The December 15, 2024 free public meeting of the Chicago Society for Space Studies (CSSS) will feature CSSS Vice President Larry Boyle giving his annual Space Year in Review presentation. Larry’s annual summary of the key space events of the year is an annual tradition of CSSS.
Space news that will be covered will be that of the various government space agencies (NASA, ESA, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA, etc.) with respect to both their planetary exploration and human space exploration programs. Also covered will be the developments and accomplishments of the commercial space sector. For information about these and other significant space events of 2024, be sure to attend the December 15 meeting of the Chicago Society for Space Studies at the Schaumburg Library. This meeting is free and open to the public and all are welcome.
2024 Space Year in Review Meeting Details
| Date: | Sunday, December 15, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM |
| Location: | Rasmussen South Meeting Room (on the 2nd Floor), Schaumburg Township District Library 130 South Roselle Road, Schaumburg, IL Link to Google Maps for Schaumburg Library Location NOTE: The library opens at Noon on Sundays. |
| Description: | The 2024 Space Year in Review presentation is given by CSSS Vice President Larry Boyle. The presentation starts at 1:00pm and will be followed by general discussion. The library opens at 12:00 noon and all are encouraged to arrive before the start of the presentation. This program is free and open to the public. |
Some of the major space events of 2024
- January 8, 2024: First launch of the United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur, the replacement for the Delta IV Heavy and Atlas V.
- January 8, 2024: Launch of the Astrobotic Technology Peregrine Lunar Lander aboard the Vulcan Centaur with payloads for the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. A propellant leak prevented the mission from leaving Earth orbit and the spacecraft was subsequently deorbited.
- January 11, 2024: NASA releases its Space-Based Solar Power study which is panned by many.
- January 18, 2024: SpaceX launches the Axiom Mission 3 aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station (ISS). This is the first all-European commercial astronaut mission.
- February 15, 2024: Odysseus, the Intuitive Machines Nova-C class lunar lander is launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on its mission to land on the Moon.
- February 22, 2024: Odysseus, the Intuitive Machines Nova-C class lunar lander makes a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon, marking the United States’ first lunar landing in over 50 years since Apollo 17.
- March 9, 2024: Stratolaunch performs first powered flight of the Talon-A expendable vehicle.
- April 4, 2024: Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. joins Starlab Space, the joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus Defence and Space to develop a commercial space station.
- May 19, 2024: Blue Origin launches a crew of six on a suborbital New Shepard flight from its launch site in Texas.
- June 5, 2024: Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is launched by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 on its first crewed mission to the International Space Station.
- July 17, 2024: NASA announces cancellation of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), which was to be sent to the Moon’s south polar region using the Astrobotic Technology Griffin commercial lander.
- August 6, 2024: A Chinese Long March 6A rocket’s upper stage breaks up creating an orbital debris field with more than 700 pieces of space debris.
- September 10, 2024: Launch of the Polaris Dawn mission, a crewed commercial spaceflight launched by SpaceX and led by Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman, which featured the first spacewalks by commercial astronauts.
- October 7, 2024: ESA’s Hera mission launched. Its primary mission is to study the binary asteroid system of Didymos and Dimorphos, with a landing on Dimorphos.
- October 13, 2024: The fifth flight test of a SpaceX Starship with the highlight being the return of the Super Heavy booster to the launch site and its successful capture by the two chopstick arms on the launch tower, dubbed Mechazilla.
- October 14, 2024: Launch of the Europa Clipper, the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
- November 22, 2024: Today, the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is on the launch pad prepping for its maiden launch. Launch is TBD as of this writing.