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<v Speaker 1>Hello, and welcome back to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Avery.

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<v Speaker 2>It's Friday, February the twentieth, twenty twenty six, and our

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<v Speaker 2>producer has absolutely loaded us up. Today. We've got eight

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<v Speaker 2>stories to get through.

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<v Speaker 1>Eight, that's right, and honestly, they're all worth it. We've

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<v Speaker 1>got huge breaking news from the Kennedy Space Center about

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<v Speaker 1>Artemis two, a genuinely damning report that NASA itself has

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<v Speaker 1>described as we failed them, some absolutely mind bending deep

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<v Speaker 1>space discoveries. And yes, we are going to briefly talk

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<v Speaker 1>about UFOs.

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<v Speaker 2>We absolutely are, just briefly and responsibly.

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<v Speaker 1>Responsibly that is the word. Right, let's dive in. There

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<v Speaker 1>is a lot of ground to cover.

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<v Speaker 2>I think this might be the biggest episode we've ever done,

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<v Speaker 2>but there's plenty to cover today.

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<v Speaker 1>We are going to start with the biggest space story

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<v Speaker 1>of the week, and it's one that broke overnight. DASA

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<v Speaker 1>has just completed its second wet dress rehearsal of the

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<v Speaker 1>Artemis two Space launch System rocket, and from everything we're hearing,

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<v Speaker 1>it went well.

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<v Speaker 2>Really well. Actually, teams ran the SLS through a full countdown,

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<v Speaker 2>fueling the rocket with its super cold liquid hydrogen and

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<v Speaker 2>liquid oxygen, simulating launch day procedures right down to closing

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<v Speaker 2>the orion crue caudal hatch, and they got all the

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<v Speaker 2>way to T minus twenty nine seconds before wrapping up.

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<v Speaker 2>That is exactly where they wanted to stop.

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<v Speaker 1>And this matters enormously because the first wet dress rehearsal

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<v Speaker 1>back on February second and third had to be called

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<v Speaker 1>off early due to hydrogen fuel leaks at launch Pad

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<v Speaker 1>thirty nine B. That was a setback. NASA had to

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<v Speaker 1>go in and replace seals and there was very real

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<v Speaker 1>uncertainty about whether they'd solve the problem.

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<v Speaker 2>And it looks like they have. NASA is holding a

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<v Speaker 2>media briefing this morning eleven am Eastern, and we'll be

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<v Speaker 2>watching that closely, but the early word is positive.

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<v Speaker 1>So for anyone who needs refresher on what this mission

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<v Speaker 1>actually is, Artemis two is the first crude flight of

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<v Speaker 1>the Artemis program. It's not a moon landing that comes

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<v Speaker 1>later with Artemis three, but it is the first time

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<v Speaker 1>humans will travel to lunar distance since Apollo seventeen in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy two. We are talking more than fifty years

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<v Speaker 1>and the.

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<v Speaker 2>Crew is Commander Read Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist

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<v Speaker 2>Christina cock All NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from

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<v Speaker 2>the Canadian Space Agency. They're going to fly around the

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<v Speaker 2>Moon in a free return trajectory and come home ten days.

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<v Speaker 2>No landing, but an absolutely historic journey.

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<v Speaker 1>And if this morning's press conference gives the all clear,

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<v Speaker 1>the launch window we're looking at is as early as

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<v Speaker 1>March sixth, That is just two weeks away. Avery, What

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<v Speaker 1>does that feel like to you?

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<v Speaker 2>Honestly, it feels surreal. We've been living in the Artemis

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<v Speaker 2>era for years now. Artemis ie flew in twenty twenty two,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's been a long road to get here. But

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<v Speaker 2>two weeks from now there could be four astronauts on

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<v Speaker 2>their way to the Moon.

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<v Speaker 1>We will have full coverage as things develop, and if

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<v Speaker 1>that briefing produces any surprises, we'll update you in tomorrow's episode.

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<v Speaker 1>For now, though, looking very good for Artemis three now.

