Latest / Space News Today / James Webb’s Cosmic Revelation, Lunar Landers Take Flight, and a Race Against Time for SWIFT

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James Webb’s Cosmic Revelation, Lunar Landers Take Flight, and a Race Against Time for SWIFT · Space News Today

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From the dawn of the universe to the
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shores of the moon and the skies above
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your head tonight, this is Astronomy
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Daily.
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>> Coming up, James Webb has finally
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cracked the 4-year cosmic mystery. We'll
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tell you what those strange little red
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dots really are, and it's even weirder
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than you'd expect.
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>> A brand new lunar lander just made its
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public debut, and it's aiming to lay the
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foundation for a permanent moon base. We
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have the details. And there's a NASA
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spacecraft on a race against time. A
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robotic rescue mission is heading for an
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observatory that's slowly falling out of
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the sky. Plus, a science-packed Dragon
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capsule is heading home from the ISS as
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we speak. There's a celestial triple
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play in tonight's sky. And we've got a
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space weather update for Aurora
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watchers. It is Tuesday, June 16th,
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2026, and this is Astronomy Daily,
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season 5, episode 116. I'm Avery.
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>> And I'm Anna. Let's get into it. We're
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starting with a big one today. A mystery
1:04
that has genuinely unsettled
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cosmologists since James Web first
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opened its eyes.
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>> We're talking about the little red dots.
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And if that name sounds almost comically
1:15
understated for something that
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threatened to break our understanding of
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the universe, well, that's astronomy for
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you.
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>> So, let's rewind a little. When Web
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began science operations back in 2022,
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astronomers noticed something deeply
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strange. Practically everywhere the
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telescope looked in the ancient distant
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universe, in a period just a few hundred
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million years after the Big Bang, it
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kept spotting these tiny, compact, ruby
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red objects. They were everywhere. Far
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too many of them, far too bright, and
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nobody could explain what they were.
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>> The problem was that they didn't behave
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like anything in our existing models.
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They looked too massive and too mature
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to be young galaxies lit up by newborn
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stars. But they also weren't blasting
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out the X-rays and radio waves you'd
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expect from a super massive black hole
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feeding on gas and dust. They seemed to
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break every box astronomers had. Some
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researchers genuinely used the phrase
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broken cosmology, not because they
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thought physics had failed, but because
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these objects appeared in such numbers
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and with such properties that the
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standard story of how the early universe
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evolved simply couldn't account for
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them. And now, four years later, WEB has
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handed astronomers the object they
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needed to solve it. It goes by the name
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Glimpse 17775.
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Not exactly a catchy title, but it
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turned out to be the Rosetta Stone for
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this whole mystery.
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>> A team led by Vasili Kakorv at the
2:48
University of Texas at Austin observed
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glimpse 17775 through a stroke of cosmic
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luck. Webb was actually pointed at a
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galaxy cluster called Abel S1063
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as part of a program searching for
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something entirely else. population
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three stars, the hypothetical first
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generation of stars in the universe. The
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galaxy cluster's gravity acted as a
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natural lens, magnifying what was behind
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it. And right in the field of view was
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glimpse 17775,
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magnified beautifully, giving the team
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the most detailed spectrum of a little
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red dot ever obtained.
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>> The data published in the Astrophysical
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Journal on June 10th is about as clear
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as it gets. These objects are super
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massive black holes, but not in the way
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we're used to seeing them. They're in
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the midst of an explosive early growth
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phase wrapped in dense cocoons of hot
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ionized gas. The gas acts like a
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disguise. It scatters and absorbs the
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high energy radiation that would
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normally give a growing black hole away,
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making these objects look red and
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compact rather than blazingly bright.
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>> Though the universe isn't broken, we
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just couldn't see through the costume.
