SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Launch 24 Payloads to 3 Orbits
The third flight of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy is set to launch June 24 at 23:30 from KSC LC 39A. The side boosters are reused from April Arabsat 6A mission, while the brand-new core stage is planned to land at drone recovery ship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic Ocean. The USAF Test Program 2 (STP-2) mission, the first nighttime launch of Falcon Heavy, will carry 24 payloads to 3 different orbits: 865 x 300 km, a circular 720 km orbit, and a final orbit of 6,000 x 12,000 km. Deep Space Atomic Clock built at JPL is a testbed for future atomic clocks in space to improve navigation. Green Propellant Infusion Mission tests a new Hydroxyl Ammonium Nitrate fuel/oxidizer as a high-performance alternative to toxic propellants like hydrazine. Lightsail 2 is climax of a 10-year project by the Planetary Society, financed through crowdfunding, the first spacecraft in Earth orbit propelled solely by a solar sail. Tether Electrodynamic Propulsion CubeSat Experiment (TEPCE) will demonstrate propulsion using Earth magnetic field. Enhanced Tandem Beacon Experiment will consist of two cubesats in low orbit to study the effects of Earth ionosphere on communications. The PSAT-2 Parkinson Satellite will support amateur radio relays around the world. STP-2 will be the eighth SpaceX launch of 2019, and the seventh launch this year from KSC. (Image Credits: Planetary Society, SpaceX, NASA)
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MONDAY
Highlights…
 Jun 24 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 59 crew members Oleg Kononenko, David Saint-Jacques, Anne McClain to return to Earth in Soyuz MS-11, landing in inner Mongolia; undocking live coverage available; start of Expedition 60 at ISS.
 Jun 24 — NewSpace: Rocket Lab Electron planning to launch June 27 from Mahia Peninsula; Astrobotic wins new contract for Moon South Pole delivery study, and will receive US$79.5M to carry 14 payloads to Lacus Mortis; SpinLaunch awarded contract to develop innovative new launch system by 2022.
Jun 24 — Solar System: GSFC scientists using Moon to estimate rotation rate of early Sun; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sees newly formed crater; Cassini spacecraft data indicates that Saturn rings are relatively young.
Jun 24 — Galaxy: Gemini South data suggests that Jupiter-like exoplanets occur in most star systems; two Earth-like exoplanets found around Teegarden’s Star, 12.5 LY away; Antlia-3 dwarf galaxy heading away after early collision with Milky Way.
Jun 24 — Global: Cubesats from Japan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Singapore operating after ISS deployment; Chandrayaan-2 lander and rover undergoing final launch preps after arriving at facility near Sriharikota; Thailand-based mu Space working on 1st satellite for 2021, developing “OO mission” space suits.
 Jun 24 — USA: NASA invests US$45M in small businesses for tech development; Administrator Bridenstine estimates cost of ~$30B for returning humans to Moon; launch abort motor for Orion Artemis-1 mission arrives at KSC; Boeing moving Space and Launch headquarters to Titusville FL.
Jun 24 — Hawai’i: Keck Telescope gathering first evidence of halo gas spinning in same direction as galactic disk; France CILAS company to make deformable mirrors for TMT; Makali’i voyaging canoe navigators practicing astronomy on journey to Nihoa and Mokumanamana Islands NW of Hawaii.
 Jun 24 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon Heavy / STP-2, LC-39A, KSC FL: SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch US Air Force Space Test Program-2 mission with military and scientific satellites including Surrey Orbital Test Bed-1, and Celestis Earth Orbit #7 Heritage Flight.
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= 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: Mercury (WNW), Mars (WNW), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (S); Morning Planets: Venus (ENE), Neptune (ESE).
Interstellar Travel and Search for Life Are Focus of UK FISW and USA AbSciCon 2019
Initiative for Interstellar Studies and British Interplanetary Society will co-host 2nd Foundations of Interstellar Studies Workshop (FISW) June 27-30 in Charfield, United Kingdom. FISW promotes academic rigor and dissemination of current interstellar advances to scholars. Kelvin Long (L-R) is co-chair on the program which includes 6 posters, and 22 presentations within 3 main themes: Living in Deep Space; Advanced Propulsion Technology, Missions and foundational physics; and Building Architectural Megastructures. Gregory Matloff of CUNY will present on possible Kuiper Belt habitation and Philip Lubin of UC Santa Barbara is speaking on “Directed Energy – The Path to Interstellar Flight”. Long, Matloff and Lubin are advisors for Breakthrough Starshot, headed by Pete Worden and Avi Loeb, to develop a fleet of light sail StarChips to travel with beam-steerable lasers to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri (A&B at 4.367 LY, Proxima Centauri 4.244 LY). 2019 NASA Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) ‘Understanding and Enabling the Search for Life on Worlds Near and Far’ is being held June 24-28 in Bellevue WA. Communities researching origins / evolution of life of Earth come together with those looking to understand habitability and find signs of life in Solar System and Beyond. The 1-hour session on Alpha Centauri emphasizes the high potential for a habitable world to be characterized in the next decade. Habitable zones around A and B are estimated to be ~3x larger in angle than around any other Sun-like star. (Image Credits: FISW, NASA, et al) |
Jun 24 — CNSA, Launch Long March 3B / Beidou, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China: Long March 3B to launch Beidou navigation satellite.