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<v Speaker 2>While NASA is very much in celebratory mode for this morning,

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<v Speaker 2>yesterday they were facing a very different kind of news day.

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<v Speaker 2>An independent review board release its full report into the

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<v Speaker 2>Boeing Starliner crude flight test, and it is a damning document.

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<v Speaker 1>Damning is the word. The report formally classifies the Starliner

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<v Speaker 1>mission as a quote type A mishap, the most serious

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<v Speaker 1>category in NASA's safety framework. That means it was an

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<v Speaker 1>event that could have resulted in death or permanent disability.

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<v Speaker 1>And NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stood up in front of

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<v Speaker 1>the cameras yesterday and said, and I'm paraphrasing here, we

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<v Speaker 1>almost did have a really terrible day.

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<v Speaker 2>We failed them, them being astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams,

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<v Speaker 2>who launched in June twenty twenty four expecting to be

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<v Speaker 2>gone for eight to ten days and ended up spending

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<v Speaker 2>two hundred and eighty six days in orbit.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, So let's just remind listeners how we got here.

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<v Speaker 1>Boeing won a four point two billion dollar contract from

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<v Speaker 1>NASA back in twenty fourteen to build the Starliner as

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<v Speaker 1>a second commercial crew vehicle alongside SpaceX's Crew Dragon. Starliner

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<v Speaker 1>ran into problems on its very first uncrewed test flight

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<v Speaker 1>in twenty nineteen, needed a second unpiloted flight before it

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<v Speaker 1>was deemed ready, and Butch and Sunny finally launched in

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<v Speaker 1>June of last year.

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<v Speaker 2>The trip up went ok. They docked successfully with the

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<v Speaker 2>International Space Station, but during the rendezvous approach, the capsule

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<v Speaker 2>experienced multiple helium leagues in the propulsion system and several

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<v Speaker 2>of the maneuvering prusters failed. There was a moment where

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<v Speaker 2>they temporarily lost with a report calls six degrees of

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<v Speaker 2>freedom control. Had things gone differently in those minutes, had

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<v Speaker 2>the thrusters not recovered, docking might not have been possible.

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<v Speaker 1>And what's really chilling about reading the report is discovering

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<v Speaker 1>just how many warning signs were there. The investigation found

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<v Speaker 1>that NASA and Boeing were aware of concerns that weren't

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<v Speaker 1>fully understood, but were considered acceptable for flight anyway. There

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<v Speaker 1>was pressure, institutional pressure to make this mission succeed because

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<v Speaker 1>the entire commercial crew program's credibility depended on having two

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<v Speaker 1>viable crew vehicles.

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<v Speaker 2>The report quotes unnamed massive personnel saying things like there

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<v Speaker 2>was yelling in meetings, it was emotionally charged and unproductive,

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<v Speaker 2>and if you weren't aligned with the desired outcome, your

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<v Speaker 2>input was filtered out or dismissed. One person said they

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<v Speaker 2>stopped speaking up entirely because they knew they'd be dismissed.

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<v Speaker 1>That is a profoundly troubling portrait of an organization under pressure,

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<v Speaker 1>and what makes it worse is this, One NASA worker

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<v Speaker 1>told the investigation panel roughly eleven months after the mission,

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<v Speaker 1>nobody within NASA or outside of NASA has been held accountable.

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<v Speaker 2>Nobody Administrator Isaacman addressed that head on. He said there

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<v Speaker 2>will be accountability. He said, the report reveals that advocacy

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<v Speaker 2>for the missions success quote exceeded reasonable bounds and placed

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<v Speaker 2>the mission, the crew, and America Space program at risk.

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<v Speaker 2>He also made clear that NASA will not fly another

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<v Speaker 2>crew on Starliner until the technical causes are understood, the

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<v Speaker 2>propulsion system is fully qualified, and all sixty one recommendations

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<v Speaker 2>from this report are implemented.

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<v Speaker 1>Sixty one recommendations spanning technical, organizational, and cultural domains. Boeing,

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<v Speaker 1>for its part, said they've made substantial progress and driven

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<v Speaker 1>significant cultural changes.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll see. It's worth noting, Butch and Sony are safe.

