From stunning images from the James Webb telescope to the first Mexican woman in space, these are the top space stories of 2022.
“Space: The final frontier” were the iconic words spoken by Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the hit television series “Star Trek” and “Star Trek: Next Generation,” respectively, at the beginning of each episode. .
While we have not quite reached the final frontier as described, humanity has made great strides this year in exploring the deep mysteries of space and opening doors for many.
Here are some of the top space-related stories of 2022:
Images from the Hubble Telescope vs. James Webb: see the difference
When NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope in December 2021, the world could only imagine the stunning images released the following year, and the Webb Telescope did not disappoint.
According to NASA, the images from the Webb telescope are the the deepest and highest resolution ever taken from the universe.
The Webb telescope uses powerful infrared technology and can reveal new details of space that Hubble, which launched in 1990, cannot.
This file image released by NASA on July 12, 2022 shows that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed the dust shell around the second star, shown in red on the left, in the center of the South Ring Nebula for the first time. time. It is a hot, dense white dwarf star.
Handout/NASA/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
A photo of Stephan’s Quintet
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The Carina Nebula is a star-forming region in the Sagittarius-Carina arm of the Milky Way that lies 7,500 light-years from Earth, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected more than 14,000 stars in the region.
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NASA publishes new images of ‘fingerprint-like’ dust rings from the Webb telescope
In October, NASA released stunning new images from the Webb telescope showing rings of dust with a “fingerprint-like pattern” caused by two stars closely interacting with each other.
According to NASA, each ring formed when the stars were close to each other and the streams of gas they were emitting met, creating dust.
The two stars in Wolf-Rayet 140 produce dust shells every eight years that look like rings, as seen in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Each ring was created when the stars moved closer together and their stellar winds collided.
NASA/ESA/CSA/STScl/JPL-Caltech
The Artemis moon rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral
After some delays, NASA launched its unmanned capsule Artemis I rocket in november The launch of Artemis I was part of the agency’s long-standing plan to have a presence on the moon for scientific discovery, economic development and to send the first manned spaceflight to Mars, according to NASA.
Artemis I came within 60 miles of the moon and spent 25.5 days in space and traveled on a 1.4 million-mile journey around the moon, according to NASA reports.
On December 11, the Artemis I Orion capsule splashed back to earth near Baja California, Mexico.
Launch of the Artemis I NASA Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
NASA/Bill Ingalls/(NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA’s Orion unmanned spacecraft crashes into the Pacific Ocean off Baja California, Mexico on December 11, 2022.
Mario Tama/PISCINA/AFP via Getty Images
Lunar eclipse, last until 2025, had people looking at the sky
On November 8, the second total lunar eclipse of 2022 took place, and it was the last time he was able to catch one until 2025.
A lunar eclipse is when the sun, Earth, and moon align, and the moon passes into Earth’s shadow.
People in Hawaii and Alaska were able to easily see the total eclipse because the moon appeared to be moving over the Pacific Ocean.
The blood-red filled Beaver Moon passes behind the Empire State Building during a total lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022, in New York City.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images, FILE
The blood-red filled Beaver Moon passes behind the Empire State Building during a total lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022, in New York City.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images, FILE
First Mexican woman in space reflects on her lifelong dream of reaching for the stars
History was made in June when Katya Echazarreta became the first mexican woman to travel to outer space.
Echazarreta, 27, is an electrical engineer who was aboard the June 4 Blue Origin flight as an ambassador for Space for Humanity.
“It was a very interesting experience,” he told “GMA3” in September. “You’re the highest you’ve ever been in your life. And then all of a sudden everything is dark and now you’re in space. And I looked out the window, I just couldn’t believe it.”
In this Aug. 2, 2022 file photo, Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican-born American to fly into space, attends an event where she received the keys to the city from Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum in the City of Mexico, Mexico.
Henry Romero/Reuters, FILE
Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican woman to travel to space in June 2022 on the Blue Origin NS-21 mission aboard NASA’s New Shepard spacecraft, during the inauguration of a mural in her honor located on a building in the Mexico City, December 21, 2020. 12, 2022.
Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via AP, FILE
Astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann is the first native woman in space
History was made again when astronaut Aunapa Mann became the first native woman to go into space.
Mann is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes and served as the commander of the SpaceX Crew-5 mission, which launched on October 3.
Nicole Aunapu Mann in an official NASA portrait.
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