Meet the PPN, a group of undergrad, grad, and postdoc students interested in planetary sciences supported by CPSH. During this final day of #UT40for40, your gifts will directly support students like these. To make a donation, please visit: bit.ly/42IBLfn

As part of #UT40for40 CPSH is raising support for our Student Travel Grant and Fellowship programs - critical resources that allow students to attend conferences, present their work, and pursue innovative research in planetary science and habitability. Make a gift today: bit.ly/42IBLfn

Join CPSH on Monday, April the 27th for our #CPSHSeminarSeries with Christopher German from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute! Check out the link in our bio to learn more.

Save the date - April 29-30 is #UT40for40! This year, contributions to the Center for Planetary Sciences Habitability will go directly to support students and postdoctoral researchers through fellowships and travel grants. Join us next week to support the next generation of planetary researchers!

Next week's #CPSHSeminar brings Andrea Banzatti from Texas State University! Join CPSH on April 13th from 1-2PM at PMA 15.216B or online via Zoom at the link in our bio.

See the first close-up photos of the moon from NASA's Artemis II mission:

See the first close-up photos of the moon from NASA's Artemis II mission

The crew spent about seven hours circling the moon, taking photographs and making observations of never-before-seen features.

nbcnews.com

An elegant mix of math and gravity powers the Artemis II “free return” trajectory from Earth to the moon and back

How gravity will guide the Artemis II spacecraft back to Earth

An elegant mix of math and gravity powers the Artemis II “free return” trajectory from Earth to the moon and back

scientificamerican.com

Next week's #CPSHSeminar brings Stephen Kane from the University of California, Riverside. Join CPSH on March 23rd from 1-2PM at PMA 15.216B or online via Zoom at the link in our bio.

NASA is planning to roll its moon mission rocket back out later this month, with an April 1 target launch date

NASA says it’s a ‘go’ for a fresh Artemis II moon launch attempt but admits risks remain

NASA is planning to roll its moon mission rocket back out later this month, with an April 1 target launch date

scientificamerican.com

Having a hard time keeping up with the fast-moving field of origin of eukaryotes/Asgards archaea? Our new perspective article can help, we review the status of research over the last decade and where it's going. The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Got design skills? Show them off! 💫 We’re hosting the 4th annual Texas Area Planetary Science Meeting, and we want your help designing our logo! Think space. Think Texas. Think UT Austin. 🤘🌎 Submit your design for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card! Deadline: April 17, 2026

Researchers in #ScienceAdvances have determined that NASA’s 2022 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is the first to cause a deliberate change in the heliocentric orbit of a celestial body. https://scim.ag/4aNL1ny

Direct detection of an asteroid’s heliocentric deflection: The Didymos system after DART

NASA’s DART mission changed the orbit of the Didymos system, revealing insights into the physical traits of its two asteroids.

scim.ag

Universe’s brightest stellar explosions may be powered by highly magnetic neutron stars | Science | AAAS 🔭🧪@science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Universe’s brightest stellar explosions may be powered by highly magnetic neutron stars

Peculiar bumps in light from supercharged supernovae point to a stellar remnant surrounded by a wobbling disk of matter

science.org

One of the biggest questions in biology is how complex cells evolved about 2 billion years ago. Here's my new story on how scientists are solving the mystery of eukaryotes like us. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qMbo22

Some of our earliest microbial ancestors, the Asgard archaea, were able to use oxygen, says new study in @nature.com. It may solve a mystery about how complex life first arose. #AsgardArchaea #MicrobialEcology #Eukaryogenesis #TexasScience @utmsi.bsky.social @archaeal.bsky.social

A Break in a Longstanding Mystery about Origin of Complex Life

Breathe easy. It appears our microbial ancestors used oxygen, too.

cns.utexas.edu

#NatMicroPicks Aerobic archaeal-eukaryotic ancestor? 🦠🫁 The ancestor of eukaryotes may have combined hydrogen metabolism with aerobic respiration, shaping early cellular complexity. #MicroSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Oxygen metabolism in descendants of the archaeal-eukaryotic ancestor - Nature

Sequencing of marine sediments finds 136 newly identified Heimdallarchaeia and several novel lineages, and indicates that Heimdallarchaeia evolved distinct metabolic capabilities from other Asgar...

nature.com

Scientists are one step closer to understanding the origins of complex life on Earth after shedding new light on a mystery about our microbial ancestors. https://cnn.it/4srOEWd

New paper from my team detailing a greatly expanded genomic database of Asgard archaea revealing of high energy metabolism those related to eukaryotes! Led by @katyappler.bsky.social lots of help from @jameslingford.bsky.social @valdeanda.bsky.social @kassipan.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s415...