A look back at 2022’s most pivotal moments of space exploration

Name: Artemis 1 mission: Relive Orion's historic journey to the moon and back to pave way for future astronaut missions
Uploaded: 2022-12-12T14:53:46-05:00
Duration: 4 min 31 s
Description: On December 11, the successful splashdown of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean marked the end of the Artemis 1 mission.

A look back at the best space exploration moments in 2022

A look at the most pivotal space exploration moments in 2022, from rocket launches to space science milestones that will help us better understand Earth and our universe.

This year saw dozens of rocket launches and space science milestones that will help us better understand Earth and our universe.

Looking back at 2022’s space exploration highlights, it's hard to believe all of these milestones happened in one year.

With more than 60 launches, the U.S. averaged a launch about once a week in 2022.

The first all-private astronaut crew spent a week on the International Space Station.

Watch Orion's breathtaking final journey around the moon before heading back to Earth

After Orion completed its final lunar flyby, the spacecraft fired up its engines to set it on course for its return journey back to Earth.

NASA successfully launched the first spacecraft designed to carry humans back to the moon in more than 50 years.

To top it all off, decades of planning paid off as the James Webb Space Telescope started operations, capturing never-before-seen images of our universe in astonishing detail.

Here's a look at those pivotal moments in space exploration from the last 365 days.

Wondrous Webb

See the latest stunning images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope has released more mesmerizing images of the deepest corners of our universe.

Last Christmas, NASA and its partners celebrated the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. After six months of commissioning the telescope, Webb began science observations in July, and the images were worth the wait.

JWST CAPTURES STUNNING PHOTO REVEALING ‘KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLOR’ IN PILLARS OF CREATION

Webb is providing new insight into galaxies also studied by its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, discovering never-before seen galaxies and revealing details about the weather in worlds closer to Earth, like Jupiter and Saturn's moon Titan.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is just getting started, with about 20 years of observations ahead.

More astronaut launches and splashdowns

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency blows a kiss to family members during the Crew-4 walk out at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building en route to launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 27, 2022. - The rocket will ferry the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Hines, Kjell Lindgren, Watkins, and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency to the International Space Station. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images) ( )

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, left, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, second from right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, second from right, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata right, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A to board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-5 mission launch, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky) (NASA)

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts, from left, Jessica Watson, Bob Hines, and Kjell Lindgren, and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti stand outside Kennedy Space Center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building during a dry dress rehearsal on April 20, 2022. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett ( )

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts participate in a training session at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 mission specialist Jessica Watkins; NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 pilot Robert "Bob" Hines; NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 commander Kjell Lindgren; and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Crew-4 mission specialist Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy. (Credits: SpaceX) (SpaceX)

Astronaut and Crew-5 commander Nicole Mann greets NASA astronaut Bob Hines on the International Space Station on Oct. 6, 2022. (Image: NASA) ( )

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A during a brief static fire test ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission is the fifth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina are scheduled to launch from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky) ( )

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren (front left), Bob Hines (middle), Jessica Watkins (back left) and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (right) along with their zero-g indicators "Zippy" the turtle and "Etta" the monkey inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft. (Image: NASA/SpaceX) ( )

A Falcon 9 rocket launches with the Axiom-1 private astronaut mission from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on April 8, 2022. (Image: Chris Boex/FOX TV Digital) ( )

This year marked the second full year with astronaut launches from Florida's Space Coast after a 9-year gap following the end of the space shuttle program.

In 2022, SpaceX launched 12 humans from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station as part of the Crew-5 and Crew-4 missions for NASA and the private Axiom-1 mission.

SpaceX also brought 12 humans back to Earth this year with ocean splashdowns of Crew-3, Axiom-1 and Crew-4.

In early 2023, SpaceX will continue human launches with four astronauts on the Crew-6 mission to the ISS and the first launch of the Polaris Program with four private astronauts.

Boeing completed the orbital flight test for its Starliner spacecraft without a crew to the space station this summer.

Boeing is preparing for its first crewed launch of the Starliner spacecraft as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The Crew Flight Test with NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams will complete the testing Boeing needs to complete before it can regularly launch NASA astronauts to the space station.

