Almost gone, 2017 turned out to be a year of great discoveries - space agencies began to use reusable rockets, patients can now fight cancer cells with the help of their own blood cells, and a group of scientists discovered Southern Hemisphere a lost continent called Zealand.
Below are described in more detail these and other mind-blowing discoveries and incredible scientific achievements 2017.
Zealand
An international team of 32 scientists discovered in the southern part Pacific Ocean lost continent - Zealand. It is located under Pacific waters, on the seabed, between New Zealand and New Caledonia. Zealand was not always under water, as scientists were able to discover fossilized remains of plants and land animals.
New form of life
Scientists managed to create in laboratory conditions something closest to new form life. The fact is that the DNA of all living beings consists of natural pairs of amino acids: adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine. It is built from these nitrogenous bases most of DNA. However, scientists were able to create an unnatural base pair that coexisted quite comfortably with natural pairs in the DNA of E. coli.
This discovery could affect further development medicine and can contribute to longer retention of drugs in the body.
All the gold in the universe
Scientists have discovered exactly how all the gold in the universe (as well as platinum and silver) is formed. The collision of two very small but very heavy stars located 130 million light years from Earth created a hundred octillion dollars worth of gold.
For the first time in the history of observing stars, astronomers were able to witness the collision of two neutron stars. Two massive cosmic bodies were heading towards each other at a speed equal to a third of the speed of light, and their collision led to the creation of gravitational waves felt on Earth.
Secrets of the Great Pyramid
Scientists have taken a fresh look at the Great Pyramid of Giza and discovered a secret chamber there. Using new scanning technology based on high-speed particles, scientists have discovered a secret room deep in the pyramid that no one had even suspected before. For now, scientists can only guess why this room was built.
New method to fight cancer
Scientists can now use the human immune system to fight some cancer cells. For example, to fight childhood leukemia, doctors remove the child's blood cells, modify them, and reintroduce them into the body. While this process is extremely expensive, the technology is developing and has enormous potential.
New indicators from the poles
Not all discoveries in 2017 were positive. For example, in July, a huge piece of ice broke off from the Antarctic ice sheet, becoming the third largest iceberg on record.
In addition, scientists say that the Arctic may never regain its title as the eternally icy pole.
New planets
NASA scientists have discovered seven more exoplanets that could theoretically support life in the form we know on Earth.
As many as seven planets have been spotted in the neighboring star system TRAPPIST-1, at least six of which are solid, like Earth. All these planets are located in a zone favorable for the formation of water and life. What's great about this discovery is the intimacy star system and the possibility of further detailed study of the planets.
Farewell to Cassini
In 2017, the automated Cassini space station, which had been studying Saturn and its many moons for 13 years, burned up in the planet’s atmosphere. This was the planned end of the mission, which scientists chose to do deliberately in an attempt to avoid Cassini colliding with possibly habitable moons of Saturn.
Just before its death, Cassini flew around Titan and flew through the icy rings of Saturn, sending unique images to Earth.
MRI for babies
The tiniest babies being treated or examined in hospital now have their own magnetic resonance imaging scanner, safe to use in the same room as the babies.
Reusable rocket booster
SpaceX has invented a new rocket booster that doesn't fall back to Earth after the rocket launches and can be used multiple times.
Boosters are one of the most expensive parts of launching a rocket into space, and they usually all end up on the ocean floor immediately after launch. A very expensive disposable device, without which it is impossible to reach orbit.
However, SpaceX's new heavy boosters can be retrofitted relatively easily and cheaply, saving $18 million per launch. In 2017, Elon Musk’s company has already carried out about 20 launches followed by the landing of a booster.
New advances in genetics
Scientists are one step closer to being able to edit a person's DNA, eliminating birth defects, diseases and genetic abnormalities before birth. Geneticists in Oregon have successfully edited the DNA of a living human embryo for the first time.
In addition, eGenesis announced that it will soon be possible to transplant large vital organs from pig donors into humans. The company managed to create a genetic virus blocker that does not transmit animal viruses to humans.
Breakthrough in quantum teleportation
The possibility of teleportation of quantum information has long been studied by scientists. Previously, it was possible to teleport data over a distance of several tens of kilometers.
For the first time in the history of quantum teleportation, a Chinese scientist managed to transmit information about photons (light particles) from Earth to space using mirrors and lasers.
