Date: 31/12/2022

Relevance: GS-3 : Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life; Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology; Awareness in the fields of Space.

Key Phrases: NASA’s Artemis 1 mission Jupiter,James Webb Space Telescope, China’s Tiangong space station Icy, Moons Explorer, SpaceX Starship, dearMoon, Asteroid explorer returns to Ear, Skyroot Aerospace

Why in News?

• The year 2022 has been a great year for space exploration, with successes including the completion of NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, the inauguration of the James Webb Space Telescope, and the completion of China’s Tiangong space station.

What are five of the most exciting missions in the year 2023 ?

1. Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
2. SpaceX Starship
3. dearMoon
4. Asteroid explorer returns to Earth
5. India’s private space launch

About Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer:

• The European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), in what will be Europe’s first dedicated robotic mission to Jupiter.
• Juice is due to reach the planet in July 2031 after performing an incredible flight path through the Solar System.
• The mission will enter into orbit around Jupiter and perform numerous flybys of its large icy moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
• After four years of moon flybys, Juice will then enter into orbit around Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System.
• Significance of the mission:
  1. The icy moons of Jupiter are interesting as they are all believed to host oceans of liquid water beneath their frozen surfaces.
  2. Europa, in particular, is regarded as one of the most likely abodes in the Solar System for extra-terrestrial life.
  3. Juice will be equipped with ten scientific instruments including ice-penetrating radar to study the internal oceans.
  4. Use of radar is a practical first step in mapping the sub-surface oceans, paving the way for more exotic future missions.

About SpaceX Starship:

• The first orbital test flight of the super-heavy Starship spacecraft is highly anticipated to occur in early 2023.
• Starship will be the largest spacecraft capable of carrying humans from Earth to destinations in space.
• It will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever to fly, capable of lifting 100 tonnes of cargo to low Earth orbit.
• Starship is the collective name for a two-component system:
  1. Starship spacecraft crew and cargo
  2. Super Heavy rocket
• The rocket component will lift Starship to some 65km altitude before separating and returning to Earth in a controlled landing.
• The upper Starship component will then use its own engines to push itself the rest of the way to orbit.

About dearMoon:

• dearMoon project, which will take members of the public on a six-day trip around the Moon and back, is due for launch on Starship and was originally planned for 2023.
• The exact date will depend on the successful test of Starship, but has been on the books since 2018. It will be the first true deep space tourism launch.
• This mission will mark a big change in the way we think about space, as previously only astronauts picked using incredibly stringent criteria.
• Issues of dearMoon:
  1. A full trip of several days poses extreme risks, both in terms of health and engineering.
  2. The success or failure of the dearMoon mission could affect whether deep space tourism becomes the next big thing, or it is returned back to being a pipe-dream.

About Asteroid explorer returns to Earth:

• The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security – Regolith Explorer, commonly known as OSIRIS-REx, is a NASA mission to near-Earth asteroid Bennu.
• Key goal of this robotic mission:
• Acquire samples of Bennu and return them to Earth for analysis.
• OSIRIS-REx is now fast returning to Earth with up to a kilogram of precious asteroid samples stored aboard.
• If all goes well, the capsule will detach from the spacecraft, enter the Earth’s atmosphere and parachute to a soft landing in the deserts of Utah.
• Asteroid sample return has only been achieved once before, by the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa 2 mission in 2020.
• Significance of the mission:
  1. Bennu is an approximately diamond-shaped world just half a kilometer in size, but has many interesting characteristics.
  2. Bennu is believed to have broken off from a much larger asteroid in the first 10 million years of the Solar System.
  3. Some of the minerals detected within Bennu have been altered by water, implying that Bennu’s ancient parent body possessed liquid water.
  4. It also has an abundance of precious metals, including gold and platinum.
  5. Bennu is classed as a potentially hazardous object with a small possibility of Earth’s impact in the next century.

About India’s private space launch:

• Skyroot Aerospace, which successfully launched its Vikram-S rocket in November 2022, is soon to become the first private Indian company to launch a satellite.
• Skyroot’s first satellite launch is planned for 2023, with a goal of undercutting the cost of private space launch rivals by producing its 3D-printed rockets in a matter of days.
• Significance of India’s private space launch:
  • If successful, this could also provide a route for cheaper launches of scientific missions, enabling a faster rate of research.

Conclusion:

• Clearly, interest in the space sector remains high in 2023.
• With many bold advances and launches, the world is entering a new phase akin to the “Golden era” of space launches in the 1960s and ’70s.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question

Q. With many bold advances and launches in the year 2023, the world is entering a new phase akin to the “Golden era” of space launches in the 1960s and ’70s. Discuss. ( 15 marks).