Articles by: SPC

June 4-10, 2018 / Vol 37, No 23 / Hawai`i Island, USA

ISS Crew Transitions to Expedition 56/57 with Arrival of 61st Woman in Space

The International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 55/56 members Scott Tingle, Anton Shkaplerov, and Norishige Kanai are set to return to Earth June 3 in a parachute-assisted landing aboard Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft which will undock from the Rassvet module. Roscosmos is scheduled to launch Soyuz MS-09 rocket June 6 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on a 2-day journey carrying 3 members of Expedition 56/57 to ISS. Alexander Gerst of ESA, Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, and Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA are expected to join Drew Feustel, Ricky Arnold, and Oleg Artemyev to complete the 6-person crew, and are scheduled to return to Earth in December. Exp. 56 will conduct experiments and gather data on alloy sintering, plant growth, atomization simulations, gaseous trials for combustion and diffusion, and various effects of microgravity on humans. Maintenance aboard ISS includes upcoming EVAs scheduled for June 14 and August 8, and preparation for cargo ship arrivals in June, July and August. There have been 556 people in space, including 60 women. Flight surgeon Serena Auñón-Chancellor is scheduled to become the 61st woman in space, followed by Anne McClain scheduled for December 20 and Christina Hammock planned for April 2019. Ongoing “First Woman on the Moon Will Be From Where?” poll from Space Age Publishing Company and international groups continue to advocate and support women and diversity in space. (Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Roscosmos)

MONDAY

Ongoing…
Jun 4 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 56 officially begins with Feustel, Artemyev, Arnold as 3-member crew; transferring cargo from Cygnus OA-9, planning for next EVA and satellite deployments from Kibo module including RemoveDEBRIS microsat, expecting arrival of Soyuz MS-09 and Prokopyev, Gerst, Aunon-Chancellor on Friday.

Jun 4 — NewSpace: Virgin Galactic analyzing data from 2nd powered test flight of VSS Unity, planning next flight; Astrobotic wins 13-month, US$125K contract to develop robots to work cooperatively on other world surfaces; Tethers Unlimited Refabricator 3D printer & plastics recycler being readied for future deployment to ISS.

Jun 4 — Solar System: CE-4 Queqiao relay satellite heading into final halo-orbit at L2, China hoping to reestablish contact with microsat Longjiang-1; New Horizons data fueling research on Pluto origins, scientists suggest it could have formed from 1B comets; Hayabusa2 to arrive at Ryugu mid-June while OSIRIS-REx to take first image of Bennu in August.

Jun 4 — Galaxy: Milky Way Galaxy may be twice as large as previously thought, up to 200,000 LY wide; future x-ray, optical and radio observations planned for rare isolated neutron star discovered ~200,000 LY from Sun in Small Magellanic Cloud.

Jun 4 — Global: China looks for international partnerships and research on its new Space Station; Roscosmos may have to adjust space / program developments with potential budget cuts; Thailand 4.0 initiative to form new Research & Higher Education Ministry and focus on R&D for satellites, astronomy, nuclear physics.

Jun 4 — USA: Space Policy Directive-2 asks Commerce Secretary to create a plan within 30 days for streamlined process to administer & regulate commercial space flight activities; NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green discusses international cooperation for Lunar Orbital Gateway-Platform, reaching Mars and its moons.

Jun 4 — Hawai’i: Keck Observatory continues development of Keck Planet Finder instrument to expand exoplanet research; CFHT SPIRou exoplanet spectropolarimeter achieves 1st light, exploration program of red dwarfs & stellar nurseries to begin ~September; PISCES market study on basalt fiber manufacturing feasibility ongoing through mid-July.

= 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 (WNW), Jupiter (SE); Morning Planets: Mars (S), Saturn (S), Neptune (ESE).

Solar System Ambassadors, CanSat and Base 11 Competitions Advancing 21st Century Education

A wide-range of space education events are launching this week, including 11 hosted by NASA Solar System Ambassadors Program volunteers who share latest discoveries with communities. On June 5, Willie Yee will talk about ‘NASA Space Exploration Missions for 2018’ and Kenneth Bailey on ‘LRO / LCROSS’ at Elting Memorial Library in New York. Amaya Davis is exploring ‘Why Mars? Overview of Mars Exploration and the InSight Mission’ at American Women’s Club of Seville, Spain on June 6. Mark Johnston will discuss ‘Space Exploration: Past and Future’ at Grand Canyon North Rim Visitor Center June 10. There are also Ambassador events focused on Hubble telescope, Astronomy, weather balloons, and to the Moon & beyond. New Worlds Institute is hosting a Meetup June 5 in Austin, Texas with Wells Person to update on York Space Systems. American Astronautical Society Student CanSat Competition is being held June 8-10 in Stephenville, Texas. The 2018 competition challenges 40 international student teams to build a space-type system to simulate a space probe entering a planetary atmosphere. It must launch and safely return an egg to 670-725 meters. Base 11, founded 2009, is announcing June 6 its US$1 Million+ Space Challenge for a student-led university team to design, build and launch a liquid-propelled, single-stage rocket to 100 km (SSTO) by December 30, 2021 – a feat that has not yet been accomplished from Earth. (Image Credit: AAS, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Base 11, Reaction Engines Limited, et al)

 Jun 4 — New Horizons, KBO Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) Trajectory: Spacecraft to awaken from hibernation today to prepare for KBO flyby 1 Jan 2019; approach phase officially begins in August.

