Latest articles by Sharmila Kuthunur
Are Saturn's rings made of a lost, shattered moon? New evidence arises for the case
New simulations suggest Saturn's rings formed from a shattered moon called Chrysalis, offering clues to the planet's tilt and surprisingly young rings.
NASA's ambitious 'decade of Venus' exploration may bank on 1 probe: 'Not everything can move forward'
NASA may not be able to move forward with all three of its planned Venus missions as budget pressures force difficult trade-offs across its planetary science portfolio.
NASA won't give up hope on silent MAVEN Mars probe: 'We're still looking for it'
NASA has not reestablished contact with its MAVEN Mars orbiter since a planned communications blackout ended Jan. 16.
Beyond Artemis 2: NASA pursuing a 'more achievable' path back to the moon
As NASA gears up for the launch of Artemis 2, the agency is revising its moon landing strategy, aiming to make future missions more achievable and sustainable.
No sun, no problem? How life could thrive on moons of starless 'rogue' planets
Exomoons orbiting rogue planets could host liquid water for billions of years, offering potential habitats for life deep in interstellar space.
NASA's DART planetary defense mission reveals asteroids hurling 'cosmic snowballs' at each other
New images from NASA's DART asteroid-smashing mission show space rocks exchanging material in a slow process that reshapes their surfaces over millions of years.
Did Earth life actually begin on Mars? Asteroid impacts could let microbes planet-hop, study suggests
"Life might actually survive being ejected from one planet and moving to another."
Antarctica has lost 5,000 square miles of 'grounded ice' in the last 30 years, satellite images reveal
Antarctica has lost nearly 5,000 square miles of "grounded ice" in 30 years, as warming ocean waters drive retreat in vulnerable regions, a new study finds.
NASA's Perseverance rover now has its own 'GPS' on Mars: 'We've given the rover a new ability'
NASA's Perseverance rover can now pinpoint its exact location on Mars without help from Earth, paving the way for longer, more autonomous exploration.
AI helps find new clues in the 60-year search for Luna 9, the 1st successful moon lander
Scientists may have narrowed down the landing site of the Soviet Union's Luna 9, which in 1966 became the first spacecraft to touch down softly on the moon.
Astronomers witness vanishing star collapse into a black hole in Andromeda galaxy
Astronomers tracked a star in Andromeda as it dimmed and vanished without the usual fiery explosion, offering rare clues to how black holes form.
Venus may have an underground tunnel carved by volcano eruptions
Scientists analyzing decades-old NASA's Magellan data have identified only the second reported lava tube on Venus.
As China and the US vie for the moon, private companies are locked in their own space race
Falling launch costs and private innovation are fueling a new space race, transforming Earth orbit into a fast-growing global marketplace.
It's time to think about human reproduction in space, scientists urge
"If reproduction is ever to occur beyond Earth, it must do so with a clear commitment to safety, transparency and ethical integrity."
James Webb Space Telescope finds most distant galaxy ever detected: 'It looks nothing like what we predicted'
"There is a growing chasm between theory and observation related to the early universe, which presents compelling questions to be explored going forward."
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover completes its 1st drive planned by AI
"The fundamental elements of generative AI are showing a lot of promise in streamlining the pillars of autonomous navigation for off-planet driving."
Bleached Martian rocks offer fresh evidence of a wetter and warmer Mars: 'But where did they come from?
"You need so much water that we think these could be evidence of an ancient warmer and wetter climate where there was rain falling for millions of years."
From space to the seabed, critical infrastructure is becoming more vulnerable, experts warn: 'People don't realize how dependent we are'
"We are on Day 1. A lot more needs to be done."
James Webb Space Telescope reveals new origin story for the universe's 1st supermassive black holes
Recent James Webb Space Telescope data confirms a decade-old theory that the universe's earliest supermassive black holes formed without stars.
Super-Earth exoplanets may have built-in magnetic protection from churning magma — and that's good news for life
"A strong magnetic field is very important for life on a planet."
Moon landings could contaminate evidence about life's beginnings on Earth. Here's how
Exhaust from lunar landers drifts across the moon and contaminates ultra-cold polar craters that are rich in ancient ice and organic clues, a new study reports.
Sinking ice on Jupiter's moon Europa may be slowly feeding its ocean the ingredients for life
"Most excitingly, this new idea addresses one of the longstanding habitability problems on Europa and is a good sign for the prospects of extraterrestrial life in its ocean."
This is the sharpest view ever seen of a black hole's dusty disk
"Instead of Webb's 6.5-meter diameter, it's like we are observing this region with a 13-meter space telescope."
