India Making Great Strides Towards 1st Tier Space Capability with Upcoming PNT, Lunar, Solar & Crew Vehicle Test Launches
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MONDAY☆ May 29 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 69 ten-member crew working with Progress 84P cargo; docked spacecraft now total 5. ☆ May 29 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 15 crew set to welcome 3-member crew from Shenzhou 16 to overlap for six days, working with 8,600 kg of cargo. Highlights… o NewSpace: Blue Origin-led team to conduct 2 HLS landings (uncrewed demo + Artemis 5 crewed mission NLT 2029) under US$3.4B NASA award and possibly 2 precursors in 2024/5; Rocket Lab, Vast and Stratolaunch to acquire Virgin Orbit assets; Kleos Space partnering with General Atomics to provide RF data from 12-sat constellation. ☆ Solar System: Zürich Astronomers propose Uranus Orbiter and Probe to narrow down possible location of hypothetical ‘Planet 9’; JWST observation of water plumes emanating from Enceladus strengthens case for proposed Orbilander mission; LRO team conducting ongoing investigation of ispace M1 crash studying 4 objects at 47.581°N, 44.094°E. ☆ Galaxy: SN 2023ixf in Pinwheel Galaxy M101 likely to brighten in coming months, discovered by independent astronomer Kōichi Itagaki; Breakthrough Listen funding Phase A study led by Andrew Siemion to plan for $150-200M lunar farside SETI radio observatory; Using JWST, Hubble Astronomers are measuring light from Milky Way neighbors to understand early, distant galaxies. o Global: China Manned Space Engineering Office soliciting commercial cargo delivery for Tiangong Space Station; GITAI of Japan to develop space robots for Moon and Mars, expand into USA with $29M in new funding; Simulated SETI message sent from ESA TGO to Earth being decoded, discussed around the world by public and specialists. ● USA: Ursa Major to refine 890-kN thrust methalox Arroway rocket engine under AFRL contract with first hot fire NET 2025; Crew-7 members Jasmin Moghbeli (NASA) and Satoshi Furukawa (JAXA) training to work with inaugural Sierra Space Dream Chaser CRS-2 cargo vessel; SpaceX testing water-cooled steel plate for upgraded Starbase launchpad. ● Hawai’i: Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope producing stunning images of sun as 1-year Operations Commissioning Phase progresses; California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA) seeking candidates for directorship of W. M. Keck Observatory; Suborbital launch in Gulf of Mexico hosted by The Spaceport Company may herald new prospects for Hawaii off-shore space access. |
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● = 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: Venus (W), Mars (W); Morning Planets: Jupiter (E), Saturn (SE).
CSA Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program to Roll Out Moon Rover, Discuss Deep Space Healthcare, Food Production
Canadian Space Agency to present 2nd Lunar Workshop virtually May 30 – June 1 opening with CSA-ASC Astronaut Jeremy R. Hansen, crewmember of Artemis II. Christian Lange of CSA-ASC and Joel Kearns of NASA will provide updates on their respective national Lunar programs. The Workshop aims to highlight recent research, projects, advancements of Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP). Josh Newman, Canadensys Systems Engineer, will provide technology overview and demonstration of Canadian Lunar Rover, built by Canadensys Aerospace Corporation and partners. With launch no earlier than 2026, the solar-powered 30-kg rover is to land near the Moon south pole to study lunar geology, search for water ice, take panoramic images and videos of lunar surface, and send data back to Earth. It will carry 5 science payloads from Canada, and one from USA in partnership with NASA. Other topics at the Workshop include lunar dust sources and interactions with space plasma, deep space food challenges, CSA-ASC’s Food Production Initiative, virtual reality, and space medicine featuring Shawna Pandya (Director of Medical Research with Orbital Assembly Corporation), talking on ‘PoCUS imaging for diagnosis and patient care, particularly in remote, resource-limited, and isolated, confined and enclosed environments’. Gordon Osinski of University of Western Ontario is co-chair of the session on ‘Study of volatiles and geology of the lunar south pole’ and credited in a few other talks on Apollo samples and lunar geology. (Image Credits: CSA-ASC, NASA, S. Pandya & J. Newman via LinkedIn)
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☆ May 29 — CNSA, Launch Long March 2 / Shenzhou 16, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China: Three-member crew of Shenzhou 16 set to launch to Tiangong Space Station, overlap with Shenzhou 15 crew for about 6 days.
