13 Women and Men to Join 560+ Space Travelers as NASA Astronaut Candidates Graduate
A record 18,300 applicants vied for a spot to train with Group 22 aka ‘The Turtles’ in 2017 – soon the 11 USA and 2 Canada candidates (6 women, 7 men) selected will become eligible for spaceflight after an official ceremony on January 10 at Johnson Space Center, marking the first group to enter the space program during the Artemis lunar exploration era. 9 out of the 13 have military backgrounds. Among the graduating class are (row 1 L-R): Raja Chari, a fighter pilot from Iowa; Jonny Kim, an emergency room physician from California; Zena Cardman, a microbiologist from Virginia, Loral O’Hara, an oceanography research engineer educated in Kansas quoted as stating ‘Every time I look at the Moon, I think holy cow, I might be walking around up there’; (row 2 L-R): Bob Hines, an aerospace engineer from Pennsylvania; Frank Rubio, a surgeon from Florida; Jenni Sidey-Gibbons (CSA), an engineer with subject matter expertise on combustion in microgravity from Alberta, Jasmin Moghbeli, a helicopter test pilot from New York; Jessica Watkins, a geoscientist from Colorado and the 10th Stanford female graduate to become an astronaut (row 3 L-R) Matthew Dominick, a fighter pilot from Colorado; Kayla Barron, a nuclear engineer from Washington state; Warren Hoburg, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT from Philadelphia, and Joshua Kutryk (CSA), a Royal Canadian Air Force test and fighter pilot from Alberta. (Image Credits: NASA) |
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MONDAY
Highlights…
 Jan 6 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 61 six-member crew from 3 different countries working with experiments involving combustion, bone density, mass measurement, 3D biofabrication, space moss; ISS expected to host more experiments & commercial payloads in 2020 than any previous year.
 Jan 6 — NewSpace: Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines on track for July 2021 commercial lunar landings; Virgin Orbit aims for early 2020 first orbital launch; iSpace advancing Hyperbola-2 reusable rocket for vertical landing test in 2020, orbital 2021.
Jan 6 — Solar System: Mars 2020 lander MOXIE experiment to make Oxygen on Mars; moon Enceladus could be target of next proposed missions; ALMA radio astronomy of Jupiter provides more detail to map ammonia & storms.
Jan 6 — Galaxy: Galaxy Center images reveal intense period of star formation ~1B years ago resulting in 100,000+ supernovae; China astronomers find over 10,000 stars rich in lithium; exoplanets discovered by Subaru Telescope named Chura and Kamui.
Jan 6 — Global: India 4 Gaganyaan astronauts to train in Russia, ISRO plans accelerated US$35M Chandrayaan-3 lander; CNSA to launch Mars lander in July, possibly followed by Chang’e-5; Indonesia and Russia in talks for human spaceflight cooperation; JAXA to offer international launch rideshare opportunities.
 Jan 6 — USA: ‘Decade of Artemis‘ realizing International Lunar Decade; this month NASA to select companies for Artemis Human Landing System; Parabolic Arc presents Artemis program review and future; Boeing Starliner will be prepared for first operational mission; SpaceX Crew Dragon first flight now planned for Q2.
Jan 6 — Hawai’i: Mauna Kea access re-opened to public due to 2-month Big Telescope truce; Keck and Subaru observations show that massive galaxies formed 1B years earlier than previously thought; CFHT contributes to discovery of hydrogen gas ring around galaxy AGC 203001.
 Jan 6 — ISS, Dragon CRS-19 Undocking, 405-km LEO: Uncrewed Dragon resupply craft to be released from ISS Harmony node today and return to Earth via splashdown in Pacific Ocean off of CA coast with ~816 kg of scientific samples and return cargo; live coverage available.
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= All times
for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Venus (SW), Mars (SE), Uranus (S), Neptune (SW).
AIAA SciTech Forum Opens in Orlando
American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics hosts 2020 SciTech Forum January 6-10 at Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Florida. AIAA, created in 1963, hosts yearly forums on 5 major themes including space exploration. The theme of 2020 SciTech Forum is “Driving Aerospace Solutions for Global Challenges”. Sponsors include aerospace giants Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Bell Flight. Over 5,000 attendees from 50 States and 40+ countries will see >2,500 technical presentations. Featured speakers include former NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot (TL) and Ellen Stofan (TR), former NASA Chief Scientist and now Director of National Air and Space Museum. Mary Lynne Dittmar (BL) represents as CEO the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, a group of space industry businesses and nonprofits. Astronaut David Scott of Apollo 15 (BR) will be part of a panel on lunar flight simulation. Monday, Jan 6, is the AIAA International Student Conference. Jan 7 is a “Taco Tuesday” networking event for students and professionals. Thursday, January 9, is a Women in Aeronautics and Astronautics networking breakfast. Attendees will also have an opportunity to screen the acclaimed new “Apollo 11” documentary. Nearby Disney World’s EPCOT is opening a “Space 220” restaurant atop a simulated space elevator showing the view from 220 miles altitude. AIAA SciTech Forum anticipates many innovations in the 2020s. (Image Credits: NASA, Disney Parks, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration) |
Jan 6 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 2, LC-40, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: Launch of third batch of ~60 satellites, designated Starlink 2, for SpaceX Starlink broadband network; 21:19 EST.