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<v Speaker 2>They got home in a SpaceX crew drag in early

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty five and have since retired from NASA. But

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<v Speaker 2>this report is a stark reminder of just how close

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<v Speaker 2>things came to going very wrong, and how important is

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<v Speaker 2>that the lessons are actually learned.

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<v Speaker 1>One more thing before we move on. Isaacman confirmed the

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<v Speaker 1>eventual cost of Starliner's woes exceeded the two million dollar

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<v Speaker 1>type A mishap threshold by quote one hundredfold, So not

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<v Speaker 1>just a safety crisis, an enormous financial one too.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, we promised you this, and here it is.

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<v Speaker 2>President Trump has been making noise again about UAPs, unidentified

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<v Speaker 2>aerial phenomena, and the possibility of releasing classified government files,

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<v Speaker 2>including apparently what's actually going on at Area fifty one.

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<v Speaker 1>And look, the serious astronomy community broadly keeps its distance

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<v Speaker 1>from this territory for good reasons. We're not going to

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<v Speaker 1>go deep on it today because there is genuinely not

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<v Speaker 1>much new substance to report yet, its hints and statements

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<v Speaker 1>rather than actual declassification.

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<v Speaker 2>But and this is an honest butt, if genuine classified

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<v Speaker 2>data about UAP encounters were actually released in a verifiable,

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<v Speaker 2>scientifically usable form, that would be worth serious examination. The

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<v Speaker 2>scientific community has actually been pushing for more transparency in

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<v Speaker 2>this area for years. The issue has never been whether

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<v Speaker 2>UFOs are real as a phenomenon. There are clearly things

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<v Speaker 2>being observed that pilots and sensors can't immediately explain. The

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<v Speaker 2>question is what they actually are.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, And the history of these big reveals is, shall

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<v Speaker 1>we say, not encouraging. You get a lot of heavily

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<v Speaker 1>redacted documents, a lot of blurry footage, and then not much.

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<v Speaker 2>Area fifty one, though that is a name. If files

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<v Speaker 2>about what's actually been going on out there, and then

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<v Speaker 2>Nevada Desert come out, even if it's all just experimental aircraft,

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<v Speaker 2>that's going to be a fascinating day. Regardless.

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<v Speaker 1>We will watch this space pun an tended. If something

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<v Speaker 1>genuinely newsworthy emerges from the UAP file story, we will

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<v Speaker 1>cover it properly. For now, back to the actual cosmos.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, this is one of those stories that really makes

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<v Speaker 2>you stop and think about how strange the universe is.

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<v Speaker 2>NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has identified what may be the

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<v Speaker 2>most heavily dark matter dominated galaxy ever discovered.

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<v Speaker 1>The object is called CDG two and CDG stands for

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<v Speaker 1>circumgalactic diffuse galaxy, which is already a fascinating description. It's

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<v Speaker 1>an extraordinarily faint, low surface brightness galaxy that's basically invisible

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<v Speaker 1>when you look at it. There are only a sparse

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<v Speaker 1>scattering of faint stars, but according to the measurements, the

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<v Speaker 1>vast majority of its total mass is dark matter.

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<v Speaker 2>We should take a moment here to explain what dark

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<v Speaker 2>matter actually is for anyone who's new to the show.

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<v Speaker 2>Dark matter is the name we give to whatever makes

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<v Speaker 2>up most of the mass of the universe that we

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<v Speaker 2>can't see, can't di tech directly, and don't fully understand.

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<v Speaker 2>We know it exists because of its gravitational effects, the

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<v Speaker 2>way galaxies rotate, the way light bends around galaxy clusters,

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<v Speaker 2>but beyond that, it remains one of the great unsolved

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<v Speaker 2>problems in physics.

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<v Speaker 1>And CDG two is interesting because it seems to be

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<v Speaker 1>almost entirely dark matter. The few stars it contains are

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<v Speaker 1>almost an afterthought. It's like finding a house that's built

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<v Speaker 1>almost entirely of invisible walls. You could only see the wallpaper.

