Articles by: SPC

July 22-28, 2019 / Vol 38, No 29 / Hawai’i Island, USA

Moon, Mars, Jupiter & Beyond: Plans and Missions

A robust week of lunar and interplanetary discussion starts with the 6th NASA SSERVI Exploration Science Forum, set to occur July 23-25, preceded by 10th annual Lunar and Small Bodies Graduate Forum (LunGradCon) on July 22 – both events are to be held at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Concurrently, Caltech is hosting 9th International Conference on Mars July 23-25, followed by 37th Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) at its Pasadena Campus. These annual meetings are especially timely given the USA Moon to Mars initiative, Artemis 2024 program and recent comments by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, “I am not willing to rule out 2033 at all” regarding a crewed Mars mission, continuing “given the fact that we have accelerated our path to the Moon… does that accelerate our path to Mars?”. Beyond Mars, national space programs of USA, Europe and China are increasingly setting sights further: to Solar System planetary mass-center Jupiter and its dynamic moons. Juno, an American probe, is currently in orbit around Jupiter, and Europa Clipper, a planned mission to explore the ice encrusted Europa, is expected to launch 2023. ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is also expected to launch in 2023 to explore the Galileo moons, and China has announced its intention to reach Jupiter, with Yang Yuguang of CASIC stating, “Jupiter …may serve as a springboard for human exploration of the space outside the solar system”. (Image Credits: NASA Caltech, JPL, Ames Research Center)

MONDAY

Highlights…
 Jul 22 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 60 new crew members Morgan, Parmitano, Skvortsov planned to be adjusting to ISS, working with Hague, Koch and Commander Ovchinin to transfer cargo from Soyuz MS-13, Progress 72P, scheduled Dragon CRS-18; planning future EVA to install commercial International Docking Adapter-3; working with cellular experiments and muscle studies.

Jul 22 — NewSpace: ispace Japan holding Hakuto-R exhibit at Space Museum TeNQ in honor of Apollo@50; SpaceX assessing results from recent test of Starhopper, hoping to accelerate DM-2 Crew Dragon craft production / flight; Momentus total investment reaches US$34M.

Jul 22 — Solar System: Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, Vikram lander & Pragyan rover anticipated to be on journey to Moon to land at 70° S latitude; Hayabusa2 planning to drop Minerva-2 rover onto Ryugu; China Tiangong-2 is deorbiting in preparation for next-gen Space Station.

Jul 22 — Galaxy: Gaia makes first ever direct measurements of ‘galactic bar’ at Milky Way center; Gemini South Planet Imager observes hundreds of exoplanets and finds differences between brown dwarfs and large exoplanets; System Sounds creates video of first 4,000 exoplanets discovered.

Jul 22 — Global: Kalpana Chawla Scholarship will support 4 students to join ISU SSP to help realize the First Indian Woman on the Moon; ESA to supply Service Module for Artemis-3 mission to Moon; Russia scheduled to launch first UAE astronaut, in discussions to send astronauts from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

Jul 22 — USA: VP Pence restates USA commitment to land people at Moon South Pole by 2024; Boeing Starliner scheduled for uncrewed test in Sep and crewed flight before end of 2019; NASA and UK Space Agency sign statement of intent to cooperate on Moon exploration.

Jul 22 — Hawai’i: Big telescope contested on Mauna Kea as construction planned to begin; Subaru Telescope using MKID Exoplanet Detector to find Earth-size exoplanets; NASA awards contract to UH Institute for Astronomy to continue managing Infrared Telescope Facility.

Jul 22 — Juno, Perijove 21 / 20th Science Flyby, Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft in 53-day orbit to come within ~3,500 km of Jupiter cloud tops during Perijove 21, its 21st close flyby of Jupiter and 20th science flyby with instruments turned on.

= 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: Jupiter (S), Saturn (SE); Morning Planets: Uranus (E), Neptune (S).

Southeast Asia Hosts 16th AOGS in Singapore, 6 IconSpace in Malaysia, 7th Vietnam Summer School

The 16th Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) meeting is set for July 28 – August 2 in Singapore to promote geosciences, specifically in Asia and Oceania. The conference will feature 8 sciences sections, subsection talks, poster viewings and distinguished lectures. Some prominent speakers are (L-R) Philip Li-Fan Liu from National University of Singapore, Andrew Roberts from Australian National University, and Wenjiao Xiao from Chinese Academy of Sciences. The 6th International Conference on Space Science and Communication (IconSpace 2019) July 28-30 with theme ‘Advancing Space Science for Societal Sustainability’ is being held in Johor, Malaysia and sponsored by ANGKASA, UKM and IEEE. 5 Keynotes will be given by representatives from UTM, Kyutech Japan, Covenant University Nigeria, USDA and National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN). The 7th Vietnam Summer School of Science is being held July 22-25 at Quy Nhon. The nonprofit organization teaches science and professional skills for young people in Vietnam. Among other space / science education and enterprise efforts in Southeast Asia are National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT), Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), Singapore Space and Technology Association (SSTA), Vietnam National Space Center (VNSC) and its 2018 telescope at Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park – the second space observatory after the one built in Nha Trang in September 2017. (Image Credits: AOGS, IconSpace, VNSC, LAPAN, ILOA, et al)

 Jul 22 — Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd. (iSpace), Launch Shian Quxian-1S (Hyperbola-1S) Test Flight 1, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China: Commercial company iSpace to launch first orbital mission 13:00 local time carrying CAS 7B amateur radio satellite and other small payloads.

