ISS Expedition 63 to Receive JAXA + Roscosmos Cargo Ships, 10 Astronauts from Dragon Demo-2, USCV-1, Soyuz MS-17 Missions
Japan is set to launch H-2B rocket to loft the 9th H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV or Kounotori ‘White Stork’) cargo ship towards International Space Station from Tanegashima Space Center on May 19 at 02:30 am local time. Expedition 63 crew, Commander Chris Cassidy, Flight Engineers Ivan Vagner and Anatoli Ivanishin will capture HTV-9 using Canadarm2 on May 25, and ground controllers will install it to Harmony module Earth-facing port. Carrying 6,200 kg of supplies including fresh food, water, air, science experiments and 6 lithium-ion batteries, HTV-9 will stay attached for 2 months. Cygnus NG-13 cargo ship, released from ISS on May 11, will be commanded to de-orbit for disintegration in Earth atmosphere May 29. Exp 63 is planning to welcome SpaceX Demo Mission-2 on May 28 with Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who would become the first to launch from USA soil since 2011. This crew could remain a 6-member team for 1 to 4 months, depending on how well Crew Dragon solar panels perform, allowing for ISS USA EVAs, additional science experiments and maintenance. Exp 63 is scheduled to also greet Roscosmos Progress 76P cargo ship July 23, the first operational Commercial Crew Program flight (USCV-1) NET September, and three crew members of Soyuz MS-17 October 14. Exp 63 returns to Earth October 22 in Soyuz MS-16, marking the start of Exp 64. (Image Credits: NASA, JAXA, SpaceX, Roscosmos) |
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MONDAY
Highlights…
 May 18 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 63 three-member crew reviewing procedures for HTV-9 rendezvous, potential crew arrival next week; working on Earth monitoring, Astrobee 3-CubeSat, microbe studies; Cold Atom Lab experiments continue with upgraded hardware.
 May 18 — NewSpace: Astrobotic on track for July 2021 Moon mission, receives SBIR award to develop lunar & planetary ground penetrating radar; Virgin Orbit to launch payloads to orbit from Guam; Relativity Space of CA planning 2021 launch of 3D rocket Terran 1.
May 18 — Solar System: Possible existence of salty water on Mars increases need for contamination protocols; SOFIA observations of Pluto indicate actively replenished particles in atmosphere which will change during orbital cycle; Ryugu sample planned for Earth return in December, new paper describes Hayabusa2 findings.
May 18 — Galaxy: Solar Sail spacecraft study to be conducted for feasibility of interstellar object observations; 4,260 confirmed exoplanets to date, exoplanet Kepler-62f being analyzed for Earth-like qualities; MeerKAT observations could help explain activity of X-shaped radio galaxies.
May 18 — Global: China / Zhongguo planning ~11 launches to support human spaceflight over next 2-3 years; Ukraine implementing policies to allow private space activities advancement; Brazil working to expand space / satellite technology opportunities; Germany-Israel working on Lunar Surface Access Service based on Beresheet lander design.
 May 18 — USA: Europa Clipper may be reconfigured as SLS priority of Artemis human return to Moon could delay mission timeline; Dragon Crew-1 Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, Soichi Noguchi training for ISS Sep mission; NASA estimates Commercial Crew program could save Agency US$20-30B.
May 18 — Hawai’i: Mauna Kea Observatories increasing operations with some staff working on site; UH Astronomers studying brightness variations & sound waves of Delta Scuti stars; Nānā i nā Hōkū book / Hawaiian Stars blog being published by Yuen Media Services.
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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: Mercury (W), Venus (WNW); Morning Planets: Mars (SE), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (SE), Neptune (ESE).
The Aerospace Corporation Provides Expert Commentary on Contemporary Space Policy Issues
As a service to the space community The Space Policy Show, a production of The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy, premieres a weekly online series. Currently broadcast online Thursdays at 13:00 EDT, with upcoming episode set for May 21 featuring Policy Analyst (L-R) Mick Gleason, National Security Senior Project Engineer Sam Wilson and Ellen Stofan of Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the topic of The Value of Space. Previous talks focus on Resource Utilization, Enterprise, Debris and Blockchain, among other subjects. Based primarily in El Segundo, California with 4,000 employees and revenues of US$1.1B in FY 2019, The Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit, federally funded research and development center has deep roots in the USA Space Program. Spun off from the conglomerate Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, Aerospace was meant to function as a “national security space partner free from conflicts of interest”. Since establishment in 1960, Aerospace has contributed engineering expertise to the ICBM-to-rocket conversions of Atlas and Titan, Projects Mercury and Gemini, the Space Shuttle program, and the development of GPS. Currently, Aerospace is the recipient of the NASA Specialized Engineering, Evaluation and Test Services contract, worth US$621M over 9 years, which went into effect October 1, 2019 – National Reconnaissance Office and Space and Missile Systems Center of the USAF are also primary customers. (Image Credits: The Aerospace Corporation, NASA) |
May 18 — Celestis, Online: Live Facebook Event: The High Frontier – The Untold Story of Gerard K. O’Neill; featuring producer Dylan Taylor, Celestis CEO Charles Chafer, 18:00 CDT.
