Most of us will remember 2020 primarily as the year of the Great Epidemic, but let’s not forget how space research and astronomy have had good years considering the circumstances. NASA astronauts blasted into space in May as part of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Capsule. New research It turned out that there may be more water on the moon than previously thought. Scientists have debated whether Venus is finding life in its clouds after discovering phosphine. The swelling continued, raising suspicions that he would soon go to Nova. The researchers noted an amazingly strange range of radio signals.
While 2021 will not magically reset our reality, there is much to look forward to next year, especially in the field of space news. Even if you’re not passionate about a space, it’s amazing to experience what a little wonder and awe can do to your psyche. It helps put our place in the world in perspective and reminds us that we are in the greater part of something; Learning about our universe is a great way to tap into it. If you feel like you have nothing to look forward to next year, consider adding one of these to your list.
NASA will launch Q-Pace
Originally scheduled to launch earlier this month, the Cubeset Particle Integration and Collision Experiment (Q-Pace) will now depart from the Mojave Air and Space Port on January 15, 2021. The Q-Pace 3 is a Cubset, a type of small, modular The spacecraft, which is designed to study the collision and aggregation of small particles in a chamber as part of a three-year microgravity experiment. The mission aims to develop a database of small-particle interactions in microgravity at low speeds. This information will help researchers better understand the process of early coagulation that led to the formation of the planets.
“The Q-Pace mission will run for three years, providing an opportunity to study the phenomena of engagement and fission, which are rare, such as the simultaneous collision of three or more particles,” NASA said. Explains About the mission. “The mission will advance several phases with the introduction of a variety of particles into the ETC, starting with large solid spherical particles, and ending with a set of micron-shaped dust and controls.”
Mars 2020 will finally come to work
2021 will be the beginning of a new chapter in the field of Mars exploration. In the summer, the mission Mars 2020 Started in space. But comes February 18, 2021 Firm rover Mars will eventually land on the Jezero Crater. Its mission is expected to last 687 Earth days, or one Earth year.
According to NASA, the primary science objectives of Mars 2020 are to identify past environments capable of supporting microbial life, to detect signs of possible past microbial life, to collect core rock and regolith specimens, and to cache them to the surface for future missions. Testing a product from a military environment. ”
The most exciting part of the mission is that the collected specimens will return to Earth. Sample return missions are extremely unusual due to their cost; Notably, the sample return mission from another planet never came.
“Returning a sample of Mars to Earth has been the goal of planetary scientists since the early days of the space age, and the successful completion of this MSR. [Mars Sample Return] The key decision to make this goal a reality is the next step, “said David Cook, chief of The Christian Science Monitor’s Washington bureau. Said Thomas Zarbuchen, Associate Manager for Science at NASA Headquarters “MSR is a complex mission, and it involves leading elements of space exploration – pushing the boundaries of what is capable, in doing so, will advance our understanding of our place in the universe.”
As part of the Mars 2020 mission, NASA will also deploy this Ingenuity Helicopter from the rover to study the Martian atmosphere. This will help NASA study how to produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars, an important step for the future of human research on Mars.
The Parker Solar Probe will create two more Venus flybies
Car-size testing, which began in 2018, is set to build the fourth and fifth Venus flybies in 2021, in February and October, respectively. Both flybys are part of a long journey to get closer to the sun in 2025.
Formerly as a salon Explained, These flybies are unique because they are taking advantage of Venus’ gravity to slow down the probe for arrival in a nearby orbit around the Sun. The investigation will do seven flybys in seven years.
“Even if it sounds weird, any two-for-objects with a set of laws of physics can change the way they move, slowing down one while slowing down the other,” Keith Spencer of Salon said earlier. “This method, which is often used to send spacecraft to a distance of the solar system, would be faster, otherwise, without using as much fuel.”
James Webb launches the Web Space Telescope
As of October 31, 2021, about અ 9 billion James Webb Web Space Telescope – The successor to the Hubble Telescope – will be launched from the port near Kurou in French Guiana. Its goal is to observe the first galaxies formed in the early universe, in addition to the stars that formed the eclipse system. According to NASA, it will become the leading observatory of the 2020s and will help thousands of astronomers around the world.
“[James Webb] The first stars will study how they were so different from the stars around us today, because there were no metals that make up any of the stars today. ” Said Interview with Massimo Stevelli, Mission Head of the Space Telescope Science Institute, at NASSpaceflight.com. “The Stars had to make it. [James Webb] It is the only telescope designed to study the early ages. “
The lunar polar hydrogen mapper will map the water on the moon
Scientists previously suspected that water existed in the moon’s shaded, colder parts – such as its poles, where it would remain stationary – but Pair of studies published in 2020 Confirmed that it also has a large amount of water on its sunny areas. Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (Lunah-Map) Our water knowledge will be further enhanced by orbiting the Moon with the objective of determining the amount of water ice that exists in the permanent shaded lunar polar craters. It will do this using a miniature neutron spectrometer to calculate celestial neutrons. The shoebox-sized spacecraft will launch in late November 2021.
