In 2024, space missions are no longer limited to low Earth orbit and the Moon. We are aiming for greater and farther goals.
From objectives to study Mercury to launching a new adventure to Jupiter’s icy moon, the space missions of 2024 have made significant and bold advancements.
The Moon Welcomes New Guests
The Moon remains an attractive destination for space agencies and private companies in recent years, and 2024 is no exception.
Since January, the SLIM spacecraft (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) from Japan successfully landed, marking the first soft landing of the “Land of the Rising Sun” on the Moon.
Japan’s SLIM spacecraft lands on the Moon.
Compared to the historic Apollo 11 mission of the United States, the SLIM spacecraft performed even better than expected, landing just 100 meters from its target point. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) stated that this is the most precise Moon landing in the world.
Aiming for greater and farther goals.
Although it landed accurately at the planned location, the SLIM spacecraft encountered an unforeseen situation: it tilted and almost nose-dived into the lunar surface instead of landing upright.
Despite the perilous situation, the SLIM spacecraft completed its assigned scientific mission and even continued to exceed its initial objectives in the following months.
International experts were amazed by Japan as their spacecraft demonstrated extraordinary survival capabilities on the Moon, despite encountering issues that almost no spacecraft would wish for.
In February, another explorer built by the private company Intuitive Machines, based in Houston, Texas, also chose the Moon as its destination.
The Odysseus spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon, marking the first return of the “Land of the Free” to this site after more than half a century of waiting. But like SLIM, Odysseus encountered a landing malfunction, causing the spacecraft to topple over.
Nevertheless, during its six-day mission, the explorer sent back useful data for NASA’s upcoming Artemis mission, which aims to land humans on the Moon by 2026.
Odysseus marks America’s first return to the Moon since the historic Apollo mission (Photo: Getty).
In June, China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft achieved a breakthrough by bringing back samples from the far side of the Moon for the first time.
According to a report in the journal Nature, a chemical analysis of the soil samples showed that volcanic activity occurred in this area about 2.8 billion years ago.
In September, Chang’e 6 was discovered at a solar orbit point known as L2, close to the location of the James Webb Space Telescope. However, the Chinese space agency has not revealed its next plans for the Chang’e 6 mission.
Human Footprint on Mars
2024 began with a farewell to Ingenuity – the Mars exploration helicopter deployed alongside NASA’s Perseverance rover.
During Ingenuity’s 72nd flight, the helicopter encountered an unexpected incident, resulting in a loss of communication with the explorer. NASA confirmed that Ingenuity had crashed, marking its final flight.
As the first flying vehicle on another planet, Ingenuity spent nearly 1,000 days on the Red Planet conducting test flights while assisting Perseverance in navigating effectively across the Martian terrain.
Ingenuity helicopter ceases operations on Mars (Photo: NASA).
This duration was 33 times longer than NASA’s original plan for Ingenuity. According to NASA, the helicopter was initially designed to perform five flights over one month.
However, as of January 18, the helicopter had completed 72 flights, with speed and altitude improving with each flight. Previously, Ingenuity achieved an altitude of 12 meters, which was a record height for its flights.
In July, Ingenuity’s companion, the Perseverance rover, made the most important discovery to date. It successfully found and analyzed a rock containing traces of ancient bacteria.
To this day, NASA is quietly preparing for a mission to bring this soil sample back to Earth for further detailed assessment.
Private Space Companies Boom in 2024
Four years after SpaceX became the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), the company marked another commercial milestone.
This was the successful execution of the first spacewalk (referring to activities outside the spacecraft by astronauts).
SpaceX becomes the first private company to send astronauts to the ISS.
The mission, named Polaris Dawn, also set several other records, such as having the youngest astronaut ever to participate in a spacewalk (30 years old), a record for the number of participants in this activity (4 people), and a record for the most people simultaneously in orbit (19 people).
Sarah Gillis, a crew member, also became the first person to play the violin in space.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft also successfully transported astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to the ISS in early June for an 8-day mission.
However, a problem with the spacecraft’s propulsion system has caused the return mission of these two astronauts to Earth to be delayed multiple times, and it is now expected to take place in February 2025.
End of the Asteroid-Hunting Era
The Earth lost a “galactic guardian” this year. In August, NASA bid farewell to the NEOWISE telescope after it spent over a decade scanning the skies for asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth.
NEOWISE telescope has ceased operations this year.
The NEOWISE telescope was launched in 2009 with the initial mission of studying infrared light from distant cosmic objects.
When the telescope ran out of coolant, scientists redirected it to observe near-Earth asteroids. Since these asteroids also emit infrared light, NEOWISE had no difficulty with this new task.
Throughout its existence, NEOWISE observed thousands of asteroids and hundreds of comets, helping scientists gain a more accurate understanding of the dangers these cosmic rocks pose to Earth.
The loss of the telescope leaves us somewhat in the dark, but fortunately, not for long. Another “asteroid hunter”, NEO Surveyor, is expected to launch in 2027.
A New Perspective on Mercury
Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to the Sun among the 8 planets in the Solar System. To this day, this tiny planet still holds many mysteries for humanity.
The BepiColombo spacecraft has flown by Mercury and captured the first images of this planet’s south pole.
However, it will not be long before we gain a comprehensive view of Mercury. In September, the BepiColombo spacecraft flew by Mercury and captured the first images of this planet’s south pole.
This probe marks cooperation between Europe and Japan, having launched in October 2018, and still has about 2 years left until it reaches its destination.
Because Mercury is very close to the Sun and its gravitational pull, maneuvering a spacecraft into orbit around this tiny planet is not easy.
BepiColombo is carefully making close flybys of Mercury and using the planet’s gravity to enter orbit. It is expected that the spacecraft will succeed in doing this by November 2026.
Does Jupiter’s Moon Hold Answers About Life?
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will enter and exit radiation fields to avoid prolonged exposure.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft from NASA was launched on October 14, targeting Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter.
According to experts, Europa has a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its thick icy surface, making it one of the top candidates for extraterrestrial life within the Solar System.
However, there will be some differences compared to other missions. It is known that the spacecraft will not orbit around Europa directly due to the strong magnetic field of Jupiter affecting this operation.
Instead, the spacecraft will enter and exit the radiation field to avoid prolonged exposure. As it approaches Europa, the spacecraft will quickly collect data and then retreat to recover before continuing on another flyby.
