VOA科学技术2025--2024 Another Big Year for Space Exploration 2025-01-06

As we enter the new year, we take a look back at some of the biggest space stories of 2024.

Historic private moon landing

Nearly one year ago, a private spacecraft completed the first U.S. moon landing in more than 50 years. The American space agency NASA announced the space lander, called Odysseus, had touched down on the lunar surface February 22.

Odysseus was developed by the Texas-based company Intuitive Machines. The spacecraft carried out several science experiments before powering down permanently¹ on the moon in late March.

NASA said Odysseus had successfully captured data to help the agency "better understand the moon's environment and improve landing precision and safety."

Japanese moon landing

Japan's space agency JAXA announced in January 2024 that its SLIM spacecraft had successfully landed on the moon. But the lander touched down the wrong way up, causing some communication and power problems.

Japanese space officials reported that they stayed in communication with SLIM through late April. They said the spacecraft was able to collect valuable data about the touchdown and surrounding area.

One purpose of the mission was to demonstrate new precision landing technology. JAXA said the experiment was successful because SLIM was able to land within 10 meters of its planned target.

Chinese moon landing and return

In May, China launched its Chang'e 6 spacecraft to the moon's far side. In late June, Chinese space officials announced the spacecraft had returned to Earth with rock and soil samples collected on the lunar surface.

The successful return made China the first country to ever collect and bring back lunar samples from the far side of the moon. The area is known as the far side because it always faces away from Earth.

Europe's asteroid² exploration mission

In October, the European Space Agency (ESA) said it had successfully launched a spacecraft, called Hera, to explore an asteroid struck in an earlier NASA test mission. Hera's trip to the asteroid is expected to take about two years.

Hera is headed to the asteroid Dimorphos. NASA crashed its DART³ spacecraft into the space rock in 2022, about 11 million kilometers from Earth. NASA said its mission successfully showed it was possible to change the orbit of asteroids⁴ that might threaten Earth in the future.

Hera aims to closely examine Dimorphos to get more details on how the strike by DART affected⁵ the asteroid. The data that NASA collected is to be used together with information gathered by ESA to develop future planetary defense⁶ plans.

Europa Clipper to explore Jupiter's moon

NASA announced the successful launch of its Europa Clipper spacecraft in October. The explorer is designed to search for possible signs of life on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and has numerous moons. But icy Europa has been identified by scientists as a good candidate for having the right conditions to support life. Several studies have suggested the moon likely contains a large ocean beneath its icy surface.

NASA said the Europa Clipper would fly past Mars, then back toward Earth, "using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum⁷." These kinds of "gravity assists" are expected to provide the needed push to get the spacecraft to Jupiter by 2030.

Boeing's crew flight to the ISS

In early June, Boeing successfully carried out a test mission for NASA by transporting two American astronauts - Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams - to the International Space Station (ISS).

The two were expected to stay in space for only a week. But ongoing⁸ technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft prevented a return trip.

NASA announced plans in August to have Starliner return to Earth without the astronauts. The current plan is for Wilmore and Williams to return on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft sometime in late March or April.

SpaceX landing demonstration⁹

SpaceX has now completed six launch tests of its huge Starship rocket system. Four of those tests were carried out in 2024. The last test took place in November.

The Starship rocket and spacecraft system is designed to be a completely reusable vehicle to transport astronauts and supplies. It has successfully demonstrated that ability in its most recent experimental flights.

During one of the tests in October, Starship's Super Heavy booster rocket was "caught" and secured by a huge structure that includes metal arms. A short time later, Starship's second stage safely splashed down in the Indian Ocean.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

precision - n. the quality of being very correct or exact

sample -n. an amount of a substance that is taken for tests or scientific study

asteroid - n. a rocky object that goes around the sun

mission -n. (space exploration) the flight of a spacecraft to its target along with tasks expected to be carried out

momentum - n. the force that makes something continue to move

booster - n. an engine on a spacecraft that gives extra power for the first part of a flight

stage -n. part of a rocket that contains engines and fuel, but which is left behind when the rocket reaches a certain distance above the Earth

splash down -v. when a spacecraft reenters the Earth's atmosphere and lands in a body of water

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

3 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

4 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。