Latest / Space News Today / Cleared for Launch: Crew-12, Mars Organics, and an Interstellar Farewell

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Cleared for Launch: Crew-12, Mars Organics, and an Interstellar Farewell · Space News Today

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  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go-to
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  source for the latest space news. I'm
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  Anna.
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  >> And I'm Avery. Happy Saturday, everyone.
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  We've got great stories for you today.
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  The FAA has given SpaceX the green light
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  to fly Falcon 9 again, which means
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  NASA's Crew 12 mission is officially a
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  go for next week.
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  >> We have also got a fascinating NASA
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  study that's raising some very
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  intriguing questions about organic
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  molecules on Mars. Plus, our
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  interstellar visitor, Comet 3i, ATLS, is
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  putting on one last spectacular show on
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  its way out of the solar system.
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  >> And some less cheerful news from across
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  the Atlantic, where the UK government is
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  proposing massive cuts to astronomy
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  funding. We'll also look at the renewed
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  debate over making New Glenn's second
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  stage reusable. And we'll wrap up with a
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  story that'll make you smile. The
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  Fraggles have arrived at Kennedy Space
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  Center.
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  >> Let's get into it. So, our top story,
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  great news for anyone who's been
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  watching the Crew 12 mission calendar
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  nervously. The FAA has officially
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  cleared SpaceX's Falcon 9 to return to
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  flight after a 4-day grounding.
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  >> Right. This all stemmed from a Starlink
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  launch on February 2nd where the upper
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  stage deployed the satellites just fine,
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  but then failed to perform its de-orbit
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  burn. The rocket body ended up
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  re-entering the atmosphere uncontrolled.
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  >> And here's the thing that jumps out.
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  This was the fourth Falcon 9 upper stage
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  issue in just 19 months. That's a
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  pattern that's hard to ignore, but the
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  FAA wrapped up its review remarkably
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  quickly this time. The probable root
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  cause was a failure of the engine to
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  ignite before the de-orbit burn, and
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  SpaceX has identified preventative
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  measures.
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  >> So, with that resolved, Crew 12 is now
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  targeting launch at 6:01 a.m. Eastern on
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  February 11th. That's next Tuesday. The
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  crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica
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  Mir and Jack Hathaway, cosminot Andre
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  Fedv, and ESA Sophie Adonaut flying
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  aboard the Dragon capsule Freedom.
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  >> This mission is especially critical
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  because the ISS has been running with a
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  skeleton crew of just three since
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  January 15th when crew 11 departed in
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  the first ever medical evacuation from
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  the station. Getting crew 12 up there
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  will bring the station back to its
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  normal complement of seven. We'll be
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  watching that launch closely. Now, this
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  next story is one of those that makes
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  you sit up a little straighter. A new
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  NASA study has found that non-biological
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  processes can't fully account for the
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  abundance of organic compounds found in
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  a rock sample from Mars' Gail Crater.
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  >> Okay, before anyone gets too excited,
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  this is not a we found life on Mars
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  announcement, but it is genuinely
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  significant. Back in March 2025,
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  Curiosity's chemistry lab identified
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  small amounts of decane, undecane, and
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  docane in a rock sample. These are the
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  largest organic molecules ever found on
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  Mars, and they could be fragments of
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  fatty acids.
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  >> Now, on Earth, fatty acids are mostly
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  produced by life, though they can also
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  form through geological processes. The
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  follow-up study looked at known
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  non-biological sources like delivery by
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  meteorites and tried to see if those
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  could explain the amounts found. The
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  team essentially rewound the clock about
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  80 million years, estimating how much
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  organic material would have been there
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  before cosmic radiation destroyed much
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  of it.
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  >> And the result, far more organic
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  material than non-biological processes
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  could typically produce. So, the
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  researchers say it's reasonable to
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  hypothesize that living things could
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  have formed these molecules. They're
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  very clear that more study is needed,
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  but this keeps the door open in a really
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  tantalizing way.
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  >> It's exactly the kind of incremental
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  science that could one day lead to a
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  truly historic finding. Mars keeps
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  teasing us, and we love it. Speaking of
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  tantalizing science, our interstellar
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  visitor comet 3i-atlas
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  has been putting on quite the farewell
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  show. NASA Spherex Space Telescope
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  caught the comet dramatically
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  brightening in December, well after its
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  closest approach to the sun. That's
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  really unusual. You'd normally expect a
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  comet to be fading as it heads away from
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  the sun, not flaring up. The SP ph
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  data shows 3II/ATLS
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  erupting with water vapor, carbon
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  dioxide, and organic compounds along
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  with a beautiful pear-shaped dust tail.
