Humans in Space: Space Station Activities Leading Toward Future Lunar / Deep-Space Missions

As Tiangong Space Station heads into its 4th full year in space, the International Space Station will soon enter its 25th year of continuous human occupation in November. It is currently occupied by Expedition 71 and two members of Boeing Starliner CST-100. About 3,720 kilograms of food, scientific gear and other supplies recently arrived at the station via NG-21 dubbed S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee, and the Progress MS-28 (89P) launch is scheduled for August 15 from Soyuz 2.1 in Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The SpaceX Crew 9 mission with Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, Stephanie Wilson and Alexander Gorbunov will be postponed ‘significantly’ due to the continued delay of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returning to Earth. The Boeing Starliner CST-100 is awaiting final confirmations to determine a date for undocking. At present, the planned end of the ISS may come around 2031 with the recent contract of the United States Deorbit Vehicle being won by SpaceX. Commercial space stations that are under development are Haven-1 (NET 2025), Axiom Space (first module Hab One may attach to ISS in 2026), Orbital Reef (2027) and Starlab (2028). Russia has indicated it may operate its own space station ~2027. India is planning Bharatiya Antariksha Station commencing 2028. Meanwhile humanity’s first outpost beyond LEO, Lunar Gateway, is underway for first module launches in 2028 to support Artemis 4 and future missions. (Image credits: NASA, CNSA, ESA)

MONDAY 

☆ Aug 12 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 seven members and 2 Boeing Starliner crew working with 3D-printing experiment, troubleshooting CloudNet local area network issues, measuring crew quarters airflow in 7 areas for planned future improvements; Tracy Dyson and Jeanette Epps to participate in live-stream activities this week with public.

☆ Aug 12 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 18 three-member crew about 2.5 months from returning to Earth, planning to overlap with Shenzhou-19 crew in late October; Tianzhou 8 cargo ship with 5,600 kg of supplies being prepared at Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site for Sep 25 (TBC) flight.

★ Aug 12 — Parker Solar Probe, Heliocentric Orbit: NASA craft comes within 6.16M km of the Sun, well within the orbit of Mercury and ~7 times closer than any previous spacecraft – reaches 6th full year / enters 7th year in space today; launched Aug 12, 2018.

● Aug 12-14 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Flagstaff AZ: Second Workshop on Terrestrial Analogs for Planetary Exploration.

● Aug 12-14 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: Modern Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Techniques Workshop.

☆ Aug 12 — Perseid Meteor Shower: 2nd of 2 peak nights; appearing to radiate from constellation Perseus, up to 100 meteors per hour, which are fast, bright and frequently leave persistent trains, 03:00-06:00.

☾ Aug 12 — Moon: At first quarter, 05:19.

☾ = Moon activity

★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events; in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).

SpaceX Works to Increase Starship Launches, Crucial for Artemis 3 Mission

The Federal Aviation Administration is holding public hearings for response to the SpaceX request to launch yearly up to 25 Starship / Super Heavy rockets from Boca Chica in Texas – “Starbase”. Four in-person meetings will be held August 13 and 15 in two Texas towns, and a virtual meeting will be held August 20. The Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively “Starship”) are being designed / developed for taking up to 100 people and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon and beyond. Some of the original visions for Starship included landing on an icy world in the Jovian system, and on Mars. The plan is for Starship and the SpaceX Human Landing System to be ready for Artemis 3 Human Moon Landing in 2026. Currently the 5th launch of Starship (NET August) is pending FAA approval. The plan is for its Super Heavy Booster to be caught after separation by the launch tower “chopstick” arms. June 6 was the 4th test flight of the 9-meter-diameter rocket. The 50-meter-tall Starship and 71-meter Super Heavy comprise the vehicle. The Starship will have 6 Raptor engines, which are reusable, methane-oxygen, staged-combustion with twice the thrust of the Falcon 9 Merlin engine, and three are Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines for use in the vacuum of space. The Super Heavy will be powered by 33 Raptor engines, 13 in center and 20 around the aft perimeter. (Image credits: SpaceX)

TUESDAY

o Aug 13 — Brazil Air Force University (UNIFA), Online / Brazil: Webinar: International Space Security: Building a Sustainable Future.

● Aug 13 — Federal Aviation Administration, South Padre Island TX: 2 meetings today to obtain public input on SpaceX application to increase launch and landing cadence for Starship / Super Heavy at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas; five meetings total to be held.

☾ Aug 13 — Moon: 0.38° ESE of Antares, 18:00.

WEDNESDAY

☆ NET Aug 14 — ISRO, Launch SSLV / EOS-08/Microsat-2C, Satish Dhawan Space Center, India: India Small Satellite Launch Vehicle to carry Earth observation micro-satellite for ISRO designed to test new technologies for building an Earth observation satellite in a micro-satellite bus; SSLV has payload capacity of 500 kg to Low Earth orbit or 300 kg to SSO.

★ Aug 14 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / WorldView Legion 3 & 4, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: SpaceX to launch next WorldView Legion Earth observation satellites.

● Aug 14-16 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Flagstaff AZ: Annual Meeting of Planetary Geologic Mappers 2024.

☆ Aug 14 — Mars: 0.31° N of Jupiter, 06:00.

☆ Aug 14 — Mercury: 5.3° SSW of Regulus, 11:00.

THURSDAY 

☆ Aug 15 — Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz 2.1A / Progress MS-28 (89P), Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: ISS resupply craft to launch with cargo for Expedition 71.

★ Aug 15 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Transporter 11 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare), SLC 4E, Vandenberg SFB CA: Next Transporter mission to carry dedicated rideshare mission of many microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers to Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

● Aug 15 — Federal Aviation Administration, Port Isabel TX: 2 meetings today to obtain public input on SpaceX application to increase launch and landing cadence for Starship / Super Heavy at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas; five meetings total to be held.