Ad Astra, per Aspera: Pioneers Having a Positive Impact Today
Crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia are looked-to each January-February as inspiration for humanity’s reach for the stars. Let us each carry their dreams forward, pushing boundaries and traveling beyond our Earth into our entire Solar System and beyond. Gus Grissom said, “The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.” Today, the Voyager spacecraft carries a record of Ed White’s spacewalk on its Golden Record. A Roger Chaffee scholarship is awarded yearly to a space-minded senior. Current ISS Commander Astronaut Suni Williams credits El Onizuka with inspiring her. Mike Smith’s grandnephew Jacob wants to be an astronaut. New Hampshire Christa McAuliffe statue is the first of a woman on the State House grounds. Dick Scobee’s widow, June, has established the Challenger Education Centers. University aerospace students attend classes in the Greg Jarvis building. The Society of Women Engineers and IEEE give awards annually in Judy Resnik’s name. Ron McNair’s widow, Cheryl, established a science literacy foundation for teachers. David Brown’s endowment provides scholarships to students at a medical school. Rick Husband inspired his widow, Evelyn, to write a book about his courage. Laurel Clark Hill is on Mars. Kalpana Chawla inspires India women today. A Diversity Scholarship is named for Mike Anderson. Wille McCool’s name is on an asteroid. The Ilan Ramon Foundation promotes STEM and aviation. (Image credits: NASA, Martin Charlot, John Tylko, Cosmosphere International SciEd Center & Space Museum)
MONDAY
☆Jan 27 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 72 seven-member crew are cleaning ducts, fans, air sensors and taking inventory of tools that will allow Nick Hague and Don Pettit to support Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in their January 30 spacewalk to remove radio antenna hardware and search for microbes. Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner are measuring their own vascular function / breathing and installing hardware to observe nighttime Earth in near-UV wavelengths.
☆Jan 27 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 19 three-member crew celebrate the start to Lunar New Year 2025 following second EVA for mission during which additional space debris protection devices were installed and inspections of TSS occurred; recent studies include a 12-part experiment to mimic natural photosynthesis to produce oxygen and ingredients for carbon-based fuel.
● Jan 27 — Apollo 1 58th Observation, Nationwide USA: Increasing space awareness and education, remembrances and events honor three Apollo 1 crew members lost during a launch pad test: Command Pilot Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee.
o Jan 27 — Israel Space Agency, Israel Ministry of Innovation, Science & Technology,Tel Aviv, Israel: 20th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference; in conjunction with academic conference on Scientific Missions in Space – Advancing Engineering and Research.
● Jan 27 — Global Spaceport Alliance,Orlando FL: Commercial Space Week: 2025 Spaceport Summit; forwarding development of a global network of spaceports, keynote by Adam Oakes of Firefly Aerospace; US$75-750.
☆ Jan 27 — Aten Asteroid 2025 AU1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)
● = Terrestrial and… o = International terrestrial events
☾ = Moon activity, ★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in local time unless noted.
Japan Plans 1st Launch of 2025, Looks Toward Moon Missions – as Does S Korea, Russia
The fifth launch of an H3 rocket is set for January 31 from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, carrying Michibiki 6 (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System 6) to a Geostationary orbit at 90.5° E. The H3-22S rocket has 2 LE-9 engines on the main stage, 2 solid rocket boosters and a “short” payload fairing. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JAXA may consider upgrading the rocket to an H-3 Heavy to deliver cargo to the lunar surface. Japan is working with the Artemis program to return people to the Moon, on the development of Lunar Pole Exploration program (LUPEX) rover and an HTV-like lunar cargo delivery system. South Korea, which is operating its first Moon orbiter mission Danuri, is looking to expand its private aerospace industry and is working on a lunar orbiter, lunar lander and 20 kg rover to be launched on the indigenous rocket KSLV-3 from Naro Space Center, possibly in the early 2030s. Perhaps N Korea will one day advance its rocketry to peacefully explore the Moon for science. Russia has taken less of a leadership / partnership role on the International Lunar Research Station with China and international partners due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, but Roscosmos is reporting a 2027 launch of the Luna-26 lander and progress on Luna-27 for 2028. (Image credits: JAXA, MHI, KARI)
Ongoing…
☆ NET Jan — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / Venus probe, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Independent mission to Venus developed by Rocket Lab and MIT to send tiny probe flying in atmosphere for 5 minutes at altitude 48-60 km.
