June 12-18, 2023 / Vol 42, No 24 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Commemorating Women in Space as First Woman Moon Landing Nears

As the Artemis generation of astronauts prepares to return to the Moon, including the as-yet-unannounced Artemis 3 crewmember who will become the first woman to land on the surface of the Moon, it is appropriate to honor 3 female pioneers who led the way into space as the anniversaries of their historic explorations approach. June 16 will mark 60 years since Valentina Tereshkova of USSR became the first Woman (from any nation) to reach space by launching on Vostok 6 (Vostok-K rocket / Vostok-3KA capsule) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in 1963. Flying for 48 Earth orbits over ~71 hours solo, Tereshkova returned to earth via capsule ejection and parachute from 6,100 m on June 19. Tereshkova crater (28.4°N, 144.3°E) on the Moon is named to honor the first woman in space. 20 years later, Sally Ride was the first woman from the USA to fly in space on June 18, 1983 with STS-7 Challenger launch from Kennedy Space Center. On July 4, a statue honoring Ride will be unveiled at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, not far from her hometown of Encino, California. Also June 16 is the 11th observation of the 1st woman from China to launch to space, Liu Yang, who flew on Shenzhou 9 (2012) and to the Tiangong Space Station on Shenzhou 14 (2022). (Image Credits: Soviet Space Program, NASA, CNSA, Lockheed Martin)

MONDAY 

☆ Jun 12 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 69 seven-member crew preparing for U.S. EVA #88 for solar array installation after SpaceX CRS-28 cargo arrival.

☆ Jun 12 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 16 working with cargo from Tianzhou-5 and -6; will see Shenzhou-17 launch later this year while China plans for human Moon landings before 2030.

☾ = Moon activity

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

5th Secure World Foundation Addresses Space Sustainability with 70 Speakers in NYC

Space Sustainability is the topic of the hybrid 5th Secure World Summit in New York City on June 13-14. SWF Executive Director Peter Martinez will give the welcome address and open day one, followed by comments from Guy Ryder, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Policy. Jim Bridenstine of JB Solutions (former NASA Administrator) will participate on a panel about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles with representatives from Promus Ventures, Maxar, SES Satellites and EU Agency for Space Program. Some of the conference presenters are Julie Black (UK Space Agency), Brian Weeden (SWF), Richard DalBello (NOAA), Masayasu Ishida (Spacetide), Nikolai Khlystov (World Economic Forum), and Hugo André Costa (Portuguese Space Agency). Session themes cover Why Space Sustainability Matters and Its Impact on Our Global Future, Ensuring Regulation Supports Innovation in Space, Why a Moratorium on Anti-Satellite Testing is Important, Investment Landscape for Space, What’s Happening on the Moon in the Next Decade?, Can the Space Community Actually Learn Something From Internet Governance?, and The Artemis Accords and the Moon Agreement: Living in Harmony? The Panel “It’s Still Not a Lunar Space Race” features Kaitlyn Johnson (Center for Strategic and International Studies), Mathias Link (Luxembourg Space Agency), Richard Lowe (Satellite Applications Catapult), Asif Siddiqi (Fordham University) and Jennifer Warren (Lockheed Martin) discussing the ‘complex, nuanced, and uncertain’ current lunar reality. (Image Credits: University of Colorado, Secure World, UN, Linkedin, NOAA)

★ Jun 12 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Transporter 8, Vandenberg SFB CA: Falcon 9 rocket to launch Transporter 8 rideshare to sun-synchronous orbit with numerous microsatellites and nanosatellites; 14:14 PDT.

● Jun 12 — SSI, NSS, Online: An 18th SDG: Space for All, on Earth and Beyond.

● Jun 12-16 — AIAA, Hybrid / San Diego CA and Online: 2023 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition (AIAA AVIATION Forum).

● Jun 12 – Aug 12 — Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators at University of California Observatories, University of Hawai’i, Hilo HI: Akamai Internship Program 2023.

☆ Jun 12 — Mercury: 6.1° SE of the Pleiades, 15:00.

☆ Jun 12 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 LA: Near-Earth Flyby (0.004 AU).

☆ Jun 12 — Apollo Asteroid 1994 XD: Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU).

Continued From…

● Jun 8-13 — American Astronautical Society, Blacksburg VA: 2023 AAS Student CanSat Competition; at Virginia Tech University.

o Jun 9-18 — National Space Foundation, NOIRLab, International Dark-Sky Association, AURA, Online / Global: Globe at Night June Campaign; campaign to raise awareness of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure & submit night sky brightness observations.

o Jun 11-14 — Banca Transilvania, Space for a Better World, Romanian Space Initiative, et al, Bucharest, Romania: Aim Higher Romania; celebrating Romania’s role in Artemis Program with NASA and ESA, featuring international Astronauts, Space Day Romania (Jun 11, 12), Innovation Summit (Jun 13), and Gala (Jun 14).

● Jun 11-16 — Gordon Research Conference, South Hadley MA: 2023 Gordon Conference on the Origins of Solar Systems and Gordon Research Seminar 2023; at Mount Holyoke College.

TUESDAY 

★ Jun 13 — Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), LEO: NASA satellite reaches 11 full years / enters 12th year of operations in space today; launched 2012.