The diamond ring effect is visible during this year's total solar eclipse.
Thomas Roell/Getty Images
The year 2024 had major space events including a total solar eclipse and historic moon landing.
There were moments, though, that reminded us how challenging space exploration can be.
Here are the US's biggest moments in space this year and the missions that didn't go so well.
This was a big year for space in the US with many historic firsts.
SpaceX caught a rocket in mid-air. NASA discovered the most promising evidence for ancient life on Mars. And scientists finally got their hands on a perfectly-preserved asteroid sample.
Here are the US's biggest moments in space this year and the missions that taught us outer space is a formidable place.
The year kicked off with two unlucky events. A still from a live feed of Astrobotic Technology's launch to the moon on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket.
NASA
Astrobotic Technology launched its uncrewed, NASA-funded Peregrine Mission One to the moon on January 8.The Peregrine lander aboard the Centaur Vulcan rocket ahead of launch.
Astrobotic
The mission suffered a propellant leak after launch and was unable to continue to the moon.A snap of the Peregrine lander in space was shared by Astrobotic on X.
Astrobotic
On January 18, Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander burned up in Earth's atmosphere.One of Peregrine's final photos shows the crescent Earth as it approaches re-entry.
Astrobotic Technologies
The same day, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter had lost a blade, ending its mission.Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (right) stands flightless on the ground in this photo taken by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. One of its rotor blades (left) broke off.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS
Ingenuity was the only mission to have ever successfully flown on another planet. It completed 72 flights. One of Ingenuity's last photos shows the shadow of its damaged rotor blade.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Better news came the following month when Intuitive Machines launched its NASA-funded IM-1 mission to the moon.Intuitive Machines' Odysseus moon lander beamed back its first images from space of Earth.
Intuitive Machines
On February 22, IM's Odysseus spacecraft became the first private craft to soft-land on the moon.The Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander (indicated by white arrow at center) is spotted on the moon by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
The landing marked the US's first return to the lunar surface in over 50 years, since Apollo 17.The Intuitive Machine's Odysseus lunar lander, shown here before launch, is 14 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
Intuitive Machines/NASA
After landing, Odysseus tipped on its side, disrupting comms with Earth. One of Odysseus's few photos on the moon.
Intuitive Machines
IM hopes to land a second spacecraft on the moon in January 2025.Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander snapped this photo of Bel'kovich K crater on the moon before touch down.
Intuitive Machines/X
Lunar landings weren't the only major moment for the moon this year. The diamond ring effect is visible during this year's total solar eclipse.
Thomas Roell/Getty Images
On April 8, it slipped in front of the sun offering millions of people in the US a total solar eclipse. People in Glover, Vermont were one of many in the path of totality.
Boston Globe/Boston Globe via Getty Images
The rare event was the last time a total solar eclipse would be visible from the US until 2044. A picture from the International Space Station shows what the eclipse looked like from space as the moon cast its shadow over Earth.
NASA
In June, Boeing launched two astronauts to the International Space Station on its Starliner spacecraft for the first time.Boeing's Starliner spacecraft during NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test in June.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The two astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, have been stuck on the ISS ever since after Starliner suffered engine issues. Suni Williams (left) and Butch Wilmore (right) on a call with journalists from the International Space Station.
NASA TV
Meanwhile, NASA's first year-long simulated Mars mission, CHAPEA-1, ended on July 6. The four crew members were released after living together in a 1,700 sq. ft. habitat for 378 days.The inaugural CHAPEA crew celebrates Thanksgiving inside the habitat. From left to right: Nathan Jones, Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell.
NASA/CHAPEA crew
NASA CHAPEA missions are designed to study how humans may fare physically and mentally on long-duration space missions. CHAPEA-2 is scheduled to start in the spring of 2025.The CHAPEA crew celebrates the birthday for Ross Brockwell, left, inside the habitat.
NASA/CHAPEA crew
After months of deliberation, NASA and Boeing sent Starliner back to Earth without Williams and Wilmore. Boeing's uncrewed Starliner spacecraft backs away from the International Space Station on September 6.
NASA
Four days later, on September 10, SpaceX launched perhaps its most historic crewed mission yet: Polaris Dawn. The Polaris Dawn crew: Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman, and Sarah Gillis.
SpaceX
Polaris Dawn carried four commercial astronauts 870 miles into space — farther than any human had been since NASA's Apollo missions. The crew posted this selfie on X using Starlink from their spaceship.
Polaris Dawn crew
The historic mission included the first commercial spacewalk ever. "Everything in that environment is trying to kill you," Jared Isaacman who led the mission, told Business Insider's Ana Altchek. Polaris Dawn crew members train to recognize symptoms of complications from decompression that might occur during a spacewalk.
Polaris Program / John Kraus
"You have all these extra senses kind of fusing together, and you get, I think, more of an appreciation for just how hostile and unwelcoming space is," Isaacman said about being outside of the capsule during the spacewalk.A still from a live feed of Jared Isaacman performing the first commercial spacewalk on September 12.
SpaceX
Shortly after Polaris Dawn successfully returned to Earth, NASA anticipated an exciting return from its OSIRIS-REx mission.Two Lockheed Martin Recovery Specialists transfer NASA's OSIRIS-REx return capsule for transportation to NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/Keegan Barber
On September 24, a capsule containing a sample from the asteroid parachuted into Utah. A helicopter transports NASA's OSIRIS-REx return capsule from Utah to Texas.
NASA/Keegan Barber
It marked the first time an asteroid sample was ever collected and returned to Earth. Scientists collect asteroid particles from the base of the OSIRIS-REx science canister in September.
NASA
Early analysis of the sample found carbon and nitrogen — building blocks of life — that could hold clues to how life may have formed on Earth.
Lauretta & Connolly et al. (2024) Meteoritics & Planetary Science
NASA's Perseverance rover also earned a major win in the study of ancient life. It found the best potential evidence yet for past life on Mars. The Cheyava Falls rock sample inside Perseverance's drill bit.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
The rover identified a rock with three key features that could point to alien life. The Mars rock contains three key features: organic compounds, white veins of calcium sulfate indicating water once ran through it, and tiny "leopard spots" that resemble patterns associated with microbial life on Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA would need to return the sample to Earth to confirm the potentially groundbreaking discovery, but its Sample Return Mission has been tabled due to high costs and wait time."Cheyava Falls" (left) shows the dark hole where NASA's Perseverance took a core sample. The white patch directly beside the hole is where the rover abraded the rock to investigate its composition.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
October was an exciting month, starting with SpaceX's wild "chopsticks" catch on October 13.SpaceX successfully demonstrates its ability to catch a Super Heavy booster in mid-air during Starship's 5th test flight.
SpaceX
The next day, NASA launched its Europa Clipper toward Jupiter. The spacecraft is on a 1.8 billion-mile trajectory to reach Jupiter in April 2030. The 6,000-pound Europa Clipper spacecraft inside of NASA JPL's thermal vacuum chamber that simulates the harsh conditions of outer space.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Europa Clipper is designed to help continue NASA's exploration of Jupiter after its Juno mission ends, which is set for September 2025.Juno took this pic during its 61st flyby around Jupiter on May 12.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Image processing by Gary Eason
On December 10, NASA's Perseverance rover finished its 3.5-month-long journey up the side of Jezero Crater, climbing 1,640 vertical feet. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover snapped this first photo of Jezero Crater's rim after its long, slippery ascent.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
As the year wrapped up, NASA had one more major milestone planned. On December 24, its Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history. This illustration shows the Parker Solar Probe on its mission to touch the sun.
