ISS Events: R&D Conference Seattle, Astronauts Speak with Students in Brazil, Cygnus NG-19 Launch
12th Annual ISS Research and Development Conference Space Conference takes place in Seattle WA July 31 – August 3. Sponsored by ISS National Lab, CASIS, and American Astronautical Society, topics to focus on solving future research and development challenges in space as in how low Earth orbit and ISS could advance R&D goals, technology, materials testing, pharmaceutical development, fundamental science, in-space manufacturing. Keynote speaker is NASA Chief Scientist Katherine Calvin, also including NASA Astronaut Megan McArthur, Boeing Vice President John Mulholland, Blue Origin ISS Program Manager Erika Wagner, Space Tango Chief Strategy Officer Alain Berinstain, JAXA Director Masaki Shirakawa. Live coverage available on August 1 at 12:35 EDT as ISS Expedition 69 NASA Astronauts Steve Bowen, Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi will connect and interact remotely with students at 35th annual International Space University Space Studies Program taking place this year in São José dos Campos, Brazil June 26 – August 25. No earlier than August 1 Northrop Grumman to launch Antares / NG-19 Cygnus mission to ISS marking 10 years of Commercial Resupply Service. Dually named for NASA Astronaut of the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia, S.S. Laurel Clark Cygnus to deliver approximately ~3,700 kg cargo from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). After ISS departure, Cygnus to again host NASA’s Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment (SAFFIRE) allowing scientists to continue studying fire behavior in microgravity. (Image Credits: NASA, Wikipedia, LinkedIn)
MONDAY
☆ Jul 31 — International Space Station,~415-km LEO: Expedition 69 seven-member crew planning for arrival of cargo via Cygnus NG-19 bringing craft docked to 5 along with Soyuz MS-23, Crew-6 Dragon, Progress 83P & 84P.
☆ Jul 31 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Installations and adjustments for 3 externally-mounted cameras being tested after Shenzhou 16 eight-hour, two-person EVA with help from Taikonaut-assisted Tiangong robotic arm.
Highlights…
o NewSpace: Voyager Space reaches MoU agreements with ISRO and NewSpace India Limited for Gaganyaan, SSLV, PSLV collaboration opportunities; SpaceX Starship Booster 9 / Ship 25 may launch in summer, reach orbit & splashdown near Hawai’i; Galactic Energy working toward early 2024 sea launch of Ceres-1 after 6th successful flight from Jiuquan.
☆ Solar System: Chandrayaan-3 to perform TransLunar Injection firing on Aug 1 setting it on course for Aug 23 lunar landing; 2022 data set release for JAXA Akatsuki instruments expected while orbiter nears 7th full year at Venus; NOAA requests $450.5M increase from enacted FY2023 budget for 2024 climate change services.
☆ Galaxy: JWST NIRCam and NIRSpec instruments to further study PDS 70 star system 370 ly distant after water vapor detection; 5-microsecond fast radio burst originating from galaxy ~3B ly away becomes shortest FBR ever observed; K. Hawkins (UT Austin) leads MWG chemical mapping revealing unseen regions, techniques to be applied to other galaxies.
o Global: 7 Singapore satellites hoped to be in orbit after scheduled India PSLV-C56 launch 30 July IST; China CASIC to launch very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) demo satellites in December for planned constellation of 300 by 2030; Roscosmos invites BRICS partners to build module for potential Russian Orbital Station launching NET 2027.
● Hawai’i: ILOA advocates for Artemis Accords NGO participation, signed July 20 MoU on IMD with DSEL to advance ILRS contributions and Galaxy Forum Hainan; Board of Land and Natural Resources to re-set date for TMT construction permit oral arguments; 12 founding faculty members of UCSD new Astronomy and Astrophysics department to collaborate with Keck Observatory.
● = 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’).
