June 24-30, 2024 / Vol 43, No 26 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Chang’E-6 Lunar Farside Samples Planned to Land in Inner Mongolia June 25 

The first–ever Moon farside sample is targeted to return to Earth on June 25 for China National Space Administration under its highly successful Chang’E (CE) program. The samples, which may be ~2 kg from a depth of ~2 meters, will potentially influence the International Lunar Research Station site selection and future landing missions, depending on the abundance of water / chemicals or other characteristics such as ages of basalt materials or ejecta from the South Pole-Aitken basin impact. Researchers are eager to compare the nearside samples collected by Apollo Astronauts and CE-5 mission with the farside regolith composition, which should reveal clues about the history of the early Solar System. CE-6 lander was further pinpointed by a team working with NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which estimated its location to be -41.6385°N, 206.0148°E and -5,256 meters elevation relative to the lunar geodetic reference (+/- 30 meters). CE-6 is the second robotic lunar sample return mission from China, and similar to CE-5 it has a lander, ascender, orbiter and returner. The CE-6 rover was not revealed until after launch. The lander and rover could possibly survive the lunar night, but they do not have RTGs like the CE-3 and CE-4 missions. The next CE mission, CE-7 in late 2026, will include a lander, rover, mini-hopping probe, orbiter and 7 international payloads. (Image Credits: CNSA, CGTV, NASA, GSFC, Arizona State University)

MONDAY 

☆ Jun 24 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 seven-member crew to oversee departure of Boeing Starliner CST-100 with Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore mid-week, depending on craft thrust issue resolutions; 2 crew members to perform 6.5-hour US EVA #90 starting 08:00 EDT today, live coverage available; planning for follow-up spacwalk next week.

☆ Jun 24 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 18 three-member crew undergoing tests to compare operational physical strength in space vs on Earth; planned to complete >90 experiments during 6-month mission; portions of recently completed 8.5-hour EVA shared with public via high-res video.

o Jun 24-28 — Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan: Trans-Neptunian Solar System 2024.

☾ = Moon activity

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

SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Launch NOAA GOES-U Weather Satellite to ~35,800 Km GEO

A two-hour launch window opens at 17:16 EDT June 25 for the fourth and final GOES-R Series satellite, GOES-U. The Lockheed Martin-built satellite is atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Lift off is from LC39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, with 2,200+ kg of hypergolic propellant and oxidizer. GOES-U will become GOES-19 after testing, perhaps next April, replacing GOES-16 to observe all of the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean. The GEO location will be reached in about three weeks. A first on board is the Naval Research Lab-built Compact Coronagraph (CCOR-1) that blocks the disc of the Sun for viewing the corona and its mass ejections every 30 minutes instead of the current 8-hour wait. The Lockheed Martin-built Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is able to distinguish between average lightning strikes and fire-hazardous ones with continuing current, and tracks storm-intensity changes with photos 500 times per second. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), built by L3Harris Technologies, photographs wide areas of Earth in 16 wavelengths every ten minutes and zooms into storms to send images every 30 seconds. Also on board: Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) to detect energetic particles harmful to satellites and astronauts on the ISS, Extreme Ultraviolet and X-Ray Irradiance Sensors, Magnetometer. (Image Credits: NASA, NOAA)

TUESDAY

☾ Jun 25 — Chang’E-6 Lunar Sample Return, Inner Mongolia, China: About 2kg of samples from lunar regolith taken from scooping / drilling on lunar farside from a depth of up to 2 meters in return capsule to be returned to Earth around this date.

★ Jun 25 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon Heavy / GOES-U, Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Launch of the 4th and final satellite in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) – R Series.

o Jun 25 — International Astronautical Federation International Programme Committee, Online / Vienna, Austria: Kick-Off Call for Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2025); being held May 7-9 in New Delhi, India.

● Jun 25 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Online: A Phobos Telescope for Science and Exploration; with Jim Green, Benjamin Donahue, Kunio Sayanagi; 13:00-14:00 EDT.

o Jun 25-26 — NewSpace Alliance, CNES, GIFAS, Paris, France: The NewSpace Conference.