This Week in Space 186

Snow on the moon? Yes, though not recently... but maybe billions of years ago. Recent discoveries indicate that the early moon, orbiting just 20,000 miles above our planet at the time, may have shared a dynamic magnetic field with that of the Earth, resulting in the moon having an early atmosphere about twice as dense as the Martian atmosphere is today! This has wide implications for planetary science, but perhaps our favorite is that it may have snowed both carbon dioxide and water ice on the moon back in the day. We're also talking about the amazing launch and recovery of New Glenn, the plight of the Chinese taikonauts aboard the Tiangong space station, and a recent SpaceX memo about—no surprises here—a delay to their lunar landing program for Artemis III. Join us!

Headlines: 

• China’s Shenzhou Astronauts Still Dealing with Stricken Spacecraft
• Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Launches and Lands, Sends Probes Toward Mars
• Comet C/2025 K1 Atlas Breaks Up After Solar Flyby
• SpaceX Artemis Moon Landing Delayed to 2028

Main Topic: Moon Volatiles and Lunar Science

• The Moon’s Formation and the Giant Impact Hypothesis
• Intertwined Magnetic Fields on the Early Moon and Earth
• Transmission of Earth Atmosphere and Volatiles to Lunar Surface
• Lunar Outgassing, Volcanism, and Creation of an Ancient Lunar Atmosphere
• Permanently Shadowed Regions as Time Capsules of Early Moon and Earth
• Scientific Importance of NASA's VIPER Rover for Analyzing Polar Ices and Volatiles
• Commercial and Scientific Value of Moon’s Minerals and Resources
• Long-Term Preservation of Lunar Samples for Future Research
• Early Moon Weather: Volatile Snow, Atmosphere Collapse, and What It Means for Lunar Resources
• Educational Outreach through Virtual Space Science Experiences

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• Tech: Dr. Jim Green Explains Ancient Lunar Weather
• Transcripts: This Week in Space 186 Transcript

Links

• China's Shenzhou 20 astronauts return to Earth on different spacecraft after finding window cracks in their own
• Blue Origin lands huge New Glenn rocket booster for 1st time after acing Mars ESCAPADE launch for NASA
• Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) splits into 3 pieces after a close brush with the sun
• There's Water on the Moon?
• New Supercomputer Simulation Sheds Light on Moon’s Origin
• The Late Heavy Bombardment: A Violent Assault on Young Earth
• NASA Selects Blue Origin to Deliver VIPER Rover to Moon’s South Pole
• Scientists open untouched Apollo 17 lunar samples from 1972 — they may hold clues about the moon's violent origins