NASA's Next Artemis I Lunar Launch Attempt: How to Watch Live

NASA's Next Artemis I Lunar Launch Attempt: How to Watch Live

On Saturday, NASA's ambitious, expensive and intricate Artemis program is poised to commence. Fifty years after the agency wrapped up the Apollo missions, Artemis I could be heading to lunar orbit, at last.

It's been a bit of a bumpy road so far. 

Initially, Artemis I's launch was planned for Monday, but due to an engine issue, NASA had to scrub the attempt. Then, after some deliberation, the team decided to schedule the next attempt for Saturday. Only time will tell how this weekend goes, but no matter what happens, you'll want to follow along live to see how the story unfolds. CNET will have all the details (and will host a livestream!) right here. 

To be clear, this liftoff won't have astronauts onboard -- but there's a lot riding on its success, including the prospect of landing people on the moon sometime in the near future. (That's planned for 2025). Come launch day, Artemis I's 32-story, tangerine-colored rocket will blast off from Earth and propel a pointy, relatively small, white spacecraft named Orion into lunar orbit. 

Orion is filled to the brim with things like Amazon Alexa, TV character Shaun the Sheep, mannequins, miniature satellites and most importantly, tons of navigation and data collection equipment. These special instruments within Orion will track vital information about the spacecraft's trajectory, safety, radiation absorption (and much more) that'll essentially map out the routes of future missions -- missions with a human crew like Artemis II and 2025's Artemis III. Think of Artemis I as a crucial flight test and proof-of-principle mission.

A flawless launch could mark the beginning of NASA's modern moon exploration years. It's going to be a tense day with a nail-biting countdown, especially considering the first failed launch attempt, but one also shrouded in an air of wonder and excitement. In other words, it's going to be huge. 

The "We Are Going" banner, seen near the Artemis I rocket on the launchpad, is signed by NASA workers involved in the moon mission.

NASA/Joel Kowsky

How to watch the Artemis I launch

On Saturday, NASA plans to host a live broadcast of the Artemis I event and you'll be able to watch on the NASA app, NASA website or NASA TV directly. 

The launch window itself opens at 11:17 a.m. PT / 2:17 p.m. ET, and it'll stay open for two hours. Somewhere within that range, the mega moon rocket, which NASA calls the "most powerful rocket in the world," will head toward the stars. 

Here's that window start time around the world. Get your snacks ready.

• USA: 11:17 a.m. PT / 2:17 p.m. ET
• Brazil: 3:17 p.m. (Federal District)
• UK: 7:17 p.m.
• South Africa: 8:17 p.m.
• Russia: 9:17 p.m. (Moscow)
• UAE: 10:17 p.m. 
• India: 11:47 p.m.
• China: Sunday, 2:17 a.m.
• Japan: Sunday, 3:17 a.m.
• Australia: Sunday, 4:17 a.m. (AEST)

You'll also find all the action live on CNET Highlights, our YouTube channel, by simply clicking play just below. It's that easy.

The road to launching Artemis I

Already, NASA has started to heighten anticipation for Artemis I's journey to space -- evident by the incredible turnout for Monday morning's attempt. Briefings were held daily until Monday's liftoff attempt, for instance, about things like the role of industry in advancing human exploration, lunar mission management, the way Artemis is poised to lead to Mars excursions and just general road-to-the-stars commentary.

A full schedule of those meetings, streamed on NASA TV, can be found here.

A full Moon is in view from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2022. 

NASA/Cory Huston

You might also want to prepare yourself for celebrity appearances by Jack Black, Chris Evans and Keke Palmer as well as performances of The Star-Spangled Banner by Josh Groban and Herbie Hancock and America the Beautiful by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma, the latter conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. What. A. Party.

Artemis I's launch sequence

If you're into the technical details, here's the game plan for Artemis I. 

In a way, liftoff is the easiest part. And I'm not exaggerating. 

Team SLS is up first. 

After countdown, the SLS will ascend through Earth's atmosphere. In two minutes, all its solid propellant, located in the rocket's boosters, will be consumed and those boosters will be jettisoned. After 8 minutes, all its liquid fuel, located in the core stage, will be used and that stage will be jettisoned. Then, for about the next 18 minutes, Orion and the rocket's upper stage will take a lap around our planet all alone. Once that's complete, Orion will take about 12 minutes to deploy its solar arrays and get off battery power.