This discovery could fundamentally change the way we transmit information around the world and transport energy. Quantum teleportation could lead to a completely new kind of quantum computers and information transfer. The Internet of the near future may become faster, safer and virtually impenetrable to hackers.
2017 is coming to an end, and it’s time to remember what bright and important events happened this year in space. Even though we didn't find aliens or get to Mars, this year brought a lot of interesting things.
The year 2017 began with long-awaited news: the SpaceX company of American entrepreneur Elon Musk intends to organize a commercial flight around the Moon at the end of 2018. It was reported that the flight would be carried out on the Dragon spacecraft.
The Falcon Heavy rocket, which could not be tested this year, will act as the Dragon carrier. The launch was postponed to the fall, but Elon Musk recently said that his company did not have time to implement the plan this year, and the launch of the rocket will take place only in January 2018.
The company said that the launch difficulties were primarily due to the complex design of the rocket, which required constant improvements. Due to the fact that three launch vehicles had to be combined into one, the volume of acoustics and vibration increased, SpaceX noted. It took the developers time to replace the central accelerator.
2. Saturn’s satellite turned out to be a “dumpling”
The Cassini space probe discovered a moon of Saturn unusual shape. At close range, the space object called Pan reminded many people of a dumpling. But little is still known about the satellite; it is assumed that this shape could have arisen due to radioactive elements.
Pan, one of Saturn's 62 known moons, is located 950 million miles from Earth. The size of the ice object is about 26 kilometers.
At the annual Innovative Advanced Concepts conference, the American aerospace agency NASA presented a project for a spacecraft designed to study the surface of Venus.
Experts presented a rover designed to work in difficult conditions planets, for example, a strong wind will not only not break the device, but will also help it generate energy, and the computer installed on board the rover can operate in any weather.
The device is also unusual in its design, which resembles a “skeleton”. This is no coincidence, since the Dutch artist Theo Jansen, known for his sculptures in the form of animal skeletons that can move under the influence of the wind along sandy beaches, took part in the development of the rover.
4. The Sun attacked the Earth with flares
Since the beginning of September 2017, astronomers have observed numerous strong flares on the Sun, and exactly 12 years have passed since the last ones - they occurred on September 7, 2005.
There are 5 classes of solar flares, depending on the power x-ray radiation. Minimum - A (radiation power in Earth's orbit), weak - B and C, middle class- M and the most powerful class - X, which is what the September flares received.
Astronomers assured that everything was under control, and the outbreaks had long been predicted, but no one expected such a number. Due to the flares, clouds of plasma began to approach the Earth, which, fortunately, did not affect the condition of citizens in any way.
And here magnetic storms, which followed the outbreaks, caused malaise and headaches in many weather-dependent people. Nevertheless, we have survived the outbreaks, and new ones are not expected soon, astronomers report.
5. A model of the first Soviet satellite was sold at auction
At the end of September this year, a test model of the first Soviet satellite went under the hammer at an auction in New York for 847.5 thousand dollars. The original model of Sputnik 1, launched in October 1957, was valued at $150,000.
It is reported that the satellite was intended to study the effects of electromagnetic interference.
According to the Bonhams auction house, there are five more copies of the spacecraft created by the OKB-1 design bureau (now the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia).
Three of them are in private collections, one is kept in the Seattle Museum, and another is in the RSC Energia Museum in Korolev.
6. The legendary Cassini rested on Saturn
Another an important event September is the end of the mission of the Cassini probe, which has been studying Saturn and its moons for twenty years.
Let us recall that the Saturn station reached June 30, 2004, after which the first part of its long operation began. The probe's stay at Saturn was extended twice: first after the completion of the main mission in 2008, and again in 2010. On April 4, 2017, due to the almost complete depletion of fuel reserves, the end of the mission was announced on September 15, 2017.
Over the years, the probe has collected a lot useful information, did a large number of images with which astronomers could study the surface of the planet.
In the final minutes of the mission, the probe entered the upper atmosphere of the gas giant at high speed, maintaining the antenna pointing towards Earth with the help of its engines and continuously transmitting data from 8 instruments in real time.
After another 30 seconds, Cassini began to collapse and became part of the planet Saturn.
7. Pluto still has no rings
Since 2015, a team of scientists has been analyzing data obtained by the New Horizons probe, which flew past the dwarf planet and looked for traces of rings and dust around it. Astronomers hoped to discover, if not rings, then remnants of rings that might have existed around the planet in the past.
