OLLOWING IN THE WAKE OF an unprecedented
year, 2021 was certainly filled with ups and downs.
The global COVID-19 pandemic continued to
challenge the way we do science, even prompting some
positive changes that may be here to stay. Astronomers
lost a beloved workhorse observatory, but rescued another from
the clutches of a computer glitch. The three robotic missions that
launched to Mars in 2020 arrived at their destination, kicking off a
f lurry of exciting firsts. And now, space agencies have chosen another
three missions to visit a different neighbor: Venus.
Commercial spacef light companies SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue
Origin continued to turn heads, while China’s space program really
picked up. And astronomers have finally laid eyes on several phenomena
either long theorized or rarely glimpsed before, deepening our
understanding of the universe around us.
In all, 2021 brought us new viewpoints and new goals that will pepper
these pages for years to come.OSIRIS-
REx
heads
homeN A S A’ S Origins, Spectral Interpretation,
Resource Identification, Security-Regolith
Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission is finally
on its way home. On May 10, the space-
craft fired its engines, breaking from orbit
around the near-Earth asteroid Bennu
— its home since arriving Dec. 31, 2018.
Locked inside the spacecraft’s Sample
Return Capsule (SRC) is the mission’s sam-
ple collector head, which on Oct. 20, 2020,
gathered an estimated 14.1 ounces
(400 grams) of material from the asteroid’s1O1O
16 ASTRONOMY • FEBRUARY 2022F
The Crew Dragon capsule
Endeavour, carrying the
four Crew-2 astronauts,
blasts off atop a SpaceX
Falcon 9 rocket April 23,- NASA/AUBREY GEMIGNANI