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And this finding also resolves something
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that had alarmed astronomers even
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further. Earlier estimates suggested
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these black holes were extraordinarily
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massive, which made the timeline for how
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they grew seem impossible. But the
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team's analysis shows the gas cocoon was
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distorting those mass measurements. The
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black holes inside the little red dots
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are likely around 100 times less massive
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than originally thought, bringing them
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back within the bounds of what our
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models can explain. A very I think the
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thing that strikes me most about this
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story is what it says about how science
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actually works. Four years of competing
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theories, genuine alarm among serious
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scientists, and then one lucky
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observation of one well-placed object
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and suddenly the picture snaps into
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focus.
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>> Serendipity and a very big telescope. A
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combination that seems to work
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remarkably well. The little red dots are
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solved. And the universe, it turns out,
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was never broken. Just very good at
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keeping secrets.
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>> Story two. And we're heading to the
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moon. Or at least heading toward heading
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to the moon. Yesterday, June 15th,
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Pittsburgh-based company Astrootic held
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a public unveiling of their Griffin 1
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lunar lander at the Moonshot Museum,
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which is co-located with their
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headquarters and has a large window into
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the clean room, so the public could
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actually watch engineers working on the
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vehicle in real time while the press
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conference was happening,
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>> which is a nice touch.
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>> Very nice touch. Now, Griffin 1 is
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significant on multiple levels. NASA has
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selected it as the lander for what
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they're calling the moon base 2 mission,
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part of the first phase of the AY's
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efforts to establish a permanent lunar
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outpost. Astrobotic CEO John Thornton
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described it as quote the first
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infrastructure class lander going to the
5:52
surface of the moon.
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>> And it's carrying a substantial payload
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to prove that point. The largest is the
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Flip rover, the Flex Lunar Innovation
6:01
Platform from California company
6:03
Astrolab. Flip is designed to
6:05
demonstrate critical technologies for
6:07
future large-scale commercial lunar
6:09
rovers. It'll be deployed in the Noble
6:11
region near the lunar south pole. The
6:14
lander is also carrying several other
6:16
payloads, including Astrobot's own
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Beacon Cube rover and the European Space
6:21
Ay's Land Cam X designed to help improve
6:24
precision landing on future missions.
6:27
There are also payloads from Japan,
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Canada, Germany, and worth a mention for
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our audience, Australia. Of course,
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>> Griffin 1 is now preparing to depart
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Pittsburgh for NASA's Jet Propulsion
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Laboratory in California, where it'll go
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through environmental testing. From
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there, it'll head to Florida, where the
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Flip rover will be integrated ahead of
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launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy,
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currently targeting the fourth quarter
6:51
of this year. Now, Astrobotic's previous
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mission, the paragrin lander in early
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2024, unfortunately didn't make it to
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the surface due to a helium valve issue
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early in flight, but Thornton emphasized
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that the in-house avionics and systems
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performed as expected on that flight,
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and the post anomaly review was
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thorough. Griffin is the next chapter. A
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moon base has to start somewhere. And if
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all goes to plan, this could be one of
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the most significant robotic landings in
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the history of lunar exploration.
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>> We'll be watching very closely.
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>> Story 3 has all the drama of a rescue
7:29
mission because that's exactly what it
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is.
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>> NASA's Neil Gar's Swift Observatory has
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been one of the workh horses of high
7:36
energy astrophysics since it launched
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back in 2004. 22 years of catching
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gammaray bursts, the most powerful
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explosions in the known universe, and
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relaying that information to ground
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telescopes fast enough to catch the
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afterglows.
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>> It has acted, as NASA put it, as a kind
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of cosmic dispatcher, spotting a burst
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and immediately alerting other
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observatories to follow up before the
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light fades. It has been extraordinary.
8:03
But now, Swift has a problem. Like all
8:06
spacecraft in low Earth orbit, Swift
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experiences drag from the upper
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atmosphere which gradually lowers its
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altitude over time. That's manageable
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except that the recent surge in solar
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activity has dramatically accelerated
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the process. The orbit has decayed
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faster than expected and without
8:23
intervention, Swift would re-enter
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Earth's atmosphere in the autumn of this
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year.
