2013 was a big year for out-of-this world breakthroughs. Here's a look at some of of the most fascinating things that happened in outer space.
1. We left the Milky Way
NASA's Voyager 1 Spacecraft finally reached interstellar space (the region between stars) The spacecraft is sending so much "unexplained" data back to Earth that researchers don't know what to make of it. Researchers were able to agree on the fact that the spacecraft was picking up interstellar plasma, but couldn't explain a persisting solar influence. The scientists finally agreed Voyager 1 had reached a mixed transitional region of interstellar space.
2. We learned about Mars from the Curiosity Rover
The Curiosity rover has photographed and studied the barren conditions on the Red Planet. The tweeting rover has been focusing mostly on rocks, and what they can tell us about Martian history. Curiosity is yet to find signs of little green men, but it has taught us a lot about Mars' composition.
3. Commercial space flight became a reality.
The commercial space crafts companies Cygnus and Orbital have already been assisting NASA with cargo resupply missions, and in the near Virgin Galactic will start offering "space vacations." A space craft will take anyone who can afford it out of the Earth's atmosphere to zero gravity.
4. NASA made plans to "capture" and asteroid
The asteroid will be robotically captured and pulled into a "moon-Earth" orbit for future exploration. One the asteroid is safely settled into its new orbit, NASA hopes to send a team of asteroid to it; the crew will gather samples and explore the space-rock's surface.
5. We think there's an underwater ocean on Europa
New research suggests Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, ejects geysers from an ocean below the frozen surface, a Hubble news release reported. This finding fed researchers' suspicions that Europa may be one of the top-known candidates for hosting alien life forms. Researchers observed jets of liquid that shoot 500 million miles, although they are not sure if these geysers come from what is believed to be an iced-over ocean or somewhere else.
