2021: A year of space tourism, flights on Mars, China's rise

The year closed out with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, a US$10bil (RM41bil) marvel that will make use of infrared technology to peer back 13 billion years in time. — BILL INGALLS/ NASA/ AFP

WASHINGTON: From the Mars Ingenuity helicopter's first powered flight on another world to the launch of the James Webb telescope that will peer into the earliest epoch of the Universe, 2021 was a huge year for humanity's space endeavours.

Beyond the science milestones, billionaires battled to reach the final frontier first, an all-civilian crew went into orbit, and Star Trek's William Shatner waxed profound about what it meant to see the Earth from the cosmos, as space tourism finally came into its own.