Exploring the Solar System: A Year of Groundbreaking Space Missions

Space missions spanned the solar system in 2024. The year was marked by significant advancements in space exploration with various missions spanning the solar system. These achievements demonstrate the ongoing efforts of space agencies and private companies to push the boundaries of human knowledge and understanding.

The BepiColombo spacecraft made a close flyby of Mercury on September 4, getting its first view of the planet’s south pole. BepiColombo approached Mercury from its night side, providing views of crater rims that cast deep shadows, potentially revealing new details about their topography.

NASA’s Perseverance rover made a significant discovery in July: a rock containing hints of ancient microbes. However, the budget for NASA’s planned Mars Sample Return mission is in jeopardy, which may prevent the intriguing bit of rock from being returned to Earth for further study.

SpaceX supported another commercial milestone: the first all-civilian spacewalk. The Polaris Dawn mission launched four astronauts to the International Space Station in September. One member of the crew, Sarah Gillis, became the first person to play the violin in space.

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched on October 14 and is bound for an icy moon of Jupiter that may have conditions suitable for life. The mission will make nearly 50 flybys of the moon to study its subsurface ocean, as direct orbiting is not possible due to Jupiter’s intense magnetic field.

China’s Chang’e 6 orbiter turned up at a spot orbiting the sun called L2, the same region occupied by the James Webb Space Telescope. The mission collected the first dirt samples from the moon’s far side and returned them to Earth in June for analysis.

The Japanese SLIM spacecraft made a successful but lopsided precision landing on a crater’s rim, marking Japan’s first soft landing on the moon.