December 14-20, 2020 / Vol 39, No 50 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Mars Approach Phase Nears for International Earth Fleet of Exploratory Probes En Route UAE, China and USA spacecraft are traversing nearly 500M km to Mars: UAESA Hope orbiter, launched by JAXA and designed by Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in collaboration with USA Universities, leads the convoy. Hope is expected to reach Mars Orbital Insertion February 9 following 4th Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) December 29 and subsequent braking, lowering velocity from ~121,000 – 18,000 km/h, eventually maintaining a highly elliptical (1,000 km x 49,380 km) Scientific Orbit. CNSA Tianwen-1 is the second attempt at Mars for China, having lost Yinghuo-1 aboard the failed Roscosmos Fobos-Grunt in 2011. Although Tianwen-1 is entirely domestically engineered and produced, CNSA has not eschewed cooperation: ESA Mars Express orbiter will provide data relay redundancy while ground stations in Kourou, French Guiana and Las Lajas, Argentina will support communication alongside Chinese Deep Space Network stations in Kashi and Jiamusi. Tianwen-1 is to reach Mars orbit in Feb, landing on Utopia Planitia (110.318°E, 24.748°N) April 23. NASA Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter to undergo 3rd TCM Dec 18, with 45-day EDL phase starting Jan 4 in preparation of Feb 18 Jezero Crater landing. Assuming mission success, UAE will become the 5th nation to reach orbit, China will become the 3rd nation to land, and USA will further solidify its status as world leader in Martian exploration, with Perseverance / Ingenuity joining Insight and Curiosity on the surface with Odyssey, Reconnaissance and MAVEN maintaining orbit. (Pictured: TW-1 Deployable Camera images Tianwen-1 from space; Image Credits: NASA, CNSA, UAESA)

MONDAY Highlights… Dec 14 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 64 crew of 7 doing final transfers to / from Cygnus CRS-14 S.S. Kalpana Chawla for its release this week, and Cargo Dragon 2 CRS-21 payload transfers including hardware for Rodent Research #10; working with fiber optics samples exchange, Plant Habitat-02 thinning, Astrobee robots, STaARS BioScience cell cultures. Dec 14 — NewSpace: SpaceIL / IAI announce 2024 Beresheet 2, will include orbiter and two landers, cost US$100M; 6 space startups receive $100k/ea from NASA Entrepreneur’s Challenge; Isar Aerospace of Munich raises $90.6M for development of 1,000-kg lift vehicle. Dec 14 — Solar System: CNSA decommissions Chang’e-5 ascender via lunar impact, return capsule holding for trans-Earth injection window; satellite albedo can be lowered by 50% using dark coating, per Murikabushi Telescope observations; T-phase hardening process may imbue aluminum with significant radiation resistance, essential for human space exploration. Dec 14 — Galaxy: APOGEE study finds 1/3 of MWG halo composed of debris from collision with Heracles galaxy 10B yeas ago; artist Julia Christensen / JPL preparing The Tree of Life project, interfacing trees on Earth with a cubesat flyby of Proxima b; GAIA Early Data Release 3 contains 1.8 billion sources, focus on galactic anticenter. Dec 14 — Global: Ryugu samples arrive at NAOJ lab for spectral analysis; ISRO human spaceflight program Gaganyaan aims for uncrewed launch late 2021 / early 2022; Canadian Space Agency awards MDA $17.8M to build Canadarm3 for mid-2020s Lunar Gateway. Dec 14 — USA: First woman and next man to walk on Moon among 18-member Artemis Team; NASA publishes Artemis 3 scientific priority report; 2020 National Space Policy emphasizes nuclear power / propulsion, Moon, commerce. Dec 14 — Hawai’i: Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope images Earth-sized sunspot in resolution 2.5x higher than any previous; Keck Telescope identifies origin galaxy of brightest short gamma-ray burst, caused by hypothetical magnetar; Selene 2 lunar analog at HI-SEAS completes 14 days of lunar simulation / science, commander Michaela Musilova prepares for SENSORIA M3. Dec 14 — NEOWISE, LEO: NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft (redubbed Near-Earth Object WISE – NEOWISE) reaches 11 full years / begins 12th year in space; launched 2009.

= All times

for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= 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’).

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Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mars (S), Jupiter (SW), Saturn (SW), Uranus (SE), Neptune (SW); Morning Planets: Venus (SE).

