October 31 – November 6, 2022 / Vol 41, No 44 / Hawai`i Island, USA
TSS Nears Completion with Mengtian Launch as ISS Marks 22 Years of Continuous Humans Occupation
Launch of Mengtian Experiment Module 2 aboard Long March 5 is scheduled October 31 at 15:30 Beijing Time. It will connect to Tiangong Space Station (TSS) Tianhe Core Module axial port and later be moved to a portside port on Tianhe via indexing robotic arm – completing the final 3-module, ~95,000-kg configuration of TSS. As a backup, a second Tianhe was built and could potentially be added later. Two of the Shenzhou-14 crew Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe are expected to perform their next EVA to check installation of Mengtian. Tianzhou 5 cargo ship is preparing to launch from Wenchang Launch Center in Hainan as early as November 6 via Long March 7, also carrying multiple secondary satellites. Tianzhou 4 is expected to depart the station and burn up in Earth atmosphere with waste, freeing up the docking port. Shenzhou 15 three-member crew are expected to launch Nov 26 and begin their 6-month mission. Shenzhou 14 launched June 5, 2022 starting TSS permanent human occupation, while International Space Station is set to reach 22 years of continuous occupation on November 2 with 7-member Expedition 68 aboard. The crew is set to receive Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-18 after launch Nov 6 via Antares from Wallops Island, Virginia at 05:50 EST. NG-18 dubbed “S.S. Sally Ride” honors the first American woman in space, and will carry 3,700 kg to the station, joining Progress 81P, and newly arrived Progress 82P. (Image Credits: CGTN, CNSA, NASA) |
MONDAY☆ Oct 31 — ISS, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 68 seven-member crew working with ~3,000 kg of food, fuel and supplies from Progress 82P while expecting Cygnus NG-18 S.S. Sally Ride this week. ☆ Oct 31 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 14 three-member crew planning to enter Mengtian module after rendezvous and docking this week, will remain aboard TSS until at least December 5. Highlights… o NewSpace: Quantum Space planning Oct 2024 mission QS-1 to fly around Earth-Moon-Lagrange Points 1 and 2, first steps to establish cislunar superhighway; Starlink internet service now available for mobile Land, Sea and Air applications; Astroscale to work with RHEA and Astra on space debris removal system ELSA-M for 2024 launch. ☆ Solar System: Lunar regolith stimulant and saltwater 3D printed blocks shown to withstand 250,000,000 atm; Analysis of Hayabusa2 samples by MPI Solar System Research suggests Ryugu and other CI chondrites may originate near Oort Cloud; Caleb Scharf (Columbia Univ.) questions wisdom of future Solar System engineering, sees DART as pivotal development for humankind. ☆ Galaxy: Spitzer Space Telescope observations of exoplanet GJ 1252b eclipsing its M-class star indicate lack of atmosphere, which may imply less habitable worlds exist than previously believed; MWG contains 550 solar masses (M☉) of visible and dark matter, per China-led study of LAMOST and Gaia surveys. o Global: ISRO to increase LVM3 production to 4-5/yr following success of first of two 36-sat commercial launches for OneWeb under deal brokered by NSIL; Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source instrument on ISS, designed to measure mineral content in deserts, repurposed to monitor methane ‘super-emitters’; ESA to augment Galileo satellite constellation with <70-kg LEO-PNT craft at lower altitude. ● USA: SpaceX now #2 NASA vendor following US$2B 2022 fiscal year contracts, Caltech remains #1 at $2.7B, Boeing slips to #3 at $1.7B; NASA 16-member study group working to produce guidelines for future investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; 3 additional Orion crew capsules to be constructed under Lockheed Martin $1.99B contract, bringing total to 6 for Artemis missions 3-8. ● Hawai’i: NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre researcher Garima Singh working to outfit Gemini North Telescope with imager capable of resolving <10 AU exoplanet systems; Open job position for PhD in Astronomy or related fields at Subaru telescope in Hilo / on Mauna Kea at ~14,000 ft (4267 m). |
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● = Terrestrial events, and…
o = International terrestrial events in local time. ★ = Space events, and… ☆ = International space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’). |
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mars (ENE), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (S), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE).
