Solar System Science and Discovery in Focus with Venus VEXAG, and Talks on Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter

The 19th meeting of NASA Venus Exploration Analysis Group is set for November 8-9, online. Organized by Melinda Darby Dyar (TL) of Mount Holyoke College and Noam Izenberg (TR) of JHU APL, there will be ~20 presentations and 65 one-minute lightning talks introducing e-posters. Some missions being discussed will be Akatsuki, BepiColombo, Parker Solar Prove, Solar Orbiter, JUICE and Venera-D. Active research on possible life on Venus continues, while data shows Earth’s sister planet atmosphere consists of >96% carbon dioxide, has 92 times pressure on its surface than sea level pressure on Earth, average temperature of 464° C (867 °F) and is shrouded by highly reflective sulfuric acid clouds. Farther out, Jupiter and its magnetic field & interior are the subject of a Cornell Colloquium by Juno scientist (BL) Kimee Moore of Caltech on Nov 11. Juno is now 5 years into its 9.5-year mission, and made the first definitive detection beyond Earth of a changing planetary magnetic field (called ‘geomagnetic secular variation’) which aids understandings of Jupiter interior and Earth magnetic field. At an average of 19.2 and 30 AU, respectively, Uranus and Neptune ‘Origin, Evolution and Structure’ will be topics of Ravit Helled (University of Zurich) seminar hosted by JHU APL on Nov 9. No dedicated mission has yet launched to the ice giants, which together host 41 known moons. (Image Credits: JHUAPL, RS, Caltech, NASA, JPL, VEXAG)

MONDAY

Nov 8 — ISS, SpaceX Crew 2 Undocking / Return to Earth, ~405-km LEO: Scheduled departure of Crew 2 Vehicle with Expedition 65-66 Astronauts Thomas Pesquet, R. Shane Kimbrough, K. Megan McArthur, Akihiko Hoshide; marks start of Expedition 67.

Rocket Lab Status in Small Launch Market Grows as New Techniques and Technologies Set to Debut

‘Love At First Insight’ will be the 22nd Electron (BR) mission / 107th satellite placed in orbit from Rocket Lab, with launch window opening November 11 from LC-1 Māhia Peninsula, NZ (TL). The payload is 2 BlackSky Global Gen two 56-kg, butane propulsed Earth observation craft with SpaceView-24 imaging systems (~1 m / pixel resolution) capable of recording 1000 images per day, bringing total count to 9 out of planned 16 satellite constellation backbone manufactured by LeoStella, subsidiary of Spaceflight Industries (parent company of Blacksky) and Thales Alenia Space. Blacksky has contracted with ISRO (PSLV), SpaceX (Falcon 9) and Rocket Lab on previous launches. ‘Love At First Insight’ is also notable for several revisions of launch protocol and vehicle, including an earlier deployal of first stage main parachute at ~5.7-km altitude, <1 minute after drogue (13 km), at which time a helicopter waiting 370 km offshore will be dispatched to monitor descent – an experimental precursor to attempt capture of Electron first stage mid-air, which paired with new 2200°C heat resistant shield should allow reuse of fuselage and 9 Rutherford engines after refurbishment. Electron kick stage will be employed to circularize orbit before payload release, technology (including 3D printed Curie engine) planned to be utilized on Photon (BL) craft – which will take NASA Capstone to trial near-rectilinear halo orbit NET 19 March 2022 and private mission to Venus NET 2023. (Image Credits: Rocket Lab)

Nov 8-9 — Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG), Online / Washington DC: 19th Meeting of VEXAG.

Nov 8-10 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: Spaceflight for Everybody Virtual Symposium; to communicate the current state of NASA spaceflight health knowledge; with Pam Melroy, Kathy Lueders, Ken Bowersox, Vanessa Wyche, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, J.D. Polk, Charles Bolden.

Nov 8-10 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Online / Reston VA: Accelerating Space Commerce Exploration and New Discover (ASCEND 2021).

Nov 8-10 — Keck Institute for Space Studies, Caltech, JPL, Online / Pasadena CA: Workshop: Next-Generation Planetary Geodesy – Part II.

Nov 8 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 UB3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)

Nov 8 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 SP3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)

Continued From…

Oct 4 – Nov 10 — AIAA, Online / Reston VA: AIAA Short Course: Spacecraft Design, Development and Operations.

Oct 19 – Nov 11 — AIAA, Online / Reston VA: AIAA Short Course: Space Architecture: Designing a Lunar Habitation System.

Oct 31 – Nov 12 — UN, UK and Italy Governments, Unilever, SSE, Microsoft, et al, Glasgow, United Kingdom: United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Nov 4 – Jun 29 — Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, NASA Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender crew of 6 to participate in 8-month space / lunar simulation mission SIRIUS-21 (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station).