International Space University Begins 36th Space Studies Program (SSP 2024)
ISU’s nine-week summer Space Studies Program (SSP) is held at locations around the world and this year is at Rice University in Houston TX, USA June 8 to August 3. The program fosters international collaboration for space exploration and the Artemis program, and it includes lectures, tours, hands-on projects, and teamwork. (See the ISU Library Website for Team Project Reports). Professional visits are available to facilities in Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and France. Four tracks are available: Engineering, Physical sciences, Life sciences and Policy & Management. Subjects covered include: Space applications / humanities / engineering / policy / economics / law / management and business / sciences, and Human performance in space. Among the 250 invited SSP 2024 lecturers are ISU President Pascale Ehrenfreund, NASA’s Pete Worden, Christian Sallaberger, Soyeon Yi, Mikhail Marov, Walter Peeters, Angeliki Kapoglou, Emeline Dahlstrom, Derek Webber, Gene Giacomelli, Christopher Welch and Grant Anderson. Other programs originating at ISU’s campus in Strasbourg, France include the Online Space Lectures Series and two Masters degree programs. A Master of Space Studies (MSS) has long been available, including two semesters and an internship. New is Master of Space Studies Accredited (MSc), accredited by ASIIN, that includes three semesters with a master’s thesis. Founded in 1987, ISU’s 5,600+ alumni from 110 countries include Planet co-founder and CSO Robbie Schingler (L), NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir (C) and Earth 2 Orbit CEO Susmita Mohanty. (Also Pictured: Rice Univ. President Reginald DesRoches (R); Image Credits: ISU, Rice University, Planet Labs, NASA)
MONDAY
☆ Jun 10 — International Space Station,~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 seven-member crew planning for departure of Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams on Starliner CST-100 late in the week, followed by USA EVA 90.
☆ Jun 10 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 18 three-member crew Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu starts 3rd year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; share images of tree-planting / growth in Northern China.
☾ Jun 10 — Moon: 3.3° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 01:00.
☆ SolarSystem: Up to 2kg of Chang’E-6 lunar farside regolith samples being transferred to return capsule to head back to Earth at end of month; ESA-JAXA teams seeking to understand BepiColombo thrust problems (operating 10% lower than expected) to overcome possible trajectory issues on way into September Mercury flyby.
☆ Galaxy: Hubble should remain active in science mission through 2030s with 2 remaining gyroscopes (1 active, 1 as backup); newly discovered exoplanet ‘Phoenix’ located ~9M km from parent star under investigation due to unexpected intact atmosphere.
o Global: India increasing production capabilities for LVM-3 rocket with new facilities in Bengaluru inaugurated by ISRO Chair S Somanath; Japan 0.9 kg LignoSat cubesat made of magnolia wood to launch to ISS and be released to orbit later this year; Thailand may establish VLBI array after receiving 1st VLBI signal detection using 40-m Thai National Radio Telescope.
●USA: Artemis Astronauts testing Axiom spacesuits and working in full-scale test version of SpaceX Human Landing System; Blue Origin New Glenn orbital rocket first static fire and launch should be upcoming at LC-36 NET September; Boeing Starliner CST-100 flight brings new capability for future USA human space missions.
● Hawai’i: ILOA Hawai’i hosting Maunakea-Malapert discussion / Moon viewing at Hale Pohaku next Monday; Honolulu Community College inspired by 2 awards won by students at high-powered rocket competition in Wisconsin; Hoku Kea teaching telescope now needs new home after 2.5-week, US$1M removal from Mauna Kea, work on CSO foundation removal ongoing.
● = 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’).
