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.

☾ = Moon activity

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

Is it Time to Expand Artemis Accords Membership?

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-km LEO: Tianhe, first component of China TSS reaches 3 full years / enters 4th year in Space today, having launched on this day in 2021.

o Apr 29 — Heinrich Heine University, Brussels, Belgium: Humanities in Space: Challenges and Opportunities.

☆ Apr 29 — Aten Asteroid 2024 GK5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)

TUESDAY

● Apr 30 — STEAMSPACE, Cities in Space, Online / Austin TX: Cities in Space Podcast: STEAMSPACE Cities in Space; with guest Melodie Yashar.

● Apr 30 – May 2 — University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: Inter-Planetary Small Satellite Conference 2024.

☆ Apr 30 — Mercury: At aphelion, 0.4667 AU from Sun, 06:00.

☆ Apr 30 — Amor Asteroid 2021 GD3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU)

● May 1 — University of Hawai’i, Institute for Astronomy, Online / Honolulu HI: Spring 2024 IfA Colloquia Talk; featuring Bruce Macintosh from UC Santa Cruz.