In 2021, NASA landed on Mars, reaching new highs on the Red Planet; made progress in preparation for flight tests around the moon; spent a very busy year in low-Earth orbit, exploring other deep-space destinations, tackling climate change on Earth, testing the technology of the next generation of aircraft, and a lot of other things... Let's take a look back at NASA's 2021.
The solar system is farther away in space
NASA has made a lot of progress in 2021, including existing and future missions aimed at exploring the solar system and elsewhere.
The Perseverance rover landed on Mars in February and subsequently collected the first core samples, which will be retrieved and returned to Earth through future missions.
On April 19, 2021, Witty captured her own shadow on its first flight.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Ingenuity helicopter, a technical demonstration of the mission, became the first aircraft to perform a power-controlled flight on another planet.
The last photo of Webb's parting, we can only see it in the telescope later.
Credit：NASA TV
The james Webb Space Telescope was fully tested and sent to French Guiana awaiting launch (successfully launched on December 25, Beijing time).
NASA has launched a series of science missions into space, including:
· NASA's first mission to study X-ray polarization
The first spacecraft to visit Jupiter's Trojan asteroids in the Trojan belt
· NASA's first planetary defense test mission
The Chandra X-ray Observatory may be the first to detect signs of a planet flying over a star outside the Milky Way.
The Parker Solar Probe, which offers stunning views of Venus during a close-up flight over Venus, is also the first spacecraft in history to "touch" the sun, flying over the sun's upper atmosphere and sampling it.
New leadership team
Some familiar new faces have taken on leadership roles at NASA.
On December 8, 2021, NASA Commissioner Bill Nelson and Deputy Commissioner Pam Melroy visited the Michud Assembly Plant in New Orleans.
Credits: NASA/Michael DeMocker
The Biden-Harris administration appointed Bill Nelson, a former senator and space shuttle payload expert, and Pam Melroy, a former astronaut and space shuttle commander, as NASA's new commissioner and deputy director, respectively.
earth
Some of NASA's work in 2021 reflects the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to combating climate change and its impact on Earth — a unique advantage for NASA.
NASA unveiled the new Earth System Observatory to help guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving real-time agricultural processes.
Footage of the launch of Landsat 9 on September 27, 2021.
Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA launched Landsat 9 in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey to continue the Landsat program's 50-year record of monitoring Earth's changing landscape. A few weeks later, Vice President Kamala Harris visited NASA, and NASA released the first images of the satellite.
NASA conducts and participates in a number of climate change-related studies, including high-tide floods, Earth's energy imbalances, and Earth's energy budgets.
As part of the global response to climate change, NASA participates in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).
NASA used specialized instruments on the space station to capture data to help fight forest fires in the western United States.
NASA has also worked with researchers to develop dashboards related to the spread and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including tracking changes in global air pollution.
NASA has also launched an online platform called OpenET to help farmers and water managers in 17 western U.S. states accelerate improvements and innovations in water management.
Manned spaceflight
2021 is the busiest year for the International Space Station manned spaceflight in 10 years, marking the beginning of the 21st consecutive year of living and working in space:
· The splashdown of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission marked the first commercial manned spaceflight to the space station, the first nighttime splash of an American manned spacecraft since Apollo 8 in 1968;
· The SpaceX Crew-2 mission, the first commercial manned spaceflight mission with two international partners, was followed by a record 199 days in space;
· In November, NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 mission arrived on the space station for a six-month scientific research mission.
Astronauts completed 13 spacewalks outside the space station, the most in a year since 2010.
On December 6, 2021, NASA announced the 2021 astronaut candidate.
Credits: NASA/James Blair
Human spaceflight continues, with NASA introducing 10 new astronaut candidates in early December, accepting applications from the next class of flight instructors and announcing plans for the first two private astronaut trips to the International Space Station.
NASA's business partners' cargo missions to the space station have delivered more than 15,000 kilograms of science, tools, and critical supplies and sent thousands of kilograms of research and equipment back to Earth; NASA has signed agreements with three companies to develop early concepts of commercial destinations in an effort to achieve a strong, U.S.-led commercial economy in low-Earth orbit.
