Focus on the Moon: 11th European Lunar Symposium in Padua, CAPSTONE One-Year Observation
11th European Lunar Symposium to take place June 27-29 at Polo Multifunzionale di Psicologia in Padua, Italy with five major themes: “Science of the Moon,” “Science on the Moon,” “Science from the Moon,” “Future lunar missions,” and “Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU),” along with 62 posters. Event co-sponsored by Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), with participants from NASA, ESA, ASI, ISRO, UAE, KIGAM, ISA, JAXA. Topics to include Moon as Observation and Communication Platform, with Parcec by Lockheed Martin subsidiary Crescent Space, ESA Lunar Pathfinder Network of Communications, and NASA ShadowCam onboard Korea Aerospace Research Institute Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter satellite with Dawoon Jung, Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Other topics include Astronomy and Astrophysics from Moon by ESA Scientist Bernard Foing, and Advances in Lunar Exploration Concepts in Europe. Trent Martin and Ben Bussey of Intuitive Machines, Jack Burns University of Colorado to speak on Commercial Lunar Payloads. Ian Crawford from University of London, Angela Stickle of Johns Hopkins University will also speak. Event to coincide with lunar orbiter CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) marking one year in space. A 12-unit CubeSat, Capstone’s main mission to pave way for Lunar Gateway, an in-planning stage space station by NASA, ESA, CSA-ASC among others in conjunction with Artemis program. (Image Credits: AAS Nova, Wikipedia, Johns Hopkins University, Intuitive Machines)
MONDAY
☆ Jun 26 — International Space Station,~415-km LEO: Expedition 69 seven-member crew working with final procedures for SpaceX Dragon CRS-28 before undocking this week (return payload capacity ≤ 3,000 kg), also working with breathing, blood pressure, hearing experiments.
☆ Jun 26 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 16 three-member crew monitoring exterior mounted 13-sample box radiation biology payload set to aid future human Moon missions.
Highlights…
o NewSpace: Space Engine Systems developing spaceplanes HELLO-1 (P2P, LEO, LLO) and HELLO-2 (lunar surface); Celestis planning 3 memorial spaceflights, including 1 to lunar surface, before 2024; PLD Space working to determine cause of reusable rocket Miura 1 scrub and reset launch date.
☆ Solar System: 1.5 g lunar samples retrieved by Chang’E-5 to be analyzed by CNES, University of Paris-Sorbonne and other French research institutions for 5-7 years; Juno may capture more images of lightening like the green flash uncovered by a citizen scientist from JunoCam image from 31st flyby; ESA / JAXA early release images taken by BepiColombo on 3rd Mercury flyby being shared globally.
☆ Galaxy: Galileo Project Expedition collecting ‘anomalous’ fragments composed of Fe, Mg, Ti thought to be from interstellar meteorite for analysis at Harvard; University of Geneva paper suggests particle mass fluctuations, not acceleration of universe expansion, responsible for cosmological constant discrepancies; NAOC astronomers propose use of double-period RR Lyr stars to gauge of galactic distances.
o Global: Bangladesh, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, UAE, and Thailand are now signatures to China-led International Lunar Research Station; Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov to join ESA, NASA and JAXA astronauts on Crew-7 mission to ISS in mid-August; Ecuador and India and are 26th and 27th Artemis signatories.
●USA:ULA working to correct too-thin steel on tip of Vulcan Centaur upper stage; Rocket Lab expecting strong DoD demand for HASTE hypersonic testbed following successful launch from Wallops; Boeing CEO emphasizes SLS and Orbital Reef while insisting company will not “shut door” on indefinitely-delayed Starliner.
Euclid Space Observatory to Probe Fundamental Structure and History of Universe
The 2nd medium-class mission of ESA Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 program (4th overall), Euclid seeks to map 1.5 billion galaxies in space and time (redshift z ≤ 2, or 10 billion years) while measuring dark matter and energy and is set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from SLC-40 at CCSFS on July 1. The Euclid (named after Euclid of Alexandria, author of Elements) spacecraft is 4.7 m tall / 3.7 m in diameter / 2,160 kg and consists of service (Thales Alenia) and payload (Airbus) modules. The Euclid Consortium includes 2,000+ scientists from 300 research institutions in 16 countries. Science instruments Visible-Wavelength Camera (VIS), with 36 CCD sensors providing ~600-megapixel resolution and Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP), with 16 Hawaii 2RG sensors were developed in collaboration with Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and will be paired with 1.2 m telescope. Euclid will spend 30 days on cruise to Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L2 (~1.5 million km, or 4 LD), where the 6-year nominal mission surveying ~ half of the extragalactic (non-Milky Way) sky will be conducted from a Lissajous orbit. Weak Gravitational Lensing and Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations are techniques which will be utilized to characterize dark matter and dark energy (thought to hold together via gravity and cause expansion of the universe), which complimented by Planck mission high-redshift data, may lead to reformulation of the standard model of cosmology, Lambda-CDM. (Image Credits: ESA, Thales, Airbus, SpaceX)
o Jun 26 – Aug 25 — International Space University, ESA, Netherlands Space Office, Delft University of Technology, Leiden University,São José dos Campos, Brazil:35th ISU Space Studies Program (SSP 2023).
☆ Jun 26 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 ME1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 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.
