Today the @LIGO, Virgo, and @KAGRA_PR scientific collaborations have announced that, despite local and global adversities, they plan to start the O4 Observing Run in mid-December, 2022.
(Photo Courtesy: Iztok Bončina) pic.twitter.com/kakrAjSpLl
– EGO-Virgo (@ego_virgo) November 15, 2021
At Michigan State University in East Lansing, the facility for “rare isotope beams” is expected to go into operation in early 2022. The multi-stage accelerator, which costs 730 million US dollars, will be used to synthesize thousands of new isotopes of known elements and to study the core structure and physics of neutron stars and supernova explosions.
You fly to the moon again
A veritable armada of orbiters and landing devices from space agencies and private companies is set to head for the moon in 2022. With the “Artemis I” orbiter, NASA will carry out the first test of the long overdue launch system, which is supposed to bring astronauts back to the surface of the moon. And the agency’s “Capstone” orbiter will conduct experiments in preparation for the first space station to orbit the moon. Called gateway.
India’s third moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, will be the nation’s first device to make a soft landing – without damaging the spacecraft – and will carry its own rover. Japan will also attempt its first soft landing on the moon with the SLIM mission, and Russia wants to build on the glory of the Soviet lunar program with the Luna 25 lander. The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter will initiate South Korea’s own lunar exploration.
On the private side, the Tokyo-based company ispace is launching the Hakuto-R lander, which will carry the United Arab Emirates’ moon rover Rashid. Two US companies, Astrobotic Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Intuitive Machines in Houston, Texas, are preparing probes to bring NASA instruments to the surface of the moon.
It goes to Mars and the stars
Another epic space trip will be the Russian-European ExoMars mission, due to start in September. If everything goes according to plan, she will bring the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars, where it will look for traces of past life. The launch was originally planned for 2020, but has been postponed, among other things, due to problems with the parachutes that are needed for a safe landing.
China is also planning to complete its “Tiangong” space station and has planned more than 1,000 experiments for this, ranging from astronomical and earth observations to the effects of microgravity and cosmic rays on bacterial growth.