Space achievements of modern Russia. Space achievements of modern Russia Latest events in space

December is the time to take stock. The editors of the Vesti.Nauka project (nauka.site) have selected 15 of the most interesting discoveries that astronomers have made us happy with in the past year.

Observation of the source of gravitational waves in telescopes

For the first time in the history of mankind, it was possible to catch electromagnetic waves (including visible light) from a source of gravitational waves. This significant event took place on August 17, 2017.

Visit of an interstellar asteroid

In October 2017, astronomers discovered an object that Further observations showed that it was an asteroid. It was given the name 'Oumuamua in honor of the Hawaiian deity.

Unlike all asteroids known to mankind so far, this "heavenly stone" is not part of the solar system. He came from the interstellar abyss and is leaving our planetary system at full speed.

Asteroid Threat Alert System Test

While Oumuamua peacefully leaves the solar system, it circles in the immediate vicinity of the Earth. No wonder humanity wants to be ready for an unsolicited visit.

On October 12, 2017, asteroid 2012 TC4 approached Earth. But a few weeks before that, the attentive eyes of specialists were already following him. Science centers around the world exchanged information, even the US government was notified as part of the exercise.

Meanwhile, it was known in advance that the space block did not threaten the Earth with a collision. 2012 TC4 was used as a "target" for testing the warning system. Our project is about these unusual teachings.

Determination of the age of Jupiter

Jupiter is the oldest planet in the solar system. This is the result the researchers got when they finally managed to find out the age of the giant. And the most ancient part of the planet is its solid core.

Of course, it would be beyond the power of scientists to "get to the bottom" of it. The chemical analysis of "stones from the sky" came to the aid of the researchers. We are talking about the connection between the gas giant and iron meteorites.

The biggest explosion in the observable universe

This is how you can describe the event recorded by astronomers. The energy release of 2.3 × 10 52 erg is indecently high even for a supernova.

At a distance of 2.4 billion light-years from Earth, something unprecedented has happened. Scientists could not explain this either by the activity of the nucleus of a distant galaxy, or by the activity of a black hole, . However, they have versions, and we, which ones.

By the way, experts believe that such an explosion is not the only one of its kind. They were observed before, but due to the huge distances, they could not assess the scale of the phenomenon.

Supernova that exploded multiple times

This would seem to be impossible. A supernova explosion is an irreversible process that turns a star into a cloud of gas. However, this is exactly how the iPTF14hls flash behaved. Its brightness increased several times, reaching a peak of 3.5 billion suns.

Astronomers do not yet have an explanation for this phenomenon, as well as for many other mysterious features of the process that can be found.

The TRAPPIST-1 system and a planet ideal for life

Three planets near the star TRAPPIST-1 in the constellation Aquarius were found back in 2016. Well, 2017 was rich in details.

First, there were seven planets in total. Secondly, it turned out that . However, not everything is so cloudless: it seems that the magnetic field of the star.

By the way, interesting planets were discovered not only in the TRAPPIST-1 system. Another find of scientists, the planet LHS 1140b, looks very tempting: the conditions on it are, in a sense, ideal for life. We are talking about what makes her so good.

The discovery of water reserves on the "twins of the Earth"

An even more intriguing discovery was made by Hubble in 2017. On the planets of the already mentioned star TRAPPIST-1, he discovered water!

Of course, we are not talking about the fact that astronomers have seen ocean waves. The telescope recorded a cloud of hydrogen, which, as experts believe, is generated by the decomposition of water under the influence of ultraviolet radiation.

A filament at the center of the Galaxy as a possible confirmation of string theory

More recently, astronomers have received unique images of a mysterious object. It is located very close (by space standards) to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way and looks like a long thin thread.

The nature of the strange celestial body is still unknown. We are talking about the hypotheses put forward by scientists. Among them is a very bold one: the discovery can confirm string theory.

Let's hope that 2018 will be just as rich in astronomical discoveries, and we will tell you a lot more interesting things.

Follow the news.

Internet marketer, editor of the site "In an accessible language"
Publication date: 23.10.2017

Astronomy is a great science that is developing in our age with rapid force. From year to year, with the development of technology, scientists manage to discover new facts not only about the universe as a whole, but also about individual space objects.

Numerous studies have made it possible to come to discoveries that previously seemed unthinkable. The knowledge gained today can become an excellent basis for the development of not only science, but also humanity as a whole.