May 18-20 — SmarterShows, Long Beach CA: Space Tech Expo USA 2020; postponed to August 10-12.
May 18-22 — International Astronautical Federation, South African National Space Agency, Tourvest, Cape Town, South Africa: 16th SpaceOps conference (SpaceOps 2020): Beyond Boundaries in Human Endeavour; postponed to May 3-7, 2021.
May 18 — Aten Asteroid 2020 HG9: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
Continued from…
Jan 2019 – Sep 2020 — New Horizons, Kuiper Belt: Full data collected from 7 instruments during KBO Arrokoth flyby to be transmitted to Earth over this time period.
Nov 2019 – Nov 2020 — Hayabusa2, Earth Trajectory: JAXA Hayabusa2 with two samples collected from C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu on trajectory for Earth return.
Mar 16 – Sep 16 — SpaceX, Boca Chica Beach TX: SpaceX to attempt Starship flight to 20-km altitude during this timeframe.
May 9 – Jul 11 — AIAA Los Angeles – Las Vegas Section, Online: Virtual Aerospace Art Gallery Exhibition.
TUESDAY
May 19 / 20 — JAXA, Launch H-2B / HTV 9, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: Japan H-2B rocket to launch ninth H-2 Transfer Vehicle (Kounotori or white stork) to ISS for Expedition 63, 02:30 local time May 20 / 13:30 EDT May 19, live coverage available.
May 19 — Satcoms Innovation Group, Goonhilly Earth Station, Cornwall, United Kingdom: Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG) Workshop; focusing on communications in LEO, MEO and Deep Space; conference TBC. |
WEDNESDAY
May 20 — Northrop Grumman, Online / Falls Church VA: 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
May 20 — Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, Online: LEAG-SSERVI Virtual Meeting-Community Input for Decadal Survey; 12:00-16:30 EDT.
May 20 — The Science & Entertainment Exchange, Online: Science Speed Dating; five quick-fire talks by experts whose work spans a range of scientific fields, 13:00-14:30 PDT.
May 20 — SETI Institute, Online / Mountain View CA: Lecture: Finding Life on Europa – Do We Have the Chemistry? with microbiologist Jill Mikucki and planetary geologist Cynthia Phillips, 19:00 PDT.
May 20 — AIAA, Washington DC: 2020 Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala; postponed to July 17.
May 20 — Moon: 3.6° SE of Uranus, 09:00.
THURSDAY
May 21 — Aerospace Corporation, Online: Space Policy Show: The Value of Space; featuring Mike Gleason and Sam Wilson, 13:00 EDT.
May 21-22 — University of Colorado at Boulder, SwRI, JHU / APL, Boulder CO: Workshop: Observatory for the Outer Heliosphere, Heliosheath and Interstellar Space; conference TBC.
May 21 — Apollo Asteroid 136795 (1997 BQ): Near-Earth Flyby (0.041 AU)
FRIDAY
May 22 — Canadian Space Agency (CSA-ASC), Online / Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada: Industry proposals due for science instruments program element of Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP).
May 22 — SpaceFund, Online: Webinar: Realizing Liquidity in NewSpace Investing: Exit Landscape; with Rick Tumlinson, Meagan Crawford, Dylan Taylor, 13:00 EDT.
May 22 — St. Louis Space Frontier, Online / Saint Louis MO: Friday Evening Zoom Seminar: Today’s Space Elevator; 18:00 CDT.
May 22 — Royal Astronomical Society, London, United Kingdom: Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Ordinary Meeting; Meeting: Exoplanet Modelling in the James Webb Era; and Meeting: MHD Oscillations and Waves from the Photosphere to the Corona; postponed.
May 22 — Moon: 6.6° SE of Pleiades, 06:00; New Moon, 07:39; 3.7° N of Aldebaran, 23:00.
May 22 — Mercury: 0.88° SE of Venus, 00:00.
SATURDAY
May 23 — Moon: 3.6° SE of Venus, 19:00; Mercury and Venus within circle of diameter 4.44°, 20:00.
May 23 — Amor Asteroid 2020 JX: Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)
SUNDAY
May 24-28 — Japan Geoscience Union, American Geophysical Union, Tokyo, Japan: JpGU – AGU Joint Online Meeting 2020: For a Borderless World of Geoscience; postponed to virtual meeting July 12-16.
May 24 — Moon: 2.76° SE of Mercury, 03:00; 0.66° SE of M35 cluster, 18:00.