what-to-expect-for-spaceflight-and-astronomy-in-2021

https://astronomy.com/news/2021/01/what-to-expect-for-spaceflight-and-astronomy-in-2021?utm_source=Yesmail&utm_medium=email&utm_email= [login to see] &utm_campaign=News0_ASY_210115_000000
It was the worst of times, it was the best of times. On Earth, almost every aspect of life over the past year was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken nearly two million lives and shredded the global economy. In space, humans have racked up one triumph after another: First landing on the lunar farside, two impressive successes in gathering samples from asteroids, the first new pieces of the Moon brought home in 44 years, close-up explorations of the Sun, and major advances in low-cost reusable rockets.

It may seem callous to celebrate such distant, cerebral events while so many people are suffering on Earth. But the international collaborations, scientific stretches, and goal-oriented research that enabled those space missions are exactly the same techniques that enabled the development of multiple COVID vaccines at unprecedented speed. Images of the OSIRIS-REx probe kissing asteroid Bennu, or Chang'e-4's rover rolling across the Moon's hidden face, also reminded us of the deeper things that we live for.