Ad Luna and the Need to Persevere: Landing 1st Women, 1st Black Astronaut on the Moon
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MONDAY Highlights…
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January 20, 2021 will mark a new dawn of American policy and direction with incoming USA President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Outgoing Administration supported NASA Artemis Program, starting with Space Policy Directive-1. Echoing JFK vision to explore a new frontier with pioneering spirit, SPD-1 outlines returning humans to the Moon, exploring its South Pole and sustaining a lunar base through private and international partnerships. Hopefully Harris, the 1st elected Black and Asian-American Woman VP, will help give full support and funding to see the 1st Woman and 1st Black Astronaut on the Moon ~2025 — which will be significant, inter-global, incredible occasions — expanding their sphere of influence and activity by nearly 1 Billion times. Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan 18, AIAA Los Angeles-Las Vegas Section hosts a 3-hour talk discussing Black American and minorities in aerospace / STEM fields. Beyond lunar aspirations for change, hope and unification for a Multi World Civilization, the science return to be accomplished by lunar landings will be vast. Working on ‘Lunar Surface Science Workshop 7: Space Biology’ is the LPI, USRA, NASA group Jan 20-21, with Session 8 ‘Structuring Real-Time Science Support of Artemis Crewed Operations’ February 24-25. Keeping the urgency and ‘doing good’ in Space, on the Moon, Asteroids and Beyond will continue to employ, connect, inspire and educate more Americans, and humankind – regardless of gender, color or generation. (Image Credits: NASA, SPC, ILOA, C. Stoughton)
Jan 18 — 
Jan 18 — NewSpace: 
Jan 18 — USA: 
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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: Mars (S), Jupiter (SW), Saturn (SW), Uranus (S), Neptune (SW); Morning Planets: Mercury (WSW), Venus (SE).
Moon, Inner Planets, Gas Giants and Asteroid Belts: 21st Century Solar System Complete Exploration
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Jan 18 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink V1.0-L16, LC-39A, KSC FL: Falcon 9 to launch ~60 satellites for SpaceX Starlink broadband network; 08:45 EST.
Continued From…
TUESDAY
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2020s deep space mission planning by NASA and ESA, with respective New Frontiers and Cosmic Vision programs, lead the way to Jupiter and Saturn, which combined represent 90%+ Solar System planetary mass. Juno is now extended through September 2025, increasing orbit count from 34 to 76, enabling flybys of Galileo moons Ganymede (1,000 km / closest approach in mid-2021), Europa (320 km / late 2022) and Io (1,500 km / Late 2024). The first major mission of Cosmic Vision, JUICE is set for June 2022 launch aboard Ariane 5 – reaching Jupiter October 2029, where it is to investigate Ganymede, Callisto and Europa during 3.5-year nominal mission. New Frontiers will continue with Europa Clipper (now free to utilize commercial launch in lieu of delayed SLS) in 2024, Dragonfly mission to Saturn moon Titan in 2027, and ongoing extended mission of New Horizons past Pluto in Kuiper Belt expected to continue through 2021. Dragonfly is to be the first usage of multi-rotor (8) drone-like exploratory craft on another world, allowing extensive travels across 175 km in 8 km increments. Closer to home, exploration vehicles Hope, Perseverance and Tianwen-1 from UAE, USA, and China currently approach Mars, while Insight lander will continue seismic monitoring of the red planet until December 2022. Moon missions slated for 2020s both national and commercial abound, and asteroid missions DART, Lucy, NEA Scout, Psyche, Hera are scheduled to launch before 2025. (Image Credits: NASA, ESA) Jan 19-21 — International Space Science Institute, Online / Bern, Switzerland: Virtual Workshop: Venus – Evolution Through Time.
WEDNESDAY
Jan 20 — SETI Institute, Online / Mountain View CA: Birth of the New Giant Telescopes; with Rebecca Bernstein (Chief Scientist for GMTO) and Christophe Dumas (Observatory Scientist and Head of Operations at TMT); 19:00 PST.
Jan 20 — NASA, Online / Laurel MD: Radiation Hardness Drivers for Mission Success – What We Have Learned; by Michael Campola of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 10:00 PST.
Jan 20-21 — LPI, USRA, NASA, Online / Houston TX: Lunar Surface Science Workshop 7: Space Biology; series will continue to solicit input from the community on the potential for new scientific research that could be enabled by human exploration near the lunar south pole.
Jan 20-21 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 – Panel on Small Solar System Bodies Meeting #6; and Panel on Small Solar System Bodies Meeting #7.
Jan 20 — Moon: At first quarter, 11:02.
Jan 20 — Mars: 1.62° NNW of Uranus, 10:00.
THURSDAY
Jan 21 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Transporter 1, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon rocket to carry Transporter 1 mission rideshare flight to SSO with dozens of micro- and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.
Jan 21 — NASA, ESA, Online: Mars Sample Return Sample Caching Strategy Workshop; 08:00-12:00 PST.
Jan 21 — Institute of Physics West Midlands Branch, Online / United Kingdom: Lecture: Life and Work of William and Caroline Herschel; by Mark Whalley from Institute of Physics.
Jan 21 — Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, Online / NYC NY: Virtual Astronomy Live. 35th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia Launch; featuring Astronaut and former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr. and Astronaut Mike Massimino; 17:30-19:00 ET
Jan 21 — Moon: 3.1° SE of Uranus, 00:00; 4.7° SE of Mars, 01:00; at apogee (distance 404,375.344 km), 03:00.
FRIDAY
Jan 22 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 Meeting #8.
Jan 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 YE5: Near Earth Flyby (0.005 AU)
Jan 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 XB7: Near Earth Flyby (0.018 AU)
Jan 22 — Aten Asteroid 2018 BX: Near Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)
Jan 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 PP: Near Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)
SATURDAY
Jan 23 — Glenn Research Center, Cleveland OH: Supporting critical testing to prepare for Artemis / Moon Missions, GRC celebrates 80th anniversary today since its founding 1941.
Jan 23 — Moon: 5.7° SE of the Pleiades, 00:00; 4.6° N of Aldebaran, 18:00.
Jan 23 — Mercury: At easternmost elongation, 16:00.
Jan 23 — Saturn: At conjunction with Sun, 0.968 AU from Earth, 17:00.
SUNDAY
Jan 24 — The Space Show, Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Professor Avi Loeb about his latest book Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.
Jan 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 AW5: Near Earth Flyby (0.022 AU)