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>> Now, many spacecraft simply do that at
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end of life. It's a normal retirement.
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But NASA looked at this situation and
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saw an opportunity to do something
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unprecedented.
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In September 2025, they awarded a
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contract to a company called Catalyst
8:43
Space Technologies in Flagstaff, Arizona
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to build and launch a robotic servicing
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spacecraft called Link to Rendezv with
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Swift and physically boost its orbit to
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a higher altitude in less than a year.
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>> That turnaround is remarkable in itself.
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Link went through testing at Gddard
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Space Flight Center, was transported to
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NASA's Wallups flight facility in
9:05
Virginia, and was integrated into a
9:07
Northrup Grumman Pegasus XL rocket. On
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June 12th, that rocket was attached to
9:13
the belly of Northrup Stargazer, a
9:15
modified L1011 and is now ready for the
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trip south.
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>> Blink will launch from Quadal and Attal
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in the Marshall Islands later this
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month. The air launch approach gives
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flexibility in reaching Swift's orbit
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that a ground launch couldn't match.
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Once in orbit, Link will use its three
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ion thrusters and robotic arms to
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rendevous with Swift and execute the
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boost. NASA is calling it bluntly a
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fast, high-risk, highreward mission.
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There are no guarantees. This type of
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onorbit servicing at this speed has
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never been done before. But if it works,
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it not only saves a beloved and
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productive science mission, it
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demonstrates a capability that could be
9:54
transformative for the future of the
9:56
entire spacecraft fleet.
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>> A NASA media briefing on the mission is
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scheduled for tomorrow, June 17th,
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though we'll likely have more details
10:04
coming. We'll keep you across it.
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>> Swift has spent 22 years watching the
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universe's most violent moments. Here's
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hoping it gets a few more years to keep
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doing exactly that.
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Story four is happening right now as we
10:17
record. A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft
10:20
supporting NASA's 34th commercial
10:22
resupply services mission has undocked
10:25
from the International Space Station
10:27
today, Tuesday, June 16th, at around
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12:05 in the afternoon Eastern time.
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>> Splashdown off the coast of California
10:35
is expected tomorrow morning, June 17th,
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at around 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Now, the
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Dragon arrived at the ISS on May 17th,
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carrying nearly 6,500 lb of supplies and
10:47
equipment for the Expedition 74 crew.
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But what it's bringing back is what
10:52
makes this particularly interesting.
10:54
Because packed inside Dragon right now
10:56
are some genuinely remarkable research
10:58
specimens. Blood stem cells harvested by
11:01
NASA flight engineer Jessica Mayor
11:03
inside the KBO laboratory module have
11:06
been growing aboard the station and are
11:07
now heading home. Researchers are
11:10
exploring whether the microgravity
11:12
environment of space could allow these
11:13
cells to be developed into therapies for
11:15
blood cancers and immune diseases that
11:18
are difficult to manufacture on Earth.
11:20
There are also samples of bioprinted
11:22
organ and cartilage tissue produced
11:25
using three-dimensional printing
11:26
techniques aboard the station and
11:28
materials developed for what are
11:30
described as DNA inspired cancer
11:32
treatments. The capsule is also carrying
11:35
hardware, including equipment related to
11:37
cryogenic fuel storage experiments. Data
11:40
that will be valuable for future deep
11:42
space missions. The ISS has long been
11:44
described as a laboratory in the sky.
11:47
Missions like this are a reminder of
11:49
what that actually means in practice,
11:51
that the unique conditions of orbit
11:53
allow science that simply isn't possible
11:56
on the ground, and that the journey home
11:58
is sometimes the most scientifically
12:00
significant part of the mission. Safe
12:03
travels, Dragon, and fingers crossed for
12:05
a smooth splashdown tomorrow.
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>> Now for something you can actually go
12:09
outside and see tonight. And it is a
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lovely one.
12:13
>> Right now in the western sky after
12:15
sunset, three planets are visible to the
12:17
naked eye simultaneously.
