Rahul Rao
Rahul Rao is a graduate of New York University's SHERP and a freelance science writer, regularly covering physics, space, and infrastructure. His work has appeared in Gizmodo, Popular Science, Inverse, IEEE Spectrum, and Continuum. He enjoys riding trains for fun, and he has seen every surviving episode of Doctor Who. He holds a masters degree in science writing from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and earned a bachelors degree from Vanderbilt University, where he studied English and physics.
Latest articles by Rahul Rao
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India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander kicked up a 'halo' of dust visible from space
By Rahul Rao published
Photos taken from lunar orbit show India's Chandrayaan-3 moon landing produced "ejecta halo," a huge ring-shaped plume of moon dust that the Vikram lander's thrusters left in the lunar soil.
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James Webb Space Telescope gazes into a galactic garden of budding stars (image)
By Rahul Rao published
The James Webb Space Telescope strikes again, offering a stunning image of barred spiral galaxy M83.
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NASA, India to launch Earth-observing satellite in 2024
By Rahul Rao published
NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation are putting the finishing touches on the NISAR satellite, which will launch in 2024 to track how Earth's surface changes over time.
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New map of ice on Mars could help NASA decide where to send future astronauts
By Rahul Rao published
The NASA-funded SWIM project aims to detect where there's most likely water ice beneath Martian ground. Here's why.
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The mysterious dimming of supergiant star Betelgeuse may finally be explained (photo)
By Rahul Rao published
Images released by the European Southern Observatory may reveal why Betelgeuse dimmed in 2019.
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NASA's interstellar Voyager probes get software updates beamed from 12 billion miles away
By Rahul Rao published
In May 2022, for instance, ground control began receiving gobbledygook from one of Voyager 1's systems.
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A mud lake on Mars might be hiding signs of life in chaotic terrain
By Rahul Rao published
Martian biosignatures might be lurking in an ancient mud lake on the Red Planet, a new study suggests. But a landing mission is needed to confirm the satellite study.
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'Dark universe' telescope Euclid faces some setbacks during commissioning
By Rahul Rao published
The observatory's star navigation system and sun protective devices have presented with anomalies.
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Giant Magellan Telescope project casts 7th and final mirror (photos)
By Rahul Rao published
The Giant Magellan Telescope project just cast its seventh and final primary mirror segment, a huge milestone that keeps the scope on target to begin operations in the late 2020s.
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe flies through major coronal mass ejection — and survives to tell the tale
By Rahul Rao published
The sun-kissing spacecraft watched as dust particles were displaced across 6 million miles (9.7 million kilometers).
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NASA's new greenhouse gas detector will help track down 'super-emitters' from space
By Rahul Rao published
As global warming continues to be exacerbated by human activity, scientists are setting out to map the distribution of Earth's greenhouse gas emissions.
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Kombucha on Mars? It could be key for astronauts' survival off Earth
By Rahul Rao published
Kombucha cultures riding on the ISS' exterior for 18 months proved resilient to the dangers of outer space.
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'Artificial star' helps test satellite navigation systems (photo)
By Rahul Rao published
The builders of star trackers need to test their tools before launching them aboard satellites. And that's where star simulators come in handy.

SpaceX resupply mission will bring NASA laser communication system to ISS this year
By Rahul Rao published
If this tech demonstration is successful, the system could one day allow astronauts to converse by laser.
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India's Chandrayaan-3 moon rover reveals surprising sulfur find in lunar south pole soil
By Rahul Rao published
An instrument aboard the mission’s Pragyan rover has found traces of sulfur within the lunar south pole’s soil.
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Mars astronauts could make rocket fuel on the Red Planet someday. Here's how
By Rahul Rao published
Because oxygen takes up valuable weight aboard spacecraft, space mission planners are interested in the idea of creating oxygen right there on Mars with raw Martian materials.
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NASA's Psyche asteroid mission will test next-gen laser communications in space
By Rahul Rao published
NASA plans on testing an innovative new way to communicate with deep space probes, and step one depends on the success of the Psyche mission.
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How climate change alters rivers on both Earth and Mars
By Rahul Rao published
A new study uses terrestrial and Martian data to investigate how river paths change depending on environmental conditions.
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Asteroid collisions may be responsible for mysteriously magnetic meteorites on Earth
By Rahul Rao published
By modeling meteorite collisions, scientists from Yale University may have finally solved the puzzle of why some space rocks have unexpected magnetic fields.
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Massive sun 'umbrella' attached to asteroid could help fight global warming, scientist says
By Rahul Rao published
Hoping to combat our planet's rising temperatures, a scientist from the University of Hawaii explains a very futuristic way of shielding the Earth from sunlight.
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GPS satellites may be able to detect earthquakes before they happen
By Rahul Rao published
Earthquakes may make their presence known through GPS measurements several hours before their main events.
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Happy Asteroid Day! You can celebrate with this free webcast
By Rahul Rao published
Asteroid Day is an annual celebration of asteroid science, and a reminder of how important it is to study these potentially dangerous objects. Here's how you can celebrate this year.
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Space explorers mourn the loss of Titan submersible's 5 crewmates
By Rahul Rao published
The exploration community is still reeling from the announcement that the submersible Titan broke apart, resulting in the death of its five passengers.
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