Articles by: SPC

October 25-31, 2021 / Vol 40, No 43 / Hawai`i Island, USA

72nd International Astronautical Congress being held at Dubai World Trade Center October 25-29

The global space community is gathering for the first time in the United Arab Emirates, under organizational direction of International Astronautical Federation – the preeminent space society representing 35,000+ space professionals and academics across 407 organizations / 71 countries. IAC will officially kick off its mission of ‘Connecting @ll Space People’ with a Welcoming Ceremony in Sheikh Rashid Hall on Monday Oct 25, but space-related activities will have already begun with Space Generation Congress Oct 21-23, International Academy of Astronautics Academy Day and IAC Hosts Summit both set for Oct 24. Countries in contention to host IAC 2024 include Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Italy and Spain. Coincidently, Expo 2020 Dubai is running concurrently (due to postponement) at Dubai Exhibition Centre ~ 40 km from IAC venue, and will be wrapping up ‘Space Week’, which runs Oct 17-23. IAC 2021 itself will host 33 technical symposia on matters ranging from space exploration, communication / navigation, propulsion, materials, human spaceflight and SETI; 26 Global Networking Forums and 7 plenaries. Speakers include Astronauts Sergei Krikalev, Christina Koch, Jean-Francois Clervoy, Nick Hague, Jessica Meir, Alexey Ovchinin, Andrew Morgan, Hazzaa Al Mansoori, Oleg Skripochka; space leaders K. Sivan (ISRO), Hiroshi Yamakawa (JAXA), Valanathan Munsami (South African National Space Agency), Serdar Yildirim (Turkish Space Agency) and Pam Melroy (NASA). A Gala Dinner on October 29 will close out IAC 2021. (Image Credits: IAF, et al)

MONDAY

Highlights…
Oct 25 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Seven-member Expedition 66 to become crew of 11 with arrival of Dragon Crew-3, preparing for next Progress resupply, continuing Nauka and Bigelow BEAM evaluations, performing EVA EMU maintenance including tether Inspections.

Oct 25 — Tiangong Space Station, ~370-km LEO: Three-member Shenzhou-13 crew Wang Yaping, Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu starting 6-month mission, planning for equipment testing & EVAs, transferring cargo from Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3.

Oct 25 — NewSpace: Rocket Lab details plans for 1st stage booster ocean recovery / use of helicopter at Nov 11 launch; Landspace setting up rocket assembly & test center at Jiaxing Space Center, China.

Oct 25 — Solar System: 9th observed impact event on Jupiter being confirmed by amateur & professional astronomers; infrared map of Uranus auroras to aid in magnetic field understanding; audio emanating from Mercury being engineered from BepiColombo flyby data.

Oct 25 — Galaxy: Astronomers continue to observe unusual source of 6 radio waves detected near Milky Way Center; NASA 2025 Compton Spectrometer and Imager gamma-ray telescope being developed to study evolution of MW while 19-year old ESA INTEGRAL overcomes mechanical failures.

Oct 25 — Global: Performance analysis of South Korea 1st Nuri launch forthcoming; SKA Observatory one step closer to building in Australia and South Africa; Mars analog habitat NOAH to be tested in India and Canada harsh environments Nov 2022.

Oct 25 — USA: With proposed US$100M increase for Artemis human lander, Senate directs NASA to select 2nd provider for redundancy; Orion spacecraft at KSC to soon be attached to SLS for Artemis 1; Hangar 276 at Ellington Field in Houston to be named ‘Capt. John Young Hangar‘ after Apollo 16 Moonworker.

Oct 25 — Hawai’i: Maunakea master plan 122-page draft open for comment through Tuesday; exoplanet system resembling expected ‘fate of our Solar System’ found by Keck Observatory, shows Jupiter-like planet around white dwarf.

= 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 (SW), Jupiter (S), Saturn (S), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE); Morning Planets: Mercury (E).

SpaceX Crew 3 Launch Caps Week of Multiple Launches

October 25 is being targeted by JAXA to launch its 43rd H-2A rocket, carrying a Quasi-Zenith Satellite (QZS, also known as Michibiki ‘Guidance’) from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. QZS-1R is a replacement for the 1st QZS launched in 2010, continuing the 4-satellite system to provide regional navigation services, which will have 3 additional satellites added by 2024. Astra 5th Rocket 3 vehicle is scheduled to fly Oct 27 from Pad 3B Pacific Spaceport Complex, Alaska for a 2nd demonstration launch for USSF Space Test Program payload. Launching 06:00 on Oct 28 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan (20:00 EDT Oct 27) is the 56th Russia Soyuz 21.a rocket and 171st flight of a Progress (dubbed Progress 79P) arriving at ISS ~2 days later. With nearly 3,000 kg of supplies, Progress 79P is set to dock automatically to Zvezda and remain in orbit for 215 days. Slated to join 7 current members of ISS Expedition 66 are spaceflight newcomers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari (NASA astronaut Group 22 selected 2017), Matthias Maure (ESA astronaut selected 2015), and veteran Astronaut Tom Marshburn. Launching OCt 31, they will stay aboard until March 28 adding to the tally of 246 people from 19 countries which have visited ISS over the past 21 years. Dragon Crew 3 and Progress 79P will join 4 other docked vehicles: Crew 2, Soyuz MS-19, Progress 78P and Cygnus-16 S.S. Ellison Onizuka. (Image Credits: JAXA, GPS for Land Surveyors, Astra, Alaska Aerospace, Roscosmos, NASA, SpaceX)

