SpaceX's Next Steps, Lunar Magnetic Anomalies, and Mars' Ancient Water Trail

Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily. Your

cosmic connection to everything happening

beyond our atmosphere. I'm Anna and I'm

thrilled to have you join me for today's

journey through the latest developments in

space exploration and astronomical

discoveries. We have a busy episode today

with fascinating stories from across the

solar system. SpaceX has revealed what

went wrong with their Starship Flight 8

mishap back in March, and they're already

gearing up for Flight 9 with some

groundbreaking innovations, including the

first reuse of a super heavy booster.

We'll dive into all the details and what this

means for the future of their ambitious

programme. Speaking of SpaceX,

they've also been busy with their Starlink

Constellation recently celebrating their

450th successful Falcon 9

landing, an incredible milestone in rocket

reusability. Then we'll venture to the

Moon, where scientists have been puzzling

over a magnetic mystery. From there,

we'll travel to the Red Planet, where

researchers may have finally solved the case

of Mars. Ms. Water.

Finally, we'll check in with Japan's

Resilience Lunar Lander, which just captured

stunning images of the moon's south pole as

it prepares for a historic landing attempt on

June 5th. So whether you're a casual space

enthusiast or a dedicated amateur astronomer,

there's something for everyone in today's

cosmic roundup.

Let's get started then, with today's news.

SpaceX has finally shed light on what caused

the failure of their Starship vehicle during

its eighth test flight back in March.

According to details released on May 23,

the mishap had a different root cause than

the previous failure. Despite occurring at

remarkably similar points in their flight

paths. During Flight 8, which took

place on March 6, several Raptor engines on

the Starship upper stage suddenly shut down.

About eight and a half minutes after liftoff,

the vehicle began to tumble out of control

before eventually breaking up over the

Caribbean Sea during RE entry. The timing of

this failure was eerily similar to what

happened during Flight 7 in January, which

also experienced engine shutdowns and

communications loss at approximately the same

point in its journey. However, SpaceX has

confirmed that these were distinctly

different failures. For Flight 8,

investigators determined that one of the

Centre Raptor engines suffered a hardware

failure. While SpaceX hasn't disclosed

the specific component that failed, they

explained that this failure enabled

inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition

that ultimately destroyed the engine. The

cascade effect was immediate. The other two

Centre Raptor engines shut down along with

one of the three outer vacuum optimised

engines with larger nozzles. With four of its

six engines offline, the vehicle lost control

authority and couldn't maintain its planned

trajectory. In response to these

findings, SpaceX has implemented several

modifications to the Raptor engines for

future Starship flights. These include

adding additional preload on key engine

joints, installing a new nitrogen purge

system, and improving the propellant drain

system. The company is also developing a

future version of the Raptor engine, with

reliability improvements specifically

designed to address the issues identified in

Flight 8. It's worth noting how this

differs from Flight 7's failure. In that

case, the vehicle experienced what SpaceX

called a harmonic response, essentially

vibrations that were several times stronger

than expected. These vibrations created

additional stress on the propulsion system,

causing leaks that ignited a fire in the

engine bay. SpaceX pointed out that

the fixes they implemented after Flight 7

to address those harmonic response issues and

flammability concerns worked as

designed before the unrelated failure on

Flight 8 occurred. The good news for

SpaceX is that the Federal Aviation

Administration has provided final approval

for the next Starship test flight following

their investigation of the Flight 8 mishap.

This paves the way for Flight 9, which the

company confirmed is scheduled for no earlier

than May 27.

Looking ahead to SpaceX's ninth Starship test

flight, scheduled for May 27 at

7:30pm Eastern, the company is preparing

for a groundbreaking milestone in its

ambitious development programme. For the

first time, SpaceX will reuse a Super

Heavy booster, specifically the same one that

launched during Flight 7 earlier this year.

This marks a significant step toward SpaceX's

vision of a fully reusable heavy lift launch

system. While some components of the booster

have been replaced since its previous flight,

the company reports that a large majority of

the hardware will be flying for a second

time, including 29 of its three

33 Raptor engines. Unlike, the previous

four test flights, SpaceX is taking a

different approach to booster recovery. This

time, the company will not attempt to catch

the Super Heavy Booster with the launch tower

arms at Starbase in Texas. Instead,

Flight 9 will test new flight profiles for

the booster after stage separation. These

new profiles include controlling how the

booster flips to orient itself for a

boostback burn and using a higher angle of

attack during descent. Both

modifications are designed to reduce the

amount of propellant needed for recovery

operations. SpaceX will also experiment

with alternative engine landing profiles

during this test to maximise safety of the

launch infrastructure. At Starbase, the Super

Heavy Booster will follow a trajectory toward

an offshore landing point, culminating in

what SpaceX describes as a hard splashdown in

the Gulf of Mexico. This controlled Ocean

landing allows SpaceX to gather valuable data

without risking damage to ground facilities.

