3 Spaceflight Milestones for 2018
Discussion
On the news over the weekend they mentioned what's upcoming in 2018 for spaceflight.
The 3 major milestones that stuck in my mind are;
Falcon Heavy (which has been discussed at length on here already.
A manned flight of a Dragon Capsule scheduled for August - didn't know this was on the cards but I believe will be a major milestone for SpaceX, NASA, the ISS and so many other interested parties.
And also a full un-manned test of the manned capsule for the SLS.
I think these are all pretty major goals for 2018, which proves to be an amazing year if they all happen. What are other peoples thoughts, or what other milestones are due to take place that get you excited?
The 3 major milestones that stuck in my mind are;
Falcon Heavy (which has been discussed at length on here already.
A manned flight of a Dragon Capsule scheduled for August - didn't know this was on the cards but I believe will be a major milestone for SpaceX, NASA, the ISS and so many other interested parties.
And also a full un-manned test of the manned capsule for the SLS.
I think these are all pretty major goals for 2018, which proves to be an amazing year if they all happen. What are other peoples thoughts, or what other milestones are due to take place that get you excited?
There is an ESA mission to Mercury and a NASA mission to Mars.
New Horizons will be performing a flyby of another Kuiper Belt Object.
Boeing aims to fly its Starliner spacecraft, initially on an unmanned test flight and perhaps will get a manned flight in before the end of the year
The Chinese intend to land an unmanned rover on the far side of the moon. This will be a genuine and important space "first" for the Chinese.
There's a lot happening.
New Horizons will be performing a flyby of another Kuiper Belt Object.
Boeing aims to fly its Starliner spacecraft, initially on an unmanned test flight and perhaps will get a manned flight in before the end of the year
The Chinese intend to land an unmanned rover on the far side of the moon. This will be a genuine and important space "first" for the Chinese.
There's a lot happening.
There is a lot happening all right.
The Mars mission is NASA's much delayed "InSight" lander. This should launch in May on an Atlas 5 rocket, with a late November landing (also 2018).
Some notable others:
In March, India will launch their Chandrayaan 2 mission to the moon (Chandrayaan meaning moon vehicle). This will orbit the moon at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi), but it will also drop a small rover vehicle to the surface as well.
This is actually India's second moon mission, but will be their first proper landing. The Chandrayaan 1 mission back in 2008 dropped a Moon Impact Probe, which as the name suggests, smacked into the moon so they could analyze the dirt thrown up for water ice (which they found).
NASA intend to launch the Parker Solar Probe on a Delta 4 Heavy rocket in July. The specially shielded probe will fly to 3.9 million miles from the Sun, which is 7 times closer than any other spacecraft ever has apparently. It'll study the solar winds and the surface of the Sun itself while braving intense solar radiation & heat of around 1,300 degrees Celsius.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which was launched in Sept 2016 will approach the asteroid Bennu in August this year. It's doing all sorts of surveying & photography on its way. It'll slowly move close enough to the asteroid to be able to take samples from it with its robot arm, then head back to Earth for a 2021 homecoming.
The Mars mission is NASA's much delayed "InSight" lander. This should launch in May on an Atlas 5 rocket, with a late November landing (also 2018).
Some notable others:
In March, India will launch their Chandrayaan 2 mission to the moon (Chandrayaan meaning moon vehicle). This will orbit the moon at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi), but it will also drop a small rover vehicle to the surface as well.
This is actually India's second moon mission, but will be their first proper landing. The Chandrayaan 1 mission back in 2008 dropped a Moon Impact Probe, which as the name suggests, smacked into the moon so they could analyze the dirt thrown up for water ice (which they found).
NASA intend to launch the Parker Solar Probe on a Delta 4 Heavy rocket in July. The specially shielded probe will fly to 3.9 million miles from the Sun, which is 7 times closer than any other spacecraft ever has apparently. It'll study the solar winds and the surface of the Sun itself while braving intense solar radiation & heat of around 1,300 degrees Celsius.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which was launched in Sept 2016 will approach the asteroid Bennu in August this year. It's doing all sorts of surveying & photography on its way. It'll slowly move close enough to the asteroid to be able to take samples from it with its robot arm, then head back to Earth for a 2021 homecoming.
ChocolateFrog said:
Is the JWST being launched this year. That'll be the most expensive and will set Astronomy back decades if they get it wrong.
It won't be launched until Spring 2019 (although I bet that is being optimistic).I don't see how it would set astronomy back. It won't cause astronomers to forget what they already know.
But it would be massive blow as great things are expected from it.
Eric Mc said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Is the JWST being launched this year. That'll be the most expensive and will set Astronomy back decades if they get it wrong.
It won't be launched until Spring 2019 (although I bet that is being optimistic).I don't see how it would set astronomy back. It won't cause astronomers to forget what they already know.
But it would be massive blow as great things are expected from it.
Eric Mc said:
I don't think they will build a direct replacement for the JWST if it fails.
But there will be other space telescopes in the future. I'm fully expecting a lunar far side telescope at some time in the not too distant future.
We'd need some relay satellites in permanent orbit around the moon for that though.But there will be other space telescopes in the future. I'm fully expecting a lunar far side telescope at some time in the not too distant future.
AshVX220 said:
Eric Mc said:
I don't think they will build a direct replacement for the JWST if it fails.
But there will be other space telescopes in the future. I'm fully expecting a lunar far side telescope at some time in the not too distant future.
We'd need some relay satellites in permanent orbit around the moon for that though.But there will be other space telescopes in the future. I'm fully expecting a lunar far side telescope at some time in the not too distant future.
Eric Mc said:
AshVX220 said:
Eric Mc said:
I don't think they will build a direct replacement for the JWST if it fails.
But there will be other space telescopes in the future. I'm fully expecting a lunar far side telescope at some time in the not too distant future.
We'd need some relay satellites in permanent orbit around the moon for that though.But there will be other space telescopes in the future. I'm fully expecting a lunar far side telescope at some time in the not too distant future.
I doubt they will.
It's actually not that hard or expensive to do. If and when a permanent science station (of whatever type) is set down on the far side of the moon, part of the mission will be the setting into place of a relay satellite to bounce the signals around the limb of the moon back to earth.
It's actually not that hard or expensive to do. If and when a permanent science station (of whatever type) is set down on the far side of the moon, part of the mission will be the setting into place of a relay satellite to bounce the signals around the limb of the moon back to earth.
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