September 28 – October 4, 2020 / Vol 39, No 39 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Cygnus NG-14 S.S. Kalpana Chawla Launching to ISS Crew of 3 On September 29 Northrop Grumman plans to launch the 8th Antares 230+ rocket at 22:27:08 EDT, carrying NG-14 Cygnus resupply cargo ship dubbed S.S Kalpana Chawala from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island VA arriving at ISS on October 3 at 03:45. This will be the 15th Cygnus cargo freighter on the 14th operational cargo delivery flight under NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract. In tradition of naming Cygnus freighters after those who played a pivotal role in human spaceflight, S.S Kalpana Chawala honors the 1st India woman / 33rd woman in space who served on Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 with 6 other crew members. Expedition 63 members Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and Cosmonaut Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner will oversee NG-14 delivery of 3,458 kg of research, hardware and supplies including the ionospheric plasma densities experiment Multi-Needle Langmuir Probe and three nanosatellites to be deployed for ELaNa 31 education mission. The 5th, and 2nd to last, NASA Glenn SAFFIRE V experiment to test large-scale flame growth in space will be conducted after Cygnus departs ISS in December and before it deorbits. Northrop Grumman is also building the HALO habitation module derived from Cygnus for International Artemis cislunar Gateway. It could launch late 2022 to provide living quarters for crew transiting to and from the Moon surface. (Image Credits: Northrop Grumman, NASA)

MONDAY Highlights… Sep 28 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 63 crew awaiting CRS-14 Antares Cygnus cargo including new Universal Waste Management System; in-flight education event Q&A between Society for Science & the Public and Commander Cassidy to occur this week. Sep 28 — NewSpace: SPLICE lunar landing program to move forward with planned Blue Origin New Shepard test; Transcelestial Technologies of Singapore building laser optic communications for Earth, potentially Moon, beyond; Space Pioneer of China raises ~US$14.7M for hot test of Tianhuo rocket engine. Sep 28 — Solar System: Breakthrough Initiatives funding study on Venus phosphine bio-signature led by Sara Seager; Enceladus may have fresh ice on surface as imaged by Cassini; JUICE advances with JPL ice-penetrating radar components being delivered to ESA. Sep 28 — Galaxy: First observations made of far-UV aurora emanating from comet 67P; Glenn Research Center suggests lattice confinement fusion may offer propulsion needed for deep space; primordial black holes may be hypothetical ‘dark matter’ according to new study of LIGO data. Sep 28 — Global: ISRO forms study group for NET 2023 collaborative lunar mission with JAXA; China / Zhongguo takes steps towards rocket reusability by LM4B flying used aero fins; UAE signs deal with USA to train Astronauts at JSC, Houston. Sep 28 — USA: NASA presents phase 1 of plan for Artemis human 2024 return to the Moon, US$28B total funding required, $3.2B immediately; agriculture in space can utilize beneficial nematodes, USDA / ISS study finds; MoU signing codifies US Space Force / NASA collaboration. Sep 28 — Hawai’i: Mauna Kea telescopes being upgraded for next EHT 2021 observations of Pōwehi; study of NSF grants over 30 years shows major impact on UH IfA astronomy technology and early career researchers; PISCES preparing for Women in Space Exploration (WiSE) talks starting next week. Sep 28 — Astrosat, 650-km Near Equatorial LEO: ISRO first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory begins its 6th year in space today, launched 2015.

= 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’).

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

World Space Week 2020 Celebrates Human Off-World Achievements World Space Week (WSW), held annually October 4-10 in commemoration of Sputnik-1 launch Oct 4, 1957 and signing of the Outer Space Treaty on October 10, 1967, will focus for 2020 on the theme Satellites Improve Life. Earth-orbiting satellites have become commonplace: 9,869 objects have been launched since Sputnik, per United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs online index, and approximately 2,666 are currently operational around Earth. The Moon, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and even asteroids also have had / currently have artificial satellites deployed around them. With 8,000+ events held in 96 countries in 2019, WSW is the most widespread, organized celebration of space achievement in existence, and sanctioned by COPUOS / UNOOSA – to which World Space Week Association enjoys permanent observer status. WSWA was founded in 1980 by Dennis Stone, Ernie Hillje, Troy Welch and David Koch; Stone remains President of the organization. Steve Collar, CEO of SES will host as Honorary Chair, aiming to “excite kids and folks around the world.” Executive Director Maruška Strah notes that while the global health emergency will certainly impact the nature of the 21st WSW, small groups may still gather (depending on locale) in a hybrid fashion alongside majority online participation, and that adverse conditions are a “unique opportunity to show how resilient we are as a community”. (Image Credits: WSW, NASA, SES, IAF, et al)

