March 14-20, 2022 / Vol 41, No 11 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Artemis First Woman on the Moon
NLT 2026 July 4

United States of America reaching a quarter-millennium / 250th observation on July 4, 2026 would be a realistic date to be preceded by the significant landing of the First Woman on the Moon near the unexplored new frontier of the South Pole / Shackleton Rim, and the dawn of a Multi World Civilization. Originally set for 2028, accelerated to 2024 goal under previous administration, the crewed Artemis 3 mission ‘technical risk’ now points to 2026. One of these 9 NASA cadre Artemis Astronauts are expected to be the 1st woman on the Moon (TL-BR): Barron, Koch, Mann, McClain, Meir, Moghbeli, Rubins, Watkins, Wilson. While India advances its Gaganyaan crew orbital spacecraft & Chandrayaan robotic lunar program, Russia may still consider Luna 25 lander for July launch & progress of its Oryol crew spacecraft, and PRC offers USA healthy competition to claim the 21st Century human return to the Moon. China remains the only country currently operating on Luna, the only country to have landed on the Farside, and is well positioned to achieve 2025-26 early testing of heavy-lift Moon rocket Long March 5DY. Space Launch System budgetary concerns (total spending may reach US$93B through 2025 / total Apollo spending ~$257B inflation adjusted) and timeline delays do not alter the worthiness of the Artemis spirit – to return to the Moon for Good, and in Peace for All. (Image Credits: NASA, GSFC, B. Ingalls, ESA, Foster and Partners)

MONDAY

☆ Mar 14 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 66 planning for U.S. EVA #79 this week, followed by 1 EVA next week, and arrival of 3 Cosmonauts on Friday bringing crew to 10 members until March 30.

☆ Mar 14 — Tiangong Space Station, ~370-km LEO: Shenzhou 13 crew continue construction of TSS and technology verification tests while Shenzhou 14 & 15, 2 cargo ships, and 2 experimental modules being prepared to launch this year.

o = International terrestrial events in local time.

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

As Operations Continue Nominally Despite Terrestrial Strife, it is Time to Award ISS Nobel Peace Prize

While geopolitical tensions are highly elevated due to violent Russia-Ukraine conflict, 408km above Earth the 7-member Expedition 66 crew of the ISS (representing USA, Russia and Germany) continue their collective mission advancing space science while maintaining continuous human presence in LEO for 21+ years. Astronauts Chari and Barron are to conduct EVA 79 on March 15, prepping for new solar arrays. March 18, Soyuz MS-21 is to launch 3 cosmonauts to ISS: Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov are to work alongside expeditions 66 / 67 crewmembers including SpaceX Crew-4 and 5 in April and September. Led by anchor partners USA and Russia with major contributions from Canada, Europe and Japan, the station has served as a testament to the effectiveness of space diplomacy, driven by mutual needs and bolstered by the Overview Effect universally felt among those who travel to space. In recognition of this profound effort, it is appropriate for the ISS to be re-nominated (as in 2014) for the Nobel Peace Prize. ISS for Nobel Campaign Manager Merryl Azriel has made submission simple for nominators wishing to lend support with Letter of Nomination templates (due Feb 1 for 2023 consideration). Norwegian-Iranian aspiring to become the first Norway Astronaut Nima Shahinian ceases training in Star City, citing “ethical and moral” concerns, now pursuing future SpaceX Crew Dragon / Boeing Starliner missions. (Image Credits: NASA, ISS, Nobel Committee, Nima Shahinian Twitter)

☆ Mar 14 — ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter 2016 Orbiter, Mars Orbit: ESA and Roscosmos spacecraft reaches 6 full years / enters 7th year in space today; craft collecting data on atmosphere, deployed Schiaparelli demonstration lander 19 Oct 2016 (unsuccessful).

● Mar 14 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: Teleconference to Discuss Debut of Mega Moon rocket and integrated spacecraft for uncrewed Artemis 1 lunar mission; starts 17:30 EDT.

o Mar 14 — Pi Day: Worldwide science events celebrate Pi (Greek letter “π”), the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant – the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter (~3.14159).

o Mar 14-15 — Proximum365, ESA, CNES Airbus, Eutelsat, MDA, Thales, Northrop Grumman, et al, Paris, France: 9th Paris Space Week 2022.

● Mar 14-18 — AIAA, Washington DC: Congressional Visits Day (CVD) 2022.

o Mar 14-18 — Sextan Center for Astrophysics, Sextan, Italy: Workshop: The Growth of Galaxies in the Early Universe – VII: Shaping the JWST Strategy.

☆ Mar 14 — Moon: 3.6° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 01:00.

☆ Mar 14 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 EA1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)

☆ Mar 14 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 EB2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.053 AU)

☆ Mar 14 — Amor Asteroid 2022 BC5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)

☆ Mar 14 — Amor Asteroid 2008 BT2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)

Continued From…
o Nov 4 – Jun 29 — Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, NASA Human Exploration Research Analog, Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender, international crew of 6 participating in 8-month space / lunar simulation SIRIUS-21 (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station).

● Mar 1-23 — Intuitive Machines, Online / Houston TX: Kerbal Space Program Challenge: A Nova-C Lunar Lander Challenge Contest; grand prize trip to Houston to join IM mission control for Nova-C Moon landing, winner announced Mar 31.

● Mar 11-20 — South by Southwest, Hybrid / Austin TX and Online: 2022 SXSW (South by Southwest) Conference and Festivals.

★ NET Mar 13 – Astra, Launch Rocket 3 LV0009 / S4 Crossover, Pacific Spaceport Complex, Kodiak Island AK: Astra to launch S4 Crossover tech demo by NearSpace Launch to obtain flight heritage testing for prototype payload host platform.