Articles by: SPC

April 8-14, 2024 / Vol 43, No 15 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Total Solar Eclipse Festivities Across North America Precede Global Yuri’s Night Celebrations

A week of astronomical and astronautical merriment awaits revelers at a slew of events celebrating the coming total solar eclipse and commemorating humankind’s first foray into space. 5 multi-day viewing parties are planned: Texas Eclipse Festival (April 5-9), KerrClipse Music Festival (April 5-9), Cosmic Eclipse Experience (April 6-9), ROC The Eclipse (April 6-8), and Eclipse-O-Rama (April 7-9). The 4 minute and 28 second totality path of the April 8 eclipse will begin ~370 km north of the Marquesas Islands, make landfall off the Pacific coast of Mexico at 16:38 UTC, crossing population centers in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. The corona visible during this eclipse is expected to be especially prominent given increased magnetic field activity, coinciding with the peak of the 11-year solar cycle. NASA will launch 3 Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) sounding rockets from Wallops Flight Facility for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-led study of ionosphere during the eclipse. Studies will also be conducted via high altitude balloon, jet plane, and ham radio. From April 1 – May 11, first human spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin will be celebrated around the world: at 30 events in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia / New Zealand, and South America. Yuri’s Night: LA on April 8 at the California Science Center will feature NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins, actress Tawny Newsome, DJ Doorly, game designer Gray Bright, aeronautical engineer Chris Boshuizen, and Inspiration4 commercial astronaut Sian Proctor. (Image Credits: NASA / Berit Bland, Yuri’s Night)

MONDAY 

☆ Apr 8 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Newly commenced Expedition 71 seven-member crew planning first EVAs in next two months, working with new experiments for fluid studies, sea and ice measurements, photosynthesis.

☆ Apr 8 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 17 three-member crew transferring cargo from Tianzhou-7 while exercising and preparing for return to Earth near end of month.

Highlights…

o NewSpace: Teams led by Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, Venturi Astrolab to advance development of Lunar Terrain Vehicles under US$4.6B NASA program; Relativity Space partnering with Impulso.Space to provide Florida launch services including payload integration, mission management.

☆ Solar System: ESA-contributed Lunar Gateway elements receive names Lunar I-Hab (habitat), Lunar View (refueling) and Lunar Link (communications); Curiosity Rover in 12th year on Mars making way through Gedis Vallis channel – presumed ancient dry river bed; Bepicolombo adjusting trajectory while heading toward 4th gravity assist at Mercury later this year.

☆ Galaxy: Event Horizon Telescope captures image of Sagittarius A* in polarized light revealing organized magnetic fields; new research confirms first tidally-locked exoplanet (super-Earth exoplanet LHS 3844b); high-detail survey from JWST of M82 being studied for star production which is 10 times faster than Milky Way.

o Global: Reusable CNSA LM-10 stages planned for 2025/6 launch to utilize wire grid to assist sea platform landings per China Central Television (CCTV); Qosmosys of Singapore working with SpeQtral for MEDS ultra long-distance quantum communications; Canadian Space Agency Astronaut David Saint-Jacques helps host solar eclipse viewing in Quebec.

● USA: KSC engineers to analyze 0.9 kg piece of space debris recovered from Naples, FL home to determine if it was ejected from ISS; 2024 DoD Commercial Space Integration Strategy outlines effort to integrate private capabilities into national defense operations; NASA to establish lunar time standard per White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memo.

● Hawai’i: Keck and CFHT confirm existence of Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 – the most faint and lowest-mass Milky Way satellite ever discovered; Hyperspectral Thermal Imager (HyTI) designed by UH Mānoa to be deployed from ISS NET May; ILOA Hawai’i ILO-X WFOV instrument on the Moon now dubbed ‘Lunar Codex’, NFOV has Ka ‘imi (to search) as moniker.
● = Terrestrial and… o = International terrestrial events

☾ = Moon activity

★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).

Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Jupiter (W), Uranus (W); Morning Planets: Mars (ESE), Saturn (ESE).

Space Foundation 39th Space Symposium Expects >10,000 Participants


The 39th Space Foundation Space Symposium will occur again this year in Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor under theme Accelerating Momentum and Unity. It will bring together representatives from the global space community including space agencies, NewSpace commercial enterprise, R&D, academia, national security educational institutions, and media. Some of the speakers include H.E. Ibrahim Al Qasim (UAE Space Agency Deputy Director General), Grant Anderson (Paragon Space President CEO), Lisa Campbell (Canadian Space Agency President), Pascale Ehrenfreund (COSPAR President), and Aarti Holla-Maini (UNOOSA Director). An International Teacher Liaison Breakfast will have Astronaut Barbara Morgan “The First Teacher in Space” as the main speaker, and a second Breakfast has Ad Astra Rocket Company CEO Franklin Chang Díaz. There will also be a Women’s Global Gathering Luncheon, and an Astronaut Reunion Breakfast. One of the late breaking news symposiums will feature Jack Fischer of Intuitive Machines and IBX CEO Kam Ghaffarian. The Northrop Grumman Exhibit Center will have 310 exhibitors including FireFly Aerospace, ispace (USA), Goonhilly Earth Station, International Space University, SatNews Publishers, Rocket Lab, and Swedish Space Corp. The Space Generation Fusion Forum on April 5-8 will feature expert panels, lightning talks and breakout sessions. Also in conjunction with the Space Symposium, the USA branch of ispace is holding a 2-hour Lunar Soirée on April 9. (Image Credits: SF, SGAC)

