After a series of successful space missions in the last year, 2021 promises some interesting new international exploration projects.
Three nations have launched spacecraft designed to begin exploring Mars in 2021.
The US space agency, NASA, is waiting for its explorer, called Perseverance, to land on the Red Planet on February 18. The explorer, or rover, has the mission to “look for signs of life and collect rocks and soil samples“Says NASA.
Perseverance is NASA’s fifth Mars explorer. He’s carrying a small experimental helicopter called Ingeniousness. The device would be the first to test the abilities of such a craft on another planet. An important experiment will test a device designed to capture carbon dioxide from Mars’ atmosphere and turn it into oxygen.
China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft launched in July last year with the mission to search for signs of water on Mars. It is also expected to reach Mars in February. The spacecraft will try to land at Utopia Planitia, a large flat area in the northern half of the planet. Once there, Tianwen-1 will launch a rover for exploration.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched its Hope Probe in July 2020. The explorer will also arrive on the red planet next month. The country describes Hope as “the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers. ”
The mission will study climate and weather activity on the lower atmosphere of Mars. Hope will observe and study hydrogen and oxygen in the Martian upper atmosphere, the UAE space agency said.
New spacecraft to be tested
Boeing is expected to perform another unmanned flight test of its Starliner spacecraft. The company was chosen by NASA – along with America’s SpaceX – for its commercial crew program. The program uses private spacecraft to transport American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX has already completed two successful manned missions to the ISS.
If Boeing’s unmanned test goes well, the company is expected to advance with its first Starliner manned test flight.
NASA has said it intends to complete final preparations for the first flight of its space launch (SLS) and Orion spacecraft for a possible launch sometime in the fall. The flight would be the first unmanned test flight for SLS and Orion. The goal is to complete a one-month mission around the month.
The test is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024. The long-term goal of the program is to establish a continuous human presence on the moon.
NASA is testing planetary defense
In late July, NASA says it will launch its first “planetary defense test” against asteroids. The mission is called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). It will send a spacecraft to intentionally crash into a high-speed asteroid in an attempt to change the asteroid’s orbit into space. The target is an asteroid near Earth called Didymos. The operation will be just a defensive test capacity, because Didymos does not pose a threat to Earth.
In October, NASA plans to launch its space mission to Lucy. The operation aims to study a population of unusual objects orbiting Jupiter, known as Trojan asteroids. The space agency says the mission will involve a 12-year journey to eight different asteroids.
Also in October, NASA plans to launch its James Webb space telescope, which has been delayed several times. It is NASA’s replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in operation for 30 years.
James Webb is a large infrared telescope that is almost seven meters long the mirror for space observation. NASA says the mission is designed to look deeper into space and provide more answers about the universe’s past than any other spacecraft.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and NASA. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section and visit our Facebook page.
Test – Major space missions planned in 2021
Start the test to find out
_______________________________________________________________
Words in this story
mission – n. the flight of a spaceship to perform a particular task or task
sample – n. a small amount of something that provides information about what was taken
probe – n. a vehicle used to examine or observe something closely
layer – n. a level of something spread over an area
asteroid – n. small planets or space rocks orbiting the sun
capacity – n. the ability to do a certain job or task
the mirror – n. a piece of glass that reflects light or images