Space time of 2024: Top exploration milestones of the year

The year 2024 proved to be an outstanding time in the realm of space exploration, where the milestones achieved by several agencies held the world in awe. Milestone scientific discoveries and technological achievements marked humanity’s unwavering quest to know more about the universe.
From Moon to Mars, and from solar breakthroughs to democratising space access, a multitude of missions throughout the year made our understanding of the solar system better.

These achievements also reflected the increasing significance of international alliances and commercial initiatives driving the future of space exploration.

Mars’ mysteries

One of the great feats came from Nasa‘s Perseverance rover, which continued its incredible Mars exploration in 2024. In July, the rover made a groundbreaking discovery, dubbed “Cheyava Falls,” discovering an organic molecule-containing rock sample and structures indicating the presence of ancient microbial life. This critical discovery provides tremendous evidence that Mars once had life-supporting conditions and thus reignited the fire and debate regarding the existence of extraterrestrial life.
The rover is car-sized and is designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars. The rover’s goals include identifying ancient Martian environments capable of supporting life, seeking evidence of past microbial life, and testing technologies to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, which is critical for future human missions.

Accompanying Perseverance is the Ingenuity helicopter, a 1.8 kg marvel that demonstrated powered flight in Mars’s rarefied atmosphere. Though carrying no scientific instruments, Ingenuity’s scouting capabilities have proven invaluable to Perseverance’s exploration efforts.
In December, Perseverance climbed “Lookout Hill,” giving valuable information about the geology of Mars.
These discoveries heightened the urgency of Nasa’s Mars sample return mission, an ambitious endeavor to retrieve Martian samples and bring them to Earth for detailed analysis, which is crucial yet facing financial hurdles.

Civilian spacewalks
September marked a historic moment in private space exploration with SpaceX’s Polaris dawn mission. Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis marked history as the first civilians to have successfully completed a spacewalk, further expanding the horizons of non-governmental space travel.
The Polaris dawn crew comprised of Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon, flew in an elliptical orbit that would reach 1,400 kilometers above earth-the farthest any human has ever been since Nasa’s Apollo programme.
The mission, part of the Polaris program, focused on testing advanced spacesuits and depressurisation aboard the Crew dragon capsule.

They passed through parts of the Van Allen radiation belt in their journey, conducting studies on the health effects of space radiation and spaceflight on the human body.
The mission also achieved several historic milestones. Gillis, at 30 years old, became the youngest person to participate in a spacewalk, and the crew set a record for the number of individuals (four) simultaneously exposed to the vacuum of space. Additionally, the mission contributed to a global record, as 19 individuals were in orbit simultaneously, including crews aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and China’s Tiangong space station.
Solar breakthrough
India’s space program marked another victory by successfully launching the country’s first solar observatory mission, Aditya-L1. The Aditya-L1 took off aboard PSLV C57 in September 2023 and finally achieved orbit at the Lagrange point L1, situated at about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in the early months of 2024. Starting with detailed observation of the Sun’s atmospheric features, magnetic storms in that area, and their possible effect on Earth’s environmental systems, Aditya-L1 started functioning in detail from this vantage.
In May, the spacecraft collaborated with Udaipur solar observatory and other research stations in recording an enormous solar flare. A significant breakthrough came in July when Aditya-L1’s visible emission line coronagraph detected a coronal mass ejection event. Such observations are pivotal in the protection of the Earth against the potentially destructive effects of solar storms in the way of power grids, electronics, and satellite operations.

Aditya-L1 also showcased India’s ability to achieve advanced space science at an economical cost. Spending only Rs 600 crores, this mission exhibited the innovativeness of the nation in terms of space research.
Democratising space
In another significant advancement, India’s small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) deployed EOS-5, marking the nation’s entry into the rapidly growing small satellite launch market. In August 2024, the SSLV successfully deployed EOS-08. Designed to provide affordable and accessible space launches, the SSLV is poised to meet the needs of startups and private enterprises worldwide.
The streamlined design and operation of the SSLV are a testament to innovation. This rocket does not take months to prepare, like some of the bigger rockets that require hundreds of personnel for preparation. The SSLV can be launch-ready in a week, with only six people managing it. It is one of the most affordable rockets in its class with a manufacturing cost of Rs 30-35 crore.

The successful launch of EOS-08 marked the finality of the SSLV’s development process, thereby putting India at the helm of democratising space access. This is an achievement that not only promotes the commercial prospects of Isro but also opens doors for more nations and companies to join the race in space exploration.
Dark side of the moon
China marked a significant milestone in 2024 when its mission Chang’e 6, managed to retrieve soil samples from the far side of the Moon in June. It marked the first time samples had been collected from this side, which is invisible from Earth and largely unexplored.
The Chang’e 6 spacecraft was launched in May 2024, and the lander and rover touched down on the lunar surface on June 1. Advanced robotic tools were used to collect 1.9 kilograms of soil samples. These were later returned to Earth in a re-entry capsule on June 25, marking the end of the mission’s 53-day journey.

The samples produced a preliminary analysis that has, in turn, come to some unexpected insights regarding the moon’s magnetic field. It shows a significant boost of magnetism on the moon around 2.8 billion years ago and disputes previously held assumptions regarding its geological history.

Touching the sun

Nasa’s Parker solar probe reached a historic milestone on Christmas eve this year, making an unprecedented dive closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it.
Launched in 2018, the Parker solar probe was built with one primary goal: to get a closer look at the sun than ever before. Its mission is to study the sun in extraordinary detail, uncovering secrets about its behaviour and the effects it has on the solar system.

Over the course of its seven-year journey, the probe will complete 24 orbits around the sun, passing closer to our star than any other spacecraft in history. By studying the sun’s corona in such detail, the Parker solar probe hopes to solve the long-standing mysteries of how energy and heat flow through this outer layer, and how these processes power solar phenomena like the solar wind.
ISRO ends 2024 on high
On Monday, the 30th of December, India took a significant step towards joining an elite group of nations with space-docking technology. ISRO successfully launched two small satellites, each weighing 220 kg, into orbit, marking a milestone for the country.
The satellites were part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission, which lifted off at just past 10 PM on the PSLV-C60 rocket from the first launchpad at Sriharikota’s spaceport.

Docking enables the servicing and refuelling of satellites, helping to extend their operational lifespan. This capability can lower the costs of launching replacements and improve the sustainability of satellite operations.
Looking ahead
The achievements of 2024 have paved the way for even more ambitious missions in 2025. Nasa and Isro’s joint NISAR satellite, designed to study Earth’s dynamics, is scheduled for launch in March. Meanwhile, the European and Japanese BepiColombo mission will make its closest approach to mercury, and China’s Tianwen-2 mission will investigate asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa in the year 2025. Further, India’s group captain Shubhanshu Shukla will fly a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Axiom-4 programme.