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ISS Crew Emergency Evacuation | Mars Mission Dead | Fastest Spinning Asteroid: Your Daily Space... · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Hello everyone and welcome to Astronomy
• 0:04
  Daily, the podcast where we bring you
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  the latest and greatest from the world
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  of space and astronomy. I'm Anna and
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  with me is my co-host Avery. Hey Avery,
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  it's January 9th, 2026. Hope you're
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  staying warm wherever you are.
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  >> Hey Anna, and hi to all our listeners.
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  Yeah, it's chilly out there where I am
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  in the northern hemisphere, but I
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  believe our listeners down under are
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  experiencing very high temperatures
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  today. But the news is heating up.
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  Today, we've got a truly historic story
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  leading off. One that's making waves
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  across the space community, plus lunar
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  viewing tips, Starship infrastructure
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  upgrades, big shifts and Mars
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  exploration plans, a record-breaking
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  asteroid spin, and a fascinating map of
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  ghostly particles streaming through us.
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  We'll spend extra time on that first one
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  because it's a milestone. Let's jump
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  right in.
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  >> Absolutely. This top story is
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  unprecedented. For the first time in the
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  25- year history of the International
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  Space Station, NASA has ordered a
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  controlled medical evacuation, bringing
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  home an entire crew early due to a
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  medical issue with one astronaut.
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  >> This involves crew 11, who launched back
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  in August 2025 aboard SpaceX's Dragon
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  Endeavor. The four-person team, NASA
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  commander Mike Frink, veteran of
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  multiple flights, pilot Zena Cardman on
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  her rookie mission, Jax Kima Yui, and
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  Ros Cosmos cosminot Oleg Platonoff.
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  They're a multinational crew
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  highlighting the international
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  partnership.
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  >> The issue arose earlier this week on
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  January 7th with one unidentified crew
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  member experiencing a medical situation
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  in microgravity. NASA emphasizes the
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  astronaut is absolutely stable and the
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  crew provided immediate care using
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  onboard equipment which is advanced but
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  limited compared to a full hospital
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  >> details are private for good reason.
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  HIPPA and all that but NASA chief
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  medical officer Dr. JD Pulk noted it's
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  unrelated to station operations or
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  upcoming tasks. The key factor while
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  stable now there could be lingering
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  risks if they stay in orbit longer and
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  full diagnosis or treatment isn't
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  possible up there. After consultations,
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  administrator Jared Isacman made the
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  call, air on the side of caution and
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  return the whole crew 11 team in the
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  coming days. They'll undock soon. Exact
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  schedule coming within 48 hours. splash
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  down off California with Space X
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  recovery ships ready.
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  >> Why the whole crew? They share one
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  Dragon as their lifeboat. No splitting
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  up. This leaves the ISS with just three
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  people temporarily. NASA astronaut Chris
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  Williams and two Russian cosminauts.
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  They'll handle basics, defer some
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  science, and no spacew walks possible
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  until Crew 12 arrives. Maybe accelerated
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  to next month.
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  >> It's certainly historic. NASA's first
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  medical early return ever. There was a
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  Soviet case in 1985 on Salute 7, but
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  nothing like this for the ISS era. Past
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  issues like a blood clot in 2019 or
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  pinched nerve in 2021 were managed on
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  board without evacuation.
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  >> This shows how far we've come in crew
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  health management, but also the limits
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  of long duration space flight. It's a
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  learning moment for Aremis lunar stays
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  and eventual Mars missions. How do we
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  handle unexpected health events far from
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  Earth?
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  >> Totally. NASA stressed crew safety as
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  priority one and the quick response
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  highlights training. We'll keep an eye
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  on updates. Safe return wishes to crew
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  11.
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  >> Okay, moving to something more serene.
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  The February full moon is coming up
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  soon, known as the snow moon.
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  >> Peak illumination at 5:09 p.m. Eastern
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  on February 1st. Look east at sunset for
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  that classic big orangeet tinted rise
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  due to the moon illusion and atmospheric
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  scattering. It'll be near Cancer stars,
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  easy naked eye spot.
