10 Most Important Space Missions to Watch in 2023
Each year’s space missions tend to focus on a few topics that are especially interesting at the time. For example, in the history of science, space missions have been centered on the Moon when interest in its discovery was high, but Mars and even space tourism have also been important.
Read More: NASA Artemis I Mission to the Moon
In 2022, a lot of space missions were aimed at going to the Moon. At the same time, a lot of money was spent on developing the technology that would let people go to space as tourists. Now that a new year has started, people seem to be more interested in the world of metal, in learning more about Jupiter, and in making important progress on the Moon.
Read Also: How to Watch Artemis I Launch Attempt?
Here are the 10 most important space missions that will happen in 2023.
Artemis II
How soon is too soon to get excited for #Artemis II? 🌙
Check out the flight path for @NASA_Orion’s next Moon mission. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/vOYPvNy0e3
— Lockheed Martin Space (@LMSpace) January 3, 2023
NASA’s Artemis program started last year. It sent an unmanned spacecraft on a trip around the Moon. This is not the first time people have been to the Moon, but it is the first time they have done it this way. On the Artemis II mission, it is planned to do this trip again in 2023, but this time with people on board. The astronaut corps has already been cut down to 18 people who meet the requirements to be on the crew. Four people are expected to go on this trip around the Moon.
Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Submillimeter-wavelengths
The ASTHROS mission, whose name is shorter and easier to remember, will focus on finding out why some galaxies have stopped making new stars.
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
This mission, called JUICE, will start in April from the European spaceport in French Guiana. It will take three years to study Jupiter and its three icy moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.
First Orbital Launch of Starship
How reusable rockets work.#STARSHIP #reusablerockets pic.twitter.com/XaafHlUjvg
— AI (@Chat_GTP) January 1, 2023
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, is known for putting itself into experiments without a lot of planning. In 2023, there are a lot of hopes for what the company will do next. One of its jobs will be to send its next Starship into space, which will be able to take people to the Moon and Mars.
Polaris Dawn
The goal of the first tourist spacewalk, Polaris Dawn, is to make tourists feel like they are really in space. To that end, the mission will make history as the first commercial spacewalk, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman and a completely private crew.
Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution
NASA will measure pollution every hour over North America as part of a project called TEMPO.
New Rocket Companies
In 2023, there will be new rocket companies in addition to the ones we already know. Like the Vulcan Centaur, which was made by the United Launch Alliance, and the New Glenn, which was made by the Blue Origin space company. There could also be a role for new, smaller rockets that are made to carry lightweight satellites into Earth’s orbit. This project is being done by two American companies, Relativity, and ABL Space Systems. This is a big change for space technology, which is becoming more and more linked to the private sector.
Hunt for asteroid Psyche
El asteroide Psyque-16 en el cinturón de asteroides vale miles de veces más que la economía global, debido a la gran cantidad de metales prístinos como hierro, niquel y oro. Su valor estimado ronda los 10 mil cuatrillones de USD. La #NASA planea enviar misiones. #TecMovistarBlack pic.twitter.com/bWECNR4zf7
— OSCAR EDUARDO VEGA #SecretWars (@OSEDVEGOZ) November 25, 2022
This year, NASA intends to examine Psyche, a metallic asteroid that, following a review phase revealed last year, is currently prepared to launch in October from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will travel to and examine the 225-kilometer-long asteroid, which is primarily composed of iron and nickel. This will be the first time the spacecraft has come into contact with a metallic asteroid.
OSIRIS-REx
The goal of this ship is to bring rocks and soil from the asteroid Bennu to the Utah Test and Training Range so they can be studied there. If the ship is still in good shape after this, it will go on a new mission to study other asteroids. The samples will tell us about the history of our solar system and about asteroids that could be headed toward Earth.
Xuntian
China is getting ready to send its powerful space telescope, Xuntian, into space. This likely won’t happen until the end of this year, 2023. During its planned 10-year mission, this tool will send data to the Chinese space station and study 40% of the sky with its 2.5 billion-pixel camera.
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