Dr Jonathan McDowell, Astronomer and Astrophysicist at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Photo: Todd Buchanan
It's been a busy year for space exploration. Phase one of NASA's Artemis mission is scheduled to conclude on Monday, bringing us spellbinding new images of our moon.
Meanwhile, jostling for position as a space superpower is China, which has just completed its own Tiangong space station and successfully returned three astronauts back to earth, after six months aboard.
Elsewhere, the European Space Agency has included an amputee as part of its latest intake of trainee astronauts for the first time, adding to efforts to make space exploration more inclusive.
Joining Kim to reflect on these developments and look ahead is Dr Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Nov. 28, 2022 On flight day 13, Orion reached its maximum distance from Earth. Orion has now traveled farther than any other spacecraft built for humans. (PHOTO: NASA Johnson)
A camera mounted on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays captured the Moon as the spacecraft was in a distant lunar orbit. (PHOTO: NASA Johnson)
Dec. 5, 2022 A portion of the far side of the Moon looms large just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this image taken on the 20th day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The return powered flyby burn committed Orion to a return to Earth trajectory ahead of a splashdown off the coast of California on Dec. 11. At its closest point, Orion flew within 80 miles of the lunar surface. (PHOTO: NASA/Johnson)
Dec. 5, 2022 On the 20th day of the Artemis I mission, Orion captured the Earth rising behind the Moon. (PHOTO: NASA Johnson)
Dec. 5, 2022: Cameras mounted on the Orion spacecraft captured this view of the Moon’s surface. (PHOTO: NASA Johnson)
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:47 a.m. EST. (PHOTO: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
(PHOTO: AFP / NASA/ESA/CSA)
