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From Europa’s Stillness to Artemis’ Historic Launch: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

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  Hello and welcome to Astronomy [music]
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  Daily, your daily dose of space and
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  astronomy news. I'm Anna and sitting
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  across from me virtually of course is my
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  co-host Avery. Hey Avery, happy January
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  7th. We are already a week into 2026 and
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  the stories just keep coming.
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  >> Hey Anna, and hi [music] everyone out
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  there gazing at the stars with us.
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  Absolutely. It's been a whirlwind start
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  to the [music] year. Today, we've got a
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  mix of sobering science about one of
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  Jupiter's moons, exciting updates on the
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  next human trip to the moon, [music] a
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  surprising JWST discovery, gorgeous
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  views from Mars, a sky watching heads
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  [music] up, and some bittersweet news
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  from NASA history. Six great stories.
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  Let's dive into it.
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  >> Starting with a bit of a downer for
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  astrobiology fans. New research suggests
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  that Europa's vast subsurface ocean
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  might be too quiet to support life as we
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  know it today.
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  >> Yeah, this comes from a study just
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  published in Nature Communications.
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  Europa, that cracked ice moon of
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  Jupiter, has this global ocean deeper
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  than anything on Earth, maybe 100 km
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  deep under a 15 to 25 km thick ice
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  shell. More water than all our oceans
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  combined. But the key question is
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  energy. Life needs not just water and
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  organics, but a source of chemical
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  energy.
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  >> Exactly. On Earth, a lot of that comes
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  from hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.
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  Hot mineralrich fluids fueling
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  ecosystems. But the models here based on
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  Europa's size, composition, and tidal
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  heating from Jupiter show the seafloor
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  is likely inactive. No tectonic plates
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  moving, no fresh fractures, no active
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  volcanoes or hot plumes. The rocky core
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  cooled billions of years ago, and tidal
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  forces aren't strong enough to keep
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  things churning like they do on Io.
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  >> Lead researcher Paul Burn put it
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  bluntly. The energy just doesn't seem to
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  be there to support life, at least
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  today. If we sent a submersible down
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  there, we'd probably see a still, quiet
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  bottom. nothing geologically exciting.
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  It's a reminder that habitability needs
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  that dynamic interplay, not just the big
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  ocean.
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  >> Still, it's today. Maybe early Europa
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  was more active. And missions like
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  Europa Clipper launching soon will give
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  us better data on plumes and surface
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  chemistry. Fingers crossed for some
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  surprises.
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  >> Definitely, Europa keeps us hooked.
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  Shifting to human exploration, the
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  historic Artemis 2 mission, the first
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  crude flight around the moon in over 50
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  years, could be just a month away now.
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  >> As of early January, NASA is eyeing
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  February 6, 2026 for launch, though
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  nothing's locked in yet. The SLS rocket
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  and Orion capsule are stacked in the
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  vehicle assembly building at Kennedy
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  Space Center with rollap to the pad
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  expected in the next couple weeks. Then
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  comes final checks, integration, and a
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  wet dress rehearsal.
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  >> The crew is awesome. NASA astronauts
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  Reed Wisman as commander, Victor Glover,
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  pilot, Christina Caul, mission
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  specialist, and Jeremy Hansen from
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  Canada. They'll do a free return
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  trajectory around the moon, testing life
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  support, navigation, everything for deep
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  space with humans aboard since Apollo
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  17.
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  Delays came from heat shield issues on
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  Artemis 1, but NASA's fixed staff for
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  crew safety. It's thrilling. We're so
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  close to seeing humans back in lunar
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  space, and it sets up the whole Aremis
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  program for landings and bases.
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  >> I can't wait to watch that launch live
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  stream. Goosebumps already thinking
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  about it.
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  >> Next, the James Web Space Telescope has
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  spotted something unexpected in a galaxy
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  that's like a window into the early
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  universe. This is Sext A, a dwarf galaxy
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  with super low metallicity, just 3 to 7%
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  of the sun's heavy elements. It's an
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  analog for galaxies shortly after the
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  Big Bang when everything was mostly
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  hydrogen and helium.
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  >> Normally, we'd expect almost no dust
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  there. Dust needs those heavier elements
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  like silicon or magnesium to form
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  silicates. But JWST found two rare
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  types. metallic iron dust grains and
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  silicon carbide stars, especially aging
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  asmtotic giant branch ones, are forging
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  bees via alternative chemistry pathways,
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  even with scarce ingredients.
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  >> They also detected polycyclic aromatic
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  hydrocarbons, complex carbon molecules
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  in tiny dense pockets. That's the lowest
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  metalicity place we've seen PH's. It
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  means early galaxies were dustier and
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  more inventive than models predicted.
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  Building planet forming materials way
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  sooner.
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  >> Huge implications. Dust helps cool gas
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  for star formation, absorbs lights, and
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  seeds rocky planets. This reshapes how
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  we think high red shift galaxies
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  evolved. Maybe more building blocks for
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  world like ours earlier than thought.
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  >> JWST just keeps rewriting the textbooks.
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  From deep space to Mars, Curiosity rover
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  has sent back a stunning new panorama
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  from high up on Mount Sharp.
