Articles by: SPC

December 24, 2018 – January 6, 2019 / Vol 37, No 52 – No 53 / Hawai`i Island, USA

New Horizons Pioneers New Exploration of Solar System 3rd Zone in New Year

Kuiper Belt explorer New Horizons is set to perform the farthest ever encounter, and its second flyby of a KBO, 2014 MU69 nicknamed Ultima Thule, ~4B miles (6.4B km) from the Sun on January 1, 2019 at 05:33 UT. This trans-Neptunian Object flyby will bring the craft within 3,500 km of Ultima; it neared Pluto at 12,500 km on 14 July 2015. Signal confirmation from New Horizons will take 6 hours, 7 minutes and 58 seconds to reach NASA Deep Space Network on Earth. Ultima is thought to be a contact binary or close binary system, 30 km in diameter with an orbital period of about 295 years. Science objectives of the flyby include characterizing its geology, morphology, composition, atmosphere and searching for water ice, satellites and a coma. It will take months for all the data to be recovered while New Horizons continues to speed through the unexplored Kuiper Belt, likely for another decade – as noted by PI Alan Stern. The team will look for and request funding to fly by a 3rd target within the ‘3rd Zone’ of the Solar System, which may extend to 50 AU from the Sun, be 20-200 times more massive than the Main Asteroid Belt, and contain millions of objects including 35,000+ objects larger than 100 km. New Horizons is set to become the 5th interstellar-destined craft after the 2 Pioneers and 2 Voyagers. (Image Credits: JHU/APL, NASA, SwRI, S. Gribben)

MONDAY

Highlights…
 Dec 24 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 58 Commander Oleg Kononenko, Anne McClain & David Saint-Jacques remain a three-member crew until Feb 2019, working on experiments involving circadian rhythms, molecular muscle mass, stem cells, hydrogel, fiber optics, and disease progression; transferring cargo from Dragon CRS-16, NG-10 and Progress 71P.

Dec 24 — NewSpace: SpaceX preparing Crew Dragon for uncrewed orbital flight in Jan 2019; Sierra Nevada will begin production of Dream Chaser spaceplane for carrying cargo to ISS; mu Space Corp of Thailand working on 2020 communication satellite, spacesuit designs, and advocating for Southeast Asia launch pad.

Dec 24 — Solar System: OSIRIS-REx discovers water on asteroid Bennu, prepares for orbital insertion; Juno spacecraft enters second half of mission in Jupiter orbit; data shows Saturn rings are losing mass and may disappear in 100M years if they are not naturally replenished.

Dec 24 — Galaxy: Research on Gaia 17bpi, a young star discovered by Gaia, being analyzed with observation sets from NEOWISE and Spitzer; nine new variable stars revealed in globular cluster NGC 6652 aid in potential understanding of stellar structure and evolution.

Dec 24 — Global: China heads into 2019 with 36 launches complete in 2018 – more than any other nation – and has 3 potential launches on manifest; JAXA opens Project Research Associate Recruitment 2019; Roscosmos Angara super-heavy rocket design plans to be proposed to government early 2019.

Dec 24 — USA: Return to Moon program advances with awards to be given for CLPS, Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads, Lunar Data Analysis; RFP for reusable human lunar landers development upcoming; static testing of structural test version of Space Launch System hydrogen fuel tank to occur at MSFC.

Dec 24 — Hawai’i: Keck Observatory discovery of relic cloud of gas between galaxies may date from a time near Big Bang; Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea locates 2018 VG18 – the most distant object yet found in Solar System at 120 AU.

= 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: Mars (S), Uranus (S), Neptune (SW); Morning Planets: Mercury (SE), Venus (ESE), Jupiter (SE).