12:19
Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury. That alone
12:23
is worth stepping outside for. And
12:25
tonight specifically, the slim waxing
12:28
crescent moon is joining the party,
12:30
appearing between Mercury and Jupiter in
12:32
the western sky about an hour after
12:34
sunset. Tomorrow evening, June 17th, the
12:38
moon will drift further along and sit
12:40
next to brilliant Venus.
12:42
>> Mercury is the trickiest of the three to
12:45
spot. It's much fainter than Venus and
12:48
Jupiter and sits very close to the
12:50
horizon. So, you'll want a clear sky and
12:53
an unobstructed western view. It
12:56
actually reached its greatest eastern
12:58
elongation, its furthest point from the
13:00
sun, as seen from Earth just yesterday
13:03
on June 15th. Though, right now is
13:05
genuinely the best time of this
13:07
apparition to find it.
13:09
>> Venus, as always, is unmissable, the
13:12
brightest object in the sky after the
13:14
sun and the moon. and Jupiter sits just
13:16
below it, the second brightest. Both of
13:18
them easy to find.
13:20
>> For our listeners in Australia and New
13:22
Zealand, the geometry will appear
13:25
flipped compared to northern hemisphere
13:27
charts with the planets appearing to the
13:29
right rather than the left as they track
13:32
west after sunset. But the view is
13:34
equally beautiful.
13:36
>> The crescent moon alongside three
13:38
planets all setting together in the
13:40
western glow. It's one of those simple,
13:42
no telescope required moments that
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reminds you why people fell in love with
13:47
the night sky in the first place.
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>> Get outside tonight if you can. And
13:52
finally, a quick space weather update,
13:54
which also ties in nicely with our sky
13:57
watching story.
13:58
>> Forecasters at Noah Space Weather
14:00
Prediction Center are tracking a coronal
14:03
mass ejection, a CME, that departed the
14:06
sun on June 12th. It's expected to
14:08
deliver a glancing blow to Earth today
14:11
or tomorrow, June 16th to 17th.
14:14
>> The emphasis is glancing. A direct hit
14:17
is not anticipated, but forecasters
14:20
expect active conditions with a KP index
14:23
up to around 4, and there's a chance of
14:26
an isolated G1, minor geomagnetic storm.
14:30
A G1 is the lowest level on Noah's
14:33
fivepoint scale, but it can still
14:35
produce aurora activity at high
14:37
latitudes. If you're in the higher
14:39
latitudes of Australia, Tasmania, or New
14:42
Zealand tonight, it's worth keeping an
14:44
eye on space weather apps. The Aurora
14:46
Arralis won't be putting on a headline
14:49
show, but with clear skies and a bit of
14:51
luck, there may be some activity on the
14:53
southern horizon for those in the right
14:55
location. June is generally a quieter
14:58
time for southern aurora chasers given
15:01
the shorter nights as we head towards
15:02
the solstice in just a few days. But the
15:05
sun has been reasonably active this
15:07
month. Earlier in June, there was a G3
15:10
watch issued for a series of more
15:12
significant CMEs. And this is a reminder
15:15
that space weather remains worth
15:17
monitoring.
15:18
>> We'll of course keep watching and update
15:21
you as conditions develop. And on that
15:23
note, that is your Astronomy Daily for
15:26
Tuesday, June 16th, 2026.
15:29
>> A massive thank you for spending part of
15:31
your day with us. If you're enjoying the
15:33
show, please subscribe, leave a review,
15:35
or share it with a fellow space
15:37
enthusiast. It makes an enormous
15:39
difference.
15:40
>> Find us at astronomyaily.io
15:43
and follow us on social media at
15:45
astroaily pod. We'll be back tomorrow
15:48
with another full episode. Until then,
15:51
>> keep looking up.
15:52
>> This is Astronomy Daily. Goodbye for
15:55
now.
15:56
>> Astronomy.
15:59
Stories told
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stories told.
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Story for