With about 200 orbital launches scheduled and ambitious missions on everything from lunar bases to the search for life in the works, there’s a lot to watch in 2022. An astronomer explains the highlights.
There are vast quantities of water ice on the moon that represent the potential for extraction and use in rocket fuel. But there are no practical reasons to mine this water.
DART will change the orbit of a moon around an asteroid.
Nasa
The Lucy mission could revolutionise our knowledge of the Solar System’s history, while the DART mission could help redirect hazardous asteroids in the future.
Hubble took pictures of the oldest galaxies it could – seen here – but the James Webb Space Telescope can go back much farther in time.
NASA
The James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch into orbit in December 2021. Its mission is to search for the first light to ever shine in the universe.
Next month, Russia is sending a director and actor to film in space. What does this mean for filmmakers, astronauts, movie fans and the International Space Station?
Astronomers have found a way to estimate the number of stars in the universe.
Comstock Images via Getty Images
Scientists have a good estimate on the staggering number of stars in the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the biggest orbital telescope ever built and is scheduled to be launched into space on Dec. 18, 2021.
NASA/Desiree Stover
The largest orbital telescope ever made will allow astronomers to study the atmospheres of alien planets, learn about how stars form in the Milky Way and peer into the farthest reaches of the universe.
Four people – none of them trained astronauts – launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Sept. 15, 2021.
NASA Johnson/Flickr
The Inspiration4 mission sent four civilians to space for three days. Though still funded by a billionaire, the mission is a step forward in the nascent space tourism industry.
John Glenn would have turned 100 on July 18, 2021. Today’s space program is a giant leap more inclusive than when he made his pioneering orbit of the Earth in 1962.