Jupiter Trojan Surveyor Lucy Returns for LEO Gravity Assist, Many Additional Asteroid Missions Being Prepared
NASA Lucy is swinging back for a 300-km Earth flyby at ~108,000 kph, harnessing gravity to accelerate and reach deeper into space on a 2-year orbital trajectory, exactly 1 year after initial launch. Lucy will pass Mars before a deep-space maneuver with 898 m/s ΔV is executed on February 2, 2024, bringing the craft back to 350-km LEO for a second Earth Gravity Assist December 14, 2024. On April 20, 2025, while on route to investigate Jupiter Trojan asteroids, Lucy will fly by Donaldjohansen in the Main Asteroid Belt. The Australopithecus afarensis skeleton / namesake of the mission, Lucy, was discovered in Ethiopia by Johansen in 1974. Greek Camp Trojans, those located around Lagrangian point L4 (60° ahead of Jupiter orbit), are to be investigated first: Eurybates, Polymele, Leucus and Orus are to be examined by Lucy’s 5-instument imaging / spectroscopy / radio suite between August 12, 2027 – November 11, 2028. On December 26, 2030 Lucy will make its final return to Earth prior to heading out to fly by Patroclus / Menoetius binary around L5 Trojan camp. Closer in time, NEA Scout CubeSat is to deploy from Artemis 1, expected to launch in November. Psyche and Janus are to launch together on SpaceX Falcon Heavy NET 2023, and ESA Hera to measure DART effect on Didymos binary asteroid system launching NET October 2024. (Image Credits: NASA, JPL, SwRI)
MONDAY
☆ Oct 10 — ISS,~415-km LEO: Expedition 68 / SpaceX Crew-5 Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Koichi Wakata, Anna Kikina join 7 Astronauts and Cosmomauts transferred from Expedition 67; Roscosmos Sergei Krikalev seeks extension of ISS partnership.
☆ Oct 10 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 14 three-member crew preparing for arrival of final main station component Mengtian (Dreaming of Heavens) laboratory module, launching this month from Wenchang SLC via Long March 5B.
Highlights…
o NewSpace: ispace conducting mission training at Tokyo control center ahead of November lunar launch; Redwire, Bradford Space & Swedish Space Corporation to collaborate on commercial space debris mitigation; Firefly CEO touts marketability of Alpha medium-lift launch vehicle / US$15M per launch following inaugural flight.
☆ Solar System: 10,000-km plume of DART spacecraft / Dimorphos ejecta being observed by Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope on Cerro Pachón, Chile; Cambridge study of Mars Global Surveyor Laser Altimeter readings finds evidence of geothermal activity, liquid water under Mars south pole icecap.
☆ Galaxy: Study of Fermi Large Area Telescope data suggests asymmetrical “cocoon” within Fermi Bubble caused by gamma rays emitted from millisecond pulsars; 86 scientist / 37 observatory / 13 country Whole Earth Blazar Telescope collaboration study light oscillations from galactic nucleus BL Lacertae.
o Global: China Manned Space Agency recruiting 10-12 Taikonauts from across China, including Macao and Hong Kong; ESA RFI seeks interest in lunar commercial communication initiative Moonlight in support of European Large Logistics Lander, Gateway, and 250 mission / $99B lunar market (by 2031) forecast by Northern Sky Research.
●USA: SpaceX, NASA studying feasibility of Hubble orbit raising maneuver utilizing Dragon as part of Polaris mission series; FCC to enforce 5-year deorbiting policy on spacecraft that end service life below 2,000 km; Planet to begin deploying hyperspectral Tanager Earth observation constellation with 30-m resolution, 400+ spectrum capability NET 2023.
● Hawai’i: 2-kg meteor from Oort cloud observed over Alberta may be example of ‘Manx Comet’ discovered by IfA Planetary Astronomer Karen Meech via PANSTARRS; Keck Telescope and Gran Telescopio Canarias being used to characterize ZTF J1813+4251, a cataclysmic variable binary system with ultrashort 51 minute orbital period.
● = 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’).
