This year has seen incredible feats achieved by space scientists through collaborations with commercial industry and foreign nations.
The launch and calibration of the most powerful space telescope in the world was one of the successful partnerships of the year.
What can go wrong has been shown.
A new crater was created when stray rocket junk smashed into the lunar surface. NASA's mega moon rocket, the Space Launch System, has stumbled on its way to its first lunar mission, with the agency encountered several problems with contractors' work during a critical test this spring
The United States' return to human deep space exploration is not certain to be included in the remainder of the year. There have been some big moments in space so far.
The James Webb Space Telescope will deliver its first full-color images on July 12. Credit: NASA
The most powerful observatory in space unfurled its sun shield at a location 1 million miles from Earth. The scientists have exceeded expectations for their level of precision.
The telescope will give us snapshots of space billions of light-years away.
A partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency will deliver its first full-color images on July 12. There is a secret to what those first targets will be.
Some of the oldest, faintest light in the universe is expected to be observed by the man. A period less than 300 million years after the Big bang will be the focus of the telescope.
The telescope will be used to peer into the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. Potential habitability or biological activity could be seen in the discoveries out there.
NASA took the Space Launch System, or SLS, which will send a spacecraft to the moon, out of storage for a critical fueling and countdown test. Credit: NASA
The Statue of Liberty came out of hiding in March as the U.S. space agency rolled it to a Florida launch pad for a crucial test.
The SLS was built to blast a spaceship to the moon for NASA's Artemis missions. People will eventually be sent to the moon.
The first uncrewed flight was supposed to happen in May. Problems during the test created more delays. It is not known when the rocket will be ready to take off.
Each launch of the rocket is expected to cost over $4 billion, making it the most expensive ever built. That's about one fifth of the entire NASA budget.
NASA inspector general Paul Martin warned a U.S. House committee in March that the rocket, a government mandated project with a bloated budget, will affect NASA's ability to sustain its long-term human exploration goals.
Scientists have found evidence that Saturn's moon Mimas may have an ocean locked underneath a shell of ice. Credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute
Death Star, a killing machine that looks like a planet, can be seen on the moon Mimas.
It has not been known that it could support life.
Scientists discovered signs of an ocean beneath the moon's icy shell, according to new research. There is compelling evidence despite the study not finding definitive proof. Habitability is created by the presence of water.
It's possible that Mimas isn't a frozen chunk of ice.
Scientists believe a newly discovered Martian aurora puts green streaks in Mars' sky. Credit: Emirates Mars Mission
A green light show can be seen in the sky of Mars.
The atmosphere of Mars is similar to the Northern Lights on Earth. There is a band of light stretching thousands of miles from the day side to the back of the planet.
The pictures were taken by a United Arab Emirates Space Agency probe.
Scientists think the magnetic field on Mars deteriorated billions of years ago. High-energy electrons from the sun are guided into a planet's atmosphere.
A rocket booster smashed into the moon unintentionally in March, leaving a new crater, reminiscent of the iconic scene from a 1902 silent film, 'A Trip to the Moon.' Credit: Bettmann / Getty Images
The piece of metal that crashed into the moon in March was the first known space junk.
The crater was expected to be 65 feet tall. The debris is not from China's program.
The rocket was one of many that was chaotic and could change in a way that was not predictable. There's a chance that rockets will re-enter Earth's atmosphere when they're in low- Earth orbit. It will be lost forever if a rocket is sent farther out to the sun than it is currently.
If it's dropped off in the intermediate zone between Earth and the moon, there's a chance it could fall back to Earth and be picked up by the solar wind.
Leaving a rocket in a chaotic state doesn't make it a crime.
Scientists around the world worked together to take the first photo ever of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: Event Horizon Telescope
Astronomers were able to see a giant black hole for the first time in the history of the universe.
Unlike planets or stars, black holes don't have a surface. The objects have a point of no return. It will fall inward if it swoops too close to that point.
With the power of eight linked radio dishes from around the world, the event horizon telescope was able to take a picture of the shadow of the black hole. Hundreds of scientists from 80 institutions around the world worked together to piece together fragments of data to make a picture.
Three years ago, depictions of a black hole were no longer just an artist's interpretation. Scientists have a picture of the real deal, which is 27 million miles.
Scientists plan to improve their technology in order to make the image sharper.
Scientists used the Hubble Space Telescope to confirm Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is the largest comet ever observed. Credit: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) / Hubble Space Telescope
According to the Hubble Space Telescope, the comet has a nucleus that spans 85 miles and is the largest space snowball ever observed.
It is twice the width of Rhode Island and weighs 500 trillion tons. The scale of this comet is significant because it gives a clue about the size of comets in the distant outskirts of our solar system.
The solar system's oldest objects are comets. The planets' formation left behind icy bodies.
The sun is at 22,000 mph as Bernardinelli-Bernstein approaches. Space is a big place despite the imposing boulder being described as "headed this way". The comet will never come close to us.
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