July Space Month 2019 Begins with ARTEMIS Craft Observation, Orion Test, Galaxy Forum USA

Apollo 11 semicentennial observations are accelerating at the start of July ‘Space Month’ with hundreds of events and billions of people looking to the next 50 years of human accomplishment in Space, on the Moon and toward the Stars. NASA twin ARTEMIS spacecraft will begin their 9th year in lunar orbit on July 2 and July 17, having launched as part of THEMIS constellation in 2007. USA is now planning its Artemis program science payloads, robotic missions, cislunar gateway and landing women and men at the Moon South Pole ~2024. Vital for the development of Artemis, the Orion capsule Critical Ascent Abort AA-2 test is scheduled for July 2 at Cape Canaveral SLC 46. Participants include (L-R) Orion program manager Mark Kirasich, test conductor Jenny Devolites, and Astronaut Randy Bresnik. The 3-minute test will boost ~10,000 kg test version of Orion craft to 9.6 km at which point the abort sequence will be triggered to carry it away from the Northrop Grumman rocket. On July 4, Galaxy Forum USA 2019 in Silicon Valley CA themed “The 7th and 8th Continents: Antarctica, the Moon and Beyond” will host Michelle Hanlon of For All Moonkind, NASA Scientist Chris McKay, KIPAC Researcher Edward Young and ILOA Director Steve Durst. Kennedy Space Center is hosting events throughout the month, including July 20 ‘One Giant Leap Celebration’ with Astronauts Rusty Schweickart, Jim Lovell, and a surprise guest. (Image Credits: NASA, ILOA, Galaxy Forum)

MONDAY

Upcoming Russia Launch from Vostochny Cosmodrome to Carry Polar Orbiting Meteorological Satellite

Meteor-M 2-2 is scheduled to launch via Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M rocket from the recently constructed Vostochny Cosmodrome on July 5. Strategically located in Russia’s expansive Far East region along 51°N, Vostochny and the adjacent servicing community of Tsiolkovsky, Amur Oblast are touted by Roscomos as ‘spaceport of the 21st century’ and ‘technocenter of the future space cluster’, respectively. Just 110 km from Russia / China border, spacecraft need only traverse a sparsely populated 600–800 km (dependent on trajectory) to reach open ocean, as opposed to the landlocked Baikonur Cosmodrome, historic launch site of Soviet and Russian rockets currently leased from Kazakhstan for ~ US$115M annually. Of the first 4 launches from Vostochny, 3 have been successful – the exception being Meteor-M 2-1, the second launch ever from the new Cosmodrome and the first mission in the Meteor-M series, which failed due to a programming oversight (Baikonur coordinates were inadvertently entered). GK Launch Services, a commercial arm of Roscosmos, organized over 40 international payloads on a rideshare basis. Russia intends to migrate the majority of its commercial launches away from Baikonur in favor of Vostochny’s Site 1A, planned launchpad for the anticipated Angara rocket. Four additional Meteor satellites are scheduled for launch annually. Co-payloads consist of collaborative missions including Finland, Germany, USA, Israel, Czech Republic, Sweden, France, Estonia and Ecuador. (Image Credits: Roscosmos)

Jul 1 — Deep Space:

Jul 1-4 — International Astronautical Federation, Technical University of Madrid (ETSIAE UPM), Madrid, Spain: 8th European Conference for Aeronautics and Space Sciences (EUCASS).

Jul 1-12 — Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Dolgoprudny, Russia: 15th School of Modern Astrophysics (Astrosoma 2019).

Jul 1 — Moon: 1.64° SSE of Venus, 13:00.

Jul 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 MT: Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)

Jul 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2015 XC352: Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)

Continued from…

Mar 19 – Jul 19 — Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender crew of 6 to participate in 4-month space / lunar simulation mission SIRIUS (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station).

Apr 13 – Sep 2 — Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Flight, Multiple Locations: Destination Moon, traveling exhibition of historic Apollo 11 artifacts.

May 20 – Aug 9 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: 31st Annual Planetary Science Summer Seminar.

Jun 24 – Aug 23 — International Space University, ESA, Strasbourg, France: ISU 32nd Space Studies Program (SSP 2019).

Jun 30 – Jul 4 — Royal Astronomical Society, Lancaster, United Kingdom: Royal Astronomical Society’s (RAS) 2019 National Astronomy Meeting.