T-Minus: Counting down the top 10 space stories of 2024

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This is T-Minus, where Freethink counts down the biggest developments in space. For the last installment of 2024, Kristin Houser looked back on the 10 greatest space stories of that year. From a first-of-its-kind spacewalk to the recovery of a rocket that could one day take people to Mars, here’s what she found.

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SLIM’s moon landing

A yellow spacecraft, possibly the Hayabusa2 lander, is perched on a rocky surface of an asteroid, with rough terrain visible under a clear sky. Visible text includes ©JAXA and Japanese characters. — An image of SLIM taken by Sora-Q, a tiny rover that joined the lander on its journey. (Credit: JAXA)

In 1966, the USSR became the first nation to achieve a “soft” lunar landing, meaning one in which the spacecraft isn’t destroyed upon impact. On January 19, 2024, Japan became just the fifth nation in history to do the same, soft landing its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft on the lunar surface. The landing wasn’t perfect — SLIM hit the moon upside down — but the location was the most precise in history, with the spacecraft touching down within 180 feet of its target.

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Ingenuity’s final flight

A small robotic helicopter sits on a rocky, dusty landscape under a pale sky on Mars. There are hills visible in the background. — NASA’s Perseverance rover snapped this image of Ingenuity on the surface of Mars in 2021. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech)

In 2021, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made history as the first craft to fly on another planet. The original plan was for it to fly no more than five times over the next 30 days, but by the time the overachieving little chopper’s mission finally ended on January 18, 2024, it had flown 72 times, repeatedly setting new height, speed, and distance records and foreshadowing a future in which our space landers and rovers are joined by eyes in the sky.

Return of the space factory

A scorched, round spacecraft lies on a barren, sandy surface under a cloudy sky, with mountains in the background. — Varda’s first space factory shortly after landing back on Earth. (Credit: Varda Space Industries)

California-based startup Varda Space Industries is planning to manufacture products in orbit, mainly specialized materials that could benefit from being made in free fall, without the pressure of Earth’s gravity. In June 2023, it launched a demonstration mission with the first of these “space factories,” and after a lengthy delay, the spacecraft finally returned to Earth on February 21, 2024, with a successfully synthesized drug on board — potentially signaling the start of a new era of off-world manufacturing.

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The Polaris Dawn spacewalk

An astronaut in a spacesuit stands in an open hatch, looking out at Earth from space. — Jared Isaacman outside a Dragon capsule during the first private spacewalk. (Credit: SpaceX)

In 2021, billionaire entrepreneur and experienced pilot Jared Isaacman commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian space mission. In September 2024, he returned to Earth’s orbit with another civilian crew in the Polaris Dawn mission, which saw all four crew members exit their SpaceX Dragon capsule to perform the first private spacewalk. Next for Isaacman? Potentially serving as the new head of NASA.

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Vulcan Centaur’s first flight

A rocket stands on a launch pad, surrounded by greenery and blue sky, with the ocean in the background. — A Vulcan Centaur rocket on the launch pad ahead of its maiden flight. (Credit: ULA)

In 2014, United Launch Alliance (ULA) — a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin — began development on Vulcan Centaur, a new heavy-lift rocket designed to succeed its workhorse Atlas V launch system. After multiple delays, the rocket finally lifted off for the first time on January 8, 2024. A second successful flight followed in October, and the rocket is now certified to begin flying national security missions for the US Space Force in 2025.

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Intuitive Machines’ moon landing

A spacecraft lander displayed indoors with a large American flag on the wall behind it. — The fully assembled IM-1 Nova-C lunar lander, aka “Odysseus,” prior to launch. (Credit: Intuitive Machines)

Vulcan Centaur’s primary payload for its maiden launch was Astrobotic Technologies’ Peregrine lunar lander, which was expected to be the first spacecraft built by a private company to reach the moon. Unfortunately, its propulsion system failed soon after deployment. But less than a month later, another private company, Intuitive Machines, deployed its own moon lander, Odysseus, via a SpaceX rocket, and after a harrowing descent, this one did reach the lunar surface — earning a place in commercial space history.

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The launch of Europa Clipper

A rocket lifts off, generating dense clouds of smoke and flames, against a clear blue sky. — The launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Oct. 14, 2024. (Credit: SpaceX)

Scientists suspect that Jupiter’s moon Europa has liquid water, organic compounds, and a source of energy — the three ingredients needed for life as we know it. That makes the little moon one of the most intriguing places in our solar system, and on October 14, 2024, NASA launched Europa Clipper, a mission to study the icy moon up close. In 2030, after travelling 1.8 billion miles to reach its destination, the spacecraft will perform 49 flybys of Europa to help us determine whether life could exist beyond our home planet.

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Chang’e 6’s round-trip moon mission

China’s Chang’e 6 lander on the far side of the moon. (Credit: CNSA)

In 2019, China became the first nation to soft land on the far side of the moon (the side permanently facing away from the Earth). It repeated the feat with its Chang’e 6 lander on June 1, 2024, but this time, it equipped the spacecraft with a module that could launch samples of far-side lunar regolith to a lunar orbiter. A return vehicle attached to the orbiter then brought the samples to Earth — giving us our first look at the composition of the “dark side” of the moon.

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Starliner’s troubled ISS flight

Two astronauts inside a spacecraft, one peeking through a hatch and the other floating, surrounded by mission patches. — NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (top) and Suni Williams aboard the ISS after their Starliner test flight. (Credit: NASA)

In 2014, NASA issued billion-dollar contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to build capsules that could carry astronauts to and from the ISS. SpaceX delivered with Dragon in 2020, but it wasn’t until June 5, 2024, that Boeing was finally ready for the first crewed flight of its Starliner capsule.

The vehicle did reach the ISS the following day, but experienced issues with its thruster and helium systems along the way. After extensive delays and attempts at troubleshooting, NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to have astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams use the Starliner capsule for their return flight to Earth, so instead of spending a week on the ISS, they’ll be staying there until February 2025 — and then hitching a ride home with SpaceX.

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SpaceX’s stunning “Mechazilla” recovery

A rocket launches at sunrise by the ocean, with flames visible beneath. Two booster stages separate mid-air, leaving trails of smoke as they fall back to the ground. — The final phases of the Falcon Heavy booster recovery. (Credit: SpaceX)

After more than a decade of development, SpaceX finally flew its massive Starship rocket for the first (and second) time in 2023. Both flights ended with the rocket exploding because of issues that triggered its autonomous flight termination system — but it did reach space on its second flight, earning the top spot on last year’s list of the biggest stories in space.

This year, SpaceX flew Starship four more times, and during each flight, it was able to test new systems and capabilities. The most remarkable of those tests took place on October 13, when SpaceX flew Starship for the fifth time and then used mechanical arms on its giant launch tower, dubbed “Mechazilla,” to catch its Falcon Heavy booster after it returned to Earth.

Video of this first-of-its-kind rocket recovery is a must-see for anyone with a remote interest in aerospace, and its success put SpaceX another step closer to not only using Starship for crewed missions to Mars, but doing so at a cost far lower than would be possible with an expendable rocket system.

This article was originally published by our sister site, Freethink.