BepiColombo Next-Gen Mercury Explorer Set to Launch October 19
Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket is set to launch ESA-JAXA Mercury mission BepiColombo on October 19 from Kourou, French Guiana spaceport. Upon arrival at Mercury on 5 December 2025 after 9 gravity assists, the craft comprised of 3 major components will separate into 2 satellites: Mercury Planetary Orbiter built by ESA, and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (also called Mio “waterway” or “fairway”) built by JAXA. The mission will work to map gravity and magnetic fields, characterize Mercury liquid iron core which is an estimated 3⁄4 of the planet’s radius, verify water ice in polar craters, and investigate its exosphere. There was to be a 44-kg Mercury Surface Element lander which was canceled due to budgetary restraints. Among Mercury’s unique properties it has the greatest temperature swing in the Solar System at 600°C, fastest orbital period of 88 Earth days, may contain ‘younger than expected’ water ice, formed very early in Solar System history and might be tectonically active. ESA is operating interplanetary craft Mars Express and ExoMars 2016, while planning for ExoMars 2020 and Jupiter explorer JUICE. JAXA is operating Akatsuki at Venus, Hayabusa2 at asteroid Ryugu, and developing lunar mission SLIM and Martian Moons Exploration. (Image Credits: ESA, JAXA, Airbus, David Rothery, NASA, JPL, Arianespace, et al) |
|
MONDAY
Highlights…
 Oct 15 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 57 three-member crew working with JAXA Low Temperature Protein Crystal Growth experiment, performing installations and upgrades to JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer, transferring cargo from HTV-7; two additional crew members and Soyuz MS-10 launch delay will postpone EVA scheduled this week.
 Oct 15 — NewSpace: Astrobotic to develop navigation software for landing on icy moons under 15-month NASA, JPL contract; Space in Africa, promoting news on Africa space & satellite industries, becomes 1 of 7 finalists in NewSpace Business Plan Competition; Richard Branson hopes SpaceShipTwo will reach space within weeks.
Oct 15 — Solar System: Researcher presents theory that Ceres may have shifted 36°, forming new equator; while Europa Clipper and JUICE mission are in planning stages, Europa offers evidence that ice ‘penitentes’ may reach 15 meters tall; radio enthusiasts are now able to download images from Longjiang-2 spacecraft orbiting Moon.
Oct 15 — Galaxy: Optical illusion may be explanation for recent discovery of high levels of 3 different elements in red giant stars near center of Milky Way; 4 dwarf galaxies are found near Milky Way; Gaia star-mapping mission observes that Milky Way may have nearly collided with Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy over 300 million years ago;
Oct 15 — Global: China and UNOOSA to review 36 application proposals for international experiments on future space station, which may be expanded to six modules; France CNES becomes 1st foreign space agency to open office in UAE; Japan ispace teams with four other companies for NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program.
 Oct 15 — USA: OIG audit of SLS projects further funding needs and probable delays; NASA working to contact Hubble Space Telescope after it enters safe mode due to gyroscope failure; Commercial Crew test flights delayed until early 2019.
Oct 15 — Hawai’i: John O’Meara to join W. M. Keck Observatory in December as Chief Scientist, overseeing and enhancing scientific programs; Keck to use NSF grant award for next-generation adaptive optics; CFHT discovers stars from earliest ages of the universe.
|
= All times
for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mars (E), Jupiter (WSW), Saturn (SW), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE).
China NewSpace Race
China Land Space counts down to launch of the 3-stage, solid-propellant Zhuque-1 on October 16, the first orbital flight by a Chinese private rocket. ZQ-1 is 19 meters tall, weighs 27 metric tons, and can carry 300 kg to LEO. It carries a small satellite to be used by China Central Television for broadcasting. Land Space plans to follow with the liquid-methane fueled ZQ-2 in 2020, which will carry 4 tons to LEO. Zhang Xiaoping of the Xian Aerospace Propulsion Research Institute, a scientist said to be crucial for development of the Long March 9 booster, may take a position with Land Space. China commercial space sector is growing with Land Space, OneSpace, iSpace, Linkspace and Expace. OneSpace, which since May is the first Chinese private company to launch a suborbital rocket, plans to reach orbit by the end of 2018. In September, OneSpace and iSpace launched suborbital rockets two days apart from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. iSpace plans an orbital launch in 2019. Linkspace is testing vertical landing rockets. A satellite launched by government-backed Expace from Jiuquan Sep 29 is in orbit. On Hainan Island, Wenchang International Aerospace City is being planned. With the growing number of private rockets, China government is considering building a dedicated commercial space launch center. (Image Credits: Land Space, LinkSpace) |
Oct 15-16 — Center for Computational Astrophysics, NYC NY: Meeting: Science with HabEx – UV to Near-infrared Space Astronomy in the 2030’s.
Oct 15-19 — Keck Institute for Space Studies, Caltech/JPL, Pasadena CA: Workshop: Tidal Heating – Lessons from Io and the Jovian System.
Oct 15-19 — ESO, Garching, Germany: Workshop: Take a Closer Look – The Innermost Region of Protoplanetary Discs and its Connection to the Origin of Planets.
Oct 15 — Moon: 1.2° N of Pluto, 13:00.
Oct 15 — Mercury: At first quarter, 08:01.
Oct 15 — Venus: 6.2° SSW of Mercury, 17:00.
Oct 15 — Mars: Winter solstice, 11:00.
Oct 15 — Amor Asteroid 2018 TS: Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU)
Oct 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 SL3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)
Continued from…
Oct 7-14 — Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science, Baksan Neutrino Observatory of Institute for Nuclear Research, International Observatory Peak Terskol, Nizhnij Arkhyz and Terskol, Russia: Conference: The Multi-Messenger Astronomy – Gamma-Ray Bursts, Search for Electromagnetic Counterparts to Neutrino Events and Gravitational Waves.
