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Satellite Down, Meteorite Strike, ISS Saved & More · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.
• 0:02
  I'm Anna.
• 0:03
  >> And I'm Avery. You've joined us on a
• 0:05
  very eventful day for space fans,
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  Tuesday the 10th of March, 2026. And the
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  universe is not holding back.
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  >> We genuinely mean that. We have a
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  satellite falling out of the sky today.
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  A meteorite that crashed through
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  someone's roof over the weekend.
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  Congress picking a fight with the space
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  station's retirement plan. The biggest
• 0:26
  image ever taken of our galaxy's core. a
• 0:28
  map of the universe from 10 billion
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  years ago and Jupiter doing something a
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  bit strange tonight.
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  >> So, strap in. This is Astronomy Daily
• 0:38
  Season 5, episode 59, and we are not
• 0:41
  slowing down.
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  >> Let's kick things off with breaking news
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  that literally cannot wait because it's
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  happening today. NASA's Van Allen probe
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  A is expected to fall back to Earth
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  tonight.
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  >> Right. This is genuinely happening as
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  our listeners are tuning in. The
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  spacecraft, which weighs about 600 kg,
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  roughly the same size as a small car,
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  launched back in August 2012 and has
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  been silently orbiting Earth ever since
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  it was switched off in October 2019.
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  >> And the US Space Force has been tracking
• 1:12
  it closely. As of yesterday afternoon,
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  they were predicting re-entry at around
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  7:45 in the evening, Eastern time,
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  though there's a plus or minus 24-hour
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  window on that, though it could happen
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  anytime today or tonight.
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  >> Now, before anyone panics, the risk to
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  people on the ground is very low. NASA
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  says the odds of anyone being harmed are
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  roughly 1 in 4,200.
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  Most of the spacecraft will burn up
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  during re-entry, and any surviving
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  fragments are likely to land in the
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  ocean, which covers about 70% of the
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  Earth's surface.
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  >> So, this satellite was originally
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  designed for just a 2-year mission,
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  studying Earth's Van Allen radiation
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  belts, those invisible zones of charged
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  particles trapped by our planet's
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  magnetic field. But the mission ended up
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  running for nearly 7 years before the
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  probes ran out of fuel.
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  >> And here's the interesting twist. Probe
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  A was actually expected to stay up in
• 2:08
  orbit until 2034. So what happened?
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  Solar activity. The sun has been
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  unusually energetic in recent years, and
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  that's caused Earth's upper atmosphere
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  to expand slightly. More atmosphere
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  means more drag on satellites, and probe
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  A got pulled down faster than predicted.
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  >> The twin Van Allen probe B is still up
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  there and isn't expected to come down
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  before 2030. So we'll be going through
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  this again in a few years. The data from
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  these spacecraft is still being used
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  today, helping scientists understand
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  space weather, predict solar storms, and
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  protect everything from GPS satellites
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  to power grids. A proper little
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  scientific workhorse.
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  >> And now it's coming home. Keep an eye on
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  the sky tonight.
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  >> And while we're in the theme of things
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  falling from space, let's talk about
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  this incredible story from Sunday
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  evening.
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  >> Yes. So, at around 10 to 7 in the
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  evening, local time on Sunday, the 8th
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  of March, 2026, thousands of people in
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  Western Europe looked up and saw an
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  absolutely breathtaking fireball
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  lighting up the sky. We're talking
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  Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg,
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  the Netherlands, all these countries
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  with people outside going, "What on
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  earth is that?" The fireball lasted
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  about 6 seconds, leaving a glowing trail
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  across the sky before breaking apart.
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  People heard multiple loud booms. That's
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  the sonic boom from the space rock
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  disintegrating in the atmosphere. The
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  International Meteor Organization
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  received over 3,000 reports of
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  sightings. And here's the remarkable
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  bit. Some of it survived. Fragments of
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  the meteorite, which is what we call it
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  once it hits the ground, came down in
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  the Rhineland Palatinate region of
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  western Germany. and one fragment
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  punched straight through the roof of a
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  house in the city of Cooblins.
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  >> The largest piece left a hole the size
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  of a football in the roof and landed in
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  an unoccupied bedroom. Nobody was hurt
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  thankfully, though the homeowner now has
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  a very unusual home insurance claim to
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  make.
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  >> Fragments have already been recovered
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  from the area, the Cobbins district of
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  Gouls in particular, which will allow
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  researchers to analyze where this rock
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  came from and what it's made of. NSA's
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  planetary defense team has been working
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  to estimate the size of the original
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  object and they believe it was just a
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  few meters across. What's wonderful
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  about this event is how many cameras
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  captured it. There's a network called
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  All Sky 7. Dedicated fireball watching
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  cameras run by private citizens across
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  Europe that caught it beautifully. And
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  of course, dozens of mobile phone videos
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  went viral on social media almost
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  immediately. Meteorite impacts in
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  populated areas are rare but not unheard
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  of. Germany actually had one in 2002
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  near the No Schwanstein Castle and
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  another in 2023 in Schllesvvic Holstein.
