Historic ISS Medical Evacuation: Crew Returns Safely + Missing Galaxies & Mars Crisis

From historic medical evacuations to missing galaxies and stunning new images of the Milky Way, today's episode covers the latest breaking news from space exploration and astronomy. Join Anna and Avery as they discuss six fascinating stories from across the cosmos.

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## Episode Timestamps

**[00:00]** Intro

**[01:15]** Story 1: ISS Medical Evacuation

**[04:45]** Story 2: The Mystery of Missing Tiny Galaxies

**[08:30]** Story 3: NASA's MAVEN Spacecraft in Trouble

**[11:45]** Story 4: Viruses Behave Differently in Microgravity

**[14:30]** Story 5: Two New Exoplanets and Redefining Habitable Zones

**[17:00]** Story 6: Stunning New Radio Image of the Milky Way

**[19:30]** Outro

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## Stories Covered

### 1. Historic First Medical Evacuation from ISS

Four International Space Station crew members successfully completed the first-ever medical evacuation in the ISS's 26-year history, splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego.

**Key Points:**

- SpaceX Crew-11 returned early after 5 months in space

- Crew included US astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui

- Splashdown occurred at 12:41 AM ET on January 15, 2026

- Affected crew member remains in stable condition

- Three crew members remain aboard ISS to continue operations

- Demonstrates importance of medical protocols in long-duration spaceflight

**Read More:**

- [Phys.org: ISS astronauts splash down on Earth after first-ever medical evacuation](https://phys.org/news/2026-01-iss-astronauts-splash-earth-medical.html)

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### 2. The Universe's Missing Tiny Galaxies

New research using the James Webb Space Telescope suggests there may be far fewer small galaxies in the early universe than predicted by current models, challenging our understanding of cosmic evolution.

**Key Points:**

- Study led by Xuheng Ma from University of Wisconsin-Madison

- Used JWST's UNCOVER program to study galaxies through gravitational lensing

- Observed the Epoch of Reionization (12-13 billion years ago)

- Discovery of "faint-end suppression" - galaxy numbers drop off at smaller sizes

- Suggests intense radiation from early massive stars prevented small galaxies from forming

- May require rethinking models of cosmic reionization

- Used Abell 2744 galaxy cluster as a natural gravitational lens

**Why It Matters:**

This finding has major implications for our understanding of how the universe evolved from the "cosmic dark ages" to its current transparent state.

**Read More:**

- [Space.com: The universe should be packed with tiny galaxies — so where are they?](https://www.space.com/astronomy/galaxies/the-universe-should-be-packed-with-tiny-galaxies-so-where-are-they)

- Research paper on arXiv (preprint database)

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### 3. NASA Pessimistic About Recovering MAVEN Mars Orbiter

NASA officials acknowledge it's "very unlikely" they'll recover the MAVEN spacecraft, which has been silent since December 6, 2025, marking a potential end to a highly productive Mars mission.

**Key Points:**

- MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) launched November 2013, entered Mars orbit September 2014

- Last communication: December 6, 2025

- Telemetry indicates spacecraft is tumbling and orbit may have changed

- Solar conjunction (Mars and Earth on opposite sides of Sun) complicated recovery efforts

- Attempts to photograph spacecraft with Curiosity rover were unsuccessful

- Other orbiters (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter) can maintain communications relay

- Spacecraft studied Mars atmospheric loss and recently observed interstellar object 3I/ATLAS

**Mission Legacy:**

Despite the likely loss, MAVEN has provided over a decade of groundbreaking data about Mars' upper atmosphere and how solar wind strips away the Martian atmosphere.

**Read More:**

- [SpaceNews: NASA pessimistic about odds of recovering MAVEN](https://spacenews.com/nasa-pessimistic-about-odds-of-recovering-maven/)

- [NASA Science: MAVEN Spacecraft Updates](https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/maven/)

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### 4. Space Station Study Reveals Unusual Virus-Bacteria Dynamics

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers discovered that viruses infecting bacteria evolve differently in microgravity, potentially opening new avenues for fighting antibiotic-resistant infections on Earth.

**Key Points:**

- Study used E. coli bacteria and bacteriophage T7

- Parallel experiments conducted on ISS and Earth

- Virus infection delayed but not blocked in microgravity

- Both viruses and bacteria developed unique mutations in space

- Space-evolved viruses showed increased activity against drug-resistant E. coli strains

- Findings could lead to improved phage therapy for antibiotic-resistant infections

- Published in PLOS Biology journal

- Demonstrates ISS value as unique research platform

**Scientific Significance:**

This research shows how the space environment fundamentally alters...