September 23-29, 2019 / Vol 38, No 38 / Hawai’i Island, USA

Soyuz MS-15 to Carry 3 Expedition 61 Crewmembers to ISS; Experiments and Repairs Planned

Launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 25, Expedition 61 will be the final mission utilizing the Soyuz-FG rocket, as the Roscosmos workhorse relied on by ISS astronauts since 2011 will be decommissioned and replaced by the 21st century Soyuz-2. Capable of lifting 3,000 kg into geostationary transfer orbit, the next generation Soyuz achieves a significant increase over the 1,700 kg capacity of the Soyuz-FG configuration. After a commute of approximately 6 hours aboard Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, Oleg Skripochka (RSA), flight engineer Jessica Meir (NASA), and the first Emirati astronaut / spaceflight participant Hazzaa AlMansoori (Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre) will join Aleksandr Skvortsov, Andrew Morgan, Nick Hauge, Christina Koch, Luca Parmitano and commander Aleksey Ovchinin. This will bring the total number of residents aboard ISS to 9 temporarily, before the departure of Ovchinin and Hauge October 3. Parmitano will take over command of Expedition 61, marking the first time that an Italy Astronaut has commanded the ISS. Since launching July 20, 50 years to the day of Apollo 11 lunar landing, Parmitano has also made history as the first disc jockey in space, transmitting a 12-minute electronic music set to Earth. Crew will work on 173 ongoing scientific experiments and Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a particle detector searching for dark matter located outside of the station, will be repaired via EVA. (Image Credits: NASA, ESA, RSA)

MONDAY

Sep 23 — JAXA, Launch H-2B / HTV-8, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: An uncrewed Japan H-2B rocket set to launch 8th H-2 transfer vehicle (Kounotori 8) to deliver supplies to ISS.

Huntsville NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts 2019 Symposium Seeks New Disruptive Technologies

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program holds the 2019 NIAC Symposium September 24-26 at Hilton Embassy Suites in “Rocket City” Huntsville, AL. NIAC sponsors innovations in a variety of sciences that may lead to breakthroughs in spaceflight and other disruptive technologies, aiding NASA goals of exploring the Moon, solar system and beyond. The event is preceded by a tour of the Space and Rocket Center near NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Speakers at the symposium include former astronaut Mae Jemison, now head of 100-Year Starship Foundation, and David Burns of the MSFC Science and Technology Office. During the symposium NIAC-funded researchers will give status reports of their various projects. The evening of Sep 25 is an informal gathering for Women of Science. On Sep 27 is a tour of the United Launch Alliance facility, where the new Vulcan Centaur booster will be fabricated. On Sep 28 are “Inventive Science and Genius” lectures for the public about turning science fiction into science fact. The 18 projects given awards in 2019 by NIAC include a “Smartsuit” EVA suit, a power source for interstellar probes, and Lunar-polar Propellant Outpost for mining the Moon. Projects already funded by NIAC include concepts for advanced spacesuits, a “vacuum airship’ for exploring Mars; a Titan submarine for a Saturn moon, a hopper vehicle for Neptune’s moon Triton, even concepts for interstellar flight. (Image Credits: NASA, NIAC)

Sep 23 — Cornell University,

Sep 23-24 — Medina Media Events, Les Roches Marbella International School of Hotel Management, Marbella, Spain: Space & Underwater Tourism Universal Summit; featuring speakers Sam Scimemi of NASA, Bernard Foing of ESA, Tony Gannon of Space Florida, more.

Sep 23-25 — ESA, European Space Astronomy Centre (ESTEC), Madrid, Spain: Titan after Cassini-Huygens.

Sep 23-26 — UNOOSA, Government of Turkey, TUBITAK Space Technologies Research Institute, Turkish Space Agency, Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, Istanbul, Turkey: United Nations / Turkey / APSCO Conference on Space Law and Policy.

Sep 23-26 — Szczecin Cosmology Group, Polish Society of Relativity, Szczecin, Poland: 6th Conference of the Polish Society on Relativity (POTOR-6).

Sep 23 — Moon: 5.9° S of Pollux, 13:00.

Sep 23 — Aten Asteroid 2007 TQ24: Near-Earth Flyby (0.062 AU)

Continued from…

Jan 2019 – Sep 2020 — New Horizons, Kuiper Belt: Full data from spacecraft 7 instruments during KBO Ultima Thule flyby to be transmitted to Earth over this time period.

NET Aug – Nov — Hayabusa2, Asteroid 162173 Ryugu: JAXA Hayabusa2 with 2 sample returns planned to remain at Asteroid for observations during this time period, then return to Earth.

Sep 22-25 — Geological Society of America (GSA), Phoenix AZ: 2019 Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting.

TUESDAY

Sep 24 — Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), Mars Orbit: India ISRO orbiter reaches 5 full years / enters 6th year of operations in Mars orbit; launched Nov 5, 2013.