NASA perseveres through pandemic, looks ahead in 2021
“By putting the health and safety of the NASA team first, we’ve been able to safely navigate the challenges of COVID-19 and keep our missions moving forward as much as possible,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “We will hit several key milestones for Artemis this year, including conducting a major test of our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Last year we grabbed an asteroid sample and launched an ocean studying satellite. These stunning NASA achievements were made possible thanks to strong commitments from the president and Congress to fund and support NASA budgets and will usher in a new era of exploration for America’s space agency.”
On Nov. 15, 2020, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission launched from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station, following certification of the system by NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The mission is the first in a series of regular, rotational flights with astronauts to the orbital laboratory, which marked 20 years of continuous human presence aboard the station Nov. 2. Flying four crew members on Crew-1 expands the station’s crew to seven, effectively doubling the amount of time for crew members to support research investigations that advance scientific knowledge and prepare for human exploration farther into space.
On Oct. 20, America’s first asteroid sample return mission, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, "tagged" the asteroid Bennu to collect a small sample to return to Earth.
NASA also continued to make significant progress toward the first uncrewed flight test of SLS and the Orion spacecraft and plans to conduct a hot-fire test early in 2021. This critical milestone, known as the Green Run, includes firing up the rocket’s massive core stage and four RS-25 engines in a test stand. Stacking operations began with the solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher in the late fall and will continue when the core stage arrives. Engineers were putting finishing touches on Orion so it will be ready for stacking, making us one step closer to sending astronauts to walk on the Moon.
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