What does a bear have in common with a megatsunami?

JWST accidentally discovered a tiny asteroid. A team of European scientists were looking at calibration images from the space telescope’s observations of another main-belt asteroid when they noticed a previously unknown asteroid about 100-200 meters (approximately 320-650 feet) in diameter. Small main-belt asteroids like this have not been well studied because they are difficult to observe, but by spotting this small asteroid from around 100 million kilometers (more than 60 million miles) away, JWST has once again proven its game-changing capabilities. Pictured: An artist’s impression of the newly discovered asteroid. Image credit: N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), ESO/M. Kornmesser and S. Brunier, N. Risinger (skysurvey.org).

The United States and India are expanding their cooperation in space. Officials from both countries announced this week that NASA and ISRO (the Indian Space Research Organization) will work together on civil space activities in the coming years. This includes training an Indian astronaut at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and cooperating on NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, in which NASA sends research payloads to the Moon aboard commercial lunar landers.

Astronomers have detected a new Earth-like exoplanet. A team using the 3.5-meter (11.5-foot) telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain have found a rocky exoplanet orbiting within its red dwarf star’s habitable zone (where liquid water could be possible on the surface). The discovery was made using the radial velocity method, in which small wobbles in a star's location indicate the presence of a planet.

NASA has a new chief astronaut. The space agency announced this week that it has selected veteran astronaut Joe Acaba as chief of the Astronaut Office. Among other responsibilities, he will select the astronauts who will fly on Artemis missions to the Moon. A decorated veteran of multiple spaceflights, Acaba is the first person of Hispanic heritage selected to lead the office.

We’ve picked our favorite moons. Is yours on the list? Impossible as it may seem, we’ve narrowed the Solar System’s 240+ moons down to the eight moons we think are the most interesting. From our own familiar satellite to the wholly alien Io, from possible havens of life to a tiny and icy Frankenstein’s monster, there’s an astonishing diversity of worlds in orbit around our Solar System’s planets. Pictured: Uranus’ moon Miranda as seen by NASA’s Voyager 2 probe. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk.

The White House has a new strategy for exploring the Moon. The new, whole-of-government strategy will help various public and private actors explore and make use of the Moon and cislunar space. Dr. Matt Daniels, the chair of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy group that defined this new policy, joins this month’s Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition to discuss the strategy, its ambitions, and implications for the future of lunar exploration and development.