MVA Hosts Architecture Workshop, Looks Toward Near-Term Missions & 2045 Permanent Moon Base Moon Village Association, directed by President Giuseppe Reibaldi and based in Vienna, is hosting its Architecture Working Group (AWG) Workshop December 14-16 with support from USC Viterbi School of Engineering, IAA Symposium on Building Blocks for Future Space Exploration and Development, and National Space Society ISDC Lunar Track. The AWG, led by John Mankins and Inatani Yoshifumi, is developing 2020-2021 “Architecture Reference Case Study” addressing prospects for a Moon Village in the 2045 timeframe, while discussing 2025 and 2035 futures. Key AWG considerations are end-to-end transportation systems, surface mobility and robotics, power, human habitation systems and environmental issues, such as dust mitigation and radiation exposure. MVA is also inviting applications (due January 11, 2021) to contribute to its Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA). The GEGSLA will work to address critical issues of increasing future lunar missions, exploration and settlement including preserving the peaceful uses of space, mitigating debris in lunar orbit, defining standards to enable interoperability, and regulating access to resources. There is also an open call for Project Manager of the planned MVA payload to send a camera to lunar surface within the next 2 years to recreate and renew the “Overview Effect”. MVA has 4 working groups, 2 projects, 9 partners via MoUs and 220 members from more than 47 countries and 26 Institutional members around the globe. (Image Credits: MVA, NASA, SGAC, UNOOSA, Xtend Design, ESA)

Dec 14 — Chang’e-3 Lander, Guang Han Gong, Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium, 44.12°N 19.51°W, Moon Surface: Spacecraft reaches 7 full years on Moon surface, landed 2013. Dec 14 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Angara-A5 / Test Flight 2, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia: Second orbital test flight of Angara-A5 rocket with dummy payload. Dec 14 — Space Generation Advisory Council, Online / Vienna, Austria: Webinar: International Cooperation in Defending Spacecraft in the Cyber Domain; featuring Howard Weiss and Brandon Bailey, 20:00 CET. Dec 14 — Institute of Physics, Online / London, United Kingdom: Lecture: SABRE – Technology for Space, Technology for Earth; 19:00-20:30 UT. Dec 14-16 — MVA, USC, IAA, NSS, Online: USC-Moon Village Association Architecture Working Group Workshop; 14:00-18:30 CET, daily. Dec 14-18 — Consortium of Particle Physics and Cosmology Groups at Universities of New South Wales and Sydney (Sydney-CPPC), Online: Light Dark World 2020. Dec 14 — Moon: 1.01° NNE of Mercury, 02:00; New Moon, 06:18. Dec 14 — Sun: Total Eclipse visible from Argentina and Chile, Partial Eclipse visible from much of South America and SW Africa; total starts 14:32:34 UTC, maximum 16:13:28, ends 17:54:18. Continued From… Nov 4, 2020 – Feb 28, 2021 — International Astronautical Federation, Online: Abstracts Submission Open: 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2021); being held Oct 25-29. Nov 29 – Dec 11 — Rencontres du Vietnam, International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education, Institute For Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Education, Quy Nhon, Vietnam: 26th Vietnam School of Physics: Particles and Dark Matter (VSOP 26). Dec 1-17 — American Geophysical Union, Online / Washington DC: AGU Fall Meeting 2020.

TUESDAY

NET Dec 15-16 — Chang’e-5 Return to Earth, Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia: CE-5 sample return with up to 2 kg of lunar regolith from Moon Mons Rümker Region planning to land.

Dec 15 — SpaceBase, Orbital Astronautics, Online / Christchurch, New Zealand: Applications Due for Competitions: Orbital Student and Orbital Startup; for students and entrepreneurs globally to compete to launch flight ready payloads to space in 2021.

Dec 15 — The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032: Panel on Mars Meeting #5.

Dec 15 — LPI, USRA, NASA, Online / Houston TX: Abstract Due / Lunar Surface Science Workshop: Space Biology; being held Jan 20-21, 2021.

Dec 15 — Moon Village Association, Online / Vienna, Austria: Applications Due: Project Manager position for the First MVA Payload Project.

Dec 15 — Iridium Communications, Online / McLean VA: Virtual Press Conference; to share a historic satellite and maritime industry announcement, 09:00 EST.

Dec 15 — Mercury: At aphelion, 0.4667 AU from Sun, 17:00.

Dec 15 — Coma Berenices Meteor Shower Peak: Appearing to radiate from constellation Coma Berenices, shower can produce 3 meteors per hour, 03:00.

