2020 was a very busy year for the space community as it saw the launch of many Mars 2020 landers and many breakthroughs. Here are some of the best highlights of 2020!

Sunriver Achieves Dark Sky Recognition

In August 2020, Sunriver achieved the first International Dark Sky Place designation in Oregon! As shown by this IDA press release, ” Sunriver is the first International Dark Sky Places recognized in Oregon and one of only 142 recognized worldwide to date.”

Saturn/Jupiter Conjunction

For the first time in 800 years, Jupiter and Saturn came together in the sky and appear as 1 star to observer. The next time this will be visible will be in 2080. Check out this article on the conjunction for more information on this event. Did you see the conjunction or take some amazing photos? Let us know as we would love to hear about it!

COVID-19 / Coronavirus

COVID-19, otherwise known as Coronavirus took its toll on the entire planet in 2020. Everyone was affected in some way, whether it was working from home for 9+ months, getting sick, having a family member or friend affected by the disease or by job losses. With the inability to go outside from March to December, people weren’t able to view the summer sky including the Milky Way, Saturn, Jupiter, the Perseid Meteor Shower, and Comet NEOWISE in groups. People could go by themselves to view these events, but groups such amateur astronomy groups were affected too. Many didn’t have their events during this time, whereas others moved to online meetings. What is important is that the space industry doesnt stop, as there were a plethora of exciting milestones and space missions during this time. But there were also some serious affects to the space economy that might take some time to recover from. Hopefully there will be a cure soon so we can see our friends and family soon as well as travel to star parties!

To read about our Coronavirus coverage, check out our link of articles on the topic.

SpaceX: The First Commercial Crew Mission

Successfully launched Dragon into space to the ISS from US Soil for the first time since 2011, nearly a decade. This is huge and important as it the first step in the NASA Commercial Crew Program being a success. This hopefully paves the way for future success in both not only sending humans to orbit in private industry but for future missions and cooperation between the private and public space sectors where there is the market and potential for cooperation. Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were transported to the ISS safely and returned to Earth safely on August 2nd.

Comet NeoWise

With COVID-19 taking over, people seemed to want a reason to go outside and be able to socially distance. Comet NEOWISE did just that! For about 20 days, the world and the Pacific Northwest were set ablaze by this bright comet! This comet was so bright that it was visible with binoculars and telescopes alike! Everyone who wanted to go out and have a view of the Northwestern horizon was able to see the comet! It was a really great sight to see, it was really refreshing to get out and view the stars, even if it was done in an area of city lights and see a comet. It is rare that the public gets to see a comet, so it was fantastic! We were able to take some amazing photos and would love to hear your NEOWISE stories!

2020 Missions!

Mars took huge stage in 2020! There were a total of 3 Mars Missions with 1 from the UAE called the “Hope Probe” being successfully launched from a rocket in Japan. It is is expected to reach Mars by February 2021, and is the first probe that any nation in the Middle East has ever sent a mission to Mars! We wish them the best of luck and we know they will do a great job!

The HX-1 Mission from China was launched on July 23rd, 2020 with a plan to deploy an orbiter and rover on Mars with the goal of finding signs of previous or current life, plus evaluate the planet surface environment. This is the first mission China is funding to Mars by itself.

The HX-1 Mission from China was launched on July 23rd, 2020 with a plan to deploy an orbiter and rover on Mars with the goal of finding signs of previous or current life, plus evaluate the planet surface environment. This is the first mission China is funding to Mars by itself.

The NASA Perseverance Rover, otherwise known as the Mars 2020 Mission was launched on July 20th, 2020 with a goal of finding astrobiological signatures on the planet Mars and learn more information for a potential future human exploration program.

To learn more about the Mars 2020 missions, check out this link discussing the missions launching!

Virgin Galactic Stock Listing

Virgin Galactic became the first publicly traded company for human spaceflight after a 2020 listing on the New York Stock Exchange!