Boeing Starliner CST-100 Readies for July 30 Launch Test to International Space Station
Atlas V / Starliner is fully stacked at ULA Vertical Integration Facility, Cape Canaveral SFS in preparation of 2nd test flight July 30 at 14:53 EDT. Designated AV-082, Atlas V N22 variant consists of 2 solid rocket boosters (32.5 m long, 5.5-m diameter) connected via Interstage Adapter to Centaur III upper stage (12.7 x 3.05 m) powered by 2 liquid hydrogen / oxygen RL10 engines. Launch Vehicle Adapter and Starliner Crew Capsule top the craft, which towers 52.5 m in total. Boeing and NASA are confident Orbital Test Flight (OFT-2) will reach ISS with 181.5 kg payload including USA flag to be retrieved by Crew Flight Test (CFT) Astronauts. Pre-launch conference with Commercial Crew and ISS Managers Steve Stich and Joel Montalbano set for July 27, followed by Media Briefing with NASA Administrators Bill Nelson and Pam Melroy joined by CFT crew Nicole Mann, Mike Fincke, Butch Wilmore July 29. Rendezvous / autonomous docking via IDA-2 on Harmony forward port and hatch opening will also be broadcast July 31 and Aug 1. 5-10 day trial is to end with capsule parachute landing in White Sands NM with 249.5 kg cargo including reusable Nitrogen / Oxygen tanks. As competing vehicle Crew Dragon Endeavour is docked to IDA-3 on Harmony zenith port, OFT-2 success would mark first time commercial spacecraft share a berth in space. (Image Credits: Boeing, ULA) |
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MONDAY
Highlights…
 Jul 26 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 65 seven-member crew preparing for arrival of 23,000-kg Nauka science module, and Starliner OFT-2; working with grip / force science tasks, ultrasonic / acoustic tweezers, nanoparticles experiment.
Jul 26 — Tiangong Space Station, ~370-km LEO: Shenzhou 12 three-member crew working on 3 sections of Tianhe module; future plans include Wentian module launch May 2022, and Xuntian telescope 2024 orbiting in the vicinity of TSS.
 Jul 26 — NewSpace: World space industry investment reaches US$4.5B in Q2, on pace for record year; Accion Systems to refine Ion drive with US$52M series C funding.
Jul 26 — Solar System: Masten Space to deploy GPS-like beacons to Moon surface under AFWERX award; Jupiter moon EJc0061 awaiting formal naming after amateur discovery gleaned from CFHT and Subaru imagery; NASA prepares Perseverance Mars rover to begin 11-day sample acquisition.
Jul 26 — Galaxy: Hubble science instruments back online, imaging novel extended spiral galaxies; EHT images jets emanating from black hole in Centaurus A via VLBI, working toward direct SMBH observations at submillimitter frequency.
Jul 26 — Global: China vertical takeoff and horizontal landing space plane being refurbished for next flight; European Robotic Arm joins Canadarm2 & Japanese Manipulator System on ISS.
 Jul 26 — USA: Wally Funk becomes 65th woman to reach Space; SpaceX Inspiration4 crewmembers train for upcoming multi-day commercial spaceflight; Blue Origin working to fulfill $100M worth of suborbital tickets.
Jul 26 — Hawai’i: NASA Team at University of Hawaii predict sea level rise to exacerbate lunar libration flooding in mid-2030s; Students Briane Souki and Evan Powers to participate in summer workforce development internship at Keck Observatory.
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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: Venus (WNW), Mars (WNW), Jupiter (ESE), Saturn (ESE); Morning Planets: Mercury (ENE), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE).
Artemis Generation Awaits First SLS Launch Nov 22, First Woman on the Moon 2024 ?
USA Artemis program, its partners, technologies and science are full speed ahead leading a new era in lunar development and anticipating the first woman landing on the Moon mid-decade. Currently 17,000 people work for NASA and there are 44 active Astronauts – notably 9 women who are training to fly to the Moon: Kayla Barron, Christina Koch, Nicole Mann, Jasmin Moghbeli, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, Kate Rubins, Jessica Watkins, Stephanie Wilson. Artemis Accords have the support of 12 nations. There are 14 CLPS providers: Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines are first, scheduled to land lunar payloads Q1 2022. Selected SpaceX Human Landing System for Artemis 3 Moon South Pole landing ~2024 is to receive US$2.89B, while an additional $10.03B is authorized for a second provider. Numerous International Gateway collaborations include planned ESA-JAXA module, CSA-ASC Canadarm3, Roscosmos crew airlocks and Orel vehicle. 5 of 8 stacking sequences are complete for uncrewed Artemis 1 flight NET November 22, with Orion Crew Module designed by Lockheed and European Service Module by Airbus. Space Launch System super heavy-lift rocket with Boeing core stage will fly 5-segment solid rocket boosters (39,000 kN of thrust at liftoff), 4 Space Shuttle RS-25D engines, and upper stage Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage with one RL10 engine. Artemis science expands with 13 CubeSats for SLS first flight, CAPSTONE launch Oct 2021, 12 payloads for CLPS and 12 for L-SITP. (Image Credits: NASA, ESA, JAXA, CSA-ASC, SpaceX, Astrobotic, IM)
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 Jul 26 — Apollo 15 50th Observation, Nationwide USA: Ninth crewed Apollo mission, fourth to land on Moon and first to use Lunar Roving Vehicle, Astronauts David R. Scott, Alfred M. Worden, James B. Irwin are honored today in educational events and celebrations while plans for international Human, robotic and commercial missions to Moon are underway; launched this day 1971, landed on Moon July 30, returned to Earth Aug 7.
