NASA's SLS rocket and beyond: Understand the world in 7 images

A skeletal study of Congruus kitcheneri by researchers from Australia revealed it had an unusual pocket in its nose and adapted to climb trees. Even more surprisingly, the kangaroo lived in an area that’s now a barren plain, devoid of trees.

NASA announced a tentative launch date of April 8 for the Ingenuity helicopter’s first flight on Mars. It will mark the first controlled aircraft flight on another planet.

Researchers from Flinders University found that the brain of the Dromornis stirtoni, an ancient Australian flightless bird, was squeezed into a tiny cranium due to its massive beak. Their study also found that the giant bird is closely related to today’s chickens.

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin found evidence that “spiders from Mars” — radial patterns carved into the planet’s surface — are caused when the CO2 ice that forms in winter rapidly turns to gas in spring.

NASA’s Hubble space telescope captured an image of re-energized planetary nebula Abell 78. This rare type of nebula — sometimes called a “born again” star — occurs when fusion briefly resumes in a collapsed star.

An amateur astronomer in Japan discovered a classical nova in the Cassiopeia constellation. The stellar explosion is bright enough to see with binoculars in the northern hemisphere.

NASA successfully completed the final hot fire test of its Space Launch System rocket core stage, the largest rocket element the agency has ever made. The test paves the way for the SLS to be used in the Artemis I test flight around the Moon.