Patrons, send in your questions: patreon.com/posts/164654175

BONUS PART STARTS AT: 19:02

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3DKTwnz0oAs

Starship 13 flies and lands softly in the ocean. Astronomers see the companion star for Betelgeuse. A comet spun down, reversed direction and might tear itself apart. Did Webb see primordial Little Red Dots? On Space Bites+, measuring the heat working its way out of Io. All this and more in this week's Space Bites.

Interviews mentioned

• LRDs with Dr. John Chisholm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4caOfg5K8Is

• LRDs with Dr. Vasily Kokorev https://youtu.be/zoHtCmCbcEU

• OBLIVION NIAC with Jeff Nosanov https://youtu.be/U6fZ2GryNhU

Timecodes

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:22 They Are Recovering The Starship https://www.universetoday.com/articles/spacexs-starship-deploys-starlink-satellites-during-13th-flight-test

• 03:45 More Evidence for Bettelbuddy https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2611/

• 05:39 Bad News, Everyone https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/07/28/commissioning-update-for-spacecraft-to-boost-nasas-swift/

• 07:22 CAPSTONE-2 for Moon Docking https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/armd/nasa-announces-new-spacecraft-technology-demonstration-mission-at-moon/

• 09:06 Chang’e-6 Rocks https://www.universetoday.com/articles/change-6-samples-reveal-how-earth-slows-solar-wind-striking-moons-near-side https://www.universetoday.com/articles/samples-of-lunar-rock-are-leading-scientists-to-rethink-the-moons-history

• 12:05 Self-Destructing Comet https://www.universetoday.com/articles/spin-reversing-comet-may-face-self-destruction

• 13:31 Vote results 14:13 Little Red Dots https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-distant-primordial-object-may-be-a-newborn-little-red-dot https://www.universetoday.com/articles/little-red-dots-could-be-ancient-globular-clusters-each-dominated-by-a-super-massive-star

• 17:40 Almost an Exomoon https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-first-confirmed-exo-satellite-challenges-our-definitions-of-planets-and-moons

• 19:02 BONUS Story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/juno-measures-the-heat-below-ios-restless-surface

• 21:36 Final thoughts

🟣 Guest: Jeff Nosanov https://orbitalvelocity.space/

🎙️ Space Madness Podcast https://orbitalvelocity.space/#podcast

📚 How to do Business with NASA: A Practical Guide for Entrepreneurs, Innovators, and Contractors https://a.co/d/062c8pxQ

📜 OBLIVION: Observing Black hole LIght Via Intensity cOrrelatioN https://www.nasa.gov/general/oblivion-observing-black-hole-light-via-intensity-correlation/

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:45 NIAC Season 2026

• 02:54 OBLIVION

• 11:06 How can it possibly work

• 16:18 Possible targets for observation

• 20:01 Alternative applications

• 26:23 Orbital Velocity LLC

• 36:28 Space Madness Pod

• 41:01 Current obsessions

• 48:25 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 13:58

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HeBEGMNq5OQ

Why is the Universe not 13.8 Billion light-years wide? Could a black hole possibly consume the entire Universe? Where did all the metals come from? And in Q&A+, what's the best part of my job here?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:26 [@anonylity_4798] How is the Universe bigger than it's older

• 05:33 [@WendellBroadwell] Will the entire Universe inevitably fall into a giant black hole?

• 11:18 [@davidpayton7838] Where did all the heavy metals come from?

• 13:58 [@doogle4144] Do I prefer writing text articles for UT or being in front of a camera?

