The size of a vending machine will be thrown into a space rock by NASA. It is an unprecedented test to see if they can push an asteroid off its course.
The DART mission is an intriguing, if not thrilling, space event happening in 2022. There are new missions to curious objects in our solar system, as well as a moon megarocket launch.
The space calendar will be updated. Look up.
Earth travels through debris left over by comets and causes meteorite showers throughout the year. Natural light shows are caused by the burning up of meteorites. To increase your chances of seeing a shower, you should visit areas that have dark skies, skywatch when there is not a full moon, and know when the peak of the debris will streak through the sky.
The peak of the shower is on April 21-22, according to the American Meteor Society.
The organization said that these meteors can produce fireballs and are best seen from the northern hemisphere at dawn.
The American Meteor Society says the best time to view the Eta Aquariids is on May 4-5.
Where the total lunar eclipe is visible on May 15-16, 2022. Credit: NASA
A total lunar eclipse will take place in the Western Hemisphere on the night of May 15.
A total lunar eclipse happens when the moon, Earth, and sun are all at the same time. The event occurs when the moon and sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. The moon is in the shadow. A copperish color is reflected off the moon's surface by some sunlight sneaking through our planet's atmosphere.
The map shows where totality begins and ends.
The United States will test a lunar orbit where it wants to put a space station to return humans to the moon.
The mission will send a microwave oven-sized satellite about the weight of two beagles to make a loop around the moon. The study will help NASA establish Gateway, a lunar-circling base that will support astronauts while on long-term expeditions to the moon.
The private company Rocket Lab was selected by NASA to launch a satellite on a three-month journey using its Electron rocket. The launch will take place in New Zealand in May 2022.
You can read more about Rocket Lab.
NASA's SLS megarocket awaits testing at its Kennedy Space Center launchpad. Credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky
A megarocket is being prepared by NASA for a flight thousands of miles beyond the moon.
It is the first in a series of deep space exploration voyages that could blast off as early as May, and is an important spaceflight test before humans land on the lunar surface again. Each launch of the rocket is estimated to cost $4.1 billion, making it the most expensive and powerful ever built.
The upcoming mission won't include astronauts, but the monthlong journey will assess the rocket's capabilities and carry Orion, the spaceship a crew will ride in on the next, more complex mission, Artemis II.
NASA has a megarocket.
An artist's conception of the James Webb Space Telescope in space. Credit: NASA GSFC / CIL / Adriana Manrique Gutierrez
The most powerful space telescope ever built arrived at its viewing outpost around 1 million miles away. The observatory will take unprecedented images of some of the earliest galaxies that ever formed, and peer into the mysterious atmospheres of exoplanets.
The first images will arrive in June 2022.
An illustration of the Psyche asteroid. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
The Psyche mission is scheduled to launch in August of 2022. The 140 mile-wide rock is thought to be rich in metals. It could be a remnant from the beginning of the solar system.
If it turns out to be a metal core, it would be part of the first generation of early core in our solar system. The material that built planets was the focus of the questions we wanted to ask. We have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. This is exploration.
Each August in the Northern Hemisphere, there is a great show of comets called the Perseids. The peak of the Perseids occurs during a bright moon.
Jupiter's ice-covered moon, Europa. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute
In September of 2022, NASA's Juno will fly very close to Jupiter's moon Europa. The space agency wants to film the cracked, icy ground of the moon.
The salty-water ocean hidden beneath the icy surface of Europa is thought to hold twice as much water as Earth's oceans combined, according to NASA.
The space agency said thatEuropa may be the most promising place in our solar system to find environments suitable for some form of life beyond Earth.
The DART will hit the Dimorphos asteroid at a distance of over 6 million miles from Earth.
It is the first-ever attempt to move an asteroid. The Dimorphos target is not a threat to Earth, but it is an experiment to see how civilization could alter the path of a menacing asteroid, should one be on a collision course with our planet.
We are defenseless against any asteroid aiming for Earth, according to a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology.
The DART Mission can be read.
An artist's conception of the Lucy spacecraft traveling by an asteroid. Credit: Southwest Research Institute
Lucy was launched by NASA last fall on a 12-year asteroid tour with plans to fly by several space rocks.
The probe will circle back to Earth three times for gravity boost. The first Earth flyby and gravity assist will take place in October of 2022. Lucy will be the first vehicle to return to Earth from the outer solar system.
Lucy will explore one asteroid in the solar system. The remnants of the early solar system are thought to be the latter. They are clustered near Jupiter.
The Lucy mission has more information.
The American Meteor Society says that the Taurids are rich in fireballs. A fireball is an extremely bright meteorite. They tend to produce more fireball activity around every seven years. During the peak, the moon will be 88 percent full.
The best place to view the Geminids is in the Northern Hemisphere. The best show is on December 14. The moon will be full and bright this year.
The phenomenon occurs every December when Earth passes through a trail of dust that is thought to be an asteroid or a dead comet. The annual meteor shower is created by the burning up of dust in the atmosphere.
Stargazers can see the Geminids as low as 29 miles above Earth's surface before they burn up.
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