Among the discoveries of 2017, the most striking and unusual were:

Astronomers have discovered the most "gluttonous" black hole

In the process of studying the constellation Virgo, astronomers came to the attention of an unusual object - a black hole, which for more than 10 years has been absorbing huge amounts of energy and matter.

During the period when small cosmic bodies approached the black hole, it absorbed them, splitting them into numerous particles.

In connection with the ongoing absorption processes, astronomers were given the opportunity to contemplate the high brightness of dying stars, observed for several months.

The black hole was discovered in the process of studying the cluster of galaxies NGC 5813. The study revealed the fact that the black hole was discovered back in 2005, when the brightness of SDSS J1500+ 0154 became more pronounced and noticeable in X-rays.

What is unusual about this discovery? The fact is that the amount of energy consumed is significantly higher than the so-called Eddington limit, according to which the amount of matter absorbed by a black hole is determined before it begins to return it.

Detection of an asteroid the size of Moscow State University that flew near the Earth

A shocking statement was that on the night of September 1-14, 2017, an unknown asteroid flew past our planet at great speed. According to data received from astronomers, the size of the space object was approximately 200 kilometers. At the same time, he was closer to the Earth at 15.8 million kilometers.

The discovered object was given the name 2017 RU1. According to studies, this body is recognized as one of the largest objects that have recently visited the vicinity of our planet. It is worth noting that the object was discovered a few days before its approach to the Earth.

A small asteroid almost touched the Earth's atmosphere

At the beginning of the year, on January 30, the ultra-small asteroid 2017 BH30 was unexpectedly noticed, which flew at a distance of 65 thousand kilometers from Earth. This distance is approximately equal to the orbit of some artificial satellites of the Earth and is six times less than the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

According to experts, the size of the unexpectedly discovered asteroid is small - from 3 to 10 meters. The discovered body belongs to the near-Earth asteroids that revolve around the Sun.

The risks of an asteroid colliding with our planet were minimal.

Astronomers have solved the mystery of the appearance of the most powerful cosmic rays

In 1912, Victor Hesses discovered cosmic rays while flying in a balloon by measuring the level of radiation in the atmosphere. Rays are particles of various elements that pose a high danger to astronauts.

There is an opinion among scientists that there is no specific consensus about their origin. Long-term studies, which lasted more than 8 years, made it possible to find out that powerful cosmic rays are of extragalactic origin. Their source remains a mystery, but it is only known that, according to the frequency of incidence and other properties, the rays were formed in nearby galaxies, which are most likely located at a relatively close distance from the Milky Way.

Astronomers have discovered several exoplanets at once

Discovered in May 2016, the star TRAPPIST-1 in the constellation of Aquarius turned out to be the mistress of several analogues of the Earth. Scientists suggest that three of the seven discovered planets are located in the "zone of life" and have water and a thick atmosphere in their arsenal.

The TRAPPIST-1 system is located 40 light years from our planet. According to the results of the research, scientists have determined that according to the spectrum of rays that have passed through the shells of the planets, rocky planets are most likely to have an atmosphere and contain water.

Modern equipment has allowed scientists to accurately determine the diameter and mass of most of the planets found suitable for the development of life and to obtain information about the composition of their atmosphere.

Astronomers have found a "super-Earth", possibly suitable for life

Thanks to a spectrograph installed at an observatory in the Spanish Canary Islands, astronomers have discovered a potentially habitable "super-Earth".

The mass of the discovered cosmic body is 2.8 times the mass of the Earth, and the daily period is 350.4 hours. The surface temperature of the planet does not exceed 75°C.

Scientists are interested in the found planet and in the near future intend to determine the composition of the atmosphere and the presence of liquid water.

A team of scientists have discovered six new galaxies

A group of scientists, formed by specialists from China, the United States and Chile, managed to discover six galaxies at once, which were previously unknown to mankind.

According to experts, the discovered galaxies formed 800 million years after the big bang. The discovered galaxies provided a breakthrough in the observational activity of astronomers and helped lay the foundation for the study of star formation.

American experts have been observing the star N6946-BH for several years in a row, but recently, according to NASA astronomers, the star disappeared from view.

The current information says that there are no exact reasons for the disappearance of a celestial body from the field of view. Scientists have put forward a hypothesis that a gravitational collapse - the disappearance or transformation of an object into a black hole - can become an adequate cause.

At the stage of observation and study of the object, such a scenario was not expected, however, despite this, astronomers admitted the possibility of a star explosion.

