China Aces Lunar Abort Test, Viking Life Debate Reignited, and Hubble's Dying Star

In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery unpack six major space stories. China has achieved a crucial milestone in its crewed lunar programme, successfully testing the Mengzhou capsule's abort system at maximum dynamic pressure while also demonstrating SpaceX-style rocket recovery with the Long March 10 first stage. ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket is set to launch its longest mission yet, delivering GSSAP space surveillance satellites directly to geosynchronous orbit for the US Space Force. We explain why NASA's Artemis 2 Moon mission has remarkably few launch opportunities — just 11 dates across March and April — and what orbital mechanics, solar power constraints, and hydrogen leaks have to do with it. In astronomy news, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has produced its clearest image yet of the Egg Nebula, a pre-planetary nebula offering a rare glimpse of a Sun-like star in its death throes. A provocative new study in the journal Astrobiology argues that the 1976 Viking missions may have detected signs of Martian life after all, with perchlorates masking the organic signatures. And finally, astronomers continue searching for remnants of Comet C/2019 Y4 ATLAS, which spectacularly disintegrated during the 2020 pandemic — but may not be entirely gone.   Timestamps [00:00] Introduction [01:30] China's Mengzhou capsule abort test & Long March 10 rocket recovery [05:30] ULA Vulcan USSF-87 launch — GSSAP satellites for Space Force [08:30] Artemis 2 launch windows — why only 11 chances in 2 months [11:30] Hubble's stunning Egg Nebula image — a dying star's final act [14:00] Did NASA's Viking missions find life on Mars? New evidence says maybe [16:30] The mystery of 'dead' Comet ATLAS — could fragments survive? [18:00] Sign-off

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