Hello moon

Artemis 1 mission: Relive Orion's historic journey to the moon and back to pave way for future astronaut missions

On December 11, the successful splashdown of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean marked the end of the Artemis 1 mission.

Capping off a busy year in spaceflight, NASA completed the long-awaited Artemis 1 test flight, launching its mega moon rocket and Orion spacecraft for the first time.

The nearly 26-day uncrewed spaceflight around the moon was hailed a success by NASA officials setting up for the Artemis II mission with astronauts sometime in 2024.

The view of Earthrise next to the moon from NASA's Orion spacecraft on Dec. 5, 2022 as it emerges from behind the moon. The spacecraft completed a return powered flyby burn, swinging around the moon and beginning its journey back to Earth. (Image: NASA) (NASA)

Images from Orion’s orbit around the moon were breathtaking, and NASA even livestreamed video from the spacecraft throughout the mission.

The Artemis 1 test flight successfully ended with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11.

A smashing success for Earth's defense

Images from the LUKE camera on ASI’s LICIACube, captured just after the impact of NASA’s DART spacecraft with the asteroid Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022. The video begins with LICIACube around 500 miles away from the asteroid, passes by, and then continues to around 200 miles away. The video clearly shows the ejection of material streaming off of Dimorphos due to the impact. (Credits: ASI/NASA)

For the first time, humans changed the orbit of an asteroid, testing one possible method to defend Earth from asteroids.

After launching in the fall of 2021, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) spacecraft zoomed through space to reach a binary asteroid system – the larger Didymos and its smaller moonlet Dimorphos, about 7 million miles from Earth.

On Sept. 26, DART used autonomous navigation to hone in on Dimorphos. Then, it charged at the space rock head first at about 15,000 mph, acting as a battering ram when it crashed into it.

The goal was to test one option to protect Earth from asteroids, known as the kinetic impactor theory. A successful mission would change Dimorphos’ orbit around Didymos, but only by a few percent.

Soon after the impact, teams with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) and NASA scientists confirmed the first planetary defense test was a "bull's-eye," saying DART's impact changed the orbit of Dimorphos around Didymos by 32 minutes.

More Earth science missions

The Mobile Service Tower at Space Launch Complex-3 has been retracted and secured in the launch position, revealing the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to launch JPSS-2 and LOFTID, ULA says. (Twitter:@ulalaunch / FOX Weather)

Speaking of protecting Earth, NASA launched a handful of new missions this year designed to study our home planet, help forecast extreme weather and track climate change.

NOAA and NASA's newest weather satellite, GOES-18, launched from Cape Canaveral on March 1. The satellite will track hurricanes, wildfires and provide advanced warnings for tornadoes and give advanced signs of incoming space weather caused by solar flares.

THE MORE YOU GOES: 7 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT NOAA'S NEW WEATHER SATELLITE

This fall, NOAA and NASA launched the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series, JPSS-2.

NOAA's JPSS-2 mission will help predict extreme weather conditions providing a holistic view of how Earth's systems work together and help forecasters track climate change.

The final Earth-science mission to launch this year was NASA's SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) spacecraft. SWOT will provide the most precise measurement of Earth's water from its oceans, lakes, wetlands and all bodies of water.

Farewell InSight

NASA's InSight Mars lander took this final selfie on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The lander is covered with far more dust than it was in its first selfie, taken in December 2018, not long after landing. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) (NASA)

In a fitting end to 2022, NASA announced the retirement of its InSight lander on Mars.

NASA said goodbye to the first "mole of Mars" in December after the InSight lander stopped communicating with Earth.

The robot landed on Nov. 26, 2018, in the Elysium Planitia region to investigate Martian seismic activity and learn about Mars' interior and how it formed.

Insight's power has been declining since this summer as more Martian dust buildup reduced sunlight, the lander's primary power source.

"InSight has more than lived up to its name. As a scientist who’s spent a career studying Mars, it’s been a thrill to see what the lander has achieved, thanks to an entire team of people across the globe who helped make this mission a success," NASA JPL Director Laurie Leshin said. "Yes, it’s sad to say goodbye, but InSight’s legacy will live on, informing and inspiring."