End of year 2024: The year 2024 was chock full of incredible developments in the space and science sectors around the world.
Livemint takes a look at the top eight such stories throughout the year, including the one-time North American coast-to-coast eclipse, NASA's decision to postpone its manned and unmanned lunar missions to Artemis (and subsequent Mars missions), contact with deep space Voyager 1 and Sunita Williams' space journey.
NASA postpones Artemis II until April 2026, Artemis III until mid-2027
The United States' national space agency, NASA, said on December 5 that it is officially postponing its Artemis Moon mission programs. NASA said the Artemis program has suffered a setback, pushing back the Artemis II crewed test flight to April 2026 (from September 2025) and the Artemis III mission to mid-2027.
According to the space agency, engineers will continue to prepare the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II crewed test flight. The new date reflects the time needed to address gaps in the Orion capsule's environmental control and life support systems.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called the Artemis campaign “the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international undertaking ever undertaken by humanity,” adding that significant progress has been made over the past four years and that he is “proud” of the coming years. step forward in space exploration. Read details about the Artemis II (crewed mission) and Artemis III (landing mission) here.
Sunita Williams' 'lettuce' is making a leap into space farming
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), is leading groundbreaking research into green leaf lettuce. According to reports, as station commander, Williams is focusing on the “extraordinary” growth of romaine lettuce in microgravity.
This research is important for understanding how different amounts of water affect plant growth, which has significant implications for future space missions and agricultural developments on Earth. Furthermore, the research aims to provide insight into sustainable agricultural practices that can be applied in space and on Earth. The information gathered from the project could be critical to designing agricultural systems to support astronauts on the moon, Mars and space missions beyond.
Chandrayaan-3 transmits data: Did the moon's surface once have a magma ocean?
The Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) lunar mission Chandrayaan-3, which soft-landed on the moon's south pole last year, returned data in August 2024 supporting the theory that Earth's satellite was once covered by an ocean of magma. magazine Nature revealed.
The analysis looked at measurements and samples of the lunar soil recorded and collected by Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover at multiple points along a 100-meter track on the lunar surface. The rover was deployed by the mission's Vikram lander, which made a soft landing near the moon's south pole on August 23, 2023.
From 8 days to 8 months — Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore stayed in space until 2025
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore took off for the ISS on June 5 – a mission that would last eight days before returning to Earth. They are now in space for an extended stay of eight months, with a possible return in 2025 – having missed the summer and Christmas and New Year celebrations with family and friends, reports indicate.
The astronauts, 58-year-old Williams and 61-year-old Wilmore, took off aboard a Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which discovered problems before the return trip and kept the duo in limbo aboard the ISS until NASA found a solution.
Total Solar Eclipse 2024: North America's spectacle from coast to coast
With the next coast-to-coast eclipse not for another 21 years, millions of people in North America were treated to the rare phenomenon of a total solar eclipse in April this year. A huge audience, consisting of several hundred million residents living on or near the path of the eclipse, in addition to numerous visitors from afar, witnessed the event, marking it as the largest eclipse audience ever on the continent.
When the total solar eclipse began its diagonal journey over land, Texas was mostly under clouds. The eclipse's path began along the mostly clear Pacific coast of Mexico and crossed Texas and 14 other US states in 1 hour and 40 minutes before disappearing into the North Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland, Canada. The moon's shadow flew more than 4,000 miles across the continent, leaving a trail of awe and wonder.
Gaganyaan's unmanned mission is likely to take place in March next year
ISRO's unmanned mission Gaganyaan is likely to begin as early as March next year in preparation for India's most ambitious space project, the manned mission in 2026. The Indian Space Research Organization will reportedly send ships carrying scientists to be stationed at observation points in the Pacific and North -Atlantic Ocean to monitor the unmanned mission.
The success of this unmanned mission would mark a milestone in India's history and could determine the launch of the Gaganyaan manned mission in 2026. Four astronauts are currently in training for a three-day mission during which they will travel to space, orbit the Earth at an altitude of 400 km, and then return to Earth, culminating in a landing in Indian territorial waters.
Voyager-1's cosmic comeback! NASA is receiving a weak signal thanks to the 1981 backup transmitter
The Voyager-1 spacecraft, traveling billions of kilometers from Earth into interstellar space, has once again established communication with Earth, albeit with a weak signal. NASA successfully reestablished contact with Voyager-1 on October 24 after a brief interruption caused by a failure protection system activation.
Voyagers 1 and 2 have been active for more than 47 years and are the only two spacecraft currently operating in interstellar space. Their advanced age has increased the frequency and complexity of technical issues, posing new challenges for the mission engineering team.
Japan's Mount Fuji is snowless in October – for the first time in 130 years
In another example of climate change, Japan's Mount Fuji was snowless in October this year, marking the latest date for no snowcaps in the 130 years that records have been recorded. According to a CNN report, the country's highest peak is usually covered in snow in October, but as of October 30, there are still no signs of snow.
The volcano's snowcap begins to form on October 2 on average. In 2023, snow was discovered for the first time on October 5. Speaking to AFP, Yutaka Katsuta, a forecaster at the Kofu Local Meteorological Office, said: “Temperatures were high this summer, and these high temperatures continued into September, deterring cold air,” which brings snow . He also acknowledged that climate change could influence the delay in snow cap formation.
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