The Most Historic Space Story of 2020

Suara.com – 2020 is considered a year full of challenges due to the Corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic affecting various fields, including outer space.

However, there have been many extraordinary achievements made for spaceflight. Reporting from Space.com, here are five stories the most historic space that happened throughout 2020:

1. SpaceX launches its first astronaut

In May 2020, SpaceX’s Demo 2 mission successfully sent two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on a crew test flight that lasted three months, aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

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In addition, in mid-November 2020, NASA is partnering with SpaceX to launch four astronauts to the ISS as part of a mission SpaceX Crew-1.

The space agency said it was a historic launch because it would be the first time that an international crew would fly aboard an American rocket and spacecraft that was NASA-certified and operated from the United States.

2. Retrieval Moon samples

In December 2020, China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft managed to bring the first Moon sample to Earth in 44 years. The mission collected the first lunar material since the USSR’s Luna 24 mission.

Weighing 1,731 kilograms, the sample will significantly expand experts’ understanding of the Moon.

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The mission continues a long series of successful Chinese Moon missions in recent years, including the Chang’e 4 landing mission on the far side of the Moon.

3. Retrieval asteroid samples

In October, NASA sent OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) to sample the asteroid Bennu.

The spacecraft managed to take in so much regolith that it leaked. But the engineers managed to keep the samples safe.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to leave Bennu in March and will arrive on Earth in September 2023. The sample will be descended by parachute and is predicted to land in the Utah desert.

4. Launch Mars mission

Three launches to Mars were successfully carried out in July 2020 by NASA, China and the United Arab Emirates.

NASA launched the Perseverance rover to hunt for ancient life on Mars and store samples that will be returned to Earth.

Meanwhile, China launched the Tianwen 1 mission consisting of orbiters, landers and explorers to the Red Planet.

The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, launched an orbiter called Hope, which it hopes will inspire young people to join the country’s space industry.

On the other hand, Europe and Russia must postpone the launch of a mission to Mars in 2022 due to technical problems and pandemic constraints.

5. NASA announces the astronaut team Artemis

Despite the delays in the Artemis program, NASA has announced a list of astronauts going to the Moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis III mission.

Artemis’s team consists of 18 astronauts, including the person who will be the first woman to land on the Moon.

International participation will also be part of the program, in which the Canadian Space Agency announces that one of its astronauts will be part of the Artemis II mission.

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