February 19-25, 2024 / Vol 43, No 8 / Hawai`i Island, USA

USA Returning to Moon Surface After 51+ Years with Intuitive Machines Odysseus Lander

The second NASA CLPS-funded ($118M delivery contract) commercial mission is on its way to the Moon following February 15, 01:05 EST launch from KSC LC-39A via SpaceX Falcon 9. The Nova-C class lander Odysseus separated from the F9 second stage 48 minutes after launch, headed on a Trans-Lunar Orbit (TLO) trajectory. Helium-powered attitude thrusters and the liquid methane & liquid oxygen main engine should be commissioned, allowing IM mission control to determine orientation and perform correction maneuvers as the craft nears Lunar Orbit Insertion. Odysseus is set to enter a 100-km circular Low Lunar Orbit on Feb 21, about 24 hours prior to Descent Orbit Insertion, an 1,800 m/s delta-v burn which will bring perilune to 10 km and powered vertical descent at 3 m/s at 30 m and 1 m/s for the final 10 m prior to landing for the 7-day nominal mission. 1.5U EagleCam cubesat will be deployed at the 30 m level, aiming to achieve the first third-person video recording of an extraterrestrial spacecraft landing. SCALPSS will record the plume of lunar dust generated upon landing, generating a reference dataset for use on other lunar landings. ROLSES and ILO-X will demonstrate radio and optical astronomy from the Moon. ILO-X will attempt to capture the first image of the Milky Way Galaxy, while ROLSES will measure the electron density 1-3 m above the lunar surface and observe radio emissions from Earth, Jupiter and the interplanetary medium. (Image Credits: SpaceX, Intuitive Machines)

MONDAY 

☆ Feb 19 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 70 seven-member crew working with cargo from newly docked Progress 87P, after the undocking of 85P, and monitoring plants growing in 20 APEX-10 petri plates.

☆ Feb 19 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 17 three-member crew continue Lunar New Year, Spring Festival greetings from space while Xuntian space telescope to co-orbit with TSS to be launched later this year.

☾ = Moon activity

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

SpaceX Sets 4 Launches ASAP, Aiming for 150 Total in 2024, and Starship Flight 3 in February

Planning a quick turn around after the successful launch of the Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar mission, SpaceX has scheduled 3 launches of its Falcon 9 rocket. Two Falcon 9s are set to launch Starlink batches (7-15 and 6-39) for SpaceX mega-constellation of internet satellites – from Vandenberg CA on February 19 and Cape Canaveral on Feb 23. The High Throughput Satellite (HTS-113BT) will be lofted to GEO on February 20 for Telkomsat telecommunications service of Indonesia, from SLC-40, Cape Canaveral. The 4,000-kg satellite will operate in C- and Ku-Bands over an estimated 15 years. The launch of Dragon Crew 8 from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center is slated for Feb 28, carrying Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Alexander Grebenkin to the International Space Station. This will be the first flight for Epps who was part of the 2009 NASA astronaut selection, for Dominick who was selected in 2017, and for Grebenkin of the 2018 Cosmonaut class. SpaceX is hoping for the 3rd test flight of its lunar and deep-space destined Starship this month. The FAA license for this third flight has not yet been obtained. Two stages of the Super Heavy prototype Booster 10 have been rolled out and stacked at the launch pad at Starbase, Texas. Its flight would aim for 3/4 orbit of Earth, test a 10,000 kg internal transfer of cryogenic liquid oxygen, and splashdown 100 km NE of Kauai, Hawai’i. (Image Credits: SpaceX, NASA, Thales Alenia Space, ISS Partners)

★ Feb 19 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 7-15, SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB CA: Falcon 9 to launch next batch of Starlink satellites.

● Feb 19-22 — University of Hawai’i, University of Kent, NASA Ames, Hokkaido University, et al, Kapaa HI: Laboratory Astrophysics Workshop (ICE 2024).

TUESDAY

★ Feb 20 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / HTS-113BT, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 to launch High Throughput Satellite (HTS) for Indonesia state-owned Telkomsat telecommunications service.

● Feb 20-23 — National Science Foundation, NASA, Hybrid / Washington DC and Online: Integrating Ocean Drilling and NASA Science: A Workshop to Explore Missions to Planet Earth.

o Feb 20-24 — SSSIF Committee, GMV, SSC, Ansys, et al, Malaga, Spain: Small Satellites and Services International Forum: Lunar and Cislunar Missions and Business.

☾ Feb 20 — Moon: 5.0° S of Castor, 10:00; 1.61° S of Pollux, 16:00.

☆ Feb 20 — Aten Asteroid 2018 CW2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)