• 17:08 Perseids

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 14:16

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rnRYLtv9bjs

Bad news for the planets of Bernard Starr. Measuring the atmosphere on a rocky world within the habitable zone. Identifying the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. How the Milky Way flipped its disk. And on Space Bites Plus, how global Martian dust storms can be even worse.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:19 Bad news for Barnard's Star exoplanets https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-determine-that-exoplanets-around-barnards-star-are-extremely-uninhabitable

• 02:27 Rocky + Habitable Zone + Atmosphere https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-first-breath-of-another-world

• 04:11 Testing the Limits of Relativity https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-star-orbiting-our-galaxys-supermassive-black-hole-tests-the-limits-of-relativity

• 06:24 Milky Way Flipped Its Disk https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-milky-way-flipped-its-disk-billions-of-years-ago

• 07:54 The Type of Meteorite that Killed the Dinosaurs https://www.universetoday.com/articles/researchers-narrow-down-the-type-of-meteorite-that-killed-the-dinosaurs

• 09:07 Vote results

• 09:29 Asteroid Turned Out To Be a Comet https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-catch-a-dark-comet-red-handed

• 11:45 Van Gogh in Space https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-dark-energy-cameras-new-image-is-reminiscent-of-van-gogh

• 13:01 Psyche flyby https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-psyche-spacecraft-captured-a-time-lapse-video-of-its-mars-flyby

• 14:16 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/electrically-charged-mars-storms-threaten-future-exploration

• 17:21 Problem with YouTube

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 11:05

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HhfRcjS6HUI

If other Universes exist, is it even possible to detect them? What created the fields and quantum fluctuations that supposedly set off the Big bang? Could we use a long tether as a power source around Jupiter’s strong magnetic field? And in Q&A+, what is the best way to watch a SpaceX launch?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:28 [@hempfreedom3044] Could we detect other Universes if they exist?

• 03:43 [@EdSceptic-y2e] What created the fields and quantum fluctuations that supposedly set off the Big bang?

• 09:27 [@doogle4144] Could we use a long tether as a power source around Jupiter’s strong magnetic field?

• 11:05 [@HenryWarren-b6j] What is the best way to watch a SpaceX launch?

• 15:57 Star City review

👉 More interview HERE: https://www.patreon.com/collection/44300

BONUS PART STARTS AT 34:06

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XWz1mElwO-I

Supernova remnants should be stable. All the action is long gone. But newly found supernovae in M87 unexpectedly show signs of rapid change. Why does this happen? Nobody really nows yet.

🟣 Guest: Dr. Roy Kilgard https://rkilgard.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

📜 NASA's Chandra Finds Unexpected Fireworks in Aftermath of Stellar Explosions https://chandra.si.edu/press/26_releases/press_061526.html

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:56 Dynamic supernovae

• 08:28 What's going on there?

• 20:11 How can we resolve this mystery

• 22:08 X-ray binaries

• 24:24 Demarkation of compact objects

• 29:17 Neutron stars becoming black holes

• 34:06 Light pollution

• 43:53 Current obsessions

• 51:25 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:12

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3tWYGNd3hcA

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:26 [@PerryM-vy4fe] Is a magnetic shield the first step for a true Mars colonization?

• 04:58 [@giubl3] Does stuff near the black hole spin faster than stuff further away?

• 08:59 [@paigepotter4682] What’s the most “I can’t believe this is my job” moment I had?

• 14:12 [@Nomad77ca] Do I follow Nord Space and their new launch facilities in NFLD?

• 16:55 My sad telescope

BONUS PART START STARTS AT 18:21

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JMSfLchB5hI

Interview with Dr. Noelia Noël about painting satellites black https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yQegWQWtUo

Dragonfly is taking shape. A new exoplanet at Beta Pictoris. Hera gets a software upgrade mid-flight. And new features hiding in the Orion Nebula. On Space Bites Plus, how we can paint satellites black to reduce light pollution. All this and more in this week's Space Bites.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:20 Dragonfly Takes Its Shape https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/dragonfly/2026/07/09/nasas-dragonfly-clears-key-tests-as-titan-rotorcraft-takes-shape/

• 03:41 Software Update for HERA https://www.universetoday.com/articles/rebooting-a-spacecraft-140-million-kilometres-from-home

