Yes, you are right! I am in space. All of us, because we all are part of the universe. But, I have also something else – my name has flown to space, to asteroids and planets, on board of some robotic missions. Take a look on some of them below.
Mission: Mars 2020
Target: Mars, Jezero Crater
Current position: Preparation for launch
Operator: JPL, NASA
Launch: 17 July to 5 August 2020 (planned launch window)
Landing: February 18, 2021 (expected)
Mission: Mars research
COSPAR ID: N/A
Mars 2020 mission will investigate an astrobiologically relevant ancient environment on Mars and investigate its surface geological processes and history, including the assessment of its past habitability, the possibility of past life on Mars, and the potential for preservation of biosignatures within accessible geological materials.
Mission: MAVEN
Target: Mars
Current position: Orbiting Mars
Operator: NASA
Launch: November 18, 2013, 18:28 UTC
Orbital insertion: September 22, 2014, 02:24 UTC
Mission: Mars atmospheric research
COSPAR ID: 2013-063A
Mission: InSight
Target: Mars
Current position: Elysium Planitia 4.5024°N 135.6234°E
Operator: NASA
Launch: May 5, 2018
Landed: 26 November 2018, 20:53 CET
Landing location: Elysium Planitia 4.5°N 135.0°E, Mars
Mission: Study the interior and subsurface of Mars
COSPAR ID: not assigned yet
Other description of the mission:
Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations,
Geodesy and Heat Transport
Geophysical Monitoring Station
Mission includes also two small cubesats called MarCO. “The Mars Cube One” (MarCO) spacecraft, a set of two 6U CubeSats, will piggyback with the InSight mission to help relay communications during the probe’s entry, descent and landing phase. MarCO is a technology capability demonstration of communications relay system.
Mission: OSIRIS-REx
Target: asteroid 101955 Bennu
Current position: in space, asteroid 101955 Bennu (location live here)
Operator: NASA
Launch: September 8, 2016, 23:05 UTC
Asteroid orbit insertion: expected on 03 December 2018
Landing location after sample return mission: Utah Test and Training Range, Earth
Planned landing after return: 24 September 2023, 15:00 UTC
COSPAR ID: 2016-055A
The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA asteroid study and sample-return mission. Its mission is to study asteroid 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid, and return a sample to Earth on 24 September 2023 for detailed analysis. The material returned is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth.
After traveling for approximately two years, the spacecraft is to rendezvous with asteroid 101955 Bennu in August 2018 and begin 505 days of surface mapping at a distance of approximately 5 km (3.1 mi). Following collection of material (from 60 grams to two kilograms) in July 2020, the sample will be returned to Earth in a 46-kilogram (101 lb) capsule. The return trip to Earth will be shorter, and will land in September 2023.
Mission: Hayabusa 2
Target: asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Current position: in space on trajectory to asteroid 162173 Ryugu, track the position live here
Operator: JAXA
Launch: December 3, 2014, 04:22 UTC
Arrival to asteroid: July 2018
Landing back on Earth: expected in December 2020
COSPAR ID: 2014-076A
The target of the mission is to study the asteroid 162173 Ryugu (formerly designated 1999 JU3). Hayabusa2 is arrived at the target in July 2018, now it is studying the asteroid for a year and a half, it will depart in December 2019, and return to Earth in December 2020.
The spacecraft features ion engines, upgraded guidance and navigation technology, antennas and attitude control systems. Operations at the asteroid will be similar to those of the previous Hayabusa mission, but with an explosive device to dig the asteroid surface for fresh sample material.
Mission: LightSail
Current position: prepared to launch
Operator: The Planetary Society
Launch: June 25, 2019
COSPAR ID: 2019-036AC
LightSail 2 is a project to demonstrate controlled solar sailing using a CubeSat developed by The Planetary Society, a global non-profit organization devoted to space exploration. The spacecraft core measures 10 × 10 × 30 cm, and its kite-shaped solar sail deploys into a total area of 32 square meters (340 sq ft).
LightSail 2 was launched as a secondary payload on the Space Test Program (STP-2) on a Falcon Heavy rocket on 25 June 2019.
Mission: Parker Solar Probe
Current position: orbiting Sun
Operator: NASA, Applied Physics Laboratory
Launch: August 12, 2018, 07:31 UTC
COSPAR ID: N/A
Parker Solar Probe (previously Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, or Solar Probe+) is a NASA robotic spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the Sun. On 29 October 2018 at about 1:04 p.m. EDT, the spacecraft became the closest ever artificial object to the Sun.
