Articles by: SPC

November 26 – December 2, 2018 / Vol 37, No 48 / Hawai`i Island, USA

InSight and 1st Interplanetary CubeSats to Arrive at Mars Nov 26 for 2+ Year Mission

Next-gen Mars JPL / NASA mission InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) 694-kg lander is scheduled to touchdown north of the equator at Elysium Planitia on November 26 at 11:54 PST. The craft, encapsulated in an “aeroshell”, is planned to be released about 7 minutes before it reaches the atmosphere, and descend 113 km until a parachute and descent engines slow the craft to ~2.4 meters per second. InSight total cost is about US$830M. Its primary instruments include SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) developed by CNES to study deep interior and measure ground motions, the HP3 heat probe developed by DLR which can self-penetrate to 5 meters, and RISE radio science experiment to take precise measurements of planetary rotation. The projected lifetime is 2 years, powered by 2 round solar panels, each with a 2.15-meter diameter. The first interplanetary CubeSats, two 6U 13.5-kg Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats are flying separately with the objectives to test navigation and endurance in deep space, and provide “near real-time” communication during Insight entry, descent and landing phase – at about an 8-minute delay. The Curiosity rover, equipped with 14 instruments, enters its 8th year in space on Nov 26, after launching in 2011. Its landing confirmation signals on August 5, 2012 took 14 minutes to reach Earth. (Image Credits: NASA, JPL, Caltech)

MONDAY

Highlights…
 Nov 26 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 57 three-member crew helping to transfer 2,450 kg of cargo from Progress 71P and 3,450 kg from CRS-10 S.S. John Young, preparing for arrival of three members of Expedition 58 and Soyuz MS-11, working on experiments involving clay / quartz interactions, cement solidification, sensory input.

Nov 26 — NewSpace: OffWorld is developing technologies & modular robotics for terrestrial mining to be configured for extraterrestrial use, CEO Jim Keravala; SpaceX renaming BFR rocket to Starship, uncrewed launch could be late 2019.

Nov 26 — Solar System: Juno at Jupiter operating nominally with 9 active instruments, Data Release 7 expected early 2019; Mars 2020 rover mission team chooses landing site Jezero Crater, an impact basin N of equator – will be 7th rover to Mars; study suggests Sun evolution led to water on Earth.

Nov 26 — Galaxy: 13 years worth of Milky Way Center observations leads to discovery of 3 flares / hotspots; cosmologist Dan Scolnic discusses conflicting results, techniques, hypotheses for measuring Universe; continued research of Trappist-1 system develops new climate model of 7 exoplanets.

Nov 26 — Global: China readying CE-4 for Dec 8 launch attempt of first-ever soft landing on Moon far side; India planning Chandrayaan-2 first-ever Moon South Pole landing Jan-Feb 2019; Israel SpaceIL receives US$5M from Canada benefactor, plans to launch on SpaceX & land at Mare Serenitatis on Moon near side northern hemisphere Feb 13.

Nov 26 — USA: Latest NASA ‘strategy report‘ emphasizes human spaceflight, continuous presence in space, commercial & international partnerships; further skepticism of LOPG comes from Buzz Aldrin, National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group, many others – citing sense of urgency to Return people to Moon Surface; GSFC hosting weekly public colloquium.

Nov 26 — Hawai’i: International MoonBase Alliance transforming HI-SEAS habitat on Mauna Loa into lunar analog, test simulations begin this week; Keck Observatory spectrograph confirms existence of water in exoplanet atmosphere, new instrument Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer to become operational soon.

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

Commercial Space Conferences from Houston to Europe

NewSpace industry and NASA meet at SpaceCom, the Space Commerce Conference at George R. Brown Center in Houston November 27-28. Keynote speakers include CEOs Tory Bruno of United Launch Alliance (L) and George Whitesides of Virgin Galactic (R). ULA Atlas V rocket is responsible for launching the InSight Mars lander and the upcoming Boeing Starliner. Virgin Galactic Launcher One for small satellites undergoes tests carried by a modified 747. SpaceShip Two suborbital passenger-carrying spacecraft prepares for launch within weeks. Other speakers include astronaut Kate Rubins and CEO Vanessa Clark of Atomos Nuclear. Kevin O’Connell, Director of Office of Space Commerce for the U.S. Commerce Department, gives talk about a trillion-dollar space economy. Also on Nov 27-28 the Space Frontier Foundation hosts the 2nd NewSpace Europe Conference in Luxembourg. Dennis Stone of NASA Johnson Space Center and Chris Cummins of Nanoracks travel from Houston to Luxembourg for the conference. On CRS-10 S.S. John Young flight to ISS, Nanoracks delivers payloads from multiple nations to three different orbital altitudes. Vigo on Spain’s northwest coast is location of the first New Space Spain conference Nov 29, with representatives of Airbus and the growing Europe commercial space industry. (Image Credits: ULA, NASA, Atomos, Virgin Galactic, SpaceComExpo)

 Nov 26 — Curiosity, Mars Surface: Mars Science Laboratory reaches 7th full year in space today, launched 2011, landed on Mars Aug 5, 2012 (Pacific Daylight Time).

Nov 26 — InSight, Mars Surface: Potential date for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft to land on Mars surface 11:54 PST and study deep interior; scheduled end of operations Nov 2020; Mars Cube One 1 & 2 to perform Mars flyby.

