Long-awaited milestones in space

By Brooke Edwards

During this coldest season of the year, with the sun and stars hidden behind clouds for what seems like weeks, it is a great time to investigate all the spectacular events coming soon in the world of space exploration. 2021 promises to be a memorable year.

Current exploration extended

The year began with an announcement that NASA will be extending both the Mars InSight and Juno missions.  InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) has been conducting studies beneath the surface of the Red Planet since 2018.  The lander gives us insight into temperature and seismic activity (Marsquakes) and records meteorite impacts. All these factors will help us better understand the conditions of Mars and how the planet and the early solar system may have formed. The InSight project will now continue until the end of next year, welcome news for Mars enthusiasts.  

Juno, the mission flying by Jupiter, will now be extended until 2025. For four more years, or until Juno stops transmitting data, it will continue to look at Jupiter, its rings and moons Europa, Ganymede, and Io. This will save costs on future missions and help us understand more about our solar system.  

Progress on SLS

SLS (Space Launch System) is the transportation system that will ferry Artemis mission astronauts to the moon and beyond. A Green Run Test of the launch core stage was run on Jan. 16 at Stennis Space Center. During the test, the four engines were to produce 1.6 million pounds of thrust in just 8 minutes! With that power, the vehicle will be able to escape the pull of Earth’s gravity and head into space. Unfortunately, even though the engines did fire, they shut off early, after one minute, a reminder that rocket science is difficult! This test came a month after NASA announced the first group of Artemis astronauts who will be training for missions to the moon.  

Perseverance to land on Mars

Launched from Earth months earlier, the Perseverance rover will finally land on Mars February 18. Discoveries from the rover will not only tell us more about Mars, itself, but also the conditions and resources future human explorers will find.  A microphone on the rover is expected to record sounds on the surface, too. For more information about the mission, go to: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/.

Crewed launches from the Space Coast 

After the return of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission from the International Space Station (ISS), the Crew 2 mission is expected to launch in early spring. While working on SLS, NASA will continue to contract with SpaceX to transport astronauts to and from the ISS. Our space agency is also working with Boeing toward the goal of flying a crewed test flight on its reusable space capsule Starliner by this summer. Like SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, Starliner will also provide transportation to and from the ISS.  

Launch of the James Webb Space Telescope

In October, the complement to the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will finally launch from South America. This orbiting observatory will collect infrared light to observe distant stars and galaxies. As the most powerful telescope ever built, Webb will peer deeper into the universe, providing a better understanding of how the universe and our galaxy were formed billions of years ago. The James Webb Telescope project is an international collaboration including NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

While this year promises to be a thrilling one for space exploration, just imagine what discoveries will be made in the years ahead. 

Brooke Edwards is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador. She lives in Manistee and has traveled around the area giving presentations and hosting seasonal Star Parties on the beach. Follow her group on Facebook:  @BrookeEdwardsSolarSystemAmbassador