At that point, as Sarafin puts it, the rocket has done its job. Orion is en route.

A diagram showing what Artemis I's ascent will look like. 

Screenshot by Monisha Ravisetti/NASA

Team Orion steps up to the plate. 

"There's really no time to catch our breath," Rick LaBrode, lead Artemis I flight director, said during an Aug. 5 press conference. Orion's trajectory pretty much relies of a multitude of precise maneuvering that'll take it along the complex path outlined below. 

Orion's trajectory around the moon and back is outlined here. Along the way, 10 cubesats will be deployed. 

Screenshot by Monisha Ravisetti/NASA

Eventually, the craft will approach the lunar surface, getting as close as just 60 miles above ground, and conduct a bunch of science experiments to test things like lunar gravity, radiation danger, and maybe even snap a few pics like a re-creation of 1968's Earthrise. The satellites inside Orion will deploy along the way, capture some physics data, and once all is said and done, the brave little spacecraft will return to our planet and splashdown off the coast of San Diego.

Pick up Orion, extract the data and Artemis I is complete. The whole thing is expected to take six weeks.

If NASA manages to avoid any blips along the way, it won't be long before we find ourselves scouring the internet for info on how to watch the launch of Artemis II. And far into the future, perhaps we'll reflect on Monday as we sit back and watch a rocket barrel toward not just the moon, but Mars.

OK, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

For now, you can admire the Artemis I SLS rocket topped with Orion chilling on the launchpad. Here's a constant livestream of it during its final moments on Earth.

---

Source

Tags:

• Nasa S Next Artemis I Lunar Launch Attempt Schedule
• Nasa S Next Artemis In The Bible
• Nasa S Next Artemis Ioannides
• Nasa S Next Artemis Mission
• Nasa S Next Artemis Rocket
• Nasa S Next Artemis Fowl
• Nasa S Next Space Telescope
• Nasa S Next Launch
• Nasa S Next Moon Mission
• Nasa Space Center
• What Does Nasa Stand For
• Nasa Space Station Viewing Schedule

How to Watch Live as NASA's Artemis I Launches to the Moon

How to Watch Live as NASA's Artemis I Launches to the Moon

Very soon, NASA's ambitious, expensive and exhilarating Artemis program is poised to commence. At last, Artemis I could be heading to lunar orbit, 50 years after the agency wrapped up the Apollo missions. 

Initially, Artemis I's launch was planned for Monday, Aug. 29, but due to an engine issue, NASA had to scrub this attempt. The next liftoff try is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3. No matter what happens you'll want to follow along live to see how the story unfolds -- and we have all the details (and will host a livestream!) right here. 

To be clear, this liftoff won't have astronauts onboard -- but there's a lot riding on its success, including the prospect of landing people on the moon sometime in the near future. (That's planned for 2025). Come launch day, Artemis I's 32-story, tangerine-colored rocket will blast off from Earth and propel a pointy, relatively small, white spacecraft named Orion into lunar orbit. 

Orion is filled to the brim with things like Amazon Alexa, TV character Shaun the Sheep, mannequins, miniature satellites and most importantly, tons of navigation and data collection equipment. These special instruments within Orion will track vital information about the spacecraft's trajectory, safety, radiation absorption (and much more) that'll essentially map out the routes of future missions -- missions with a human crew like Artemis II and 2025's Artemis III. Think of Artemis I as a crucial flight test and proof-of-principle mission.

A flawless launch could mark the beginning of NASA's modern moon exploration years. It's going to be a tense day with a nail-biting countdown, especially considering the first failed launch attempt, but one also shrouded in an air of wonder and excitement. In other words, it's going to be huge. 

The "We Are Going" banner, seen near the Artemis I rocket on the launchpad, is signed by NASA workers involved in the moon mission.

NASA/Joel Kowsky

How to watch the Artemis I launch

On Saturday, NASA plans to host a live broadcast of the Artemis I event and you'll be able to watch on the NASA app, NASA website or NASA TV directly. 

The launch window itself opens at 11:17 a.m. PT / 2:17 p.m. ET, and it'll stay open for two hours. Somewhere within that range, the mega moon rocket, which NASA calls the "most powerful rocket in the world," will head toward the stars. 