The star N6946-BH1 was located 22 million light-years from our planet and was 25 times heavier than the Sun.

The article was prepared based on the materials of RIA Novosti

In 2016, there was an event that could be called the "climax of space travel": a spacecraft landed on the surface of a moving comet. This event made us plunge into the abyss of memories associated with other achievements of mankind in this area. We have selected the 10 biggest breakthroughs in space exploration that have been made to date, in our opinion. Do you agree with our list? Or do you think that there were more important events in space exploration?

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"Blue marble" - the first image of the Earth

Back in 1946, people were able to get the first pictures of our planet, which were taken far from beyond the atmosphere. They were black and white and as if from small grains, looking at which, in general, only astronomers could understand that these were photographs of our planet. But we were able to pick up the following pictures only after 26 years.

In 1972, the Apollo 17 spacecraft took the first color photograph of our planet, it was called "Blue Marble". This picture is one of the most famous and very iconic images of humanity.

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First landing on the surface of Mars

In 1997, the first spacecraft landed on the surface of Mars, but carried the mission of a pioneer. The robot worked on the surface of the red planet for only a few months, but during the work it sent out thousands of images and billions of pieces of data. Scientists thanks to his work have found out more than they originally expected to find out about our nearest neighbor, which, who knows, maybe one day in the future people will be able to fly on vacation.

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First flight to outer planets

Our planet and Jupiter are separated by a very large asteroid belt. Scientists have long believed that it is impossible to penetrate through it and get to the planets that are on the other side of it. But that was until 1972. In that year, the Pioneer 10 probe went to Jupiter through the asteroid belt and sent the first images of Jupiter to Earth, and moving farther and farther into space in 1983, it completely left the solar system, becoming the first man-made element outside it.

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First space walk

For most of us, being in outer space is a terrifying prospect. On the one hand, such an experience is very interesting for all people, but on the other hand, it is rather scary to imagine how you leave the safe, comfortable spaceship and come into contact with the emptiness and silence of space.

The first person who ventured into such an experiment was Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. In 1965, on board the Voskhod 2, he made the first spacewalk in the history of mankind to take some photographs and practice moving in a different space. This risk brought scientists a lot of material to work with, which was used in further developments related to the space field.

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Launch of the International Space Station

In 1998, the first components of the ISS project, the International Space Station, were launched. The first people boarded it two years later, in 2000. During this time, countless tests and experiments have been carried out. Among which was the impact of weightlessness and a long stay in space on the human body.

During their stay on the ISS, the astronauts, due to the experiments performed, gave scientists reason to believe that staying in space in the long term may be possible and the fantasy of a person visiting other planets can, in the process of science development, go beyond fantasy, turning into a very real scientific achievement. .

The history of orbital stations is quite long. Before the construction of the ISS, the USSR, and then Russia, were the leaders in the construction of orbital stations. Since 1971, the USSR has developed and put into orbit at least 10 orbital stations, the last of which was the Mir multi-module station, which lasted until 2001.

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First artificial satellite

The forerunner of the space race and everything related to the space theme was, of course, the first satellite. A satellite is an artificial object to be launched into space.

And so, in 1957, the first space satellite was produced in Russia and sent into space to transmit radio signals and collect information about the earth's atmosphere, the name of this satellite was Sputnik-1. This event aroused great interest of the entire world community of scientists involved in the study of outer space, and all subsequent discoveries in this area were somehow connected with the launch of Sputnik-1.

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Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

In 1990, one of the most complex devices of that time, the Hubble telescope, was launched. His work has resulted in countless amazing images. Its launch influenced major discoveries, one of these discoveries was the rate at which the universe is expanding. In addition to discoveries, he simply enabled scientists to see breathtaking stunning images of various phenomena in the universe.

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The first living being in Earth's orbit

Before traveling into the cold abyss of human space, scientists needed to find out if living beings could survive outside the Earth. Launching a spacecraft and living in zero gravity are quite high loads for a living organism. In 1957, it was decided to launch a first tester into space - a stray dog ​​named Laika.

Her real fate remains a mystery to this day, there are several versions of the development of events: she died in the process of overheating the engine; she endured the journey and calmly returned to the atmosphere, but died a short time later; oxygen ran out 45 minutes before the vehicle landed.

All these versions are undeniably sad, but no matter which version is real, we can be absolutely sure of one thing, her feat helped science step far ahead and gradually come to sending people beyond the planet Earth.