But the search was unsuccessful, and so far no rings have been discovered on Pluto.
Astrophysicists believe that even if there are rings, they are rarefied and safe. Scientists associate this unusual discovery with the fact that Pluto has complex system gravity, due to which the rings may not be able to stabilize for long and collapse.
8. In Moscow they simulated a flight to the moon
In November, the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences launched a large-scale experiment to simulate a flight to the Moon, in which six volunteers took part - three women and three men.
The experiment lasted 17 days, during which the participants were in a closed space spaceship in an environment close to a real flight. For two and a half weeks, specialists daily studied changes in the microbiological parameters of the experiment participants, as well as their physical activity.
All participants kept diaries in which they recorded their condition and mood.
The project has already been officially completed, and now experts are studying the work of the crew, as well as inspecting the space of the ship for the presence of contamination of surfaces with microorganisms, since after the last 30-day test, scientists discovered sprouted mushrooms on the walls of the experimental ship, which can be dangerous to human health .
9. The secret of Enceladus's ocean has been revealed
In a 2017 study, scientists said the ocean on Enceladus, Saturn's sixth-largest moon, still exists because its core contains a large number of pores that are constantly compressed and unclenched by Saturn's gravity.
When scientists received data from Cassini, the question arose as to why the ocean did not freeze, since the ice crust covering it was not particularly thick. As further research has shown, the liquid not only does not freeze, but is constantly heated.
The fact is that the core of Enceladus has a porous structure: it contains a large number of voids, which occupy 20-30% of the entire core. Water enters these holes, where it interacts with core rocks and carries heat throughout the ocean.
One more question remains unclear: why gezairs appear only in the southern hemisphere of the satellite, and they do not exist in the northern hemisphere. Astronomers have suggested that Enceladus initially had an asymmetrical icy shell, so geysers in the southern hemisphere appeared much earlier, but in the northern hemisphere they simply had not yet formed.
Scientists are now studying this theory.
10. An explanation was found dark stripes on Mars
About two years ago, astronomers recorded large, long streaks on Mars that were initially mistaken for streams. Then NASA confirmed this theory, saying that it was water protruding onto the surface of the planet.
But this year, astronomers disproved the theory, and the “water” turned out to be not a liquid at all, but the result of a flow of dry, granular particles.
The only point that researchers still cannot explain is where such amounts of fresh sand come from for new landslides. But experts said they have several theories that they are still testing.
If the scientists' assumption is confirmed, and there is no water on Mars, then this will seriously interfere with future missions on the Red Planet.
11. Musk on Mars
It should be noted that this year the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, repeatedly appeared in the news feed with new details about the colonization of Mars, which should take place in 2014.
Now the inventor’s company is in full swing preparing for the mission, but the rocket that should deliver astronauts to Mars has not yet been built, and it is not known whether it will be possible to carry out construction on time and test it so that in 2024 people will already appear on the Red Planet.
But Elon Musk is serious about colonizing Mars and says the company has everything under control. This year, an unusual concept of housing for colonists of the Red Planet was also presented.
The project is called Redwood Forest and consists of houses in the form of hemispheres, each of which can live up to 50 people. The developers plan to organize a familiar environment for living and working in each capsule, as well as create small ponds, the water for which will be taken from the northern plains of Mars.
All capsules are capable of collecting solar energy and using it to transport water throughout the hemisphere, providing protection from radiation and thermal stress. This system will also help create hydroponic systems for growing herbs, vegetables and fish.
The project looks promising, but we'll see what happens in practice.
12. Soyuz-2.1b rocket launch failure
At the end of November, the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle was launched unsuccessfully from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which was unable to launch the satellite into the intended orbit remote sensing Earth "Meteor-M" and 18 other small spacecraft from different countries.
According to the developers, a technical malfunction occurred in the satellite navigation equipment installed on the upper stage and operating on GLONASS and GPS signals.
It was initially reported that the satellites were destroyed by a malfunction of the Fregat upper stage, which, instead of two activations of the propulsion system to increase the flight altitude, produced only one.
13. They created a cosmic dictionary of gestures for the deaf and dumb.
The International Astronomical Union recently released the first dictionary of astronomical gestures, which was translated into sign languages almost 30 countries, including Russian. So far there are only 48 words in the dictionary, but the authors of the work are confident that more words will be added.
