February 14-20, 2022 / Vol 41, No 7 / Hawai`i Island, USA

ISS Expedition 66 to Oversee Arrival of Progress 80P and NG-17 SS Piers Sellers This Week

Current International Space Station 7-member crew, Commanded by Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, is engaged with science, station maintenance and cargo resupply ships. MS-19 / Progress 80P cargo craft is set to launch on Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Baikonur February 14, arriving and docking at ISS Zenith (space-facing) port of Poisk module Feb 17. It will be the 172nd flight of a Progress spacecraft, carry ~2,350 kg of supplies and remain in space for 196 days to support Exp 66 and 67. Northrop Grumman scheduled launch of Antares 230+ rocket Feb 19 will loft Cygnus NG-17 cargo craft from MARS Pad 0A at Wallops Island VA. Dubbed SS Piers Sellers after the Astronaut and climate scientist, NG-17 will rendezvous and be captured by Astronauts using Canadarm2 Feb 21, carry ~3,700 kg of cargo and remain berthed for ~100 days. Some of the experiments aboard include a new combustion facility, a system to test hydroponic and aeroponic techniques, lithium-ion battery demonstration, and cancer drug research experiment. Marking the start of Exp 67, Shkaplerov and Flight Engineers Pyotr Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei will return to Earth March 28; followed by SpaceX Crew 3 Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Matthias Maurer and Kayla Barron late April. Before September, first-time spaceflights will be accomplished by Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov, Dmitry Petelin, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins and Francisco Rubio. (Image Credits: NASA, Roscosmos, Northrop Grumman, ESA, ISS partners)

MONDAY

Feb 14 – ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 66 seven-member crew working with Electromagnetic Levitator, Veggie Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System, food storage / footprint assessments; NASA sharing details of 2031 potential ISS decommissioning.

Feb 14 – Tiangong Space Station, ~370-km LEO: Shenzhou 13 crew confirmed to depart space on / near April 13, completing 6 months aboard; Shenzhou 14 crew yet to be announced, will launch in May.

Europe Strives for Independent Access to Human Spaceflight as World Deliberates on the Peaceful Use of Space

ESA Director Josef Aschbacher wants Europe to have their own ship to explore “the next economic zone, which is the moon [sic] and beyond”. To that end, Aschbacher hopes three “accelerators” (Space for a Green Future, Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response, Protection of Space Assets) and two “inspirators” (European Human Space Exploration, Search for ET) first articulated in ‘Matosinhos Manifesto’ adopted at Intermediate Ministerial Meeting in Portugal Nov 19 2021 will be ratified at European Space Summit 2022, being held Feb 16. The high-level gathering is to open with EU Competitive Council Meeting on Space, which will be addressed by Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market; a ministerial level ESA Council Meeting is to follow. Meanwhile, UN COPUOS 59th Scientific and Technical Subcommittee will be ongoing from Feb 7-18, with presentations including General Exchange of Views with Angola, Cuba, Iran, The Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Thailand participating. Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities will be addressed by a panel consisting of Algeria, ESA, Mexico, Open Lunar Foundation, SKAO, South Korea and Venezuela. Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Secure World Foundation, UK and USA are among the entities to consider Space Debris concerns, while China will present on Space Weather. UN-declared International Day of Women and Girls in Science will be celebrated Feb 11, with global activities coordinated by IAU outreach program Women and Girls in Astronomy. (Image Credits: ESA, UN, USUNVIE, Wikipedia)

Feb 14 – Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz 2.1a / MS-19 (Progress 80P), Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Scheduled launch of Soyuz for 80th Progress cargo delivery ship to ISS.

 Feb 14-18 – ESO, Online: The Present and Future of Astronomy.

Feb 14 — Moon: 3.4° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 17:00.

 Feb 14 — Aten Asteroid 2020 DF: Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)

Continued From…

 Nov 4 – Jun 29 – Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, NASA Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender crew of 6 participating in 8-month space / lunar simulation mission SIRIUS-21 (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station).

 Dec 20 – Mar 4 – JAXA, Online / Tokyo, Japan: Accepting applications for Japan Astronaut Candidates.

NET Jan 15 – Astra, Launch Rocket 3 LV0009 / S4 Crossover, Pacific Spaceport Complex, Kodiak Island AK: Astra to launch S4 Crossover (attached to the second stage) technology demo mission by NearSpace Launch to obtain flight heritage testing for a prototype payload host platform.

 Feb 7-18 – United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Vienna, Austria: 59th Session COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee.

 Feb 11 – Mar 8 – International Astronomical Union, Global: Women and Girls in Astronomy.

TUESDAY

Feb 15 – NASA Planetary Science Advisory Committee (PSAC), Online / Washington DC: PSAC Meeting 2022; 12:00-18:00 EST.

Feb 15 – LPI, NASA, USRA, Online: Sharing Planetary Science: Planetary Scientist Engagement Session – De-Jargoning your Talks; 15:00 CST.