SpaceIL, SpaceX and Space Business Roundtable Support Lunar Landers
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MONDAY Highlights…
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SpaceIL Beresheet, first privately funded lunar lander to reach a launch pad, prepares at SpaceX Launch Processing Facility for launch on a Falcon 9 along with the Indonesia PSN 6 and Blue Canyon S5 satellite. Beresheet, a competitor for the former Google XPrize, would be the smallest spacecraft to land on Moon at 585 kg. Spaceflight Industries manages the payload. Upon Falcon 9 reaching GTO, Beresheet is planned to separate then slowly increase its apogee until captured by lunar gravity. Swiss RUAG Space contributes 3D-printed landing legs. Voyage to Mare Serenitatis landing site between sites of Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 is expected to take approximately 8 weeks. The lander is designed to transmit photos and video using a high-resolution camera system along with scientific measurements. NASA is providing a Laser Retroreflector Array and use of the Deep Space Network for communications. Israel Aerospace Industries is planning to offer future lunar payload delivery for ESA through prime contractor Germany OHB Systems. In Washington DC, Space Business Roundtable meets Feb 21 with subjects of the Moon and lunar landers. Panelists include Dan Hendrickson of Astrobotic, Sarah Noble of NASA, and Ben Roberts of Moon Express. Panel will explain why the time has come to focus on the Moon. Other subjects include landers, commercialization, and maintaining a sustainable presence on the Moon. (Image Credits: SpaceIL, Space Business Roundtable, SSL, Blue Canyon)
Feb 18 — 
Feb 18 — NewSpace: Second 
Feb 18 — USA: NASA reveals ambitious plans for 
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Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mars (WSW), Uranus (SW); Morning Planets: Venus (SE), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (S).
Hayabusa2 to Attempt Ryugu First Touchdown, Surface Sampling on Feb 22
JAXA asteroid sample-return spacecraft, Hayabusa2, orbiting NEA 162173 Ryugu is set to perform its 1st surface sample collection on February 22 at 08:00 JST. The backup window occurs the week of March 4. Hayabusa2 will approach the 1-km wide Cg-type asteroid, touch its 1-meter long sampling horn to the surface and fire a projectile (5-gram tantalum bullet) 300 m/s. The ejected particles will be collected by a catcher at the top of the horn. Hoping to collect at least 0.1 g of material, the system can hold up to 10 g per collection. Subsurface collection is planned for March-April. A 2.5-kg copper projectile from Small Carry-on Impactor will be shot at Ryugu from 500-meter altitude, reaching ~2 km/s. It is expected to create a 2-meter diameter crater, which will be visited by Hayabusa2 after ~2 weeks when the debris has settled. The 3rd touchdown using the sampling horn is planned for April-June. The final MINERVA rover will be released onto the surface in July, and Hayabusa2 will remain at Ryugu for further observations / science until it departs for Earth December 2019. If successful, it will return to Earth December 2020 to release the capsule through Earth atmosphere, where it is planned to land at Woomera Test Range in Western Australia. (Image Credits: JAXA, ISAS) |
Feb 18-22 — Australian Astronomical Observatory, ESO, Australia Academy of Science, Sydney, Australia: 2019 Elizabeth and Frederick White Research Conference on Linking Galaxies from the Epoch of Initial Star Formation to Today.
Continued from…
TUESDAY
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Feb 19 — National Air and Space Museum, Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute, Washington DC: Space Policy and History Forum: Presidential Leadership and Space: Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan; featuring John Logsdon.
Feb 19 — Moon: 2.41° NNE of Regulus, 05:00; Full Snow Super Moon, 05:53.
Feb 19 — Apollo Asteroid 2013 MD8: Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Feb 20 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Apollo Missions: The Mechanics of Rendezvous & Docking; by David Baker, 19:00.
Feb 20 — SpaceIL, Israel Aerospace Industries, Orlando FL: Press Conference on eve of scheduled first commercial lander launching to Moon, 09:00 EDT.
Feb 20-22 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA, Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), Universities Space Research Association Headquarters, Columbia MD: In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) 2019: Developing a New Space Economy Through Lunar Resources and Their Utilization: A Stepped Approach to Establishing Cislunar Commerce Through Science and Exploration; Postponed.
Feb 20 – Mar 6 — University of Hawaii, ESA, ILEWG, International MoonBase Alliance, 2,400-meter elevation, Mauna Loa: Crew to perform 1st Moon simulation.
Feb 20 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 CY1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.008 AU)
Feb 20 — Apollo Asteroid 455176 (1999 VF22): Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)
THURSDAY
Feb 21 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / PSN 6, SpaceIL Lunar Lander, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: Indonesia PSN 6 communications satellite and 1st spacecraft from Israel to launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 at 20:45 EST; lunar lander Beresheet “Genesis” will take 2 month journey to Moon surface, attempt landing at Mare Serenitatis ~28.0°N, 17.5°E; 2-meter diameter, 1.5-meter tall, 585-kg wet mass (dry <200 kg) lander contains science experiments, digital time capsule, magnetometer, and Laser Retroreflector Array contributed by NASA.
Feb 21 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Soyuz / EgyptSat-A, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: An RSA Soyuz rocket to launch EgyptSat-A Earth observation satellite built by RSC Energia for Egypt National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences.
Feb 21 — Rob and Terry Ryan Foundation, W. M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela HI: Astronomy Talk: Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe; by Alex Filippenko from UC Berkeley, at Kahilu Theatre, 19:00, free.
Feb 21 — Washington Space Business Roundtable, Washington DC: Washington Space Business Roundtable Panel on The Moon–Lunar Landers, Sustainable Presence, Commercialization, and Law; with Kahina Aoudia (Space Partnership International), Dan Hendrickson (Astrobotic), Pamela Meredith (KMA Zuckert), Sarah Noble (NASA), Ben Roberts (Moon Express ).
Feb 21 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Colloquium: Detecting and Characterizing Nearby Habitable Worlds; by René Doyon from University of Montreal.
FRIDAY
Feb 22 — Hayabusa2, Asteroid 1999 JU3: JAXA Hayabusa2 planning for first of 2 sample collection touchdowns today at 08:00 Japan Standard Time.
Feb 22 — Arianespace, Launch Soyuz / OneWeb Pilot, Sinnamary, French Guiana: Arianespace Soyuz rocket, designated VS21, to launch first 10 communication satellites into orbit for OneWeb.
Feb 22 — Moon: 7.2° NNE of Spica, 20:00.
Feb 22 — Venus: 1.40° N of Pluto, 20:00.
Feb 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 CO246: Near-Earth Flyby (0.041 AU)
SATURDAY
Feb 23 — NASA, JPL, Columbia Memorial Space Center, Downey CA: Educators Workshop: Looking For Life; for teachers grades K-12.
Feb 23 — Sally Ride Science @ UC San Diego, Quest for Space, San Diego CA: Free Workshop: Quest for Space Kit – Heat Experiments on the ISS; for grades 6-8.
Feb 23 — U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville AL: Boeing Rocket Day; participants work alongside engineers to design, build, and launch a water-powered rocket, 10:00-16:00.
SUNDAY
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.
Feb 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 BF1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU)
Feb 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 CK1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)