Top 10 space stories of 2018
From Hubble tracking down the most distant star from Earth to the Dawn probe going interstellar, 2018 was full of exciting space stories
There may just be days left to 2018, but in terms of space it was an exciting year with lots to report.
Scientists spotted some new alien planets orbiting distant stars, captured astonishing images of ghost galaxies, solved some long-standing mysteries of the universe, and even sent an expensive car into space. Some old spacecraft were retired from service, while some new missions were launched to improve human understanding about the universe.
So now is the perfect time to look back at the past 12 months and pick some of the most exciting space stories of 2018.
While it is a difficult task to select only a few favourite space stories from hundreds of stories, here are the top 10 most amazing space happenings of 2018, according to V3.
10. SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches Tesla Roadster into orbit
In February, SpaceX surprised the whole world by launching an expensive Tesla Roadster car into space aboard a re-usable Falcon Heavy rocket.
The successful launch of the rocket was a monumental achievement for SpaceX as well as for the U.S. space industry. The car was launched at a speed of 28,800 kph. It cruised around the Earth for some hours before starting its journey towards the Martian asteroid belt. The Falcon Heavy rocket, with twice the towing capacity of any other rocket in use, became the most powerful rocket on Earth.
It is now expected to open up entirely new possibilities for SpaceX, including launching of heavy satellites, future space stations into orbit, and even ferrying cargo to Mars.
9. Scientists use the Hubble Telescope to track down the most distant star
Later in April, scientists announced that they have tracked down the most distant star using the Hubble Space Telescope.
The finding was made by a group of scientists led by Patrick Kelly from the University of Minnesota, Steven Rodney from the University of South Carolina and Jose Diego from Instituto de Física de Cantabria in Spain.
Dubbed Lensed Star 1 (LS1), the star sits in the MACS J1149-2223 galaxy cluster and was formed about 4.4 billion years after the Big Bang.
Astronomers were actually observing a type of gravitationally lensed supernova explosion called "Refsdal" when they discovered LS1. They also revealed that LS1 was located at least 100 times farther away than the next individual star they can study, except for supernova explosions.
8. NASA's Mars Opportunity rover jeopardised in dust storm the size of North America
In June, NASA announced that a huge dust storm had hit its Mars Opportunity rover, forcing the space agency to shift the rover to 'minimal operations' to preserve its power. The storm, which covered an area about the size of North America, prevented the rover from recharging its batteries.
The storm started on 1st June, and continued for several days, creating a dark night over the Opportunity's location. Opportunity rover had earlier seen a similar sand storm in 2007, but the intensity and atmospheric opacity of the storm was much worse this time.
Top 10 space stories of 2018
From Hubble tracking down the most distant star from Earth to the Dawn probe going interstellar, 2018 was full of exciting space stories
7. Hidden lake of liquid water discovered on Mars - one mile beneath its south ice cap
And in July, an international team of researchers claimed discovery of a lake of liquid water on Mars. The lake was present beneath the South Polar Layered Deposits on the Red Planet, according to scientists, and was circular in shape.
It was about 1.6 kilometres below the surface, approximately 20 kilometres wide and at least 900 centimetres deep. Scientists suspected that the water of the lake contained an exceptionally high salt content and was not likely to support any life form. The discovery was made using a radar device on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.
6. Leak found on International Space Station could have been caused deliberately
In a highly unusual and surprising incident, a leak was found on the International Space Station (ISS) in September. The crew on board the ISS spotted a small hole on one of a pair of Soyuz spacecraft attached to the ISS orbiting base. The hole was initially thought to have been caused by an impact with a meteorite, but the Russian Space Agency rejected the theory later.
It said the hole could have been caused deliberately by drilling from the inside of the spacecraft. The Russian officials further revealed that the hole was "done by a human hand" as the traces of a drill sliding along the surface were found. The leak caused a minor reduction of pressure on the ISS, although the crew was not in danger, according to NASA.
5. NASA's Parker Solar Probe smashes record for closest approach to the Sun
Last month, NASA announced that the Parker Solar Probe has smashed the record for closest approach to the Sun by a man-made object. The probe surpassed the earlier record of 43 million kilometres' from the surface of the Sun, set by the American-German Helios-2 craft in 1976. The probe also set a new record of being the fastest spacecraft travelling relative to the Sun. Helios-2 had set this record with a heliocentric speed of 153,454 mph (246,960 km/h).
The spacecraft was launched in August with a goal to collect valuable data about the Sun's corona and various processes that enable the Sun to generate so much heat and light. The probe will complete 24 close approaches to the Sun over the next seven years, and will get closer and closer to the star with each approach. Its closest approach to the Sun is expected in 2024, when it will come just 3.83 million miles (6.12 million kilometres) from the solar surface.
4. NASA waves goodbye to Dawn spacecraft, the pioneering mission to the asteroid belt
The week bridging the months of October and November saw the winding up of two landmark NASA missions: Dawn and Kepler. First, Kepler was declared dead on 31st October after it ran out of its fuel. Then, on 2nd November, Dawn mission was also declared over after it failed to establish a communication link with NASA's Deep Space Network. The mission team concluded that the probe had run out of hydrazine fuel.
Dawn was launched in 2007 to study the dwarf planet Ceres and protoplanet Vesta. The probe arrived at Vesta in 2011, and gathered significant information about the protoplanet, before moving towards its next destination Ceres, where it finally arrived in 2015. During its operational lifetime, Dawn beamed back detailed images of the two objects, thereby shedding new light on how planets were formed in our solar system.
Top 10 space stories of 2018
From Hubble tracking down the most distant star from Earth to the Dawn probe going interstellar, 2018 was full of exciting space stories
3. NASA's Insight Mars rover makes successful landing at Elysium Planitia near the Red Planet's equator
On 26th November, the space enthusiasts across the globe were thrilled to see NASA's InSight Mars rover making a successful landing on the Martian surface after 'seven minutes of terror.' The lander touched down on Elysium Planitia, a flat plain near Mars' equator, after completing about 485-million-kilometres journey. InSight mission was launched on 5th May and took about six-and-half months before arriving at its final destination.
According to NASA, it was a tough mission for its scientists. The success rate for all the missions to Mars is just about 40 per cent. After touching down on the Martian surface, the lander waited for some time and then unfurled its solar panels. It also beamed back an image of Elysium Planitia, where it will carry out scientific research over next two years to reveal new information about the interior of Mars.
2. NASA is returning to Moon and may do it 'sooner than you think'
Last month, NASA revealed its plan to visit the Moon again. The agency unveiled nine companies that are now eligible to compete for NASA contracts worth millions of dollars. NASA's new partners range from start-ups to big companies like Lockheed Martin, which will design and launch scientific instruments and robotic payloads under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme.
The companies will compete for contracts worth a combined value of about £2 billion (US$2.6 billion) over the next 10 years. NASA said it will also revaluate the private sector periodically for emerging players and may offer contacts to more firms through its on-ramping process.
1. China launches Chang'e-4 rover to land on Moon's dark side
Finally, earlier this month, China once again exhibited its growing ambitions to rival the United States, Russia and the European Union in the space domain by launching its Chang'e-4 mission to land on the mountainous dark side of the Moon. Moon's dark side is never visible from Earth. It is rugged and is expected to be a challenging site for Chang'e-4 mission.
If successful, Chang'e-4 will become the world's first moon mission to land on Moon's dark side. The rover carries 10 scientific experiments on board and is expected to touch down on the lunar surface around the New Year.