NASA: These were the discoveries and space missions that marked 2024

 

This 2024, Peru signed the Artemisa Agreements with NASA for space exploration, in addition, successful space missions were developed such as the launch of the PACE mission and Europa Clipper, as well as the launch of the third Starship test flight, and the revelation from the remaining sample of the asteroid Bennu collected by the OSIRIS-REx mission, as well as discoveries from the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes.

 

At the beginning of the year, NASA made public the final portion of the material collected from the asteroid Bennu OSIRIS-REx mission. This sample, which had already surpassed the initial goal of 60 grams, reaching 70.3 grams, was crucial because it contained vital components such as carbon and water, which are fundamental elements for life as we know it.  

In the coming decades, the secrets hidden by this asteroid will be studied, and more information will be known about how our solar system was formed, how the precursor materials for life could have been planted on Earth, and what precautions should be taken to avoid collisions with asteroids. .

As part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and the Artemis campaign, SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched on February 15 on first lunar lander de Intuitive Machines to the surface of the Moon from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

On board the lander were a suite of NASA scientific instruments and technology demonstrations, as well as commercial payloads. On February 22, the Nova-C lunar module 'Odysseus' landed on the Moon. 

An open invitation was also made to the public to send their names to the Moon through the rover VIPER, whose mission was to explore the lunar south pole, an area of ​​great interest to science due to the potential presence of frozen water. However, due to budgetary issues, support was suspended in mid-2024, evaluating the possibility of having a private partner. As noted, the exploration of craters and the search for water could offer valuable resources for future lunar missions.

As part of the NASA Commercial Crew Program, in 2024 the Crew-7 crew returned in March, and the Crew-8 mission took off towards the International Space Station. Upon their return, in September, the Crew-9 crew once again made a trip in the Dragon spacecraft, which will last until 2025. 

These types of rehearsals are important to familiarize the teams and astronauts with the launch procedure. The collaboration between SpaceX and NASA is critical to space station operations and space exploration in general.

  

During their stay, astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin of the Crew-8 mission They carried out more than 200 scientific experiments in different fields such as biology, physics and medicine. These types of missions are crucial to advancing scientific research and improving the understanding of space, as well as ensuring the continued human presence in space. 

In turn, in March, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and space flight participant Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus were part of the Expedition 71 crew who headed to the International Space Station.  In September, they returned to Earth after a successful mission.  These long-duration missions are important to study the effects of being in space on the human body and prepare for longer future trips.

In April, astronaut Loral O'Hara returned to Earth after a 200-day stay in space. These types of missions are important to study how the human body adapts to the lack of gravity, allowing scientific research to be carried out in the space environment, which provides very valuable knowledge for future exploration missions. The information collected about the effects of weightlessness is essential for planning longer trips to other planets.

Mega rocket for missions on the Moon

In March, SpaceX launched the Starship, a megarocket designed for missions to the Moon and Mars. Although the launch was successful, the mission suffered a setback when contact with the megarocket was lost shortly after. 

In October, SpaceX was successful in "catching" the booster of its Starship megarocket in flight, which was launched in southern Texas, in the United States.  

Dr. Fredy Marcell Villanueva Jiménez, Space Technology Researcher at the Peruvian Space Agency - CONIDA, noted in Andina Canal Online that this spectacular maneuver has a technological importance because it is the first time It has been recovered in flight, with the help of robotic arms, the booster of the megarocket built by SpaceX.

These "robotic arms," ​​nicknamed "the chopsticks," closed on Space X's Super Heavy booster and immobilized it.

On June 5, the spacecraft Starliner, of the aeronautical giant Boeing, successfully took off from the southeastern United States towards the International Space Station carrying astronauts on board for the first time, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, after two previous attempts were frustrated shortly after launch.

It is Starliner launch was part of an ongoing effort to expand cargo and crew transportation options to the International Space Station, and sought to certify the Starliner for scheduled flights. Flight testing is a crucial part of this process, and the data obtained is of vital importance for the optimization of the space vehicle.

NASA's commercial crew program requires a spacecraft to perform a crewed test flight to demonstrate that the system is ready to make regular flights to and from the orbiting laboratory. After Starliner's return last September, the agency will review all data related to the mission.

The astronauts were "stranded" on the International Space Station because helium leaks were identified and they experienced problems with the spacecraft's reaction control thrusters.

Discovering the universe

In February the launch of NASA's PACE satellite, whose objective is to study the ocean from space. This satellite focuses on observing and measuring Earth's oceanic, atmospheric and climatic variables. The data provided by PACE will help scientists better understand the Earth's climate and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems, which is crucial for the protection of our planet's natural resources.

 

In April, the PACE satellite revealed the first data on Earth's ocean, atmosphere and climate, while the Voyager 1 space probe returned data to Earth. Voyager 1 stopped sending readable scientific and engineering data to Earth on Nov. 14, 2023, even though mission controllers knew the spacecraft was still receiving their orders and was otherwise operating normally. In March, Voyager's engineering team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed that the problem was related to one of the spacecraft's three onboard computers, called the FDS flight data subsystem. , which is responsible for packaging scientific and engineering data before sending it to Earth.

In October, the Euclid mission of the ESA published the 1% of the most detailed map of the universe. This map, which already contains around 100 million sources of stars and galaxies, was created from observations made in just two weeks. This map, when complete, is expected to reveal more than a third of the sky and help scientists better understand the influence of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. The precision and detail of this map are an unprecedented advance in astronomy. The mosaic contains 260 observations from the Euclid Space Telescope. In just two weeks, Euclid covered 132 square degrees of the southern sky in impeccable detail, more than 500 times the area of ​​the full Moon.

In terms of discoveries and observations of space, this year, the Euclid space telescope also revealed new images of the universe, while NASA released images of a crater on Mars twice the size of the Sahara Desert.

 

Observations from NASA's Hubble Telescope captured the beginnings of a Sun-like star, and the James Webb Space Telescope presented us with images of two galaxies that They simulate a penguin taking care of an egg. 

During 2024, the James Webb Telescope also discovered the most distant galaxy known, and together with the Hubble telescope they examined a galactic couple.

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