NASA in 2021: From landing the Perseverance rover on Mars to launching a next-gen space telescope

Despite facing several delays due to the Covid19 pandemic in the last year NASA had its busiest year of development yet in 2021The US space agency in 2021 made history on Mars continued to make progress on its Artemis plans for the Moon tested new technologies for a supersonic aircraft finalised launch preparations for the nextgeneration space telescope and much more all while safely operating under the shadow of the pandemicAt NASA we turn science fiction into science fact and we do it daily From continuing to launch astronauts to the International Space Station ISS from American soil to landing the Perseverance rover on Mars and logging the first flight on another planet 2021 was a banner year for the worlds premier space agency and all of humanity NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statementNext year NASA will accomplish more daring feats with new discoveries and technological advancements especially as our Artemis I mission paves the way for future crewed missions to the Moon and beyond Nelson addedAmong the many science accomplishments for the year NASA continued preparations to launch the James Webb Space Telescope on December 25 from French Guiana successfully landed the Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars and piloted the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter the first powered controlled flight on another planetWebb is the agencys final launch this year and was preceded by several other scientific missions launches including the cosmic Xray studying Imaging Xray Polarimetry Explorer IXPE the asteroidstudying Lucy spacecraft the worlds first planetary defense test mission the Double Asteroid Redirection Test DART and two CubeSat missionsNASA welcomed back to Earth the first two sets of commercial crew astronauts to complete expedition missions aboard the ISS and launched Crew3 to the orbiting laboratory During the Crew2 mission astronauts spent a US recordsetting 199 days in orbit surpassing the 168 days set by Crew1 mission earlier this yearThis was the 21st continuous year of human presence aboard the ISS and the busiest yet the space agency saidThe agency also advanced plans to explore more of the Moon through Artemis pledging to send the first woman and first person of colour to the lunar surface To pave the way for future lunar missions with crew NASA completed stacking of its Space Launch System SLS rocket with its Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I missionArtemis I an uncrewed flight test of NASAs powerful SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will travel around the Moon in March or April 2022In addition NASA also picked SpaceX to continue the development and demonstration of the first commercial human lunar landerThis year the BidenHarris Administration tapped NASA to join the White House Climate Task Force The agency also released a climate action plan aimed at averting mission impacts due to climate changeNASA launched the Sustainable Flight National Partnership teaming up with industry academia and other government agencies to achieve netzero carbon emissions from aviation by 2050 NASA also continues to validate unique airframe design technologies that will one day allow future supersonic planes to fly quietlyIn 2021 NASA took action to roll out aviation technology to more airports to help save time for passengers pushing the boundaries of making aeronautics more green and more efficientThe space agency also advanced technology for exploration with new concepts that can drive exploration of the Moon Mars and beyond and benefit people here on EarthThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever