Artemis 1 Launch NET Aug 29 Starts 21st Century Human Moon Mission Sequence

Next-generation American Artemis Moon program is set to make a significant first with launch of super heavy Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft NET August 29 from LC-39B Kennedy Space Center 08:33-10:33 EDT. With backup dates Sep 2 & 5, and 4 other launch periods before 2023, the circumlunar flight trajectory may take 26 to 42 days, and employ a trans-lunar injection 20-minute burn, outbound trajectory correction burns for lunar flyby to enter distant retrograde orbit. SLS fully stacked will weigh >2.6M kg and stand ~100 meters tall, utilizing five-segment solid boosters and four RS-25 liquid propellant engines. It carries 3 Moonikins (1 donning AstroRad radiation vest), 2 mascots (Shaun the Sheep, and Snoopy), ~30,000 names engraved on microchips of Artemis 1 personnel, ~3M digital passenger names, an electronic assistant (Alexa) and ten 6U CubeSats: ArgoMoon, BioSentinel, CubeSat for Solar Particles, EQUULEUS, Lunar IceCube, Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper, Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, OMOTENASHI, LunIR and Team Miles. The Artemis goal to land the 1st woman, 1st person of color, and next man near the unexplored Moon South Pole extends from the 2017 reinstatement of USA National Space Council & Space Policy Directive 1 — and has branched into human systems development (SLS, Orion, spacesuits, human lander systems, rovers, International Lunar Gateway), cargo systems (CATALYST, CLPS), instruments development (CLPS science payloads, CAPSTONE), major international collaborations, R&D programs, and Artemis Accords / policies developments. (Image Credits: NASA, Cory Huston, ESA, Lockheed Martin)

MONDAY

☆ Aug 22 — ISS, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 67 seven-member crew continue low-gravity experiment; Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev troubleshooting power fluctuations on Orlan spacesuit worn during Russia EVA #55; NASA publishing ISS Benefits for Humanity 2022.

Aug 22 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 14 three-member crew Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe work to test and calibrate pair of 30% efficient, 110m2 solar arrays on Wentian, capable of providing 40% of total station power.

Highlights…

o NewSpace: Zenno Astronautics of Auckland, NZ developing electromagnet-based space propulsion system with US$6.59M seed investment; The Exploration Company, with offices in Bordeaux, FR and Munich, DE plans reusable spacecraft Nyx, demo launching 2023 on Ariane 6, prototype launch 2024 via SpaceX.

☆ Solar System: NASA / SwRI Lucy space probe team investigating 5-km satellite in 200-km orbit around Jupiter trojan Polymele; Rocket Lab partnering with MIT astronomer / planetary scientist Sara Seager on Venus probe launching NET May 2023.

☆ Galaxy: University of Waterloo / National Taiwan Normal University researchers utilize algorithmic technique on EHT data to reveal ‘photon ring’ around M87; Chandra and Hubble observe ‘Nikhuli’, small galaxy being consumed by black hole at center of NGC 4424, gleaning insight into future galaxy merger.

o Global: ESA considering SpaceX, JAXA, and ISRO rockets for future Europe space missions in lieu of Soyuz, per Director General Aschbacher; Roscosmos ROSS space station to launch with 4-module core NLT 2030, 2 auxiliary modules and service platform NLT 2035; Jielong-3 ‘Smart Dragon’ set to make inaugural launch via sea platform following successful fairing separation test.

USA: Artemis 1 undergoing final systems checks of Orion capsule & SLS atop Mobile Launcher 1 ahead of launch next week; Future human space missions to be supported medically through CU Boulder / Aurora MA-MS Program Fall 2023; NASA Unidentified Aerial Phenomena study may yield data on rare atmospheric events like red sprites.

● Hawai’i: IfA astronomers with Eötvös Loránd University use AI to produce catalog of 350M+ galaxies from Pan-STARRS1 on Haleakalā and WISE data; Hawaiʻi Space Grant Consortium supports college students build of sounding rocket with atmospheric probe & rover for Project Imua Mission 11 launch in September; Astrophysicist Bruce Macintosh to lead UC Observatories, including partnership in W. M. Keck.

= Terrestrial events, and…

o = International terrestrial events in local time.

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


Weekly Planet Watch Morning Planets: Venus (ENE), Mars (ENE), Uranus (W); Evening Planets: Mercury (W), Jupiter (S), Saturn (SE), Neptune (SW).


Lunar Science, NewSpace, and Exploration Communities Gather in DC Area, Seattle, NYC

Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), established in 2004 to support NASA Moon operations, meets for its annual conference August 23-25 at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Laurel MD, ~15km outside of the Washington DC beltway. This year’s LEAG meeting is being convened by geologists (L-R) Amy Faganand of Western Carolina University and Erica Jawin of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Updates will be given on Artemis, Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), and Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM). CLPS providers Astrobotic, Firefly, and Intuitive Machines to present on their missions. International lunar progress will be shared by KARI, JAXA, and ESA. On the West Coast, Space Frontier Foundation is hosting NewSpace Conference 2022 August 24-26 at Hotel Graduate Seattle near the University of Washington. Co-chaired by electrical engineer Megan Bennett and biomedical engineer Michelle Del Valle, NewSpace 2022 is to feature nearly 50 speakers on a range of space activities and enterprises including keynote speaker / private Astronaut Audrey Powers, who flew above the 100km Karman line aboard NS-18, the 2nd crewed flight of Blue Origin New Shepard. The Explorer’s Club meets at its NYC HQ for the 12th Annual Three Island BBQ, with theme “The Journey Continues—from Zanzibar and the spice islands of the Swahili Coast to the James Webb Telescope”, featuring honored guest Daniel Goldin, the 9th and longest serving NASA administrator (1992-2001); chaired by Jonathan Conrad. (Image Credits: LEAG, SFF, The Explorer’s Club, JHAPL, NASA)

o Aug 22-24 — The People Events, NobleNet, DPR, World Conference Alerts, et al, Frankfurt, Germany: World Conference on Climate Change & Sustainability.