● Jan 28 — Challenger STS-51L 39th Observation, Nationwide USA: Educational and ceremonial events held worldwide to advance space technology / education and honor 7 crew members killed in Shuttle accident 28 January 1986: Commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Astronaut Christa McAuliffe (the 1st ‘Teacher in Space’), Mission Specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnick and Ronald E. McNair, along with Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis.
● Jan 28-30 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Online / Houston TX: Itokawa and the Dawn of Asteroidal Sample Return Workshop; Itokawa samples, Hayabusa mission, asteroid-meteorite connections to be discussed.
☾ Jan 28 — Moon: 2.45° SE of Mercury, 13:00.
☆ Jan 28 — Aten Asteroid 2022 BX6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)
●Jan 29 — NASA, CASA Moon SSERVI, et al, Online: Planetary Sample Science Seminar, Dr. Carl Agee of the University of New Mexico presents Some New Unique Meteorites from Mars; 11:00 MST.
☆ Jan 29 — Amor Asteroid 2022 CN1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
THURSDAY
☆Jan 30 — International Space Station, U.S. EVA #92, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 72 Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly, collect samples of surface material, and prepare a spare elbow joint for Canadarm2 robotic arm during 6.5-hour spacewalk beginning 08:00 EST.
★ Jan 30 — Juno, Perijove 69 / 68th Science Flyby,Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft to perform Jupiter flyby during Perijove 69, its 69th close flyby of Jupiter and 68th science flyby with instruments turned on.
☆ Jan 30 — Uranus: Stationary in longitude, 04:00.
☆ Jan 30 — Mars: 5.8° S of Castor, 09:00.
☆ Jan 30 — Jupiter: 5.1° N of Aldebaran, 13:00.
☆ Jan 30 — Aten Asteroid 2016 CH30: Near-Earth Flyby (0.054 AU)
FRIDAY
☆ Jan 31 — JAXA, Launch H3-22S / Michibiki 6 (QZS-6), Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: Component of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries satellite system for high-elevation visibility in urban canyons and mountainous areas; 2-hour launch window; in Japan, Sat Feb 1, 17:30-19:30.
● Jan 31 — Explorer 1 67th Observation, Nationwide USA: American Artemis Return to the Moon For Good is underway, Mars attention and planning advancing, Outer Solar System search for life ongoing, and Interstellar craft on continued trajectories while first USA satellite launch on this day in 1958 ‘Explorer 1’ is celebrated and remembered.
● Jan 31 — International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, Online: Payload proposals due for science in suborbital space on IIAS-02 Research Mission, emphasis on neuroscience and women’s health, space technologies, materials science.
● Jan 31 – Feb 5 — American Astronautical Society (AAS) Rocky Mountain Section,Online / Breckinridge CO: 47th Annual AAS Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) Conference; includes themes on New Space & Cislunar Exploration, GN&C in Human Spaceflight; at Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center, US$225-780.
☆ Jan 31 — Venus: 3.3° NW of Neptune, 12:00.
☆ Jan 31 — Apollo Asteroid 2015 DJ155: Near-Earth Flyby (0.047 AU)
SATURDAY
☆Feb 1 — Deep Space, Jupiter Trajectory: JUICE spacecraft surpasses 1.7B km accumulated distance while successfully sending signals to Earth; its closest solar approach occurred 1 Jan 2025 at 0.64 AU, as it heads toward second Venus flyby planned for August, Jupiter orbit insertion 2031.
● Feb 1 — Columbia STS-107 22nd Observation, Nationwide USA: Annual international conferences and events take place to further space exploration efforts in remembrance of Columbia 7 loss: Commander Richard D. Husband, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (the ‘1st Israeli astronaut’) and Astronauts: William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown and Kalpana Chawla (the ‘1st Indian American astronaut’ and ‘1st Indian woman in space’).
☆ Feb 1 — Amor Asteroid 2025 BG: Near-Earth Flyby (0.090 AU)
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