Utilizing the Sun: Overview of the Solar Cruiser and Planetary Sunshade Missions
The Planetary Sunshade Foundation is hosting an International Working Group Call featuring Les Johnson on June 13 to discuss his role as Principal Investigator of the Solar Cruiser (SC) mission. The SC was a proposed mission for a 1,672 m2 solar sail to fly alongside Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe in February 2025 – due to technical, timeline and funding issues the mission was not selected to continue into development phase, but work is still being done on the project and its studies aided the development of other technologies including successful demonstration of a full quadrant sail deployment. The SC sail would have been the largest ever tested in space. This massive sail is of great interest to the 2021-formed Planetary Sunshade Foundation, which is proposing a megastructure to be placed at Sun-Earth Lagrange 1 to help prevent Earth temperature rise through solar reflection and to produce energy for in-space or Earth use. The Foundation advocates that carbon dioxide removal technologies will not be enough to alter the current trajectory of extreme climate change and about 1% shading of the Earth (with a sail 1 million square kilometers) would reduce radiative forcing, to cool the planet 1°C while not directly affect the atmosphere’s chemistry. The NASA Advanced Composite Solar Sail System was the most recent solar sail mission; it launched April 2024, has a sail area of about 80 square meters and will attempt a series of orbital changes. (Image Credits: NASA, Planetary Sunshade Foundation)
★ NET Jun / Summer — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Polaris Dawn Crew Dragon, LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon to reach apogee of 1,400 km, perform first commercial EVA, and test spacecraft-to-spacecraft communications with Starlink on 5-day mission.
● Jun 9-13 — American Astronomical Society, Madison WI:244th Meeting of the AAS; at Monona Terrace Convention Center.
TUESDAY
★ Jun 11 — Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope, LEO: Spacecraft with Large Area Telescope & Gamma-ray Burst Monitor instruments reaches 16 full years / enters 17th year in Space; launched 2008.
● Jun 11 — Women in Aerospace (WIA), Washington DC: Women in Aerospace Meeting; with Frank Calvelli, Assistant Secretary of Air Force for Space Acquisition.
● Jun 11-12 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Space Studies Board (SSB), Washington DC: 2024 Spring Meetings of SSB.
● Jun 12 — NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG), Ithaca NY and Online: OPAG Meeting.
☆ Jun 12 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 XC1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)
THURSDAY
☆ Jun 13 — International Space Station, U.S. EVA #90,~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 planning 6.5-hour spacewalk starting 08:00 EDT, live coverage available.
● Jun 13 — Planetary Sunshade Foundation, Online: International Working Group Call; featuring Les Johnson speaking on the NASA Solar Cruiser Mission; 10:30 EDT.
o Jun 13 — Moon Village Association, Online / Vienna, Austria: 2024 MVA General Assembly: Members Only; 17:00 CEST.
☾ Jun 13 — Moon: At first quarter, 19:19.
☆ Jun 13 — Mercury: At perihelion, 0.3075 AU from the Sun, 06:00.
FRIDAY
☆ Jun 14 — International Space Station, Starliner CST-100 Undocking,~415-km LEO: Boeing Starliner CST-100 craft with Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams set to return to Earth, live coverage of undocking available.
★ Jun 14 — Juno, Perijove 62 / 61st Science Flyby,Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft to perform Jupiter flyby during Perijove 62, its 62nd close flyby of Jupiter and 61st science flyby with instruments turned on.
☾ Jun 14 — Moon: At apogee, distance 404,056 km, 04:00.
SATURDAY
☆ Jun 15 — Mercury: At superior conjunction with Sun, 1.323 AU from Earth, 06:00.
SUNDAY
o Jun 16 — 61st Observation of the 1st Woman in Space, Global: Public events and commemorations occur to celebrate the first female to fly in Space, Valentina Tereshkova of the former Soviet Union; in 1963 she orbited Earth 49 times in Vostok 6.
o Jun 16 — 12th Observation of the 1st Woman from China in Space, Zhongguo / Global: First Woman from China in Space, Liu Yang, celebrated today for her flight in 2012 aboard Shenzhou 9, while nation plans for completion of Tiangong Space Station and landing people on the Moon.
o Jun 16-21 — SSERVI, The Open University, UKSA, ESA, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom:12th European Lunar Symposium; at Easterbrook Hall, Crichton Campus.
o Jun 16-21 — Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Optronics, Yokohama, Japan: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation.
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