Exploring the Vast Frontiers of
21st Century Space Advancements
By Rushi Patel
Groundbreaking advances have been made during the 21st century, specifically in the space realm. We will be going over some of the key advancements and discoveries made recently including a new aircraft, the most powerful light from the Sun ever being recorded, and the James Webb Telescope. Arguably the greatest of these advancements that you need to know being NASA's newest toy, the Orion.
The Orion Spacecraft
You may be wondering, what is the Orion spacecraft and where did it get its cool name from? Well, it is named after the Orion constellation, and it began being developed in 2004, with it being launched into space on November 16th, 2022. The spacecraft was a part of the Artemis 1 moon mission, and it successfully returned back to Earth on December 11th 2022, after spending 25.5 days in space. The Orion has almost 12,000 sensors on it, which enable the crew to gain environmental information. To be able to be sent into space, it was attached to a rocket called the SLS Rocket. The SLS Rocket is the most powerful rocket ever, as it contains 8.8 million pounds of thrust. Overall, this mission was successful for NASA and it showed the world the capabilities of modern, advanced spacecrafts.
You can reference the following page for a diagram of the rocket that was sent into space.