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<v Speaker 2>What makes this particularly significant is that we've long theorized

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<v Speaker 2>that galaxies like this should exist. In the standard model

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<v Speaker 2>of cosmology, dark matter forms the scaffolding that ordinary matter

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<v Speaker 2>gas stars planets falls into and clumps around, but most

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<v Speaker 2>galaxies have converted a good portion of that gas into

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<v Speaker 2>stars by now. CDG two seems to have barely bothered.

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<v Speaker 1>The question is why why did so little star formation

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<v Speaker 1>occur here? Was it stripped of its gas by interactions

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<v Speaker 1>with neighboring galaxies? Is it in an unusually isolated environment.

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<v Speaker 1>Those are the questions that will keep astronomers busy for

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<v Speaker 1>a while, but as a window into dark matter's dominant

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<v Speaker 1>role in shaping the cosmos, this.

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<v Speaker 2>One is remarkable. Aimen to that.

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<v Speaker 1>From one galaxy mystery to another, astronomers have spotted a

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<v Speaker 1>candidate jellyfish galaxy, one of the most visually striking types

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<v Speaker 1>of galaxies we know of, dating back to just five

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<v Speaker 1>billion years after the Big Bang. And the reason this

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<v Speaker 1>is extraordinary is because theory said this shouldn't be possible.

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<v Speaker 2>Let me explain what a jellyfish galaxy is for anyone

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<v Speaker 2>picturing an actual jellyfish floating through space, which honestly is

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<v Speaker 2>not a bad mental image. A jellyfish galaxy gets its

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<v Speaker 2>name from the long streamers of gas and young stars

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<v Speaker 2>that trail behind it like tentacles. They form through a

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<v Speaker 2>process called ram pressure stripping.

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<v Speaker 1>Ram pressure stripping is a essentially what happens when a

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<v Speaker 1>galaxy moves through the hot diffuse gas that fills galaxy

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<v Speaker 1>clusters what astronomers call the inter cluster medium. The galaxy

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<v Speaker 1>is moving so fast through this medium that it gets

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<v Speaker 1>the cosmic equivalent of a blast of wind from the front,

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<v Speaker 1>and the gas in its outer regions gets blown backwards,

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<v Speaker 1>forming those trailing streams.

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<v Speaker 2>Now. The reason this discovery is so significant is that

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<v Speaker 2>ram pressure stripping was thought to require a dense enough

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<v Speaker 2>cluster environment to operate, and in the early universe, five

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<v Speaker 2>billion years after the Big Bang, clusters weren't expected to

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<v Speaker 2>be dense enough. Yet the universe was younger, less evolved,

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<v Speaker 2>clusters were less mature.

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<v Speaker 1>And yet here we have what looks like a fully

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<v Speaker 1>formed jellyfish galaxy from that early era. It challenges our

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<v Speaker 1>timeline of how galaxy clusters developed and how ram pressure

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<v Speaker 1>stripping operated in the young universe.

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<v Speaker 2>There's also a bonus mystery here. The discovery may shed

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<v Speaker 2>light on the so called red nugget galaxies compact red

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<v Speaker 2>massive galaxies from the early Universe that have puzzled astronomers

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<v Speaker 2>for years. The theory is that ram pressure stripping in

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<v Speaker 2>jellyfish galaxies could be one of the mechanisms that transform

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<v Speaker 2>normal star forming galaxies into those quiescent red nuggets. If confirmed,

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<v Speaker 2>this single galaxy could be a crucial missing link in

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<v Speaker 2>understanding how galaxies evolve.

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<v Speaker 1>It does still need to be confirmed. It's officially a

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<v Speaker 1>candidate at this stage, but the evidence looks strong. And

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<v Speaker 1>this is exactly the kind of thing that makes deep

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<v Speaker 1>sky astronomy so endlessly fascinating.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, here's a story that's a little different in flavor.