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  But this is one of the most
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  welldocumented falls in recent European
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  history. Quite the Sunday evening.
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  >> All right, let's shift from falling
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  things to things we want to keep up. Big
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  space policy news this week. Congress is
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  making moves to extend the life of the
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  International Space Station.
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  >> The NASA Authorization Act of 2026
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  passed through the Senate Commerce,
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  Science, and Transportation Committee
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  last week with bipartisan support, which
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  is always good to hear. And one of its
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  biggest changes is pushing back the
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  retirement of the ISS from 2030 to
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  September 2032.
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  >> So, the ISS has been continuously
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  occupied since November 2000. That's
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  over 25 years of humans living in space.
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  It was originally set to be
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  decommissioned and deliberately
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  deorbited in 2030. The plan was to crash
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  it into a remote part of the Pacific
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  Ocean in a controlled re-entry.
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  >> But Congress is saying not so fast. The
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  concern is that commercial space
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  stations, which are supposed to replace
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  the ISS in low Earth orbit, just aren't
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  going to be ready in time. Companies
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  like Blue Origin, BAST, and Axiom Space
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  are all working on successor stations,
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  but timelines have slipped.
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  >> And there's also a geopolitical
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  dimension to this. China's Tandong space
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  station is fully operational and will
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  keep running well into the 2030s. The
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  bill specifically uses the language of
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  avoiding a gap in continuous human
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  presence in low Earth orbit and
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  explicitly mentions not wanting to see
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  leadership to China. The bill also does
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  something very significant on the
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  funding side. It rejects proposed cuts
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  to NASA's budget and instead allocates
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  substantial funding for fiscal year 2026
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  and 2027. Programs like the Chandra
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  X-ray Observatory are saved under this
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  bill. There is a caveat here though.
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  This bill has passed committee but still
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  needs a full Senate vote and then the
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  House of Representatives and then a
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  presidential signature. So, it's not law
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  yet,
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  >> but it sends a very clear signal about
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  where Congress stands on the future of
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  American human space flight. The ISS
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  isn't going anywhere just yet.
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  >> Now, let's move from policy to pure
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  science, and this next one is genuinely
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  jaw-dropping.
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  >> Astronomers have just released the
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  largest image ever produced by the ALMA
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  telescope, and it's a portrait of the
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  heart of our own Milky Way galaxy. ALMA
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  stands for Atagama Large Millimeter
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  Submillime Array. It's a telescope
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  complex in the high altitude desert of
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  Chile and it detects radio waves rather
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  than visible light which means it can
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  see through all the dust and gas that
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  hides the galactic center from optical
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  telescopes. The new image comes from a
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  survey called ACES the ALMA CMZ
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  Exploration Survey and it maps a region
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  called the central molecular zone.
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  That's the area surrounding the super
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  massive black hole at the heart of our
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  galaxy, Sagittarius, a star, stretching
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  across 650 light years.
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  >> To put that in perspective, the finished
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  mosaic spans an area equivalent to three
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  full moons placed side by side in the
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  sky. It was assembled from hundreds of
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  individual observations stitched
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  together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
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  >> And what it reveals is extraordinary.
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  The central molecular zone is filled
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  with this intricate web of filaments.
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  Long, thin threads of cold molecular gas
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  snaking through the region feeding into
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  dense clumps where new stars are being
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  born. It looks almost like a web or a
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  circulatory system. The survey also
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  mapped the chemistry of the region in
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  incredible detail, detecting dozens of
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  molecules from relatively simple
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  compounds like silicon monoxide all the
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  way to complex organic molecules like
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  methanol, acetone, and even ethanol.
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  There's a cocktail of chemistry going on
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  near the center of our galaxy.
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  >> The team involved was enormous. over 160
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  scientists from more than 70
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  institutions around the world. And they
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  say this is just the beginning. An
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  upcoming upgrade to ALMA, plus the
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  eventual arrival of ESO's extremely
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  large telescope, will let them push even
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  deeper into this region.
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  >> One researcher put it beautifully. It's
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  a place of extremes, invisible to our
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  eyes, but now revealed in extraordinary
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  detail. We'll have a link to the image
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  in the show notes. It really is
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  something to look at.
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  >> From the heart of our galaxy to the dawn
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  of time, our next story is about a brand
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  new map of the early universe.
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  >> Researchers have published the largest
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  and most detailed 3D map yet of light
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  from the universe's early history.
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  Specifically, the period between 9 and
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  11 billion years ago. That's a time
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  astronomers call cosmic noon when the
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  universe was producing stars at the
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  fastest rate in its entire history.