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First man in space

Almost every child knows this fact of space history: in 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person to go into space. This was 4 years after the experience with Laika. Aboard Vostok 1, Yuri became a space pioneer, with more than 500 people of all nationalities watching his launch. And it was really a breakthrough for the whole world.

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Landing people on the moon

But still, the greatest achievement, perhaps, was the landing of a man on the moon. In 1969, Neil Armstrong set foot on its surface. In this experiment, in addition to him, two more astronauts took part: Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, they remained on board the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

Having set foot on the surface of the Earth, Neil Armstrong forever changed the worldview of many scientists, because he proved that this is possible. So over time, it will be possible to visit other planets.

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Conclusion

It was an article about the most important achievements in space exploration. Thank you for your attention!

A rare partial lunar eclipse of Venus, solar eclipses, the end of the Cassini mission to study Saturn - these and other interesting cosmic events await earthlings in 2017.

At the very beginning of the year it will be possible to admire one of the brightest and most beautiful meteor showers - the Quadrantida meteor shower, formed by the tail of the asteroid 2003 EH1. It is believed that this annual stream is practically invisible in the Southern Hemisphere, but in the Northern Hemisphere it will be possible to observe its peak already on the night of January 3-4. Under ideal conditions, more than 100 shooting stars per hour could be seen in the sky. The radiant of the meteor shower is in the constellation Bootes in the northeastern part of the sky.

Another annual Perseid meteor shower awaits the inhabitants of the Earth in the summer - the peak will be on August 12, when experts expect up to 150 meteors per hour. Next on the schedule are the Leonids (November 16-19) and the Geminids (December 11-14).

At the very beginning of the new year - January 4 - the earth will be at the closest point of the orbit to the Sun, at perihelion. At this time, the Earth will be located at a distance of 147.5 million km from the Sun.

The beginning of the year is also very convenient for observing the brightest luminary for us after the Sun and the Moon - Venus. In January, this planet will be located in the constellation of Aquarius. In addition to Venus and Mars, Saturn and some asteroids will also be clearly visible in the mornings in January.

2017 will have two lunar eclipses (February 26 and August 7 respectively) and one solar eclipse (August 21).

The first of the lunar ones is annular. At this time, the Moon does not completely cover the Earth from the Sun and a kind of corona of solar rays forms around it. The eclipse will be visible from South America and Africa.

On August 7, when the Moon rises, you can see a little damage on its disk, as if someone had “bitten off” a small piece of it. This effect is caused by the fact that the Moon will partially fall into the shadow cone cast by the Earth.

The total solar eclipse that will occur on August 21 will be best seen in the United States, where it has already been called the Great American Eclipse. According to astronomers, the total phase of the eclipse will last from 1.4 to 2.4 minutes. and will be best seen in a narrow strip from South Carolina to Oregon (NASA specialists have compiled a detailed map). A total solar eclipse can be seen on the US mainland for the first time in 40 years, and the next such event will not occur until 2033. About 200,000 people will be able to watch the eclipse, so residents of places where it will be best seen are already preparing for an unprecedented influx of tourists.

In September 2017, the Cassini spacecraft, named after the Italian scientist Jean Domenico Cassini, who proved that the ring of Saturn consists of two parts, separated by a dark strip (Cassini fission), will complete its mission to study Saturn, which lasted almost two decades. The scientist also assumed that the rings of Saturn consist of parts of various sizes.

The mission, which is called one of the most successful in space exploration, launched on October 15, 1997 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, and on July 1, 2004 the device entered Saturn's orbit. Since then, Cassini has repeatedly approached the natural satellites of the planet, and also passed through the rings of Saturn more than 20 times, sending to Earth unique data about their structure and the extraordinary beauty of the photographic image. It is assumed that the supply of fuel in the device will end on September 15, then it will fall into the atmosphere of a gas giant, where it will completely collapse. in drolr

Elon Musk's SpaceX company has postponed the planned launch of the Dragon spacecraft with the crew on board at the end of 2017. However, next year Dragon will make a test unmanned flight to the International Space Station (ISS). According to TechCrunch, according to the new plans, a manned launch to the ISS will take place in May 2018. The company said in an official statement that it needs additional time to "evaluate its structures, systems and processes" after the Falcon 9 rocket explosion, which occurred in early September of this year. The company also notes that it is completing an investigation into the "anomaly" that caused the explosion.