USU SmallSat 2023 to Feature >120 Presentations on Tech, Science, Communication Innovations & Policies
Before Dugway Proving Ground in Utah desert receives asteroid Bennu samples from OSIRIS-REx on September 24, Utah State University in Logan Utah is planned to host 37th Annual Small Satellite Conference August 5-10 themed Missions at Scale. Dates are already set for SmallSat Conferences #38-41 in Aug of 2024-2027. SmallSat 2023 will have 19 technical sessions, 7 poster sessions, 36 swifties (3-minute flash talks), an exhibit hall and 1 student competition. Keynote Speaker is Stefanie Tompkins Director of DARPA. Some of the presented science and missions covered are LUMIO – a Lunar Meteoroid Impacts Observer, SelenITA – CubeSat Around the Moon, LightSail 2, Capstone, Lunar Flashlight, NinjaSat X-ray Observatory, ARKSAT-1 and AEPEX Mission. Earth orbital overcrowding is an increasing concern for the future: there are an estimated 11,330 satellites orbiting Earth according to UNOOSA – 4,859 of which are SpaceX Starlinks (tracking by Astronomer Jonathan McDowell) and 3,236 are planned to be launched for Amazon Project Kuiper. The 1.75-hour Orbital Debris session will review ‘policies, best practices, and challenges for small satellite developers addressing space sustainability’ and include Ian Christensen from Secure World Foundation. Propulsion Session discusses Magnetically Shielded Miniature (MaSMi) Hall thruster, Water Resistojet Propulsion, Cold Gas Propulsion System, Water-based and Green Propellant Thrusters Based on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitrous oxide (N2O). (Image Credits: USU, Nanoracks, NASA, ISS Partners, Spaceflight Inc.)
★ Jul 31 — Juno, Perijove 53 / 52nd Science Flyby,Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft to perform Jupiter flyby during Perijove 53, its 53th close flyby of Jupiter and 52nd science flyby with instruments turned on.
☆ Jul 31 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 AW65: Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU).
Continued From…
●Jun 12 – Aug 12 — Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators at University of California Observatories, University of Hawai’i,Hilo HI: Akamai Internship Program 2023.
o Jun 26 – Aug 25 — International Space University (ISU), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), et al,São José dos Campos, Brazil:35th ISU Space Studies Program (SSP 2023).
☾ Jul 14 – Aug 23 — Chandrayaan-3,Lunar Landing Trajectory: India Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover to attempt Moon South Pole region landing site near Manzinus U (69.368°S, 32.348°E) ~17:47 IST; second landing window in September.
TUESDAY
☆ Aug 1 — International Space Station,~415-km LEO: Expedition 69 In-Flight Event; Astronauts Sultan Alneyadi, Steve Bowen, Woody Hoburg connect with students at International Space University SSP in Brazil, starts 12:35 EDT, live coverage available.
☾ Aug 1 — Chandrayaan-3,Lunar Landing Trajectory: India Chandrayaan-3 to perform TransLunar Injection firing today between 00:00-01:00 IST, setting it on course for Aug 23 lunar landing.
★ Aug 1 — Northrop Grumman, Launch Antares / NG-19 Cygnus, Wallops Island VA: Final launch of Northrop Grumman Antares 230+ rocket (before redesign), delivering ~3,700 kg cargo from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) to ISS via NG-19 dubbed S.S. Laurel Clark; 20:30 EDT.
☆ Aug 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 PN1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU).
FRIDAY
☾ Aug 4 — Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter ‘Danuri’,Moon Orbit: KARI first lunar spacecraft Danuri reaches 1st full year / enters 2nd year in space since launching on this day in 2022, reached Moon orbit Dec 16.
☆ Aug 4 — International Space Station, Cygnus NG-19 Rendezvous and Installation,~415-km LEO: Cygnus NG-19 S.S. Laurel Clark to rendezvous with ISS and be installed on nadir port of Unity Module; capture 05:54 EDT, installation begins 07:30, live coverage available.
● Aug 4 — Friends of Lili’uokalani Gardens, Maunakea Observatories, TMT, Hilo HI: Public Moongazing Event; Kilo (observing), storytelling and telescope viewing.
☆ Aug 4 — Moon: 1.32° SE of Neptune, 14:00.
☆ Aug 4 — Apollo Asteroid 2014 QL433: Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU).
SATURDAY
★ Aug 5 — Juno, Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft reaches 12 full years in space today, having been launched in 2011 and reaching Jupiter on July 4, 2016; one-way transmission signal to Earth is 48 minutes, mission extended through September 2025.
★ Aug 5 — Curiosity, Mars Surface: Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) rover reaches 11 full years / enters 12th year of operations on Mars surface today; launched Nov 26, 2011 – landed Aug 5, 2012 (Pacific Daylight Time).
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