Next year promises to be a milestone-making period of time in space exploration.

In 2018, just under a 100 missions are expected to take off, leaving in their wake a number of questions, such as, with private companies getting increasingly involved in the space race, who will be rocketing to success? Will NASA lead the way or be overtaken by the likes of SpaceX?

An interesting and thoughtful infographic has been prepared by the UK’s RS Components.

Busy year

Among next year’s space activities, take note:

  • NASA’s InSight seismology probe is expected to land on Mars.
  • China is to continue its robotic exploration of the Moon.
  • The European Space Agency (ESA) will be lofting their first mission to Mercury, with BepiColombo, set to reach its destination in 2025.
  • Japan’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft will arrive at its target – asteroid Ryugu, then return a sample to Earth in December 2020.

    James Webb Space Telescope.
    Credit: RS Components.

  • India is slated to launch the Chandrayaan-2 to the Moon, an orbiter, lander and a rover.
  • NASA’s long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope is set to head for the heavens.

 

 

 

 

To view this new graphic by RS Components, go to:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=2018-space-race

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