Japan at Forefront of Space Exploration / Innovation with New H3 Rocket, Artemis Partnership, Lunar Missions

Medium-lift H3 Launch Vehicle inaugural launch carrying Advanced Land Observing Satellite-3 “DAICHI-3” (ALOS-3) to 669-km SSO is set for NET February 13 at 10:37:55 JST. ALOS-3 is a new generation Earth observatory geared towards natural disaster mitigation with 0.7-m resolution. H3 features a first stage expander bleed cycle engine and will be offered in several variants including an extended 2nd stage model for Lunar Gateway and a heavy lift with 28,300 kg to LEO capacity. JAXA has also nurtured a strong human spaceflight program in cooperation with NASA – Astronaut Koichi Wakata is currently working on ISS, taking photographs of Earth, participating in EVAs to prepare for ISS Roll Out Solar Array (iROSA), and measuring cosmic rays via CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) on the exterior portion of Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo”. A new group of Japan Astronaut candidates are vying for a place in the JAXA corps, with the selection process on the third of five stages – announcement of the new class is to be made in February, which may include an Astronaut who will touch the lunar surface on a mission TBD (post Artemis-3). Meanwhile EQUULEUS 6U cubesat with AQUARIUS H2O propulsion system is on course for Earth-Moon L2, and JAXA SORA-Q rover is riding with commercial ispace lander set to reach Moon in late April. (Image Credits: JAXA, Japan Foreign Ministry)

MONDAY

☆ Feb 6 — ISS, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 68 seven-member crew preparing for Progress 83 arrival with nearly 3,000-kg of supplies; working with studies on plasma crystals, muscle tone changes, and particles in fluids.

☆ Feb 6 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 15 three-member crew may to overlap with Shenzhou-16 crew which is likely to include Jing Haipeng; Shenzhou-17 or 18 may include an international member.

☾ = Moon activity

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

International and Interglobal Astrophysics in Focus at IAUS 377 in Malaysia, and Royal Society ‘Astronomy from the Moon’ Meeting in UK

The International Astronomical Union is hosting IAU 377 Symposium on ‘Early Disk-Galaxy Formation: From JWST to the Milky Way’ in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia February 6-10 to gather experts in areas of Galactic astronomy, high-redshift astronomy, and theory & modeling of galaxy formation and evolution. This will be the first IAU in Southeast Asia in the 21st Century (previously held 1990). Preceding IAUS 377 are the Monsoon School January 31 – Feb 4 at Universiti Malaya, and the 3-part Global Malaysia Astronomers Convention which was held in January over 7 days in multiple locations. Under theme Connecting the Near and the Far IAUS 377 will feature 80 speakers, 65 posters, 30 students and ~180 participants. Some of the speakers are (TL-R) Paul Ho (EAO), Haininh Li (NAOC), Arianna Long (Univ. of Texas – Austin), Hafiz Saadon (Malaysia University), and Yuan-Sen Ting (Australian National University). The Royal Society meeting in London, United Kingdom on Feb 13-14 will convene lunar astronomy specialists including Joseph Silk, Ian Crawford, Martin Elvis, John Zarnecki, Jack Burns, and Xuelei Chen for a scientific discussion on ‘Astronomy from the Moon: The Next Decades’. Among the topics are low radio frequency science, lunar cosmology, ROLSES, Astrophysical Lunar Observatory, LuSEE Night, SunRISE, lunar orbit array, lunar gravitational-wave detection, lunar observatories in visible light, commercial opportunities, technosignature searches, and geology & environment of the Moon. (Image Credits: IAU, Universiti Malaya, Royal Society, STScI, NASA, ESA, CSA, et al)

o Feb 6-10 — International Astronomical Union, Malaysia National Planetarium (Planetarium Negara), Johns Hopkins University, Australian National University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: IAU Symposium 377: Early Disk-Galaxy Formation: From JWST to the Milky Way.

o Feb 6-10 — Italian Society of Planetary Sciences (SISP), University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy: XVIII National Congress of Planetary Sciences.

o Feb 6-17 — United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), Vienna, Austria: Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS.

☆ Feb 6 — Moon: 4.2° NNE of Regulus, 13:00.

☆ Feb 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 YO6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)

☆ Feb 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 BT1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)

☆ Feb 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 BD: Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)

Continued From…

● Oct 15 – Jun 15, 2023 — International Space Elevator Consortium, Online: Space Elevator Academic Challenge: Improving Humanity’s Future; for students 17-25.

☾ Dec 11 – Apr 25, 2023 — Hakuto-R / ispace Mission 1, Lunar Landing Trajectory: Carrying UAE Rashid 10-kg rover, 0.25-kg JAXA SORA-Q rover, Hakuto-R performing orbital control maneuvers to reach Lunar Orbital Insertion, followed by Moon touchdown nominally ~4.5 months after launch.

● Jan 18 – May 11 — Wichita State University, Wichita KS and Online: 2023 Interstellar Seminar ‘LASI 150G’; 1-credit hour seminar begins today; every Wednesday 14:30-15:20, led by Prof. Mark Schneegurt.

☆ NET Feb — ISRO, Launch GSLV Mk III (LVM3) / OneWeb 36, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India: ISRO to launch next batch of 36 communication satellites for OneWeb constellation.

● Feb 2-8 — American Astronautical Society Rocky Mountain Section, Breckenridge CO: Rocky Mountain AAS Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference 2023.

TUESDAY

☆ Feb 7 — ISS, In-Flight Education Event, ~415-km LEO and Online: Expedition 68 In-Flight Event with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann; starts 12:10, live coverage available.

● Feb 7 — 2023 USA State of the Union Address, Washington DC: President Biden to give speech to Congress; will address wide range of issues, perhaps USA Artemis Moon missions, Mars and Beyond.

● Feb 7 — Space Transportation Association, Washington DC: STA Luncheon with Jody Singer (Marshall Space Flight Center Director), and Jim Free (NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development).