Australia Advances Commercial Launch, Astronomy, Earth Observation and Deep Space Communications

70+ NASA personnel are onsite at Arnhem Space Centre (ASC), located at 12° S in East Arnhem Land within Northern Territory of Australia for a series of 3 suborbital astrophysics missions launching on 2-stage Black Brant 9 rockets – the first commercial launches from Australia to space (100 km+ altitude). ASC is situated in an area known as Miwatj or ‘Morning Side’ by the Yolngu people, who are traditional owners per 1976 Aboriginal Land Rights Act. The inaugural ASC launch, set for June 26, will be X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC) which will investigate supernovae emissions from the central part of the MWG – fully visible from the southern hemisphere. Alpha Centauri A & B observation Suborbital Imaging Spectrograph for Transition region Irradiance from Nearby Exoplanet (SISTINE) host stars to launch July 4. Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment (DEUCE), launching July 12, will also target Alpha Centauri A & B. Australian Space Agency, headquartered in Adelaide, is partnering with NASA on Artemis Moon exploration and remote sensing – committing to sending a prospecting rover on a CLPS lander NET 2026 and allocating US$808M towards National Space Mission for Earth Observation (NSMEO) – funding design, construction and operation of 4 satellites to work in conjunction with NASA CLARREO-PF. ESA is also expanding European Space Tracking network with a 35-m antenna now under construction at New Norcia station in Western Australia. (Image Credits: NASA, ELA, ESA, Magellan Aerospace, CSIRO)

MONDAY

☆ Jun 27 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 67 seven-member crew working with JAXA phospho-aging molecular experiment, Canada cardiorespiratory Bio-Monitor, while European Robotic Arm on Russia Nauka MLM is tested and adjusted.

☆ Jun 27 — Tiangong Space Station, ~370-km LEO: Shenzhou 14 three-member crew looking toward scheduled launch of 20,000+ kg Wentian module on July 23, preparing for / studying necessary EVA steps including robotic arm procedures.

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’).

Asteroid Day 2022 ‘Small is Beautiful’ Celebrates Return Samples, Future Discoveries

Annual international Asteroid Day 2022 (AD22) on June 30 will bring further public awareness to asteroid hazards, science and resources. Co-founded by Stephen Hawking, Grigorij Richters, Danica Remy, Astronaut Rusty Schweickart and Brian May in 2014, Asteroid Day was supported by Association of Space Explorers with COPOUS to become a United Nations adopted resolution in 2016 held on the observation of the Tunguska June 30, 1908 event which flattened 2,150 km² of Siberia forest. This year AD22 will broadcast a 4-hour in-person program from Luxembourg under theme ‘small is beautiful’ featuring representatives from JAXA Hayabusa2 and NASA OSIRIS-REx missions. So far, there are 80 AD events registered globally. There are ~29,131 near-Earth Asteroids with 2,185 identified as potentially dangerous that fall under 3 broad composition classes C-type (chondrite), S-type (stony) and M-type (metallic). Previously set to launch 2022 and now scheduled 2024, with support from PI Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche mission will head to 16 Psyche – the most massive known M-type asteroid, while Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense test mission is set to impact minor-planet moon Dimorphos of the double asteroid Didymos September 26. Legal frameworks for resource extraction are most notably in place by USA, Luxembourg, Japan, Portugal and UAE. TransAstra Corporation is working toward mining asteroids for propellant, as newly formed AstroForge, with US$13M seed-plus funding, hopes to capitalize on NEA platinum group metals mining. (Image Credits: Asteroid Day Foundation, NASA, JPL, JAXA)

★ Jun 27 — Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), Sun-Synchronous Orbit: NASA observation satellite investigating the physical conditions of the chromosphere of Sun reaches 9 full reaches / enters 10th year in space, launched 2013.

☆ Jun 27 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / NASA CAPSTONE, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment to pathfind near rectilinear halo orbit planned for Lunar Gateway.

● Jun 27 — LPI, USRA, NASA, Online / Houston TX: Lunar Surface Science Workshop 17: Defining a Coordinated Lunar Resource Evaluation Campaign.

o Jun 27 — Astronomy on Tap, Leiden, The Netherlands: Finding Other Worlds! with talks by Astrophysicist Gaël Chauvin and Amherst College Assistant Professor Kate Follette.

● Jun 27-30 — Penn State University, Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center, State College PA: The First Penn State SETI Symposium 2022.

● Jun 27 – Jul 1 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Hexagon, Hybrid / Chicago IL and Online: 2022 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition.

Continued From…
o Nov 4 – Jul 3 — Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, NASA Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender, international crew of 5 participating in 8-month space / lunar simulation mission SIRIUS-21 (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station).

TUESDAY

★ Jun 28 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / SES 22, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 to launch ES 22 communications satellite for SES of Luxembourg.

● Jun 28 — Astronomy on Tap, State College PA: Rings and Red Things; with talks by Astronomers Marina Koren and Jacob Haqq Misra.

☆ Jun 28 — Moon: 2.46° N of M35 cluster, 07:00; New Moon, 16:52; at apogee (distance 406,543 km), 20:00.

☆ Jun 28 — Aten Asteroid 2021 LD6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU)