Astronomy Daily — Season 5, Episode 45 | February 21, 2026 "Countdown to the Moon: Artemis II Crew in Quarantine" The Artemis II crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch (NASA), and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen (CSA) — have officially entered quarantine ahead of a targeted March 6, 2026 launch. With the second Wet Dress Rehearsal completed successfully on February 19th, humanity is just two weeks away from returning to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Anna and Avery break down everything you need to know about this historic mission. Also on today's episode: •  DARK MATTER UNDER PRESSURE: A new paper in Physical Review D claims its findings represent the first step toward the end of dark matter theory as we know it — researchers have found a plethora of baryonic (ordinary) dark matter signals that challenge the standard cosmological model. •  AURORA WATCH: A large coronal hole on the Sun has rotated into a geoeffective position, with fast solar wind expected to reach Earth around February 22nd. Skywatchers at higher latitudes should keep their eyes on the skies tomorrow night. •  MARS WATER UPDATE: New research suggests water ice on Mars may be accessible far closer to the equator than previously believed — a game-changing development for future human exploration of the Red Planet. •  SERIAL KILLER BLACK HOLES: Astronomers using James Webb Space Telescope data have confirmed that active supermassive black holes don't just shut down star formation in their own galaxies — they can suppress star formation in neighbouring galaxies too. •  SPACEX NEAR MISS: SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 booster in The Bahamas for only the second time ever after launching 29 Starlink satellites — but someone at SpaceX admitted they 'almost did have a really terrible day.' Full show notes and episode sources available at astronomydaily.io Follow us: @AstroDailyPod on all platforms Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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