2024 Space Hightlights – Missions

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): An artist’s rendering of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft over Europa. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Another list worth highlighting at year-end covers all of the space missions from 2024. For example, this list from Freethink, “the top 10 space stories of 2024,” includes the launch of the Europa Clipper, China’s Chang’e 6 round-trip to the Moon, and a successful commercial launch to the Moon (Odysseus lunar lander).

Here are some other lists of missions from 2024:

Note: The Awesome-Universe list of top missions looking back in 2024 include:

2024 Space Hightlights – Images

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Moonrise over the statue of Christ the Redeemer. (Yuri Beletsky)

It’s that time of year to list some of the most interesting space-related events and images from 2024.

To start the list, here are “the best space images of 2024” from Universe Space Tech, including the image shown above.

If you want to see more amazing images, check out:

Image (Credit): Passo Giau, Italy. (Andrea Curzi)

Astronomy Question: Marriage in Orbit

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Guillaume Preat from Pixabay.

Multiple Choice: The first person to be married while orbiting the Earth was of what nationality? And in what spacecraft where they when the marriage occurred?

A. An American astronaut in an Apollo spacecraft.
B. A Russian cosmonaut in the Mir space station.
C. An American astronaut in the International Space Station.
D. A Russian cosmonaut in the International Space Station.

Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Astronomy Question Answer Sheet” page.

Space Quote: The Workings of Our Sun

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. (NASA)

“Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star…By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.”

–Statement by Nicky Fox, who leads the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in reference to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe recent flyby of the Sun.

Pic of the Week: Cosmic Wreath

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Star cluster NGC 602. (X-ray: NASA/CXC; Infrared: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeilder, E.Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand)

This week’s image from NASA showing a cosmic wreath is appropriate for the holiday season. It comes from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope.

Here is the full description from NASA:

The [image] depicts star cluster NGC 602 in vibrant and festive colors. The cluster includes a giant dust cloud ring, shown in greens, yellows, blues, and oranges. The green hues and feathery edges of the ring cloud create the appearance of a wreath made of evergreen boughs. Hints of red representing X-rays provide shading, highlighting layers within the wreath-like ring cloud.

The image is aglow with specks and dots of colorful, festive light, in blues, golds, whites, oranges, and reds. These lights represent stars within the cluster. Some of the lights gleam with diffraction spikes, while others emit a warm, diffuse glow. Upon closer inspection, many of the glowing specks have spiraling arms, indicating that they are, in fact, distant galaxies.