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Artemis 2 moon rocket testing today & Mercury occults moon in evening sky - Space News (Feb 19, 2026)
Published 3 months, 1 week ago
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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 p
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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 p