For the Starship upper stage, the mission

objectives include many of the demonstrations

planned for previous flights that couldn't be

completed due to the failures. These include

a critical Raptor engine relight while in

space, deployment of eight mass simulators

representing next generation Starlink

satellites, and tests of various reentry

technologies. This flight represents an

important evolutionary step in the Starship

programme and in other SpaceX news.

Today, the company kicked off what appears to

be a remarkably busy weekend with yet another

successful Starlink satellite deployment. On

May 23, a Falcon 9 rocket

blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base

in California at 4:36pm Eastern,

carrying 23 Starlink satellites bound for low

Earth orbit. The mission,

designated Starlink 1116,

utilised a first stage booster known as

B1075, which

has become quite the veteran of SpaceX's

fleet. This marked the booster's 18th launch

with 14 of those missions dedicated to

delivering Starlink satellites. The

workhorse booster previously supported the

SDA0Amission

and Transporter 11 before becoming primarily

dedicated to Starlink deployments. Just

over eight minutes after liftoff,

B1075 executed

a perfect landing on SpaceX's drone ship,

aptly named Of Course I Still Love youe,

which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

This touchdown represented a significant

milestone for the company. The 450th AH

successful landing of a Falcon 9 booster.

This achievement underscores the remarkable

reliability of SpaceX's reusable rocket

technology, which has revolutionised the

economics of space access.

Meanwhile, the rocket's upper stage continued

its journey, releasing its payload of 23

Starlink satellites approximately one hour

into the flight. Each satellite will now

manoeuvre into its designated position within

the growing Starlink constellation. Over the

coming days, the Starlink network has

expanded dramatically, now consisting of more

than 7,000 operational satellites,

forming a complex lattice that provides

global Internet coverage. This launch

marked SpaceX's 61st Falcon 9 mission of

2025 and 63rd overall launch this year.

When including the two Starship test flights,

the company's launch cadence continues to

accelerate, with potentially two more

Starlink launches scheduled before the end of

the weekend, showcasing the operational tempo

that SpaceX has achieved with its reusable

rocket fleet.

Next on, today's agenda. For decades,

scientists have been puzzled by a fascinating

lunar mystery. Why do some moon rocks show

strong magnetic signatures when the moon

itself has no magnetic field today? This

question has intrigued researchers since the

Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s,

when astronauts returned with rock samples

that exhibited unexpectedly powerful

magnetization. Recent computer simulations

have provided a, compelling new explanation

for this phenomenon. The research suggests

that massive asteroid impacts billions of

years ago might have temporarily amplified

the Moon's ancient magnetic field,

essentially imprinting a magnetic signature

that's still detectable in lunar rocks today.

The Moon once had a weak magnetic field

generated by its small molten core. But

according to researchers at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, this field alone

wouldn't have been strong enough to magnetise

small surface rocks. To the degree we

observe, however, a powerful asteroid

impact, quite possibly the same collision

that created the massive Imbrium basin,

could have dramatically changed the magnetic

environment, if only for a brief period.

The simulations show that such an impact

would have vaporised surface material,

creating a cloud of superheated electrically

charged particles called plasma. As this

plasma enveloped the Moon, much of it would

have concentrated on the far side, the

opposite side from the impact. This plasma

concentration would have temporarily

amplified the Moon's magnetic field in that

region, allowing rocks to capture this short

lived magnetic surge before the field faded

away. Isaac Narrat, the

graduate student who led the study, explains

that this process could account for the

majority of strong magnetic fields

measured by orbiting spacecraft, especially

those detected on the far side of the Moon.

The research team believes the impact would

have triggered powerful seismic shock waves

that swept through the lunar body and

converged on the far side. These waves

likely jittered the electrons in nearby rocks

at precisely the moment the magnetic field

peaked, effectively locking in the field's

orientation like a geological snapshot

preserved for billions of years.

Professor Benjamin Weiss, a co author of the

study, likens the process to throwing a deck

of cards into the air while a magnetic field

is present. Each card has a compass needle,

and when they settle back to the ground, they

align in a new orientation. That's

essentially how the magnetization process

worked. The most fascinating aspect

of this research is that the entire sequence

would have played out in less than an hour

and a half, yet left behind a magnetic

signature that has persisted for billions of

years. Future lunar missions will soon

have the opportunity to test this theory. The

most strongly magnetised rocks are located

near the Moon's south pole, on the far side,

Precisely the region that several

International missions, including NASA's

Artemis programme, Plan to explore in the

coming years. If these rocks show evidence

of both shock and ancient magnetism, it could

confirm that the Moon's magnetic anomalies

were indeed caused by a colossal asteroid

impact billions of years ago.

