The 15 most anticipated space missions of 2023 [space news] скачать в хорошем качестве

The 15 most anticipated space missions of 2023 [space news]

2022 was a very eventful year in space exploration, although not all of the planned missions were launched. 2023 promises to be a very interesting year as well. Space Daily presents 15 of the most anticipated space missions of 2023. 1. Launch of a mission to explore Jupiter's icy Moons In April 2023, the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), which will be the first European robotic mission to Jupiter. Juice should reach the planet in July 2031, taking an incredible journey through the solar system. It will enter orbit around Jupiter and make multiple passes around its largest icy moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Juice will have to measure the thickness of Europa's ice crust and determine a location for future exploration, study the interaction of the Galilean moons with Jupiter, and investigate their geological activity. After about four years, Juice is expected to enter orbit around Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, becoming the first spacecraft ever to enter orbit around a moon of another planet. The icy moons of Jupiter are interesting because they are all thought to have oceans of liquid water beneath their frozen surfaces. In particular, Europa is considered one of the most likely locations for extraterrestrial life in the solar system. Juice will be equipped with ten scientific instruments, including ice-penetrating radar to study the inner oceans. 2. First orbital launch of SpaceX's Starship The first orbital test flight of the Starship superheavy-lift spacecraft is scheduled for 2023. Starship is a multifunctional, fully reusable, two-stage, superheavy-lift launch vehicle which consists of a massive first stage, or Booster, and a spacecraft capable of taking off and making a controlled landing. It is assumed that during the launch, the first stage will take the spacecraft to an altitude of about 65 km, then separated and the upper stage with its own engines will travel the rest of the way to orbit. After making one complete rotation around the Earth, the starship will have to "return" to the ocean. Several tests have been done this year, including static firing tests and cryogenic tests of the spacecraft and booster. The orbital flight should be the first time the first stage has been activated and the first time Starship has been sent into orbit. 3/ The first lunar tourist mission dearMoon The long-awaited dearMoon project, which will take members of the public on a six-day trip around the moon and back, is to be launched on the Starship and is scheduled for 2023. Though of course, the exact launch date of the mission will depend on the results of the Starship's first orbital launch. Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa and eight other members of the public from various countries, along with one or two astronauts and several SpaceX pilots, will travel around the moon. This mission will mark a big change in the way we think about space. The success or failure of the dearMoon mission could affect whether space tourism to deep space is the next step, or whether it will become a pipe dream. 4 The OSIRIS-REx asteroid explorer will return to Earth The American Asteroid Regolith Explorer (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer) spacecraft, known as OSIRIS-REx, is returning to Earth with a whole kilogram of valuable asteroid samples on board. If all goes well, the capsule will separate from the spacecraft, enter Earth's atmosphere and land by parachute in the Utah desert on September 24, 2023. Asteroid samples have only been delivered to Earth once before - in 2020, Japan's Hayabusa 2 probe delivered a capsule containing the soil of the asteroid Ryugu. Bennu is a near-Earth asteroid about 525 meters wide. It is believed to have broken away from a much larger asteroid in the first 10 million years of the solar system, and so a study of its soil will allow scientists to "look back" into the past, and possibly provide insight into how life began on Earth. 5. India's Skyroot Aerospace's first rocket launch Although SpaceX is the most widely known private space launch company, there are many other commercial organizations in the world developing their own series of launch vehicles, including India's Skyroot Aerospace. The company has already successfully launched its small Vikram-S rocket in November 2021. This single-stage solid-propellant rocket is only 6 meters long and weighs only about 545 kg, the body of this rocket is made entirely of carbon fiber. Surprisingly, it was developed in just two years, with Skyroot Aerospace itself only four years old. During the first test launch, the rocket reached an altitude of 90 km. Next year Skyroot plans to make its first orbital launch. The company aims to reduce the cost of private space launches through the use of 3D printing technologies in rocket production.