In Honour Of World Space Week, Here Are 10 Of 2016's Most Starry Achievements In Space

World Space Week, a celebratory event which was launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 to commemorate achievements in science and technology, begins today. 

On October 4 1957, Sputnik 1, the first human-made Earth satellite was launched, paving the way for space exploration. And on October 10 1967, the Treaty on Principles Governing Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies was signed.

On the occasion, we've listed some of the biggest space achievements of 2016:

1. India’s first global navigation satellite system, NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) became fully operational in August. It consists of a constellation of three geostationary, four geosynchronous and two on-standby satellites, and facilitates accurate real-time positions and timing services over India and its surrounding regions. 

With this stellar achievement, India - even with NAVIC’s regional contact – enters the club of superpowers who have their own navigation satellite systems such as the US, China, EU and Russia.

ag.agap

2. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its first “Indian-made” space shuttle in May, making it the country’s first test flight for the home-made Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator.

3. NASA’s International Space Station completed 100,000 orbits around the earth in May, travelling 4 billion kms since its launch in 1998.

Reuters

4. In June, ISRO broke its own 2008 record by launching 20 satellites from one rocket. Earlier, it launched 10 satellites from one rocket. Russia currently holds the record – in 2014 it launched 33 satellites in one go.

5. In June, the United Launch Alliance launched a secret spy satellite into space. The entire mission was covered in a blanket of mystery and the ULA said that it was “in support of national defense”. The mystery NROL-37 mission took its flight aboard the world’s largest Delta IV rocket with a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Flickr

6. In July, NASA’s Jupiter mission, Juno, finally entered Jupiter’s orbit after a five-year-long trip from Earth. It was launched in August 2011. Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system and Juno is trying to study its atmosphere, which can lead to new discoveries about our solar system.

Nasa.gov

7. In September, NASA launched Osiri-Rex into space, its first asteroid sampling mission. Its main task is to gather dirt and debris from the surface of an asteroid and it will return to Earth by 2023 so scientists can study the asteroid sample further.

8. For the first time in July, NASA released hundreds of never-seen-before images of deeper space in celebration of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary.

nasa.gov

9. Space X, in what was a first, landed a rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States.

10.NASA released a video in September of what happens when a star goes too close to a black hole. Shall we take a hint from nature?

John Fletzkowitz

Nations, including India, spend billions on space exploration and we often wonder why, when that money could be put into, let’s say, eradicating poverty. The reason is that it’s very important to understand space because it can lead to more discoveries about the Earth and the solar system. And maybe, someday, we’ll find life somewhere else in the solar system.

Source:IndiaTimes

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