After a series of successful space missions during the past year, 2021 promises some exciting new international exploration projects.
Three countries have launched spacecraft designed to explore Mars in 2021.
The US space agency, NASA, expects its explorer, called Perseverance, to land on the Red Planet on February 18. The explorer, or rover, is on a mission to search for ‘signs of life’ and collect rock and soil monsters, ”Says NASA.
Perseverance is NASA’s fifth Mars explorer. It carries a small experimental helicopter called Ingenuity. The device is the first to test the capabilities of such a vessel on another planet. One important experiment will test a device designed to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of Mars and turn it into oxygen.
China’s spacecraft Tianwen-1 was launched in July last year on a mission to search Mars for signs of water. It is also expected to reach Mars in February. The spacecraft will attempt to land at Utopia Planitia, a large flat area in the northern half of the planet. Arriving there, Tianwen-1 will deploy a rover for reconnaissance.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched its hopes Probe in July 2020. The explorer will also reach the Red Planet next month. The country describes Hope as’ the first study to give a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers. ”
The mission will study climate and weather activity in the lower atmosphere of Mars. Hope will also observe and study hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars, the UAE’s space agency said.
New spacecraft to be tested
Boeing is expected to take another flight test of its Starliner spacecraft. The company was selected 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 missions to the ISS.
If Boeing’s non-pilot test goes well, the company is expected to continue its first crew test flight of Starliner.
NASA said it plans to complete the final preparations for the first flight of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for a possible launch sometime this fall. The flight would be the first non-flying test flight for SLS and Orion. The goal is to complete a month-long mission around the moon.
The test is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024. The long-term goal of the program is to establish a continued human presence on the moon.
NASA tests planetary defense
In late July, NASA says it will launch its first “planetary defense test” asteroids. The mission is called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). It will send a spacecraft to deliberately crash into an asteroid at high speed in an attempt to change the orbit of the asteroid into space. The target is a near-Earth asteroid called Didymos. The operation will only be a test of defense ability, since Didymos is no threat to the earth.
In October, NASA plans to launch its Lucy spacecraft. The operation aims to study a population of unusual objects orbiting Jupiter, known as the 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. This is NASA’s replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in operation for 30 years.
The James Webb is a large infrared telescope with almost seven meters mirror for the observation of space. NASA says the mission is designed to look deeper into space and provide more answers about the past of the universe 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 and visit our Facebook page.
Quiz – Big space missions planned for 2021
Start the quiz to find out
_______________________________________________________________
Words in this story
mission – a. the flight of a spacecraft to perform a specific task or job
monster – a. a small amount of something that gives information about what it was taken from
investigation – a. a vehicle used to investigate or observe something up close
low – a. a level of something spread over an area
asteroid – a. small planets or space rock orbiting the sun
ability – a. the ability to perform a certain task or task
mirror – a. a piece of glass that reflects light or images