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<v Speaker 2>It's part wow, cool science, part should we be thinking

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<v Speaker 2>about this more carefully? Yes.

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<v Speaker 1>For the first time ever, scientists have observed a cloud

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<v Speaker 1>of air pollution forming in near real time as a

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<v Speaker 1>SpaceX rocket burned up during re entry into Earth's atmosphere.

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<v Speaker 1>And I want to be clear about what we mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I burned up here. This isn't a failed mission. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the normal end of life process for a rocket

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<v Speaker 1>stage where it re enters the atmosphere and disintegrates through

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<v Speaker 1>the heat of reentry.

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<v Speaker 2>So these things happen routinely, And what sciences have now

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<v Speaker 2>been able to do using atmospheric monitoring instruments is actually

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<v Speaker 2>watch in something close to real time the chemical cloud

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<v Speaker 2>that forms as the rocket material vaporizes, metals, aluminum oxide, particles,

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<v Speaker 2>various combustion products, all of it lighting up in the instruments.

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<v Speaker 1>And this matters because we're launching things at an ever

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<v Speaker 1>increasing rate. SpaceX alone is launching dozens of missions per year.

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<v Speaker 1>If every re entry deposits a cloud of metallic particles

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<v Speaker 1>and other pollutants into the upper atmosphere, and we're doing

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<v Speaker 1>this hundreds of times a year, what does that add

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<v Speaker 1>up to over a decade.

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<v Speaker 2>The honest answer right now is we don't fully know.

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<v Speaker 2>This is genuinely new science. Researchers have been raising concerns

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<v Speaker 2>about the potential impact of rocket exhaust and re entry

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<v Speaker 2>pollution in the stratosphere for a few years now, but

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<v Speaker 2>being able to observe it in real time to actually

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<v Speaker 2>characterize what's happening, is a significant step towards understanding the

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<v Speaker 2>cumulative effect.

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<v Speaker 1>It's one of those stories where the science itself is fascinating,

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<v Speaker 1>but the implications quietly deserve more attention than they're getting.

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<v Speaker 1>The space economy is booming. That's wonderful in many ways,

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<v Speaker 1>but what are the environmental costs of a high cadence

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<v Speaker 1>launch industry is a question that needs answering, and researchers

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<v Speaker 1>are now developing the tools to start answering.

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<v Speaker 2>It something to watch, and full credit to the scientists

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<v Speaker 2>making these observations pioneering work.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we come to a story that, and I say

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<v Speaker 1>this with genuine enthusiasm, is about as mind bending as

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<v Speaker 1>astronomy gets. Researchers may have confirmed the very first true

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<v Speaker 1>dark galaxy. Not just a galaxy dominated by dark matter

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<v Speaker 1>like CDG two we discussed Earth, but a galaxy made

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<v Speaker 1>almost entirely of dark matter with effectively no stars at all.

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<v Speaker 2>A dark galaxy, in theory, is a region of space

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<v Speaker 2>where dark matter has clumped together in sufficient quantity to

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<v Speaker 2>form a gravitationally bound structure, essentially a galaxy shaped thing,

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<v Speaker 2>but where ordinary matter has never clumped enough to form

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<v Speaker 2>stars or has been stripped away entirely. We've theorized they

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<v Speaker 2>should exist for decades, and now we may finally have one.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to sit with that for a second. A

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<v Speaker 1>galaxy a structure that has all the gravitational signatures of

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<v Speaker 1>a galaxy with no stars in it. You literally cannot

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<v Speaker 1>see it with any optical telescope. It's detectable only by

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<v Speaker 1>its gravitational effects on nearby visible matter.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like detecting a ghost by watching how other people

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<v Speaker 2>react to the room it's standing in.

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<v Speaker 1>That is exactly the right analogy. Actually, the way astronomers

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<v Speaker 1>identify these objects is by looking at how their gravity

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<v Speaker 1>warps the light and motion of surrounding galaxies, and when

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<v Speaker 1>they do the maths on the candidate identified in this

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<v Speaker 1>new research, the numbers point to a massive dark matter

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<v Speaker 1>structure with essentially no luminous component.

