January 8-14, 2024 / Vol 43, No 2 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Astrobotic Set for Launch to Moon, First of Many Planned for 2024

Peregrine lander awaits launch on ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket, now fully stacked on pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in preparation for inaugural Cert-1 flight on NET January 8 at 02:18 EST. Weather conditions are forecast 85% favorable for launch. NASA will provide extensive coverage documenting the launch on NASA+, NASA TV and other platforms starting at 01:30 EST on Jan 8. Virtual registration for the inaugural flight provides direct updates and a commemorative stamp. Peregrine is to land near mid-latitude Sinus Viscositatis NET Feb 23. Astrobotic won’t be the first organization to attempt a Moon landing in 2024, however, as JAXA SLIM prepares for a Jan 20 attempt within 100-m target near Shioli crater. The SLIM lander is currently in an elliptical 600 x 4,000 km lunar orbit which is to be circularized at 600 km ahead of landing maneuvers with perilune of 15 km. In total, up to 10 Moon landings and 3 lunar orbital insertions / flybys from 4 nations may be attempted in the coming year: Intuitive Machines plans to launch Nova-C lander in mid-Feb, with landing in Moon South Pole region near Malapert A crater possibly occurring within hours of the Astrobotic landing. The Doge-1 lunar orbiter, built by Geometric Energy Corporation of Canada, is to rideshare on the same SpaceX F9 launch. CNSA, ispace and Firefly may also launch robotic landers in 2024, NASA is working to return humans to Moon with Artemis 2, and SpaceX may land demo HLS variant of Starship. (Image Credits: NASA, Astrobotic, SpaceX, JAXA)

MONDAY

☆ Jan 8 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 70 seven-member crew working with 3D bioprinting, protein crystals, combustion and fire safety experiments, and preparing to receive 4 visitors for Axiom Mission 3 next week.

☆ Jan 8 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: CMSA continues analysis of Tianhe core module solar panels after micrometeorite damage prompted necessary EVA for repair work by Shenzhou-17 crew.

Highlights…

o NewSpace: Rocket Lab to build 18 spacecraft for USA government under $489M deal with launches starting NET 2027; Space Epoch of China raises $28M for development of ‘mini-starship’ XZY-1 rocket, plans sea recovery test this year; Axelspace of Toyko to expand Earth observation constellation and AxelLiner smallsat construction business unit with $44M funding.

☆ Solar System: Juno 1,497-km flyby of Io during 57th Jupiter orbit produces spectacular images being viewed globally; Venus Life Finder PI Sara Seager and son Max investigating possibility of life which utilizes sulfuric acid as solvent ahead of NET Jan 2025 mission; Planetary scientists working to understand nature of polygon structures discovered via Zhurong ground-penetrating radar under Utopia Planitia on Mars.

☆ Galaxy: Studies published in Nature Astronomy call for recognition of exoplanet oxygen abundance as technosignature and lack of carbon dioxide as biomarker; Scintillation arc observed within FRB by FAST may be caused by ions in interstellar medium; Estonia study of NANOGrav data raises possibility that low-frequency gravitational waves in MWG could emanate from primordial cosmic sources rather than merging SMBHs; India XPoSat in LEO to begin check outs before observing bright astronomical X-ray sources.

o Global: ESA and CNES aim to cut carbon emissions 3000t / yr at Guyana Spaceport through $45M investment in Project Hyguane electrolysis hydrogen plant; CASC, Norinco Group and CASIC leaders are to vacate positions on Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Commemorative AU$1 coin with theme Out of this World – Australia in Space celebrating national space legacy issued by Royal Australian Mint.

● USA: Blue Origin, Textron and Cerberus compete to purchase establishment space company United Launch Alliance; Republican politicians decry Artemis goal of landing woman and person of color on Moon while SpaceX CEO condemns Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as ‘immoral’; Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) at Marshall Space Flight Center achieves 25,810 newtons of thrust for 251 seconds.

● Hawai’i: Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient dubbed ‘Tasmanian Devil’ characterized by global telescopes including Keck may be new object class; Privateer intern Kealia Sjostrand reflects on opportunity to work on Pono-1 mission via Pacific Intelligence and Innovation Initiative (P3I); West Hawaii Today features upcoming 2024 lunar landing missions, including Intuitive Machines carrying ILO-X astronomy instruments.

● = Terrestrial and… o = International terrestrial events

☾ = Moon activity

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

Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Jupiter (S), Saturn (SW), Uranus (SW), Neptune (S); Morning Planets: Mercury (S), Mars (E), Venus (SE).