 Oct 25 — JAXA, Launch H-2A / QZS 1R, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: Japan H-2A rocket to launch a replacement satellite for Japan Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, providing regional navigation services over Asia-Pacific Region.

Oct 25 — Contemplation by Design (CBD) Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine, Online / Stanford CA: Event: An Astronaut’s Perspective: Earth views inspiring us to care for our planet; by Astronaut Steve Smith, 17:30-18:30.

Oct 25-28 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online / Houston TX: Brines Across the Solar System: Modern Brines Conference 2021.

Oct 25-29 — International Astronautical Federation, Dubai, UAE: 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2021): Inspire, Innovate & Discover for the Benefit of Humankind; multidisciplinary congress that covers all space sectors and topics.

Oct 25 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 TO15: Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

Oct 25 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 SJ20: Near-Earth Flyby (0.048 AU)

Oct 25 — Moon: 1.77° N of M35 cluster, 17:00.

Continued From…

Oct 4 – Nov 10 — AIAA, Online / Reston VA: AIAA Short Course: Spacecraft Design, Development and Operations.

Oct 19 – Nov 11 — AIAA, Online / Reston VA: AIAA Short Course: Space Architecture: Designing a Lunar Habitation System.

TUESDAY

Oct 26 — STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) A & B, Heliocentric Orbit: NASA craft imaging Sun and solar phenomena reach 15 full years / enter 16th year in space today, launched 2006.

Oct 26 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 UW6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Oct 27 — Astra, Launch Rocket 3 LV0007 / STP-27AD2, Pacific Spaceport Complex, Kodiak AK: Launch window opens for today until Oct 31, and back up dates November 5-12; commercial launch vehicle carrying second of 3 USSF test payloads.

Oct 27 — Eos: Science News by American Geophysical Union, Online: Webinar: Worlds Premiere: Will JWST reveal Earth 2.0?

Oct 27 — AIAA Los Angeles / Las Vegas Section, Online: e-Happy Hour on AIAA LA-LV Virtual Starship Enterprise.

Oct 27 — Moon: 6.2° S of Castor, 06:00; 2.58° S of Pollux, 11:00.

THURSDAY

Oct 28 — Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz / Progress 79P (MS-18), Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Russia Soyuz rocket to launch 79th Progress cargo delivery ship to ISS, 06:00 local time (20:00 EDT Oct 27, live coverage available)

Oct 28 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online / Houston TX: Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series: The Most Powerful Telescope in Space; discussing James Webb Space Telescope by Walter Kiefer, 19:00.

Oct 28 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online / Houston TX: Panel: Our Salty Solar System; featuring Mohit Melwani Daswani, Jennifer Hanley, Kennda Lynch, Abel Méndez, Sean O’Hara; 18:00.

Oct 28 — Moon: At last quarter, 10:06; 3.5° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 14:00.

FRIDAY

Oct 29 — ISS, Progress 79P Rendezvous and Docking, 405-km LEO: Russia Soyuz 79th Progress cargo ship to arrive at ISS, live coverage of docking scheduled at 21:34 EDT available.

Oct 29 — Venus: At easternmost elongation, 11:00.

SATURDAY

Oct 30 — AIAA Los Angeles / Las Vegas Section, Online: The Little Things that go Bump in the Night: Space Debris from the Bottom Up.

Oct 30 — Moon: 4.8° NNE of Regulus, 09:00.

SUNDAY

Oct 31 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Crew 3 (US Crew Vehicle-3), LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: SpaceX Crew Dragon to launch its fourth crewed mission / third mission carrying ISS crew to join Expedition 66: NASA Astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Tom Marshburn, ESA Astronaut Matthias Maure; 02:21 EDT.

Oct 31 — SpaceBase, Planet, Christchurch, New Zealand and Online: Last Day: Space for Planet Earth Challenge; seeking innovative ideas from New Zealand, Australia, and Pacific Island residents at High School and University / Start-up level to address climate change through space technologies.

Oct 31 – Nov 12 — UN, UK and Italy Governments, Unilever, SSE, Microsoft, et al, Glasgow, United Kingdom: United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Oct 31 — Standard Time (Europe): Change clocks back 1 hour, from Summer Time to Standard Time.