India PSLV to Launch ISRO Cartosat-2C and 21 International Satellites

The India Space Research Organization operating its increasingly prolific and highly dependable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is set for a major launch on Jun 20 of its own high-resolution Earth observation satellite and 21 secondary international payloads from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. The mission will fly as PSLV-C34 in the CA or “Core Alone” configuration which does not include the six strap-on boosters of the standard variant. The 690-kg Cartosat 2C satellite with Panchromatic Camera and multi-spectral instrument, is expected to provide very high definition imagery at resolutions down to 0.65-meter. It was built at the Space Application Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad and certified for launch at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) at Bengaluru. It has been described by ISRO officials as ‘one of the bests eyes in the sky’ India has ever had. The launch will set a national record for the most satellites launched on a single rocket, with 21 international, academic and commercial secondary payloads including: LAPAN A3 of Indonesia; BIROS, BeeSat 4 of Germany; SKYSAT GEN 2-1, Planet Labs Flock-2x (1-12) of USA; and M3MSat, GHGSat-D of Canada among the many micro and nano sats on board. (Image Credit: ISRO)

MONDAY

Jun 13 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 47 to facilitate release of Cygnus CRS-6 on Tuesday, Exp. 47/48 Change of Command set for Friday, Jeff Williams to become Commander, Malenchenko, Kopra & Peake to return to Earth, 16-cubic meter volume BEAM closed off for few weeks until next inspection by astronauts.

Jun 13 — Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), LEO: NASA satellite enters 5th year of operations in space today, launched 2012; investigating black holes a billion times more massive than Sun, how particles are accelerated to very high energy in active galaxies & elements in supernova remnants.

Jun 13 — Hayabusa 2, Asteroid 162173 Ryugu Trajectory: JAXA 590-kg, sample-return spacecraft now ~86 million km from Ryugu & 38 million from Earth with just over 2 minute communication delays, is traveling at 6.5 km/s and set to arrive at asteroid July 2018, return to Earth Dec 2020.

Jun 13 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: More than 2.822 billion km traveled, team preparing for July 4 orbit insertion maneuver / 35-minute burn of Juno main engine, slowing craft by 542 meters per second, media events & news briefings to be held Jun 16, Jun 30, Jul 4, Jul 5 with live coverage available.

Jun 13 — Planetary Resources Inc., Redmond WA: NewSpace company, along with Deep Space Industries, is working on an agreement with Luxembourg government to co-fund asteroid survey missions and space-mining technology R&D; plans to have a constellation of 10 ‘Arkyd 100’ microsatellites in LEO by 2019; founders Eric Anderson, Peter Diamandis.

Jun 13 — ALE Company Ltd., Tokyo, Japan: Startup looking to produce Sky Canvas Project – the first human-made meteor shower / shooting stars on demand (perhaps for Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020) by launching satellite filled with ~500 to 1,000 “source particles” and releasing over Earth atmosphere; CEO Dr. Lena Okajima.

IPPW-13 Emphasizes Exploring the Solar System via In-Situ Missions

The 2016 International Planetary Probe Workshop (IPPW-13) is being held June 13-17 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel MD. More than 150 attendees including engineers, technologists, scientists and students will address the challenges and rewards of delivering space vehicles to other worlds in 8 focused sessions. Featured Speakers are (L-R, T-B) Alan Stern, (New Horizons PI), Ellen Stofan (NASA Chief Scientist), Jim Green (NASA Planetary Science Division), Franco Ongaro (ESA Director of Technical and Quality Management) and Steve Jurczyk (NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate). Robert Buchwald of Airbus DS will talk about “Prospecting and Returning Lunar Surface Samples with Volatiles.” Rich Otero of JPL will discuss “Mars 2020 Candidate Landing Site Case Study.” Research Scientist Sarag Saikia will speak on “All These Worlds Are Yours – Except Europa, Attempt No Landing There” during the airless bodies session. Future and potential missions being discussed are Mars 2020 lander / rover, ESA Phobos sample return, Saturn PRobe Interior and aTmosphere Explorer (SPRITE) and Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI). Venus science, missions planning and technologies are being investigated at the IPPW short course held June 11-12 and the 2016 Al Seiff Memorial Award will be given to Rob Manning of JPL. (Image Credit: IPPW, JHU/APL, NASA, Joel Kowsky, Aubrey Gemignani)

Jun 13 — Front Range Airport / Colorado Spaceport,

Jun 13 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Johnson Space Center, NASA, Barringer Meteor Crater AZ: Applications Due: Field Training and Research Program at Barringer Meteor Crater; to be held Sep 3-11.

Jun 13-15 — US Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Universities Space Research Association, Flagstaff AZ: Planetary Geologic Mappers Annual Meeting; chaired by David Williams of Arizona State University.

Jun 13-15 — NExSS, NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP), Online: Preworkshop: Exoplanet Biosignatures Workshop Without Walls; workshop to be held Jul 27-29.

Jun 13-16 — Laboratory Astrophysics Division of American Astronomical Society, San Diego CA: 2016 Annual Laboratory Astrophysics Division of the AAS Meeting.

Jun 13-17 — Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Laurel MD: International Planetary Probe Workshop (IPPW-13).

Jun 13-17 — AIAA, Washington DC: AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition (AIAA AVIATION 2016); 8th AIAA Atmospheric and Space Environments Conference; at Washington Hilton.

Jun 13-17 — Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto, Japan: Yukawa International Seminar 2016: Quantum Matter, Spacetime and Information (YKIS2016).

Jun 13 — Moon: 6.7° SSE of Pleiades, 06:00.

Jun 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2015 XZ378: Near-Earth flyby (0.025 AU).

Continued from…

May 23 – Jul 29 — The Lunar and Planetary Institute, Johnson Space Center, NASA, Houston TX: Exploration Science Summer Intern Program.