Jul 22 — Ames Research Center, NASA, Moffett Field CA: 9th Lunar and Small Bodies Graduate Conference 2019 (LunGranCon2019).

Jul 22-24 — China National Space Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhuhai, China: 4th International Conference on Lunar and Deep Space Exploration.

Jul 22-25 — USRA, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, JPL, Caltech, Pasadena CA: 9th International Conference on Mars; to discuss science results from past and active robotic missions, telescopic studies, laboratory analyses of SNC meteorites, terrestrial analog studies, and numerical models.

Jul 22-25 — Hanoi National University, Vietnam Meetings Fund, Quy Nhon, Vietnam: 7th Vietnam Summer School of Science (VSSS 07).

Jul 22 — Venus: 6.0° S of Pollux, 07:00.

Continued from…

Jan 2019 – Sep 2020 — New Horizons, Kuiper Belt: Full data from spacecraft 7 instruments during KBO Ultima Thule flyby to be transmitted to Earth over this time period.

Apr 13 – Sep 2 — Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Flight, Multiple Locations: Destination Moon, traveling exhibition of historic Apollo 11 artifacts.

Jun 24 – Aug 23 — International Space University, ESA, Strasbourg, France: ISU 32nd Space Studies Program (SSP 2019).

Jul 11-28 — 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.

Jul 15-26 — University of Hawai’i, Hilo HI: Software Systems for Astronomy summer school.

TUESDAY

Jul 23 — Chandra X-ray Observatory, HEO: NASA spacecraft in extended mission phase reaches 20th full year / begins 21st year of operations in Space; instruments able to detect X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope; launched 1999.

Jul 23 — W. M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela HI: Keck Talks / Cosmic Events: A Primitive Planetesimal in the Kuiper Belt Explored by New Horizons; presented by Will Grundy from Lowell Observatory, 19:00 at Kahilu Theatre.

Jul 23-25 — NASA, SSERVI, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA: NASA Exploration Science Forum 2019.

WEDNESDAY

Jul 24 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 5 / Intelsat 39 & EDRS-C, Kourou, French Guiana: Arianespace to launch Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA249 with Intelsat 39 and EDRS-C communications satellites; launch window 15:30-17:47.

Jul 24 — Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Titusville FL: Welcome Home Celebration: Apollo 11 Splashdown 50 Years Later; featuring historic footage and tours of classic cars, 10:00.

Jul 24 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with Apollo Flight Controllers; followed by Apollo 11 Mission Splashdown Party.

Jul 24 — Moon: at last quarter, 15:19.

Jul 24 — Mercury: 5.6° SSW of Venus, 17:00.

Jul 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2015 HM10: Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)

THURSDAY

Jul 25 — Gaia, Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point: Gaia spacecraft 5-year originally scheduled nominal mission ends this month; extended mission goals in planning.

Jul 25 — ULA, Launch Delta 4 / GPS 3 SV02, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket to launch U.S. Air Force second 3rd-generation navigation satellite for Global Positioning System; launch window 10:55-11:21.

Jul 25 — Moon: 4.5° SSE of Uranus, 11:00.

FRIDAY

Jul 26 — Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), NASA, Pasadena CA: 37th Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Meeting; 08:15-13:00 at Caltech.

Jul 26 — Moon: 7.9° SSE of Pleiades, 22:00.

Jul 26 — Aten Asteroid 2010 PK9: Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU)

SATURDAY

Jul 27 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Amos 17, Cape Canaveral, FL: Falcon 9 to launch Amos 17 communications satellite to provide broadband connectivity over Africa, Middle East and Europe.

Jul 27 — British Interplanetary Society, Leicester, United Kingdom: British Interplanetary Society (BIS) 74th Annual General Meeting.

Jul 27 — Mauna Kea Visitor Information Center, Mauna Kea HI, 2,800-meter level: Malalo o ka Po Lani; Manu and Leilehua Yuen talk on Stories of the Summer Stars; Mānaiakalani, Humu, and ʻIwahine are among prominent constellations, Kāloakūlua Moon is in the month of Hinaiaʻeleʻele; 18:00 followed by stargazing program.

Jul 27-28 — One Giant Leap Australia, Kildare Catholic College, Wagga Wagga, Australia: Meet the Scientists from NASA JPL; 2-day event to celebrate 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 lunar landing featuring Tom Nolan, Todd Barber, Deb Brice, Rachel Zimmermann-Brachman and Michael Malaska.

Jul 27 — Moon: 2.25° N of Aldebaran, 15:00.

Jul 27 — Amor Asteroid 2019 NT1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)

SUNDAY

Jul 28-30 — Space Science Centre (ANGKASA), Institute of Climate Change of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Johor, Malaysia: IconSpace 2019: The 6th International Conference on Space Science and Communication: Advancing Space Science for Societal Sustainability.

Jul 28 – Aug 2 — Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS), Singapore: 16th Annual Meeting of AOGS.