One Sleep to Splashdown: Artemis II Heads Home + Lunar Science Bombshell

About this episode

The episode covers the Artemis II crew's return to Earth, lunar science discoveries, and updates on Mars and planetary alignments.

The Artemis II crew — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — are on final approach to Earth after nine historic days in deep space. Splashdown is scheduled for Friday off San Diego. We have the full countdown, plus the story behind what NASA scientists called 'audible screams of delight' when the crew spotted micrometeorite impact flashes on the Moon during their lunar flyby. Also in today's episode: astronomers at ISTA in Austria have identified a brand new class of stellar remnant — two ultra-massive, X-ray emitting white dwarfs named Gandalf and Moon-Sized. Mars continues to disappoint on the habitability front. Four planets are lining up in April skies. And we close with the story of four astronauts, their iPhones, and the greatest selfies in human history. Sources & links: • Artemis II splashdown coverage: nasa.gov/artemis • Micrometeorite impacts & lunar science: space.com | sciencenews.org | spaceq.ca • Gandalf & Moon-Sized white dwarfs: ista.ac.at | universetoday.com • Mars surface habitability: universetoday.com • April planet alignment: starwalk.space • Artemis II iPhone photography: space.com | engadget.com Become a supporter of…

People in this episode

Guests: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen

Topics covered

• Artemis II
• lunar science
• stellar remnants
• Mars habitability
• planet alignment
• space exploration
• astronaut photography

Keywords

• Artemis II
• lunar flyby
• micrometeorite impacts
• stellar remnants
• white dwarfs
• Mars
• planet alignment
• astronaut selfies

Sponsors

NordVPN

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA, ISTA

Places: San Diego, Moon, Mars

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