Space science and exploration have reached new heights over the past 12 months.
We learned that galaxies are many bigger than we thoughthow Europe builds its new flagship rocket Ariana 6and what is it like to be stuck in space made on the body of an astronaut. The first German female astronaut will be also head to space in 2025.
2025 promises to be just as exciting, but what does it have in store for us?
NASA’s ‘stranded’ astronauts will 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 problems with their spacecraft meant that their the eight-day mission had to be extended.
Although not technically “abandoned”, given that there are regular crew and resupply trips that could bring them back at a later date, both astronauts were forced to extend their stay on the ISS from two weeks to, now, a minimum of nine months.
The astronauts have since joined Crew-9, a mission of EspaceXlaunched to the ISS to transport the two the astronauts are back home.
Crew-9 was originally scheduled to return to Earth in February 2025, but NASA announced in December that it would delay the launch of the Crew-10, which is expected to replace the Crew-9.
Crew 10 is delayed by a month, meaning the astronauts are expected to return to Earth in March if there are no further delays.
Measuring biology from space
2025 will be the year of the European Space Agency (ESA) begins to analyze terrestrial ecosystems from space.
The FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) mission will provide global maps of plant health and stress. FLEX has a design life of 3.5 years from launch.
THE satellite will include new instruments capable of measuring photosynthetic activity from space for the first time. The instrument, called FLORIS, will measure vegetation fluorescence to record large-scale photosynthesis to better understand 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 on the state of our forests and their evolution.
The results of the two missions could help inform policies on protection against climate change, agricultural management and food safety.
Next steps for Artemis, but no action by 2025
2025 will be a crucial year for NASA’s plans to bring humans back to the world. moon as part of the Artemis Programbut there will be no rockets flying away.
Instead, space enthusiasts will learn about NASA’s progress in achieving 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 aimed at carrying a human crew in 2026. The Artemis III mission will return humans to the surface of the Moon. for the first time since 1972.
The Artemis II mission was scheduled to launch in late 2025, but was pushed back to April 2026 at the earliest to give more time to resolve problems detected with the Orion spacecraft during its first mission.
The delay also gives commercial partners SpaceX and Axiom Space time to achieve their key milestones in the development of the Starship lunar lander and new spacesuits, respectively.
The astronauts will use the LUNA installation in Germany to train for future trips to the surface of the Moon.
Lunar eclipses and meteor showers
There will also be many things happening near Earth that we can see with the naked eye or with telescopes.
Unless more satellites continue to vision of space by blind astronomers.
THE Quadrantid meteor shower runs from mid-November to mid-January each year, peaking on January 3.
Meteors will radiate from the northern sky but will appear in all parts of the sky. You have to get up early in the morning and hope that the peak comes at the right time in your part of the world.
THE Meteor showers Eta Aquariids will also be visible from April 20 to May 21. The Eta Aquariids form a heavy shower seen from the southern tropics, but can also be seen north of the equator. The Eta Aquariids peak May 3-4.
Another date for your space calendar is March 14, when a total lunar eclipse will be visible in the Pacific, the Americas, Western Europe and West Africa.
Depending on where you live, you will have a second chance on September 7, 2025, when a lunar eclipse will be visible in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
There’s no need to worry asteroids or meteors hitting Earth, however.
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany