Latest / Space News Today / Medical Drama on the ISS-Update | ESA’s Rocket Revamp | Mysterious Early Galaxies: Your Daily...

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Medical Drama on the ISS-Update | ESA’s Rocket Revamp | Mysterious Early Galaxies: Your Daily... · Space News Today

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  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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  your daily companion for all things
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  space and astronomy. I'm Anna and
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  joining me as always is my good friend
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  and co-host Avery. Hey Avery, it's
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  January 10th, 2026. Hope everyone's
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  weekend is stellar.
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  >> Hey Anna, and hello to our listeners
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  everywhere. Yeah, it's been a busy start
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  to the year and today we've got some
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  fantastic updates and discoveries. We're
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  kicking off with a big follow-up to
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  yesterday's breaking news on the ISS
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  medical situation, plus rocket upgrades
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  in Europe, some weird early universe
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  galaxies from JWST,
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  insights into our galaxy's black hole
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  past, and China's upcoming space
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  telescope that's poised to reveal cosmic
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  secrets. Let's dive right in.
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  >> First up, the update we've all been
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  waiting for. NASA and SpaceX have set a
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  target date for Crew 11's return to
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  Earth following the medical concern with
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  one crew member.
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  >> This is a historic early return we
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  talked about yesterday. The first
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  medical evacuation of an entire crew
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  from the ISS in its 25-year history.
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  Crew 11, who launched last August on
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  Dragon Endeavor, includes NASA
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  astronauts Michael Frink and Zena
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  Cardman, Jax's Kimya Yu, and Ross Cosmos
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  cosminaut Oleg Platanov. The plan now is
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  undocking no earlier than 5:00 p. p.m.
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  Eastern time on Wednesday, January 14th,
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  weather permitting, and splashdown
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  around 3:40 a.m. on Thursday, January
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  15th off the coast of California.
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  Recovery teams are prepped and managers
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  are monitoring sea states, spacecraft
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  readiness, everything to make sure it's
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  safe. NASA stresses the crew member is
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  stable and has been receiving care on
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  board, but the decision was made to
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  return early as a precaution since full
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  diagnosis and treatment aren't feasible
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  in microgravity. Details remain private
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  for medical privacy reasons. No
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  specifics on the condition.
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  >> Importantly, this shouldn't impact the
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  upcoming Artemis 2 mission. NASA
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  administrator Jared Eisedman said the
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  evacuation is quote a totally separate
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  campaign at this point and they're still
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  aiming for the first launch window in
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  early February. No delays expected.
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  That's reassuring for the whole program.
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  >> With Crew 11 heading home, the ISS will
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  temporarily drop to three crew members.
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  NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two
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  Russian cosminauts. They'll keep things
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  running, but NASA is looking at
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  accelerating Crew 12's launch from
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  midFebruary to minimize any gap. This
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  shows how flexible the partnership is,
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  even in tough moments.
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  >> Sending all the best wishes for a safe
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  return to Crew 11. What a reminder of
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  the human element in space flight.
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  >> Next, some rocket news from Europe. ESA
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  is considering ways to write the wrongs
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  of Arion 6 by turning it into a sort of
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  Franken rocket with reusable elements.
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  >> Arion 6 debuted last year but has faced
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  criticism for being fully expendable,
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  high cost, and struggling against
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  reusable competitors like SpaceX's
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  Falcon 9. It's not hitting the launch
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  cadence or affordability goals Europe
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  hoped for. Under ESA's best initiative,
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  Aryan Group is proposing to retrofit
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  Aryan 6 by swapping its solid rocket
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  boosters for reusable liquid field ones
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  from Myaspace. Their methane fuel
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  design. The core and upper stage would
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  stay expendable because recovering them
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  is much harder. Higher speeds, single
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  engine, no easy descent control.
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  >> This plugandplay approach could lower
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  costs, boost flight rates, and give
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  Europe quick experience with
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  reusability. Maya Space's full rocket
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  isn't expected until 2027 at earliest,
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  so integration would take time. There's
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  also a separate study for a reusable
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  demonstrator from Isizar Aerospace.
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  >> It's a pragmatic step to catch up.
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  Europe knows it needs reusability to
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  compete long term. Critics say it's
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  playing catch-up to tech from a decade
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  ago, but gaining data from multiple
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  boosters per flight could accelerate
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  progress.
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  >> Exciting to see Europe innovating, even
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  if it's a hybrid solution. Shifting to
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  deep space, the James Webb Space
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  Telescope has spotted some truly strange
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  cosmic objects that might be baby
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  platypus galaxies or perhaps an entirely
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  new class of early universe phenomena.
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  >> These appear as compact, oddly shaped
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  galaxies in the very early universe with
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  unusual morphologies that don't fit
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  standard models. Maybe mergers, rapid
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  formation, or something unique. JWST's
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  infrared power lets us see them at high
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  red shift when the universe was young
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  and chaotic.
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  >> The platypus nickname comes from their
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  bizarre mixed features like a mashup of
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  traits from different galaxy types.
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  Researchers are debating if they're
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  transitional forms feeding black holes
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  in disguise or new physics at play. This
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  could reshape our understanding of how
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  the first galaxies assembled.
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  >> JWST keeps delivering surprises. Every
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  image challenges our assumptions.
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  >> Staying galactic, new observations show
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  that while Sagittarius A star, our Milky
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  Way super massive black hole, is quiet
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  now, its recent past was far more
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  active. Using XRISM and other
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  telescopes, astronomers detected FEK
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  alpha emission lines in nearby molecular
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  clouds like 0.11
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  minus 0.11.
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  X-ray fluorescents from past outbursts
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  illuminating the gas. These flares
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  happened a few hundred to a thousand
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  years ago, possibly specific events
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  around 130 and 230 years back. The black
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  hole likely had a feeding frenzy,
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  gobbling a star or gas cloud, then
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  settled down. We might see another echo
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  in decades.
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  >> It highlights how black holes toggle
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  between active and quescent states,
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  influencing galactic evolution, even in
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  quiet galaxies like ours. And may it
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  long remain quiet, I might add.
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  >> Finally, exciting news from China. Their
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  revolutionary space telescope, the
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  Chinese Space Station Telescope, or
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  Shanien, is on track for 2026 launch and
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  ready to uncover universe secrets. With
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  a 2meter mirror, wide field of view,
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  high resolution imaging across multiple
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  wavelengths, and spectroscopic
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  capabilities, Shantien will map large
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  sky areas, directly image exoplanets,
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  survey galaxies and stars, probe
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  cosmology, dark matter, and fundamental
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  physics.
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  >> Recent breakthroughs include advanced
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  simulation suites for pixel level data
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  testing, ensuring systems are optimized
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  pre-launch. It's designed for broad
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  surveys and deep looks, complementing
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  Hubble and JWST by covering huge areas
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  efficiently.
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  >> This could lead to major discoveries in
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  exoplanets, galaxy evolution, and more.
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  China is stepping up big time in space
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  astronomy. We'll be watching this with
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  interest as the year rolls on.
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  >> And that's it for today. Time to call it
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  a wrap. What a packed day. From human
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  spaceflight drama to cosmic deep dives.
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  Thanks so much for listening to
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  Astronomy Daily. If you enjoy these
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  updates, subscribe, share with a friend,
• 7:21
  and we'll be back on Monday with more.
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  In the meantime, if you'd like to keep a
• 7:25
  breast of all the latest developments,
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  just visit our website at
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  astronomydaily.io
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  and check out our news update page.
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  >> Until then, keep your eyes on the skies.
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  >> Clear skies, everyone.
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  The stories been told.
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  Stories told.