Here's that window start time around the world. Get your snacks ready.

• USA: 11:17 a.m. PT / 2:17 p.m. ET
• Brazil: 3:17 p.m. (Federal District)
• UK: 7:17 p.m.
• South Africa: 8:17 p.m.
• Russia: 9:17 p.m. (Moscow)
• UAE: 10:17 p.m. 
• India: 11:47 p.m.
• China: Sunday, 2:17 a.m.
• Japan: Sunday, 3:17 a.m.
• Australia: Sunday, 4:17 a.m. (AEST)

You'll also find all the action live on CNET Highlights, our YouTube channel, by simply clicking play just below. It's that easy.

The road to launching Artemis I

Already, NASA has started to heighten anticipation for Artemis I's journey to space -- evident by the incredible turnout for Monday morning's attempt. Briefings were held daily until Monday's liftoff attempt, for instance, about things like the role of industry in advancing human exploration, lunar mission management, the way Artemis is poised to lead to Mars excursions and just general road-to-the-stars commentary.

A full schedule of those meetings, streamed on NASA TV, can be found here.

A full Moon is in view from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2022. 

NASA/Cory Huston

You might also want to prepare yourself for celebrity appearances by Jack Black, Chris Evans and Keke Palmer as well as performances of The Star-Spangled Banner by Josh Groban and Herbie Hancock and America the Beautiful by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma, the latter conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. What. A. Party.

Artemis I's launch sequence

If you're into the technical details, here's the game plan for Artemis I. 

In a way, liftoff is the easiest part. And I'm not exaggerating. 

Team SLS is up first. 

After countdown, the SLS will ascend through Earth's atmosphere. In two minutes, all its solid propellant, located in the rocket's boosters, will be consumed and those boosters will be jettisoned. After 8 minutes, all its liquid fuel, located in the core stage, will be used and that stage will be jettisoned. Then, for about the next 18 minutes, Orion and the rocket's upper stage will take a lap around our planet all alone. Once that's complete, Orion will take about 12 minutes to deploy its solar arrays and get off battery power.

At that point, as Sarafin puts it, the rocket has done its job. Orion is en route.

A diagram showing what Artemis I's ascent will look like. 

Screenshot by Monisha Ravisetti/NASA

Team Orion steps up to the plate. 

"There's really no time to catch our breath," Rick LaBrode, lead Artemis I flight director, said during an Aug. 5 press conference. Orion's trajectory pretty much relies of a multitude of precise maneuvering that'll take it along the complex path outlined below. 

Orion's trajectory around the moon and back is outlined here. Along the way, 10 cubesats will be deployed. 

Screenshot by Monisha Ravisetti/NASA

Eventually, the craft will approach the lunar surface, getting as close as just 60 miles above ground, and conduct a bunch of science experiments to test things like lunar gravity, radiation danger, and maybe even snap a few pics like a re-creation of 1968's Earthrise. The satellites inside Orion will deploy along the way, capture some physics data, and once all is said and done, the brave little spacecraft will return to our planet and splashdown off the coast of San Diego.

Pick up Orion, extract the data and Artemis I is complete. The whole thing is expected to take six weeks.

If NASA manages to avoid any blips along the way, it won't be long before we find ourselves scouring the internet for info on how to watch the launch of Artemis II. And far into the future, perhaps we'll reflect on Monday as we sit back and watch a rocket barrel toward not just the moon, but Mars.

OK, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

For now, you can admire the Artemis I SLS rocket topped with Orion chilling on the launchpad. Here's a constant livestream of it during its final moments on Earth.

---

Source

Tags:

• How To Watch Live As Nasa S Artemis I Launches Live Audio
• How To Watch Live As Nasa S Artemis Moon Base Camp
• How To Watch Live As Nasa Stands
• How To Watch Live As Nasa Satellite
• How To Watch Live Astros Baseball Free
• How To Watch Live Football
• How To Watch Live Tv Without Cable
• How To Watch Pnc Championship

NASA Delays Artemis I Moon Launch to This Weekend

NASA Delays Artemis I Moon Launch to This Weekend

Artemis I , the first mission in NASA's ambitious program to get humans back to the moon, suffered an engine setback just hours before liftoff Monday morning, forcing the highly anticipated launch to be scrubbed. The space agency is now looking at a backup window that opens on Saturday, according to a Tuesday press conference.

