March 18-24, 2024 / Vol 43, No 12 / Hawai`i Island, USA

ISS Undergoes Multi-Crew Changeovers and Cargo Arrival Heading into Expedition 71

The International Space Station, now more than 25 years in LEO and having 270+ Astronaut visitors, will see many rendezvous and departures this month of crewed and cargo spacecraft. Expedition 70 Commander Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and Loral O’Hara (arrived in Soyuz MS-24), and SpaceX Crew-8 members Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin are set to welcome Oleg Novitsky, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson and the first Belarus woman in space Marina Vasilevskaya via Soyuz MS-25 on March 21. Exp 70 will remain a 10-member crew until April 2 when O’Hara, and “Visiting Expedition 21 Crew” Novitsky and Vasilevskaya are planned to return to Earth in Soyuz-24 and Expedition 71 will officially begin. Kononenko and Chub are assigned for a one-year long mission that will end on September 24 (marking 375 continuous days). Cargo craft docked are NG Cygnus-20 (S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson), Progress 86 and 87 resupply ships. Set to launch March 23 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is the CRS-30 ship with nearly 3,000 kg of cargo including experiments C4 Photosynthesis in Space (APEX-09) which will grow 2 different grasses to test their ability to capture carbon dioxide in microgravity, the Nano Particle Haloing Suspension investigation to test how particles interact within an electrical field, and a Multi-resolution Scanner to be added to Astrobee to further test automated 3D sensing, mapping, and situational awareness systems. (Image Credits: NASA, Roscosmos, SpaceX, Northrop Grumman)

MONDAY 

☆ Mar 18 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 70 seven-member crew preparing for arrival of 3 others this week, planning change of command and start to Expedition 71 in early April.

☆ Mar 18 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 17 three-member crew working with in-orbit electroencephalogram (EEG) test to study brain adaptions / functions; Shenzhou 18 now planned to launch to TSS on May 24.

☾ = Moon activity

★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).

JAXA SLIM and Intuitive Machines Odysseus Await Lunar Daylight for Possible Reactivation

2 Moon Landers, JAXA SLIM and Intuitive Machines Odysseus, are in hibernation on the lunar surface following semi-successful landings and periods of operation. The US$121.5M SLIM is resting 55 m east of targeted site within Cyrillus crater (near Shioli crater) on Mare Nectaris (13.3160°S, 25.2510°E) following Jan 19 landing which, while meeting the primary objective of soft landing within a 100m ellipse, settled in an off-nominal orientation due to a failed engine nozzle. Operations were suspended after a brief time in which multiband spectroscopic camera (MBC) collected data and LEV-1 / LEV-2 mini rovers were deployed due to battery depletion, but resumed Jan 29 after the Sun moved sufficiently westward to power the craft’s photovoltaic panel. Activity was again suspended March 1 upon lunar nightfall, but may resume sometime during the upcoming lunar day. ~2,050 km to the southwest, near Malapert A crater (80.13°S, 1.44°E), the $118M Nova-C class Odysseus lander is also awaiting daybreak for what mission planners hope will be a second period of operation following a similarly off-nominal landing caused by an oversight which prevented operation of the craft’s laser rangefinder, affecting orientation after tip-over 1.5 km from targeted landing site. Lunar day begins around March 16 for SLIM, whereas the Sun rises later near the Moon South Pole location of Odysseus, around March 17. Controllers are likely to wait to issue activation commands until the angle of sunlight is optimal for their respective landers. (Image Credits: JAXA, IM)

☆ Mar 18 — CNSA, Launch Long March 8 / Queqiao 2 & Tiandu 1/2, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): Queqiao 2 (Magpie Bridge 2) satellite to establish communications between Moon far side and Earth to launch with Tiandu 1 and Tiandu 2 to test and verify a wider Queqiao constellation for lunar communications and navigation.

● Mar 18 — Aerospace Company, El Segundo CA / Online: Space Partnerships and Competition in the Pacific.

● Mar 18-21 — Via Satellite, Airbus, Ball Aerospace, Blue Origin, Eutelsat, et al, Washington DC: Satellite 2024 Conference and Exhibition.

● Mar 18-22 — National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences Space Science Week 2024.

☾ Mar 18 — Moon: 4.9° S of Castor, 16:00; 1.51° S of Pollux, 22:00.

TUESDAY

☾ NET Mar 19 — JAXA Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) Lander, Lunar Surface, 13.31°S, 25.25°E: Lunar lander on surface of Moon may awaken for a second time around this date if conditions allow.

☾ NET Mar 19 — Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C Lander, Lunar Surface, 80.13°S, 1.44°E: Lunar lander on surface of Moon being monitored from ground controllers, hoping to recharge / awaken around this date if conditions allow.

★ Mar 19 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / Live and Let Fly (NROL-123), Wallops Flight Facility VA: Launch of classified payload for National Reconnaissance Agency, 02:15 local time.

● Mar 19 — NASA, Washington DC: Media to Meet Space Station Astronauts at Headquarters; includes Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Woody Hoburg, Sultan Alneyadi, 09:30 EDT.

● Mar 19 — Maryland Space Business Roundtable (MSBR), Greenbelt MD: MSBR luncheon with Makenzie Lystrup; Director of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.