From Jeff Bezos' space flight to NASA touching sun; here's biggest space missions of 2021

The year 2021 hit the space industry hard. Just like other sectors, space researchers scrambled to launch their much-vaunted missions. While a few launches got rescheduled, most of them were operationalized. From Jeff Bezos’ maiden trip to outer space to China’s very own space station, here are space programs that took off this year. A trio of Martian missions, February In February, three missions- all aiming for the red planet were launched. On February 9, United Arab Emirates’ Hope orbiter reached successfully orbit around Mars. Meanwhile, NASA’s Perseverance touched down inside the Red Planet's Jezero Crater on February 18. In the same month, China’s Tianwen-1 also landed on the red planet. James Webb Space Telescope, October After facing delays of months, the mission involved the James Webb space telescopes (JWST) will be launched in scheduled to launch on December 24, 2021, at 7:20 Eastern Standard Time. NASA has said the extraterritorial telescope will emphasize doing state-of-the-art infrared observations from the earth’s orbit. "The James Webb Space Telescope’s revolutionary technology will study every phase of cosmic history—from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. Webb’s infrared telescope will explore a wide range of science questions to help us understand the origins of the universe and our place in it," the space agency said. Just in from the Webb launch site: The team has fixed the connection issue and @NASAWebb is in the midst of its final scheduled aliveness test before launch. We’ll provide an additional update on the status of encapsulation and the launch date tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/ehFVzfeeCI — Thomas Zurbuchen (@Dr_ThomasZ) December 16, 2021 Chinese Space Station In May 2021, China launched Tianhe, the first of the orbiting space station's three modules, and the country aims to finish building the station by the end of 2022. The next launch of the Tiangong program is a modular orbital space station about one-fifth the size of the ISS. Once completed, the space station will consist of a 20-ton core module, two smaller research modules, and a cargo transport craft. It is expected to support three astronauts for long-term habitation. Parker Solar Probe, December NASA's spacecraft Parker Solar Probe touched the Sun flying past its outer atmosphere and entering the 'Corona', the Sun's upper atmosphere on December 15. The American space agency stated that the spacecraft has sampled particles and magnetic fields in Corona which is 'one giant leap for solar science'. Blue Origin’s big year Amazon founder Jeff Bezos blasted off to the edge of space on July 20, along with three other members of the all-civilian crew on Blue Origin vessel. The sub-orbital trip was made possible by the New Shepard launch vehicle. In October, the company created headlines by launching famed actor William Shatner along with Glen de Vries, Dr Chris Boshuizen, and Audrey Powers on a short trip beyond Earth. The view from #NewShepard at apogee is something our #NS19 astronauts will never forget. Today’s flight featured a full capsule of six astronauts, each with their own window seat. pic.twitter.com/MOUT4YgnLC — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) December 11, 2021 (Image: NASA)

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From Jeff Bezos' space flight to NASA touching sun; here's biggest space missions of 2021

The year 2021 hit the space industry hard. Just like other sectors, space researchers scrambled to launch their much-vaunted missions and satellites.

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