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  >> Traditional names reflect winter in the
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  northern hemisphere. Snow moon for heavy
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  snowfall. Hungary or bare moon in some
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  indigenous cultures. In India, Maga
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  porna with rituals. Bonus. On February
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  2nd, it occults regulus for parts of
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  North America and Africa. Incidentally,
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  you will be able to see this in the
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  southern hemisphere as well with best
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  date in Sydney, for instance, forecasted
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  to be on February 2nd, the same day as
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  Beijing and Tokyo.
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  >> Great for photos, tripod, long lens for
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  details or wide for landscapes. No
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  special super status, but always
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  magical.
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  >> Up next, updates from Starbase. SpaceX
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  is futurep proofing pad 1's tower and
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  launch mount for Starship Block 3. Pad 1
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  had supported early block 2 flights, but
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  is now offline for major rework,
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  demolishing the old mount, adding a
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  flame bucket with powerful water deluge,
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  nitrogen inerting to prevent fires, and
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  reinforced structures.
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  >> Upgrades include better quick
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  disconnects for propellants, shortened
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  chopsticks for heavier lifts. Goal is
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  rapid reusability, minimal refer between
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  launches, handling 33 Raptors power.
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  This mirrors pad 2 improvements,
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  enabling frequent flights, which are
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  crucial for Starship's goals.
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  >> Next, let's shift our gaze to Mars.
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  NASA's ambitious Mars sample return
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  mission is effectively dead, opening the
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  door wider for China.
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  >> Budget cuts slashed funding. Original 11
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  billion ballooned, redesigned to around
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  7 billion, but it was still too complex.
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  Perseverances, caches, lander, fetch
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  rover or helicopters, ascent rocket,
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  orbital rendevous. It was a lot.
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  Congress prioritized other spending, so
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  there was only $110 million left for
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  tech development. This disrupts the ESA
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  partnership, too. Perseverance's 33
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  tubes stay on Mars. Stable and cold
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  dryness for potential future grab.
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  >> Meanwhile, China's plans advance.
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  Simpler, opportunistic sampling. They
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  could be first to return Martian rocks
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  which will be huge for science.
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  >> H a bitter pill for NASA after all their
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  planning but it does redirect resources
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  elsewhere. So there is that.
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  >> Let's move on now to asteroid hunting.
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  The Vera Rubin Observatory has spotted
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  the fastest spinning large asteroid ever
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  discovered. This huge rock rotates in an
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  insanely quick period under the
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  theoretical rubble pile limit, yet holds
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  together, likely monolithic or strong
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  internally. This discovery highlights
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  Vera Rubin's power and importance for
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  locating near Earth objects.
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  >> There are implications for deflection
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  strategies as spin affects how we nudge
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  threats if needed.
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  >> Okay, moving on. Finally, today, those
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  billions of ghost particles, nutrinos,
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  streaming through you every second. You
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  were aware of them, weren't you? Of
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  course. Well, we now have a map of where
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  many of them come from.
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  >> New models using Gaia star data show
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  stellar nutrinos from nuclear fusion in
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  massive young stars across the Milky
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  Way, although denser toward galactic
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  center. Detected via giant Antarctic
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  instruments catching rare interactions,
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  this first comprehensive stellar nutrino
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  map filters solar noise, probes core
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  processes, and has led to potential new
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  physics.
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  >> Wild invisible messengers from our
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  galaxy's heart.
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  >> And that's a wrap for today. From ISS
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  drama to nutrino maps, what a day in
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  space news.
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  >> Thanks for joining us. Subscribe, share,
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  and we'll be back tomorrow. And if you'd
• 7:56
  like to keep up with the evacuation
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  story unfolding on the ISS, just visit
• 8:01
  our website and check out our constantly
• 8:03
  updating news feed. You'll find us at
• 8:05
  astronomyaily.io.
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  >> Clear skies, everyone.
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  >> And one final reminder to keep looking
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  up. Bye. Astronomy day.
• 8:16
  Stories we told.
• 8:24
  Stories to tell.