Articles by: SPC

July 8-14, 2019 / Vol 38, No 27 / Hawai’i Island, USA

India Rising: Chandrayaan-2 Moon Launch and India-Russia Astronaut Cooperation

India Space Research Organization is in final preparation for Chandrayaan-2 launch atop Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III on July 15 for planned Sep 6 landing in lunar South Pole region. Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, lander and rover carry 14 payloads including spectrometers, a solar X-ray monitor, a seismometer, and a NASA-provided laser retroreflector. Vikram lander and Pragyan rover are set to land between Manzinus C and Simpellius N craters at 70° S latitude. ISRO signs agreement with Russia Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Roscosmos, for astronaut training and medical examination. The ISRO Human Space Flight Center in Bengaluru is the site of local astronaut training. Gaganyaan orbital mission ~2022 is planned with a three-person crew, and likely to include India first woman citizen in space, according to ISRO Chair K Sivan. Roscosmos hopes to send another India astronaut aboard a Soyuz to visit the International Space Station 2022. ISRO also continues cooperation with NASA, which has launched Indian-American woman Astronauts Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. Chandrayaan-1, nearly lost in lunar polar orbit, is located and tracked by Goldstone (California) and Green Bank, Virginia radio telescopes. The GSLV and smaller Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will be used for future missions including a space station, the Aditya L1 mission to study the Sun, and a spacecraft to Venus in 2023, in addition to the currently operating Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission. (Image Credits: ISRO)

 

MONDAY

Highlights…
 Jul 8 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 60 three-person crew working with microalgae samples, Matroshka radiation experiment, DNA repair investigation, protein crystals, probiotics, nanoparticle drug delivery systems, and updating components for Water Recovery System.

Jul 8 — NewSpace: Orbit Beyond to begin manufacturing operations in Volusia County FL for its planned Z-01 lunar landing Sep 2020; China OneSpace aims for 2-4 additional launches this year with OS-X and perhaps OS-M rockets; Virgin Orbit partners with ANA Airlines to bring satellite launch services to Japan.

Jul 8 — Solar System: Chang’e-4 lander & Yutu-2 rover head into lunar night 7, CE-3 lander likely to awaken this week for its lunar day 71; while Juno collects data at Jupiter, scientists may have replicated metallic hydrogen which could be in ultra-heavy planets; Japan study shows how Pluto and other outer solar system objects formed.

Jul 8 — Galaxy: Third discovery of fast radio burst occurs just one week after second FRB discovery; Chandra X-ray observatory helps measure spin of supermassive black holes; European Southern Observatory observes shrouds of gas around distant galaxies.

Jul 8 — Global: ESA announces request for proposals for lunar habitation module at Moon and Beyond meeting in Switzerland; Thailand company mu Space signs satellite agreements with 7 companies in Asia-Pacific region; Russia working to launch Nauka module for ISS NET June 2020.

Jul 8 — USA: NASA selects 12 Lunar Science Technology payloads for Commercial Lunar Payload Services; Orion spacecraft on track to support human lunar landing 2024, passes successful Ascent Abort AA-2 test; NASA Mobile Launcher at KSC Launch Complex 39B for testing prior to Artemis missions.

Jul 8 — Hawai’i: Keck Observatory Cosmic Web Imager shows gas filaments spiraling into young galaxies; UH astronomers are part of team that concludes interstellar object ‘Oumuamua has natural origin; CFHT receives Pualu Award for Community Education from North Kohala Chamber of Commerce.

Jul 8 — PBS, Broadcast: Premiere of ‘Chasing the Moon‘.

= 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 (SE), Saturn (SE); Morning Planets: Venus (ENE), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE).

American Astronautical Society Hosts 1st John Glenn Memorial Symposium; Commemorations Abound as USA Accelerates to Apollo11@50

Named in honor of John Glenn, first American to orbit Earth, the inaugural aerospace conference of AAS is being held in Cleveland, Ohio July 10-12. Subject matter applicable to both aeronautic and astronautic pursuits with theme ‘Powering Innovation from the Sky to the Stars’ will be discussed. Technical topics include avionics, propulsion and hypersonics. Human factors, policy and medicine are also to be considered. Symposium participants will enjoy a tour of Plum Brook Station, part of NASA Glenn Research Center located near Sandusky, Ohio. Plum Brook is home to advanced operational space simulation testing environments, such as the Space Power Facility thermal vacuum chamber – the world’s largest at 37 meters high and 30 meters in diameter. Astronauts Janet Kavandi, Franklin Chang Díaz and Charlie Bolden are among the notable scheduled presenters. A plethora of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon landing will also commence in the coming week, kicking off with the PBS premiere of ‘Chasing the Moon’, a film by documentarian Roger Stone that “reimagines the race to the Moon for a new generation”. On July 13, Apollo XI 50th Anniversary Gala with Buzz Aldrin at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, will treat attendees to dinner with Aldrin and other astronauts under the decommissioned Air Force One which carried Apollo 11 crew on an around-the-world tour upon return to Earth. (Image Credits: NASA)

 Jul 8 — California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco CA: Lecture: Science Expeditions to Planetary Analogs; featuring Rosalba Bonaccorsi of SETI Institute & NASA Ames, 19:30.

