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A massive coral, thought to be the largest ever recorded, has been discovered by scientists in the Solomon Islands, drawing global attention to its size and environmental significance. The coral, which extends about 111 feet across and 104 feet in length, spans an area comparable to two basketball courts and can be seen from space. This discovery, made by a team from National Geographic’s Pristine Seas expedition in October, highlights the presence of previously unrecorded marine giants.

A Hidden Giant in the Ocean

Dr. Molly Timmers, the expedition’s lead scientist, noted that the coral appeared “like a shipwreck” from the water’s surface. Its sheer size was confirmed by underwater divers, who found the coral extending across the seafloor with undulating waves of brown, yellow, and blue hues. Estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old, the coral dwarfs the previous record-holder, a coral known as “Big Momma” in American Samoa.

Pristine Seas founder Dr. Enric Sala compared the discovery to finding “the world’s tallest tree” and emphasized its importance in marine biodiversity research. Dr. David M. Baker, a coral reef researcher at the University of Hong Kong, who was not part of the expedition, highlighted that large coral structures represent resilience, having endured significant environmental changes over centuries.

A Vital Marine Habitat at Risk

Though the coral appears healthy, scientists have expressed concern about the threats it faces from both local and global stressors. Overfishing disrupts coral reef ecosystems by removing key species that support its health, while climate change poses a longer-term threat. Coral reefs are highly susceptible to warming oceans, which can lead to coral bleaching and ultimately coral death, Timmers noted.

With more than 490 species of hard and soft corals, the Solomon Islands host one of the world’s richest coral ecosystems. The discovery of this coral serves as a reminder of both the ocean’s hidden wonders and the urgent need for conservation amidst rising global temperatures.

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IAF pilot Shukla becomes first Indian astronaut on private ISS mission

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June 10, 2025

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IAF pilot Shukla becomes first Indian astronaut on private ISS mission

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is set to become the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, launching June 10. A decorated combat pilot with 15 years in the Indian Air Force, Shukla will serve as pilot of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon C213 capsule. The mission, also called Akash Ganga, will dock with the ISS around 10 PM IST on June 11 after a 28-hour flight. Shukla, 39, born in Lucknow and commissioned in 2006, has logged over 2,000 flying hours across a range of fighter and transport aircraft.

Axiom Praises Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla for ‘Operational Savvy’ Ahead of ISS Flight

As per Axiom Space’s official crew profile, Shukla brings operational depth and technological insight to the mission. The former Gaganyaan astronaut trainee was named Ax-4 pilot just days before arriving at Axiom. Lead astronaut Peggy Whitson praised Shukla’s “operational savvy” and described him as “wicked smart” with respect to spacecraft systems. Mission specialists from Poland and Hungary echoed similar admiration, calling his pace “record-breaking” and his wisdom “ageless”.

Shukla has flown aircraft including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, Jaguar, and Dornier, but his journey into space marks a new milestone in India’s expanding role in commercial spaceflight. His path began with the dream of flying and grew into a deeper aspiration after reading about Rakesh Sharma, India’s first astronaut. “I was deeply impressed by him,” Shukla mentioned in a crew introduction, reflecting on his early inspiration.

The Ax-4 mission, led by Whitson and coordinated with NASA, is the fourth commercial flight by Axiom Space and represents international cooperation at its finest. Shukla described his training period as deeply fulfilling, crediting his crewmates for becoming “friends for life”. He called the mission a chance to be part of something “much larger than yourself” and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to represent India in orbit.

Docked to the ISS, Shukla will be just the second ever Indian to float in space and the first Indian in space on a foreign, private mission. He wants the story of his journey to generate interest among young Indians dreaming of science and space. “Even if it just changes one life, it’s worth it,” he remarked.