At first, the Artemis team was looking at a Sept. 2 do-over date.

"To summarize, we held at T-minus 40 minutes and counting after the team was unable to get past an engine bleed that didn't show the right temperature once they got into the engine bleed test," NASA said as part of its scrub announcement on Monday. "Ultimately, the launch director has called a scrub for the day. The earliest opportunity, depending on what happens with this engine, would be Sept. 2, that is available to the launch team, however we will await a determination."

But then, after reconvening a day after Monday's activities, the team assessed all the data and confirmed that the series of unfortunate events for Artemis I is best addressed with an extra day of work on Artemis equipment. Basically, as Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin said in Tuesday's conference, problems on launch day began with some weather challenges that delayed the start of tanking, followed by a leak while loading the rocket with cryogenic fuel at what's known as the "tail service mast umbilical" on the hydrogen side.

Somehow, despite that leak, however, the team then managed to work its way through loading the core stage and upper stage with fuel, thus producing a fully loaded vehicle -- then came the nail in the coffin. There was a complication with the rocket's engines. 

"We were unable to get the engines within the thermal conditions required to commit to launch," Sarafin said. "In combination with that, we also had a bent valve issue on the core stage, and it was at that point that the team decided to knock off the launch attempt for that day."

Therefore, in conclusion, "we agreed on what was called option one," Sarafin said, "which was to operationally change the loading procedure and start our engine chill down earlier. We also agreed to do some work at the pad to address the leak that we saw...and we also agreed to move our launch date to Saturday, September the 3rd."

From an audience viewpoint, here's what went down on Monday.

After a brief weather delay, things looked on track for Artemis I's bright orange Space Launch System rocket, but a couple of unforeseen technical hurdles quickly arose during its fuel loading stage. On top of that, earlier in the day, NASA broadcasters noted there was a "crack" in the thermal protection system material on one of the SLS core stage flanges, but it was later revealed to be a consequence of the super-chilled propellant, not a structural issue.

With regard to engines, as the rocket's boosters were being filled with liquid oxygen, NASA engineers did note that engine 3 was "not properly being conditioned through the bleed process." This process is meant to allow the engines to chill to the right temperature by releasing a small amount of the fuel. It wasn't working, as Sarafin explained Tuesday.

Back in June, at the time of Artemis I's wet dress rehearsal -- which took four tries to complete -- the team hoped to examine the efficacy of exactly this bleed process, but didn't get to it. "This is something they wanted to test during wet dress four but were unable to," NASA broadcaster Derrol Nail said during the agency's livestream of the launch attempt. "So this was the first opportunity for the team to see this live in action. It's a particularly tricky issue to get that temperature dialed in."

About an hour after trying to troubleshoot the engine 3 bleed problem, the team met with launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson to discuss how to move forward. "Right now, the indications don't point to an engine problem," Sarafin said, meaning the setback likely isn't tied to the engine interface itself. "It's in the the bleed system that thermally conditions the engines."

Nonetheless, Artemis I's launch was scrubbed. 

"It's just part of the space business -- and particularly a test flight," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said after the delay was announced on Monday. "We are stressing and testing this rocket and spacecraft in a way that you would never do it with the human crew on board. That's the purpose of a test flight."

---

Source

Tags:

• Nasa Artemis Launch Schedule
• Nasa Artemis I Launch
• Nasa Artemis Project To The Moon
• Nasa Artemis Program News
• Nasa Artemis Program News
• Nasa Artemis Test Next Week
• Nasa Artemis Launch Delay

This one this time this network this device this site nasa delays launch nasa delays 2024 moon landing nasa delays heli nasa delays helic nasa delays helico nasa delays iss spacewalk due to nasa delays james webb nasa delays james webb space

NASA Delays Artemis I Moon Launch to This Weekend

---

NASA Delays Artemis I Moon Launch to This Weekend

Artemis I , the first mission in NASA's ambitious program to get humans back to the moon, suffered an engine setback just hours before liftoff Monday morning, forcing the highly anticipated launch to be scrubbed. The space agency is now looking at a backup window that opens on Saturday, according to a Tuesday press conference.

At first, the Artemis team was looking at a Sept. 2 do-over date.