The International Astronomical Union has decided to develop a dictionary of astronomical terms that will be understandable to deaf people in all countries of the world. The authors of the dictionary said that communities whose language does not have the corresponding signs can borrow words from the new dictionary or create new ones based on them.
Rare partial moon eclipse Venus, solar eclipses, the end of the Cassini mission to study Saturn - these and other interesting cosmic events await earthlings in 2017.
At the very beginning of the year you will be able to admire one of the brightest and beautiful starfalls— the Quadrantid meteor shower formed by the tail of asteroid 2003 EH1. It is believed that this annual flow is practically invisible in the Southern Hemisphere, but in the Northern Hemisphere its peak can be observed on the night of January 3-4. Under ideal conditions, more than 100 shooting stars can be seen in the sky per hour. The meteor shower's radiant is located in the constellation Bootes in the northeastern sky.
Other annual meteor shower The Perseids await Earth's inhabitants in the summer - the peak will be on August 12, when experts expect up to 150 meteors per hour. Next on the schedule are the Leonids (November 16-19) and the Geminids (December 11-14).
At the very beginning of the new year - January 4 - the earth will be at the point of its orbit closest to the Sun, at perihelion. At this time, the Earth will be located at a distance of 147.5 million km from the Sun.
The beginning of the year is also very convenient for observing the brightest luminary for us after the Sun and Moon - Venus. In January, this planet will be located in the constellation Aquarius. In addition to Venus and Mars, Saturn and some asteroids will also be clearly visible on January mornings.
2017 will feature two lunar eclipses (February 26 and August 7, respectively) and one solar eclipse (August 21).
The first of the lunar ones is ring-shaped. At this time, the Moon does not completely cover the Earth from the Sun and a kind of corona of solar rays forms around it. The eclipse will be visible in South America and Africa.
August 7, when the moon will rise, you can see a little damage on its disk, as if someone “took off” a small piece of it. This effect is caused by the fact that the Moon will partially fall into the shadow cast by the Earth.
The total solar eclipse on August 21 will be best seen in the United States, where it has already been dubbed the Great American Eclipse. According to astronomers, the total phase of the eclipse will last from 1.4 to 2.4 minutes. and will be best visible in a narrow strip from South Carolina to Oregon (NASA experts compiled detailed map). A total solar eclipse will be visible on the US mainland for the first time in 40 years, and the next such event will not occur until 2033. About 200 thousand people will be able to watch the eclipse, so residents of the places where it will be best seen are already preparing for an unprecedented influx of tourists.
In September 2017, the Cassini spacecraft, named after the Italian scientist Jean Domenico Cassini, who proved that Saturn's ring consists of two parts separated by a dark stripe (Cassini division), will complete its mission to study Saturn, which lasted almost two decades. The scientist also assumed that Saturn's rings consist of parts of different sizes.
The mission, which is called one of the most successful in space exploration, launched on October 15, 1997 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, and on July 1, 2004, the device entered the orbit of Saturn. Since then, Cassini has repeatedly approached the natural satellites of the planet, and also passed through the rings of Saturn more than 20 times, sending back to Earth unique data about their structure and the extraordinary beauty of photographic images. It is assumed that the fuel supply in the device will run out on September 15, then it will fall into the atmosphere of the gas giant, where it will be completely destroyed. In drolr
Elon Musk's SpaceX has postponed the launch of the Dragon spacecraft with a crew on board, planned for the end of 2017. However, next year Dragon will make an unmanned test flight to the International Space Station (ISS). As TechCrunch reports, according to the new plans, a manned launch to the ISS will take place in May 2018. The company said in a statement that it needed additional time to “evaluate its designs, systems and processes” following the Falcon 9 rocket explosion that occurred in early September this year. The company also notes that it is completing its investigation into the “anomaly” that caused the explosion.
The outgoing year 2017 turned out to be very eventful with various events related to astronomy in one way or another. Amazing discoveries were made, old space missions ceased their work, and new ones came to replace them. Some celebrated long-awaited success, others tasted the bitterness of failure. It's time to let me down brief summary 2017 and highlighted ten events that seemed to me the most important and interesting.
1. NASA's lunar "turn"
The change in the American administration also marked a change in the priorities of NASA's manned program. It became a mission project to move into lunar orbit and then visit an asteroid, which advanced under the Obama administration. Instead, it was decided to concentrate the agency’s efforts on the Moon.