• 06:11 New Exoplanet at Beta Pictoris https://www.universetoday.com/articles/this-exoplanet-hid-for-10-years-before-astronomers-finally-found-it

• 09:36 Missing Link for Black Holes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-relativistic-jet-could-be-an-indication-of-the-missing-link-for-black-holes

• 11:51 Vote results

• 12:13 Ancient astronomers were right about Theta Eridani https://www.universetoday.com/articles/to-ancient-astronomers-theta-eridani-was-brighter-for-a-thousand-years-now-we-know-why

• 14:41 New Features Hiding in the Orion Nebula https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-new-features-hiding-in-the-orion-nebula

• 16:15 Hubble Discovers First of Star Cluster’s Missing Black Holes https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-discovers-first-of-star-clusters-missing-black-holes/

• 17:54 More space news

• 18:21 BONUS https://www.universetoday.com/articles/ultra-black-coating-could-mitigate-light-pollution-caused-by-satellites

• 19:03 How do you do, fellow kids?

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:04

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BsHe8QzUW0k

Why not push the ISS to a high orbit instead of de-orbiting it? Will we ever send a probe to another star? Is quantum computing more promising than AI advances? And in Q&A+, how close are we to a technological singularity?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:27 [@TheLinthus] Why not push the ISS to a high orbit instead of deorbiting it?

• 06:18 [@zach_diecast_mansur] Will we ever send a probe to another star?

• 10:49 [@clivewarren3227] Is quantum computing more promising than AI advances?

• 14:04 [@slowboyfuelpump5438] How close are we to a technological singularity?

• 16:30 How your support helps

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:47

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/R-hHX1IiFG8

Is Sgr A* even massive enough for a supermassive black hole? Are there galaxies around the Little Red Dots? How important is plate tectonics? And in Q&A+, what's the biggest showstopper for a interstellar crew?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:26 [@Nomad77ca] Is our BH big enough to be "super" massive?

• 01:58 [@billionsandbillionsofstars] Are the Little Red Dots supermassive black holes inside galaxies?

• 05:54 [@luiscarneiro4123] Will Euclid + JWST data force a revision of dark matter models, or could something unexpected emerge?

• 09:38 [@kcvillain87] Do we have ideas about the roll of tectonics and habitability?

• 14:47 [@Dying2play13] what's the biggest showstopper for a interstellar crew?

• 19:48 Chill out and relax

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 17:37

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_qdxGFRgCkg

China Lands a Reusable Rocket, Spacecraft visit two asteroids up close. How spaceflight makes you older. And using permanent magnets to protect astronauts from radiation. And on Space Bites Plus, extending inflatable tunnels for the surface of Mars.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:18 China Lands a Reusable Rocket https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2rmmx86pdo

• 02:04 Two Close Asteroid Encounters https://www.universetoday.com/articles/another-success-for-hayabusa-2-as-it-completes-a-flyby-of-asteroid-torifune https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/c10760422/content.html

• 06:11 Milky Way’s Arms Are Bigger Than We Thought https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-milky-ways-arms-reach-out-further-than-we-thought

• 07:36 Spaceflight Makes you Older https://www.universetoday.com/articles/does-space-speed-up-ageing-a-new-study-says-yes

• 10:24 Permanent Magnets Protect Astronauts? https://www.universetoday.com/articles/could-permanent-magnets-protect-astronauts-from-solar-storms

• 13:00 Vote results

• 13:35 Blue Origin’s Plan for LC-36 Repairs https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-glenn-return-to-flight

• 15:16 Quasars from Euclid https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-euclid-space-telescope-has-found-31-new-ancient-quasars-including-the-most-ancient-one-ever-foun

• 16:32 JWST's 4th anniversary https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_reveals_millions_of_stars_in_nearby_galaxy

• 17:37 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/university-team-proposed-retractable-pressurized-tunnels-for-missions-to-mars

• 20:48 More space news

• 21:14 Final thoughts