Space will be very busy in 2022, and global aerospace will face these difficult tasks →

In 2022, the global space industry is expected to hit a new high in the number of launches, and will also usher in a series of difficult and major missions. Let's take a look at the major space events in 2022!

Written by Jiao Weixin (Professor of School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University)

Graphic editor/Chen Yongjie New media editor/Li Yunfeng

Image source: NASA

2021 is an extraordinary year in the history of human spaceflight: countries around the world have achieved a total of 145 rocket launches, the year with the most launches in history. In 2022, global spaceflight is expected to set a new record in terms of the number of launches, and will also usher in a series of difficult and major tasks. Let's take a look at the major space events worth looking forward to in 2022!

China's space station to be completed by the end of this year

Private astronauts visit International Space Station for the first time

Over the past 20 years, the International Space Station has been the only space station for mankind and the only platform for international manned spaceflight to stay in orbit for a long time. However, on April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was successfully launched into space, which means that China has officially started the construction of the space station. According to the plan, the space station will be completed by the end of 2022, and there will be 6 launch missions for this purpose.

The cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 4 and Tianzhou 5 are expected to be launched in May and October respectively; the manned spacecraft Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15 are expected to be launched in mid-to-late May and mid-November respectively; the "Wentian" laboratory module will be launched in late May to June; and the "Mengtian" laboratory module will be launched in August to September. The astronauts of Shenzhou 14 will conduct work handover with the astronauts of Shenzhou 15 in space.

As you can imagine, the second half of this year will be very busy with the construction of the space station, with astronauts conducting multiple spacewalks and more than 1,000 experiments, ranging from astronomical and earth observations to the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on bacterial growth.

▲Axiom Space plans to connect the module to the International Space Station

Internationally, on February 21, the US Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) will launch the first private astronaut of Axiom Space to the International Space Station, with the mission codenamed "Ax-1". This will be the first fully commercial astronaut visit to the International Space Station in human history.

Psyche begins "space mining"

Can Europe and Russia's probes catch the window for exploring Mars?

There are not many important international deep space exploration projects in 2022, only Mars exploration and asteroid exploration.

In August 2022, NASA will launch a probe to Psyche, the asteroid that corresponds to its name - 16 Psyche. Radar detection shows that Psyche is almost entirely composed of iron, nickel, gold and other elements, which is very similar to the core of a rocky planet and is likely to contain more rare metals. The weight of Psyche is 2.7 quadrillion tons, far exceeding the 2 billion tons of iron ore used by humans each year. It is enough for humans to use for tens of millions of years, and can be said to be an "infinite" resource to some extent.

Although the mission of the Psyche probe is not "space mining" in the true sense, it is already a standard "space prospecting". In the future, perhaps humans will no longer be troubled by the scarcity of resources, because almost all resources in the universe are "infinite", as long as human spaceflight has the ability to bring them back.

▲Psyche probe

The window for Mars exploration only comes once every 26 months, which is not easy. In July 2020, China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates all seized the precious opportunity. The joint European and Russian Mars Life Exploration Program 2020 (ExoMars 2020) (now renamed ExoMars 2022), which was postponed due to many reasons such as insufficient budget, technical difficulties and the new crown epidemic, has been postponed to late September. The Proton rocket will be used to send the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover and Russia's Cossack lander (Kazachok) to Mars. The lander will also serve as a platform for scientific experiments on the surface of the Mars.

The most outstanding feature of the ExoMars 2022 rover is that it carries a drill with a maximum drilling depth of 2 meters, collecting underground samples and storing them in its analytical laboratory drawer. Then, its "Pasteur" instrument suite will analyze the biological characteristics of the soil. The ExoMars 2022 rover will be the first Mars mission to combine the ability to traverse the surface with the study of deep underground soil.

▲ExoMars 2022 Mars rover

Restarting the Moon Landing Era

Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft first flight

According to statistics from the U.S. "Space Website", many countries including Russia, India, South Korea, and Japan are trying to launch lunar probes this year. The United States will test-fire two heavy rockets for manned lunar landings. 2022 is bound to be a big year for lunar exploration. "In 2022, almost everyone wants to send a probe to the moon," CNN reported.

NASA will launch an unmanned Artemis 1 orbiter in February, the first test of the long-delayed Space Launch System (SLS), which is designed to send astronauts to the lunar surface. Artemis 1 is the first step in NASA's plan to return to the moon. In addition, the agency's Automated Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) orbiter will conduct experiments to prepare for the first space station "Gateway" to orbit the moon.