Jun 4— SpaceX, Falcon 9 / SES 12, KSC FL: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch SES 12 communications satellite for SES of Luxembourg.

Jun 4 — Greenville County Library – Hughes Main Library, Greenville SC: To the Moon and Beyond; family event about the Moon followed briefly about the solar system, led by David Leaphart of NASA Solar System Ambassador Program.

Jun 4-5 — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY: 1st Annual RPI Workshop on Image-Based Modeling and Navigation for Space Applications.

Jun 4-8 — Flatiron Institute, NYU, Harvard, NYC NY: 2018 New York City Gaia Sprints; bringing together people who have an interest in timely scientific investigation and use of Gaia Data.

Jun 4-8 — NASA Astrobiology Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, ELSI Origins Network, Atlanta GA: Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon).

Jun 4-15 — Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany: Program: The Sound of Spacetime – The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Science.

Continued from…

May 29 – Aug 3 — Lunar and Planetary Society, NASA SSERVI, Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Houston TX: 2018 Exploration Science Summer Intern Program; students to be involved in activities that support missions to the Moon that utilize Orion crew vehicle, Deep Space Gateway, and robotic assets on lunar surface.

Jun 3-8 — Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS), Honolulu HI: Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) 15th Annual Meeting.

TUESDAY

Jun 5 — W. M. Keck Observatory, Rob and Terry Ryan Foundation, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Kamuela HI: Astronomy Talk: Using Shadows to Shed New Light; by NASA Chief Scientist James Green, 19:00.

Jun 5 — Elting Memorial Library, New Paltz NY: Discussion on NASA Space Exploration Missions for 2018, and LRO / LCROSS talk; with Willie Yee and Kenneth Bailey from NASA Solar System Ambassador Program.

Jun 5 — New Worlds Institute, Austin TX: New Worlds Space Meetup; featuring Wells Person, COO and Co-Founder of York Space Systems; at Capital Factory – Lobby Meeting Room, 19:00.

Jun 5-7 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Houston TX: Cryovolcanism in the Solar System Workshop (#cryovolcanism2018).

Jun 5-16 — Vesta Asteroid: Protoplanet and second largest body in Main Asteroid Belt will be visible by naked eye before Moonrise, peak viewing will be Jun 8-22, 7.5° NW of Saturn.

Jun 5 — Venus: 8.1° S of Castor, 11:00.

Jun 5 — Mercury: At superior conjunction with Sun, 1.322 AU from Earth, 16:00.

Jun 5 — Apollo Asteroid 2004 LB: Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Jun 6 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Soyuz MS-09 / ISS 55S, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Russia Soyuz rocket set to launch members of Expedition 56/57 to ISS: Alexander Gerst of ESA, Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, and Serena Auñón-Chancellor (to become 61st Woman in Space) of NASA.

Jun 6 — American Women’s Club of Seville, Seville, Spain: Why Mars? Overview of Mars Exploration and the InSight Mission; featuring Amaya Davis of NASA Solar System Ambassadors Program.

Jun 6 — Base 11, Webcast / Costa Mesa CA: Base 11 Space Challenge; webcast event 11:00-12:00 PDT to launch US$1M+ Space Challenge for a student-led university team to design, build and launch a liquid-propelled, single-stage rocket to 100 km by December 30, 2021 from Spaceport America, New Mexico.

Jun 6-8 — SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science, Paris, France: Meteorites – Understanding the Origin of Planetodiversity.

Jun 6 — Moon: At last quarter, 08:33; 2.3° SSE of Neptune, 09:00.

Jun 6 — Mercury: At perihelion (0.3075 AU from Sun), 00:00; magnitude -2.3.

THURSDAY

Jun 7 — American Bar Association, Washington DC: Space Law Symposium; panels focusing on growing space activities from civilian, defense, and commercial vantage points.

Jun 7 — Venus: 4.7° S of Pollux, 23:00.

Jun 7 — Aten Asteroid 2017 EH1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)

FRIDAY

Jun 8 — Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, NYC NC: Intrepid Museum Series: Family Astronomy Night; led by Katherine Troche of NASA Solar System Ambassador Program.

Jun 8-10 — American Astronautical Society, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lockheed Martin, Tarleton State University, et al, Stephenville TX: 2018 Student CanSat Competition.

Jun 8 — Mars: with Saturn at heliocentric conjunction, 18:00.

SATURDAY

Jun 9 — Fort Macon State Park, Atlantic Beach NC:Exploring the Heavens – From Hubble to the Webb – Discovering Space through the eyes of a Telescope; led by Lisa Pelletier-Harman of NASA Solar System Ambassador Program.

Jun 9-10 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA/Caltech, Pasadena CA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open House: A Ticket to Explore JPL.

Jun 9 — Moon: 4.6° SSE of Uranus, 20:00.

Jun 9 — Amor Asteroid 2009 SK104: Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)

SUNDAY

Jun 10 — Grand Canyon North Rim Visitor Center, North Rim AZ: Space Exploration: Past and Future; featuring Mark Johnston of NASA Solar System Ambassadors Program.