As large parts of the globe have plunged into further revivals of the pandemic over the past few weeks, there was no disappointment in the world of space travel even for the Christmas holidays, so here we are with another Spacing column in which we look at what is going on, what is flying above and what is coming down.
December was turbulent, with China returning lunar samples and Japan doing the same with asteroid dust. And it has been reported that we may have detected radio waves from ET. The truth may be there and we sincerely want to believe it, but this widely reported signal from Proxima Centauri is probably not the confirmation of alien life we have all been waiting for.
There has been no shortage of launches over the past month from ordinary agencies and companies, with a first launch of China’s Long-heavy rocket on March 8 from the Wenchang launch site in Hainan province. The cargo with five satellites made it safe to orbit, and we expect the rocket to be a workhorse of their future reconnaissance program. Meanwhile, SpaceX conducted a high-altitude test of their Starship SN8 vehicle, which went according to plan until the craft approached the runway, at which point the failure of one of its engines caused a dazzling crash. It does not equate to an unsuccessful test flight, as it did flawlessly in the rest of its maneuvers, but it certainly made an impressive video.
On the subject of SpaceX and Starship, Elon Musk said he would sell all of his personal property to fund a Mars colony. It requires a fleet of up to 1000 Starships, with three launches a day to transport both colonists and supplies to the Red Planet. However, he arouses controversy by saying that interplanetary immigration would be possible for all people. with loans available for the estimated $ 50,000 one-time travel expenses, and Martian jobs offered to pay off the debt. Many critics responded to his tweets, comparing the idea to serviceable slavery. It’s worth remembering that Musk is the master of the big publicity stunt, and while there seems to be a good chance that SpaceX will reach Mars, it’s not inconceivable that his timeline and plans may be somewhat optimistic.
A more tangible story of SpaceX comes in their super-heavy booster rocket, which should be reusable in the same way as their existing Falcon 9, but will not end up on its own legs like the previous rocket. It will instead stick with its launch tower, and be captured by the same support structures it used to stabilize it before launch. At first glance, it may seem too difficult to succeed, but people undoubtedly expressed the same doubt before the Falcon 9s made their synchronized landings.
Ultimately away from more worrying developments in politics, The Hill looks at some of those who are likely to be able to lend a hand in providing a commercial replacement for the ISS when it finally reaches the end of its life. They are investigating the possible financing for the NASA lease at the station and are looking at the group of companies in Texas that are ready to manufacture space stations. That’s right – space station modules like Axiom Space become a fabricated compilation rather than one – time assignments. The decades after the ISS’s currently projected end of 2030 are likely to have exciting upheavals.
The coming year is likely to be an exciting year, with a series of missions heading to Mars for February, as well as a new space station to grab our attention. The Chinese are not happy to stop at the Moon, with their Tianwen-1 Mars mission, because they are going to explore our planetary neighbor, and the first Tianhe module on what will become their much larger space station in the coming year. Meanwhile, the Red Planet will see NASA’s Perseverance rover reach its surface and take the Ingenuity helicopter with it. Eventually, the United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe will turn into orbit, making the second month one that should have enough news.
Wherever you are, you must be protected by viruses that are bound by the earth and looking at the sky in 2021.