SPACE — 2024 will be filled with science missions and events ranging from solar eclipses to cool new uses of technology.
There will be a new observatory that will be operational. This observatory will scan the sky. Other missions include NASA’s Europa Clipper to investigate the potential for life on Europa, a moon of the planet Jupiter.
Here are 12 science events and missions worth noting and looking forward to:
Solar Eclipse April 8
On April 8, 2024, a solar eclipse will darken the sky for 4 minutes and 27 seconds in parts of North America. In the path of totality, observers can see the sun’s ‘ring of fire’ when the Moon blocks our view.
After this year’s solar eclipse, the next total solar eclipse across most of the US will not occur until August 23, 2044.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin functioning
Some of Earth’s most powerful observatories will start operating this year. The long-awaited Vera C. Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachón, Chile, is scheduled to begin observing on December 11, 2024.
This facility will observe the Southern Hemisphere skies for ten years with a 3200 megapixel camera. This is part of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Every night it will generate 20 terabytes of data.
Using this data, astrophysicists will create maps of the Milky Way Galaxy, study objects passing through the sky, and better understand dark matter and energy. All data will be easily accessible online.
NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission to Launch in Fall
The Europa Clipper mission will explore what is beneath one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. Scientists suspect that Europa hides a large ocean beneath its frozen layer.
Europa has attracted scientists’ attention because of evidence of water and some of the chemical building blocks of life such as sulfur, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and hydrogen. Additionally, it is thought that Jupiter’s pull on Europa causes enough energy within the Moon to warm it.
55th Anniversary Since the Apollo 11 Mission
In 2024, it will be 55 years since the Apollo 11 astronauts set foot on the Moon. On July 24, 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon. The two collected lunar samples during this mission and spent approximately 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon.
2024-01-15 23:24:00
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