☆ May 29 — Indian Space Research Organization, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 2 / NVS 01, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: GSLV to launch NVS 01 navigation satellite for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System; 10:42 IST. o May 29 – Jun 1 — SpaceLand Africa, IAF, Balaclava, Mauritius: 4th SpaceLand Congress; discussing microgravity Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math and Medicine (STEAMM). ☆ May 29 — Venus: 4.0° SSW of Pollux, 11:00. ☆ May 29 — Aten Asteroid 2021 KO2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU). ☆ May 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 JZ4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU). Continued From… ● Oct 15 – Jun 15, 2023 — International Space Elevator Consortium, Online: Space Elevator Academic Challenge: Improving Humanity’s Future; for students 17-25. o May 28 – Jun 1 — Indian Institute of Science, AIAA Society for Shock Wave Research, Bengaluru, India: 25th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference. TUESDAY★ May 30 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 6-4, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 to launch next batch of Starlink V2 internet satellites for SpaceX; first stage to land on drone ship in Atlantic Ocean. o May 30 – Jun 1 — Canadian Space Agency (CSA-ASC), Online / Longueuil, Quebec, Canada: 2nd Canadian Lunar Workshop; to present advancements of Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program, showcase recent research, LEAP projects, and ideas for Gateway utilization. ☆ May 30 — Mars: At aphelion 1.6659 AU from the Sun, 11:00. ☆ May 30 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 KT1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU). WEDNESDAY☆ May 31 — TSS, Shenzhou 15 Return to Earth, ~390-km LEO: Three-member crew of Shenzhou 15 set to return to Earth, landing in Inner Mongolia, China after 6-month mission aboard Tiangong Space Station. ● May 31 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Meeting; to be broadcast on NASA live, 10:30 EDT. o May 31 – Jun 9 — United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), Vienna, Austria: Full Committee Meeting of the COPUOS. |
☆ May 31 — Moon: 2.91° NNE of Spica, 04:00.
☆ May 31 — Apollo Asteroid 2012 KP24: Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU).
THURSDAY
☆ Jun 1 — Deep Space: Juno continues science and image collection at Jupiter and JUICE is nominally en route, study from 5-years of radio waves show Jupiter lightning may be similar to Earth which has implications for search for life.
● Jun 1 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: News Conference for Upcoming Spacewalks; to be broadcast on NASA live, 12:00 EDT.
o Jun 1 — CNSA, Online / Beijing, China: Proposals Due: Announcement of Opportunity: Soliciting for Payloads Onboard Chang’E-7 Mission.
● Jun 1-2 — Keystone Space Collaborative, Pittsburgh PA: Keystone Space Conference; at Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square.
☆ Jun 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 JM1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU).
FRIDAY
☆ Jun 2 — International Space Station, Crew Dragon Freedom / Axiom-2 Undocking, ~415-km LEO: SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom and 4 members of Axiom 2 mission (Whitson, Shoffner, AlQarni, Barnawi) set to undock from ISS today, return to Earth via splashdown in Atlantic Ocean.
☆ Jun 2 — Mars: 0.16° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 13:00.
☆ Jun 2 — Amor Asteroid 2023 KZ2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU).
☆ Jun 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 Ks2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU).
SATURDAY
★ Jun 3 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Dragon CRS 28, Kennedy Space Center FL: Dragon 2 to carry cargo to ISS, first stage booster to land on drone ship in Atlantic Ocean, 06:34.
☆ Jun 3 — Moon: 1.52° NNE of Antares; 13:00; Full Strawberry Moon, 17:43.
SUNDAY
● Jun 4-8 — American Astronomical Society, Albuquerque NM: 242nd Meeting of the AAS; at Albuquerque Convention Center.
☆ Jun 4 — Mercury: 2.72° SE of Uranus, 15:00.
☆ Jun 4 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 JE5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU).
☆ Jun 4 — Amor Asteroid 2023 JR2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU).