The fight against the coronavirus pandemic will continue to be a priority in the year that begins, but at the same time, scientists from other areas are working to achieve milestones that may be historic.
These are some of the most important scientific events that we can expect in 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic caused the United Nations Climate Summit to be postponed to November 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland.
At the meeting, for the first time since the Paris Agreement in 2015, the countries will show how they intend to cut their emissions of gases that cause the greenhouse effect.
In this way, it will be known if their commitments are ambitious enough to stop the most severe effects of climate change.
Experts have warned that it is key to promote a greener future and that the time to act is running out.
In the United States, President-elect Joe Biden has said that he will regain his country’s leadership in the fight against climate change, including rejoining the Paris Agreement that Trump had abandoned.
2. Heading to Mars
The red planet will be the protagonist this year. Three missions , unmanned, plan to visit it in the coming months.
United Arab Emirates will attempt to be the first Arab nation to put a spacecraft orbiting Mars.
China also wants to enter a new era in its space race. If all goes well, the Tianwen-1 mission will arrive on Mars in February, which includes a vehicle equipped with cameras, radars and particle analyzers that will search for water and possible signs of life.
For its part, NASA wants to test whether a mini helicopter is capable of flying in the extremely thin air of Mars.
3. A new private ship
This year a new private spacecraft is scheduled to launch, after NASA sent two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in May aboard a SpaceX capsule.
The turn now is for Boeing , which has built the Starliner capsule, which also has the mission of bringing astronauts to and from the ISS.
The joint launch with NASA is scheduled for 29 March , from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA
4. A new eye in space
He 31 October we could finally see the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, considered the largest, complex and powerful ever have built.
Its start-up has been delayed for more than a decade and has exceeded its budget by billions of dollars.
If it works, the James Webb will be a great eye that will transform our vision of the cosmos .
Once arranged, the telescope will unfold a gigantic mirror that must be able to observe the glow of the first stars that shone in the universe.
5. Exploring the poles
A new UK-built polar research ship is scheduled to set sail for the Arctic and Antarctica .
The ship is named Sir David Attenborough , in homage to the famous British naturalist and science popularizer.
The first mission of this laboratory ship will be to measure if it is capable of operating in the middle of the ice and the harsh polar conditions in the Arctic.
If he passes this test, his next destination would be Antarctica at the end of the year, where he will investigate how climate change is affecting the South Pole.
The ship is equipped with a laboratory, cranes, a submarine and equipment for underwater sampling.
6. Protection of biodiversity
In May China will host the UN Convention on Biodiversity.
At this summit, the participating countries will point out that at least the 30% of the planet’s land and seas are protected for 2030.
The conference will be an opportunity to review that the policies for the protection of nature and the sustainable use of biodiversity are part of the economic recovery plans once the coronavirus pandemic is overcome.
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