China CE-4, India Chandrayaan-2, and SpaceIL Landing Early In 2019

The 50th Year since Apollo 9-12, 2019 will see Moon landings from multiple nations. China Chang’e-4, the first mission to the lunar far side, will land at Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin at about 47° south latitude in the first few days of January. The Queqiao orbiter carries a Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) experiment. Chang’e-3, the first soft lander since Luna-24 in 1976, is observing 5 years on the surface and powering down to avoid radio interference. The Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) aboard Chang’e-3 is still operational and imaging galaxies. The Chang’e-5 sample return is planned for late 2019 launch on the Long March 5 booster. India Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled for launch January 31 carrying a 2,400-kg orbiter, a 1,500-kg lander and a 27-kg rover. The first mission to the south polar region will land between craters Manzinus C and Simpelius N at 70° south latitude. India has completed a critical pad-abort test and announced a human orbital launch on a spacecraft called Gaganyaan in 2022 or earlier. TeamIndus, competitor for the Lunar XPrize, is part of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program due to its association with OrbitBeyond of New Jersey. Israel SpaceIL plans launch of Beresheet, first independent, privately developed lunar lander, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 during an exciting year 2019. (Image Credits: CNSA, NASA, ISRO)

 NET Dec 24 — CNSA, Launch Long March 3C / TJS 3, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China: China Long March 3C to launch geostationary communications technology test satellite Tongxin Jishu Shiyan (TJS) 3.

Dec 24 — Moon: 0.33° SSW of Beehive Cluster, 19:00.

Continued from…

Dec 8 – Jan 3, 2019 — Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover, Moon Trajectory: China CE-4 lander and rover on journey to Moon far side, will attempt touchdown at northwestern South Pole – Aitken basin 180-km diameter Von Kármán crater (45-46° S, 176.4-178.8° E).

TUESDAY

Dec 25 — Mars Express, Mars Orbit: ESA spacecraft reaches 15 full years / enters 16th year in Mars orbit today; will continue to study Mars atmosphere & climate, planet structure, mineralogy, geology, and to search for traces of water; launched June 2, 2003.

Dec 25 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 XZ2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.100 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Dec 26 — Venus: At perihelion, 0.7185 AU from Sun, Magnitude -4.5, 06:00.

Dec 26 — Moon: 2.4° NNE of Regulus, 08:00.

THURSDAY

Dec 27 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Soyuz / Kanopus-V 5 and 6, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Roscosmos Soyuz to launch Kanopus-V 5 and 6 Earth observation satellites, and multiple secondary payloads from international companies and institutions.

Dec 27 — Venus: 3.0° SSW of asteroid 1 Ceres, 00:30.

Dec 27 — Aten Asteroid 2018 XD5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)

Dec 27 — Apollo Asteroid 488789 (2004 XK50): Near-Earth Flyby (0.089 AU)

FRIDAY

Dec 28 — The Space Show, Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Dr. Alan Stern about New Horizons, 15:00 PST (18:00 EST).

Dec 28-31 — National Center for Theoretical Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu / Kaohsiung, Taiwan: 5th International Workshop on Dark Matter, Dark Energy and Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry.

Dec 28 — Moon: At last quarter, 23:36.

SATURDAY

Dec 29 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Brian Duffy, adult US$69.95.

SUNDAY

NET Dec 30 – Jan 3 — Chang’e-4 Lander & Rover, Von Kármán crater, NW South Pole – Aitken Basin, Moon Surface: Projected date to attempt first-ever landing on Moon far side at 180-km diameter Von Kármán crater (45-46° S, 176.4-178.8° E) with lander and rover, international payloads from Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

Dec 30 — ULA, Launch Delta 4-Heavy / NROL-71, Vandenberg AFB CA: ULA Delta 4-Heavy rocket to launch classified U.S. NRO payload.

Dec 30 — ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Hilo HI: Showing of “Mystery of the Christmas Star“, “Asteroid: Mission Extreme“, “Maunakea: Between Earth & Sky” and “Skies Above Hawaii: Live Sky Program“.

Dec 30 — The Space Show, Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Tom Olson for space year in review.

