Launching Out of 2020 and Into 2021 With Success

https://youtu.be/Sm6Myl51Jp0 2020 was a year to remember for our Space Program. "The United States of America, we can continue to do amazing things even in spite of a global pandemic," said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Chief of Staff Gabe Sherman. It was the year of important anniversaries -- the 20^th Anniversary of humans living and working on the International Space Station, the 30^th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day. NASA, along with many of the top leaders and contributors in the space industry, successfully completed historic achievements throughout the entire year.  In May, human space missions to the International Space Station “ignited” again for the first time since 2011 with the Demo-2 test flight. READ MORE: 2nd Attempt At Historic Launch Successful https://twitter.com/i/status/1266825457636442114 "A critical milestone in the development of our ability to launch American astronauts, on American rockets, from American soil, now sustainably," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. Months later in November, another journey began with the first commercial crew rotational mission aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with four astronauts. READ MORE: Regular Missions to the Space Station Have Begun https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1328583363951796224 In July the Mars Perseverance mission began its journey to the Red Planet bringing with it the first Mars Rover for collecting samples and​ the first aircraft to attempt flight on another planet. https://twitter.com/i/status/1288549859616849920 Fall of 2020 brought a victorious groundbreaking science mission, as NASA collected samples from an asteroid for the first-time. "We think we actually might be coming back with a baby picture of what the solar system was like, of what our chemistry was like billions of years ago," said Dr. Michelle Thaller from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. https://twitter.com/i/status/1319024328126664706 The year ended with the introduction of 18 astronauts for the Artemis program, which aims to put the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. https://youtu.be/BC5khqpKovU So what’s in store for 2021? Continuing to build on all the accomplishments from the previous year!  According to NASA, this will be including more tests for the Commercial Crew Program, exploration and sampling when the Perseverance Rover docks on Mars in February, and planning the first American robotic missions to land on the Moon in 50 years. MORE: NASA Goals for 2021