2014 in Space!

[Frida Space]

It's that time of the year....

So, I was making a list of this year's top events in space exploration (where "top" doesn't necessarily mean positive). This is what I can recall so far:

• Beginning of private space "race" (first Cygnus resupply mission)
  
• Last ATV resupply mission
  
• Antares launch failure
  
• First Italian woman in space
  
• Hayabusa 2 launch
  
• Rosetta reaches comet
  
• Philae lands on comet
  
• Chang'e 5T1 returns from moon voyage
  
• Cassini's 10th birthday around Saturn + multiple Titan flybys
  
• MAVEN and MOM reach Mars
  
• LADEE crashes into the moon
  
• Virgin Galactic spaceplane tragedy
  

Other events suggested by users below:

Orion's maden flight

Angara A5 and GSLV MK. 3 maiden flights. Polaris launch failure

New horizons waking up and getting close to Pluto!

CRS-5 with F9R re-entry landing attempt.

Air Force's OTV-2 landing, simply for the mystery of what it is.

Reveal of space X's new dragon V2 capsule

As you may have noticed most of these events are spaceflight-related, but let's not forget about the sciency part of space exploration!

The release of the new Mars Global Geologic Map, SIM-3292, and the arrival of the light from SN2014J, a nearby supernova type 1a.

What have been, in your opinion, the most remarkable events this year in space? Feel free to contibute to this list, I have very very probably forgotten about something.

My favorite events so far have been the Philae landing and the first Italian woman in space (I'm Italian myself, so they both make me extremely proud), but I would have to include Virgin Galactic's tragedy too in this year's most important space-related events, as it is a major setback for private space exploration.

- - - Updated - - -

Oops, this was meant to be a poll... Oh well, I guess it won't.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Frida Space
added Orion's EFT-1, New Horizons

[notsosmart]

Oh, have I been looking forward to this! My favorite event so far has been Philae's landing (for obvious, sciency reasons).

Another event you might want to add to the list is Orion's maden flight!

[Frida Space]

Another event you might want to add to the list is Orion's maden flight!

Oops.. totally forgot about it, and it just happened two days ago! I even watched it live, wow is my memory getting worse

[miracmert]

From recent news: New horizons waking up and getting close to Pluto! That's the most exciting for me because I have always wondered about how Pluto looks like

[Frida Space]

From recent news: New horizons waking up and getting close to Pluto! That's the most exciting for me because I have always wondered about how Pluto looks like

totally agree! It will be like rediscovering a new "planet"! With New Horizons, Dawn and Rosetta's extended mission 2015 will be a great year for minor bodies!

[Armchair Rocket Scientist]

It's that time of the year....

So, I was making a list of this year's top events in space exploration (where "top" doesn't necessarily mean positive). This is what I can recall so far:

• Beginning of private space "race" (first Cygnus resupply mission)
  
• Last ATV resupply mission
  
• Antares launch failure
  
• First Italian woman in space
  
• Hayabusa 2 launch
  
• Rosetta reaches comet
  
• Philae lands on comet
  
• Chang'e 5T1 returns from moon voyage
  
• Cassini's 10th birthday around Saturn + multiple Titan flybys
  
• MAVEN and MOM reach Mars
  
• LADEE crashes into the moon
  
• Virgin Galactic spaceplane tragedy
  
• Orion's maiden flight (ht @notsosmart)
  
• New Horizons waking up (ht @miracmert)
  

(please note that these events are in no order whatsoever)

What have been, in your opinion, the most remarkable events this year in space? Feel free to contibute to this list, I have very very probably forgotten about something.

My favorite events so far have been the Philae landing and the first Italian woman in space (I'm Italian myself, so they both make me extremely proud), but I would have to include Virgin Galactic's tragedy too in this year's most important space-related events, as it is a major setback for private space exploration.

- - - Updated - - -

Oops, this was meant to be a poll... Oh well, I guess it won't.

I'd like to add SpaceX's successful tests of soft-landing the Falcon 9 first stage, and the failure of the Grasshopper test vehicle.

[Kryten]

We've had the Hayabusa 2 launch, and if all goes to plan we should see the Angara A5 and GSLV MK. 3 maiden flights. Not to mention the Polaris launch that did to Kodiak what Antares did to Wallops.

[Rakaydos]

*New Horizons wakes up* Wait, I thought I was going to a planet? What happened while I was asleep?

[xenomorph555]

Thing you missed:

First Russian Federation women in space.

Stuff that will happen soon:

Indian GLSV mk3 w/ prototype manned ship first launch

Personal favourite's:

Rosetta/Philae

MOM

C5T1

[How2FoldSoup]

I'd like to add SpaceX's successful tests of soft-landing the Falcon 9 first stage, and the failure of the Grasshopper test vehicle.

Argh, I hate nickpicking but I have to.

SpaceX's grasshopper never failed a launch test. What did self-detonate was their F9R-dev test vehicle. I believe that this was an actual first stage they were using for testing with experimental hardware. Not a smaller prototyped version.

Lastly, my favorite event of 2014 hasn't happened yet. On December 16th, CRS-5 will launch and SpaceX will attempt to land a F9R first stage back on that barge after hypersonic reenty That, in my opinion, is the most exciting and coolest thing for space to happen this year even if it fails.

[Newt]

What about the release of the new Mars Global Geologic Map, SIM-3292? Or the arrival of the light from SN2014J, a nearby supernova type 1a? Those seem certainly important and 'spacey', although somewhat different from the bulk of your list thus far.

[NASAHireMe]

For me, India's Mangalyaan (to prove that space can be done on a budget) and Philae, for obvious reasons.

Last week's Orion test doesn't impress me that much because, well, it's not an orbit and it's not THAT much cooler than what we did with Apollo.

Also, Air Force's OTV-2 landing, simply for the mystery of what it is. I have my own opinions, and so does everyone else, but it's still undeniably cool.

[gooddog15]

For me, India's Mangalyaan (to prove that space can be done on a budget) and Philae, for obvious reasons.

Last week's Orion test doesn't impress me that much because, well, it's not an orbit and it's not THAT much cooler than what we did with Apollo.

Also, Air Force's OTV-2 landing, simply for the mystery of what it is. I have my own opinions, and so does everyone else, but it's still undeniably cool.

Well at least it's something that actually did happen and didn't get cancelled.

Also heres another thing: reveal of space X's new dragon V2 capsule

[Frida Space]

Thank you everyone for your contributions!

Thing you missed:

First Russian Federation women in space.

C5T1

Are you talking about Elena Serova? She's the first Russian woman to visit the ISS, but she's definitely not the first one in space.

For me, India's Mangalyaan (to prove that space can be done on a budget)

Totally agree. MOM really is the "living" proof that you don't need to spend billions to achieve great things in space.

Last week's Orion test doesn't impress me that much because, well, it's not an orbit and it's not THAT much cooler than what we did with Apollo.

I agree, but it seemed as if all those artist renderings and animations would have always remained such, and instead they actually led to something real happening. That's what I find cool about it.

What about the release of the new Mars Global Geologic Map, SIM-3292? Or the arrival of the light from SN2014J, a nearby supernova type 1a? Those seem certainly important and 'spacey', although somewhat different from the bulk of your list thus far.

As you may have understood, this list focuses a bit more on spaceflight than actual "space science". However, those two events were really exciting and I'm certainly going to add them.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Frida Space