Space Roundup Dec 6th, 2020
Hello, dear space lover!
Here’s a summary of some of the highlights we have witnessed in this historical week. Enjoy!
Sample return missions
This week, Chang’e-5, the Chinese mission to the moon, was the center of attention of the space community. They successfully landed on the Moon, collected dust and rocks during a bunch of hours, and then took-off the surface of the moon to prepare for the next step in their mission: a rendezvous in orbit and the beginning of their trip back home. How exciting is this?
Talking about returning samples to Earth, the Japanese mission Hayabusa-2 successfully returned home yesterday after a 6-year mission. They traveled to asteroid Ryugu 300 million kilometers for Earth, gathered subsurface samples, and came back yesterday…what an amazing story. Now the next step is to analyze those precious materials and keep learning about the formation of our universe. Go, Hayabusa!
Space farming
Space farming progressing! Last week, astronauts onboard the ISS harvested the first radish crop grown on space. It was a small crop of 20 plants, but already looked healthy (and delicious). Sadly they can not eat them (yet), as they are coming back to Earth to be analyzed, but this will be very important for future long-term missions in which astronauts will need to grow their own food instead of bringing it from Earth. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/astronauts-harvest-first-radish-crop-on-international-space-station
NASA
NASA, which keeps making progress on the preparation and tests for the Artemis 1 mission to the moon, is currently performing a full wet dress rehearsal for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. This test is critical to demonstrate all systems are performing ok and everything is on track for their 2021 launch.
This same week NASA has awarded three commercial companies contracts to collect lunar rocks. The sum is absurd ($25.000), but it is important to set the framework for space resource mining and commercialization.
ESA
The European Space Agency announced this week that Ariane Group has started the tests of Themis, the first European reusable rocket. This is just an experimental rocket, but it is vital to keep making progress in a faster and cheaper way, following the steps of the rest of the space community.
Also, this week at ESA, the Gaia Space Telescope, which orbits beyond the moon to map our galaxy, released the best high-resolution “map” of 1.8 billion stars in the Milky Way. Some of the very interesting things it allows us to discover are for example how fast our solar system moves towards the center of the galaxy. It also helps us build a map to navigate in space (remember rockets, satellites, rovers, and probes don’t have GPS, so they need to use quasar maps to know where they are).
SpaceX
Finally, two SpaceX launches that were scheduled for this week have been delayed: the ISS resupply mission (scheduled for later today) and the SN8 greatly-awaited prototype test flight (maybe next Tuesday? We don’t know for sure yet).
Keep learning
What are quasars? Quasars are the most luminous objects in the universe. They are key to help us navigate in space. Read more about them here
Picture of the week
…well…actually two pictures! Both pictures are taken 20 years apart: it’s the Stingray Nebula fading away. We have never been able to capture an event like this before…Read more about this interesting and unique event.
Launches Next Week
Dec. 6 Falcon 9 • SpaceX CRS 21
Dec. 10 Falcon 9 • SXM 7
Dec. 10 Rocket 3.2 • Test Flight
Dec. 10 Long March 11 • GECAM
Dec. 10 Delta 4-Heavy • NROL-44
Dec. 11 Angara-A5 • Test Flight
Dec. 12 Electron • “Owl’s Night Begins”
And that’s it for this week! :)
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Cheers from sunny Spain!
Juan, the Curious Astronaut