Artemis 2 moon rocket testing today & Mercury occults moon in evening sky - Space News (Feb 19, 2026)
February 19, 20263m 59s
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (mcdn.podbean.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
- KrispCall: Agentic Cloud Telephony - https://try.krispcall.com/tad
- Discover the Future of AI Audio with ElevenLabs - https://try.elevenlabs.io/tad
- Consensus: AI for Research. Get a free month - https://get.consensus.app/automated_daily
Support The Automated Daily directly:
Buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/theautomateddaily
Today's topics: Artemis 2 moon rocket testing today - NASA conducts second fueling test of Space Launch System rocket for Artemis 2 mission, targeting March launch for crewed lunar flyby with four astronauts. Mercury occults moon in evening sky - Young crescent moon passes in front of planet Mercury on February 18th, creating occultation visible from southern United States, Mexico, and Central America. Perseverance rover navigates Mars autonomously - Perseverance rover deploys Mars Global Localization technology using artificial intelligence to autonomously determine its position without human assistance from Earth. Crew-12 arrives at space station - NASA SpaceX Crew-12 mission successfully docks at International Space Station with four astronauts for eight-month expedition aboard orbiting laboratory. Lunar celebrations viewed from orbit - Astronauts aboard International Space Station and China's Tiangong station celebrate Lunar New Year with festive decorations and fireworks viewed from orbit above Earth.
Episode Transcript
Artemis 2 moon rocket testing today
Let's start with the big story today. NASA's Artemis 2 mission just kicked off a crucial wet dress rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is essentially a full-scale practice run of the launch sequence. Teams are loading over 700,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Space Launch System rocket. They've learned from an earlier attempt that experienced a leak, so engineers replaced a filter and made some adjustments. If everything goes smoothly today, we could see the actual launch happen sometime in early March. That means four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—could be flying around the Moon within weeks. This would be the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo era. Pretty historic stuff.
Mercury occults moon in evening sky
Moving to the night sky, if you were outside yesterday evening on February 18th, you might have witnessed something special. A thin crescent Moon passed directly in front of the planet Mercury. This phenomenon is called an occultation. From parts of the southern United States, Mexico, and Central America, observers actually saw Mercury disappear behind the lunar crescent. Even if you didn't catch it, the pairing of the young Moon and elusive Mercury made for a nice viewing opportunity for anyone looking west after sunset.
Perseverance rover navigates Mars autonomously
Now let's talk about some fascinating robotics work on Mars. NASA's Perseverance rover just achieved something remarkable. It's now autonomously figuring out where it is on the Martian surface without waiting for instructions from Earth. The team developed technology called Mars Global Localization, which uses an onboard algorithm to match images from the rover's cameras with orbital maps. Think of it like giving the rover its own GPS system. This breakthrough came from repurposing a powerful processor that originally communicated with the Ingenuity helicopter. The result? Perseverance can now travel much farther on its own each day, explore more of the planet, and gather more science.
Crew-12 arrives at space station
At the International Space Station, things are bustling again. The Crew-12 mission arrived at the orbiting laboratory over the weekend. Four crew members are now aboard—NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They've brought the station back to its full complement of seven crew members. The team has already begun their mission of conducting research to support future deep space exploration, along with experiments that benefit life here on Earth. They'll be there for about eight months.
Lunar celebrations viewed from orbit
And finally, something heartwarming to close out. Both the International Space Station and China's Tiangong space station celebrated Lunar New Year this past week. NASA astronaut Chris Williams shared stunning video footage of Beijing lit up by fireworks from 250 miles above Earth. The view captured the city's intricate network of highways and the broader urban landscape beautifully. Meanwhile, Chinese astronauts aboard Tiangong decorated their orbital home with festive decorations and created a music video partially filmed in space. It's a nice reminder that even at the cutting edge of space exploration, there's room for cultural celebration and human connection.
