Space science and exploration hit exciting new heights over the last 12 months.
We learned that galaxies are much , how Europe is building its new flagship rocket , and what being stranded in space . Germany’s first female astronaut will .
2025 is set to be just as exciting, but what’s ahead?
‘Stranded’ NASA astronauts to return to Earth in spring
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to Earth in March 2025.
The two astronauts were left on the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2024 after
propulsion issues with their spacecraft meant their .
While not technically ‘marooned’ given there are regular crew and supply voyages that could return them at a later date, the pair of astronauts were forced to stretch their stay on the ISS from two weeks to, now, a minimum of nine months.
The astronauts have since joined Crew-9, a mission from launched to the ISS to carry the two .
Crew-9 was originally planned to return to earth in February 2025, but announced in December it will delay the Crew-10 launch, which is set to replace Crew-9.
Crew-10 is being delayed by a month, meaning the astronauts should return to earth in March if there are no further delays.
Measuring biology from space
2025 will be the year the European Space Agency () begins analyzing Earth’s ecosystems from space.
The FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) mission will provide global maps of plant health and stress. FLEX has a three-and-a-half-year design lifetime from launch.
The will include new instruments capable of measuring from space for the first time. The instrument, called FLORIS, will measure vegetation fluorescence to record photosynthesis on a mass scale, to provide better understanding of how plant ecosystems affect the global carbon cycle.
A separate ESA mission launching in 2025 will also analyze Earth’s forests. The Biomass mission will measure information about the state of our forests and how they are changing.
The results from both missions could help inform policy around climate change protection, management, and .
Next steps for Artemis, but no 2025 action
2025 will be a crucial year for NASA’s plans to return humans to the as part of the , but there won’t be any rockets going up.
Instead, space enthusiasts will NASA’s progress in ticking off key milestones in preparation for the Artemis II mission.
In 2022, Artemis I successfully tested an uncrewed flight of Orion into lunar orbit. Artemis II is the follow-up mission aiming to put a human crew on board in 2026. Artemis III mission will put humans back on the moon’s surface .
The Artemis II mission was intended to launch in late 2025, but has been pushed to April 2026 at the earliest to give more time to address issues detected with the Orion Spacecraft on its first mission.
The delay also gives commercial partners SpaceX and Axiom Space time to meet their key milestones in the development of the Starship lunar lander and new spacesuits respectively.
Astronauts will be using the to train for future trips to the Moon’s surface.
Lunar eclipses and meteor showers
There will also be plenty of things happening near Earth that we’ll be able to see with our naked eyes, or with telescopes.
That is unless more satellites continue to .
The Quadrantid meteor shower runs from mid-November through mid-January each year, peaking on January 3.
will radiate from the northern sky but appear in all parts of the sky. You need to be up in the small hours of the morning, and hope the peak comes at the right time in your part of the world.
The Eta Aquariids meteor showers will also be visible from April 20 to May 21. The Eta Aquariids are a strong shower when viewed from the southern tropics but can also be viewed north of the equator. The Eta Aquariids peak from May 3-4.
Another date for your space calendar is March 14, when a total eclipse of the moon will be visible in Pacific, Americas, Western Europe, and Western Africa.
Depending where you live, you will have a second chance in 2025 on September 7, when a lunar eclipse will be visible in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
There’s no need to worry about any .
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany
The post Space science and exploration in 2025: What to know appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
