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The coronavirus pandemic may have been the biggest science news story of 2020, but it wasn't the only story. Learn more about three space developments of the year: the discovery of phosphine in Venus’s atmosphere, the collapse of Puerto Rico’s Arecibo’s Observatory, and OSIRIS-REx’s sampling of an asteroid’s surface.Watch "<a href="/wgbh/nova/video/touching-the-asteroid/">Touching the Asteroid</a>" to learn more about the OSIRIS-REx mission.

Discover three of the greatest space developments of the year and what 2021 may bring.

The coronavirus pandemic may have been the biggest science news story of 2020, but it wasn't the only story. Learn more about three space developments of the year: the discovery of phosphine in Venus’s atmosphere, the collapse of Puerto Rico’s Arecibo’s Observatory, and OSIRIS-REx’s sampling of an asteroid’s surface.

The Biggest Space News Stories of 2020

Biggest Space News Stories of 2020

Discover three of the greatest space developments of the year and what 2021 may bring.

Space & Flight

The Biggest Space News Stories of 2020Published: January 21, 2021Narrator: The Coronavirus pandemic may have been the biggest science story of 2020, but it wasn't the only story. There were also some major space stories this year. Earth is the only confirmed planet in our solar system that has life... but Venus may have something to say about that. In September, scientists announced that they had detected phosphine in Venus's atmosphere. On Earth, phosphine is known as a byproduct of life—including microbes.Sara Seager: It's found in oxygen-free environments, such as wetlands and swamps. It's associated with feces, so we know for sure that phosphine is associated with life here on Earth.Narrator: Some life forms that don't require oxygen actually produce phosphine, leading scents to speculate that some sort of life form in the clouds of Venus could be responsible for the phosphine.Several studies came out questioning some of the observations. The researchers re-analyzed part of their original data and found a processing error.They confirmed finding phosphene, but it's a much fainter signal.Clara Silva-Sousa: I'm extremely excited that we did this on Venus next door, where we actually can go and check. So, when we get to that point, let's go look!Narrator: Unfortunately, the world of astronomy was also hit with some devastating news. The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico—which was the largest radio telescope on the planet upon its completion in 1963—collapsed after almost 60 years of scientific research.Back in August, an auxiliary cable slipped from its socket and left a 100-foot gash in the dish. No one was hurt, but all observations were put on hold while engineers assessed the situation.In early November, one of the main cables that supported the platform snapped. About a week later, the National Science Foundation announced Arecibo would be decommissioned and torn down. But the platform collapsed in early December.Abel Méndez: That was devastating for me at the moment. It was really hard. This is a very big loss for the science community in the world, but the bigger loss is for everybody here in Puerto Rico. In terms of education, we had the observatory right here—people go over there, kids go over there and learn from the observatory, get inspired. Narrator: The Arecibo Observatory was the most powerful astronomical radar on Earth. Some of Arecibo's notable discoveries include the first-ever binary pulsar, the first exoplanet, the first-ever radar maps of Venus's surface, and finding that Mercury's rotation takes 59 days, not the previously estimated 88 days.Mendez: So the loss impacts a broad spectrum of scientific research. I sincerely hope that we will be able to rebuild. But it will mean now that we'll have to wait.Narrator: Arecibo's long research history has provided researchers with invaluable information... including about Bennu, an asteroid at the heart of a recent exploration that can teach us more about our solar system's formation.OSIRIS-REx Mission Control: And we have touchdown!Narrator: In October, the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx did something extraordinary. It touched Bennu's surface in an attempt to collect a sample and bring it back to Earth.Coralie Adams: I’m in awe, really. Everything went phenomenally well.Dante Lauretta: I mean, I can’t believe we actually pulled this off. It was a good day.Narrator: Bennu is more than 200 million miles from Earth, which means OSIRIS-REx had to collect a sample all on its own—without a human at the controls.Lauretta: We literally expected this asteroid to look like a beach. That is not what Bennu looked like at all.Carl Hergenrother: It’s just rocks everywhere.Vicky Hamilton: Oh my gosh! Those big boulders were just not what we were expecting to find.Narrator: The team analyzed thousands of photos to identify a place to touch down. On October 20, 2020, OSIRIS-REx successfully collected a sample from a site only 26 feet wide... the size of a few parking spaces.Why go through all this trouble? Turns out that asteroids can help researchers get a clearer picture of our solar system's origins.Derrick Pitts: Asteroids actually are remnants left over from the earliest periods in the history of our solar system. They essentially have locked up inside them many of the secrets of what the solar system was like when it first began.Hamilton: They’re little time capsules that record what kinds of chemistry was present.Narrator: The spacecraft will attempt to bring its precious cargo back to Earth, dropping a capsule in the Utah desert in 2023.In 2021, the exploration continues. NASA's Perseverance rover will land on Mars. NASA will also launch D.A.R.T.—the Double Asteroid Redirection Test designed to test a technique for preventing potentially hazardous asteroids from impacting Earth—and the long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope, an orbiting infrared observatory that will study the origins and formation of our universe—and will hunt for traces of life in the atmospheres of exoplanets.Hamilton: We need to keep exploring. It really goes a long way into understanding who we are, how we got here. And what our long-term prospects are on this planet.

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The top half of Jupiter in blue and green against a night sky

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Four bright orange loops brand off of a dark blue blob

A transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (orange) replicating from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell. Credit: NIAID, Flickr

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The Biggest Space News Stories of 2020

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Signs of Life Found on Venus

Touching the Asteroid

The Arecibo Observatory

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Signs of Life Found on Venus

Touching the Asteroid

The Arecibo Observatory