Jun 24-25 — NASA SBAG, College Park MD: Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) meeting.
Jun 24-28 — NASA Astrobiology Group, SETI Institute, University of Arizona, Bellevue WA: 2019 Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon): Understanding and Enabling the Search for Life on Worlds Near and Far.
Jun 24-28 — ESA, National Remote Sensing Center of China, Solvenia Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Ljubljana, Slovenia: 2019 Dragon 4 Symposium.
Jun 24-29 — Starmus, QCS, Kaspersky Lab, Omega, Zurich, Switzerland: Starmus V: A Giant Leap; featuring Bill Anders, Charlie Duke, Rusty Schweickart, Al Worden, Walt Cunningham, Helen Sharman, Gennady Padalka, Tim Peake, Nicole Stott, many more.
Jun 24 – Aug 23 — International Space University, ESA, Strasbourg, France: ISU 32nd Space Studies Program (SSP 2019).
Jun 24 — Moon: At last quarter, 23:47.
Jun 24 — Aten Asteroid 441987: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
Continued from…
Mar 19 – Jul 19 — Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender crew of 6 to participate in 4-month space / lunar simulation mission SIRIUS (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station).
Apr 13 – Sep 2 — Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Flight, Multiple Locations: Destination Moon, traveling exhibition of historic Apollo 11 artifacts.
May 20 – Aug 9 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: 31st Annual Planetary Science Summer Seminar.
Jun 23-28 — Gordon Research Center, South Hadley MA: Gordon Research Seminar: Origins of Solar Systems – Meteoritical, Spacecraft and Astrophysical Perspectives on the Assembly and Composition of Planets. |
TUESDAY
Jun 25-26 — Secure World Foundation, Washington DC: Summit for Space Sustainability.
Jun 25-27 — International Academy of Astronautics, Moscow, Russia: 2nd IAA SciTech Forum.
Jun 25 — Amor Asteroid 2011 HT: Near-Earth Flyby (0.080 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Jun 26 — SETI Institute, Menlo Park CA: Lecture: Back to the Moon – This Time to Stay? by Greg Schmidt, Director of SSERVI, and Michael Sims, CEO of Ceres Robotics.
Jun 26-27 — U.S. Commerce Department, Washington DC: Space Enterprise Summit; discussion covers International Dimensions, Removing Regulatory Barriers, Responsible Behavior in Space, Role of International Institutions, Debris Removal, more; open to the public.
THURSDAY
Jun 27 — Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), Sun-Synchronous Orbit: NASA observation satellite investigating the physical conditions of the chromosphere of Sun reaches 6 full years / enters 7th year in space, launched 2013.
Jun 27 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / Make it Rain, LC1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Rocket Lab Electron rocket launch window opens for 7th flight “Make it Rain” (named for rainy weather in Seattle WA – home of Spaceflight launch broker) carrying satellites for BlackSky Global, Melbourne Space Program in Australia, Swarm Technologies, and U.S. Special Operations Command.
Jun 27 — United Launch Alliance, Launch Atlas 5 / AEHF 5, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL: ULA Atlas 5 booster to launch fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite built by Lockheed Martin.
Jun 27-28 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: The Planetary CubeSats Symposium.
Jun 27-30 — Initiative for Interstellar Studies, Charfield Village, United Kingdom: Foundations of Interstellar Studies 2: A Workshop on Interstellar Flight.
Jun 27 — Moon: 4.5° SSE of Uranus, 16:00.
Jun 27 — Aten Asteroid 2008 KV2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)
FRIDAY
Jun 28 — Canadian Space Agency, Online / Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada: Call for Ideas Applications Due: Future Lunar Exploration Activities; offers Canadian, as well as international stakeholders, the opportunity to express an interest to activities on the surface of the Moon or its vicinity.
Jun 28-29 — University Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IGN, Observatory of Paris, et al, Meudon, France: StarsUp: The Festival of Science, Aerospace and Innovation.
Jun 28 — Amor Asteroid 2016 NN15: Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)
Jun 28 — Aten Asteroid 2010 JU39: Near-Earth Flyby (0.060 AU)
Jun 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2013 WR45: Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)
SATURDAY
Jun 29 — ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, Hilo HI: Planetarium Showing of Moons: Worlds of Mystery.
Jun 29-30 — Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept, Abilene State Park, Tuscola TX: Star Party; with Big Country Master Naturalists.
Jun 29 — Moon: 7.9° SSE of Pleiades, 13:00.
Jun 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 LV1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.013 AU)
Jun 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 LR4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU)
SUNDAY
Jun 30 — Asteroid Day Ltd., Global: Asteroid Day 2019; education, events, films and entertainment hosted by organizations and individuals to increase awareness about asteroids.
Jun 30 – Jul 4 — Royal Astronomical Society, Lancaster, United Kingdom: Royal Astronomical Society’s (RAS) 2019 National Astronomy Meeting.
Jun 30 — Moon: 2.25° N of Aldebaran, 05:00.