July 12-18, 2021 / Vol 40, No 28 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Human Spaceflight to Ascend July 2021 as 4 Companies Set High Stakes

Honoring the upward looking, July Space Month spirit – Virgin Galactic aims to fly the next Americans to the edge of Space with July 11 launch window opening. VSS Unity 22 mission will fly Pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, Crew Sir Richard Branson, Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla on a 2.5-hour trip from Spaceport America NM. Mothership Eve will carry VSS Unity to ~16 km where it will separate and accelerate to Mach 3, reaching ~90 km. Scheduled for Space Exploration Day July 20, Blue Origin New Shepard is planned to reach >100 km carrying Founder Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk (who would become oldest person in Space), and unnamed US$28M auction winner on an 11-minute flight. In May 2020 SpaceX was first to return people to Space from USA soil since 2011 with Dragon Crew, and this July its SN20 Starship (designed to land on Moon, then Mars) could reach Earth orbit / 160 km, taking off from Starbase / Boca Chica TX on Super Heavy booster and upper stage splash down 100 km from Hawai’i. On July 30 at 14:53 from Cape Canaveral FL atop ULA Atlas 5, Boeing Starliner CST-100 will attempt its final uncrewed flight to reach ISS. If successful, first crewed flight could launch before 2022 with astronauts Barry Wilmore, Nicole Mann and Mike Fincke. (Image Credits: VG, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Boeing, NASA, CAST)

MONDAY

Space Community Gathering in Center of USA Mainland Astronomy – Tucson AZ

Tucson is hosting Spacefest XI, a broad celebration of space achievements especially focused on Apollo, Gemini and Space Shuttle eras and including current astronautical and astronomical leaders, space artists, historians and enthusiasts. Spacefest is proceeding in-person July 15-18 at JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa. Among the 17 Astronauts and 24 speakers scheduled to attend are Eileen Collins, first woman to command a shuttle mission, Apollo 7 pilot Walt Cunningham, and Charlie Walker, first commercial Astronaut. Organized by Tucson Novaspace art gallery, Spacefest also features an art show in conjunction with International Astronomical Artists Association. Located 88 km WSW of Tucson, within Tohono O’odham Nation, is Kitt Peak National Observatory, part of NSF National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab). The Kitt Peak complex houses Mayall 4-m and WIYN 3.5-m telescopes, ARO 12-m radio telescope, Spacewatch NEO identification 0.9-m, 1.8-m, 2.3-m and 4-m aperture telescopes, and McMath–Pierce solar telescope. Tucson is renowned for clear, dark skies, the University of Arizona and the L5 Society, a precursor organization to NSS. Tuscon is also set to host 2021 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium Sep 21-23, followed by 7th Interstellar Symposium Sep 24-27 (running concurrently with U of A virtual series The Art of Planetary Science) – both events are taking place at Marriott University Park. (Image Credits: Spacefest, NOIRlab, Creative Commons)

Jul 12-16 — NASA Astrobiology Institute,

Jul 12-23 — International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, Online / Berlin, Germany: 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2021).

Jul 12 — Moon: 3.1° NNE of Venus, 02:00; with Venus and Mars within circle of diameter 3.63°, 02:00; 3.6° NNE of Mars, 03:00; 4.6° NNE of Regulus, 23:00.

Jul 12 — Mars: At aphelion, 1.6660 AU from Sun, 14:00.

Continued From…

May 24 – Aug 6 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA and Online: JPL Planetary Science Mission Design School Session 1.

May 24 – Aug 20 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA and Online: JPL Planetary Science Mission Design School Session 2.

Jun 1 – Aug 6 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online / Houston TX: 2021 LPI Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science.

Jun 28 – Aug 27 — International Space University (ISU), Granada, Spain: ISU Space Studies Program 2021.

Jun 7 – Aug 13 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online and Houston TX: LPI Summer Internship for 2021.

Jul 7-16 — International School on AstroParticle Physics, Online / Vienna, Austria: School: Dark Matter – From Theory to Detection.

Jul 11-18 — Moon Village Association, Space Generation Advisory Council, Online / Vienna, Austria: Towards a Lunar Generation: First MVA Online Workshop for Students and Young Professionals.

Jul 11-27 — Lāhainā Noon: As the Sun passes through the Zenith, directly overhead tropic locations, vertical objects cast no shadows; lā hainā means ‘cruel sun’; Hawaii Islands dates / times available.