☆ Apr 8 — Total Solar Eclipse: A total eclipse of the Sun will cross North America; first location in continental North America is Mexico Pacific coast ~11:07 PDT, eclipse will exit continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada ~17:16 NDT; next total solar eclipse seen from contiguous USA will be Aug 23, 2044.

● Apr 8-11 — Space Foundation, Colorado Springs CO: 39th Space Symposium.

● Apr 8-12 — University of Rochester, Rochester NY: Planetary Impact Workshop; limited to 45-60 attendees.

☾ Apr 8 — Moon: New Moon, 08:22; 1.97° SE of Mercury, 18:00.

Ongoing…

☆ NET Apr — X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), ~550-km LEO: XRISM to start science operations to study galactic plasma after ending 6 month check out testing phase.

o NET Feb – NET Apr — CNSA, Online / Beijing, China: Primary selection of international payloads for Chang’E-8 mission.

● Apr 6-9 — Yuri’s Night, Cosmic Perspective, Kerrville TX: Total Eclipse Festival; music, science, art and a total solar eclipse.

● Apr 7-12 — American Geophysical Union, American Astronomical Society, Dallas TX: Triennial Earth-Sun Summit (TESS) 2024.

TUESDAY

★ Apr 9 — Juno, Perijove 60 / 59th Science Flyby, Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft to perform Jupiter flyby during Perijove 60, its 60th close flyby of Jupiter and 59th science flyby with instruments turned on.

☆ Apr 9 — Roscosmos, Launch Angara-A5 / Block DM-03, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Test flight of Angara-A5 carrying mass simulator payload.

● Apr 9 — ispace, Colorado Springs CO: Lunar Soirée; during 39th Space Symposium.

● Apr 9 — NASA, SSERVI, Washington University, Online / St. Louis MO: Abstracts Due: NASA Exploration Science Forum (NESF2024); being held Jul 23-25.

WEDNESDAY 

● Apr 10 — Pōwehi Day, Statewide Hawai’i: Recognized proclamation to celebrate the first-ever imaged black hole M87* by Event Horizon Telescope collaboration involving Mauna Kea Observatories, given the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi name Pōwehi; imaged in April 2017 and released Apr 10, 2019.

● Apr 10 — CASA Moon, SSERVI, Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico, LPI, Albuquerque NM and Online: CASA Moon Planetary Sample Science Seminar Series: Origin of sulfur isotopes reservoirs on the Moon; by James Dottin, Brown University, 11:00 MDT.

☾ Apr 10 — Moon: 3.8° NNW of Jupiter, 10:00; with Jupiter and Uranus within circle of diameter 3.84°, 10:00; 0.44° NNW of Saturn, 11:00; 3.4° NNW of Uranus, 13:00.

THURSDAY 

☾ Apr 11 — Moon: 0.41° SE of Pleiades, 04:00.

☆ Apr 11 — Mercury: At inferior conjunction with the Sun; 0.584 AU from Earth, 13:00.

☆ Apr 11 — Apollo Asteroid 363599 (2004 FG11): Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)

FRIDAY

o Apr 12 — 63rd Commemoration of Human Spaceflight / Cosmonautics Day, Worldwide: Celebrating Yuri Gagarin of Russia, the 1st human to orbit Earth on Vostok 1 spacecraft in 1961; the flight lasted 108 minutes at 27,400 kph and 327 km above Earth.

● Apr 12 — 43rd Observation of STS-1 Columbia Flight, Nationwide USA: Commemorations occur today in honor of 1st ever NASA Space Shuttle Columbia carrying John Young and pilot Robert Crippen around Earth on 54.5-hour mission in 1981.

o Apr 12 — 23rd Yuri’s Night Celebrations, Global: Yuri’s Night 2024; annual worldwide party to celebrate Yuri Gagarin’s 1st flight into space and promote space exploration.

SATURDAY

☾ Apr 13 — Moon: 4.3° N of M35 cluster, 13:00.

☆ Apr 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 FP3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)

SUNDAY

o Apr 14-19 — European Geosciences Union (EGU), Vienna, Austria and Online: EGU General Assembly 2024.

☾ Apr 14 — Moon: 4.8° S of Castor, 23:00.

☆ Apr 14 — Aten Asteroid 2023 FN13: Near-Earth Flyby (0.008 AU)