Moon Science Organizations LPI and LSIC Meet to Discuss Volatiles at Poles, Excavation and Construction
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☆ Oct 31 — CNSA, Launch Long March 5 / Mengtian (Experiment Module 2) for China Space Station, Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): China Space Station Experiment Module 2 Mengtian “Dreaming of Heavens” to launch to LEO and connect with Tianhe-1 Core Module; launch 15:30 Beijing Time. o Oct 31 – Nov 4 — Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Accra, Ghana: GEO Week 2022: Global Action for Local Impact; including VP of Ghana, Digital Earth Africa, NOAA, GEO Blue Planet, Women in Geographic Information Systems Uganda, Secure World Foundation, more. ☆ Oct 31 — Moon: At first quarter, 20:38. ☆ Oct 31 — Aten Asteroid 2022 BY39: Near-Earth Flyby (0.089 AU) ☆ Oct 31 — Aten Asteroid 2021 UN7: Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU) Continued From… ★ Jun 28 – Nov 13 — CAPSTONE, Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit Trajectory: Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment heading to operating position at NRHO / cislunar space. ☆ Aug 4 – Dec 16 — Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), Lunar Trajectory: South Korea ‘Danuri’ to search for lunar resources & test technologies; performing 3 highly elliptical Earth orbits to initiate a trans-lunar injection and arrive at 100-km lunar orbit. o Aug 8 – Nov 11 — IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach, NAOJ, NARIT, Online / Global: NameExoWorlds 2022; naming the first exoplanet targets of James Webb Space Telescope. TUESDAY☆ Nov 1 — Deep Space, Jupiter Orbit: Juno mission heading into 46th perijove – out of 75 planned; close approaches of moon Io to occur December 2023 while JUICE is expected to launch in April. ★ Nov 1 — ULA, Launch Atlas 5 / Joint Polar Satellite System-2 / Bernard Kutter Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, SLC-3E, Vandenberg SFB CA: NOAA Earth observation satellite JPSS-2 heads to SSO while rideshare payload NASA LOFTID to perform LEO reentry test of inflatable heat shield; 02:25 PDT. ★ Nov 1 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon Heavy / USSF-44, LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Falcon Heavy 4th launch to carry classified satellite and TETRA-1 microsat technology demonstration to GEO under USSF Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) Other Transaction Authority contract; 09:40 EDT. |
o Nov 1-2 — United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Hybrid / Geneva, Switzerland and Online: 2022 Outer Space Security Conference.
● Nov 1-2 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA, Online / Houston TX: Inclusion Plan Best Practices Workshop.
☆ Nov 1 — Moon: 4.0° SE of Saturn, 14:00.
☆ Nov 1 — Aten Asteroid 2021 VH: Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)
☆ Nov 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 RM4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)
☆ Nov 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 SS55: Near-Earth Flyby (0.062 AU)
WEDNESDAY
☆ Nov 2 — International Space Station, LEO: Today marks 22 full years / start to 23rd year of continuous Human occupation of ISS; first component Zarya ‘Unity’ launched Nov 20, 1998, occupation began Nov 2, 2000.
★ Nov 2 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Hotbird 13G, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 rocket to launch Hotbird 13G broadcasting satellite for Eutelsat; 23:25 EDT.
● Nov 2 — Boeing, Online / Arlington VA: Q3 financial results to be announced via conference call and live webcast; 10:30 EDT.
● Nov 2-3 — Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, El Paso TX: Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium Fall Meeting 2022; at Aerospace Center / University of Texas – El Paso.
● Nov 2-4 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Hybrid / Boulder CO and Online: Lunar Polar Volatiles Conference; at Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.
● Nov 2-4 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, VEXAG, OPAG, ExoPAG, MEPAG, MExPAG, Hybrid / Albuquerque NM and Online: Exoplanets in Our Back Yard 2 Workshop; at New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
● Nov 2-4 — The International Association for the Study of the Commons, Online / Bloomington IN: Commons in Space 2022; covering space debris, protection of dark night sky, mining of celestial bodies, earth-space sustainability, space as a global commons, more.
