The closer we get to the conclusion of 2017 the more we reflect on the last 12 months, the ups, the downs, and everything in between.
If you’re feeling there isn’t much to celebrate, you’re forgetting about all the major events and findings that happened at NASA.There were plenty of new discoveries, records that were broken, and promises for future research at the space agency this year it can be difficult to narrow it down to some of the most important or momentous ones. Here are seven of the highlights from NASA, in no particular order.
Announcement of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet discovery
In February, NASA made a huge announcement, the Spitzer Space Telescope had located seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the TRAPPIST-1 ultra-cool dwarf star about 40 light-years away, and three of those planets are located in the habitable zone. “The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not just a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when,’” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA said at the press conference about the discovery.
Since that announcement, NASA learned even more about the planets and the star including the confirmation of the orbit of one of the planets in the system, as well as clues that there might be water on the planets.
This artist’s concept shows what the Trappist-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the planets’ diameters, masses and distances from the host star.
The planets have been designated letters b to h, from closest to farthest. Photo: NASA/JPL-CaltechAstronaut Peggy Whitson breaks another record
NASA astronaut Peggy Whiston has been breaking records for almost her entire career with NASA. She was the first science commanders of the International Space Station, the first female commander of the station, the first female to command the station twice, and she’s the female NASA astronaut who holds the record for most spacewalks. That’s not all, at the conclusion of Expedition 52, that was extended by three months in April, Whitson also earned the title as the NASA astronaut who has spent the most time in space.
The 2017 solar eclipse
For one day in August people all across the country stopped what they were doing and ran outside to see what was affectionately labeled “The Great Solar American Eclipse.” People talked about the eclipse for months before it happened, bought glasses, and even planned vacations to locations in the path of totality. It was the first total solar eclipse the United States…
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