Finding cure to pushing cosmic boundaries: 2020 was no bad year for science

It was the science that came to the aid of the planet as we settled into working from home and other 'new normals' amid successive lockdowns.

The sun is finally setting on 2020, easily the worst year of this century and one of the worst for a generation of people. This was a year that saw a raging virus, a mishandled pandemic, fatalities beyond imagination, and widespread economic mismanagement. However, the year gone by will also be remembered for human endurance, an undying spirit and the courage to find solutions.

Even as the world suffered unforeseen losses, it clawed its way back, albeit slowly, as the ball kept rolling. The year will go down in the annals of history as one of such brief windows that saw intellectuals collaborating, scientists exchanging data and global conglomerates sharing critical researches to survive together.

At the core of all this was science, which came to the aid of the planet as people settled into ‘new normal’ of working from home and other things amid successive lockdowns.

Even as the air became cleaner, climate change did not stop for the virus. (Shutterstock)

The crucial search for a cure: A lesson in survival

When the first patient was diagnosed with infection to an unidentified virus strain, no one had imagined the chain of events that was being set off. From a small hospital in China's Wuhan to a full-blown global catastrophe, the Covid-19 pandemic escalated quickly. Countries shut down, economies choked, and healthcare infrastructure everywhere burst at the seams with an uncontrolled flow on sick people. And then began the search for a cure, a vaccine. In less than a year, scientists from across the world exchanged findings to develop a vaccine, and pharma companies rushed to provide research and development.

Nearly nine months after the US, UK and India announced their first set of lockdowns, the first vaccine was administered to an elderly woman in Britain in December. Pfizer, Moderna, Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech worked in tandem with the bureaucracy to expedite the process and push through faster clinical trials and analyses to create two doses of a vaccine. All eyes now are on the development of supply chains to manufacture billions of doses for inoculation of billions of people.

Melting of ice sheets and thermal expansion account for nearly two-thirds of observed global mean sea-level rise. (Siurce: Shutterstock)

Replenishing environment, worsening climate

The global environment, meanwhile, was an unlikely beneficiary of this crisis. While countries were locked down and people stayed indoors – industries, power plants and vehicular traffic all remained halted – there was a massive drop in emissions and discharge of effluents. The air got cleaner and more breathable. Cities like Beijing and New Delhi saw a sharp decline in Sulphur Dioxide (SO2). The air pollutants released by the burning of fossil fuels across India reduced by almost 40 per cent, as operations of coal-fired power plants and industries remained suspended from March 24.

However, even as the air became cleaner, climate change did not stop for the virus: A flurry of cyclones, incessant rain spells, floods and wildfire proved the overall situation was hardly better. The collision of a pandemic with extreme weather events amplified the call for tougher action. Now, as countries are opening up again and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere reaching record levels, emissions are heading back in the direction of pre-pandemic levels. With the world set to see its warmest five years on record, the threat from climate change is as grave as ever. A report compiled by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) under the direction of the UN Secretary-General, highlights the increasing and irreversible impact of climate change, which affects glaciers, oceans, nature, economies, and human living conditions.

Falcon 9 lifts off from historic Launch Complex 39A and sends Crew Dragon to orbit on its first flight with NASA astronauts to the space station

Exploring space as Earth fights a pathogen

While the Earth was fighting for survival, the need to expand boundaries beyond the unknown became even more critical. SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk recently said that humans needed to be an interplanetary species to continue their survival. In this regard, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) adjusted to the new normal and began training for one if its most ambitious missions: Gaganyaan. This indigenously built manned mission to space is planned for 2021. Four Air Force pilots began their training in a Covid-19 bubble in Russia earlier this year. While the names of these four pilots are yet to be disclosed, the mission is likely to face some delay due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Isro is also in the mission mode for the Chandrayaan-3, after a failed Chandrayaan-2 that crash-landed on the dark side of the moon. The already delayed mission will try a successful soft landing on the Moon in 2021 and bring back crucial data. Isro also witnessed a jump in the private sector's interest in space flight, likely inspired by the success of SpaceX in the US. While the lockdown delayed planned launches and disrupted timelines, Isro commenced operations by putting into orbit the Earth Observation Satellite EOS-1 on November 7.

GSLV-MkIII-M1 rocket carrying Chandrayaan-2 lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, at Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh | Photo: ISRO

Cheaper, effective and beautiful: The commercialisation of space flight

Space flight has been one of the most exciting, costly and hard to manage affairs in scientific business. SpaceX has changed the game. While it has succeeded in maintaining the excitement quotient with its larger-than-life cinematic launch and return systems, cheaper maintenance due to reusability of its rockets has made it a pioneer in the business of space travel. Nine years after the suspension of shuttle missions due to cost overruns, Nasa joined hands with private players like SpaceX to return astronauts to outer space and end its dependability on Russia. As Crew Dragon, part of Demo-2 test flight splashed down on August 2, SpaceX showed the world a fully functioning system to send and return astronauts to and from outer space.

While Nasa switched to private players, India also opened its doors to private companies to invest big in its cosmic explorations. In June, the Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet decided to set up IN-SPACe, making Isro focus on R&D of new technologies, exploration missions, and human spaceflight programme. IN-SPACe would provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.

The rock samples that the rover will collect will be studied with data taken from the landscape in which they formed. NASA

Reaching for the stars: To Mars and beyond

The year 2020 witnessed one of the biggest space races of all times as countries pushed their limits to reach Mars and expand the horizon of scientific exploration. A flurry of probes rushed to Mars as the planet made its closest approach to the Earth, reducing the travel time and cost. While Nasa sent its highly advanced Perseverance rover to collect, analyse and return Martian samples to the Earth in future, the UAE joined the elite club of nations with its Hope probe. Meanwhile, China is aiming to achieve orbiting, landing and roving on the Red Planet in a single mission with the Tianwen-1.  

The probes and rovers, with high-priority science goal to address key questions on the possibility of life on Mars, are being seen as the next big steps ahead of the proposed future manned missions to Mars. The probes will reach the red planet in February 2021. Japan achieved another feat days before 2020 would come to a close, with its Hyabausa mission returning asteroid samples to the Earth. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes to find clues to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on the Earth. Meanwhile, Nasa spacecraft successfully touched the surface of asteroid Bennu, 321 million km away, to collect pristine samples to return to the Earth.

Isro commenced operations by putting into orbit the Earth Observation Satellite EOS-1 on November 7.

While 2020 has been about survival, 2021 will witness a new zeal to explore further reaches of science and push the envelope for exciting new discoveries.