☆ Nov 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 UZ5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)
THURSDAY
● Nov 3 — NASA, Online / Kennedy Space Center FL: Media teleconference on Artemis I flight test status; featuring Associate Administrator of Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Jim Free, Senior Vehicle Operations Manager of Exploration Ground Systems Program Cliff Lanham; 12:00 EDT.
● Nov 3 — Virgin Galactic, Online / Mojave CA: Q3 financial results to be announced via conference call and live webcast; 14:00 PDT.
● Nov 3 — Maxar Technologies, Online / Westminster CO: Q3 financial results to be announced via conference call and live webcast; 15:00 MDT.
☆ Nov 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 UE2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU)
FRIDAY
● Nov 4 — NASA, Kennedy Space Center FL: Commencement of Roll-Out of Fully Stacked Artemis 1 to Launch Complex-39B; to begin after midnight on this date, taking 8-12 hours for Transporter Crawler to travel 4 miles.
o Nov 4 — McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), Online / Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Aerospace Webinar Series Panel 1: The Race back to the Moon – Legal and Geopolitical Implication; with Olga Volynskaya of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Jinyuan Su of Wuhan University, and Eytan Tepper of Western University.
● Nov 4 — National Space Foundation, NOIRLab, ‘Imiloa, JCMT / East Asian Observatory, Online / Hawai’i Island: Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop; gives participants a background on existing Maunakea Observatories, scientific discoveries, engineering / instrumentation, and career paths available to HI islands students.
☆ Nov 4 — Moon: 2.88° SE of Neptune, 02:00; 2.16° SE of Jupiter, 13:00.
☆ Nov 4 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 UN5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)
☆ Nov 4 — Amor Asteroid 2022 UL6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)
☆ Nov 4 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 VO9: Near-Earth Flyby (0.073 AU)
SATURDAY
● Nov 5 — Maunakea Observatories, University of Hawai’i – Institute for Astronomy, Kailua-Kona HI: AstroDay West 2022; at Kona Commons.
● Nov 5 — Leeward Community College, Pearl City HI: 32nd Annual Discovery Fair; features cultural activities including Hawaiian Makahiki games.
o Nov 5 — SpaceUP Scotland Ltd, BIS Scotland Branch, Design Informatics and Social Dimensions of Outer Space Network, Hybrid / Edinburgh, United Kingdom and Online: SpaceUP Scotland; dedicating this event to celebrating and strengthening Space collaboration between Scotland and the Ukraine.
● Nov 5 — AIAA San Francisco Section, Oakland CA: AIAA Annual Banquet: Planetary Defense from Asteroids and Comets; featuring Nahum Melamed from Aerospace Corporation; at Chabot Space and Science Center.
☆ Nov 5 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 UK: Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU)
☆ Nov 5 — Apollo Asteroid 2009 UK20: Near-Earth Flyby (0.093 AU)
SUNDAY
★ Nov 6 — Northrop Grumman, Launch Antares / Cygnus NG-18, Pad 0A, Wallops Island VA: Antares rocket to launch 19th Cygnus cargo freighter “SS Sally Ride” on 18th operational cargo delivery flight to the ISS; 05:50 EST.
☆ Nov 6 — CNSA, Launch Long March 7 / Tianzhou 5, Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): Next cargo ship to launch to Tiangong Space Station in LEO, supplying Shenzhou 14 Taikonauts; will also carry multiple secondary satellite payloads to orbit.
● Nov 6 — Goddard Visitor Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: Model Rocket Launches; family-friend in-person event.
● Nov 6 — Standard Time (USA): Change clocks back 1 hour from Daylight Saving to Standard Time; does not include Hawai’i, Arizona (except the Navajo Nation), American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands.
☆ Nov 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 UO6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU)
☆ Nov 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 VF: Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)
☆ Nov 6 — Aten Asteroid 2021TN3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.085 AU)
