From the moon to Europa, six space missions to be excited for in 2024
- The year 2023 was an important one for space missions including NASA’s OSIRIS-REx and India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission.
- The year 2024 is shaping up to be another exciting year for space exploration.
Europa Clipper
- NASA's mission to explore Jupiter's moon Europa, known for its ice surface and potential subsurface saltwater ocean.
- Objective: To investigate Europa's potential habitability for extraterrestrial life through repeated flybys, studying its icy shell, geology and subsurface ocean.
- The mission will also look for active geysers spewing out from Europa.
- Launching on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, it is expected to arrive at the Jupiter system in 2030.
Artemis II Launch
- The Artemis programme is part of NASA’s plan to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.
- It follows upon Artemis I, which sent an uncrewed capsule into orbit around the moon in late 2022.
- It will put the astronauts into orbit around the Moon before returning them home.
VIPER Mission
- Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) is NASA’s golf cart-sized robot exploring the Moon's south pole.
- Objective: To search for volatile molecules like water and carbon dioxide, potential resources for future human lunar exploration.
- The VIPER robot will rely on batteries, heat pipes and radiators throughout its 100-day mission.
- Operates through extreme lunar conditions, from scorching heat to frigid shadowed regions.
Lunar Trailblazer and PRIME-1 Missions
- Lunar Trailblazer, part of NASA's SIMPLEx program, will orbit the Moon, measuring the surface temperature and mapping water molecules.
- SIMPLEx (Small, Innovative Missions for PLanetary Exploration) is a class of small, low-cost planetary missions.
- These missions save costs by tagging along on other launches as what is called a rideshare, or secondary payload.
- PRIME-1 mission, a drill test for VIPER, is dependent on earlier launches' readiness.
- Both missions will contribute to understanding lunar water distribution.
JAXA’s Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) Mission
- Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission to study Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos.
- Objective: To determine the origin of the moons - whether former asteroids captured by Mars or formed from Martian orbit debris.
- MMX will spend three years around Mars, observe the moons, land on Phobos, collect a sample, and return to Earth.
ESA’s Hera Mission
- The European Space Agency's Hera mission aims to explore the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system.
- Follows NASA's DART mission, which tested a planetary defence technique called “kinetic impact” to alter an asteroid's orbit.
- Hera's objective is to study the physical properties of the asteroids, enhancing planetary defence capabilities.