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SXM-10 Heads to Orbit as SpaceX Nails Another Nighttime Launch & Landing

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June 10, 2025

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SXM-10 Heads to Orbit as SpaceX Nails Another Nighttime Launch & Landing

SpaceX launched the SXM-10 satellite for SiriusXM early on Saturday morning, June 7. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 12:54 a.m. EDT, carrying the 14,100-pound (6,400-kg) spacecraft into an initial high orbit. About 8.5 minutes later, the rocket’s first stage returned to Earth and touched down safely on SpaceX’s drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean. This mission added another satellite to SiriusXM’s geostationary radio constellation and was part of SpaceX’s very busy launch schedule – it was already the company’s 69th Falcon 9 launch of 2025. (SpaceX has devoted dozens of those flights this year to deploying its own Starlink internet satellites.) SXM-10 is the second new SiriusXM radio satellite launched in six months, following SXM-9 in December 2024.

Falcon 9 Rocket Launch and Booster Recovery

According to a SpaceX mission description, for this flight SpaceX reused a Falcon 9 first-stage booster that had flown many times before. It was the eighth mission for that particular booster. Among its earlier flights were two astronaut missions (NASA’s Crew-9 and SpaceX’s Crew-3/4 “Fram2”) and a January launch carrying two privately built moon landers. After stage separation, the booster guided itself back for a vertical landing on the ocean-based droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This marked the 112th Falcon booster landing on that droneship and the 458th booster landing overall, underscoring SpaceX’s extensive experience with routinely recovering and reusing its rockets.

SXM-10 Satellite and SiriusXM Network

SXM-10 is a heavy communications satellite built by Maxar Technologies under contract to SiriusXM. Weighing about 6,400 kg, it is part of SiriusXM’s next-generation fleet of radio broadcast satellites. (SXM-10 is a third-generation design, using Maxar’s proven 1300-series satellite bus.) Once in its final geostationary orbit, SXM-10 will join SiriusXM’s constellation of audio satellites, enabling the company to beam hundreds of radio channels (music, news and talk programming) to subscribers across North America.

The successful launch means SiriusXM can continue expanding and refreshing its space-based infrastructure – SXM-10 follows SXM-9 from December 2024 and more satellites (SXM-11 and SXM-12) are already planned – ensuring the radio network remains robust and up to date.

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AI Reveals Mars’s Mysterious Slope Streaks Likely Formed by Dust, Not Water Activity

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June 9, 2025

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AI Reveals Mars’s Mysterious Slope Streaks Likely Formed by Dust, Not Water Activity

Unexplained dark streaks on Mars, thought to be evidence of liquid water flow in recent years, could just be marks left by blowing sand and dust, according to new artificial intelligence (AI) research. First detected by NASA’s Viking mission in 1976, these streaks are dark, narrow lines that creep down some Martian slopes and cliffs. Scientists had initially suspected that salty water runoff caused them, especially given their seasonal nature. An AI that has been taught to find streak patterns has recently called that notion into question, saying that the characteristics show up where dust and wind are strong.

AI Analysis Reveals Mars’s Dark Slope Streaks Likely Caused by Dust, Not Flowing Water

As per a Nature Communications report published on May 19, researchers used a machine learning algorithm trained on thousands of confirmed streaks to analyse over 86,000 satellite images. In one such study by Brown University, slope streaks were more likely to occur in heavily dusty regions with strong wind activity. The authors compared a global map of 500,000 streaks to climate and geology and found that dry processes were most likely to be forming these streaks.

The streaks are called slope streaks and recurrent slope lineae (RSL), and they would suggest that there is water activity on Mars. Now it seems more plausible that they were formed by thin layers of dust slipping off steep slopes rather than liquid water running over the top.

If validated, these findings could reshape the priorities of Mars exploration. Areas once believed to hold signs of ancient water — and thus possible microbial life — may be misleading. Valantinas noted that AI lets researchers rule out improbable theories from a distance, which cuts down on the need to deploy missions to less viable places. The findings might potentially make it easier to find real biosignatures on future expeditions.

This new research is helping to winnow out dead ends on Mars’s geologic history and ability to support life, scientists stated, as AI and more advanced missions shape up to hone our understanding.

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