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  >> This composite was taken in November
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  2025 from a ridge in Gale Crater,
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  combining shots from afternoon and
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  morning Mars time to capture changing
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  light. It looks north across this
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  intricate boxwork formation. Networks of
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  mineral ridges hardened by ancient
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  groundwater billions of years ago, now
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  exposed by wind. You can see the rover's
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  wheel track snaking behind a drill site
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  called Valley Deal Luna, the slopes
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  dropping to the crater floor, and the
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  rim 25 miles away on the horizon. Mount
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  Sharp itself towers 3 m high.
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  Curiosity's been climbing it since 2012,
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  layer by layer, reading Mars' climate
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  history.
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  >> These veins and sediments tell of wetter
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  times, possible habitability, then
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  drying out. Recent drills like at Neado
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  Sahama are analyzing chemistry to piece
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  together water flow. Plus, the rover's
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  using smarter autonomy now for
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  multitasking. 13 years in and still
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  going strong.
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  >> Those views never get old. Makes you
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  feel like you're there on the red dust.
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  >> For sky watchers, there's some
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  intriguing buzz about a truly rare
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  astronomical event coming up in 2026.
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  though unfortunately it's highly likely
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  astronomers won't be able to watch it in
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  real time even though they know it's
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  coming.
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  >> Yeah, this one's a bit different from
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  the usual planetary parades in our solar
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  system. The story is about a predicted
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  exocigy.
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  That's a sidigy or alignment of three
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  bodies but in an extra solar system.
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  Specifically, two known exoplanets in a
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  distant system are expected to
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  simultaneously transit across the face
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  of their host star as seen from Earth.
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  >> The event is forecasted for around April
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  1st, 2026 based on orbital models
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  refined from past data. It's only the
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  second such double exoplanet transit
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  ever predicted. The first one back in
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  2010 was actually discovered
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  retrospectively in archival data from
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  NASA's Kepler mission. That one was
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  missed in real time. And sadly, this
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  2026 event might suffer the same fate.
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  >> Exactly. Lead researcher Terry Yuki
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  Herano has noted that while calculations
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  suggest a good chance it'll happen, it
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  depends on factors like the planet's
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  exact masses, gravitational
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  interactions, and whether there's an
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  unseen outer planet tugging on the
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  system. But the bigger issue is
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  observation time. Major telescopes and
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  space missions have tightly scheduled
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  cues. And without pre-allocated slots,
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  astronomers likely won't get the
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  continuous coverage needed to watch the
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  transits unfold live. As Herano put it,
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  I hope to observe, but I am not sure
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  that I can get an observing time with an
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  appropriate telescope for the whole
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  event. Real time data would be gold. It
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  could reveal transit timing variations
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  showing how the planets gravitationally
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  influence each other or even hint at
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  additional unseen worlds.
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  Scientifically, these rare double
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  transits are huge for understanding
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  multilanet systems, refining orbits,
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  measuring masses more precisely, and
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  probing dynamics similar to how Jupiter
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  and Saturn interact here. But since the
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  host star is faint and far away, it's
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  strictly professional telescope
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  territory. no naked eye or amateur
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  viewing possible.
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  >> So, while it's an exciting milestone for
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  exoplanet science, it's a reminder of
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  how telescope time is one of the most
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  precious resources in astronomy. We'll
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  have to wait for the data analysis
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  afterward to learn what happened. In the
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  meantime, there are plenty of visible
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  solar system alignments to enjoy
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  throughout 2026, like that tight trio of
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  Mercury, Mars, and Saturn on April 20th
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  in the morning sky, or the brighter
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  conjunctions with Venus and Jupiter
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  later in the year.
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  >> Definitely keep an eye on those for some
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  great naked eye or binocular views. The
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  universe has events for every level of
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  observer. Finally, a touch of nostalgia.
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  NASA's preparing to demolish three
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  historic test facilities at Marshall
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  Space Flight Center in Alabama.
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  >> These are real icons. The neutral
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  buoyancy simulator, a massive pool from
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  the 1960s for weightless training used
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  for Hubble repairs and shuttle hardware.
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  The propulsion and structural test
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  facility or Tower from 1957 tested
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  Redstone, Saturn, and shuttle boosters.
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  and the dynamic test facility, tallest
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  in North Alabama when built in 1964,
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  shook Saturn 5 and shuttle elements.
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  >> All national landmarks since 1985, key
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  to Apollo, Skyab, and shuttle, but
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  they're inactive, unsafe, and costly to
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  maintain. Demolition starts with
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  implosions possibly as soon as January
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  10th, part of clearing 25 old structures
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  to modernize for Aremis. Bittersweet,
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  but NASA's preserving the legacy.
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  High-res digital models, artifacts to
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  museums, virtual tours. End of an era,
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  making way for the next.
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  >> Yeah, progress often means saying
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  goodbye to the past.
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  >> What a thoughtful mix today. Quiet
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  oceans, upcoming moonshots, dusty early
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  galaxies, Martian vistas, sky events,
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  and honoring history.
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  >> The cosmos and our exploration of it
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  always evolving. Thanks for spending
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  your time with us on Astronomy Daily.
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  >> We love bringing these stories to you.
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  Subscribe if you haven't. Share with a
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  friend and we'll be back tomorrow.
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  >> Until then, keep wondering and looking
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  up.
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  >> Clear skies, everyone. Astronomy
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  [music and singing] day.
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  The stories been told.
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  Stories [music] told.
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  [music]