BONUS STORY STARTS AT 18:18

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tejYwoRqG38

New info about 3I/ATLAS, NASA tests a new high-power ion engine, did dark matter power early black hole formation, why is half the Milky Way hotter than the other? And in Space Bites+, different sources for two of Uranus moons.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:15 More info on 3I/ATLAS https://www.universetoday.com/articles/interstellar-comet-3iatlas-left-a-trail-of-methane-in-its-wake https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-research-reveals-that-interstellar-comet-3iatlas-formed-in-a-system-far-colder-than-our-own

• 04:04 NASA tests new ion engine https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-fires-up-powerful-lithium-fed-thruster-for-trips-to-mars/

• 06:45 NO to NASA budget cuts https://spacenews.com/house-appropriators-keep-nasa-funding-flat/

• 07:50 Earliest SMBH Mystery https://www.universetoday.com/articles/is-the-earliest-supermassive-black-hole-mystery-solved

• 09:46 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

• 10:15 Milky Way’s Hot Side https://www.universetoday.com/articles/our-galaxy-has-a-hot-side-and-now-we-know-why

• 11:56 Where's the edge of the Milky Way https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-the-edge-of-the-milky-ways-star-forming-disc

• 13:52 Disappearing exoplanets https://www.universetoday.com/articles/toi-201-planets-are-wobbling-out-of-our-line-of-sight

• 16:02 That's no moon https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-hunts-for-an-earth-moon-twin-in-a-habitable-zone-but-the-star-has-other-plans

• 18:18 BONUS STORY

• 20:45 More space news

• 21:16 Working with Vera Rubin data

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:48

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/90S24jYGtd4

Latest Patreon Q&A show: https://www.patreon.com/posts/156265102/

What did we really find on Mars? Could we find actual fossils there? How was the most detailed 3D-map of the Universe made? And in Q&A+, what's the deal with Iapetus and its huge ridge?

• Q&A 00:00 Intro

• 00:22 [@HanSolo__] Did we find marks of past primitive life on Mars?

• 05:15 [@geohondo] Could we find an actual skeletal fossil on mars?

• 07:18 [@louisnelsonsmith] How DESI works

• 15:48 [@TheGoldishFish] Why does Saturn moon Iapetus have that huge equatorial ridge?

• 18:03 The Q&A format

BONUS PART STARTS AT 24:29

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GfEzOHGoAuU

🟣 Guest: Amy Haft

📜 Spacecraft electrostatic tractor using a power-constrained pulsed high-energy high-current electron beam https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027311772600075X?via%3Dihub

The number of satellites constantly grows. As the result, space debris is becoming more and more of a concern. A new study suggests using practically real-life Star Trek tech to use an electron tractor beam to tug broken satellites around the orbit.

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:11 The state of space debris

• 04:25 Satellite tractor beam

• 14:07 Alternative applications

• 24:29 Tracking objects via plasma trails

• 39:23 Current obsessions

• 44:29 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 17:23

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4uPUdm7WP9o

Can we deploy a huge fleet of amateur telescopes to image a single planet? If the Voyager crashes into something, will we know that? What's the point of studying gravitational waves? And in Q&A+, does the starless galaxy have any planets?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:27 [@liamdobbyn6167] Fleet of amateur telescopes on TRAPPIST-1

• 06:28 [@SpaceGeekSheri] Would we know about it if Voyager crashed into something? 08:12 [@deant6361] Will New Horizons end up leaving the solar system?

• 09:07 [@davidevans6487] Can we use radiation of space to power spacecraft?

• 11:16 [@JuanMendez-zh2ez] Why study gravitational waves?

• 17:23 [@christiandesalliers] Are there planets in Cloud-9?

• 19:18 Astronomy Cast

Here’s what might delay Artemis, New Glenn flies again, but there’s a problem, Voyager 1 has to shut down another instrument, Vera Rubin is finding so many asteroids. And in Space Bites+, an incredible image to celebrate Hubble’s 35th birthday.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:18 Potential bottleneck for Artemis https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/whats-the-deal-with-spacesuits-for-the-moon-will-they-be-ready-in-time/

• 03:20 China Shows Off a 5-Meter Rocket Module https://www.universetoday.com/articles/china-unveils-a-massive-5-meter-composite-module-for-its-next-generation-reusable-rocket

• 06:20 Success and Failure of New Glenn NG-3 https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/errant-upper-stage-spoils-blue-origins-success-in-reusing-new-glenn-booster/

• 08:25 Voyager Shuts Down More Instruments https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyager/2026/04/17/nasa-shuts-off-instrument-on-voyager-1-to-keep-spacecraft-operating/

• 11:08 Vera Rubin Discovers A Lot of Asteroids https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-vera-c-rubin-observatory-has-discovered-11000-new-asteroids-and-its-barely-even-started

• 12:36 Vote results

• 13:06 Organics on Mars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/msl-curiosity-found-new-organic-chemicals-on-mars-proof-that-the-planet-can-preserve-ancient-biosign

• 15:09 Roman’s Ready to Launch

• 16:51 SPHEREx Mapping the Sky https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-spherex-telescope-just-mapped-the-cosmic-ices-that-will-someday-build-planets

• 18:05 The Universe in X-Rays https://www.universetoday.com/articles/behold-the-solar-system-in-all-its-x-ray-glory

• 19:18 More space news

• 20:20 Complexity of the interviews

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:29

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ouw_AobGQ2M

CosmoQuest Artemis Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUhAPm8PNdY
CosmoQuest: https://cosmoquest.org/

What could the great filter be? How visible is the human race to outside observers? How would astronomy work in a cosmic void? And in Q&A+, what would happen if a black hole suddenly approached?00:00 Intro

• 00:26 [@moosekeeto] What could the Great Filter be?

• 02:17 [@wookalarcentral] What do cosmic coincidences mean?

• 04:24 [@MikeD_] Could advanced civilizations communicate in a way we can't detect?

• 06:05 [@doogle4144] How 'visible' is the Human race?

• 08:56 [@mmorgan7212] How would astronomy work if we lived in a cosmic void?

• 13:40 [@AEFisch] Why do scientists call a black hole a singularity?

• 16:28 New citizen science project

🟣 Guest: Dr. John Banovetz https://www.bnl.gov/world/

📜 Uncovering the Next Galactic Supernova with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.12094

We should be getting 1-2 supernovae per century in a galaxy like the Milky Way. Yet, the last one observed was about 1000 years ago? Where are all the galactic supernovae? Why don't we see enough of them. Can Vera Rubin help? Finding out in this interview.

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:41 Supernovae in the Milky Way

• 09:33 Why don't we see the supernovae

• 13:32 Vera Rubin 24:37 Working with the data pipeline

• 39:10 Current obsessions

• 41:08 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 16:16

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gac8HkEO9AE

How will we power the Moon bases? Which places will be the primary targets for the Habitable World Observatory? Which nuclear reactor is the new NASA proposal about? And in Q&A+, how long will it take to clear the L2 Lagrange point?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:26 [@Noonyuh] Could moonquakes or marsquakes cause problems for humans?

• 02:44 [@rJaune] Are there promising battery technology?

• 04:08 [@1000dots] Which nuclear reactor will NASA use for its new Mars mission?

• 09:20 [@smkolins] Is anyone setting up a public access list of new finds of Vera Rubin?

• 11:24 [@TestingTesting-1234] Where will HWO look first?

• 14:46 [@Matthew...1979] Could we see other planets in realtime?

• 16:16 [@C.Lo.87] How long to clear out L2?

• 17:22 Previously hidden content

Full livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/6oMnUsxwsQM