Those were the biggest space stories of 2020, as you voted

Yes, 2020 has been an awful year for us all. But for a place, it’s been an exciting 12 months.

Over the past year, we’ve seen a number of exciting space stories making the news, from historical events to major scientific discoveries.

But what was the original choice? To find out, I am run a contest on Twitter – called # SpaceCup2020 – to see your favorite space stories of the year.

From an initial selection of 16 stories, hundreds of voters helped whitewash the ones over the next three days to select a winner.

So without further ado, there are the top eight stories, as you choose, as well as some honorable references at the end.

8. Arecibo falls apart

In early December, we heard the strong news that the famous Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico had fallen apart.

Built in the 1960s, the 300-meter basin of Arecibo was the largest radio telescope in the world until the FAST telescope in China began operations in January 2020.

Arecibo had been involved in many scientific discoveries, from discovering some of the first known exoplanets to discovering Secret Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) – as well as appearing in films such as Goldeneye and Contact.

But sadly, on December 1, the observation platform of the aging telescope crashed into the dish, destroying it beyond repair. Now many are worried about other telescopes getting older, too.

7. Phosphine on Venus

For decades, the hunt for life beyond Earth in our Solar System has been largely focused on Mars. But in September, we got an all-powerful shock – was Venus probably a better bet?

Scientists studying Venus said they had found evidence for phosphine in its atmosphere, a mixture of hydrogen and phosphorous which, although toxic, could be a life biomarker.

Enthusiastic experts began to question whether microbial life could float in the clouds of Venus, depleting this phosphine – with several follow-up missions suggested to take a closer look.

Unfortunately, the first message was now questioned. Even if it doesn’t stand up, however, there are still plenty of reasons to return to this exciting world.

6. China returns samples from the Moon

With everything going on at the end of 2020, you may have been forgiven for missing this story.

On November 23, China launched a mission to the Moon called Chang’e-5, the country’s first attempt to collect samples from the Moon’s surface and bring them back to the Moon.

The robotic mission was the first to be activated since the Luna 24 mission of the Soviet Union in 1976.

On December 1st he succeeded in a district called Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) on the Moon. He took samples and, two days later, sent them back to Earth.

Then, on December 16, the spacecraft’s capsule plunged into our atmosphere and landed in inner Mongolia, where it was assembled by enthusiastic scientists ready to study the spacecraft. first lunar samples returned in more than 40 years.

5. NASA scratches pieces of an asteroid

The first of two asteroid sample return missions on this list, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft surprised the world in October when it successfully acquired material from the asteroid Bennu.

About 320 million kilometers from our planet, the spacecraft made a brief rub on the surface of the asteroid with an extended arm, firing puffs of nitrogen gas into the surface.

This kicked material into the arm, which was then collected inside the spacecraft – so much, of course, that it was unable to close.

Fortunately he did, and now the spacecraft is preparing to leave the asteroid in March 2021, returning to Earth with these valuable samples in September 2023.

4. Starship “belly flop”

Anyone who has been following SpaceX for the last decade is a stranger to their impressive achievements – but the launch at the end of the year is perhaps one of the best things they’ve done yet.

On December 9, the company successfully launched their Mars prototype vehicle called Starship to its highest altitude yet, aiming more than 12 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.

The vehicle, known as SN8 (or serial number 8), was successful and was found in mid-air, before moving 90 degrees and performing a “belly flop” back to Earth, symbolizing a return in the air. future from orbit.

SN8 was not a lot like landing, instead hitting and exploding in an impressive fireball. Nevertheless, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hailed the test as a great achievement.

In 2021, the company hopes to reach orbit for the first time with Starship. In the future, launching on a larger elevator called Super Heavy, it is designed to simultaneously transport 100 people to Mars.

3. Missions to Mars

In July we saw not one, but three missions launching to Mars, all taking advantage of the alignment between our planets that allows the shortest flight every 26 months.

The first of these was the Hope spaceship from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Launching on July 19, this was the first inter-mission mission ever launched by the UAE, or indeed any Arab country.

Arriving in Mars in February 2021, it is designed to study Martian weather and climate from orbit.

Then on July 23, we saw China launch their first mission to Mars. Called Tianwen-1, the mission consists of an orbiter and a rover, which will attempt to land on the surface by April 2021.

Last but not least, NASA’s Perseverance rover launched on July 30th. Scheduled to sink down in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, the rover will conduct one of the most extensive explorations for life on Mars to date.

2. Hayabusa2 returns home

Our second prize in the Space Cup this year was the amazing Japanese mission of Hayabusa2, which successfully returned asteroid samples to Earth in December.

The spacecraft – which came after the Hayabusa1 mission to the Itokawa asteroid in the early 2000s – had begun on December 3, 2014, on a mission to collect material from an asteroid called Ryugu millions of kilometers from Earth.

After successfully scrubbing material from the surface twice – including once from an artificial crack it made – the Ryugu spacecraft left at the end of 2019.

After a journey of more than a year, the spacecraft successfully launched its capsule containing samples of Ryugu on December 6 this year.

Scientists from the Japanese space agency (JAXA) have opened the capsule, confirming that samples of Ryugu are inside. Now they are preparing to study them, perhaps helping to discover where water – and even life – came from on Earth.

1. SpaceX is launching a new era of private space lighting

It looks almost like it was a lifetime ago, but in May this year, SpaceX achieved an exciting year in the making – successfully launching humans into space.

On May 30, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley sent the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, on a test flight called Demo-2, to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Crew Dragon spacecraft development was funded by NASA to the tune of $ 2.6 billion to replace the Space Shuttle, which retired in 2011.

But there was only one publication. On November 15, SpaceX flew its second human mission – and the first fully operational one – called Crew-1, bringing four new astronauts to the ISS.

With Crew Dragon in operation, the company now runs regular “taxi service” flights to and from the ISS, as well as missions for private customers as well – including actor Tom Cruise. .

After many years of waiting, we are now looking ready for a new era of private human space lighting. And it was such a great story, you voted it as your main 2020 story.

Honorable references

Several stories made waves this year as well, but they didn’t make it through the first round of voting.

In December, scientists announced that a a possible foreign signal from our nearest star system, Proxima Centuari. While they may not be strangers, there is still reason for some excitement.

July saw the the return of the UK company OneWeb, which wants to launch an internet mega constel to compete with SpaceX ‘s StarX, but which had gone against a breakup.

Scientists named the rediscovering water on the Moon in October, and in early 2020 we saw some exciting new solar missions – introducing the European Solar Orbiter – start.

In November we discovered a source a Fast Radio’s secret explosion (FRB) to a star – magnetar – for the first time. And in July, Comet Neowise surrendering our skies, visible even to the naked eye.

We also saw our the second intersex visitor, comet Borisov, crack opened in March, and December saw the third release of data from the the most detailed study ever of our galaxy, Gaia.

So, overall, it hasn’t been an awful year for a place. And with some interesting space stories for 2021, there’s a lot more on the horizon…

See you next year!