In 2023, there will be a lot of research and discoveries with spacecraft, rocket launch missions, and research into the planets and asteroids of the solar system.
Artemis II crew announced
Last year, the inaugural mission of NASA’s Artemis program successfully launched a test flight that took an unmanned spacecraft on a historic journey around the Moon. Even though the program’s first manned flight, the Artemis II mission, will not take off until spring 2024, the public will soon know the names of the selected astronauts. NASA has narrowed the list of candidates to 18 people. Last December, NASA officials announced that they would announce the crew of Artemis II in early 2023.
The Artemis II mission will take four astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth. The upcoming Artemis III mission will land astronauts on the surface of the Moon for the first time since the Apollo program in the 20th century.
Cargo to the Moon
NASA also plans to send a robotic lander to the Moon to further study the terrain and radiation environment, as well as search for resources that can be mined from the Moon and provide energy for further exploration activities. deeper than in space. This program is called Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) and depends on partnerships with more than a dozen private companies developing their own landing stations on the Moon.
The first landing station flown under this program may have been built by the Astrobotic company in Pennsylvania. Astrobotic plans to use the Peregrine station to send 11 science and discovery instruments to the Moon’s surface in the first months of 2023. The station will land at Lacus Mortis, a large crater near the Moon. Three other CLPS program missions could also take off in 2023.
Jupiter and the Moons
The JUICE spacecraft will explore Jupiter and the Moons. (Photo: ESA).
The Jupiter Frozen Moon Exploration (JUICE) mission is scheduled to launch between April 5 and 25. The European Space Agency’s JUICE mission will leave the launch pad at the French Guiana spaceport and spend three years exploring Jupiter in detail as well as the three frozen moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. All 3 Moons are believed to have oceans beneath the crust. Scientists want to know if Ganymede’s ocean is habitable or not.
After arriving at Jupiter in July 2031, the spacecraft and 10 accompanying instruments will make 35 flybys of the gas giant planet and its Moon. Some of the mission’s goals include understanding whether life ever existed in the Jupiter system, how the gas planet shaped its Moon, and the formation of Jupiter.
Boeing’s first human test flight to the ISS
CST-100 Starliner spacecraft during an unmanned flight in May 2022. (Photo: Boeing).
Boeing has been working for a decade to develop spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts between Earth and the ISS. In 2023, the new space taxi model will enter service. After many years of delays, the Starliner spacecraft completed its unmanned test mission to the ISS last May. NASA officials plan to continue launching the first human transport mission in April 2023.
Currently, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is responsible for transporting astronauts to the ISS station. When Starliner enters service, SpaceX and Boeing will share tasks to keep as many personnel as possible on the ISS before NASA decommissions the station over the next decade.
Launch of new commercial vehicles for the first time
SpaceX’s SN20 spacecraft in the village of Boca Chica in South Texas. (Photo: SpaceX).
SpaceX will test launch the giant Starship spacecraft into orbit for the first time. In the future, the company wants to use the vehicle to transport the first person to Mars. NASA also hopes to use this vehicle in the Artemis program.
Two other powerful commercial rockets also in operation are Vulcan Centaur developed by United Launch Alliance and New Glenn, a product of billionaire Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin. The Vulcan rocket will take off in early 2023 while the New Glenn could fly later.
Bringing asteroid samples back to Earth
This year, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will drop rock and soil samples from the nearby asteroid Bennu to Earth. This spacecraft made history by successfully collecting samples in October 2020.
OSIRIS-REx will fly by Earth on September 24 and drop a sample containing nearly 60 grams of material from Bennu’s surface to the Utah Military Training and Test Area. If the spacecraft is still functioning well, it will begin a new journey to study another asteroid. The sample will reveal information about the formation and history of the solar system as well as asteroids that may collide with Earth.
Metallic asteroid
After numerous delays, NASA’s first spacecraft designed to study metallic asteroids will launch in October. The Psyche mission will begin a four-year journey to the potato-shaped asteroid located in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. The mission will study this metal-rich asteroid. It could be the core of a planet or a mass of primordial matter that never sank.
Article source: VnExpress
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In 2023, there will be a lot of research and discoveries with spacecraft, rocket launch missions and research on the planets and asteroids of the solar system….
