Here are the 6 most exciting space missions of 2021
Artemis 1
Artemis 1 is the first flight of the Nasa-led, internationalArtemis programto return astronauts to the Moon by 2024. This will consist of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft which will be sent on a three-week flight around the Moon. IT will reach a maximum distance from Earth of 450,000 km – the farthest into space that any spacecraft that can transport humans will have ever flown.
Artemis 1 will be launched into Earth orbit on the first NASASpace Launch System, which will be the most powerful rocket in operation. From Earth orbit, the Orion will be propelled onto a different path towards the Moon by the rocket’sinterim cryogenic propulsion stage. The Orion capsule will then travel to the Moon under the power provided by aservice modulesupplied by the European Space Agency (Esa).
The mission will provide engineers back on Earth with a chance to evaluate how the spacecraft performs in deep space and serve as a prelude tolater crewedlunar missions. The launch of Artemis 1 is currently scheduled for late in 2021.
Mars missions
In February, Mars will receive a flotilla of terrestrial robotic guests from several countries. The United Arab Emirates’Al Amal (Hope)spacecraft is the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. It is scheduled to arrive in Mars orbit on February 9, where it will spend two years monitoring the Martian weather and disappearing atmosphere.
Arriving within a couple of weeks after Al Amal will be the China National Space Administration’sTianwen-1, consisting of an orbiter and a surface rover. The spacecraft will enter Martian orbit for several months before deploying the rover to the surface. If it succeeds, China will become the third country to land anything on Mars. The mission has several objectives including mapping the mineral composition of the surface and searching for sub-surface water deposits.
[Read:Meet the 4 scale-ups using data to save the planet]
NASA’s Perseverance rover will land atJezero Crateron February 18 and search for any signs of ancient life which may have been preserved in the clay deposits there. Critically, it will also store a cache of Martian surface samples on board as the first part in ahighly ambitiousinternational program to return samples of Mars to Earth.
Chandrayaan-3
In March 2021, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch its third lunar mission: Chandrayaan-3. Chandrayaan-1 launched in 2008 and was one of the firstmajor missions in the Indian space program. Comprising an orbiter and a surface penetrator probe, the mission was one of the first to confirmevidence of lunar water.
Unfortunately, contact with the satellite waslost less than a year later. Sadly, there was a similar mishap with its successor, Chandrayaan-2, which consisted of an orbiter, a lander (Vikram), and a lunar rover (Pragyan).
Chandrayaan-3 wasannounced a few months later. It will consist ofonly a lander and rover, as the previous mission’s orbiter is still functioning and providing data.
If all goes well the Chandrayaan-3 rover will touch down in the lunar South Pole’s Aitken basin. It’s of particular interest as it is thought to host numerous deposits of subsurface water ice – a vital component for any futuresustainable lunar habitation.
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescopeis the successorto the Hubble Space Telescope, but has had a rocky path to being launched. Initially planned for a 2007 launch, the Webb telescope is almost 14 years late and has cost roughlyUS$10 billion(£7.4 billion) after apparent underestimates and overruns similar to those experienced by Hubble.
Whereas Hubble has provided some amazing views of the universe in visible and ultraviolet region of light, Webb is planning tofocus observations in the infrared wavelength band. The reason for this is that when observing really distant objects there will probably be gas clouds in the way.
These gas clouds block really small wavelengths of light, such as X-rays and ultraviolet light, while longer wavelengths like infra-red, microwave, and radio can get through more easily. So by observing in these longer wavelengths we should see more of the universe.
Webb also has a much bigger mirror of 6.5-metre diameter compared to Hubble’s 2.4-meter diameter mirror – essential for improving image resolution and seeing finer detail.
The primary mission of Webb is to look at light from galaxies at the edge of the universe which can tell us about how the first stars, galaxies, and planetary systems formed. Potentially this could include some information about the origin of life as well, as Webb is planning on imaging exoplanet atmospheres in high detail, searching for the building blocks of life. Do they exist on other planets, and if so, how did they get there?
We are also likely to be treated to somestunning imagessimilar to those produced by Hubble. Webb is currently scheduled to launch on an Ariane 5 rocket on October 31.
This article byIan Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics,Nottingham Trent UniversityandGareth Dorrian, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science,University of Birminghamis republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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