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  The leading theory is that sunlight
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  slowly penetrated beneath the comet's
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  crust, which had been hardened by
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  billions of years of cosmic rape
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  bombardment in interstellar space. Once
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  the heat reached the pristine ices
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  buried deeper down, they erupted,
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  releasing a cocktail of ancient
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  chemicals that hadn't been exposed for
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  billions of years. And remember, this is
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  only the third confirmed interstellar
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  object we've ever seen after Umuam Mua
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  in 2017 and Boros in 2019. The chemical
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  fingerprint from 3II/ATLS
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  gives us our best look yet at material
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  formed around another star. The
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  similarities to our own comets could
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  tell us whether the raw ingredients for
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  planets and potentially life are common
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  across the galaxy.
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  >> What a way to say goodbye. Safe travels
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  3IIA ATLS.
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  >> Now for a story that's causing real
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  alarm in the scientific community. The
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  UK government is proposing a 30% cut to
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  its funding for astronomy, particle
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  physics, and nuclear physics research.
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  The Royal Astronomical Society's Robert
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  Massie has called it the worst outcome
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  for the field in decades. This comes
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  through the Science and Technology
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  Facilities Council, which distributes
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  funds and runs major research facilities
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  in the UK. The cuts are being justified
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  by the need to focus on fewer priorities
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  and by the rising costs of running
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  existing labs, but this follows a 15%
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  reduction in grants just last year. So
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  these cuts are really compounding.
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  >> What makes it particularly painful is
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  that the UK has historically been a
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  global astronomy powerhouse, third in
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  the world by research citations. They're
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  major contributors to the square
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  kilometer array and the European
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  Southern Observatory. The worry is that
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  they'll invest in building these
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  worldclass facilities but then not fund
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  the researchers needed to actually use
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  them.
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  >> And it's early career researchers who
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  will bear the brunt. PhD students and
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  postocs are the most vulnerable when
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  funding disappears. The Institute of
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  Physics called it a devastating blow.
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  When you combine this with the UK's
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  recent 11% cut to its ISA contributions,
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  it paints a worrying picture for British
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  science at a time when other countries
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  are investing more.
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  >> Shifting to the launch industry now, the
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  question of whether Blue Origin should
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  make New Glenn's second stage reusable
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  is back in the spotlight. They've been
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  studying this under a program called
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  Project Jarvis, and it's one of those
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  fascinating engineering dilemmas. Jeff
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  Bezos himself has described it as a
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  horse race. The Expendable team's goal
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  is to make the second stage so cheap to
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  manufacture that reusability never makes
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  sense. Meanwhile, the reusable team's
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  goal is to make it so operationally
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  efficient that throwing one away never
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  makes sense. They're still deciding
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  between aluminum and stainless steel for
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  the reusable version. With New Glenn's
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  first stage now proven, they
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  successfully landed it on the second
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  flight last November, and SpaceX pushing
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  towards full Starship reusability,
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  there's real competitive pressure, and
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  companies like Stoke Space are working
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  on fully reusable systems. The stakes
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  are high. Full reusability could be the
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  key to making space access truly
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  affordable, but it's also enormously
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  technically challenging. We'll be
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  watching how this debate plays out as
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  Blue Origin ramps up its launch cadence
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  in 2026.
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  >> And finally, our feel-good story of the
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  day. Jim Henson's beloved Fraggles have
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  arrived at the Kennedy Space Center
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  visitor complex.
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  >> That's right. Fraggle Rock, a spacey
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  adventure, is a new life stage show that
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  debuted in December. It features Gobo,
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  Red, Uncle Traveling Matt, and
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  Cotterpender exploring NASA's Kennedy
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  Space Center and learning about the
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  Aremis missions. They even get to chat
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  with the real astronaut on the ISS.
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  >> I love the connection they've made here.
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  In the original show, the Fraggles
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  always called the human world outer
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  space. So, having them explore actual
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  outer space at Kennedy Space Center is a
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  really clever fit. The show is directed
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  by John Tartaglia, who's the Jim Henson
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  Company's creative supervisor for
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  Fraggle Rock. The characters appear as
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  fullbody walkaround costumes crafted by
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  the Jim Henson Creature Shop. And the
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  show blends comedy, music, and real
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  space science. It's included with
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  regular admission and plays twice daily.
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  If you're visiting Florida, that sounds
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  like a brilliant way to inspire the next
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  generation.
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  >> Dance your cares away all the way to the
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  moon.
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  >> And that's our show for today. If you
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  enjoyed the episode, please leave us a
• 9:23
  review on your favorite podcast
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  platform. It really helps other space
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  fans find us.
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  >> You can find us online at
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  astronomyaily.io
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  and you can follow us on social media at
• 9:34
  astroailyaily pod for all the latest
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  updates. We'll be back on Monday with
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  more space news. Until then, keep
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  looking up.
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  >> See you next week. Astronomy day.
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  Stories we told.
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  Stories were told.