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space missions

The HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Orbiter took this close-up image of a "new" impact crater (on a geological scale, but very old on a human scale) in the Sirenum Posei region of Mars on March 30, 2015. Photo: NASA

Dust storms on Mars play a huge role in drying out the planet

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Six cyclones at the south pole of Jupiter, as captured by the infrared lens of the Juno probe in February 2017. Beautifully arranged and shaped like a rose cake. Source: NASA

The mystery of Jupiter's cyclones

They are powerful, they are the size of Australia and no one imagined them until a few years ago - what is the secret of the storms at the poles of the largest planet in the solar system?
Artist's illustration depicting the Tianwen-1 Mars rover. Figure: China National Space Agency

China's probe lands on Mars

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Michael Collins. NASA photo

Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins Dies at 91

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Some called him 'the loneliest man in history' - while his colleagues walked on the moon for the first time
Illustration of the SpaceX Starship lander that will carry NASA's first astronauts to the moon as part of the Artemis program. Image: SpaceX

NASA chose SpaceX to land a manned spacecraft on the moon to demonstrate capability

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The choice of Spice X is as a sole supplier. Also competing in the tender was a group that included Blue Origin Lockheed Martin and another group led by the Dintics Corporation which was a partner in the Apollo project. The assessment: SpaceX's offer was the cheapest, because Elon Musk has future plans on Mars for which this would be an opportunity to develop technologies
Ignition test of the SLS rocket engines. Photo: NASA

Boeing and NASA complete full ignition test of Artemis 1 launch system core

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In the initial phase it will be an unmanned test flight around the moon, later the launch system will continue to develop towards the "Artemis 3" program - planned to be the landing of the first woman and the next man on the moon.
The personnel of the Japanese Space Agency collect the sample capsule brought by the Yabusa 2 spacecraft. Photo: JAXA

Organic material was found on an asteroid sample returned by Yabusa 2

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Organic materials have been found on meteorites before, but Yabusa was the first time a sample of an "S-type" asteroid was observed to contain organic molecules. It even came directly from the source, and was not subjected to significant periods of time on Earth before being tested.
Landing of the SpaceX Starship Prototype SN10, 3/3/21. Photo: SPACEX

SpaceX: The Starship prototype flight took place successfully but the vessel exploded a few minutes later

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The tenth prototype of the launcher (SN10) with three Raptor engines took off from their launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas to an altitude of about ten kilometers, performed a rollover maneuver and then returned to the launch facility, where it exploded after a few minutes due to a methane leak
A panoramic image of the environment of the Red Perseverance SUV. Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech

NASA has released high-quality video and audio from Mars for the first time

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This is not a simulation. The Perseverance robotic all-terrain vehicle and the crane that lowered it photographed each other and the Martian soil in a way that made it possible to document the landing as if it were a landing on Earth. NASA: We wanted to share with the public a once in a lifetime experience * the landing certificate step by step
This high-resolution image shows one of the six wheels of NASA's Mars Preserver (Persistence) rover, which landed on February 18, 2021. The image was taken by one of Persistence's color hazard detection cameras (Hazcams).

NASA's Persistence rover sends a glimpse of the descent to the Martian soil and the landing environment

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After the successful landing on Thursday, the engineers began to examine the condition of NASA's persistence vehicle on Mars. Among other things, they published preliminary images from the vehicle's cameras, as well as from the camera of the crane that lowered it to the ground and even from space
The Persistence rover lands using cables dangling from what is known as a "Mars crane". The spacecraft continues on after disconnecting the cables and the vehicle sets off on its own. This was done to save the fuel needed to land such a large spacecraft at the expense of the scientific equipment. Illustration: NASA / JPL-Caltech

First images from Mars after the successful landing of the "Persistence" rover (live broadcast)

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The images, in low resolution, were taken by Persistence's road cameras and show the view near the landing area.
Tianwen-1 - Illustration illustrating the rover, lander and all-terrain vehicle of the first Chinese mission to Mars. Figure CNSA

The Chinese Tianwan-1 spacecraft has successfully entered orbit around Mars

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Tianwen-1 makes China the sixth country in history to reach Mars. The fifth country to do so is the United Arab Emirates whose spacecraft, Hope, entered orbit around the Red Planet yesterday
The Mars Hope of the Union of Principalities. Figure: MBRSC

