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Seeking glory in the heavens

Benjamin Sutherland: freelance correspondent

A rich crop of space missions is driven by economic and security interests, not
just science

Collision course for Dimorphos

THRILLING SPACE missions are scheduled for blast- off in 2021. To tweak the

orbit of an asteroid’s moon that is nearly as big as a stadium, America’s NASA

plans to launch a car-sized craft to smash into it the following year. Neither

the asteroid, Didymos, nor its moon, Dimorphos, threatens Earth, but the

collision should yield potentially handy “planetary defence” know-how. NASA

also plans an uncrewed flight around the Moon, and, with help from the space

agencies of Canada and Europe, the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope,

the biggest and priciest ever. India may put three astronauts into orbit. India

and Russia aim to launch lunar landers. And China will begin launching parts

of its next and biggest space station, Tiangong- 3.

It is ambitious stuff for all parties concerned. NASA’s asteroid spacecraft must eject an
Italian Space Agency observation pod before hitting its target at a closing speed of