Four astronauts are about to fly past the moon… further from Earth than any human has ever traveled. No landing. Just… past it. Why? Dr. Sarah Rugheimer breaks down what Artemis 2 is actually for, and why restarting lunar missions after decades matters more than the spectacle.

The mission includes the first woman and first Black astronaut to travel beyond Earth orbit, plus Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Sarah explains what science got paused when we stopped going to the moon and why it’s worth picking back up now. She also tackles the 3I Atlas object making headlines, why it’s definitely a comet despite alien enthusiasts insisting otherwise (it flies like a comet, spews carbon dioxide and water like a comet… it’s a comet). The conversation shifts to the Pluribus TV show’s premise: what if we received a four-sequence DNA message from space? Should we ever unpack it? Sarah walks through what’s replacing the aging International Space Station (which has mystery leaks nobody can locate), why Boeing’s Starliner needs to prove itself with unmanned cargo after stranding two astronauts for nine months, and how private space companies are merging with NASA to keep humans in orbit for decades to come.

Discover why going back to the moon isn’t nostalgia, it’s unfinished science. Learn what happens when the ISS finally retires, and why the next era of space exploration depends on companies you’ve never heard of. Understand the real reason we’re not screaming about alien probes (yet).

GUEST: Dr. Sarah Rugheimer | http://sarahrugheimer.com

Originally aired on2026-01-06