Shenzhou 13 Taikonauts Prepare for Return to Earth from Tiangong Space Station in LEO
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MONDAY☆ Apr 11 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 67 crew may have 4-member Axiom-1 crew aboard until end of week; preparing for Russia EVA #52 for European Robotic Arm integration work; donning radiation vest, performing vascular aging experiment. ☆ Apr 11 — Tiangong Space Station, ~370-km LEO: Shenzhou 13 crew readying equipment, experiment data / samples, personal belongings for return to Earth, where physical and psychological evaluations will occur for safety and health; Shenzhou 14 Taikonauts readying for launch in ~1 month. Highlights… o NewSpace: Rocket Lab details upcoming attempt at Electron 1st stage reuse via helicopter hook / drogue parachute method; Xplore of Redmond acquiring Kubos Corporation / Major Tom satellite flight control software platform; EV startup Canoo to build Artemis Crew Transport Vehicle (successor to Astrovan). ☆ Solar System: China / Australia study of Insight lander data finds 47 Marsquakes within Cerberus Fossae region suggestive of convection activity; Pluto icy lava flows ~1B years old and 4-5 km high Wright Mons under analysis from New Horizons data. ☆ Galaxy: Australia / Germany astrophysicists posit multimessenger observation may verify theory that strong magnetic fields prevent stationary neutron stars from collapsing into black holes; SOFIA data allowing scientists to map 195-LY long filament of cold gas in MWG spiral arm. o Global: ESA to provide instrument suite for rover on 2024 ISRO / JAXA LUPEX mission to Moon South Pole; UN amends Minamata Convention on Mercury to ban Hg propellant for spacecraft by 2025; New CAST and CASIC facilities in Tianjin and Wuhan will be capable of producing 440 satellites / year when fully online. ● USA: Amazon contracts 18 Arianespace, 38 ULA,and 27 Blue Origin launches to deploy Project Kuiper 3,236-sat constellation; Teledyne-led consortium including Nissan, Sierra Space, and Arctic Cat to bid for NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle contract. ● Hawai’i: Study of sunspot data from Mount Wilson and Keck Observatories on 58 stars finds HD 166620 experiencing low activity, advancing understanding of ‘Maunder Minimum’; Protoplanet 93 AU from star AB Aurigae imaged by Hubble and Subaru Telescopes challenges gas giant formation theory. ☆ Apr 11 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 VB3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.105 AU) |
● = Terrestrial events, and…
o = International terrestrial events in local time. ★ = Space events, and… ☆ = 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); Morning Planets: Venus (SE), Mars (SE), Saturn (ESE).
Celebrating 61st Cosmonautics Day, 21st Yuri’s Night, 41st STS-1 Columbia, 50th Apollo 16
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Continued From… ● Mar 24 – May 26 — International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA Hawai’i), Online / Hawai’i Islands: ILO-X Moon Camera Naming Contest for HI Schools. ● Mar 26 – May 31 — AIAA LA-LV Section, Online: Women in Space Art Virtual Gallery. o Mar 28 – Apr 8 — United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Vienna, Austria: 61st Session COPUOS Legal Subcommittee Meeting. TUESDAYo Apr 12 — 61st Commemoration of Human Spaceflight / Cosmonautics Day, Worldwide: Celebrating Yuri Gagarin of Russia, the 1st human to orbit Earth on Vostok 1 spacecraft in 1961; the flight lasted 108 minutes at 27,400 kph and 327 km above Earth. ● Apr 12 — 41st Observation of STS-1 Columbia Flight, Nationwide USA: Commemorations occur today in honor of 1st ever NASA Space Shuttle Columbia carrying John Young and pilot Robert Crippen around Earth on 54.5-hour mission in 1981. o Apr 12 — 21st Yuri’s Night Celebrations, Global: Yuri’s Night 2022; annual worldwide party to celebrate Yuri Gagarin’s 1st flight into space and promote space exploration. ● Apr 12 — PTMSS, SRR, Colorado School of Mines, Online / Golden CO: Abstracts Due: Space Resources Roundtable 2022; being held Jun 7-10. ● Apr 12-14 — Applied Technology Institute (ATI), Online / Riva MD: ATI Course: Space Mission Structures from Concept to Launch (SMS); US$2,200 per person. ☆ Apr 12 — Moon: 4.7° NNE of Regulus, 05:00. ☆ Apr 12 — Jupiter: 0.10° NNW of Neptune, 05:00. ☆ Apr 12 — Apollo Asteroid 363599 (2004 FG11): Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU) ☆ Apr 12 — Aten Asteroid 2020 GE1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU) |
WEDNESDAY
★ Apr 13 — UP Aerospace, Launch SpaceLoft XL / Multi Payload, Spaceport America NM: Suborbital flight for NASA experiments, and secondary payloads for Celestis Aurora Flight.
● Apr 13-15 — LPI, USRA, NASA, JSC, Purdue University, West Lafayette IN: 5th Hands-On Training in Handling and Manipulation of Small Extraterrestrial Samples.
☆ Apr 13 — Mercury: At perihelion, 0.3075 AU from Sun, 12:00.
☆ Apr 13 — Amor Asteroid 2022 FY4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
☆ Apr 13 — Aten Asteroid 2022 DC5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
☆ Apr 13 — Aten Asteroid 2022 FG4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
THURSDAY
● Apr 14 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online / Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Cauê Borlina from John Hopkins University; 16:00.
☆ Apr 14 — Aten Asteroid 2022 FR3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.046 AU)
FRIDAY
☆ NET Apr 15 — Tiangong Space Station, ~370-km LEO: Shenzhou 13 Taikonauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu set to return to Earth after 6-month stay, setting record for longest human space mission for China.
★ Apr 15 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / NROL-85, Vandenberg SFB CA: Falcon 9 to launch classified payload for National Reconnaissance Office; first stage booster set to land on Landing Zone pad.
☆ Apr 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 FV1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)
☆ Apr 15 — Aten Asteroid 2021 GL16: Near-Earth Flyby (0.089 AU)
SATURDAY
● Apr 16 — Apollo 16 50th Observation, Nationwide USA: Tenth crewed Apollo mission, fifth to land on Moon and first to conduct Astronomy from the Moon with Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, Astronauts John W. Young, Thomas K. Mattingly II, Charles M. Duke Jr. are honored today as planning for Lunar Observatories, Moon Village, and permanent lunar settlement are underway.
● Apr 16 — AIAA LA-LV Section, Online: Aerospace Art with James Vaughan; 11:00 PDT.
☆ Apr 16 — Moon: Moon 4.5° NNE of Spica, 06:00; Full Pink Moon, 08:56.
SUNDAY
☆ Apr 17 — Mercury: 1.97° NNW of Uranus, 17:00.
☆ Apr 17 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 GC1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)
☆ Apr 17 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 HE5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)
☆ Apr 17 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 FV4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.087 AU)