Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
π΄ [Space Bites+] No ADS. BONUS Story. For FREE:
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There's a new scar on the moon. The Artemis II astronauts return home safely. A new survey has just wrapped up its scan for dark energy. Supermassive black holes ready to merge. And in Space Bites Plus, astronomers find one of the oldest stars in the universe.
00:00 Intro
00:20 New Scar on The Moon
universetoday.com/articles/the-moon-just-got-a-new-scar
02:20 Artemis 2 Recap
universetoday.com/articles/the-world-welcomes-the-crew-of-artemis-ii-home
04:33 DESI 5-year observations
newscenter.lbl.gov/2026/04/15/desi-completes-planned-3d-map-of-the-universe-and-continues-exploring
07:34 SMBHs about to merge
universetoday.com/articles/two-monsters-one-galaxy-and-a-collision-100-years-away
10:04 Reuse of the New Glenn's booster
spaceflightnow.com/2026/04/16/blue-origin-hot-fires-its-first-previously-flown-booster-prepares-for-weekend-launch
11:14 Blue Alchemist
aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/departments/from-moon-dust-to-moon-colonies
12:32 Demarcation of Stars and Planets
universetoday.com/articles/wheres-the-dividing-line-between-a-star-and-a-planet-ask-the-jwst
14:53 Vote results
15:51 Stardust in the clouds of Venus
universetoday.com/articles/stardust-in-the-clouds-of-venus
17:25 More NASA Nuclear Missions
universetoday.com/articles/exploring-the-moons-shadowy-craters-with-nuclear-powered-rovers
19:35 Most Powerful Telescope
universetoday.com/articles/the-universes-most-powerful-telescope
20:55 Even more space news
Host: Fraser Cain
Producer: Anton Pozdnyakov
π° GUIDE TO SPACE EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 70,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
universetoday.com/newsletter
π§ PODCASTS
Universe Today: universetoday.com/podcast
Astronomy Cast: astronomycast.com
π© CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com
βοΈ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You are free to use my work for any purpose you like, just mention me as the source and link back to this video.
π΄ [Space Bites+] No ADS. BONUS Story. For FREE:
patreon.com/collection/125670
π΅ Vote for the best story here:
youtube.com/@frasercain/posts
There's a new scar on the moon. The Artemis II astronauts return home safely. A new survey has just wrapped up its scan for dark energy. Supermassive black holes ready to merge. And in Space Bites Plus, astronomers find one of the oldest stars in the universe.
00:00 Intro
00:20 New Scar on The Moon
universetoday.com/articles/the-moon-just-got-a-new-scar
02:20 Artemis 2 Recap
universetoday.com/articles/the-world-welcomes-the-crew-of-artemis-ii-home
04:33 DESI 5-year observations
newscenter.lbl.gov/2026/04/15/desi-completes-planned-3d-map-of-the-universe-and-continues-exploring
07:34 SMBHs about to merge
universetoday.com/articles/two-monsters-one-galaxy-and-a-collision-100-years-away
10:04 Reuse of the New Glenn's booster
spaceflightnow.com/2026/04/16/blue-origin-hot-fires-its-first-previously-flown-booster-prepares-for-weekend-launch
11:14 Blue Alchemist
aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/departments/from-moon-dust-to-moon-colonies
12:32 Demarcation of Stars and Planets
universetoday.com/articles/wheres-the-dividing-line-between-a-star-and-a-planet-ask-the-jwst
14:53 Vote results
15:51 Stardust in the clouds of Venus
universetoday.com/articles/stardust-in-the-clouds-of-venus
17:25 More NASA Nuclear Missions
universetoday.com/articles/exploring-the-moons-shadowy-craters-with-nuclear-powered-rovers
19:35 Most Powerful Telescope
universetoday.com/articles/the-universes-most-powerful-telescope
20:55 Even more space news
Host: Fraser Cain
Producer: Anton Pozdnyakov
π° GUIDE TO SPACE EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 70,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
universetoday.com/newsletter
π§ PODCASTS
Universe Today: universetoday.com/podcast
Astronomy Cast: astronomycast.com
π© CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com
βοΈ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You are free to use my work for any purpose you like, just mention me as the source and link back to this video.
![Swarming The Rings of Saturn With Tiny Probes [NIAC 2026]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VqBVL2vwh04/mqdefault.jpg "Swarming The Rings of Saturn With Tiny Probes [NIAC 2026]
π΄ [Interview+] No YT ads. Bonus Part. FREE for everyone
https://www.patreon.com/universetoday/posts/165844581/
π£ Guest: Dr. Mike Rubenstein
https://robotics.northwestern.edu/
π Actively Steerable Femtosat Constellations for In-situ Exploration of Saturnβs Rings, Atmosphere, and Magnetosphere
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/actively-steerable-femtosat-constellations-for-in-situ-exploration-of-saturns-rings-atmosphere-and-magnetosphere/
π All 2026 NIAC Selections
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/
Saturns rings are dense. Sending one flagship probe through them makes no sense. Itll most probably be lost. But sending a swarm of small cheap probes does. Even if a lot of them wont survive, youre still getting lots of data. This is exactly what this NIAC project is proposing.
00:00 Intro
01:22 Observing Saturns rings
05:21 A swarm of satellites
21:56 Current obsessions
23:36 Final thoughts
π° GUIDE TO SPACE NEWSLETTER
Read by 70,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe for Free: https://universetoday.com/newsletter
π§ PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://www.universetoday.com/podcast
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/
π© CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com
βοΈ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You are free to use my work for any purpose you like, just mention me as the source and link back to this video.")
