February 27 – March 5, 2023 / Vol 42, No 9 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Science Preparations Underway for Artemis 3 Human Landing Mission Launching NET 2025

Lunar and Planetary Institute of Houston TX will be gathering scientists to consider the areas within 6° of the Moon South Pole, termed ‘Artemis Exploration Zone’, at the 19th virtual Lunar Surface Science Workshop. Titled The First Steps in a Bold New Era of Human Discovery: Candidate Artemis III Landing Sites, abstracts are being accepted until March 1, with 2-day meeting held April 4-5. Papers will be divided into sections addressing exploration value and regional geological properties. Identified regions under consideration are 13 ~225-900 km² areas, from which 100m² landing sites will eventually be selected. They are: Faustini Rim A, Peak Near Shackleton, Connecting Ridge, Connecting Ridge Extension, de Gerlache Rim 1, de Gerlache Rim 2, de Gerlache-Kocher Massif, Haworth, Malapert Massif, Leibnitz Beta Plateau, Mons Mouton (formerly Nobile Rim 1), Nobile Rim 2 and Amundsen Rim. Design and implementation of science operations within the selected site will be determined by the Artemis Science Team including NASA’s internal science operations and external proposals through Artemis III Geology Team, Artemis Deployed Instruments, and Artemis III Participating Scientist Program (TBA). Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences – 2023 (ROSES-2023), issued Feb 14, includes Artemis Deployed Instruments Program payloads opportunities during the first and second Artemis landings, on Lunar Terrain Vehicle, on CLPS landers vis PRISM, and on a stand-alone basis. Geology Team Step-2 proposals are due April 25, ROSES-2023 proposals are due NET May 16. (Image Credits: NASA, LPI, USRA, SSERVI)

MONDAY

☆ Feb 27 — ISS, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 68 expected to be 11-member crew with arrival of Crew 6 (Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, Fedyaev); transferring return cargo to Crew 5 craft which may depart early March with 4 members.

☆ Feb 27 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 15 three-member crew continue science, station configuration and communications with Earth; Shenzhou 14 crew emerge from quarantine & recuperation for press conference.

☾ = Moon activity

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

2023 Next Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference Highlights Latest Flight Providers, Spaceports, Payload Opportunities

Broomfield, Colorado will once again host the Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference 2023 from February 27 to March 1, with main sponsors Southwest Research Institute and Commercial Spaceflight Federation Suborbital Applications Researchers Group. This will be the 8th meeting overall, held since 2010, and is supported by 32 other organizations. The program includes >20 keynote / confirmed talks, 2 opening and 12 regular sessions, 5 networking breaks, 4 panels, 2 poster sessions and a tour of Ball Aerospace (with up to 30 participants). There will be updates from (TL-BR) Karina Drees of CSF, Chris Baker of NASA, Kelvin Coleman of FAA, Sirisha Bandla of Virgin Galactic, Gary Lai of Blue Origin, and representatives from World View, CASIS, Zero Gravity Corp., Dawn Aerospace, Paragon Space Dev. Corp., Nanoracks, and Commercial Space Technologies. Alan Stern of SwRI and Addie Dove of CSF will chair the 2 opening sessions, and to follow are sessions titled  Balloons, Commercial Partners, Technology Testing and Rockets, Bioastronautics and Human Factors, Flight Opportunities, Commercial Crew, and Markets & Policy. Sciences, education, public outreach, human-tended experiments, and training are also main topics. NASA solicitation for Suborbital/Hosted Orbital Flight and Payload Integration Services remains open until March 11 for providers of rocket-powered vehicles, high-altitude balloons, parabolic flights, orbital platforms, or entry, descent and landing testbeds. (Image Credits: SwRI, CSF, CASIS, Blue Origin, et al)

● Feb 27 – Mar 1 — Southwest Research Institute, Commercial Spaceflight Federation Suborbital Applications Researchers Group, Broomfield CO: Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference; at Omni Interlocken Hotel and Resort.

● Feb 27 – Mar 3 — Gemini Observatory, NOIR Lab, TMT, Maunakea Observatories, National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, Department of Education Hilo-Waiakea, Hilo HI: Journey Through the Universe (Journey 2023); including in-person classroom presentations and career panels.

● Feb 27 – Mar 24 — UC Santa Barbara Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara CA: Course: Building a Physical Understanding of Galaxy Evolution with Data-driven Astronomy.

☆ Feb 27 — Moon: 1.07° N of Mars, 19:00.

☆ Feb 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 CX2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

☆ Feb 27 — Aten Asteroid 2012 DK31: Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)

☆ Feb 27 — Amor Asteroid 2023 CC2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.041 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.

● Feb 1-28 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: Celebrate Black History Month with NASA.

TUESDAY

☆ Feb 28 — ISS, Crew 6 Rendezvous & Docking, ~415-km LEO: Crew Dragon spacecraft with Astronauts Stephen Bowen, Warren “Woody” Hoburg, UAE Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, Russia Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev to dock at ISS 2:38 EST, live coverage available.

● Feb 28 — ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, NOIR Lab, Gemini Observatory, TMT, et al, Hilo HI: ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s Exhibit Hall: 19th Annual Astronomy Educators Reception: Journey Through the Universe Hawai’i Island; 17:00-20:00.