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<v Speaker 2>If confirmed, this would be a genuinely landmark moment in cosmology.

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<v Speaker 2>We've known for decades that dark matter vastly outweighs ordinary

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<v Speaker 2>matter in the universe, roughly five to one, but actually

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<v Speaker 2>finding a structure that is purely dark matter with no

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<v Speaker 2>ordinary matter hitch hiking along inside it would be extraordinary

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<v Speaker 2>observational proof of how dark matter can organize itself independently.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers are being appropriately cautious. This requires further confirmation

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<v Speaker 1>and independent verification, but the evidence is compelling. We'll keep

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<v Speaker 1>you posted as this one develops, and.

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<v Speaker 2>We close today with something a little different in mood,

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<v Speaker 2>something poetic actually, comments.

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<v Speaker 1>C Slash two zero two four e one, known as

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<v Speaker 1>comet wear Kosh after its discoverer, as we mentioned earlier

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<v Speaker 1>in the week, is making its closest approach to Earth today.

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, as you listen to this, the comet is

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<v Speaker 1>passing at roughly the same distance from Us as the Sun,

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<v Speaker 1>about one astronomical unit, and it's putting on a genuinely

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful display for those with telescopes or binoculars in the

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<v Speaker 1>right conditions.

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<v Speaker 2>There are images out already, a gorgeous thirty minute exposure

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<v Speaker 2>taken last week from Chile showing a five degree long

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<v Speaker 2>ion tail that's ten times the width of the full

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<v Speaker 2>Moon in the sky, plus three shorter dust tails. The

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<v Speaker 2>coma of the comet glows green from the breakdown of

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<v Speaker 2>dicarbon molecules by sunlight.

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<v Speaker 1>But here's what makes this one special and why we

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to close the show with it. Commetware Coche is

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<v Speaker 1>on a hyperbolic.

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<v Speaker 2>Orbit, which means it is not coming back.

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<v Speaker 1>It is not coming back. This comment has traveled from

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<v Speaker 1>the outermost reaches of the Solar System. It's wung around

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<v Speaker 1>the Sun, passed close by our little blue dot, and

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<v Speaker 1>when it leaves, it will leave forever. Its orbit carries

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<v Speaker 1>it out of the Solar System entirely into interstellar space.

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<v Speaker 1>It will become a wanderer between the stars.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, we had THREEI dot atls this season, the

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<v Speaker 2>interstellar object that came into our solar system from somewhere

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<v Speaker 2>else entirely, that was a visitor from interstellar space commetware

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<v Speaker 2>Koch is going the other direction. It's leaving.

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<v Speaker 1>We're waving goodbye to a comment that no human will

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<v Speaker 1>ever see again. And I find that genuinely moving. So

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<v Speaker 1>if you have clear skies tonight or this weekend, and

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<v Speaker 1>you can get to a dark spot with a pair

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<v Speaker 1>of binoculars, it is worth trying to find it. Check

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<v Speaker 1>the Astronomy apps for its exact position. It is bright

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<v Speaker 1>enough to see last chance, a cosmic farewell. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>a wrap on a genuinely packed episode of Astronomy Daily.

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<v Speaker 1>Eight stories, breaking news, accountability, journalism, mind bending, deep space science,

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<v Speaker 1>and a cosmic goodbody.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much for spending part of your Friday

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<v Speaker 2>with us. If you enjoy today's show, please do leave

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<v Speaker 2>a review wherever you listen. It makes a huge difference

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<v Speaker 2>in helping new listeners find us.

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<v Speaker 1>You can find us at Astronomy Daily dot io for

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<v Speaker 1>the blog and show notes, and we're at astro Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Pod across all the social platforms we'll see you again tomorrow,

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<v Speaker 1>and if Artemis two gets a launch date confirmed today,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll make sure that's front and center.

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<v Speaker 2>Until then, keep looking up clear skies.

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<v Speaker 3>Everyone say, star is the tall, Star is the tall

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<v Speaker 2>Story is the