'Have set sails for stars, going to reach out unreachable', says NASA chief

"And there's a lot more coming," Bill Nelson added as he gave the list of major spaceflight, astronomy and aeronautics developments that the space agency has planned for 2023.

Former Senator and current NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (Photo | YouTube screengrab)

In a recent video released by NASA, 'NASA in 2023: A Look Ahead', former Senator and current NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that 2023 would be a game-changing year for space and aeronautics. "We have set sail for the stars. Now we're going to reach out to the unreachable stars," he added.

Quoting Carl Sagan, Bill asserted that, "Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars."

Born on November 9, 1934, in Brooklyn (New York), Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and author. He is best known for his scientific research on extra-terrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. 

Through the video, Bill highlights the upcoming developments and missions of the space agency to explore the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of humanity.  He mentioned the climate missions TEMPO (Tropospheric Emission: Monitoring of Pollution) to study changes on Earth, game-changing aeronautics developments with the 59 'low-boom' supersonic jet and the all-electric plane X-57 prototype. He also mentioned the selection of the first astronauts to go to the moon in more than 50 years.

CLOCKWISE - TEMPO, X-57, NASA astronomers and X-59 (Photo | YouTube)

"And there's a lot more coming," Bill added as he gave the list of major spaceflight, astronomy and aeronautics developments that the space agency has planned for 2023. These are as follows:

1. Boeing crew flight to the space station
2. OSIRIS - REX asteroid sample returns to earth
3. Commercial Lunar payload services Robotic Lunar delivery – Astrobotic Technology
4. Commercial Lunar payload services Robotic Lunar delivery – Intuitive Machines
5. Earth information centre to visualize our home planet
6. Sustainable flight demonstrator
7. Lunar Terrain vehicle services contract award
8. Crew and cargo launch to the international space station for groundbreaking science – Tissue chips in space
9. Crew and cargo launch to the international space station for groundbreaking science – Cold atom lab upgrades
10.  Psyche launch to study a metal-rich asteroid
11. Award for human lander system for Artemis moon missions
12. Reveal of spacesuit prototype for Artemis moon mission
13. Jaw–dropping new imagery of the universe

Bill claimed that "22 will go down in the history books as one of the most accomplished years in all of NASA's history." By the 2022 year-end, the world witnessed the Artemis 1 mission, the successful first launch of its new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the return of the uncrewed Orion capsule after its trip around the moon.

In yet another video, 'NASA 2022: A Year of Success', Bill said, "Doing what is hard and achieving what is great, that is what stirs humankind. That's what unites us. With inspiration and innovation, no Herculean effort is too large. No moonshot is beyond our reach."

He added that the lifting off of Artemis I is a new generation that stands ready to 'return humanity to Moon' and 'further than ever before to Mars'.

He concluded by saying, "Let us continue the quest to unfold this universe and let us continue to find unity in our discovery. So together, let us continue to dream the impossible dream that now becomes real. Then let us traverse the untouched terrain of the once unreachable stars."