2021 in California

first mission in NASA's Solar System Exploration program; impact of asteroid Dimorphos in 65803 Didymos system

Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube, ) is a six-unit CubeSat of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). LICIACube is a part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and carries out observational analysis of the Didymos asteroid binary system after DART's impact on Dimorphos. It communicates directly with Earth, sending back images of the ejecta and plume of DART's impact as well as having done asteroidal study during its flyby of the Didymos system from a distance of , 165 seconds after DART's impact. LICIACube is the first purely Italian autonomous spacecraft in de

ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in California, United States

mass shooting at a rail yard in San Jose, California, United States, on May 26, 2021; the deadliest mass shooting in San Francisco Bay Area history