January 29 – February 4, 2024 / Vol 43, No 5 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Juno to Perform Final Flyby of Io, Heading into Perijove 58 and Reducing Orbital Period

On February 3, Jupiter explorer Juno is planning its 58th flyby of the great gas giant in its extended mission phase. Before the Jupiter flyby, Juno will come within 1,500 km of moon Io—the 4th largest moon and most geologically-active object in the Solar System with 400+ volcanoes. This is the last planned flyby of any one of Jupiter’s 95 moons that are officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Since its orbital insertion around the Jovian world on 4 July 2016, Juno has previously flown by Europa once, Ganymede twice, and Io thrice. Some of the data collected from Io observations may help reveal how its volcanic eruptions interact with Jupiter and aurorae, as well as map lava flows and investigate Io gravity field / internal structure. Perijove 58 will also reduce Juno’s orbital period around Jupiter from about 38 days to 33 days. Juno’s extended mission allows the spacecraft to continue operations into September 2025 with perijove 76 which will plunge the orbiter into the cloud tops. ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, launched April 2023, is planned to reach orbital insertion at Jupiter in July 2031, before moving to Ganymede insertion in 2034. NASA Europa Clipper mission is slated to launch this October and arrive, before JUICE, to Jupiter orbit in April 2030. (Image Credits: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SwRI)

MONDAY 

☆ Jan 29 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 70 seven-member crew expecting arrival of Cygnus NG-20 and <3,750 kg of cargo; Axiom 3 four-member crew may return to Earth this week after 14-day mission.

☆ Jan 29 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou-17 three-member crew share video of some of the 5,600 kg of cargo from Tianzhou 7 freighter, including Lunar New Year gifts (Year of the Dragon).

☾ = Moon activity

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

Commercial Space Week Returns to Orlando Florida

4000+ participants representing 200+ space companies from all 50 states and 80+ nations are to descend upon Orlando FL for Commercial Space Week, anchored by SpaceCom and the 50th Space Congress January 30 – February 1 at the Orange County Convention Center. The Global Spaceport Alliance will kick things off with their annual GSA Spaceport Summit under theme Building the Spaceport Ecosystem and featuring keynote speaker Jim Bridenstine, the 13th administrator of NASA, on Jan 29. Space Mobility Conference, sponsored by United States Space Force and Space Systems Command, will follow Jan 30-31. DoD contractors participating include Astroscale, Axiom, Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra, Redwire and Voyager. Recommended dress code for this event is Operational Camouflage Patterns (OCP). Meanwhile, Space Congress organized by Canaveral Council of Technical Societies (CCTS) will commence on Jan 30, as will the SpaceCom Expo. 127 companies and organizations will show off their latest technologies and operational capabilities including Astrobotic, NASA, Orbit Fab and Paragon Space Development in the exhibit hall. Notable conference speakers include ULA CEO Tory Bruno, NASA KSC Strategy & Partnerships Manager Suzy Cunningham, SpaceCom Executive Director Ryan Brown and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails. Artemis 1 Lessons Learned, Commercial Launch Weather Solutions, Propulsion Enabling On-Orbit Servicing, Cutting Edge Technologies and Orbital Transfer Vehicles are among planned topics of moderated panel discussions. (Image Credits: GSA, NASA, USSF, SpaceCom, et al)

★ Jan 29 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / CRS2 NG-20 (Cygnus), SLC 40 Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 to launch next Cygnus cargo freighter dubbed S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson to International Space Station.

● Jan 29 — Global Spaceport Alliance, Orlando FL: GSA Spaceport Summit; a Commercial Space Week co-located event.

o Jan 29-30 — Ilan Ramon International Space Conference Committee, Israel Space Agency, Tel Aviv, Israel: 19th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference; as part of Israel annual Space Week.

o Jan 29 – Feb 9 — U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), Vienna, Austria and Online: 61st session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS.

TUESDAY

● Jan 30 — U.S. Space Force, Space Systems Command, Orlando FL: Space Mobility Conference; a Commercial Space Week co-located event. 

● Jan 30 – Feb 1 — SpaceCom, Canaveral Council of Technical Societies, Kennedy Space Center, Boeing, USSF, et al, Orlando FL: Commercial Space Week 2024: 50th SpaceCom | Space Congress.

☆ Jan 30 — Aten Asteroid 2007 EG: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)

WEDNESDAY 

● Jan 31 — Explorer 1 66th Observation, Nationwide USA: American Artemis Return to the Moon For Good is underway, Mars attention and planning advancing, Outer Solar System search for life ongoing, and Interstellar craft on outgoing trajectories while first USA satellite launch on this day in 1958 ‘Explorer 1’ is celebrated and remembered.