Artemis II: Three Days to Go — Plus Mars Sample Return Is Officially Dead

Episode Summary With Artemis II just three days from launch, today's episode delivers a landmark space moment alongside the sad news that Mars Sample Return's Earth Return Orbiter has been formally cancelled by ESA. We also cover SpaceX's enormous Transporter-16 rideshare launch, Cornell's definitive list of 45 best-bet habitable exoplanets, a paradigm-shifting discovery about pulsar radio emissions, and the first confirmed evidence of lightning-like activity on Mars.   Stories Covered •       Artemis II — NASA confirms zero technical issues, launch on track for April 1 at 6:24 p.m. EDT •       ESA Earth Return Orbiter — formally cancelled after ESA member states vote to end the programme; Airbus in transition talks •       SpaceX Transporter-16 — 119 payloads launched to Sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg this morning •       45 Habitable Exoplanets — Cornell/Carl Sagan Institute catalog published in MNRAS; TRAPPIST-1, Proxima Centauri b among top targets •       Millisecond Pulsar Radio Emissions — signals confirmed originating beyond the light cylinder for the first time •       Martian Lightning — MAVEN data reveals whistler wave consistent with electrical discharge during a 2015 dust storm   Source URLs •       Artemis II launch updates: https://www.space.com/news/live/artemis-2-nasa-moon-mission-launch-updates-march-29-2026 •       ESA Earth Return Orbiter cancellation: https://europeanspaceflight.com/esa-member-states-call-for-cancellation-of-earth-return-orbiter/ •       SpaceX Transporter-16: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/03/transporter-16/ •       45 Habitable Exoplanets (ScienceDaily): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260325005926.htm •       Millisecond Pulsar discovery (Phys.org): https://phys.org/news/2026-03-radio-edge-extreme-stars-surfaces.html •       Mars Lightning / MAVEN (Phys.org): https://phys.org/news/2026-03-nasa-maven-evidence-lightning-mars.htmlBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.astronomydaily.io/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Get the best secure and private email on the planet. Stop your Government, google and who knows who else spying on every email you write. Do what we did and use ProtonMail. They beleive in privacy and there are no ads in their business model...yet they still provide a free forever service. Check them out and get out special deal at www.astronomydaily.io/protonmailBecome a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.