Jul 26 — Lockheed Martin Corp., Online / Bethesda MD: Lockheed Martin Q2 2021 Financial Results Telecom; 11:00 EDT.
Jul 26-29 — ViaSatellite, Access Intelligence LLC, Online / National Harbor MD: Satellite 2021: Future Space Digital Forum.
Jul 26 – Aug 1 — International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI), Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP), Online: Iberian Space Science Summer School (i4S).
Jul 26 — Amor Asteroid 2021 OF: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)
Continued From…
May 24 – Aug 6 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA and Online: JPL Planetary Science Mission Design School Session 1.
Jun 1 – Aug 6 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online / Houston TX: 2021 LPI Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science.
 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.
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.
TUESDAY
Jul 27 — British Interplanetary Society, Online / London, United Kingdom: Lecture: 50th Anniversary of Apollo 15 – ‘Exploration at its Greatest’; featuring speakers from the USA, UK and Europe. |
Jul 27 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Foundation for Assessing the Health and Vitality of the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Research Communities Meeting #5.
Jul 27 — Moon: 3.8° SE of Neptune, 12:00.
Jul 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2008 GO20: Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU)
Jul 27 — Aten Asteroid 2020 BW12: Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Jul 28 — SpaceTech Analytics, Online / London, United Kingdom: Webinar: Space Mining: the High Frontier; 17:00-20:00 BST.
Jul 28 — Berkeley SETI Research Center, Breakthrough Listen, Online: SETI Breakthrough Listen – E.T. Signal Search; competition to find extraterrestrial signals in data from deep space, US$15k in prizes to be awarded on this date.
Jul 28 — Boeing Company, Online / Chicago IL: Boeing Q2 2021 Financial Results Telecom; 09:30 CDT.
Jul 28-30 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 Meeting #17.
THURSDAY
Jul 29 — ISS, Nauka Docking, ~405-km LEO: Russia Science module scheduled to dock to ISS Zvezda nadir port at 09:55 EDT, live coverage available.
Jul 29 — Northrop Grumman, Online / Falls Church VA: NG Q2 2021 Financial Results Telecom; 09:00 EDT.
Jul 29-30 — AlintaCorp, Celestial Space Technologies, et al, Johannesburg, South Africa and Online: Satellite Communication and Engineering Workshop; at Protea Hotel.
Jul 29 — Southern Delta-Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak: Shower mostly visible in Southern Hemisphere, meteors appear to radiate from Aquarius constellation; shower may produce up to 20 meteors per hour with speed of ~41 km/sec.
Jul 29 — Mars: 0.63° NNE of Regulus, 16:00.
FRIDAY
Jul 30 — United Launch Alliance, Boeing, Launch Atlas V / CST-100 Starliner 2nd Uncrewed Test Flight, SLC-41, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Boeing planning to launch second uncrewed Starliner spacecraft to ISS for NASA Commercial Crew Program; 14:53 EDT.
Jul 30 — The Space Show, Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Avi Shabtai, CEO of Ramon Space.
SATURDAY
Jul 31 — ISS, Boeing Starliner Docking, ~405-km LEO: Rendezvous and docking of Boeing STS-100 Starliner to ISS Harmony scheduled 15:06 EDT, live coverage available.
Jul 31 — British Interplanetary Society West Midlands Branch, Online / London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Additive Manufacture of Rocket Engine Combustion Chambers; by Amelia Stanton; 14:00 UTC.
Jul 31 — Moon: 1.72° SE of Uranus, 17:00.
Jul 31 — Mercury: 0.35° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 07:00.
SUNDAY
Aug 1 — Deep Space, Venus Orbit: Akatsuki delivering data on Venus ‘superrotation’ by observing nightside atmosphere circulation; follow up to recent phosphine findings theorize it may come from volcanoes.
Aug 1-6 — AOGS, Singaporeimagine, DFH Satellite Co, Singapore Office for Space Technology and Industry, Online / Singapore: 18th Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) Annual Meeting.
Aug 1 — Moon: At apogee (distance 404,439 km), 22:00.
Aug 1 — Mercury: At superior conjunction with Sun, 04:00.
Aug 1 — Saturn: At opposition in longitude, magnitude 0.2, 20:00.