The year 2017 is coming to an end, and it's time to remember what bright and important events happened this year in space. Although we did not find aliens and did not get to Mars, this year has brought a lot of interesting things.

2017 began with the long-awaited news: American entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX company intends to organize a commercial flight around the moon at the end of 2018. It was reported that the flight will be carried out on the Dragon spacecraft.

The Dragon carrier will be the Falcon Heavy rocket, which was never tested this year. The launch was postponed to autumn, but recently Elon Musk said that his company does not have time to carry out the planned this year, and the rocket launch will take place only in January 2018.

The company said that the launch difficulties were primarily associated with the complex structure of the rocket, which required constant improvements. Due to the fact that three launch vehicles had to be combined into one, the volumes of acoustics and vibration increased, SpaceX noted. It took the developers time to replace the central accelerator.

2. Saturn's moon turned out to be a "dumpling"

The Cassini space probe has discovered an unusually shaped moon of Saturn. At close range, a space object called Pan reminded many of a dumpling. But little is known about the satellite so far, it is assumed that such a shape could have arisen due to radioactive elements.

Pan, one of the 62 known moons of Saturn, is 950 million miles from Earth. The size of the ice object is about 26 kilometers.

At the annual conference Innovative Advanced Concepts, the American aerospace agency NASA presented a project of a spacecraft designed to study the surface of Venus.

Experts presented a rover designed to work in difficult conditions of the planet, for example, a strong wind not only will not break the device, but will also help it generate energy, and the computer installed on board the rover can work in any weather.

The device is also unusual in its design, which resembles a "skeleton". This is no coincidence, since the Dutch artist Theo Jansen, known for his sculptures in the form of animal skeletons, which can move under the influence of wind along sandy beaches, took part in the development of the planet rover.

4. The sun attacked the Earth with flares

Since the beginning of September 2017, astronomers have observed numerous strong flares on the Sun, and exactly 12 years have passed since the last ones - they occurred on September 7, 2005.

In total, there are 5 classes of solar flares, depending on the power of X-rays. The minimum is A (radiation power in the Earth's orbit), the weak ones are B and C, the middle class is M, and the most powerful class is X, which was received by the September flares.

Astronomers assured that everything was under control, and outbreaks had long been predicted, but no one expected such a number. Due to flares, plasma clouds began to approach the Earth, which, fortunately, did not affect the state of citizens in any way.

But the magnetic storms that followed the outbreaks caused malaise and headaches in many weather-dependent people. Nevertheless, we survived the outbreaks, and new ones are not expected soon, astronomers report.

5. A model of the first Soviet satellite was sold at auction

At the end of September of this year, a test model of the first Soviet satellite went under the hammer at an auction in New York for 847.5 thousand dollars. Initially, the Sputnik 1 model, launched in October 1957, was estimated at $150,000.

It is reported that the satellite was intended to study the effects of electromagnetic interference.

According to the Bonhams auction house, there are five more copies of the spacecraft created by the OKB-1 design bureau (now the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation named after S.P. Korolev).

Three of them are in private collections, one is kept in the Seattle Museum, and another one is in the RSC Energia Museum in Korolev.

6. The legendary Cassini rested on Saturn

Another important event in September is the end of the mission of the Cassini probe, which has been exploring Saturn and its moons for twenty years.

Recall that the station reached Saturn on June 30, 2004, after which the first part of its long work began. The probe's stay at Saturn was extended twice: first after the completion of the main mission in 2008, and again in 2010. On April 4, 2017, due to the almost complete exhaustion of fuel reserves, the end of the mission was announced on September 15, 2017.

Over the years, the probe has collected a lot of useful information, made a large number of images with which astronomers could study the surface of the planet.

In the last minutes of the mission, the probe entered the upper atmosphere of the gas giant at high speed, maintaining the direction of the antenna to Earth with its engines and continuously transmitting data from 8 instruments in real time.

After another 30 seconds, Cassini began to collapse and became part of the planet Saturn.

7 Pluto Doesn't Have Rings

A team of scientists since 2015 has been analyzing data taken by the New Horizons probe, which flew past the dwarf planet and looked for traces of rings and dust around it. Astronomers hoped to find, if not rings, remnants of rings that might have existed around the planet in the past.

But the search was unsuccessful, and so far no rings have been found on Pluto.