AIAA Opens New Year 2024 with 5,000+ at SciTech Forum in Orlando

American Institute of and Aeronautics and Astronautics is hosting its Science and Technology Forum and Exposition on January 8-14 in Florida with the theme ‘Outside-In: Expand the Boundaries’. This will be the 11th SciTech Forum, which was preceded by AIAA SPACE Conference and Exhibition series. SciTech 2024 is expected to host >5,000 attendees representing 50 counties. There will be 780 technical sessions, 3,000 presentations and 50 exhibitors discussing science, technologies and policies for aerospace and related sectors. The first day will open with a plenary by Lauren Knausenberger (SAIC), feature a special session on Artemis 1 Flight Data Analysis, a technical paper on Space Tethers, and a technical panel on Highlighting Women in Aerospace 2024 with Malissa Lightfoot (Edwards AFB), Hope Michelson (U of CO – Boulder), Aimee Williams (GTRI), and Puja Upadhyay (NASA GRC). Some of the emerging technologies and capabilities being explored include space-based nuclear power, AI & machine learning, Moon-Mars ISRU, space situational awareness systems, and energy storage. Space sustainability, inclusion and diversity will also be overarching areas of focus. AIAA is comprised of 57 sections organized into 7 AIAA Regions. It will continue its ASCEND meetings in February (Texas) and July (Las Vegas), followed by Regional Student Conferences, Defense Forum, Awards Gala, Aviation Forum and other 2024 technical conferences. (Also Pictured: AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher; Image Credits: AIAA, SciTech Sponsors, et al)

★ Jan 8 — ULA, Launch Vulcan Centaur / Astrobotic Peregrine Lander, SLC-41, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Inaugural launch of Vulcan Centaur carrying Astrobotic Peregrine lander for Moon touchdown near Gruithuisen Domes, with 5 NASA payloads for Artemis Program, CMU Iris Lunar Rover, total 90 kgs of customer payloads from commercial companies and international space agencies, institutions; 02:18 EST.

☆ Jan 8 — CAS Space, Launch Long March 2C / Einstein Probe, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China: Astronomy probe to launch on Long March 2C rocket.

o Jan 8-12 — ETH Zurich, NCCR PlanetS, Swiss National Science Foundation, et al, Zurich, Switzerland and Online: Rocky Worlds III.

● Jan 8-14 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Orlando FL: 2024 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (AIAA SciTech Forum).

☾ Jan 8 — Moon: 0.86° NE of Antares, 06:00; 5.6° S of Venus, 09:00.

☆ Jan 8 — Aten Asteroid 2002 AY1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)

Ongoing…

☾ Sep 6 – NET Jan 20 — Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), Lunar Landing Trajectory: SLIM Moon mission 4-6 month trajectory to soft land east of Shioli crater (13.2°S, 25.2°E) on Moon near side equatorial region.

☆ Sep 6 – NET Mar — X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), ~550-km LEO: XRISM undergoing 6 month check out testing phase before start of science operations to study galactic plasma.

● Jan 7-11 — American Astronomical Society, New Orleans LA: 243rd Meeting of the AAS; at New Orleans Morial Convention Center.

● Sep – Feb 15 — Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators at University of California Observatories, University of Hawaiʻi, Online: Akamai Internship Program; accepting applications from STEM undergrads for 2024 session.

TUESDAY

☆ Jan 9 — CAS Space, Launch Kinetica-1 / Payload TBC, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China: Commercial CAS Space to launch its third Kinetica-1 rocket (Y3) with unconfirmed payload.

● Jan 9 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: Phase 1 Solicitations for Small Business Innovation Research & Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Program to be released.

☾ Jan 9 — Moon: 6.6° S of Mercury, 09:00; 4.2° S of Mars, 23:00.

☆ Jan 9 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 XN13: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)

WEDNESDAY

☆ Jan 10 — JAXA, Launch H2A / IGS-Optical 8, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: H2A rocket to launch IGS-Optical 8 (Intelligence Gathering Satellite) for Japan to SSO.

o Jan 10 — Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India: Abstracts Due: International Conference on Planets, Exoplanets, and Habitability (ICPEH); being held Feb 5-9.

☆ Jan 10 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 YO1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU)

THURSDAY

● Jan 11-12 — Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson AZ: Overnight Telescope Observing Program; visitors use one of four Visitor Center telescopes.

☾ Jan 11 — Moon: New Moon, 01:57.

☆ Jan 11 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 WZ3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.041 AU)

FRIDAY

o Jan 12 — Royal Astronomical Society, London, United Kingdom: 204th Observation of RAS founding (1820).

● Jan 12 — The Space Show, Online / Las Vegas NV: Dr. David Livingston hosts Bob Werb, cofounder of Space Frontier Foundation.

● Jan 12-14 — National Space Society, Kennedy Space Center FL: NSS Members Only Exclusive Tour of the Kennedy Space Center; including KSC, VAB, LC-39 Gantry, LCs 39A & 39B, Apollo/Saturn Center, and Cape Canaveral SFS (Hangar C and Complex 26 Blockhouse).

☆ Jan 12 — Aten Asteroid 2017 UN1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)

SATURDAY

☾ Jan 13 — Moon: At perigee (362,279 km), 00:39.

☆ Jan 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 VB2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)

SUNDAY

☾ Jan 14 — Moon: 1.96° SE of Saturn, 02:00.