Jul 8-11 — University of Montreal, National Solar Observatory, Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, NASA GSFC, et al, Canton Orford, Quebec, Canada: Space Climate 7 Symposium.

Jul 8-12 — IPPW Organizing Committee, Oxford University, JPL, Vorticity Ltd, NASA Langley Research Center, Airbus, Oxford, United Kingdom: International Planetary Probe Workshop 2019 (IPPW 19).

Continued from…

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

May 20 – Aug 9 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: 31st Annual Planetary Science Summer Seminar.

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

Jul 7-12 — Astronomical Society of Australia, St. Lucia, Australia: Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) Annual Scientific Meeting and General Meeting.

Jul 7-12 — Hokkaido University, National Institute of Polar Research, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of JAXA., Sapporo, Japan: 82nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society.

TUESDAY

Jul 9-12 — IAA, Potenza, Italy: IAA Regional Symposium of Space Debris Observations from Basilicata.

Jul 9 — Moon: At first quarter, 00:55; 7.3° NNE of Spica, 10:00.

WEDNESDAY

NET Jul 10 — 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 10-12 — American Astronautical Society, Cleveland OH: AAS John Glenn Memorial Symposium: Powering Innovation from the Sky to the Stars; Charlie Bolden, Janet Kavandi and others to discuss innovation in aerospace technologies and exploration.

THURSDAY

Jul 11 — Hayabusa2, Asteroid 1999 JU3: JAXA Hayabusa2 planning to do final touch-and-go sequence for sample material collection.

Jul 11, 12 — JPL, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA: von Kármán Lecture Series 2019: Apollo 50th Anniversary.

Jul 11-17 — NASA, Volcano HI: NASA Planetary Volcanology Workshop in Hawaii: Analogs to Volcanic Features and Processes in Satellite and Rover Images.

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.

FRIDAY

Jul 12 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Proton / Spektr-RG, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Proton booster and Block DM upper stage to launch Spektr-RG X-ray observatory, a joint project between Roscosmos and Germany DLR.

Jul 12 — ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, Hilo HI: Navigating the Night Sky; interactive program with observations from Mauna Kea visitor information station along with presentations on navigational stars and Hawaii star compass, 19:00-20:00, US$10 for non-members.

Jul 12 — Amor Asteroid 2016 NJ33: Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)

Jul 12 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 KD: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)

SATURDAY

Jul 13 — Buzz Aldrin Ventures, Moon Express, Sublime Design Studio, The Charles Group, US1 Travel, Simi Valley CA: Apollo XI 50th Anniversary Gala with Buzz Aldrin; and Charlie Duke, Walt Cunningham, Dave Scott; at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Jul 13 — Mt Tam Astronomy Nights, San Francisco Amateur Astronomers and Wonderfest, Mt. Tamalpais State Park CA: Lecture: Cassini’s Spectacular Final Year at Saturn; by Matthew Tiscareno from SETI Institute.

Jul 13 ­­— Hawai’i Public Library, EAO, Keck Observatory, CFHT, IfA, West Hawaii Astronomy Club, Kamuela HI: Astrobash! At Thelma Parker Memorial Public and School Library, 10:00-13:00.

Jul 13-20 — Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, Apogeo Spatial, SpaceNews, Denver CO: ApolloPalooza 2019.

Jul 13-20 — University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson AZ: Moon Week; planetarium shows, special presentations, activities and exhibits starting with Hello Moon Night and ending with One Giant Leap Day!

Jul 13 — Moon: 7.8° NNE of Antares, 01:00; 2.31° NNE of Jupiter, 11:00.

Jul 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 MW1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)

SUNDAY

Jul 14 — France 24, Paris, France: The Moon Landing Revisited; film co-directed by James André, Sylvain Rousseau and Sylvie Rottman to be made public 22:10.

Jul 14-18 — Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel MD: Conference: The Pluto System After New Horizons; international science conference focusing on Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt.

Jul 14-19 — University of Melbourne, Curtin University, Fitzroy Island, Australia: Conference: ‘Barefoot EoR’ – The First Billion Years of the Universe.