Russia Advances Lunar Robotic, Human Spaceflight Plans; Hosts SIRIUS 4-Month Moon Mission Simulation
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MONDAY Highlights… Feb 25 — NewSpace: Ad Astra Rocket Co. developing VASIMR engine toward Technology Readiness Level 5, the step prior to space flight test, with upcoming 100-hr test fire; Made In Space preparing Archinaut robotic assembly machine for launch to ISS this year; data from successful 5th powered flight of VSS Unity and research payloads being studied. Feb 25 — Solar System: InSight Mars Lander provides daily weather reports; ESA Mars Express radar observations suggest recent magma activity beneath planet surface; Akatsuki spacecraft observes bow-shaped waves in clouds of Venus; Neptune has newly-discovered moon named Hippocamp. Feb 25 — Galaxy: Gaia spacecraft finds 1,300 light-year “River of Stars” passing through Milky Way; NuSTAR mission observes multiple black holes within M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy and its companion M51b; Exoplanet Exploration Program documents the nearly 4,000 discovered exoplanets with illustrations and data. Feb 25 — Global: Israel Beresheet en route to Moon, will attempt landing ~Apr 11; ISRO planning Chandrayaan-2 launch end of March, and maiden flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle mid-year; IAU approves proposed Chang’e-4 landing site naming as Statio Tianhe “Milky Way Base”. Feb 25 — USA: Assembled Space Launch System Core Stage being readied to connect to the rest of the stage and carried to Final Assembly area later in 2019; Administrator Bridenstine says NASA has ‘big plans for Apollo 11 and wants to celebrate the future, not just the past’; SpaceX Crew Dragon could launch / dock this week to ISS with 180 kg of supplies. Feb 25 — Hawai’i: ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center begins its 14th year in Hilo, continues Maunakea Skies and other astronomy talks; environmental assessment draft for proposed spaceport on Hawaii Island could be completed in next 3-6 months; Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope reveals images of Stephan’s Quintet, a group of five colliding galaxies. |
= 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: Mercury (W), Mars (WSW), Uranus (SW); Morning Planets: Venus (SE), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (SE).
IEEE Aerospace Conference 2019 Gathers 600+ Attendees in Big Sky MT
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Feb 25 — National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee, Online: Teleconference: Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC) Meeting.
Feb 25 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: Seminar: Crater-hosted Deposits on Mars and Moon – Targets for Science and Exploration; by Sally Potter-McIntyre of Southern Illinois University, 15:30. Feb 25-27 — Aix-Marseille University, JPL / Caltech, Observatoire de Paris, et al, Marseille, France: Workshop on In Situ Exploration of the Ice Giants. Feb 25-27 — National Academies of Sciences, Irvine CA: Meeting: Near Earth Object Observations in the Infrared and Visible Wavelengths. Feb 25 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 CJ: Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU) 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. Feb 20 – Mar 6 — University of Hawaii, ESA, ILEWG, International MoonBase Alliance, 2,400-meter elevation, Mauna Loa: International, mix gender, 6-person crew to perform 1st Moon simulation at HI-SEAS habitat. Feb 24-26 — Space Exploration Alliance, NSS, AIAA, Moon Society, Federation of Galaxy Explorers, Planetary Society, SEDS, et al, Washington DC: SEA Legislative Blitz 2019; advocating for the exploration and development of Space. TUESDAYFeb 26 — Arianespace, Launch Soyuz / OneWeb Pilot, Sinnamary, French Guiana: Arianespace Soyuz rocket, designated VS21, to launch first 10 satellites into orbit for OneWeb. |
Feb 26-27 — Strauss Center for International, Security Law at University of Texas-Austin, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s College of Aviation, Austin TX: 5th Annual Space Traffic Management Conference: Progress through Collaboration.
Feb 26-28 — Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE), Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Tucson AZ: Massively multiplexed spectroscopy with MSE: Science, Project and Vision.
Feb 26 – Mar 1 — Canaveral Council of Technical Societies, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Space Florida, Economic Development Commission of Florida Space Coast., Cape Canaveral FL: 46th Space Congress: Light the Fire; Postponed to June.
Feb 26 — Moon: At last quarter, 01:29; 8.3° NNE of Antares, 07:00.
Feb 26 — Amor Asteroid 2019 CF4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
Feb 26 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 DR109: Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Feb 27 — NASA, Online: Request for Proposals due: Step Two: Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads.
Feb 27 — Foothill College, Los Altos Hills CA: Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series: The Worlds Under Our Feet: Caves from Earth to Mars and Beyond; by Penelope Boston from NASA Ames, 19:00.
Feb 27 – Mar 1 — University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany: Workshop: Planet Formation and Evolution 2019.
Feb 27 — Moon: 2.31° NNE of Jupiter, 06:00.
Feb 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 FU12: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
Feb 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 DE1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.051 AU)
THURSDAY
Feb 28 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Colloquium: As Worlds Turn: Planetary Spin, Climate, and Life; by Caleb Scharf from Columbia University.
FRIDAY
NET Mar — SpaceX, Launch Falcon Heavy / Arabsat 6A, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch Arabsat 6A communications satellite for Arabsat of Saudi Arabia to GTO.
NET Mar — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Radarsat Constellation Mission, SLC 4E, Vandenberg AFB CA: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch Radarsat Constellation Mission for Canadian Space Agency and MDA.
NET Mar-Apr — Hayabusa2, Asteroid 1999 JU3: JAXA Hayabusa2 planning to drop explosive small carry-on impactor (SCI) to generate a crater in order to gather subsurface material in its 2nd touchdown of Asteroid.
Mar 1 — San Mateo County Astronomical Society, San Mateo CA: Lecture: Near Earth Asteroid Hazards, Research and Space Missions; by Michael Busch, SETI Research Scientist, 19:00.
Mar 1-3 — SEDS Canada, University of Alberta, AlbertaSat, Undergraduate Astronomy Society, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Ascension
Mar 1 — Moon: 0.40° NE of Saturn, 09:00; with Saturn and Pluto within circle of diameter 4.67°, 17:00.
Mar 1 — Aten Asteroid 2016 EO84: Near-Earth Flyby (0.056 AU)
SATURDAY
Mar 2 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Dragon V2 (Crew Dragon) Demo 1, LC-39A, KSC FL: SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft uncrewed test flight to launch to ISS for NASA Commercial Crew Program, 02:48 ET and dock at ISS in less than 24 hours; if successful Crew Dragon could carry astronauts to ISS later this year, perhaps as early as July.
Mar 2-9 — Gemini Observatory, UH Hilo, IfA, CFHT, ‘Imiloa, Mauna Kea Observatories, NOAO, PISCES, Subaru Telescope, NAOJ, et al, Hilo HI: Journey through the Universe Week.
Mar 2-9 — IEEE, Big Sky MT: 2019 IEEE Aerospace Conference (40th).
Mar 2 — Moon: 1.23° SSE of Venus, 13:00.
Mar 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 CT4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)
SUNDAY
Mar 3 — Apollo 9 50th Observation, Nationwide USA: Third crewed Apollo mission with Astronauts James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, Russell L. Schweickart to test Command/Service Module, Lunar Module & critical technologies for landing on Moon, are celebrated today as NASA prepares SLS / Orion crew module and allocates funding for Moon payloads, commercial partnerships.
Mar 3-9 — Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), JHU, University of California at Santa Cruz, et al, Aspen CO: Conference: Into the Starlight – The End of the Cosmic Dark Ages.
Mar 3-9 — University of KwaZulu-Natal, National Research Foundation, Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Conference: Cosmology on Safari 2019.