Rocket launches, trips to the Moon and more space events in 2019

Here are some of the launches, space science and other events we anticipate.

Just as we’ve caught our breaths from 2018’s exciting and very busy year in space and astronomy, 2019 is already off to a rapid start. Before we finish the first week of this year, we’ll see a Chinese probe landing on the moon, an eclipse and NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft complete a flyby of the most distant object ever visited in the solar system. However much you love space and astronomy, we know it can be challenging to keep on top of the latest out-of-this-world news. Below are some of the launches, space science and other events we anticipate.
 

The moon will get some visitors
 
The year is set to start with a moon landing by China’s Chang’e-4 mission. The spacecraft launched in December and reached lunar orbit four and a half days later. If its lander and rover succeed, Chang’e-4 will be the first spacecraft to make a soft, or intact, landing on the moon’s far side — the side that always faces away from Earth. The Chinese spacecraft may be the first of a series of lunar landings.
 

An Israeli company, SpaceIL, is scheduled to send a lander to the moon in February. If the Israeli mission succeeds, it would make that country only the fourth to complete a soft landing on the moon. But Israel could get beaten to that distinction by India, which may launch Chandrayaan-2, the nation’s first moon lander and rover, as soon as late January.

 
NASA astronauts may travel to space from American soil
 
Since 2011, when the space shuttle Atlantis completed its final mission, astronauts from the United States and other countries have relied on Russia’s Soyuz capsules to make journeys to and from the International Space Station. That could change later this year. SpaceX and Boeing have both built new capsules to carry crews for NASA and other space agencies. Delayed repeatedly in 2018, the capsules seem likely to get off the launchpad in 2019.
 
New rocket operators could make it to orbit
 
Last year was a busy one for private spaceflight. The Falcon Heavy was tested successfully, giving SpaceX the most powerful rocket currently able to launch from Earth. And Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crossed the 50-mile threshold into the atmosphere, making it the most advanced entrant in space tourism. These companies could be joined by other small rocket makers in 2019. One company likely to make it to space is Virgin Orbit. Related to Virgin Galactic, the company sends rockets high into the atmosphere aboard a 747 jet plane, and then releases and launches them into orbit.

© The New York Times News Service