Back in the spring of 2017, it became known about negotiations in which NASA and its partners on the ISS - ESA, JAXA and Roscosmos. The parties reached an agreement in principle on the creation of the International Lunar Orbital Station (Deep Space Gateway) in the next decade. In December, Donald Trump spoke about changing the priorities of the American space program, according to which NASA’s key goal should be to return to the Moon and create a stronghold there for future missions to Mars and other worlds solar system.
Of course, this is largely a symbolic document. But, nevertheless, he finally dispelled all doubts about NASA's priorities for the next few years.
2. SpaceX successes
In the field of space launches, 2017 was marked by SpaceX. In January, Elon Musk's company returned to flights after a forced four-month break caused by the Falcon 9 explosion in September 2016.
Only past year SpaceX launched 18 rockets. This is less than the 20-22 flights planned by the company, but still more than in the previous two years combined. All launches went without any complaints. On March 30, the company launched a satellite for the first time using the first stage of a Falcon 9 that had already flown into space. In total, this year we were able to see 14 successful landings of the first stages - exactly as many as planned.
Another major success for SpaceX was its admission to military launches. Previously, they were the exclusive monopoly of the ULA alliance. The icing on the cake could be the first launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket, but it will take place only in January 2018. However, Elon Musk still found a way to further stir up public interest in this event by having his personal Tesla car on board the rocket Roadster. We can only guess what SpaceX will be able to surprise us with next year.
3. Failed space launches
Unfortunately, not all space launches in 2017 were successful. In July, the second launch of the Chinese Long March 5 rocket failed. Because of this, the Celestial Empire had to postpone the launch of the Chang'e-4 lunar mission to next year. In September, the nose fairing of an Indian PSLV rocket failed to separate, resulting in the loss of its payload. In November, a Soyuz-2.1b rocket launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome fell.
Also, 2017 was not the best year for small launch vehicles intended for launching microsatellites. In January, the Japanese experimental rocket SS-520-4 was lost. Due to a second stage failure, she fell into the ocean.
In May, the American-New Zealand Electron rocket made its debut flight. Its first stage worked as expected and successfully separated from the rocket along with the nose fairing. But when Electron reached an altitude of 224 km, engineers stopped receiving telemetry. For safety reasons, it was decided to blow up the rocket. Subsequent analysis of the data showed that Electron continued to fly normally and the failure was caused by a failure of ground equipment.
4. Trappist-1 system
The past year has generated a large amount of news, one way or another related to exoplanets. For example, we can recall the discovery of an exoplanet located on. Or the first exoplanet found using . Or possible registration first. But the most notable was the TRAPPIST-1 system.
TRAPPIST-1 is a red dwarf star 40 light years away from the Sun. In February, the discovery of four new exoplanets in this system. In total, seven earth-like bodies revolve around TRAPPIST-1. The most interesting thing is that the distance between the orbit of the inner and outer planet is only 7 million km. This is eight times less than the minimum distance between Earth and Mars.
The orbits of at least three of these seven planets lie within the so-called. habitable zone. One can only imagine what an incredible sight could be revealed to an observer located on the surface of any of these bodies. Not only would he have seen six planets in the sky, but he would likely have been able to see their major geological features (such as continents) with the naked eye.
5. The Great American Eclipse
August 21 for residents North America had a chance to enjoy a magnificent celestial spectacle - complete solar eclipse. The moon's shadow passed across 14 US states from the west to the east coast. The eclipse attracted enormous attention from the common public. Its progress was followed by millions of people, both in the United States and abroad. And, of course, we got a lot of souvenirs from the eclipse.
6. 40th anniversary of the Voyager project
On August 20 and September 5, the Voyager 2 and Voyager 1 spacecraft celebrated theirs. Their mission is rightfully considered epoch-making. These devices completely changed our ideas about the giant planets and their satellites. To this day, Voyager 2 is the only Earth mission to visit Uranus and Neptune. And in 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft in history to enter interstellar space.
The most incredible thing is that despite their advanced age, both travelers are still in service and radio contact is maintained with them. Just think about it, Voyagers launched in 1977. By the way, this is the year the very first Star Wars was released.
Voyager 1 is currently located at a distance of 21 billion km from the Sun (140.7 AU), increasing this distance by another 17 km every second. Voyager 2 is located at a distance of over 17 billion km from the Sun (116.2 AU). It is expected that communication with the devices will be maintained until about the middle of the next decade. Both Voyagers reached sufficient speed to leave the solar system forever. Who knows, maybe in some distant future someone will still lose them.