Dec 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 XU3: Near Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Dec 16 — ISS, NG Cygnus CRS-14 Release, LEO: Northrop Grumman Cygnus freighter dubbed S.S. Kalpana Chawla to be released from ISS 10:15 EST with waste for re-entry disintegration in Earth atmosphere, live coverage available; NASA Glenn SAFFIRE V experiment to be conducted to examine fire growth in the range of pressures and oxygen concentrations.

Dec 16 — SETI Institute, Online / Mountain View CA: Lecture: A Rainbow of Exoplanets; by Angelle Tanner – Associate Professor at Mississippi State University, Ivan Paulino-Lima – research scientist at Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, moderated by Franck Marchis of SETI, 19:00 PST.

Dec 16 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: Proposals Due for CubeSat Launch Initiative.

Dec 16 — British Interplanetary Society, Online / Crowdcast, United Kingdom: Lecture: Exploring Mars with Ground Penetrating Radar; by Nathaniel (Than) Putzig, Senior Scientist at Planetary Science Institute.

Dec 16 — AIAA SF Section, Online / San Francisco CA: Young Professionals Virtual Happy Hour; with a talk on robotics and automation by Chestley Couch from Clemson University, 17:00 PST.

Dec 16 — Moon: 2.90° S of Jupiter, 20:00; with Jupiter and Saturn within circle of diameter 3.03°, 20:00; 3.0° SE of Saturn, 21:00.

Dec 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 VY1: Near Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)

THURSDAY

Dec 17 — ISRO, Launch PSLV / CMS 1, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle designated PSLV-C50 to launch CMS 1 communications satellite.

Dec 17 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Soyuz / OneWeb 4, Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia: Soyuz rocket to launch 36 satellites into orbit for OneWeb constellation.

Dec 17 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / NROL-108, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral AFS: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch classified spacecraft payload for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Dec 17 — TechCrunch, The Aerospace Corporation, Online / Los Angeles CA: TC Sessions: Space 2020.

Dec 17 — JPL, NASA, Caltech, Online / Pasadena CA: Submissions Due: NASA Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest; for USA students in grades K-12 to imagine what it would be like to live with a pod of astronauts on the Moon.

Dec 17 — Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Continuing Studies, Office of the Dean, School of Medicine, Online / Stanford CA: Zoom Seminar: An Interdisciplinary Evening of Astronomy, Conceptual Art and Cinema; with Daniela de Paulis (Artist in Residence at the Dwingeloo radio telescope, Netherlands) on her conceptual art inspired by space exploration and SETI, and Janine Marchessault (Professor at York University).

FRIDAY

Dec 18 — STEAMSPACE, Online / Austin TX: Registration Due: 6th Annual Cities in Space Student Conference & Competition; being held Feb 5.

SATURDAY

Dec 19 — Gaia, Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point: ESA spacecraft reaches 7 full years / enters 8th year in space today; now in extended mission phase working to map more than 1 billion stars; launched in 2013.

Dec 19 — Virgin Orbit, LauncherOne / ELaNa-20, Mojave Air and Space Port CA: Launch window opens today 10:00-14:00 PST for VO to attempt Demo 2 mission of LauncherOne (dropping from modified Boeing 747 carrier jet Cosmic Girl) carrying 10 Cubesats under NASA Educational Launch of NanoSatellites (ELaNa) program.

Dec 19 — AIAA, Online / Los Angeles CA, Los Vegas NV: A Space Architecture Gathering with AIAA Los Angeles – Las Vegas Section; 10:00-14:00 PST.

Dec 19-20 — Indian Association for General Relativity and Gravitation, Online / Gandhinagar, India: 31st Meeting of the Indian Association for General Relativity and Gravitation (IAGRG).

Dec 19 — Mercury: At superior conjunction with Sun, 17:00.

Dec 19 — December Leonis Minorid Meteor Shower Peak: Appearing to radiate from constellation Leo Minor, shower can produce 5 meteors per hour, 01:00.

SUNDAY

Dec 20 — Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Trajectory Correction Maneuver #3 (TCM-3), Mars Trajectory: NASA craft to perform maneuver to adjust spacecraft speed and direction to arrive at correct location in Mars atmosphere; 60 days before landing.

Dec 20 — CNSA, Launch Long March 8 / XJY 7, Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): China medium-lift Long March 8 rocket to launch on its inaugural flight with an undisclosed payload designated XJY 7.

Dec 20 — Moon: 4.2° SE of Neptune, 14:00.

Dec 20 — Apollo Asteroid 1997 XE10: Near Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)