Every year marks beginnings and endings, but when it comes to space exploration, 2012 ranks as a big year for both starts and stops. SpaceX opened what could be a new era for commercial spaceflight. NASA’s Curiosity rover began what could turn out to be a decade-long mission on Mars. First moonwalker Neil Armstrong, arguably the world’s best-known (and most private) astronaut, passed away. So did Sally Ride, America’s first woman astronaut. And after 30 years of service, the space shuttle fleet finally settled into museum retirement.
It’s always tough to limit the list to five, so I’m including an “other” category in this bunch. Please tell me in your comments why you think I’m underplaying or missing your favorite outer-space story.
Curiosity goes to work on Mars
After a long cruise and seven minutes of terror, NASA’s nuclear-powered Curiosity rover was dropped onto the Red Planet’s surface in August to determine whether Mars ever had the chemical requirements for life. Curiosity soon figured out that it landed in the midst of an ancient riverbed, and started sniffing out evidence of complex chemicals. This whole rover thing is working so well that NASA wants to do it again in 2020.
Godspeed, Neil Armstrong
Just as Curiosity was settling in for the long haul, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong died of complications from heart surgery in August, at the age of 82. A nation mourned, and Apollo 13’s Jim Lovell said Armstrong’s passing “closed the book on the Camelot of manned spaceflight.” The farewell to Armstrong came just a month after Sally Ride died at the age of 61, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. After her death, revelations about her complicated personal life stirred up controversy.
SpaceX delivers the goods
The company founded by dot-com billionaire Elon Musk a decade ago finally sent a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station during a demonstration flight in May, marking the space station’s first commercial delivery. SpaceX did it again in October, turning what once seemed like science fiction into the new routine. SpaceX is also among three ventures getting a total of $1.1 billion to develop new spaceships capable of carrying astronauts to and from the space station.
Farewell tour for shuttles
After months of decommissioning, all three of the retired space shuttles completed their final journeys to their new museum homes. Discovery went to the National Air and Space Museum’s annex, near Washington. Endeavour made a cross-country flight and cross-town trek to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Atlantis was towed to Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex. And the prototype shuttle Enterprise was shifted from the Smithsonian to New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. In October, the Enterprise got a buffeting from Superstorm Sandy.
After months of decommissioning, all three of the retired space shuttles completed their final journeys to their new museum homes. Discovery went to the National Air and Space Museum’s annex, near Washington. Endeavour made a cross-country flight and cross-town trek to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Atlantis was towed to Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex. And the prototype shuttle Enterprise was shifted from the Smithsonian to New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. In October, the Enterprise got a buffeting from Superstorm Sandy.
Asia’s space efforts rise
China reached new milestones in June by putting its first woman in space, on a mission that marked the Chinese space program’s first crewed docking. The test marked a significant step toward setting up an orbital space station, which China wants to do by 2020. In December, North Korea put a satellite in orbit, stirring new concerns about the isolated country’s intentions. (The satellite went into a tumble, and all the signs suggest that whatever orbital mission it had… has failed.)
Other stories
June’s transit of Venus marked the last event of its kind until 2117. NASA’s Messenger probe detected water ice on Mercury. NASA’s twin Grail probes arrived in lunar orbit, did their job and crash-landed on the moon, all in the course of a year. In November, a total solar eclipse wowed skywatchers, including yours truly.
