July 5-11, 2021 / Vol 40, No 27 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Roscosmos Gains Momentum with Nauka Launch to ISS, Luna 25 to Moon

Roscosmos State Corporation is ready to launch Nauka ‘Science’ Multipurpose Laboratory Module with European Robotic Arm July 15 at 17:16 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan via Proton rocket. Nauka weighs 20,300 kg, is 13-m long and 4.11-m diameter. It will replace Pirs module at ISS, docking July 23 at 16:28 to Zvezda ‘Star’ nadir port. The European Robotic Arm will help install solar arrays, inspect the station, support external payloads and Astronauts during EVAs. It has 2 symmetrical arm sections made of carbon fiber, ~5-m long. While also launching Humans, Progress cargo ships and satellites to space, Roscosmos, which has ~200,000 employees, is preparing for its 1st Moon mission since 1976. Luna 25 is planned to launch to Boguslawsky crater ~73° S on October 1 aboard Soyuz. The lander is expected to survive 1 year on the surface. It carries 30 kg of payloads / 9 science instruments including a laser mass-spectrometer, infrared spectrometer, retroreflector, cameras for local lunar environments and instruments to measure plasma in the exosphere, dust and micro-meteorites, thermal properties of regolith. With the success of these new technologies launching, upcoming commercial astronaut flights and planned collaboration with China for a lunar base – Roscosmos could do well in its upward trajectory by taking a leadership role in investigating Luna’s high ground at Malapert Mountain and quickening its development of Human Moon mission technology. (Image Credits: Roscosmos, NASA)

MONDAY

July Space Month 2021: Lunar Conferences Meet as Race is on to Establish LEO Tourism

Space history might be made in July once again, as Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson prepare to travel to space on craft built by the companies they founded, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX strives for Starship orbital flight. Branson may reach space (or within 10 km, depending on definition) with a July 11 launch window, flying on VSS Unity space plane. Bezos aims for launch July 20 on New Shepard – an auspicious date which marks the 52nd observance of humankind becoming a Multi World Species with Apollo 11 Moon landing – and is expected to clear the 100 km Karman line, an imaginary boundary demarcating space. Plans for human space travel farther into space are also in progress: 2021 Lunar Development Conference, the 2nd hosted by the Moon Society, is set for July 9-10. The inaugural LDC in 2020 drew 60+ speakers addressing 300+ attendees – this year featured presenters include Breakthrough Foundation Chairperson Pete Worden, Space Journalist Leonard David, Aerospace Corporation Principal Engineer Angie Bukley, and Paragon Space CEO Grant Anderson. NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute holds its 12th annual LunGradCon forum July 15-16. With an emphasis on casual, supportive environment for early career academics and industry professionals to share work on Moon and small Solar System bodies, LunGradCon 2021 will focus on 4 research areas: Dust/Regolith & Plasma, Geology & Geophysics, Volatiles/Exospheres, Missions & Human Exploration. (Image Credits: NASA, Moon Society, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin)

Jul 5-16 — Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI), Moscow, Russia: 16th Summer School of Modern Astrophysics (SOMA): Exoplanets – Formation and Evolution; re-set to 2022

Jul 5 — Earth: At aphelion, 1.0167 AU from the Sun, 14:00.

Jul 5 — Moon: At apogee (distance 405,330 km), 05:00; 5.0° SE of Pleiades, 18:00.

Continued From…

May 24 – Aug 6 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA and Online: JPL Planetary Science Mission Design School Session 1.

May 24 – Aug 20 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA and Online: JPL Planetary Science Mission Design School Session 2.

Jun 1 – Aug 6 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online / Houston TX: 2021 LPI Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science.

Jun 28 – Aug 27 — International Space University (ISU), Granada, Spain: ISU Space Studies Program 2021.

Jun 7 – Aug 13 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Online and Houston TX: LPI Summer Internship for 2021.

Jul 4-9 — European Association of Geochemistry, Geochemical Society, Online / Europe: Virtual: Goldschmidt2021 Conference.

TUESDAY

Jul 6 — ISS, Release of Dragon CRS-22, ~405-km LEO: Commercial resupply cargo ship SpaceX Dragon CRS-22 to be released today with return science, experiments, cargo; undocking live coverage available 11:05 PDT.

Jul 6 — The Space Show, Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Aaron Bateman, PhD candidate in the history science and technology at Johns Hopkins University.