Jan 6 — SSERVI, NASA, Online: Seminar: The Economic Geology of Lunar and Asteroid Resources – Introduction to the Geologic Context of Space Resources; 07:30-09:00 PST.
Jan 6-8 — University of Cambridge, Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge, United Kingdom: Workshop: Rocky Worlds – From the Solar System to Exoplanets.
Jan 6-10 — American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, Orlando FL: AIAA SciTech Forum; one of the world’s largest events for aerospace research, development and technology.
Jan 6-10 — EDP Sciences, Yunnan Observatories – Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China: 5th Scientific Writing School for Young Astronomers (SWYA 5).
Jan 6 — Moon: 7.3° SE of Pleiades, 18:00.
Continued from…
Dec 29 – Jan 9 — Israel Institute for Advanced Study, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel: 37th Advanced School in Theoretical Physics: New Ideas for Old Puzzles.
Jan 3-7 — Indian Science Congress Association, University of Agricultural Science Bangalore, Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra, Bengaluru, India: 107th Indian Science Congress: Science & Technology: Rural Development.
Jan 4-8 — American Astronomical Society, Honolulu HI: 235th Meeting of the AAS; at Hawaii Convention Center.
Jan 5-11 — International Center of Interdisciplinary Science Education, Quy Nhon, Vietnam: 16th Rencontres du Vietnam: Theory Meets Experiments – Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. |
TUESDAY
Jan 7 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Johnson Space Center, Online / The Woodlands TX: Abstracts Due: 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2020; to be held March 16-20.
Jan 7 — Moon: 2.96° N of Aldebaran, 11:00.
Jan 7 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 YT3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Jan 8 — Comet 137P/Shoemaker-Lev : Near-Earth Flyby (2.748 AU)
THURSDAY
Jan 9 — Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC: Examining NASA’s Role in U.S. Foreign Policy; 09:00-11:00.
Jan 9 — Institute of Physics – West Midlands Branch, Worcester, United Kingdom: Lecture: Cassini at Saturn – The End of an Era; by Professor Carl Murray from Queen Mary University of London.
Jan 9 — Moon: 1.50° SE of M35 cluster, 04:00.
FRIDAY
Jan 10 — Canadian Space Agency, NASA, Houston TX: CSA astronauts Jenni Sidey-Gibbons and Joshua Kutryk will graduate from NASA astronaut basic training during a ceremony at Johnson Space Center.
Jan 10 — Royal Astronomical Society, London, United Kingdom: Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Ordinary Meeting; Radiation Belt Modelling in the Post Van Allen Probes Era Meeting; Radiation Hydrodynamics – Implementation and Application Meeting.
Jan 10 — Moon: Full (Wolf Moon) and penumbral eclipse, 09:22; 9.0° S of Castor, 12:00; 5.3° S of Pollux, 17:00.
Jan 10 — Mercury: Mercury at superior conjunction with Sun, 05:00.
Jan 10 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 YF4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.010 AU)
Jan 10 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 UO: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)
Jan 10 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 YV: Near-Earth Flyby (0.044 AU)
SATURDAY
NET Jan 11 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Crew Dragon, LC 39A KSC FL: In-Flight Abort Test of the Crew Dragon spacecraft; will attempt to trigger a launch escape shortly after liftoff and demonstrate Crew Dragon capability to safely separate from Falcon 9.
Jan 11-14 — European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Center for Fundamental Physics at Zewail City of Science and Technology, Center for Theoretical Physics at the British University in Egypt, Hurghada, Egypt: International Conference on Neutrinos and Dark Matter (NDM-2020).
Jan 11 — Moon: 1.33° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 16:00.
Jan 11 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 WC5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)
Jan 11 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 YV5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)
Jan 11 — Comet 289P/Blanpain: Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU)
SUNDAY
Jan 12 — Royal Astronomical Society, London, United Kingdom: 200th Observation of RAS founding (1820).
Jan 12-16 — American Meteorological Society (AMS), Boston MA: 100th Annual Meeting of the AMS.
Jan 12 — Mercury: 2.04° S of Saturn, 00:00.
Jan 12 — Pluto: At conjunction with Sun, 21:00.