Oct 14-16 — Adler Planetarium, Chicago IL: Artefacts Consortium Annual Meeting.
Oct 14-18 — Australian Geoscience Council, Australia Institute of Geoscientists, Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Adelaide, Australia: Australian Geoscience Council Convention (AGCC): Big Issues and Ideas in Geoscience. |
Oct 14-19 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Baltimore MD: 8th International Fermi Symposium: Celebrating 10 Years of Fermi.
TUESDAY
Oct 16 — Landspace, Launch Zhuque-1 / Weilai-1, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China: Commercial China company Landspace to launch its first satellite, Weilai-1 “Future-1” for China Central Television Company.
Oct 16 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: BIS Prestige Lecture: Wally Funk and Sue Nelson.
Oct 16 — Johnson Space Center, NASA, Houston TX: NASA briefing on Expedition 57 spacewalks, ISS USA EVAs #52 and #53 broadcast at 13:00 local time on NASA website.
Oct 16 — Lunar and Planetary Society, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: Colloquium: The Formation and Evolution of Ceres’ Occator Crater and its Bright Faculae; by Jennifer Scully of JPL.
Oct 16-17 — National Academies, Irvine CA: Committee on Solar and Space Physics – 2018 Fall Meeting.
Oct 16-18 — NASA, JPL, Caltech, Glendale CA: 4th Landing Site Workshop from Mars 2020 Rover Mission.
Oct 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 UO41: Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Oct 17 — INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), LEO: Detecting some of the most energetic radiation in Space, ESA, NASA, Roscosmos spacecraft begins 17th year of operations in Space; launched 2002; expected to continue operations until early 2020s, run out of fuel and fall to Earth Feb 2029.
Oct 17 — United Launch Alliance, Launch Atlas V / AEHF 4, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: ULA Atlas V rocket, designated AV-073, to launch military communications satellite Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF).
Oct 17 — Moon: At apogee (distance 403,793.98 km), 09:00.
Oct 17 — Aten Asteroid 2014 US7: Near-Earth Flyby (0.008 AU)
THURSDAY
Oct 18 — AIAA San Francisco Section, Mountain View CA: Dinner Meeting with Helen Hwang: Tales from the Mars Science Laboratory Thermal Protection System Development (or, Try Not to Panic When Your Heatshield Material Disappears); Michael’s at Shoreline, 18:30.
Oct 18-19 — Montreal Space Symposium, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Space Symposium; public conference to discuss and plan current and future state of space industry in Montreal and Canada; at Concordia Conference Centre.
Oct 18 — Moon: 1.9° NNW of Mars, 02:00.
Oct 18 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 GC221: Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU)
Oct 18 — Aten Asteroid 2013 UG1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)
FRIDAY
Oct 19 — ISS, U.S. EVA #52, 405-km LEO: Postponed: Expedition 57 members originally scheduled to perform 6.5-hour spacewalk to replace batteries on ISS.
Oct 19 — Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), HEO: NASA spacecraft mapping boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space reaches 10 full years / enters 11th year in Space today, launched on this day 2008.
Oct 19 — ExoMars 2016 Orbiter, Mars Orbit: ESA and Roscosmos spacecraft reaches 2 full years at Mars, launched 2016; craft continues collecting data on atmosphere, deployed Schiaparelli demonstration lander 19 Oct 2016 (unsuccessful).
Oct 19 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 5 / BepiColombo, Kourou, French Guiana: BepiColombo mission – European Space Agency / JAXA Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (dubbed Mio ‘waterway or fairway’) to launch today; craft expected to reach Mercury polar orbit 2025 to map planet, investigate magnetosphere; 21:45 EDT.
Oct 19 — `Imiloa Astronomy Center, University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Hilo HI: Maunakea Skies Talk; astronomers from Submillimeter Array (SMA) discuss research, recent discoveries and science; 19:00-20:00.
Oct 19 — Hawai’i Island Women’s Leadership Forum, Keauhou HI: 3rd Annual Hawaii Island Women’s Leadership Forum; featuring local women scientists, leaders, entrepreneurs.
Oct 19-21 — IAU, NARIT, ITERA (Institut Teknologi Sumatera), Indonesian Academy of Sciences / AIPI, ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung), National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), Lampung, Indonesia: 10th Southeast Asia Astronomy Network (SEAAN) 2018 Meeting.
Oct 19 — Apollo Asteroid 2009 UC19: Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)
SATURDAY
Oct 20 — International Observe the Moon Night Organization, Global: International Observe the Moon Night 2018; encouraging observation, appreciation, understanding of the Moon and its connection to planetary science & exploration; 1st quarter Moon is considered the best time to observe the Moon due to shallow angle of sunlight hitting surface and illuminating details.
Oct 20 — Jasper Dark Sky, Tourism Jasper, Jasper, Alberta, Canada: Spacetalks; featuring Emily Calandrelli, Leland Melvin, Scott Ransom, Seth Shostak, Nadia Drake.
Oct 20 — Moon: 2.4° SSE of Neptune, 14:00.
SUNDAY
Oct 21-26 — American Astronomical Society DPS, Knoxville TN: 50th Annual Meeting of the AAS Division For Planetary Sciences (DPS).
Oct 21 — Orionids Meteor Shower Peak: Favorable viewing for the 2nd of 2 showers that occur each year as a result of Earth passing through dust released by Halley’s Comet, Orionids appear to radiate from Constellation Orion, are swift (68 km/sec), can be bright & leave persistent trains; can produce between 20-70 meteors per hour.
Oct 21 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 UG: Near-Earth Flyby (0.100 AU)