'Hold That Thought' - T-Minus 40: Starship Scrubs, Mars Beckons

'Hold That Thought' - T-Minus 40: Starship Scrubs, Mars Beckons

From Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates by bitesz.com

May 22, 2026 · 13 min · Season 5 · Episode 109

About this episode

The episode discusses the recent SpaceX Starship V3 launch attempt, Mars mission announcements, and new findings from JWST.

Sponsor Link : To check out our special money saving deal and upgrade your online securit y with NordVPN - Click Here SpaceX came agonisingly close to launching the most powerful rocket ever built in its newest configuration — but a technical halt at T-minus 40 seconds sent Starship V3's debut back to the drawing board, with another attempt window opening this evening (6:30–8:00 p.m. EDT). Anna and Avery dig into what went wrong, what makes V3 different, and the stunning announcement buried in the webcast: a named commander for humanity's first crewed Mars flyby mission. Plus: JWST rewrites exoplanet atmospheric science with unexpected ice clouds on a distant super-Jupiter, researchers map a mysterious magnetic 'flip' inside the Milky Way, and Rocket Lab launches from New Zealand. Links & Further Reading • Starship Flight 12 live updates: space.com • SpaceX launch webcast (tonight): spacex.com • Chun Wang Mars announcement: universetoday.com • JWST Epsilon Indi Ab paper (ApJL): doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae5823 • Milky Way magnetic field study (ApJ): doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae28d1 • Rocket Lab Viva La Strix mission: rocketlabusa.com • Astronomy Daily website…

People in this episode

Hosts: Anna, Avery

Topics covered

  • SpaceX
  • Starship
  • Mars mission
  • exoplanet science
  • magnetic fields
  • Rocket Lab

Keywords

  • SpaceX
  • Starship V3
  • Mars flyby
  • JWST
  • exoplanets
  • Rocket Lab
  • magnetic fields

Sponsors

NordVPN

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SpaceX, JWST, Astronomy Daily

Products: Starship V3

Places: New Zealand

More episodes of Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates podcast page.