The United Arab Emirates' Mars Hop mission has reached orbit around it

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Hope will spend the next two years collecting vital scientific data on the Martian atmosphere.
SpaceX's SN9 launcher crashes in Texas, 2/2/21, not far from the launch pad that is carrying the SN10 prototype of the Starship spacecraft. Screenshot from a SPACEX broadcast

A day after SPACEX announced a raffle for passengers on a spacecraft to Mars, another prototype exploded

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About five and a half minutes after the launch, the launcher's engines were ignited in order to move it to a vertical position and then align with the nose up to land on its bottom, however, as it was seen in the broadcast, the launcher overturned when its tip reached the ground at a huge speed and exploded about six and a half minutes after the launch
United Arab Emirates HOPE Mars mission poster. Photo: shutterstock

The UAE's HOPE Mars rover is performing well on its way to its destination

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It is expected to reach orbit around Mars on February 9, a day before the Chinese and about a week before the American rover Preservation
James Webb Space Telescope. Illustration: shutterstock

Six space missions to look forward to in 2021

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Space exploration achieved several milestones in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial manned space flights and the return of asteroid samples to Earth. Fascinating tasks are expected in 2021, some of which mark breakthroughs
The Chang-5 re-entry capsule in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, December 16, 2020. Photo: CNSA/CLEP

The Chinese capsule with 2 kg of lunar soil landed safely

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In the mission, the Chinese achieved several milestones, including the first lunar sample, the first takeoff from a body in outer space, the first encounter and docking in lunar orbit, and the first spacecraft that carried samples and entered the Earth's atmosphere
The command module of the Apollo 17 spacecraft in the museum at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Photo: shutterstock

The last man on the moon (so far)

The Apollo 17 mission was mankind's last manned visit to the Moon. In 2024, if all goes as planned, the first woman will set foot on the moon
Screenshot from the moment the SN8 spacecraft crashed during a test flight in Texas, 9/12/2020. Photo: SPACEX

SpaceX's Starship 8 spacecraft crashed tonight during a test landing in Texas (video)

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SN8, a prototype of a spacecraft that is supposed to transport humans to Mars, took off and even circled in the air but did not succeed in the landing phase apparently due to low fuel pressure in the central tank, which caused it to reach the ground at too high a speed. The experiments will continue with the next spacecraft
Simulation of the re-entry into the atmosphere of a probe that separated from the Yabusa 2 spacecraft and landed a soil sample from the asteroid Ryogo in Australia. Figure: Japanese space agency JAXA

Japan has landed the Yabusa 2 soil sample from the asteroid Ryugo in Australia

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The Yabusa 2 spacecraft itself continued on its way and will meet with another asteroid in 2031
Diagram of the operation of the CHANGE-5 spacecraft planned to bring rock samples from the moon. Figure: Chinese Space Agency

China successfully launched the Chang'e-5 spacecraft that will bring samples from the moon for the first time in 44 years (Live)

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The astronauts of the Crew-1 mission: from left: Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi don SpaceX spacesuits on their way to launch. Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Four astronauts are on their way to the space station aboard the first commercial manned spacecraft

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SpaceX's Falcon 9 launcher carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's CREW-1 mission and SpaceX launched tonight to the International Space Station and inside it a spacecraft containing NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and the Space Research Agency astronaut of Japan Soichi Noguchi
The Osiris Rex spacecraft is hovering over the Bennu asteroid. Illustration: shutterstock

Osiris Rex and the Beno Asteroid: Tension, Initiative and a 400g Specimen

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It turned out that the lid of the tank was stuck with a lump of soil and did not close. The decision made was to reduce as much as possible various operations and store the material as quickly as possible. In addition, two facilities that were essential for taking the soil samples and which were no longer essential were disconnected from the spacecraft. These actions made it possible to close the lid of the tank
Imaging of the Juno spacecraft above the Great Red Spot of Jupiter (seen in the lower left of the image). Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The Juno spacecraft has a new program - the Galilean moons

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For the past five years it has been circling Tzedek and transmitting to Israel a huge amount of photographs and information related to Tzedek. Since it has a large supply of fuel left, there are those who are thinking of extending its stay around Tedek. The intention is to study the large moons of the planet Io, Europa and Ganymede as well as the rings of Jupiter
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is poised to touch down on the surface of asteroid Ben. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

The Osiris Rex spacecraft successfully touched down on asteroid Benu in an attempt to obtain a sample

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In the coming week, the engineers and scientists of the mission will try to estimate the size of the collected sample, and if it is smaller than the target of 60 grams, another contact attempt will be made in January
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