Nov 26 — ISRO, Launch PSLV / HySIS, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to launch PSLV-C43 mission for India Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) and small international secondary payloads.

Nov 26 – Dec 14 — ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR), Sao Paulo, Brazil: School: The Sound of Space-time – The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Science.

Nov 26 — Moon: At perigee (distance 366,620 km), 02:07; 10.7° S of Castor, 08:00; 7.1° S of Pollux, 13:00.

Nov 26 — Mercury: At inferior conjunction with Sun, 0.678 AU from Earth, 23:00.

Nov 26 — Amor Asteroid 2008 WD14: Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

Nov 26 — Amor Asteroid 2018 VUT6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU)

Continued from…

NET Nov — Northrop Grumman, Launch Pegasus XL / ICON, L-1011, Skid Strip, Cape Canaveral AFS: Pegasus XL rocket to launch NASA Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite into orbit.

NET Nov 24 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Spaceflight SSO-A, SLC 4E, Vandenberg AFB CA: SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch at 10:32 PST Spaceflight SSO-A mission carrying 71 payloads from 34 international customers and 18 countries including Elysium-Star 2, Eu:CROPIS, KazSTSAT, BlackSky Global 2, Flock satellites, KNACKSAT.

TUESDAY

Nov 27 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Mountain View CA: Apollo 11: The Most Dangerous Space Mission of Them All? Dinner with James Hansen, author of book First Man, 18:30.

Nov 27-28 — SpaceCom, Houston TX: Space Commerce Conference and Exposition (SpaceCom Expo 2018).

Nov 27-28 — Space Frontier Foundation, Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy, Spire, Luxembourg: 2nd NewSpace Europe.

Nov 27-29 — United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Government of China – Ministry of Natural Resources, Zhejiang Provincial Government, Deqing, China: 1st United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UN-GGIM).

Nov 27 — Moon: 0.45° S of Beehive Cluster, 12:00.

Nov 27 — Mercury: 0.42° NNE of Jupiter, 11:00.

Nov 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2008 WD14: Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Nov 28 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: Colloquium: From the ‘Brown Ocean Effect’ to Water Availability: Two Facets of the Hydroclimate From a NASA Perspective; by Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd of University of Georgia.

Nov 28 — Mercury: At perihelion, 0.3075 AU from Sun, magnitude 3.9, 23:00.

Nov 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2001 WO15: Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)

Nov 28 — Aten Asteroid 2013 BT18: Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)

THURSDAY

Nov 29 — ULA, Launch Delta 4-Heavy / NROL-71, Vandenberg AFB CA: ULA Delta 4-Heavy rocket to launch classified U.S. NRO payload.

Nov 29 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Origin of the Earth, Moon, and Martian Moons; by Miki Nakajima, University of Rochester.

Nov 29 — Alen Space, University of Vigo, Center for Space Innovation of Galicia, Vigo, Spain: New Space Spain Conference.

Nov 29 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Lecture: The Indian Space Programme; Gurbir Singh will talk about his latest book on ISRO and India in Space.

Nov 29 — DESY, Netzwerk Teilchenwelt, IPPOG, QuarkNet, Fermilab, International Locations: 7th International Cosmic Day 2018; to promote learning about Cosmic Rays.

Nov 29-30 — University of Leiden, Luxembourg: Hague Space Resources Governance Working Group.

Nov 29 — Moon: 2.3° NNE of Regulus, 01:00; at last quarter, 14:20.

Nov 29 — Venus: At its brightest, magnitude -4.7, 16:00.

Nov 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 VA9: Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)

FRIDAY

Nov 30 — ISRO, Bengaluru, India: ISRO to complete integration of Chandrayaan-2, second Moon mission of orbiter, lander & rover weighing 3,290 kg to Moon South Pole in preparation for launch window opening Jan 3, 2019.

Nov 30 — Amor Asteroid 2018 VE4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU)

Nov 30 — Amor Asteroid 2018 WL: Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)

Nov 30 — Amor Asteroid 2018 VW5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)

Nov 30 — Aten Asteroid 2008 WT62: Near-Earth Flyby (0.087 AU)

SATURDAY

Dec 1 — Deep Space, KBO Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) Trajectory: New Horizons undergoing systems / instruments checks, trajectory refinements in final preparation toward humankind’s 1st KBO science flyby planned 1 Jan 2019 at 05:33 UTC.

Dec 1 — Chang’e-3 Lander and Yutu Rover, Guang Han Gong, Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium, 44.12°N 19.51°W, Moon Surface: Spacecraft celebrate 5 full years in Space today, launched on this day in 2013 – landed on Moon surface on Dec 14; lander instruments operating, rover reported to be sending signals heading into Lunar Day 63.

Dec 1 — Science of Laws Institute, San Diego Chapter of the International Council on Systems Engineering, San Diego CA: 5th Annual Science of Laws Conference.

Dec 1-3 — Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China: The 5th Conference on Astrophysics and Space Science.

Dec 1 — Venus: Shows greatest illuminated extent, 14:00.

Dec 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 WN: Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)

Dec 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 WW: Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)

Dec 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2012 MM11: Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)

SUNDAY

Dec 2 — Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), LEO: ESA / NASA craft studying sun, begins 24th year of operations today, launched 1995; has discovered more than 3,000 comets.

Dec 2 — Moon: 7.2° NNE of Spica, 23:00

Dec 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 TG6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.010 AU)