Dec 30 — Moon: 7.3° NNE of Spica, 05:00.

MONDAY

Dec 31 — OSIRIS-REx, Asteroid 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36): Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft to attempt maneuver to achieve orbit around Bennu for the first time today.

Dec 31 — NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Online: New Horizons Flyby Press Conference, 14:00 EST, live coverage available; also at 1 Jan 11:30, 2 Jan 14:00, 3 Jan 14:00.

Dec 31 — Moon Magnet, Belly Up, Hey Hay, Spectra Art Space, Denver CO: New Year’s Eve 2019: An AfterHours Space Odyssey; 23:59 local time to 06:00 on 1 Jan.

2019

TUESDAY

NET Jan — Hayabusa2, Asteroid 1999 JU3: JAXA Hayabusa2 to make observations of 1-km diameter Ryugu from 5-km distance this month in preparation for first of 2 sample-return touchdowns next month.

NET Jan — ISRO, Launch PSLV / EMIsat, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on PSLV-C44 mission to launch India microsatellite EMIsat and potentially use 3rd stage as an experiment platform for 6 months in space before orbit decay / craft disintegration.

Jan 1 — Interstellar Space: Voyager 1 and 2 now 41+ years into missions, collecting data with 4 or more instruments, able to communicate with Earth on 20- and 16-hour communication delays about 145 and 120 AU from Earth, respectively; Breakthrough Starshot testing StarChip “Sprites” for Alpha Centauri mission; NASA proposes 2069 probe to Alpha Centauri.

Jan 1 — New Horizons, KBO Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) Flyby: Craft expected to fly by KBO 2014 MU69 at 00:33 EST, 05:33 UT (19:33 HST on 31 Dec 2018), distance of 3,500 km or closer; KBO is 4.1B miles (~6.6B km) from Earth; will be farthest spacecraft encounter ever performed; will take 6 hrs 7 mins 58 secs for signal to travel back to Earth / confirm status.

Jan 1 — Tiangong-2 Visible Pass, LEO: China Tiangong-2 Space Lab visible pass to occur over North side of Hawai`i Island at 19:28:10 HST from NW crossing to NNW, magnitude of 3.3.

Jan 1 — Moon: 1.25° NNE of Venus, 13:00.

Jan 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2007 YQ56: Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Jan 2 — Earth: At perihelion, 0.9833 AU from Sun, 17:00.

Jan 2 — Moon: 3.1° NNE of Jupiter, 19:00.

THURSDAY

Jan 3-7 — Indian Science Congress Executive Committee, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India: 106th Indian Science Congress: Future India Science and Technology.

Jan 3-25 — International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru, India: Workshop: Cosmology – The Next Decade.

Jan 3 — Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak: Appearing to radiate from constellation Quadrans Muralis; can produce up to 50-100 meteors per hour; peak 10:00, good viewing due to upcoming New Moon.

Jan 3 — Moon: 8.4° NNE of Antares, 00:00.

FRIDAY

Jan 4 — Moon: 2.76° N of Mercury, 09:00.

Jan 4 — Apollo Asteroid 2014 AD16: Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)

Jan 4 — Apollo Asteroid 2004 XP14: Near-Earth Flyby (0.073 AU)

SATURDAY

Jan 5 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Ken Cameron, adult US$69.95.

Jan 5 — Moon: 0.88° N of Saturn, 09:00; New Moon, 15:29.

Jan 5-6 — Partial Eclipse of Sun: Visible from northeast Asia and North Pacific; begins 23:34:08 UTC near Beijing, maximum 01:41:26 on Jan 6.

SUNDAY

Jan 6-10 — American Astronomical Society, Seattle WA: 233rd Meeting of the AAS; at Washington State Convention & Trade Center.

Jan 6-10 — American Meteorological Society, Phoenix AZ: 99th American Meteorological Society (AMS) Meeting.