever experienced in
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 the history of our species. A total
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 solar eclipse observed from beyond the
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 moon. On Earth, a total solar eclipse,
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 when the moon completely blocks the sun
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 and reveals its corona, lasts a few
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 minutes at most. For the Aremis 2 crew,
00:09:43 --> 00:09:47 totality lasted 57 minutes. 57 minutes
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 of watching the sun's outer atmosphere
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 glowing around a completely black lunar
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 disc. From a vantage point 4 m above
00:09:55 --> 00:09:56 the surface.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 >> Victor Glover's descriptions from inside
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 the spacecraft were extraordinary. He
00:10:01 --> 00:10:04 called the moon a black orb against the
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 gray that drifted into blackness. He
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 described seeing Earth shine, the light
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 reflected from Earth, illuminating the
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 dark lunar surface as very distinct and
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 creating quite an impressive visual
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 illusion. And then as the solar corona
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 began to emerge from the edges of the
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 moon, he described the streamers as
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 looking like what the Luxor spotlight in
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 Las Vegas wants to be when it grows up.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 The crew made genuine scientific
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 observations during those 57 minutes.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 They searched for lofted lunar dust, a
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 phenomenon some Apollo crews reported,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 and watched for micromedoroid impacts on
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 the darkened lunar surface. They
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 reported seeing at least five impact
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 flashes. They observed zodiacal light.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 They photographed the corona in
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 unprecedented detail. Christina
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 described the experience simply. I just
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 had an overwhelming sense of being moved
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 by looking at the moon. The images NASA
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 has since released are breathtaking. The
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 glowing halo of the solar corona against
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 the black lunar disc with Earth shine
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 illuminating the moon's face. Venus and
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 Saturn visible as pinpoints of light in
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 the frame. Scientists are still
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 analyzing whether the halo effect is
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 pure corona, zodiacal light, or a
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 combination.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 >> Victor Glover perhaps said it best. I
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 know this observation won't be of any
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 scientific value, but I'm really glad we
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 launched on April 1st because without
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 that specific launch date, the geometry
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 simply wouldn't have worked. Four people
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 in the right place at the right moment
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 to see something no human had ever seen.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 That was Artemis 2.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 >> Our third rep story is about the next
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 great space telescope, and it comes with
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 a headline that NASA doesn't get to
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 write very often. Head of schedule and
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 under budget. The Nancy Grace Roman
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 Space Telescope, Roman for short, has a
00:11:54 --> 00:11:58 confirmed September 2026 launch target.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 NASA administrator Jared Isaacman
00:12:00 --> 00:12:01 announced this at a press conference at
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 Gddard Space Flight Center on April
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 21st, standing in front of the completed
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 telescope, 8 months ahead of NASA's
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 committed deadline, under budget and
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 fully assembled.
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 >> Let's talk about what this telescope
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 will actually do because the numbers are
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 mindbending. Roman's primary mirror is
00:12:19 --> 00:12:23 the same 2.4 m diameter as Hubble's, but
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 its field of view is 100 times larger.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 What Hubble would take 2 years to
00:12:28 --> 00:12:32 survey, Roman can do in a year. Isaacman
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 put it this way. Roman will give the
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 Earth a new atlas of the universe. There
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 is not a screen in existence large
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 enough to display a single Roman image
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 at full resolution. In its 5-year
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 primary mission, Roman is expected to
00:12:47 --> 00:12:51 discover over a 100 distant worlds,
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 hundreds of millions of stars, and
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 billions of galaxies. It will conduct
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 three core surveys focused on dark
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 energy, dark matter, and wide field
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 cosmology. It also carries a coronagraph
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 instrument that can directly image
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 exoplanets by blocking out the glare of
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 their host stars. A technology
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 demonstrator that could change how we
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 search for worlds like our own. The
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 telescope is now undergoing final tests
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 at Gddard. It will ship to Kennedy Space
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 Center in midJune for launch
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 preparations before riding a SpaceX
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 Falcon Heavy to its final destination,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 the Sun L2 Lrangee Point about a million
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 miles from Earth. Same address as James
00:13:33 --> 00:13:33 Webb.
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 >> The Roman telescope is named for Dr.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:40 Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief of
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 astronomy and one of the key architects
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 of the Hubble telescope. Known as the
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 mother of Hubble, she spent her career
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 making the case for space-based
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 astronomy. September 2026, her namesake
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 telescope joins the fleet. We cannot
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 wait.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 >> And our final rap story brings us back
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 to the moon. Because even as Artemis 2
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 was being celebrated, Kennedy Space
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 Center was already turning the page. On
00:14:06 --> 00:14:10 April 27th and 28th, while the Aremis 2
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 Orion capsule was being unloaded on one
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 side of Kennedy Space Center for
00:14:15 --> 00:14:19 post-flight analysis, the Aremis 2 ISLs
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 core stage was arriving on the other
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 side via the Pegasus barge from New
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 Orleans. Two missions, one spaceport,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 one extraordinary week. The core stage
00:14:31 --> 00:14:35 is the backbone of the SLS rocket. 212
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 ft tall, containing the liquid hydrogen
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 and liquid oxygen tanks that hold more
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 than 733
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 gallons of propellant. It will be joined
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 with its engine section and solid rocket
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 boosters in the vehicle assembly
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 building over the coming months ahead of
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 the 2027 launch. Now, Artemis 3 has a
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 revised mission profile compared to what
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 was originally planned. Under changes
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 announced by administrator Isaacman in
00:15:01 --> 00:15:05 February, Artemis 3 is no longer a lunar
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 landing mission. Instead, it's been
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 redesigned as a crude Earth orbit test,
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 docking the Orion spacecraft with one or
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 both of the commercial human landing
00:15:15 --> 00:15:19 system vehicles. Face X's Starship HLS
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 and Blue Origins Blue Moon lander.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 >> Think of it as Apollo 9 for the Aremis
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 era. A critical step in validating the
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 docking procedures and systems that will
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 be needed before astronauts can actually
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 descend to the lunar surface. The first
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 crude landing is now Artemis 4, targeted
00:15:36 --> 00:15:41 for 2028. The Aremis 3 Orion crew module
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 is already at Kennedy undergoing
00:15:43 --> 00:15:47 functional tests. All 186 upgraded AvCot
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 heat shield locks, the improved version
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 informed by Artemis 2 data, are
00:15:52 --> 00:15:56 installed and inspected. The four RS25
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 engines for the core stage are due to
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 arrive from Stenis Space Center by July.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 The crew for Artemis 3 hasn't been
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 announced yet, but they're out there
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 somewhere, knowing that their moment is
00:16:07 --> 00:16:08 approaching.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 >> From Artemis 2 splashing down to Aremis
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 3 hardware through the door, this was a
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 week that showed NASA is not pausing for
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 breath. Onwards to the moon.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 >> And that is our first ever astronomy
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 daily weekend rap. Six stories, one
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 extraordinary week. Russia launched a
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 new rocket. Maze moon is doing something
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 rare. Artemis 2 left us speechless. The
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 Roman telescope is almost ready to fly
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 and Artemis 3 is already assembling in
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 the VAB.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 >> This is why we do this show. Thanks so
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 much for spending some of your weekend
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 with us. If you enjoyed today's format,
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 let us know. Find us at astronomyaily.io
00:16:49 --> 00:16:53 or on social media at astroaily pod.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 Your feedback genuinely shapes the show.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 >> Until next time, keep looking up.
00:16:58 --> 00:17:01 >> Clear skies everyone. This is astronomy
00:17:01 --> 00:17:12 daily.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:16 Stories told.