BONUS STORY STARTS AT 25:06

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Japan’s Phobos mission is almost ready to launch and so is Roman, NASA needs help re-inventing the wheel, why Earth is inevitable, and on Space Bites+, melting diamonds to learn more about ice giant interiors. All this and more in this week’s Space Bites.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:17 MMX Is Ready

• 03:18 Possible Origin of Deimos https://www.universetoday.com/articles/marss-funky-moon-deimos-was-shaped-by-an-impact

• 05:36 Phobos Transit https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/perseverance-captures-another-phobos-transit/

• 07:09 Starship aboard https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:255286

• 08:40 SpaceX's $100B expansion plan https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/spacex-intends-to-invest-up-to-100-billion-in-massive-louisiana-spaceport/

• 10:30 Reinventing the Wheel for NASA https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/nasa-challenge-tests-wheel-designs-for-moon-base-mobility/

• 13:20 Skyfall Drones https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-skyfall-mars-helicopters-will-feature-a-revolutionary-antenna-design

• 16:45 More Leads for Dark Matter https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-distant-stream-of-stars-may-offer-new-clues-to-dark-matter

• 18:56 Vote results

• 19:34 Earth is inevitable https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-solar-system-models-show-earth-is-no-fluke

• 21:33 Roman's ready to launch

• 23:23 New image of Betelgeuse https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/audiences/alma-reveals-long-lived-hotspots-on-betelgeuses-bubbling-surface/

• 25:06 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/scientists-melted-a-diamond-and-cracked-a-secret-of-ice-giants

• 27:08 More space news

• 27:56 Final thoughts