1st International Lunar Search and Rescue Conference Set for Oct 13-15 Participation in Beijing / Online
Hosted by International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety and Beijing Institute of Technology, the 1st International Lunar Search and Rescue (LSAR) Conference is being held October 13-15 in Beijing, China with online engagement from international colleagues. Catalyzed by the emerging Artemis Base Camp, International Lunar Research Station, space agency, public-private plans to land & work on the Moon, LSAR will discuss technical, operational, legal and organizational issues related to lunar Astronaut emergencies. It will include a 2-part opening session, 5 main sessions, 3 keynotes, 3 panels with 22 people, and 14 on-demand presentations. IAASS President Paul Wilde will give welcome remarks, followed by Simonetta Di Pippo (Director Space Economy Evolution Lab) Keynote titled ‘Lunar Exploration: An International Humanity’s Endeavour’ and Mark Glissman (Chief of Air and Space Forces Space Safety USA). Speaking under the ‘Moon Programs and Future Vision’ Session will be Wu Weiren (Chief Designer of China Lunar Exploration Program) and Massimo Sabbatini (ESA Erasmus Innovation Center Manager). There will also be representatives from Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, The Netherlands, Russia, UK. LSAR was originally set for Hainan, where Wenchang Space Launch Center (19° N) conducts Long March flights to the Moon, Mars and Tiangong. It will be followed by the 12th IAASS International Space Safety Conference: Making Space Travel Safer in Osaka, Japan on May 22-24, 2023. (Image Credits: ESA, P. Carril, Virtual Moon, RAS, NASA)
☆ Oct 10 — Starlink G4-27 Satellites, LEO: Visible pass over Hawai’i Islands (magnitudes 5.7-6.0) of G4-27 batch of Starlink satellites from the South, starting 04:23:11 to 04:59:59.
☆ Oct 10 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 TA1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU)
☆ Oct 10 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 SE10: Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 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 using Ballistic Lunar Transfer, 3 highly elliptical Earth orbits to initiate a trans-lunar injection and arrive at 100-km lunar orbit.
o Aug 8 – Nov 11 — IAU, NAOJ, NARIT, Online / Global: NameExoWorlds 2022.
o Oct 4-10 — World Space Week Association, Global:World Space Week 2022: Space and Sustainability; to celebrate international contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition; Oct 4 is 65th observation of 1st Space mission Sputnik One launched by Soviet Union 1957; Oct 10 is 55th observation of Outer Space Treaty going into effect 1967.
● Oct 11-14 — SatNews, Hughes, Airbus, Firefly Aerospace, Raytheon, Redwire, et al, Mountain View CA: Silicon Valley Space Week: Satellite Innovation Conference, followed by 2022 MilSat Symposium; at Computer History Museum.
☆ Oct 11 — Moon: 0.80° N of Uranus, 21:00.
WEDNESDAY
★ Oct 12 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Hotbird 13F, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: SpaceX to launch Hotbird 13F television broadcasting satellite for Eutelsat; launch opens 23:25 EDT.
o Oct 13-15 — International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), Hybrid / Beijing, China and Online: 1st International Lunar Search and Rescue Conference.
☆ Oct 13 — Moon: 7.8° N of Aldebaran, 14:00.
☆ Oct 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 SX24: Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
☆ Oct 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 SG6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
☆ Oct 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 TO2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.003 AU)
☆ Oct 15 — Aten Asteroid 2022 SY10: Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)
☆ Oct 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 SK48: Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)
☆ Oct 15 — Aten Asteroid 2012 TR231: Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)
☆ Oct 15 — Amor Asteroid 2020 PK7: Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
SUNDAY
★ Oct 16 — Lucy, Earth Flyby / Gravity Assist, Main Asteroid Belt Trajectory: NASA mission to encounter 8 different asteroids including a main belt and 7 Jupiter Trojans to perform first Earth flyby / gravity assist today with target altitude of 300 km.
☆ Oct 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 SK15: Near-Earth Flyby (0.024 AU)
☆ Oct 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 BD: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)
☆ Oct 16 — Aten Asteroid 2022 QM6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)
☆ Oct 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 TC1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)
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