Space News Today

Astronomy Daily — S05E141 | Wednesday 15 July 2026 Anna and Avery bring you the biggest space and astronomy news of the day: Starship Flight 13 is cleared for Thursday after the FAA closes its Flight 12 investigation and SpaceX reveals exactly what went wrong; NASA astronaut Anil Menon rides a Soyuz to the ISS on his first flight; astronomers finally find the first of Omega Centauri’s 10,000 "missing" black holes; the first-ever medical X-rays taken in space are published; four white dwarfs are found hiding within 65 light-years of Earth; and a new-moon dark-sky window opens with Comet 10P/Tempel 2 on the rise. In this episode • Starship Flight 13 — FAA closes the Flight 12 mishap investigation (July 13); root causes revealed: hot-staging ignition sequence caused a 90° booster orientation error, five Raptors failed to relight, alarm settings shut engines down early. Launch window opens Thursday July 16, 6:45pm EDT (Friday 8:45am AEST) with the first 20 functional Starlink V3 satellites and an in-space Raptor relight. • Soyuz MS-29 — NASA’s Anil Menon with cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina launched from Baikonur July 14, docking three hours later for an eight-month stay. Menon and wife Anna Menon (Polaris Dawn) become a two-astronaut household; NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended in person. • Omega Centauri’s first stellar-mass black hole — oMEGACat BH-2, found via astrometry in 20+ years of Hubble data plus Webb observations (ApJL, July 13). Lower-than-expected mass; its companion star’s 94-year orbit makes it the longest-period black hole binary known. The cluster is naked-eye visible in southern winter skies right now. • First medical X-rays in space — RSNA publishes results from the Fram2 Crew Dragon mission: crew with 4 hours’ training produced diagnostic-quality X-rays in orbit, opening the door to space radiology and non-destructive hardware testing on Moon and Mars missions. • Four hidden white dwarfs — Warwick/Colorado Boulder team unmasks four white dwarfs within 65 light-years using Hubble near-UV spectroscopy (MNRAS). G 203-47, ~25 light-years away, is now the ninth-closest known white dwarf and closes a 27-year-old wobble mystery. • Skywatch — New Moon (July 14) dark skies, Milky Way core season for the Southern Hemisphere, Comet 10P/Tempel 2 at magnitude 7–8 brightening toward early-August perihelion, and Mars near Aldebaran pre-dawn. Resources & further reading • Starship Flight 13: spacenews.com | space.com Starship live blog • Soyuz MS-29: nasa.gov ISS blog | nasaspaceflight.com • Omega Centauri black hole: science.nasa.gov | esahubble.org (heic2610) | ApJL • Space X-rays: rsna.org/news | space.com • Hidden white dwarfs: warwick.ac.uk | phys.org | MNRAS Visit astronomydaily.io for all episodes and our constantly updating newsfeed. Follow us @AstroDailyPod. Astronomy Daily is part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network.





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SpaceTime Series 29 Episode 84 Japan swoops past a cosmic snowman shaped asteroid Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has just swooped past a tiny asteroid in deep space that’s shaped like a snow man. Revealing the secrets of the ice moon Europa A new study has shown that the Jovian Ice Moon Europa is reflecting radio signals in a strange unexpected way. What happens to Earth when the Sun dies A new study has provided astronomers with a glimpse of the future we’re likely to face when our Sun dies in around seven billion years from now. The Science Report Study’s show early risers have more nutritious diets than people who prefer staying up late. Australia shown to be home to a large chunk of the world's seagrasses, but is losing them rapidly. A new study claims Meta’s AI smart glasses could help people with low or no vision. Data centres found to have a far bigger carbon footprint than previously thought. Alex on Tech: Samsung Galaxy Z fold 8.





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Astronomy Daily — S05E140 | Tuesday 14 July 2026 | Hosts: Anna & Avery Space mirrors are officially cleared for launch — and astronomers are sounding the alarm. In today's episode, Anna and Avery unpack the FCC's approval of Reflect Orbital's Eärendil-1, the first of a proposed constellation of sunlight-reflecting satellites, and what tens of thousands of orbital mirrors could mean for the night sky. Then it's off to the geostationary belt, where astronomers using clever image-stacking — with help from Siding Spring Observatory and the ANU — have revealed a minefield of invisible debris, most of it in no public catalogue. Also on the show: physicists in New York recreate black hole energy extraction on a benchtop, validating a 50-year-old Penrose prediction with 'synthetic rotation'; the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile turns on its axis for the very first time — 3,500 tonnes floating on 80 microns of oil; and University of Sydney's Dr Manisha Caleb and colleagues lay out how the Square Kilometre Array will turn fast radio bursts into a survey tool for the invisible universe. Plus a quick Starship Flight 13 update (now NET Thursday 16 July after a full 33-engine static fire), the story of Avi Loeb's appointment to chair the White House UAP Science Advisory Council, and a skywatch built around tonight's super new Moon. Stories & sources • 01. FCC approves Reflect Orbital Eärendil-1 space mirror — SpaceNews / Space.com / Engadget • 02. Faint debris "minefield" in geosynchronous orbit (DebrisWatch II, Journal of the Astronautical Sciences) — University of Warwick / Phys.org / Space.com • 03. Penrose superradiance via synthetic rotation (Nature) — CUNY ASRC / EurekAlert / Phys.org • 04. ELT completes first full rotation of its 3,500-tonne structure — ESO Picture of the Week / Space.com • 05. Fast radio bursts as cosmological probes with the SKA (Caleb et al.) — Universe Today / arXiv • 06. Starship Flight 13 slips to NET 16 July; full 33-engine static fire complete — Space.com • 07. Avi Loeb appointed chair of White House UAP Science Advisory Council — Space.com / AP coverage Skywatch highlights • Tonight (14 July): super new Moon — darkest skies of the month; Milky Way core overhead for southern observers • Evenings: Venus blazing in the west in Leo; crescent Moon joins Regulus & Venus on 16–17 July • Pre-dawn: Saturn high with rings tilted ~9°; Mars passes 5° north of Aldebaran on 14 July Visit astronomydaily.io for all episodes and the free newsletter. Follow @AstroDailyPod. Astronomy Daily is part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network.