"To summarize, we held at T-minus 40 minutes and counting after the team was unable to get past an engine bleed that didn't show the right temperature once they got into the engine bleed test," NASA said as part of its scrub announcement on Monday. "Ultimately, the launch director has called a scrub for the day. The earliest opportunity, depending on what happens with this engine, would be Sept. 2, that is available to the launch team, however we will await a determination."

But then, after reconvening a day after Monday's activities, the team assessed all the data and confirmed that the series of unfortunate events for Artemis I is best addressed with an extra day of work on Artemis equipment. Basically, as Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin said in Tuesday's conference, problems on launch day began with some weather challenges that delayed the start of tanking, followed by a leak while loading the rocket with cryogenic fuel at what's known as the "tail service mast umbilical" on the hydrogen side.

Somehow, despite that leak, however, the team then managed to work its way through loading the core stage and upper stage with fuel, thus producing a fully loaded vehicle -- then came the nail in the coffin. There was a complication with the rocket's engines. 

"We were unable to get the engines within the thermal conditions required to commit to launch," Sarafin said. "In combination with that, we also had a bent valve issue on the core stage, and it was at that point that the team decided to knock off the launch attempt for that day."

Therefore, in conclusion, "we agreed on what was called option one," Sarafin said, "which was to operationally change the loading procedure and start our engine chill down earlier. We also agreed to do some work at the pad to address the leak that we saw...and we also agreed to move our launch date to Saturday, September the 3rd."

From an audience viewpoint, here's what went down on Monday.

After a brief weather delay, things looked on track for Artemis I's bright orange Space Launch System rocket, but a couple of unforeseen technical hurdles quickly arose during its fuel loading stage. On top of that, earlier in the day, NASA broadcasters noted there was a "crack" in the thermal protection system material on one of the SLS core stage flanges, but it was later revealed to be a consequence of the super-chilled propellant, not a structural issue.

With regard to engines, as the rocket's boosters were being filled with liquid oxygen, NASA engineers did note that engine 3 was "not properly being conditioned through the bleed process." This process is meant to allow the engines to chill to the right temperature by releasing a small amount of the fuel. It wasn't working, as Sarafin explained Tuesday.

Back in June, at the time of Artemis I's wet dress rehearsal -- which took four tries to complete -- the team hoped to examine the efficacy of exactly this bleed process, but didn't get to it. "This is something they wanted to test during wet dress four but were unable to," NASA broadcaster Derrol Nail said during the agency's livestream of the launch attempt. "So this was the first opportunity for the team to see this live in action. It's a particularly tricky issue to get that temperature dialed in."

About an hour after trying to troubleshoot the engine 3 bleed problem, the team met with launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson to discuss how to move forward. "Right now, the indications don't point to an engine problem," Sarafin said, meaning the setback likely isn't tied to the engine interface itself. "It's in the the bleed system that thermally conditions the engines."

Nonetheless, Artemis I's launch was scrubbed. 

"It's just part of the space business -- and particularly a test flight," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said after the delay was announced on Monday. "We are stressing and testing this rocket and spacecraft in a way that you would never do it with the human crew on board. That's the purpose of a test flight."

---

Source

Changes coming in 2022 what would you change in the world the world as will in the ways of the world 5 ways the periodic table is organized 5 ways the rich can avoid the estate tax 5 ways to reduce stress

5 ways the world will change in 2022: CNET's predictions for the year ahead

5 ways the world will change in 2022: CNET's predictions for the year ahead

This story is part of The Year Ahead, CNET's look at how the world will continue to evolve starting in 2022 and beyond.

Even before the momentous events of 2020 and 2021 shook up the planet, the tectonic plates of culture, society and technology were already shifting and reshaping the world. The pandemic took those changes and accelerated them, exacerbated them, and in some cases, threw them into chaos. 

As we speed into 2022, one question remains: Where are we headed next?

In tech, health, money, transportation, home and family life, we can be confident of one fact: Things are changing, fast. As in years past, CNET has its finger on the pulse of the ever evolving world and we're confident our CNET: The Year Ahead stories will help you navigate these choppy waters.

During this three-week series -- which will include CES -- we'll especially tackle five themes that will shape 2022.

