2022 has been a year full of incredible space feats. Mashable notes how findings of the year just show rocket science still remains to be hard. While there were several space agencies and observatories that played crucial roles in such feats, NASA's involvement cannot be discredited. That being said, here are 10 remarkable NASA events that served as milestones throughout the history of space:
1. Historic Orion's Journey
As part of NASA's Artemis 1 Mission, a crew was deployed on the NASA Orion to embark on a journey to the moon. Just last December 11, the spacecraft landed on the Pacific Ocean after spending 25.5 days on its lunar mission, as reported by NASA. The Artemis I mission, that the Orion played a key role in, has played an extensive role in the pursuit of digging further into both the moon and Mars.
During its orbit, the capsule was able to make a lunar flyby that was just 130 km above the surface of the moon.
2. Remastered Apollo 17 Photos On Its 50th Anniversary
Fifty years ago, the sixth and currently the last lunar mission commenced. The astronauts part of the Apollo 17 mission were the last to ever walk on the moon. To commemorate this event on its 50th anniversary, best-selling author Andry Saunders remastered some Apollo 17 mission photos. Saunders had to dig into thousands worth of images and work for over 10,000 hours to finish his book.
3. IXPE Helped Solve a 40-Year-Old Mystery
With the IXPE (Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer) telescope of NASA, a 40-year-old mystery regarding a huge black hole was shed light into. The telescope was the first to reveal how the black hole is an X-ray emitter that is powerful and has a polarization of 10%, which is double the amount observed among optical wavelengths.
4. Space Launch System's Trip Around the Moon
With a crew onboard, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) launched last November 16 on its trip around the moon worth 1.2 million miles. According to Universe Magazine, the SLS impressively weighs 2,600 tons and has the same height as the United States' Statue of Liberty.
This takeoff was one of NASA's steps towards reaching its ambitions of bringing humans to the moon once more.
5. Supernova Explosion Snaps Caught By Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope was able to capture the gravitational lensing (the three various moments) of a supernova blast. This star had exploded over 11 billion years before. Such an image is the first in-depth look into a supernova with such early origins.
6. Full Deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope
After several issues and expenditures worth over $10 billion, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was fully deployed. Since then, the JWST has played crucial roles in many space discoveries this year. Its first images were shared to the public last July.
7. Now-Retired Spitzer Space Telescope Discovery: An Exoplanet That Goes Through Different Seasons in 3 Days
According to specialists, the exoplanet XO-3b has a full cycle that lasts for barely three days on earth. A hot season worth one day alternates with winter that lasts for three days. Such temperature changes are not heard of here on earth.
ALSO READ: NASA Telescope Finds Exoplanet That Changes Seasons in Just 3 Days
8. NASA's Perseverance Rover Gets Samples That Look Like Human Skeletons and Buried Animals
While NASA's Perseverance Rover continued its journey to find life clues across Mars, it was able to get samples and snaps of possible life hints. These include rocks that may indicate skeletons of Mars life.
9. Interesting Mars Snaps Taken by NASA's Curiosity Rover
During early 2022, the Curiosity Rover of NASA was able to snap something interesting on Mars' surface. These were rocks that were finger-like that were stationed on Mars' surface. The rocks likely formed due to the trickling of groundwater into the rock and had mineral cement deposit through it as time passed.
10. Sun's 60-Year-Old Secret Decoded by NASA Scientists
The sun has been seen to be full of mysteries, and researchers were able to crack one of these. Fast magnetic reconnection, in particular, has been a phenomenon that scientists have spent over half a century trying to comprehend. However, through a study, researchers studied how charged particles within plasma halt group movement as fast magnetic reconnection takes place. The occurrence of plasma makes electrons and protons coexist in a jumble.
RELATED ARTICLE: NASA Scientist Finally Decodes Sun's 60-Year-Old Explosive Secret'
Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.