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  >> The map was created using data from the
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  Hobby Ely telescope dark energy
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  experiment PET decks which operates from
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  McDonald Observatory in Texas and the
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  technique used is really clever.
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  >> Most cosmic maps focus on individual
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  bright galaxies. They're essentially
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  dotto-dot maps of the universe. But this
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  team used a technique called line
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  intensity mapping, which instead of
• 10:38
  counting individual galaxies, tracks a
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  specific kind of light called lyman
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  alpha radiation.
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  >> Lyman alpha light is produced when
• 10:46
  hydrogen atoms, the most abundant
• 10:49
  element in the universe, get energized
• 10:51
  by young, hot stars. So, wherever you
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  see that glow, you know there's hydrogen
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  gas and likely star formation happening
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  nearby.
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  >> And by tracking that glow across the sky
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  and through time, the researchers were
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  able to build a 3D picture of not just
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  the bright galaxies, but all the dim
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  faint matter in between them, the cosmic
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  web of gas that connects galaxies
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  together. They called it a sea of light.
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  The data set they used was enormous.
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  Over 600 million spectra collected by
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  Headex. And here is the staggering part.
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  The team only used about 5% of those
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  spectra for their primary research
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  mission. This is the first time anyone
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  has gone back and mined that remaining
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  data to do this kind of mapping.
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  >> What the map lets scientists do is test
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  their computer simulations of the early
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  universe against reality. As one
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  researcher put it, we have simulations
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  of this period, but those are just
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  simulations, not the real universe. Now
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  we have a foundation to check if the
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  physics underpinning those simulations
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  is correct.
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  >> It's like having a map of the world for
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  the first time. You can finally compare
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  what you thought was there with what's
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  actually there.
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  >> And finally, something you can go
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  outside and see for yourself tonight.
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  Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar
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  system, appears to be doing something a
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  bit odd in the sky. If you've been
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  keeping an eye on Jupiter over the past
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  few weeks, you may have noticed it's
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  slowly moving across the stars from
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  night to night, which is normal for
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  planets as they drift against the
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  background of distant stars due to their
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  orbital motion.
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  >> But tonight and over the coming nights,
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  Jupiter appears to change direction.
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  This is what astronomers call retrograde
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  motion. And it's been confusing,
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  delighting, and in ancient times,
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  mystifying people for thousands of
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  years.
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  >> So, what's actually happening? Nothing
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  is actually going backwards. It's all
• 12:51
  about perspective. Earth and Jupiter are
• 12:53
  both orbiting the sun, but Earth's orbit
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  is smaller and faster. As Earth catches
• 12:59
  up to and begins to pass Jupiter on the
• 13:01
  inside track, Jupiter appears to drift
• 13:04
  backwards against a star background,
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  like how a slower car on the motorway
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  seems to move backwards when you
• 13:10
  overtake it.
• 13:11
  >> The change is subtle, and it happens
• 13:13
  gradually over many nights. So, don't
• 13:15
  expect to see it in real time, but if
• 13:17
  you compare Jupiter's position tonight
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  to where it was a few weeks ago, and
• 13:21
  then check again in a few weeks, you'll
• 13:23
  see it. Jupiter is high in the evening
• 13:25
  sky right now and easy to find as one of
• 13:28
  the brightest objects up there.
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  >> And tonight there's also a lovely waning
• 13:32
  gibbus moon in the southern sky sitting
• 13:35
  close to the bright reddish star and
• 13:37
  tries. So there's plenty to look at if
• 13:39
  you step outside after dark. No
• 13:41
  telescope needed for Jupiter though one
• 13:44
  will reveal its four brightest moons,
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  the Galilean moons, which Galileo
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  himself spotted back in 1610. A pair of
• 13:51
  binoculars is perfect. So, go look up.
• 13:55
  >> And that is it for today's episode of
• 13:57
  Astronomy Daily. What a day. Satellites
• 14:00
  falling, meteorites crashing, space
• 14:02
  stations getting a reprieve, galaxy
• 14:05
  portraits, cosmic maps, and a planet
• 14:07
  doing loops. The universe never
• 14:10
  disappoints.
• 14:11
  >> If you enjoyed today's show, please
• 14:13
  subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
• 14:15
  and share us with a friend who loves
• 14:17
  space. Find all our episodes in show
• 14:19
  notes at astronomyaily.io IO and come
• 14:22
  say hello on social media. We're @ Astro
• 14:25
  Daily Pod on X, Instagram, Tik Tok,
• 14:27
  YouTube, and Facebook.
• 14:29
  >> We'll be back tomorrow with more from
• 14:31
  the cosmos. Until then, keep looking up.
• 14:34
  >> Clear skies, everyone. Astronomy day.
• 14:38
  Stories we told.
• 14:46
  Stories told.