ISS Expedition 71 Plans to Welcome Progress 88P with 2,500 kg of Supplies, Experiments
The seven-member crew of International Space Station Expedition 71 continue their mission of science and exploration this week while (still) awaiting the launch of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore in Boeing Starliner CST-100, which could fly this week. ISS first component Zarya will reach 26 years in space in 2024, and as a whole the station has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym and the 360-degree view cupola comprised of seven windows for Earth observation. The current crew includes first time space fliers Nikolai Chub, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin. Docked to ISS are crew vehicles MS-25 & SpaceX Crew-8 Dragon, and cargo craft Progress 86P, 87P and NG Cygnus-20. Roscosmos is scheduled to launch Progress 88P via Soyuz 2.1A rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on May 30 to dock with ISS on June 1 carrying ~2,500 kg of supplies. Among the cargo will be 754 kg of propellant for refueling, 420 kg of potable water, 40 kg of nitrogen to replenish the ISS atmosphere, a hyperspectral instrument for Earth observation to be installed on the Zvezda service module, and materials to support the Biopolymer, Pilot-1, virtual reality, and neuroimmunity experiments. (Image Credits: ISS Partners)
MONDAY
☆ May 27 — International Space Station,~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 seven-member crew preparing EMUs for upcoming series of EVAs currently scheduled for June; may become crew of 9 if Starliner launches this week.
☆ May 27 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 18 three-member crew working with vertebrate-raising experiment in space (zebrafish); to date >130 projects have been conducted on TSS from 500 Chinese and international institutions.
★ May 27 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 6-60, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 to launch next batch of Starlink v2-mini satellites.
☆ May 27 — Jupiter: 4.8° SE of the Pleiades, 01:00.
☆ May 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 JO16: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
Highlights…
o NewSpace:Intuitive Machines of TX details Nova-C IM-2 lunar lander adaptations which may achieve landing “with 20 times better precision” than IM-1; CAS Space of China planning first crewed suborbital tourism flights in 2028; constructing Sutherland Spaceport, Orbex of UK also advancing orbital rocket Prime with $124.5 million total funding to date.
★ May 28 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / EarthCARE, SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB CA: Launch of ESA-JAXA-NICT satellite for Earth observation and characterization of clouds and aerosols, reflected solar radiation and infrared radiation.
☾ May 30 — Moon: At last quarter, 07:12; 0.46° ESE of Saturn, 23:00.
☆ May 30 — Mercury: 1.28° SE of Uranus, 22:00.
☆ May 30 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 JA3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)
FRIDAY
☆ May 31 — Venus: 5.3° N of Aldebaran, 13:00.
☆ May 31 — Apollo Asteroid 2008 XH: Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)
SATURDAY
★ 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.
o NET Jun — Australia Space Agency, Adelaide, Australia: Two national industry consortia AROSE and EPE & Lunar Outpost Oceania rover prototypes to be developed by this month.
★ NET Jun 1 — United Launch Alliance, Boeing, Launch Atlas V / CST-100 Starliner Crew Flight Test, SLC-41, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Boeing to launch Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to ISS on first crewed flight of Starliner to ISS via Atlas V rocket designated AV-085.
☆ Jun 1 — ISS, Progress MS-27 (Progress 88P) Rendezvous and Docking,~415-km LEO: Progress 88P resupply ship to dock to ISS at 07:47 EDT, live coverage available.
☆ Jun 1 — Deep Space, Earth-Moon Trajectory: ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) en route for Earth-Moon gravity assist flyby in August, will continue on multi-planet gravity assist flight path for July 2031 Jupiter orbit insertion; has traveled 1+ billion km so far.
☾ Jun 1 — Moon: 0.33° ENE of Neptune, 18:00; at perigee (distance 368,083 km), 21:25.
☆ Jun 1 — Apollo Asteroid 1998 KY26: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)
SUNDAY
☾ NET Jun 2 — Chang’E-6 Lunar Landing, Apollo Basin, South Pole–Aitken Basin: CNSA lunar sample return mission (orbiter, return capsule, lander, and ascender) to land on lunar farside around this date, and return up to 2kg of lunar regolith within 48 hours of landing; aiming for 43.0°S, 154.0°W.
☾ Jun 2 — Moon: 2.16° NNW of Mars, 12:00.
☆ Jun 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 JV14: Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)
☆ Jun 2 — Apollo Asteroid 14827 Hypnos (1986 JK): Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)
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