ISS Exp 65 Crew Preps for 3 EVAs, Dragon CRS 22 Arrival; China to Launch Crew of 3 to Tianhe in June
LEO explorers of ISS Expedition 65 are planning Russia EVA #48 on June 2 for Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. Wearing Orlan spacesuits, the duo will exit from Poisk module to perform a 6.5-hour spacewalk for hardware maintenance and science experiment installations. The rest of the 7-member crew will support and monitor the EVA and work on ongoing experiments including animal-microbe studies, botany research, cargo / waste transfers to Progress 75P, 77P and Cygnus NG-15. Launch of SpaceX Cargo Dragon CRS-22 resupply ship is planned June 3 with rendezvous and docking on June 5, and return to Earth late July. Alongside crew supplies, science investigation and hardware, CRS-22 will be carrying ISS Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSA) requiring 2 EVAs for installation. Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough will plan for U.S. EVA 74 + 75 on June 16 and June 20 to install the two iROSAs. The CRS-22 mission is also set to deploy 10 CubeSats for Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 36. China Space Station (CSS) Tianhe core module is scheduled to be visited by its automated cargo ship Tianzhou 2 very soon, launching on Long March 7 from Wenchang, Hainan – and potentially followed June 17 with its first 3-member crew for the three-month Shenzhou 12 mission. When fully assembled CSS will be ~1/6 mass of ISS, about the size of Russia Mir. (Image Credits: NASA, Roscosmos, CNSA, Xinhua)
MONDAY
Highlights… May 31 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 65 seven-member crew to support 6th EVA of 2021 including EMU resizing and tool inventories; working with combustion experiments, sleep activity monitors, crystal cooling & heating, HAM radio public outreach, vascular and ocular scans.
May 31 —NewSpace: Astro Peggy Whitson to command / pilot Axiom 2nd commercial ISS mission; ispace updates 2022 Moon landing plans; Rogue Space satellite-servicing Orbots to utilize Dawn Aerospace 6-axis propulsion Reaction Control System per new agreement; SSTL of Singapore re-configures GSTC 2021 to 1-day hybrid event, plans for GSTC 2022 Feb 6-7.
May 31 — Solar System: Zhurong rover expected to continue Mars surface operations for at least 3 months; evidence shows Europa may have seafloor volcanoes per research from Charles University of Czech Republic; PSP collecting data while performing 3 more flybys of Venus and 17 of Sun over next 4 years.
May 31 —Galaxy: Milky Way formation & evolution may be more common and gradual than rare / collision-based; new techniques to study ~100 red giant stars in MWGC to help define age / composition of other star origins; shrinking atmospheres may account for ‘missing’ Super-Earth-sized exoplanets.
Advanced Approaches to Space Exploration Fostered by NIAC
Administered and funded by Space Technology Mission Directorate, the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program current US$125k, 9-month phase 1 investigations include concepts for ISRU of methane propellant for Titan sample return (Steven Oleson / Glenn Research Center); a 20x20km, 5-40 MHz radio observatory constructed with regolith material on Moon (Ronald Polidan / Lunar Resources, Inc); and a data transmission scheme that takes advantage of cycler orbits to physically transfer large quantities (125-375 TB) of planetary data for transmission near Earth (Joshua Vander Hook / Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Ongoing $500k, 2-year phase 2 proposals include fungal mycelium as construction material on other worlds (Lynn Rothschild / Ames Research Center) and a crater-based farside lunar radio dish (Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay / Jet Propulsion Laboratory). A proof-of-concept neutrino detection CubeSat that may indirectly measure black matter (Nick Solomey / Wichita State University) is this year’s phase 3 study, awarded $2M over 2 years. NIAC plans to release 2022 phase 1 call for proposals in early June due mid-July; 2022 phase 2 call for proposals expected mid-October with a due date in December, all of which will be made available at NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) site. Over its 10-year history, NIAC has supported 144 phase one, 70 phase two, and 3 phase three studies in furtherance of novel, forward-thinking technology solutions to daunting space objectives. (Image Credits: NASA NIAC)
May 31 — Amor Asteroid 2021 KS: Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU)
Continued From… NET Early 2021 — ISRO, Launch SSLV / Demonstration Launch, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: New Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) to launch on first orbital test flight.
