About Author
Meet Ankita, a journalist and editor who’s spent almost a decade getting good stories in front of the people they’re meant for. At Starlust, you’ll find her covering the latest discoveries and stories from NASA, ESA, SpaceX, upcoming skywatching events, and more. Over the years, she’s worked on thousands of articles across a wide range of topics, with her work reaching millions of readers. Before joining Starlust, she served as Chief Editor at Kalrecon and covered stories for CollegeDunia and GameRant. Outside of work, Ankita spends her free time reading and exploring different creative side projects.
Latest From Ankita Garkoti
NASA's Crew-13 mission will study astronaut health for future Moon and Mars missions
“Together, these investigations will help NASA better understand how the human body responds to spaceflight”
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JWST's mysterious red dot may hide a black hole 100,000 times as massive as the Sun
A new study claims that the red dot from the early universe may be a black hole 100,000 times as massive as the Sun. Here’s how.
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How Area 51 became America's most famous alien and UFO mystery
For decades, Area 51 has been surrounded by rumors of aliens and UFOs. Here’s how this remote Nevada base earned its mysterious reputation.
ESA and JAXA's Ramses probe powers up ahead of a rare close encounter with asteroid Apophis
“For the first time ever, nature is bringing one to us and conducting the experiment itself.”
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6 times Apollo 11's moon mission nearly went wrong
Before Neil Armstrong ever took his famous first step, the mission survived a string of close calls that could have ended it all.
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Chilling satellite images that show the impact of war from space
From the ground to orbit, these images capture the lasting marks that wars have left on our planet.
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Russia launched giant mirrors into space in the 1990s, but things didn’t go as planned
The goal was to set up a grid of mirrors that would light up the sky with light 50 times brighter than the Moon. Here's what happened next.
Mars looks purple in a stunning new ESA image. Here's what's behind the color
ESA shared 3D close-ups and a topographic map to show how high or low the ground sits.
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Aliens may be more like us than we think, according to Oxford researchers
What might alien life have in common with us? Oxford researchers used evolutionary theory to make some predictions. Here’s a look at what they suggest.
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Why do so many people still think the Moon landings were faked?
Even with the volume of evidence that exists today, many people still believe that the Moon landings were staged. Here’s why the doubt won't go away.
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Is that a ‘bear’ on Mars? NASA spotted something that looks oddly familiar
NASA captured an unusual formation on Mars that seems almost too familiar to be real. Here’s what it is.
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These are the only photos ever taken from the surface of Venus
Only four spacecraft have ever survived long enough to send back pictures from Venus's surface. Here's a look at the images.
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The mysterious Wow! Signal may finally have an explanation, and it's not aliens
For decades, the Wow! Signal was one of space's biggest unsolved mysteries, but researchers say they may have finally found the source.
NASA lays out timeline for new US Space Academy, first class set for 2028
The first class of 300 students will begin in 2028, with the permanent campus fully operational by 2031.
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Two men 'psychically probed' Jupiter before any spacecraft got there, and the CIA has proof
In 1973, two men mentally traveled to Jupiter before NASA’s Pioneer 10 probe reached the planet. Here's how much of their claim is actually true.
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From triumphs to tragedies: What NASA looked like in the 1980s
NASA entered the 1980s with big ambitions for space exploration, but the decade also brought some of its darkest moments.
SpaceX gears up to launch its second classified Space Force mission; Here's how to watch it live
Just days after its first classified payload of the week, SpaceX is gearing up for a second launch from Vandenberg.
White House forms new council to find answers to the UFO mystery
The new council will study unexplained aerial phenomena and examine what may be behind the sightings.
Scientists just found a bizarre new form of ice that could explain what’s inside Uranus and Neptune
A new hexagonal ice phase found in lab tests may explain Neptune and Uranus's odd magnetic fields. Here’s how.
What if dark energy is evolving? Comprehensive new dataset questions a core assumption
“Two completely independent measurements have found hints of time variation in dark energy"
Mercury has been shrinking faster than we realized. Here’s what that means
New research suggests the planet has lost nearly 12 miles from its diameter, and the reason could lie deep inside.
Two of NASA’s Artemis II astronauts step back from spaceflight after historic Moon mission
After piloting and commanding Artemis II, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are moving to new emeritus roles this September.
Scientists chased two dying ESA satellites in a jet to learn how space junk pollutes our sky (watch video)
"We want to understand what happens to these bodies as they fly through the atmosphere”
New study reveals fresh clues about the mysterious origin of comet 3I/ATLAS
"This object gives us a rare chance to study material that formed somewhere completely different from our own solar system."
What happens when a star dies? New research gets closer to an answer
The research offers clues about how dying stars forge the elements that make up everything from planets to people.
NASA-funded "Slingshot" concept aims to map minerals on the Moon and beyond
Here's how NASA's 'Slingshot' concept hopes to spot valuable minerals from orbit.
ESA and JAXA's BepiColombo spacecraft begins Mercury arrival after 8 years in space
Eight years after launch, BepiColombo has entered its final approach to the planet. Here’s what happens next.
For the first time, scientists may have finally found direct evidence of dark matter
“It's thrilling to wonder if this could be the first hint of a dark-matter observation.”
Moon to occult Jupiter in daylight on September 8: When and how to watch
The Moon will hide Jupiter from view on September 8 in a rare skywatching event. Check city-wise timings here.
NASA restarts Swift telescope after failed rescue, but its future is far from certain
Swift resumes science after a failed rescue attempt, but its orbit keeps decaying fast. Here’s what’s next.
NASA's Roman Space Telescope activates the instrument built to spot hidden planets
NASA's newest space telescope is now closer to photographing planets that orbit distant stars.
September Full Moon 2026: How and when to watch this year's Harvest Moon
This year’s Harvest Moon will peak on Sept. 26. Here's how you can catch its glow from the U.S.