Chang’E-6 to Launch May 3, Complete Phase 3 of Chang’E Lunar Program
China’s Chang’E-6 orbiter, return capsule, lander, ascender and its international payloads are set to launch aboard a Long March 5 from Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island at 19° N as early as May 3. Launch mass is estimated to be 8,200 kg with the lander at ~3,200 kg. The mission is a backup of the Chang’E-5 mission and will be the first to attempt to collect and return regolith from the far side of the Moon. It will aim to retrieve up to 2kg within 48 hours of landing from the Apollo impact crater within the South Pole-Aitken basin. The international payloads on this mission are the roving laser retroreflector from Italy, ICUBE-Qamar (ICUBE-Q) from Pakistan, an instrument to detect negative ions on lunar surface from ESA / Sweden, and a radon detector from France. The Queqiao-2 relay satellite in a lunar elliptical frozen orbit of 200 × 16,000 km will support communications for CE-6 and future missions for at least 10 years. There are 4 phases of the Chang’E program and CE-6 will be the last of Phase 3. Phase 4 includes CE-7 and CE-8 missions for the construction of the International Lunar Research Station starting in 2026. ILRS has participation from 12 member nations and 12 NGOs to date, and its development is planned with 5 crucial missions (ILRS 1-5) between 2030-2035 the last of which includes the establishment of “lunar-based astronomy and Earth observation capabilities”. (Image Credits: CCTV, Nature Astronomy, CNSA, NASA Caltech JPL, IST)
MONDAY
☆ Apr 29 — International Space Station,~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 seven-member crew to relocate SpaceX Crew 8 vehicle from Harmony module forward port to zenith port, participate in interviews with Associated Press, The Post-Standard, and KMGH-TV.
☆ Apr 29 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Newly arrived Shenzhou 18 crew Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, Li Guangsu help prepare Shenzhou 17 spacecraft and crew Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, Jiang Xinlin for return to Earth.
Highlights…
o NewSpace: Perigee Aerospace of S. Korea working towards offshore launch of Blue Whale rocket near Jeju Island in 2024; PLD Space of Spain to advance Miura 5 launch NET 2025 and expand rocket factory to 834,000 m2 with US$83.5M investment; Rocket Lab working toward reuse of Electron first-stage, accomplishes 47th successful launch.
☆ SolarSystem: JAXA operating SLIM Moon lander for 4th lunar day, surviving 3 frigid lunar nights; China Manned Space Engineering Office reaffirms LM 10, Lanyue lander, and Mengzhou crew capsule will be ready for human Moon landing before 2030; Animation of massive lava flow on Io created from Juno flyby images.
☆ Galaxy: Italy / USA research team simulates possible perturbations of TNO orbits as search for hypothetical Planet 9 continues; NASA JPL controllers working to reestablish Voyager 1 science data transmission from interstellar space following successful diagnostic link; continued research ongoing for TRAPPIST-1 system, advanced instruments of JWST, future ELT studies desired.
●USA: Florida creating designated spaceport territory as launch cadence set to increase further; Choctaw students at Jones Academy to conduct agronomy research on heirloom seeds exposed to space & returned to Earth on Dragon; Blue Canyon Technologies and Space & Mission Systems of CO working with Environmental Defense Fund to make MethaneSAT data publicly accessible.
● Hawai’i: ILOA Hawai’i payload to conduct Galaxy / Astronomy imaging from Shackleton Rim, Moon via Chang’E-7 in 2026; Subaru Telescope IR reveals Jupiter-like planet 57 ly distant in orbit of star GJ 504 is lowest-mass exoplanet observed directly.
● = 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’).
The broadest and most diverse international human space exploration coalition in history according to the US State Department, the Artemis Accords now include 39 countries: 18 in Europe (Italy, Luxembourg, UK, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, France, Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia), 8 in Asia (Japan, UAE, South Korea, Israel, Bahrain, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India), 5 in South America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay), 3 in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), 3 in Africa (Nigeria, Rwanda, Angola) and 2 in Oceania (Australia, New Zealand). In contrast to the other major effort organizing to explore the Moon, the China and Russia-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the Artemis Accords are currently limited to national membership – with application of expressed principles “to apply to civil space activities conducted by the civil space agencies of each signatory”. If Artemis were broadened to include non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as academic institutions, commercial interests, and non-profits, momentum towards realization of 21st century human Moon landings and multi-world civilization may be bolstered. With recent reports of major reevaluation of the architecture needed to achieve the Artemis goal of returning man and sending the first woman and person of color to the lunar surface, now may be an opportune time to also readjust the nature of the Accords themselves, harnessing collective energy of both “the established and emerging actors in space”. (Pictured (L-R): NASA Astronaut Randy Bresnik, US Ambassador Jamie Harpootlian, Slovenia Ministry of Economy, Tourism, and Sport State Secretary Matevž Frangež, NASA Associate General Counsel Rebecca Bresnik, Slovenian Ambassador Iztok Mirošič; Image Credits: NASA)
☆ Apr 29 — Tiangong Space Station (TSS), ~390-kmLEO: Tianhe, first component of China TSS reaches 3 full years / enters 4th year in Space today, having launched on this day in 2021.
☆ May 1 — Deep Space, Kuiper Belt: New Horizons spacecraft in mission extension phase sends back evidence of possible ‘extended or second Kuiper Belt‘ – working with Earth-based observatories to confirm further KBOs.
★ May 1 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / WorldView Legion 1 & 2, SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB CA: Launch of WorldView-Legion next generation of Earth observation satellites owned by DigitalGlobe, built by SSL.
● May 1 — University of Hawai’i, Institute for Astronomy, Online / Honolulu HI: Spring 2024 IfA Colloquia Talk; featuring Bruce Macintosh from UC Santa Cruz.
o May 1 — May Day,Northern Hemisphere, Earth: Spring festival commonly held on this day (or about halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice) to celebrate fertility, fire, and abundance.
☾ May 1 — Moon: At last quarter, 01:27.
☆ May 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 DY1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
☆ May 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 AA5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)
FRIDAY
o May 3 — International Space Day 2024, Worldwide: First Friday in May, events and presentations to promote STEM education and inspire people to continue the work of Space explorers; originally began as ‘National Space Day’ in 1997 by Lockheed Martin Corp.
☆ May 3 — CNSA, Launch Long March 5 / Chang’E-6, Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): Launch window opens for CE-6 sample return mission from Moon Far Side; to include international payloads roving laser retroreflector from Italy, CubeSat from Pakistan, an instrument to detect negative ions on lunar surface from ESA / Sweden, and a radon detector from France.
☾ May 3 — Moon: 0.77° SE of Saturn, 14:00.
SATURDAY
☆ May 4 — Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak: The 1st of 2 annual showers that occur as a result of Earth passing through dust released by Halley’s Comet; Eta Aquarid meteors appear to radiate from Constellation Aquarius, Northern Hemisphere observers may to see 10+ meteors per hour, Southern Hemisphere 20-40 per hour; peak 14:00.
☾ May 4 — Moon: With Mars and Neptune within circle of diameter 4.16°, 09:00; 0.31° ESE of Neptune, 10:00; 0.44° NE of Mars, 17:00.
SUNDAY
● May 5 — Uniphi Space Agency, Federation of Galaxy Explorers, Space Foundation, Challenger Center, et al, Nationwide USA: National Astronaut Day; inspiring people to reach for the Stars and celebrate Astronauts; on this date in 1961 Astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. became the 1st American in Space (15 minute suborbital flight to 186-km altitude).
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