NLT May 15 — ISRO, Launch GSLV Mk.2 / GISAT 1,Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 2, designated GSLV-F10, to launch India first GEO Imaging Satellite.
NET Jun — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: Space2Connect Conference; to explore and discuss emerging space-based solutions to address challenges and opportunities of the digital economy.
NET Jun — NASA,Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I 2022 Solicitation begins for 12-18 nine-month space technology studies funded up to US$125K.
Jun 1 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / SXM 8,SLC-40 Cape Canaveral SFS FL: SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch SXM 8 satellite for SiriusXM.
Jun 1 — The Space Show,Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Astrophysicist Martin Elvis.
Jun 1 — Moon: 4.4° SE of Jupiter, 03:00; at last quarter, 21:25.
Jun 1 — Aten Asteroid 2018 LB: Near-Earth Flyby (0.007 AU)
Jun 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 KT1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.048 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Jun 2 — ISS, Russia EVA #48, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 65 Cosmonauts Novitskiy and Dubrov to begin ~6.5-hour spacewalk beginning 01:20 EDT for hardware maintenance and science experiment installations on Russia modules, live coverage available.
Jun 2 — CNSA, Launch Long 3B / Feng Yun-4B, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China: China to launch Long March 3B rocket with Feng Yun 4B second generation geostationary meteorological satellites.
Jun 2 — Amor Asteroid 2021 JW6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU)
Jun 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 KE1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)
THURSDAY
Jun 3 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / CRS 22,SLC-39, KSC FL: SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch Dragon 2 spacecraft on its second cargo resupply mission to ISS under NASA Commercial Resupply Services program, live coverage from KSC launch pad cameras available.
Jun 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 KN1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)
FRIDAY
Jun 4 — The Space Show,Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Temidayo Oniosun, Space in Africa and the former Regional Coordinator for Space Generation Advisory Council for Africa.
Jun 4 — Venus: 0.11° NNE of M35 cluster, 01:00.
SATURDAY
Jun 5 — ISS, Dragon CRS 22 Rendezvous and Docking,~405-km Altitude: Dragon 2 resupply mission to arrive and automatically dock at Harmony module port 05:00 EDT, live coverage available.
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May 31 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 65 seven-member crew to support 6th EVA of 2021 including EMU resizing and tool inventories; working with combustion experiments, sleep activity monitors, crystal cooling & heating, HAM radio public outreach, vascular and ocular scans.
May 31 — NewSpace: Astro 
May 31 — USA: 
= All times
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).
Administered and funded by Space Technology Mission Directorate, the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program current US$125k, 9-month phase 1 investigations include concepts for ISRU of methane propellant for Titan sample return (Steven Oleson / Glenn Research Center); a 20x20km, 5-40 MHz radio observatory constructed with regolith material on Moon (Ronald Polidan / Lunar Resources, Inc); and a data transmission scheme that takes advantage of cycler orbits to physically transfer large quantities (125-375 TB) of planetary data for transmission near Earth (Joshua Vander Hook / Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Ongoing $500k, 2-year phase 2 proposals include fungal mycelium as construction material on other worlds (Lynn Rothschild / Ames Research Center) and a crater-based farside lunar radio dish (Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay / Jet Propulsion Laboratory). A proof-of-concept neutrino detection CubeSat that may indirectly measure black matter (Nick Solomey / Wichita State University) is this year’s phase 3 study, awarded $2M over 2 years. NIAC plans to release 2022 phase 1 call for proposals in early June due mid-July; 2022 phase 2 call for proposals expected mid-October with a due date in December, all of which will be made available at NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) site. Over its 10-year history, NIAC has supported 144 phase one, 70 phase two, and 3 phase three studies in furtherance of novel, forward-thinking technology solutions to daunting space objectives. (Image Credits: NASA NIAC)
