This is a diagram of the universe and the stars.
The Communist virus (Wuhan virus, New Coronavirus) pandemic of 2020 is the focus of almost everyone’s attention on Earth, but for those who are concerned about space, there are many remarkable human achievements during 2020.
In January 2020, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered the first Earth-sized planet in a stellar “habitable zone” that could allow liquid water to exist on the surface.
In its search for extraterrestrial life, NASA launched a Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in Florida on the evening of April 18, local time. Pictured is TESS.(AFP)
Later that month, the space agency’s $2.5 billion Curiosity rover froze up on Mars. The rover then started moving again. Since August 2000, the Curiosity rover has been operating on Mars for eight full years and has made some remarkable discoveries, including the detection of “unusually high” levels of methane on the red planet.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has made the first successful sample from a Martian rock. (Courtesy of NASA)
In February 2020, researchers discovered molecular oxygen for the first time in another molecular galaxy located in galaxy 231, 561 million light-years from Earth.
A few days later, scientists confirmed that an earthquake had occurred on Mars. The tremors on Mars are very similar to the tremors of earthquakes.
In March 2020, scientists announced the discovery of the first protein originating from outer space, which was found in a meteorite that crashed on Earth 30 years ago.
Astronomers discovered 139 separate “asteroids” (meteorites) in the orbit of Neptune. The study has generated a lot of buzz.
Astronomers also said they may have discovered the edge of the Milky Way in March.
On March 27, NASA’s Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer space telescope discovered Comet NEOWISE, also known as C/2020 F3.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe was in the right place at the right time to capture a rare and incredible image of Comet NEOWISE. (Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab/Parker Solar Probe/Brendan Gallagher)
In April 2020, NASA made plans to establish a base on the moon for use in conjunction with an eventual U.S. mission to return to the moon.
Scientists say they may have found a “smoking gun” to change the orbit of Uranus, “a small, icy planet about 1-3 times the mass of Earth.
In May 2020, researchers discovered a very large Earth-like planet in deep outer space with a “one in a million” probability of discovery.
Although the space meteorite, codenamed 2019LD2, was first discovered in June 2019, it was not identified as a “Trojan asteroid” in Jupiter’s orbit until May 2020, making it the first known object among such moons.
In May, astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken flew to the International Space Station on a SpaceX rocket, the first time since 2011 that U.S. astronauts have lifted off on a rocket launched from U.S. soil. It was also the first time a rocket launched by a private company, rather than a government agency, had sent an astronaut into orbit.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft lifts off on the afternoon of May 30, 2020.
In June 2020, researchers spotted a green glow in the Martian atmosphere, the first observed on a planet other than Earth. NASA said in June that the search for life throughout the galaxy could be like “finding a needle in a haystack.
In early July 2020, NASA confirmed that the comet NEOWISE had survived its collision with the Sun.
After a small delay, NASA’s Perseverance probe (rover) was launched into space on July 30, bound for Mars, where it will search for evidence of ancient life.
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launches from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA, on July 30, 2020.
August 2020 is a monumental month as NASA announces that Jeanette Epps (who joined the astronaut corps in 2009) will become the first black female astronaut on the International Space Station in 2021.
In September 2020, researchers discovered that the moon was “rusting”, possibly due to the water found on the moon.
In late September, NASA discovered part of another asteroid on Bennu, which could provide clues to possible life in the universe.
A diagram of the debris samples collected on the Bennu asteroid. (NASA)
Also in September, a group of researchers discovered a rare phosphine compound in the clouds of Venus. The gas can only be released through industrial production or by growing microbes in an oxygen-free environment.
After the news was released, NASA Administrator Jim Bradenstine said that we would be looking for signs of life on Venus.
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