Next, let's head over to Mars, where yet

another mystery may have been solved.

Scientists have long been puzzled by Mars's

dramatic transformation from a water rich

world to the barren desert planet we see

today. Now, groundbreaking research from the

University of Texas at Austin may have

finally solved a major piece of this

planetary mystery, revealing exactly where

much of Mars's ancient water disappeared to.

The study, published in Geophysical Research

Letters identifies a crucial connection that

has eluded researchers for decadesthe

pathway between ancient surface lakes and a

deep underground reservoir located

approximately one mile beneath the Martian

surface. Graduate researchers

Mohammed Afzal Shadab and Eric Hyatt

developed specialised computer models to

calculate precisely how quickly water would

have infiltrated early Martian soils. Their

findings reveal something remarkable. Unlike

Earth, where surface water can percolate

underground in a matter of days, on Mars,

this process would have taken between 50 and

200 years. This significantly slower

rate resulted from several unique Martian

conditions. A ah, much deeper water table,

lower gravity and colder temperatures all

dramatically slowed the infiltration process.

What makes this discovery particularly

significant is that it represents the first

quantitative measurement of groundwater

travel time during Mars wetter period,

roughly 3 to 4 billion years ago. The

model suggests that the amount of water lost

to underground storage could have equaled at

least 90 metres, or about 300ft in

global depth. Considering that early Mars

likely started with an ocean only a few

hundred metres deep, this underground storage

accounts for a substantial portion of the

planet's missing water m Even more

fascinating is how this process differed from

Earth's water cycle. On our planet, water

constantly cycles through evaporation,

condensation and precipitation, allowing

surface water to persist. For millennia,

Mars operated entirely differently. As

researcher Eric Hyatt put it, once water got

into the ground on Mars, it was as good as

gone that water was never coming back out.

This one way journey explains why Mars's

surface water disappeared relatively quickly.

In geological terms, the water either became

chemically trapped in mineral structures or

froze permanently in the subsurface. As Mars

lost its protective atmosphere and

temperatures plummeted, whatever surface

water remained likely evaporated into space

through the increasingly thin Martian

atmosphere. The findings align perfectly

with orbital observations showing widespread

hydrated minerals throughout Mars crust and

radar evidence of buried ice deposits at mid

latitudes. This research helps close a

significant gap in our understanding by

quantifying precisely how much water

moved underground and became permanently

trapped. The researchers approached this

Martian mystery by creating a sophisticated

soil model that represented early Mars

conditions as accurately as possible. They

conceptualised the ancient Martian landscape

as consisting of a porous soil layer sitting

atop basaltic bedrock. Incorporating all

available data on temperature, gravity and

soil permeability gathered from Martian

Meteorites and rover missions. What

makes their approach particularly powerful is

the use of probability algorithms that

account for numerous variables, including

fluctuations in precipitation patterns,

variations in soil porosity and temperature

changes across the surface. This

comprehensive modelling revealed that water's

journey from surface to deep aquifer would

have taken between 50 to 200 years,

dramatically slower than similar processes on

Earth. Several key factors explain this

stark difference in infiltration rates. Mars

Lower gravity means that poor water pressure

builds up much more slowly with depth

compared to Earth. Additionally, the colder

surface temperatures on Mars would have

significantly reduced evaporation rates.

Together, these conditions slowed water's

descent by approximately two orders of

magnitude compared to what we observe on our

home planet. The implications of this

research extend beyond simply understanding

Mars's hydrological past. The model

provides compelling evidence that Mars

operated fundamentally differently from Earth

in terms of water cycling. Without robust

recycling mechanisms to return deep

groundwater to the surface, Mars essentially

had a one way hydrological system that

gradually depleted its surface reserves. Once

underground, Mars's water faced three

possible becoming chemically bound to

minerals, forming hydrated compounds,

freezing into subsurface ice deposits,

or in some cases, breaking down through

radiation and escaping into space.

This research helps scientists quantify the

relative contribution of each process to Mars

overall water loss. Shadab,

now continuing this work as a postdoctoral

researcher at Princeton University, plans to

integrate this infiltration model with global

climate simulations that incorporate rainfall

patterns, surface runoff dynamics and

volcanic activity. Such

comprehensive modelling could test various

historical scenarios, from the existence of a

long lived northern ocean to short term

flooding events triggered by impacts or

volcanic eruptions. This research

also has practical implications for future

Mars exploration. The identification of these

ancient aquifers could guide drilling

operations on future missions, potentially

reaching depths of up to one kilometre. To

sample what remains of Mars's primordial

waters. Such samples could undergo isotopic

analysis to determine precisely how much

water remains locked underground versus how

much chemically altered the planet's crust.

