This one goes to 27 –
Can you guess number one?
For simplicity’s sake, I had originally hoped to write about the five most important missions. But soon, I realized that this was far too limiting. Truthfully, even picking of the biggest and best accomplishments during the last decade has proven incredibly challenging. We’ve had to leave out some really awesome things on this list, not to mention ultimately cheating (as this list goes to 27).It was so hard. If you read through the “honorable mentions” at the end of this list, there are literally dozens of incredible space feats. It makes me feel better about our species.
Astronaut Nick Hague, right, and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, left, embrace their families after landing in Baikonur, Kazakhstan in October, (****************************************************************************************. NASA**********************
Fortunately, the hardy Soyuz capsule’s escape system worked as intended. This is notable, because launch escape systems are rarely, if ever, tested on the actual flight vehicles ahead of missions. But in times of emergency, they are absolutely critical to the saving of human lives. In this case, the abort system triggered automatically, subjecting Ovchinin and Hague to a brief period of high gravity before they returned to Earth in a parabolic arc. This was a hugely dramatic moment in human spaceflight this decade. It’s a testament to both the hardiness of the Russian crewed spacecraft design and the apparently declining reliability of the country aerospace manufacturing processes.
Both astronauts launched successfully into orbit on March.. Rocket Lab and the rest
One of the big space stories over the last five years has been the rise of dozens of new launch companies seeking to build rockets capable of launching between 175 kg and 2 metric tons to low-Earth orbit. Many of these companies will fail — some,like Vector, already have — as the commercial and government market for dedicated launch can likely only support a few competitors. NASA has provided some modest supportfor these companies, but the majority of capital backing them has come from private investors.
Given that so many other companies are trying to make it in this market, Rocket Lab’s rise has been remarkable, both from recognizing the potential market early (the company was founded in 2010, three years before SpaceX abandoned the Falcon 1 for the larger Falcon 9) and having the skills to develop a competent rocket and grow its business. In (**************************************************************************************, Rocket Lab plans to expand its launch operations to a second site at Wallops Island in Virginia and to continue working toward reusing its Electron first stages.
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