1. The pandemic and the future of health

COVID-19 largely caught the world by surprise. When the World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020, few of us suspected that it would lead to two years of shutdowns, social distancing and disruptions. Things appeared to be normalizing in mid-2021, but then the Delta variant -- and later the Omicron variant -- touched off renewed shutdowns.

Will 2022 be the year that COVID-19 transitions from a pandemic to an endemic? That's what we're all hoping, of course, but there's no going back to 2019. For example, expect more of the world to follow Asia's lead, where people have been wearing masks in public for years if they were sick (out of courtesy to the people around them) or immunocompromised. 

And, healthcare will never be the same post-pandemic. Expect telehealth to become commonplace now that a lot more people have been exposed to using video calls for health visits. And the COVID-19 vaccine will forever change the way vaccines (and potentially other therapies) are created. It's not unusual for vaccines to take a decade to develop, but these were created in 10 months using genetics and mRNA technology. This could prove to be one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the century.

2. Hybrid work and the 'Great Resignation'

Work and school were perhaps the most disrupted aspects of life during the pandemic. While schools largely returned in-person, work has been a far slower process. Many employees have decided that they prefer the work/life balance of remote work and many have migrated to be closer to family or moved farther away from city centers to have more space and fresh air.

Meanwhile, many employers have become infatuated with the productivity gains of remote work and the ability to scale down their commercial real estate holdings for significant cost savings. 

The most surprising trend that's likely to continue to gain steam in 2022 is the Great Resignation. More people are quitting their jobs and reprioritizing their lives than ever -- CNET's Farnoosh Torabi even has advice. In December, the US Labor Department reported that the number of people quitting their jobs remains at record high levels. How could we go through something as jarring as the pandemic for the past two years and not be changed by it? The Great Resignation is just one example of how those changes are manifesting themselves. 

3. Crypto, inflation and what's next for your finances 

Money and personal finance also remain in the midst of tectonic shifts. In November, inflation hit its highest level since 1982 at 6.8%. The inflation of real estate and cars will be closely watched in 2022, after eye-watering numbers in 2021. The stock market's bull run looks likely to continue with interest rates at such low levels, but its volatile swings are getting more pronounced. There's a big question about whether tech and other growth stocks have run out of steam or are getting ready for another run. 

Speaking of growth, cryptocurrencies have been breaking new highs and attracting more interest. The crypto exchange app Coinbase passed TikTok and YouTube to become the most downloaded app in Apple's App Store a couple times during 2021. Some view the world's most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, as a hedge against inflation. Politicians, athletes and others started taking their paychecks in Bitcoin in 2021. We'll see if your employer will offer you that option in 2022.

4. Space, travel and the next internet

One of 2022's most dramatic developments is the new space race. China and Russia are collaborating on a future moon base (in 2030) as well as landing a robot on an asteroid (in 2024). Not to be outdone, NASA announced its next 10 future astronauts in December with ambitions for a future Moon mission.

Private space companies SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic all sent civilians into space in 2021, and they are all teasing the promise of a future of space tourism. Their ambitions will get bigger in 2022. This will be the year that SpaceX plans to put its Starship reusable rocket and space vehicle into flight for its first missions. Speaking about Starship, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, "This is a profound revolution in access to orbit. There has never been a fully reusable, orbital launch vehicle. This is the holy grail of space technology. It is the fundamental breakthrough that is necessary for humanity to become a space-faring civilization." 

Meanwhile, SpaceX's StarLink and Blue Origin and Amazon's Project Kuiper will launch thousands of low orbit satellites into the atmosphere in 2022. Their mission to bring fast, reliable broadband internet at a reasonable price to every corner of the planet is a welcome advance. But, the side effect is tons of space debris that could disrupt astronomers' telescopes, collide with spacecraft and create massive amounts of space junk. Apparently, they've never watched the movie Wall-E.

5. The EV has arrived -- and it means business

Electric vehicles, or EVs, are poised for a huge year in 2022 after a number of breakthroughs in 2021, including the Tesla Model 3 becoming the bestselling vehicle in Europe in September. The writing is on the wall for fossil fuel-burning vehicles. The US will discontinue purchases of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, the UK will do so by 2030 and a broader coalition of countries have set 2040 as a global date for ending fossil fuel vehicles.

