Commemorating Women in Space as First Woman Moon Landing Nears
As the Artemis generation of astronauts prepares to return to the Moon, including the as-yet-unannounced Artemis 3 crewmember who will become the first woman to land on the surface of the Moon, it is appropriate to honor 3 female pioneers who led the way into space as the anniversaries of their historic explorations approach. June 16 will mark 60 years since Valentina Tereshkova of USSR became the first Woman (from any nation) to reach space by launching on Vostok 6 (Vostok-K rocket / Vostok-3KA capsule) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in 1963. Flying for 48 Earth orbits over ~71 hours solo, Tereshkova returned to earth via capsule ejection and parachute from 6,100 m on June 19. Tereshkova crater (28.4°N, 144.3°E) on the Moon is named to honor the first woman in space. 20 years later, Sally Ride was the first woman from the USA to fly in space on June 18, 1983 with STS-7 Challenger launch from Kennedy Space Center. On July 4, a statue honoring Ride will be unveiled at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, not far from her hometown of Encino, California. Also June 16 is the 11th observation of the 1st woman from China to launch to space, Liu Yang, who flew on Shenzhou 9 (2012) and to the Tiangong Space Station on Shenzhou 14 (2022). (Image Credits: Soviet Space Program, NASA, CNSA, Lockheed Martin)
MONDAY
☆ Jun 12 — International Space Station,~415-km LEO: Expedition 69 seven-member crew preparing for U.S. EVA #88 for solar array installation after SpaceX CRS-28 cargo arrival.
☆ Jun 12 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 16 working with cargo from Tianzhou-5 and -6; will see Shenzhou-17 launch later this year while China plans for human Moon landings before 2030.
Highlights…
o NewSpace: Blue Origin to resume suborbital New Shepard space tourism flights in weeks; Momentus and Axient to collaborate on space logistics services offered via Vigoride craft; Advanced Space / Terran Orbital Capstone enters enhanced mission phase.
☆ Solar System: KPLO Danuri lunar orbiter likely to continue operations for 2 more years in low-power mode; CMSA and NASA seeking commercial providers for crewed lunar vehicles; Caltech Space Solar Power Project advancing toward goal of flexible sail-like panel constellation, first transmission received at Gordon and Betty Moore Lab.
☆ Galaxy: Northwestern University researchers who discovered radio wave-emitting vertical filaments near Sgr A* in 1984 now characterizing newly discovered structures in-line with galactic plane; Tohoku University-led study suggests Betelgeuse may go nova in tens of years while AAVSO data indicates star is at 142% typical brightness; SETI initiative to target MWGC for techno-signature identification.
● Hawai’i: Gemini North telescope resumes observations with M101, location of SN 2023ixf – the origin of which may be a 12,000,000 M☉ red supergiant; ASIAA preparing to construct FRB detection array in Wood Valley; GUARDIAN system harnessing GNSS data to monitor tsunami activity around Pacific Ring of Fire including Hawaiian Islands.
● = 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’).
5th Secure World Foundation Addresses Space Sustainability with 70 Speakers in NYC
Space Sustainability is the topic of the hybrid 5th Secure World Summit in New York City on June 13-14. SWF Executive Director Peter Martinez will give the welcome address and open day one, followed by comments from Guy Ryder, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Policy. Jim Bridenstine of JB Solutions (former NASA Administrator) will participate on a panel about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles with representatives from Promus Ventures, Maxar, SES Satellites and EU Agency for Space Program. Some of the conference presenters are Julie Black (UK Space Agency), Brian Weeden (SWF), Richard DalBello (NOAA), Masayasu Ishida (Spacetide), Nikolai Khlystov (World Economic Forum), and Hugo André Costa (Portuguese Space Agency). Session themes cover Why Space Sustainability Matters and Its Impact on Our Global Future, Ensuring Regulation Supports Innovation in Space, Why a Moratorium on Anti-Satellite Testing is Important, Investment Landscape for Space, What’s Happening on the Moon in the Next Decade?, Can the Space Community Actually Learn Something From Internet Governance?, and The Artemis Accords and the Moon Agreement: Living in Harmony? The Panel “It’s Still Not a Lunar Space Race” features Kaitlyn Johnson (Center for Strategic and International Studies), Mathias Link (Luxembourg Space Agency), Richard Lowe (Satellite Applications Catapult), Asif Siddiqi (Fordham University) and Jennifer Warren (Lockheed Martin) discussing the ‘complex, nuanced, and uncertain’ current lunar reality. (Image Credits: University of Colorado, Secure World, UN, Linkedin, NOAA)
★ Jun 12 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 5-11, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 to carry batch of 52 Starlink V1.5 internet satellites; first stage booster to land on drone ship in Atlantic Ocean; 03:10 EDT.
★ Jun 12 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Transporter 8, Vandenberg SFB CA: Falcon 9 rocket to launch Transporter 8 rideshare to sun-synchronous orbit with numerous microsatellites and nanosatellites; 14:14 PDT.
●Jun 12 – Aug 12 — Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators at University of California Observatories, University of Hawai’i,Hilo HI: Akamai Internship Program 2023.
☆ Jun 12 — Mercury: 6.1° SE of the Pleiades, 15:00.
☆ Jun 12 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 LA: Near-Earth Flyby (0.004 AU).
☆ Jun 12 — Apollo Asteroid 1994 XD: Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU).
o Jun 9-18 — National Space Foundation, NOIRLab, International Dark-Sky Association, AURA, Online / Global: Globe at Night June Campaign; campaign to raise awareness of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure & submit night sky brightness observations.
o Jun 11-14 — Banca Transilvania, Space for a Better World, Romanian Space Initiative, et al, Bucharest, Romania: Aim Higher Romania; celebrating Romania’s role in Artemis Program with NASA and ESA, featuring international Astronauts, Space Day Romania (Jun 11, 12), Innovation Summit (Jun 13), and Gala (Jun 14).
o Jun 13-15 — Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Observatoire de Paris, Online / Paris, France: Titan Through Time Workshop VI.
☆ Jun 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 WN4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU).
☆ Jun 14 — Venus: 0.78° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 15:00.
THURSDAY
☆ Jun 15 — International Space Station, U.S. EVA #88, 405-km LEO: Astronauts Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg to perform spacewalk to continue installation of new ISS Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSA), starts 09:20 EDT; live coverage available.
●Jun 15 — International Astronautical Federation, (IAF), Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA),Online: Space Universities CubeSat Challenge; applications due today, open to all IAF Member Universities.
☆ Jun 15 — Amor Asteroid 2020 DB5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU).
FRIDAY
☆ Jun 16 — Arianespace, Launch Vega C / Syracuse 4B & Heinrich Hertz, ELA-3, Kourou, French Guiana: Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA260, to launch Syracuse 4B and Heinrich Hertz communications satellites.
o Jun 16 — 60th 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 — 11th 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.
☆ Jun 16 — Moon: 1.71° SE of Pleiades, 18:00; 4.2° N of Mercury, 19:00.
SATURDAY
☆ Jun 17 — Mercury: 4.3° NNW of Aldebaran, 15:00.
☆ Jun 17 — Amor Asteroid 2023 HL: Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU).
SUNDAY
● Jun 18 — 40th Observation of the 1st Woman from USA in Space, Nationwide USA / Global: Celebrating the first American woman to fly in Space, Sally Ride on Space Shuttle Challenger STS-7 mission in 1983, while USA plans First Woman to the Moon South Pole 2026 via developing Artemis program.
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