As Eric Hyatt eloquently summarised, the

Red Planet's hydrologic engine lacked the

robust recycling pump that powers Earth's

blue marble. This fundamental difference in

planetary water systems may ultimately

explain why Earth remained hospitable while

Mars transformed into the desert world we see

today.

Finally today, a little update. Japan's

Resilience lunar lander is nearing a historic

moment as it prepares for a touchdown attempt

on June 5th. Just this week,

Tokyo based company Ispace shared a stunning

photograph taken by their spacecraft showing

the moon's south polar region. The image

beautifully captures the rugged terrain of

the lunar surface with its many geological

features and craters, what makes this

particular photograph fascinating is the

optical illusion it presents to viewers.

While the image is filled with concave

craters, they can appear convex depending on

how you look at them, a common visual

phenomenon in lunar photography where

depressions can look like bumps to the human

eye. Resilience began its journey on January

15th when it launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon

9 rocket. The same rocket carried another

private Lunar Lander, Firefly Aerospace's

Blue Ghost. While Blue Ghost completed its

mission on March 2, becoming only the second

commercial vehicle to successfully soft land

on the moon, Resilience took a more energy

efficient route, finally reaching lunar orbit

on May 6 after a longer looping trajectory.

The landing target for Resilience is Mare

Frigoris, known as the Sea of Cold,

a volcanic plain in the Moon's northern

hemisphere. A successful touchdown would

represent a tremendous achievement not only

for Ispace but for Japan as a whole.

The nation has only one successful moon

landing to its credit the slim spacecraft

that touched down in January of this year

under the direction of JAXA, Japan's space

agency. This attempt holds particular

significance for ispace following their

heartbreaking near miss in 2023.

Their first lunar lander successfully reached

orbit in March of that year, but failed

during its landing attempt one month later

when the spacecraft became confused by the

rim of a crater. The company has

clearly learned from this experience and made

adjustments to ensure Resilience has a better

chance at success. The mission's

importance extends beyond national pride and

corporate achievement. Resilience carries

five scientific and technological payloads

that could significantly advance our

understanding of the lunar environment. The

stakes are high, but after years of

development and a previous setback, I space

appears positioned to potentially make

history in just two short weeks. Resilience

isn't just aiming for a touchdown. It's

carrying a suite of scientific tools designed

to expand our understanding of the lunar

environment. The lander hosts five distinct

science and technology payloads, each with

specific objectives to fulfil during its

mission on the Moon's surface. Perhaps the

most exciting component is Tenacious,

a miniature rover built by Ispace's European

subsidiary. This compact wheeled robot is

designed with a critical mission collecting

lunar regolith, or moon dirt, under a

contract that Ispace signed with NASA back in

2020. The agreement is part of NASA's

Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme,

which aims to leverage private industry

capabilities for lunar exploration. Once

deployed from the main lander, Tenacious will

roll across the Mare Frigoris terrain using

its specialised equipment to gather valuable

samples. These collections could provide

insights and into the composition of the

Moon's northern regions, and potentially

contribute to resource utilisation studies

for future missions. What makes

Tenacious particularly distinctive is an

unexpected artistic element. The little

rover carries a piece called Moon House on

its front bumper. Created by Swedish artist

Mikael Genberg, this inclusion represents the

blending of scientific exploration with human

creativity, a reminder that space

exploration serves both practical and

cultural purposes. The other payloads aboard

Resilience are equally important, focusing on

various aspects of lunar science and

technology demonstration. Together they form

a comprehensive package designed to maximise

the scientific return from this mission,

regardless of its relatively small size

compared to government led initiatives.

And that brings us to the end of today's

episode. From the engineering challenges of

SpaceX's Starship programme to the ancient

mysteries of lunar magnetism and Martian

hydrology, we've covered some truly

fascinating developments in our cosmic

neighbourhood. And of course, Japan's

Resilience Lunar Lander is poised to make

history with its upcoming landing attempt.

The growing diversity of nations and private

companies reaching for the Moon promises to

accelerate our exploration of Earth's nearest

neighbour. Stay tuned to Astronomy Daily for

updates on all these missions and more

fascinating discoveries from across the

cosmos. Next week we'll be covering the

results of Starship Flight 9 and the

Resilience landing attempt. In the meantime,

you can keep up to date with all the latest

in space and astronomy news simply by

visiting our

[email protected] and

checking out our continuously updating news

feed. Until then, keep looking up. I'm

Anna signing off

In this episode