Musk, also the CEO of Tesla, predicted that the Tesla Model Y compact SUV will become the bestselling vehicle worldwide in terms of revenue in 2022 -- beating out the Ford F-150 pickup and the Toyota Corolla compact. But the biggest EV story of 2022 is likely to be the transition in trucks, with the Chevy Silverado EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian R1T dominating the headlines. 

Consumers should also keep in mind that a gas-powered vehicle you buy today could have its resale value drop steeply in the years ahead as demand plummets because of people transitioning away from old combustion engine technology to EVs.

The future

The changes sweeping across the planet will not slow down in 2022, even if the COVID-19 pandemic finally recedes to become endemic. Beyond the five big themes mentioned above, CNET: The Year Ahead will cover a wide range of topics to help you get your head around what's coming.

We'll leave you with one last topic you should expect to hear a lot about in 2022: the metaverse. Plenty of us would love to step into a version of the holodeck from Star Trek, and it's hard not to notice the explosion of online gaming during the pandemic. But let's keep our metaverse expectations low for 2022. A lot of work needs to be done to build better virtual reality headsets and an ecosystem of truly immersive virtual worlds. If we get a few encouraging glimpses of the metaverse in 2022, we should count ourselves pretty happy.

§

Test pilots. Engineers. Physicists. A US National Team cyclist. A SpaceX flight surgeon. NASA announced its 2021 class of 10 future astronauts on Monday, and they're a diverse group of high achievers. NASA calls them the "Artemis generation" because they're likely to be heavily involved in future Artemis-program missions to the moon.

"The women and men selected for the new astronaut class represent the diversity of America and the career paths that can lead to a place in America's astronaut corps," the space agency said in a statement.

NASA's candidates, the first ones since 2017, were chosen out of a pool of over 12,000 applicants and received their official introductions during an event near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. You can watch the replay here:

The candidates will kick off two years of intensive training in January. They will learn how to operate equipment for the International Space Station, prepare for spacewalks, advance their robotic skills, learn or improve their Russian language and operate a training jet. The reward for all that work could be trips not just to orbit, but possibly all the way to the moon.

Nichole Ayers is a major in the US Air Force and a combat aviator with experience in the F-22 fighter jet. "Ayers led the first ever all-woman formation of the aircraft in combat," NASA said.

Marcos Berrios, also a major in the US Air Force, is from Puerto Rico. Berrios is a test pilot and aerospace engineer. 

Christina Birch has a doctorate in biological engineering from MIT and is a track cyclist on the US National Team.

Deniz Burnham is a lieutenant in the US Navy and a former intern at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. Burnham has a background in mechanical engineering and experience as a drilling-projects manager.

This patriotic view shows an American flag with the SLS rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. SLS will power the Artemis moon missions.

NASA/Frank Michaux

Luke Delaney is a retired major in the Marine Corps with experience as a naval aviator and test pilot. Delaney is familiar with NASA after having worked as a research pilot at the agency's Langley Research Center.

Andre Douglas has a collection of engineering degrees from multiple universities. "Douglas served in the US Coast Guard as a naval architect, salvage engineer, damage control assistant, and officer of the deck," NASA said.

Jack Hathaway, a Navy commander, is a distinguished aviator with "more than 2,500 flight hours in 30 types of aircraft." 

Anil Menon also has an Air Force background and was SpaceX's first flight surgeon. "Menon is an actively practicing emergency medicine physician with fellowship training in wilderness and aerospace medicine," NASA said.

Christopher Williams is a medical physicist and researcher studying image guidance techniques for cancer treatments.

Jessica Wittner, a lieutenant commander in the Navy, spent her military career as an aviator and test pilot. 

Most of the candidates are in their 30s. Delaney and Menon are in their 40s. NASA has stringent requirements for its future astronauts. They must be US citizens, pass a rigorous, long-duration flight astronaut physical, and hold a master's degree in a science, technology, engineering or math field, along with at least three years of related experience.

Each candidate spoke briefly during the event. Many of them talked about people who inspired them, the excitement of space exploration and the importance of teamwork. Berrios took a different route. He said he would like NASA to scale up the Ingenuity Mars helicopter to carry people, though that's probably a pipe dream.

NASA is hoping to launch its first uncrewed Artemis I test mission next year. Berrios may not get to fly a helicopter on Mars, but he might touch his boots down on the moon one day. 

---

Source