Robust Schedule of International 2021 / 2022 Moon Landings Ahead

Legacy space powers Russia and USA are engaged in a Moon race redux: Luna-25, set to launch Oct 1 from Vostochny, may be first mission to land in Moon South Pole region (Boguslavsky crater, 69.55°S, 43.54°E) if adherent to given timetable. USA CLPS providers are to follow closely – Astrobotic Peregrine is ostensibly to launch to Lacus Mortis (44°N, 25°E) in July, pending ULA Vulcan Centaur flight readiness, while Intuitive Machines Nova-C planned touchdown in Vallis Schröteri (24.5°N, 50.5°W) is anticipated to occur in October, with nominal launch via SpaceX scheduled just 9 days after Luna-25. Peregrine manifest lists 14 NASA and 16 independent payloads, including rovers from Dymon of Japan (Yaoki) and Spacebit of UK (Asagumo). Nova-C is to carry 5 NASA payloads, including FARSIDE precursor ROLSES and 5 independent payloads, including International Lunar Observatory Association precursor ILO-X. JAXA is aiming for an early 2022 launch of Smart Lander for Investigating Moon to Mare Nectaris (13.3°S, 25.2°E) – the mission is to test precision landing technologies, and is riding in tandem with XRISM space observatory on an H-2A rocket. ISRO intends to repeat Moon landing attempt with Chandrayaan-3 (70.9°S, 22.8°E) with similar mission configuration sans orbiter. Commercial outfits iSpace (M1) and Masten (XL-1) also have 2022 landings in the works, and China Chang’e-6 in 2022 is not out of the question. (Image Credits: Roscosmos, JAXA, NASA, Masten Space Systems, Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, ispace, ISRO)

MONDAY

LRA Institute Hosts Meeting on Increasing Space Debris and Solutions

Learn, Reach, Achieve (LRA) Institute of Greenwood Village CO is hosting The Space Disposal and Debris Mitigation Conference March 9-10 online from 09:00-16:00 CST each day. For nearly 35 years, LRA provides training and education to professionals in aerospace, communications and technology industries. This meeting will focus on space deorbit methods, FCC and FAA mission reentry policies, deorbit technologies design techniques, constellation launch complexities and deorbiting project costs. Some of the 16 listed speakers are (L-R) Ted Muelhaupt (Aerospace Corp. Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris), Holger Krag (ESA Space Safety Programme Office), Robert Hoyt (Tethers Unlimited), Andy Titterton (NG), David Goldstein (SpaceX), Alex da Silva Curiel (Surrey), Jer Chyi Liou (NASA), Jeff Foust (Space News), and Charity Weeden (Astroscale). It is estimated there are 1 million pieces of space junk larger than 1 cm and 6,000 satellites (60% of which are defunct) currently circling Earth. With proposals for thousands of new satellites to be added to LEO, some with relatively short lifetimes of 5 years – tracking, removal and collision avoidance technologies need to advance rapidly. Terminator Tape, Clearspace, Roll Out Composite FCC Approved Life Limit Deorbit Device (ROC-FALL), DeOrbitSail are deorbiting platforms, while the NG ‘Mission Extension Vehicles’ service could dock and provide propulsion and attitude control for existing satellites. Upcoming LRA Courses include April 29 ‘NewSpace Finance & Investment’ and June 22-23 ‘Fundamentals of Space Communications’. (Image Credits: LRA, Tethers Unlimited, ESA, Roccor, Surrey)

Mar 8-12 — University of Leiden, Dutch Research Council, Online / Leiden, The Netherlands: Workshop: Clash of the Titans – The Enigmatic Role of Mergers in Galaxy Evolution; with Marc Huertas-Company (Paris Observatory), Sara Ellison (University of Victoria), Christopher Conselice (University of Manchester), Lingyu Wang (SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research).

Mar 8 — Amor Asteroid 2021 DL: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 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.

NET Mar — International Astronautical Federation, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), Online: IAC 2021 Press Conference; providing updates for 72nd IAC being held Oct 25-29.

Mar 6-13 — AIAA, Online / Big Sky MT: 42nd IEEE Aerospace Conference 2021.

TUESDAY

Mar 9 — Bournemouth Natural Science Society, Institute of Physics South Central Branch, Online / United Kingdom: Lecture: Meteors; with speaker Steve Bosley from Hampshire Astronomy Group.

Mar 9-10 — PSW, ASTech, Proximum Group, ESA, Lockheed Martin, et al, Online / Paris, France: Paris Space Week.

Mar 9-10 — LRA (Learn, Reach, Achieve) Institute, Online / Greenwood Village CO: The Space Disposal and Debris Mitigation Conference; with representatives from NASA, ESA, SpaceX, NG, FCC, Aerospace Corp, Space News, Tethers Unlimited, FAA, others.

Mar 9-12 — University College London, University of Leicester, University of Vienna, et al, Online: Virtual Meeting: Exoplanet Atmosphere Characterization – from HST and Spitzer to JWST.

Mar 9 — Moon: 3.6° SE of Saturn, 15:00.