SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Galactic’s space vehicle, launches from New Mexico for the first time

On May 22^nd 2021, Virgin Galactic launched its very first human spaceflight from its New Mexico port using the company’s SpaceShipTwo Vehicle.

This is the third crewed test flight Virgin Galactic has completed using this vehicle. Its first two flights occurred in Late 2018 and early 2019 at Mojave Air and Space Port in South-Eastern California.

The space vehicle, named Unity, is lifted off the runway under its carrier plane, VMS Eve, to 44,000 feet to begin its launch. Once dropped from its carrier plane, Unity’s onboard rocket motor is started which propels the vehicle to Mach 3 to enable it to reach its peak altitude in suborbital space of 90 Kilometres before beginning the trip back down to Earth.

Unity is in its final stages of test flights. If future test flights go according to plan, Virgin Galactic representatives say that commercial operations could begin as soon as Early 2022.

More than 600 people have booked a ride on SpaceShipTwo from celebrities to Richard Branson himself, with an estimated price of $250,000 per seat.

Blood moon of 2021 wows the world

The long-awaited blood moon was observed on Wednesday 26^th May 2021. Not only is it the largest the moon that will be observable of the year, it is also the only total lunar eclipse of the year.

The eclipse was visible from the western part of the Americas, islands of the Pacific Ocean, all of Australia and parts of eastern Asia. Countries in the Southern hemisphere area of the Pacific Ocean such as Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Papua New Guinea had the best seats, as they could enjoy the entire spectacle during night hours, including the moments when the moon entered and exited the penumbra and umbra phases, which mark the beginning and end of the partial and total eclipse respectively. 

In the penumbra phase, the Earth's shadow blocks sunlight imperfectly. As a result, the moon is still visible but slightly dimmer. The shorter and more awe-inspiring umbra phase takes place when the moon enters Earth's complete shadow. The total eclipse occurs in the middle of this three-hour passage; this time, lasting about 16 minutes and turned the moon red, which is an effect caused by the Earth's atmosphere.

Earth will catch the next lunar eclipse on Nov. 18^th 2021, although this one will be somewhat imperfect as a small sliver of the moon’s disk will remain outside the umbra.

The next official total lunar eclipse will take place on May 15^th-16^th 2022 and will be best observable from western parts of Europe and Africa, and most of the Americas.

In the meantime, skywatchers can look forward to a solar eclipse coming up in June. On June 10^th, the moon will pass in front of the sun as seen from Earth, but will be a bit too close to our planet to completely block the sun. The result will be an annular solar eclipse, also known as a "ring of fire" eclipse, with a thin ring of the sun still shining around the moon.

Canada to launch moon rover mission before 2026

Canada is developing plans to have a rover on the moon before 2026. Announced on the 26^th May 2021, The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA are creating a partnership to make this a reality.

They are hoping to have their new lunar rover explore the polar region of the moon. CSA officials will begin the process to select two Canadian companies to develop concepts for the rover and its instruments to take to the moon.

Future plans to send other equipment and instruments are also in the works. Three commercial technologies funded by the CSA's Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program are scheduled to get a lunar-surface test in 2022 — an artificial intelligence flight computer from Mission Control Space Services; lightweight panoramic cameras built by Canadensys; and a new planetary navigation system developed by NGC Aerospace Ltd. All three instruments will be launched aboard the HAKUTO-R lander that is built by ispace, a company based in Tokyo.

Canada is also partnering with NASA on its Artemis program. This program aims to establish a long-term, sustainable human presence on and around the moon by the late 2020s. A Canadian astronaut will be aboard a four-person mission vehicle named Artemis 2. This mission is scheduled to launch in 2023.