Astrophysicists believe that even if there are rings, they are rarefied and safe. Scientists attribute this unusual discovery to the fact that Pluto has a complex system of gravity, due to which the rings may not be able to stabilize for a long time and are destroyed.

8. In Moscow, they simulated a flight to the moon

In November, the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences launched a large-scale experiment to simulate a flight to the moon, in which six volunteers took part - three women and three men.

The experiment lasted 17 days, during which the participants were in the closed space of the spacecraft in an environment close to a real flight. For two and a half weeks, experts daily studied changes in the microbiological parameters of the members of the experiment, as well as their physical activity.

All participants kept diaries in which they recorded their condition and mood.

The project has already been officially completed, and now experts are studying the work of the crew, as well as examining the space of the ship for surface contamination by microorganisms, since after the last 30-day test, scientists found sprouted fungi on the walls of the experimental ship, which can be dangerous to human health .

9. The mystery of the ocean of Enceladus is open

In a 2017 study, scientists said that the ocean on Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest moon, still exists because its core contains a large number of pores that are constantly compressed and unclenched by Saturn's gravity.

When scientists received data from Cassini, the question arose why the ocean did not freeze, because the ice crust covering it is not particularly thick. As further studies have shown, the liquid not only does not freeze, but is constantly heated.

The fact is that the core of Enceladus has a porous structure: it contains a sick amount of voids that occupy 20-30% of the entire core. Water enters these holes, where it interacts with the core rocks and carries heat throughout the ocean.

One more question remains unclear: why geseyres appear only in the southern hemisphere of the satellite, while they do not exist in the northern hemisphere. Astronomers have suggested that Enceladus originally had an asymmetric icy shell, so geysers in the southern hemisphere arose much earlier, and in the northern hemisphere they simply did not have time to form.

Scientists are now studying this theory.

10. There was an explanation for the dark stripes on Mars

About two years ago, astronomers recorded large long streaks on Mars, which were initially mistaken for streams. Then this theory was confirmed by NASA, stating that this is water protruding to the surface of the planet.

But this year, astronomers disproved the theory, and the "water" turned out to be not a liquid at all, but the result of a stream of dry, granular particles.

The only point that researchers still cannot explain in any way is where such an amount of fresh sand comes from for new landslides. But experts said they have several theories that they are still testing.

If the assumption of scientists is confirmed, and there is no water on Mars, then this will seriously interfere with future missions on the Red Planet.

11. Musk on Mars

It should be noted that this year the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, repeatedly appeared in the news feed with new details about the colonization of Mars, which should take place as early as 2014.

Now the inventor’s company is in full swing preparing for the mission, but the rocket that is supposed to deliver the astronauts to Mars has not yet been built, and it is not known whether it will be possible to complete the construction on time and test it so that people will already appear on the Red Planet in 2024.

But Elon Musk is serious about the colonization of Mars, and says that the company has everything under control. This year also saw the presentation of an unusual housing concept for the colonists of the Red Planet.

The project was named Redwood Forest and consists of houses in the form of hemispheres, each of which can accommodate up to 50 people. The developers plan to organize in each capsule a familiar environment for living and working, as well as creating small ponds, for which water will be taken from the northern plains of Mars.

All capsules are capable of harvesting solar energy and using it to transport water around the hemisphere, providing shielding from radiation and thermal stress. Also, this system will help create hydroponic systems for growing herbs, vegetables and fish.

The project looks promising, but we'll see what happens in practice.

12. The failure of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket launch

At the end of November, an unsuccessful launch of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome took place, which failed to put the Meteor-M Earth remote sensing satellite and 18 other small spacecraft from different countries into the estimated orbit.

According to the developers, a technical malfunction occurred in the satellite navigation equipment installed on the upper stage and operating on the GLONASS and GPS signal.

Initially, it was reported that the satellites were destroyed by a malfunction in the Fregat upper stage, which, instead of two inclusions of the propulsion system to increase the flight altitude, produced only one.

13. Created a space dictionary of gestures for the deaf and dumb

The International Astronomical Union recently released the first dictionary of astronomical gestures, which has been translated into the sign languages ​​of almost 30 countries, including Russian. So far, there are only 48 words in the dictionary, but the authors of the work are confident that the words will be replenished.

The International Astronomical Union has decided to develop a dictionary of astronomical terms that will be understood by deaf people in all countries of the world. The authors of the dictionary said that communities in whose language there are no corresponding signs can borrow words from a new dictionary or create new ones based on them.