o Aug 22-26 — Earth Observation Australia Inc, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia: Advancing Earth Observation Forum 2022.

☆ Aug 22 — Moon: At apogee (distance 405,459 km), 12:00.

☆ Aug 22 — Amor Asteroid 2020 QW3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.036 AU)

☆ Aug 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 OR2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)

☆ Aug 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2015 QH3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)

☆ Aug 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 OR6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)

Continued From…

★ Jun 28 – Nov 13 — CAPSTONE, Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit Trajectory: Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment heading to operating position at NRHO / cislunar space.

☆ Aug 4 – Dec 16 — Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), Lunar Trajectory: South Korea ‘Danuri’ to search for lunar resources, test technologies using Ballistic Lunar Transfer, 3 highly elliptical Earth orbits to initiate a trans-lunar injection and arrive at 100-km lunar orbit.

TUESDAY

Aug 23 — Space Foundation, Online / Colorado Springs CO: Symposium 365 Seminar: Start Here for Space / Le site du Centre National d’études Spatiales (CNES); 13:00-13:30.

Aug 23-25 — Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), NASA, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, Hybrid / Laurel MD and Online: Annual Meeting of LEAG 2022.

Aug 23-25 — Applied Technology Institute (ATI), Online / Riva MD: ATI Course: Astropolitics; taught by Eligar Sadeh of Astroconsulting International; US$2,090 per person.

☆ Aug 23 — Moon: 5.6° S of Castor, 09:00; 2.10° S of Pollux, 15:00.

☆ Aug 23 — Mercury: At aphelion, 0.4667 AU from Sun, 11:00.

☆ Aug 23 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 BF10: Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)

☆ Aug 23 — Amor Asteroid 2022 OW1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)

WEDNESDAY

o Aug 24 — Moon Village Association, Online / Vienna, Austria: Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) 19th Meeting.

Aug 24 — George Washington University Space Policy Institute, Aerospace Corporation, Hybrid / Washington DC and Online: Webinar: After the KE-ASAT Moratorium: What’s Next? discussing debris-producing kinetic-energy anti-satellites (KE-ASAT).

Aug 24 — Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), Online: Get Ready for International Observe the Moon Night 2022! with Andrea Jones and Caela Berry from Goddard Space Flight Center, and Theresa Summer from ASP.

Aug 24 — WMFE Radio, WUCF / PBS TV, Orlando Science Center, Orlando FL: Return to the Moon panel discussion; 19:00 EDT.

Aug 24-26 — Space Frontier Foundation, Seattle WA: NewSpace Conference 2022.

☆ Aug 24 — Moon: 3.7° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 19:00; 4.1° NNE of Venus, 15:00.

☆ Aug 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 ET5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU)

THURSDAY

★ Aug 25 — Voyager 1, Interstellar Space: NASA spacecraft begins 11th year in interstellar space, data indicates it became first human-made object to enter interstellar space Aug 25, 2012; launched Sep 5, 1977.

● Aug 25 — Space Satellite Professionals International / Women in Space Engagement, Online: SSPI-WISE 2022 Meeting.

● Aug 25 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: NASA, Boeing to Hold Media Update on Starliner Progress; 13:00, live coverage available.

● Aug 25 — Explorer’s Club, New York NY: 12th Annual Three Island BBQ; featuring talks about Zanzibar, the spice islands of the Swahili Coast and James Webb Telescope.

☆ Aug 25 — Moon: 4.1° NNE of Venus, 15:00.

FRIDAY

☆ Aug 26 — Moon: 4.4° NNE of Regulus, 16:00; New Moon, 22:16.

SATURDAY

★ Aug 27 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 4-23, LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center FL: Falcon 9 to launch with next batch of Starlink internet satellites, first stage booster to land on a drone ship in Atlantic Ocean; 21:52.

Aug 27 — Ad Astra Kansas Foundation, Space Age Publishing Company, Hutchinson KS: Galaxy Forum Kansas 2022; at the Cosmosphere.

● Aug 27 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: NASA to Hold Artemis-1 post mission management team meeting status briefing, 11:00; followed by Artemis-1 pre-launch news conference on NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration plans 14:30; live coverage available.

☆ Aug 27 — Amor Asteroid 2015 QP3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.083 AU)

☆ Aug 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 CO: Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)

☆ Aug 27 — Aten Asteroid 2019 NC1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)

☆ Aug 27 — Amor Asteroid 2022 ON1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)

SUNDAY

● Aug 28 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: NASA to Hold Artemis-1 countdown status briefing, 09:00; live coverage available.

Aug 28 — Goddard Visitor Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: Ask a Scientist; family-friend in-person event, free, 13:00-15:00.