7. Finale of the Cassini mission
Probably the most exciting, but at the same time the saddest cosmic event of the past year was the finale of the Cassini mission. the device has become truly familiar to all people who are at least a little partial to space. Thanks to Cassini, we have learned what lies beneath the clouds of Titan. We saw a mysterious hexagon at the north pole of Saturn. We saw in every detail the rings of the gas giant and its icy moons. Enceladus rediscovered amazing world, under the surface of which lies an entire ocean.
But everything ends someday. By 2017, Cassini had almost exhausted all its fuel reserves. To avoid a scenario in which an uncontrolled station in the future could collide with one of Saturn’s icy moons and bring terrestrial microorganisms to its surface, back in 2010, NASA decided to burn the device in the atmosphere of the gas giant.
But before that, the mission had one last adventure - 22 final orbits passing between Saturn's atmosphere and the inner edge of its ring system. During their execution, Cassini took the most detailed photographs of the planet's rings, and also collected information about their density and mass. These data will help scientists determine the age and origin of the giant's ring system.
On September 15, Cassini entered Saturn's atmosphere. Until the last moment, the station’s instruments continued measurements, and the low-thrust engines tried to keep the device’s antenna pointed at the Earth. At 11 hours 55 minutes 46 seconds universal time, NASA's deep space communications complex in Canberra received the last signal from Cassini. By that time, the device itself had already disintegrated into fragments and turned into a flaming meteor.
8. Neutron star merger
On August 17, detectors at the LIGO observatory again detected gravitational waves generated during the merger of two compact objects. But if in all previous cases the sources of the waves were black holes, then this time they were a pair of neutron stars. They collided in the galaxy NGC 4993, 130 million light years away from us.
The gamma-ray burst and kilonova flare that followed the merger were observed by about 70 ground-based and space-based observatories. In real time, astronomers saw the process of synthesis of heavy elements, including gold and platinum, predicted by theorists, and confirmed the correctness of hypotheses about the nature of mysterious short gamma-ray bursts. Science magazine named observations of neutron star mergers the scientific breakthrough of 2017.
Astronomers will be analyzing all the collected data for a long time. According to , the merged neutron stars gave birth to a black hole surrounded by a hot gas cocoon, which expands at near-light speeds.
9. Interstellar object 'Oumuamua
This year, astronomers were able to verify the existence of another long-predicted class of objects, namely interstellar asteroids and comets. On October 19, telescopes of the Pan-STARRS system detected a body leaving the vicinity of the Sun with an orbital inclination of 123°. The data on its eccentricity and speed left no doubt. The object arrived in the Solar System.
After the announcement of the discovery, many observatories around the world set their sights on the interstellar visitor. The object, named Oumuamua, turned out to be “habitually unusual.” The surface of the body has a reddish tint, reminiscent of D and P class asteroids. At the same time, infrared observations suggested that 'Oumuamua is covered with a layer organic matter(tholins) and is more likely not an asteroid, but. The organics act as a protective screen, protecting the core of the object, which most likely still contains water ice, from evaporation.
'Oumuamua's proportions turned out to be atypical for bodies in the Solar System. The object has a very elongated shape. Its length is estimated at 400 m, and its diameter is only 40 m. Observations have shown that Oumuamua has an irregular rotation period. Most likely this is the result of some event (for example, a collision or gravitational perturbation) that threw it out of the parent star system.
Oumuamua is currently leaving the solar system. Its speed exceeds the speed of the fastest spacecraft in history, Voyager 1, which virtually eliminates the possibility of sending an interplanetary mission to it.
But don't be upset. Astronomers believe that objects like 'Oumuamua visit the inner solar system almost every year. Since their brightness is very weak, they have not been detected until now. Only recently have wide-field survey telescopes such as Pan-STARRS become powerful enough to detect such objects. So, most likely, in the near future we will find other interstellar objects in the Solar System.
10. Announcements of new space missions
2017 went down in history as a rare year when not a single new interplanetary vehicle was sent into space. Fortunately, this has been offset by the large number of confirmed missions that will explore the solar system in the coming years. In January, NASA completed its 13th selection of the Discovery program. Lucy and Psyche mission agency. Lucy's mission will be to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. Psyche will go to the metal asteroid Psyche, considered a fragment of the core of a dead protoplanet. Both missions will go into space within the next decade.
