August 8-14, 2022 / Vol 41, No 32 / Hawai`i Island, USA

National Science Foundation Scoping Meetings on Thirty Meter Telescope Taking Place Across Hawaii Island

Public input on proposed ELT-class Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea being sought by NSF for use on Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Community Engagement Plan (CEP) and for consideration in relation to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106. In-person comment opportunities are being held near population centers around the Big Island of Hawaii: Tuesday Aug 9 in Hilo, Wednesday Aug 10 in Nāʻālehu, Thursday Aug 11 in Kona, and Friday Aug 12 in (Waimea) Kamuela. Written and electronic comments for the NSF EIS and draft CEP will be accepted until September 17, 2022, while comment period on NHPA Section 106 review will be announced at a later time. CEP is anticipated to be finalized by end of 2022; NSF is targeting summer 2023 for draft EIS release / final EIS by summer of 2024, with final funding decision due in fall of 2024. 4 preliminary alternatives under consideration include: (1) No action / funding, (2) Investment in the construction and operation of TMT on Mauna Kea without / (3) with an NSF-facilitated plan to define and practice responsible astronomy in Hawaii in partnership with the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, MKO, and the affected Hawaiian community, and (4) moving the project to Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Canary Islands. (Image Credits: NSF, W. M. Keck, Google Maps)

MONDAY

☆ Aug 8 — ISS, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 67 working with air sampling / monitoring, plant growth experiments; Station has 5 craft docked: Soyuz MS-21, Dragon CRS-25, Progress 80 & 81, and Crew-4 which is set to depart Sep 10 with four crew.

☆ Aug 8 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 14 three-member crew in Tianhe and Wentian modules, planning to test big and small mechanical arms, prepare for EVAs, set up refrigerators for upcoming experiments from 4° to -80° Celsius

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’).

36th Annual Utah SmallSat Conference Projects Science / Investigations Beyond LEO

The 2022 Utah State University Small Satellite Conference in Logan UT is being held August 6-11 with theme ‘Out of this World’.  There will be ~115 technical talks, 5 poster sessions, 17 NASA short talks, swifites (3-min talks), 40 side meetings, a student competition, exhibition and (pictured L-R) Keynote by Rocket Lab Founder Peter Beck. Some of technical talks are on Capstone (Tom Gardner, Advanced Space), Near Earth Asteroid Scout (Les Johnson, MSFC), GOSA – European Offshore Spaceport (Andreas Stamminger, OHB System), Annual Industry Survey (Carlos Niederstrasser, Northrop Grumman), and sessions on Propulsion, Next on the Pad, Advanced Concepts, Communications, and Science / Mission Payloads. Among the side meetings there will be a SpaceX Rideshare program update, Lunar Missions Workshop by Surrey, New Zealand Ground Stations overview, and a Japan Tech Update with Kyocera Corp, Interstellar Technologies, Nikon, Warpspace and Mitsubishi Electric. August dates are already announced for the 2023-2026 Small Sat annual conferences. 75 different countries have at least one satellite orbiting Earth, and according to UNOOSA, as of April 2021, there were 7,389 individual satellites in space, while Euroconsult projects 17,000 will be launched by 2030. Next up for LEO are the Starlink Group 4-26 batch of 53 satellites scheduled Aug 9, and ready for deep space are 10 CubeSats via Artemis 1 launch to the Moon NET Aug 29. (Image Credits: USU, University of Miami)

o Aug 8-11 — International Astronomical Union, Busan, S Korea: IAU Symposium 370: Winds of Stars and Exoplanets and IAU Symposium 373: Resolving the Rise and Fall of Star Formation in Galaxies.

Continued From…

★ Jun 28 – Nov 13 — CAPSTONE, Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit Trajectory: Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment heading to operating position at NRHO / cislunar space.

o Aug 2-11 — International Astronomical Union, Hybrid / Busan, S Korea and Online: XXXI (31st) IAU General Assembly; at Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO).

☆ Aug 4 – Dec 16 — Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), Lunar Trajectory: South Korea ‘Danuri’ to search for lunar resources, test technologies using Ballistic Lunar Transfer, 3 highly elliptical Earth orbits to initiate a trans-lunar injection and arrive at 100-km lunar orbit.

● Aug 6-11 — Utah State University, Logan UT: 36th annual Small Satellite Conference; Keynote by Peter Beck of Rocket Lab.

☆ NET Aug 7 – ISRO, Launch Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), Satish Dhawan Space Center, India: Inaugural launch of SSLV rocket from ‘First Launch Pad’ while Small Satellite Launch Complex (SSLC) is being built for future launches.

● Aug 7-10 — American Astronautical Society Space Flight Mechanics Committee, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Astrodynamics Technical Committee, Charlotte NC: 2022 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.

TUESDAY

☆ Aug 9 — ISS, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 67 NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins talks with JPL / Caltech from ISS; live coverage available, 12:55 EDT.

★ Aug 9 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 4-26, LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Falcon 9 to launch with next batch of Starlink internet satellites, first stage booster to land on a drone ship in Atlantic Ocean.

● Aug 9 — Space Foundation, Online / Colorado Springs CO: Symposium 365 Seminar: Start Here for Space / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; 13:00-13:30.