TUESDAY
★ Jun 27 — Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), Sun-Synchronous Orbit: NASA observation satellite investigating the physical conditions of the chromosphere of Sun reaches 10 full reaches / enters 11th year in space, launched 2013.
☆ Jun 27 —Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz 2.1b / Meteor-M no. 2-3 / PHI-Demo, Site 1S,Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Meteor-M meteorological satellite with MBRSC / UNOOSA Payload Hosting Initiative demo, 11:34 UTC.
★ Jun 27 — Virgin Galactic, Launch VMS Eve / VSS Unity,Spaceport America NM: 4-day launch window opens for Galactic 01, first Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflight, to carry 3 crewmembers from Italian Air Force and National Research Council of Italy.
o Jun 27-29 — The Open University, NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI),Padua, Italy:11th European Lunar Symposium (ELS) 2023; at Polo Multifunzionale di Psicologia.
☆ Jun 27 — Moon: 2.75° NNE of Spica, 13:00.
☆ Jun 27 — Mercury: At perihelion, 0.3075 AU from Sun, 09:00; 0.08° SE of M35 cluster, 17:00.
☆ Jun 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 MS2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU).
☆ Jun 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 MO2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU).
☆ Jun 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2013 WV44: Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU).
THURSDAY
● Jun 29 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Online:Webinar: Functional Planning for Construction of Lunar Base; Robert Muller, PI and Chief Technologist (NASA Kennedy Space Center Swamp Works) to present 16:00 EDT.
● Jun 29 — George Washington University Space Policy Institute (SPI), Aerospace Corporation Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS), Hybrid / Washington DC andOnline: Public-Private Synergy in the Space Sector: Risks and Rewards; 10:00-13:30 EDT.
☆ Jun 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 MN1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.024 AU).
☆ Jun 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 MR1 : Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU).
☆ Jun 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 MX2 : Near-Earth Flyby (0.003 AU).
☆ Jun 29 — Aten Asteroid 2022 MM1 : Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU).
FRIDAY
o Jun 30 — Asteroid Foundation, Global: Asteroid Day 2023; education, events, films and entertainment hosted by organizations and individuals to increase awareness about asteroids.
☆ Jun 30 — Mercury: At superior conjunction with Sun, 19:00.
☆ Jun 30 — Venus: 3.6° W of Mars, 22:00.
SATURDAY
☆Jul 1 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Euclid, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: European Space Agency spacecraft with 1.2-meter telescope, projected 6-year lifetime to launch to Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2; will measure accelerated expansion of Universe, aid in understanding of dark energy / dark matter. 11:12 EDT.
☆ Jul 1 — Deep Space, Jupiter Orbit: Juno to soon surpass its 7th full year at Jupiter, heading toward Perijove 57 and 1,500-km flyby of Io later this year.
☆ Jul 2 — ISS, Progress 83P Undocking, ~415-km LEO: Russia Progress 83P (MS-22) resupply cargo ship filled with waste to undock from ISS and disintegrate in Earth atmosphere; live coverage of undocking available.
A major European meeting on planetary science. Originally known as the European Planetary Science Congress, the first EPSC was held in Berlin in 2006....
At Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC); Chair is Saeed Al Mansoori of MBRSC; Co-Chair is Gerard Galet of CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales)...
To tackle one of the space sector’s most pressing challenges. 3rd Zero Debris Future Symposium (September 8-9) and the Zero Debris Technical Sessions (September...
Inaugural event to convene researchers, policymakers and practitioners to advance understanding of self-sufficient structures in extreme environments, including the Moon. Begins September 11 at...
Industry tour of Denver space companies Friday 08:30-12:00; Astronauts Eileen Collins and Scott Kelly present at the Saturday event, 17:00-20:30. At Inverness Denver Hilton...
Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV), Guiana Space Centre, ~5°N, French Guiana
Launch to SSO for 3rd satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation for optical, radar and altimetry data and for Fluorescence Explorer ("FLEX") of ESA Earth...
In conjunction with The Space Innovation Summit (September 16) and the Space Defense & Security Summit (September 15-16). The summit consists of the Summit...
Launch Complex 1, ~39°S, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
(Estimated Date) Planned demonstration of in-space cryogenic storage and transferal by Eta Space and funded by NASA Tipping Point. Expected to be in orbit...
At Cleveland State University; Topics to be discussed include Exploration Architecture, Artemis program, Space Traffic Management, Space Nuclear Power, Navigation and Communications and more!
27th year of this top scientific conference in the USA devoted to Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and Space Situational Awareness (SSA) expects 1,000+ in-person...
Ohio Space Week celebrates the state’s deep-rooted contributions to the aeronautics and space industries, highlighting the people, institutions, and businesses that continue to shape...
In preparation for its decommissioning, United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) atop Mauna Kea will stop science operations today, with removal to be completed by...
The Cassini spacecraft deliberately plunged into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15, 2017. Final Moments and Impact Loss of Signal: The final signal from Cassini...
Wenchang Space Launch Center, ~19°N, Hainan Island, China
Unknown payload expected to launch on Long March 12, a medium-lift vehicle that uses propellant of kerosene and liquid oxygen, able to place 10,000kg...
Global Experts Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities continues discussions on ongoing workstreams and priorities related to the sustainable exploration and use of the Moon,...