In December, NASA selected two finalists for the next New Frontiers mission. These included concepts for delivering cometary substances to Earth (CAESAR) and a flying drone (Dragonfly) to study Titan. Which of them will receive money for implementation will be determined in 2019. Don’t forget about the projects of NASA and ESA missions to study Europa and other icy moons of Jupiter. Both to their realization.
The Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO) has confirmed that the next lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, will be launched. The device will consist of three main components: an orbital module, a lander and a small lunar rover.
South Korea also announced its lunar plans. She is going to send her device to the Moon. Japan plans to launch a station to the red planet. The main goal of the MMX mission will be to study the Martian moons and deliver a sample of Phobos matter to Earth. The Japanese mission will be supported by the French National Center for Space Research and NASA. MMX is planned to launch in September 2024.
China also has ambitious plans. Next year, the Celestial Empire will send the Chang'e-4 apparatus, which will have to land on the far side of the Moon. In another year, China will begin construction of a multi-module orbital station. But the Celestial Empire’s space plans are not limited to just this. Last year, China also announced a mission to deliver a sample of Martian material to Earth, and also announced plans to send.
And finally, don’t forget that in 2018 a large number of different interplanetary missions will go into space. In addition to the already mentioned Chang'e-5 and Chandrayaan-2, the following devices can be distinguished:
- Insight (NASA). Its purpose will be to study geological structure Mars.
- Parker Solar Probe (NASA). It will approach our star at a record distance of only 6 million km.
- BepiColombo (ESA and JAXA). The mission of this joint European-Japanese mission will be to explore Mercury.
In total, in 2017, the authors of the In-Space website published 544 news items covering the most interesting and exciting discoveries, observations and research of astronomers around the world. On average, each news was read by more than a thousand visitors, but there were those that stood out among the total, but more on that later.
In 2017, In-Space began collaborating with the Hubble and Kepler telescope teams, as well as NASA departments. Now you can read on our website press releases about the most high-profile discoveries at the time of their English-language publications in leading scientific journals.
Artist's impression of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope. Credit: ESO
The most interesting topics of the past year for In-Space readers were observations of Jupiter by NASA's Juno spacecraft, searches for the nature of dark matter, data on the first recorded interstellar asteroid 'Oumuamua, discoveries of exoplanets, photographs of distant stars and galaxies obtained by instruments of the European Southern Observatory and the telescope " Hubble", gravitational waves and, of course, the finale of the Cassini mission. First things first:
10th place. Native asteroids
In 2017 (at the time of publication of the article), 785 asteroids rushed past the Earth at a distance of less than 10 million kilometers, of which 99 are potentially dangerous. Complete list presented on the page. The most interesting of them were the asroids, and, which on October 12 flew past our planet at a distance of only 50 thousand kilometers.
An artist's representation of the collision of two neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993, producing a kilonova flare and gravitational waves. Credit: ESO/L. Calgada/M. Kornmesser
3rd place. Fall of Cassini
A joint project between NASA and ESA, the Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists around the world with unique data about the Saturn system for 13 years. Launched in 1997, the daring researcher studied gas giant and its moons, transmitting unique data to Earth and puzzling scientists. But on September 15, this event became a landmark for all space lovers around the world.
One of the latest portraits of Saturn from Cassini. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
2nd place. Oh that 'Oumuamua
On October 19, 2017, a significant event for all humanity took place: . At the time of discovery, the guest was at a distance of 0.2 astronomical units from Earth. Observatories around the world pointed their telescopes at the intruder in an attempt to determine the nature of the foreign object. The instruments of the European Southern Observatory have advanced the furthest, determining the size, proportions and composition of the guest.
'Oumuamua as imagined by the artist. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
Subsequently, project scientists hoped for the “intelligent” origin of the wanderer, but no signs of intelligent life were recorded on the asteroid.
1 place. Jupiter and Juno
“Juno”, Juno, whatever is more convenient for you. The spacecraft, named after the ancient Roman goddess of family and motherhood, spent the entire 2017 studying the most big planet Solar system - . The world has never seen such a giant, hiding the secrets of the origin of the Solar System.
A perspective view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Credit: NASA
Probing of the Great Red Spot, radiation spots, colorful photographs and discoveries made by the spacecraft, which traveled to Jupiter for 5 years, became the most significant for In-Space readers in 2017.