🚀 WELCOME TO ASTRONOMY DAILY - Your daily source for the latest space and astronomy news!
In today's episode (S05E21 - January 24, 2026), hosts Anna and Avery bring you six incredible space stories:
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
01:15 Rocket Lab's Neutron milestone and tank test setback
06:42 NASA selects 34 global volunteers to track Artemis II
12:18 Ancient lunar impact warped the Moon from inside out
17:35 Space Beyond offers affordable ashes-to-space memorial service
22:10 Massive exomoon may redefine what a moon is
27:45 11th-century monk predates Halley's comet discovery
🌟 TODAY'S STORIES:
🚀 ROCKET LAB'S NEUTRON REACHES MILESTONE
Rocket Lab's innovative "Hungry Hippo" reusable fairings arrive at Wallops Island, Virginia after month-long sea journey from New Zealand. These unique clamshell fairings stay attached to the first stage during landing, revolutionizing payload fairing reusability. However, the program experienced a setback when a first-stage carbon composite tank ruptured during hydrostatic pressure testing in Maryland.
🌕 ARTEMIS II GLOBAL TRACKING NETWORK
NASA announces 34 volunteers from 14 countries will track Orion spacecraft during its journey around the Moon. The participants include government agencies like Canadian Space Agency and German DLR, commercial companies like Goonhilly Earth Station and Intuitive Machines, universities including UC Berkeley and University of Pittsburgh, plus amateur radio operators worldwide using 47 ground assets.
🌑 ANCIENT IMPACT EXPLAINS LUNAR ASYMMETRY
China's Chang'e 6 mission samples from the South Pole-Aitken Basin reveal unusual potassium isotope ratios, proving the 4.2 billion-year-old giant impact fundamentally altered the Moon's chemistry. The impact vaporized volatile elements, suppressing volcanism on the far side and explaining why it has so few maria compared to the near side.
⭐ AFFORDABLE SPACE MEMORIALS LAUNCHING 2027
Space Beyond startup founded by former NASA and Blue Origin engineer Ryan Mitchell will send 1,000 people's ashes to orbit for just $249 using CubeSat technology on SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission. The satellite will orbit for five years at 550km altitude in sun-synchronous orbit before fiery atmospheric reentry.
🪐 MASSIVE EXOMOON CHALLENGES DEFINITIONS
Astronomers using VLT's GRAVITY instrument detect potential exomoon around HD 206893 B that may be 40% the mass of Jupiter - thousands of times more massive than any moon in our solar system. The discovery through astrometry technique shows a wobble in the planet's orbit, suggesting companion so large it blurs the line between moon and binary planet system.
☄️ HALLEY'S COMET WRONGLY NAMED?
New research reveals 11th-century English monk Eilmer of Malmesbury recognized Halley's Comet's periodicity when he observed it in both 989 CE and 1066 CE - centuries before Edmond Halley. The findings challenge the appropriateness of the comet's current name and demonstrate interdisciplinary research uncovering historical oversights.
🔗 SOURCES & LINKS:
• NASASpaceflight - Rocket Lab Neutron: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/01/hungry-hippos-test-tanks-neutron/
• NASA - Artemis II Tracking: https://www.nasa.gov/technology/space-comms/nasa-selects-participants-to-track-artemis-ii-mission/
• Space.com - Lunar Impact Study: https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/a-colossal-asteroid-may-have-warped-the-moon-from-the-inside-out
• TechCrunch - Space Beyond: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/this-startup-will-send-1000-peoples-ashes-to-space-affordably-in-2027/
• Daily Galaxy - Exomoon Discovery: https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/01/alien-moon-massive-redefine-what-a-moon-is/
• Phys.org - Halley's Comet Research: https://phys.org/news/2026-01-halley-comet-wrongly-11th-century.html
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