▲The orbit of Artemis 1

Among the countries planning to land on the moon, Russia will launch its first lunar probe since the end of the Soviet era, Luna-25, 46 years after Luna-24 was launched in 1976. Luna-25 is Russia's first lunar probe since 1976. According to the plan, Luna-25 will land near the Boguslavsky crater at the south pole of the moon.

It does not carry a lunar rover. It is expected to obtain samples through the robotic arm after landing and conduct research using 6 scientific instruments. "Luna-25" will operate on the lunar surface for one year, mainly studying the composition of the polar regolith, as well as the plasma and dust in the lunar polar outer atmosphere. At the same time, "Luna-25" is also responsible for verifying the landing technology for Russia's subsequent lunar landing plan, and surveying the potential usable water resources under the permanent ice layer at the lunar South Pole.

▲Russia's Luna-25 lunar probe

South Korea's space program has also set its sights on the moon, with plans to launch its first lunar mission in 2022. The country's Pathfinder lunar orbiter will launch from Cape Canaveral in August on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, undergoing a supermoon jet burn and cis-moon transfer orbit on the way, and is expected to arrive on the moon in mid-December. After entering an elliptical lunar orbit, it will begin nearly a year of scientific exploration. Developed and managed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Pathfinder's goals are to develop lunar exploration technologies, demonstrate "space internet," conduct scientific surveys of the lunar environment, topography and resources, and identify potential landing sites for subsequent missions.

▲South Korea's Pathfinder lunar probe

India will also launch the Chandrayaan-3 probe this year in an attempt to land on the moon again. India's first unmanned lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, launched in 2008, orbited the moon for nearly a year and played an important role in "the existence of water molecules on the moon." Although Chandrayaan-2, launched in 2019, lost contact and crashed, its orbiter continues to orbit the moon. Chandrayaan-3, launched this year, will include a lander and a lunar rover.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will officially launch lunar exploration activities in 2022, with the core of which is to launch a "SLIM" probe that can accurately land on the moon, with an error range of less than 100 meters. Based on the experience of this lunar landing, Japan and India will jointly launch a new lunar probe in 2023.

▲Japan's intelligent "SLIM" lunar probe

According to China's publicly announced plan, the fourth phase of China's lunar exploration project includes Chang'e 6, Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 missions, which will be implemented in the next decade. According to the plan, the Chang'e 7 probe will be launched first to the South Pole of the Moon. Then, the backup of Chang'e 5, Chang'e 6, will be launched to collect samples from the South Pole of the Moon. After Chang'e 6, Chang'e 8 will be launched to establish the basic model of the lunar scientific research station.

Hazardous asteroid impact

The first space defense in human history will be realized

The meteorite theory of the extinction of dinosaurs and the Tunguska explosion theory have made humans always worried about the "visit" of extraterrestrial bodies. This is not groundless worry. If a seemingly "tiny" asteroid of a kilometer in space hits the earth, it is enough to cause the earth's climate rhythm to completely collapse, destroy a large number of species, and directly threaten the future of mankind. If it is hit by a larger asteroid, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, guarding against dangerous celestial bodies that pose a potential threat to the earth is undoubtedly a topic that human spaceflight must face.

On November 24, 2021, humanity's first asteroid impact diversion experiment "DART" was successfully launched. It will impact Dimorphos, a smaller asteroid in the binary asteroid system Didymos, and then evaluate the impact of the impact on the asteroid's orbit.

▲Schematic diagram of the effect of impacting an asteroid

As early as the departure, the orbit had been carefully designed, and the expected impact time is September 26, 2022. By then, not only will the small satellites it carries record the entire process, but major telescopes on Earth will also be pointed at them to watch this spectacular "space fireworks".

Although the target asteroid is only 170 meters in diameter, it is already a giant compared to DART. Even if DART hits it accurately and explodes completely, it can only change its speed by 0.4 mm/s, which is really like "an ant trying to shake a tree". However, in the space environment, any orbital impact will accumulate, that is, "a small mistake can lead to a big mistake". But everyone can rest assured that scientists have carefully studied it and no matter how the collision changes the asteroid's course, it will not threaten the Earth.

While we were enjoying the international space events in 2022, the Starlink satellite launched by SpaceX approached the Chinese space station twice. For the safety of astronauts, the Chinese space station implemented emergency collision avoidance twice. This incident made us realize that the rapid development of the space industry and the peaceful and orderly use of space are a subject that requires proper cooperation among multiple countries, and the increasingly busy space requires more wisdom and cooperation from humans.

Produced by: Science Central Kitchen

Produced by: Beijing Science and Technology News | Beijing Science and Technology Media

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