Subscribe to edition specific feeds:
- Space news
* Apple Podcast English
* Spotify English
* RSS English Spanish French
- Top news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish French
* RSS English Spanish French
- Tech news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish Spanish
* RSS English Spanish French
- Hacker news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish French
* RSS English Spanish French
- AI news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish French
* RSS English Spanish French
Visit our website at https://theautomateddaily.com/
Send feedback to [email protected]
Youtube
LinkedIn
X (Twitter)
- KrispCall: Agentic Cloud Telephony - https://try.krispcall.com/tad
- Discover the Future of AI Audio with ElevenLabs - https://try.elevenlabs.io/tad
- Consensus: AI for Research. Get a free month - https://get.consensus.app/automated_daily
Support The Automated Daily directly:
Buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/theautomateddaily
Today's topics: Artemis 2 moon rocket testing today - NASA conducts second fueling test of Space Launch System rocket for Artemis 2 mission, targeting March launch for crewed lunar flyby with four astronauts. Mercury occults moon in evening sky - Young crescent moon passes in front of planet Mercury on February 18th, creating occultation visible from southern United States, Mexico, and Central America. Perseverance rover navigates Mars autonomously - Perseverance rover deploys Mars Global Localization technology using artificial intelligence to autonomously determine its position without human assistance from Earth. Crew-12 arrives at space station - NASA SpaceX Crew-12 mission successfully docks at International Space Station with four astronauts for eight-month expedition aboard orbiting laboratory. Lunar celebrations viewed from orbit - Astronauts aboard International Space Station and China's Tiangong station celebrate Lunar New Year with festive decorations and fireworks viewed from orbit above Earth.
Episode Transcript
Artemis 2 moon rocket testing today
Let's start with the big story today. NASA's Artemis 2 mission just kicked off a crucial wet dress rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is essentially a full-scale practice run of the launch sequence. Teams are loading over 700,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Space Launch System rocket. They've learned from an earlier attempt that experienced a leak, so engineers replaced a filter and made some adjustments. If everything goes smoothly today, we could see the actual launch happen sometime in early March. That means four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—could be flying around the Moon within weeks. This would be the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo era. Pretty historic stuff.
Mercury occults moon in evening sky
Moving to the night sky, if you were outside yesterday evening on February 18th, you might have witnessed something special. A thin crescent Moon passed directly in front of the planet Mercury. This phenomenon is called an occultation. From parts of the southern United States, Mexico, and Central America, observers actually saw Mercury disappear behind the lunar crescent. Even if you didn't catch it, the pairing of the young Moon and elusive Mercury made for a nice viewing opportunity for anyone looking west after sunset.
Perseverance rover navigates Mars autonomously
Now let's talk about some fascinating robotics work on Mars. NASA's Perseverance rover just achieved something remarkable. It's now autonomously figuring out where it is on the Martian surface without waiting for instructions from Earth. The team developed technology called Mars Global Localization, which uses an onboard algorithm to match images from the rover's cameras with orbital maps. Think of it like giving the rover its own GPS system. This breakthrough came from repurposing a powerful processor that originally communicated with the Ingenuity helicopter. The result? Perseverance can now travel much farther on its own each day, explore more of the planet, and gather more science.
Crew-12 arrives at space station
At the International Space Station, things are bustling again. The Crew-12 mission arrived at the orbiting laboratory over the weekend. Four crew members are now aboard—NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They've brought the station back to its full complement of seven crew members. The team has already begun their mission of conducting research to support future deep space exploration, along with experiments that benefit life here on Earth. They'll be there for about eight months.
Lunar celebrations viewed from orbit
And finally, something heartwarming to close out. Both the International Space Station and China's Tiangong space station celebrated Lunar New Year this past week. NASA astronaut Chris Williams shared stunning video footage of Beijing lit up by fireworks from 250 miles above Earth. The view captured the city's intricate network of highways and the broader urban landscape beautifully. Meanwhile, Chinese astronauts aboard Tiangong decorated their orbital home with festive decorations and created a music video partially filmed in space. It's a nice reminder that even at the cutting edge of space exploration, there's room for cultural celebration and human connection.
Subscribe to edition specific feeds:
- Space news
* Apple Podcast English
* Spotify English
* RSS English Spanish French
- Top news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish French
* RSS English Spanish French
- Tech news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish Spanish
* RSS English Spanish French
- Hacker news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish French
* RSS English Spanish French
- AI news
* Apple Podcast English Spanish French
* Spotify English Spanish French
* RSS English Spanish French
Visit our website at https://theautomateddaily.com/
Send feedback to [email protected]
Youtube
X (Twitter)