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Astronomy Daily S05E139 — Monday, 13 July 2026 Starship could fly again as soon as Wednesday — carrying its first-ever real payload. Japan quietly joins the reusable rocket club just a day after China. SpaceX asks regulators for a jaw-dropping 100,000 satellites. Physicists may have heard the accumulated whispers of every star that ever exploded. Isar Aerospace signs a $150 million deal to launch from Canada. And a ravenous black hole just 1.8 billion light-years away is giving astronomers — including teams from CSIRO and the University of Sydney — a window into the dawn of time. In this episode • Starship Flight 13: Booster 20's 33-engine static fire complete; launch NET Wednesday (AEST); first deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites; in-space Raptor relight and Indian Ocean splashdown planned. • JAXA's RV-X reusable rocket completes its first hop at Noshiro — about 40 seconds, 10–11 metres up, landing upright — one day after China's Long March 10B sea recovery. • SpaceX files with the FCC for a 100,000-satellite Gen3 constellation in very low Earth orbit, pitched at multi-gigabit AI-era connectivity — and entirely dependent on Starship. • Super-Kamiokande reports the first indication of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background from nearly 5,000 days of data — the accumulated neutrinos of every core-collapse supernova in cosmic history. • Isar Aerospace signs a 10-year deal with Maritime Launch Services for a dedicated complex at Spaceport Nova Scotia — first orbital launches targeted for 2028, up to 40 per year by 2029. • Galaxy SDSS J110546.07+145202.4: a lightweight, ferociously fast-growing black hole behaving like the early universe's titans, shining 20-fold brighter in radio for eight-plus years — with CSIRO's ATCA among the follow-up telescopes. • Skywatching: New Moon Tuesday evening (7:44pm AEST / 9:44pm NZST); prime Milky Way core viewing; Venus brilliant in the west; Mars near Aldebaran pre-dawn; Comet 10P/Tempel 2 favours southern observers. Sources & further reading • Space.com — Starship Flight 13 static fire & launch outlook; Starlink Gen3 filing; Isar/MLS deal; ravenous black hole; supernova neutrino whispers • AP / Japan Times / RTÉ — JAXA RV-X first test flight • Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy press release; Komossa et al., The Astrophysical Journal (2026) • Tohoku University / phys.org — Super-Kamiokande DSNB indication (Neutrino 2026 conference) • CBC / The Globe and Mail / SpaceQ — Isar Aerospace & Maritime Launch Services agreement details • NASA JPL What's Up July 2026; EarthSky; Space.com night sky guide — skywatching





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SpaceTime Series 29 Episode 83 Earth’s oldest known asteroid impact crater dated in Western Australia Scientists have determined the most precise age yet for the oldest known impact crater on Earth finding it to be some 3.024 billion years old. A Chinese spacecraft has just reached Earth’s second moon China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft has arrived at a temporary second moon orbiting Earth -- although technically the object is a small near Earth asteroid which is orbiting in sync with the Earth around the Sun. Sea floor spreading seen in action for the first time Scientists studying a seafloor site southwest of Australia have for the first time actually captured how molten rock emerges at boundaries between the Earth’s tectonic plates. The Science Report A new vaccine with the potential to protect people from developing HIV AIDS. Warnings that losing even a small amount of sleep each night could be linked to weight gain. South Australia’s algal bloom found to be the most toxic species of its kind ever studied. China launches a nuclear capable missile across the Pacific in a clear threat to island nations. Skeptics guide to the Westall High School UFO sighting. Our Guests This Week: Professor Chris Kirkland from Curtin University NASA planetary geologist Cynthia Phillips Professor Dorothy Carter from Michigan State University And our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics 🌏 Get Our Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.bitesz.com/nordvpn (http://www.bitesz.com/nordvpn) . The discounts and bonuses are incredible! And it’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌ If you’d like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content by becoming a SpaceTime crew member, you can do just that through The Big Bang editions on Patreon, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Details on the Support page on our website https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/ (https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/) For more SpaceTime and show links: https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ (https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ) If you love this podcast, please get someone else to listen too. Thank you…


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