Moon to Mars
NASA has made significant progress in 2021 in preparation for next year's artemis I integrated lunar flight test:
Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center completed the installation and testing of the Orion spacecraft's components and systems to ensure it was ready for the Artemis 1 mission;
The team at Stennis Space Center completed an 8-part "Green Run" test of the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
On October 21, 2021, NASA completed the assembly of the space launch system and the Orion spacecraft.
Credits: NASA
There's still a lot of work to be done in 2021 for future Artemis manned lunar missions: NASA shipped a key component of Artemis II's flight hardware to Florida, completed the welding of another major hardware, and conducted a series of water shock tests with a beta version of orion.
NASA, in partnership with SpaceX, continues to develop the first commercial manned lunar lander. Through Artemis, NASA plans to send the first woman and the first person of color to the moon. Together with business partners, NASA completed the first ground test of the Gateway power and Propulsion Element. In addition, Japan became the third country to support the development of lunar outposts.
NASA's Volatiles Survey Polar Exploration Vehicle (VIPER) selected a lunar landing site — an area just outside the western edge of the moon's south pole, Nobile Crater. VIPER will travel to the moon in 2023 through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service Program (CLPS) as part of the Artemis program.
Space technology
NASA is driving the development of space technology in 2021, helping to advance space exploration with new concepts for the benefit of life on Earth.
Credit：NASA
NASA launched the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, highlighting the next era of space communications.
NASA is working with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop spacecraft nuclear propulsion technology and fission surface power concepts to accelerate future space exploration.
A set of onboard cutting-edge technology helped the Perseverance rover land safely on Mars, providing the first Martian weather report and producing oxygen on the Red Planet for the first time.
NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock successfully completed a two-year mission to make timing in space more accurate.
flight
This year, NASA continues its aeronautical research efforts to validate unique airframe design techniques to enable quieter, safer, and more efficient flights on the next generation of aircraft.
Credits: Lockheed Martin
· The assembly process of the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft has reached several milestones, and the experimental aircraft has removed the external structural supports.
· NASA conducted wind tunnel testing using a full-size X-concept aircraft — the core of a national partnership with industry, academia and other institutions aimed at achieving net zero emissions from aviation by 2050.
After 6 years of successful research to reduce flight delays, streamline airport operations, and control emissions, NASA completed the Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 project.
· NASA conducted flight tests with all-electric VTOL aircraft to collect data critical to the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign.
· A wildfire management workshop hosted by NASA showcased how emergency responders can use NASA technology to achieve safer and more effective fire fighting.
Diverse, equal, inclusive and accessible
NASA launched the Mission Equity program in 2021 to help the U.S. federal government support historically underserved and underrepresented communities.
NASA's headquarters building in Washington is home to Mary M. Named after Mary W. Jackson, NASA's first African-American female engineer. She was part of a group of heroic women who made a vital contribution to the first Americans to go into space.
Deaf, blind, hearing- and visually impaired students connected astronauts on the space station during a flight to "get in touch" with space up close.
Participation in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
In 2021, students have many opportunities to participate in NASA's STEM-related activities.
· NASA partnered with Future Engineers to create the Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest, in which nearly 14,000 students from U.S. states competed.
· NASA's Mission to Mars Student Challenge demonstrates how science, math, and creativity can be used to design, build, launch, and land a Mission to Mars.
· NASA published "First Woman," NASA's first digital interactive comic, presented bilingual in English and Spanish.
Teams of students designed and launched climate, remote sensing, and space exploration experiments on suborbital rockets and high-air balloons.
· NASA has also funded several Minority Serving Institutions to study our planet, develop space technology, and further increase minority involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
For the benefit of humanity
All in all, it's all about what NASA does — from advancing space exploration, to breakthrough scientific and technological discoveries, to monitoring the health of The Planet, to developing innovative modes of transportation— all for your benefit!
These are just some of the highlights that NASA will accomplish in 2021, and for more details please visit nasa.gov/2021.
reference
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-2021-included-mars-landing-first-flight-artemis-more