ASMA KHALID, HOST:
Here on Earth, a lot of things happened in 2024. But for a couple of minutes, let's leave our planet and consider what happened this year in space. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce is here to remind us of the highlights and the lowlights. Good morning, Nell.
NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE: Hey, there.
KHALID: So I've got to imagine that a big highlight must have been that solar eclipse back in the spring.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: That's right. Millions of people saw the total solar eclipse, or maybe they saw this big solar storm that caused widespread auroras in the night sky. But, you know, there were also lowlights. I guess if you wanted to talk about that, the main one would have to be those astronauts, you know, those astronauts that NASA...
KHALID: Yeah.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: ...Says are definitely not stranded.
KHALID: OK, so they are still in orbit, though, right?
GREENFIELDBOYCE: They are.
KHALID: OK.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: They are. So if you recall, they went up there in June on what was supposed to be this short test flight of a spacecraft made by Boeing called Starliner. And then NASA decided it was too risky for them to come home in it, so they had to just chill on the International Space Station, waiting for a return ride. And so, you know, they're there. And NASA said initially they'd be able to return to Earth in February, but they just said it's going to be longer than that, probably, like, March.
KHALID: That's a bummer for them.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: It is, yeah.
KHALID: So how are they eventually going to get home?
GREENFIELDBOYCE: So SpaceX. So SpaceX has this capsule that regularly takes astronauts to and from the space station. And this was a big year for SpaceX. Not only did it sort of, like, take over Boeing's return flight, but it finally got its mega-rocket into space. This is SpaceX's Starship. It's the biggest rocket ever built. So that was a big deal. SpaceX also did the first-ever private spacewalk. So basically, there was this orbiting capsule and two crew members opened the hatch and kind of stuck their heads outside. I mean, until then, like, only national space programs had ever tried these so-called extravehicular activities, so that was a really big deal.
KHALID: And I understand that one of those spacewalkers might become the new head of NASA. What can you tell us about that?
GREENFIELDBOYCE: So that's Jared Isaacman. He's this wealthy entrepreneur. He's a private astronaut, and he's Donald Trump's pick to lead the space agency. And you know, Donald Trump has this alliance with Elon Musk of SpaceX, who supported his campaign. And Musk and Isaacman have this financial connection through SpaceX. And so it'll probably be an interesting confirmation process in the Senate. No one knows what all of this might mean for NASA and this expensive rocket that NASA has got to try to get people back to the moon.
KHALID: OK so speaking of NASA, where do things stand with its efforts to return to the moon?
GREENFIELDBOYCE: So NASA had been planning to send astronauts to orbit the moon next year. But a couple of weeks ago, officials announced that that trip has been pushed off to 2026 at the earliest. And so that means actually landing on the moon wouldn't happen until, like, 2027.
KHALID: At the earliest.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: Right.
KHALID: OK, so we have been talking about people in space. What about robotic missions?
GREENFIELDBOYCE: So this year, we got the first rock samples returned from the far side of the moon. I mean, that was a robotic mission from China. And then NASA also now has this probe that's going to Europa. That's this moon of Jupiter. It launched in October. And, you know, Europa seems to have this liquid water ocean underneath a layer of ice. And so that place could have ingredients for life. So it's a cool mission, but Jupiter is so far away. Spacecraft won't get there until 2030.
KHALID: What about 2025? What will we get to see in the new year in space?
GREENFIELDBOYCE: So we can look forward to SPHEREx. So that's a NASA telescope. It's going to create, like, a 3D map of the entire sky, mapping hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies. And the information it will gather will tell us more about this really brief but powerful moment just after the big bang.
KHALID: Oh, wow.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: That's when the newborn universe just, like, suddenly and dramatically expanded.
KHALID: That sounds really interesting. So you're going to have to come back on the show when that happens and tell us all about it.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: Definitely will.
KHALID: All right, that's NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce.
(SOUNDBITE OF BEACH HOUSE SONG, "SPACE SONG") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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