Sep 28 — Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Trajectory Correction Maneuver #2 (TCM-2), Mars Trajectory: NASA craft to perform maneuver to point itself toward Mars, fine-tune its flight path 60 days after launch. Sep 28 — Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz / Gonets M, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia: Soyuz to launch 3 Gonets M communications satellites. Sep 28 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink 12, LC-39A KSC FL: SpaceX to launch 13th batch of ~60 satellites for Starlink broadband network. Sep 28-29 — Mubadala, EDGE, et al, Online / Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Global Aerospace Summit; with a special focus on Next Gen Leaders and Young Space Leaders; in-person meeting TBC. Sep 28 – Oct 2 — European Space Policy Institute, ESA, Online / Vienna, Austria: The post-2030 European Space Agenda (2020); to discuss ways to shape Europe space strategy for the decades to come. Sep 28 – Oct 2 — University of Nebraska, Online: 13th Annual Nebraska Virtual Space Law Week; featuring Mike Gold, Alan Stern, Tommy Sanford, Marcia Smith, others. Sep 28 – Oct 3 — Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo, Italy: Astrophysics in the Light of History; Cancelled. Continued From… Nov 2019 – Nov 2020 — Hayabusa2, Earth Trajectory: JAXA Hayabusa2 with two samples collected from C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu on trajectory for Earth return. Jul 29 – Oct 31 — CNSA, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Online / Beijing, China: Students to submit ideas for payloads for Chang’e-7 lunar south pole craft, and ZhengHe mission that will return samples from Asteroid 2016HO3 and visit Comet 133P. Sep 26 – Oct 3 — USA Science and Engineering Festival, NASA, Lockheed Martin, DoD STEM, Nuclear Energy Institute, et al, Online / Washington DC: SciFest 2020; free.

TUESDAY

Sep 29 — Northrop Grumman, Launch Antares / NG-14 “S.S. Kalpana Chawla”, Pad 0A, Wallops Island VA: Northrop Grumman Antares rocket to launch 15th Cygnus cargo freighter dubbed “S.S. Kalpana Chawla” on 14th operational cargo delivery flight to ISS; live coverage available, launch at 22:27 EDT.

Sep 29 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / GPS 3 SV04, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: Falcon 9 rocket to launch USAF 4th third-generation navigation satellite for Global Positioning System; 4-hour launch windows starts 21:55-22:10 EDT.

Sep 29 — Johnson Space Center, NASA, Online / Houston TX: Dragon Crew-1 interviews with Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, Soichi Noguchi; live coverage starts 11:00 EDT.

Sep 29 — Moon Village Association, ESA, Online / Vienna, Austria: Webinar: Non Space Actors Go to the Moon; 16:30 CEST.

Sep 29 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Committee on Planetary Protection – Meeting 4.

Sep 29 — Institute of Physics Oxford (London and South East), Oxford University, Online / United Kingdom: Gravity’s Role in the Story of Our Universe; by Dr Katy Clough, 18:45 BST.

Sep 29 — W. M. Keck Observatory, Rob and Terry Ryan Foundation, Online / Kamuela HI: Astronomy Talks: Illuminating the Origins of the Universe’s Fastest Explosions; by Wen-fai Fong, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University, 17:00-18:30 HST.

Sep 29-30 — U.S. Space Force, U.S. Air Force, Secure Frontier Foundation, Online / Washington DC: AFWERX EngageSpace; to help bridge knowledge gaps, explore funding for small companies, and align industry and government interests.

Sep 29 — Moon: 3.9° SE of Neptune, 20:00.

Sep 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 PM7: Near Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Sep 30 — Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Space Technology Industry, Government, University Roundtable (STIGUR); 12:00-16:00 EDT.

Sep 30 — LPI, USRA, NASA, Online / Houston TX: Lunar Surface Science Workshop 4: Planetary Protection / PSR Classification.

Sep 30 — National Space Society, Online / Washington DC: NSS Webinar: LEO Commercialization: The Pathway to Earth’s Trillion Dollar Space Economy; featuring
Lynn Harper, Alex MacDonald, Mike Lewis, Cindy Martin-Brennan, Rich Boling, Elena Bulanova, Andrew Rush, Bruce Pittman: 13:00 EDT.

Sep 30 – Oct 2 — Serbian Office for Space Sciences Research and Development, Online / Belgrade, Serbia: South East Europe Space Conference 2020 (SEE Universe 2020).

Sep 30 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 SQ: Near Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)

Sep 30 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 SO2: Near Earth Flyby (0.046 AU)

THURSDAY

NET Oct — NASA, Boeing, Stennis Space Center MS: Space Launch System static-fire test of the core stage to occur this month.

Oct 1 — Deep Space, Jupiter Orbit: Juno spacecraft producing images of cyclones at North Pole and shadow of moon Io, while computer simulations model hydrogen atoms and pressure to understand Jupiter interior.

Oct 1 — ISRO, Online / Bengaluru, India: ISRO planning to share Chandrayaan-2 orbiter mission data internationally starting this month.

Oct 1 — National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 62nd Observation, USA: Nationwide celebrations and educational events occur to observe NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) becoming NASA on this day in 1958.

Oct 1 — Cornell University, Online / Ithaca NY: Lecture: The Formation and Growth of Supermassive Black Holes in the Early Universe; by Anna-Christina Eilers from MIT, 16:00 EDT.

Oct 1 — Space Tourism Society (STS), Online: Webinar: Building Places for Space: Creating the New ISS & Other Destinations; featuring Amir Blachman of Axiom Space, Allison Dollar and John Spencer of STS, 12:00 PDT.

Oct 1 — Moon: Full Harvest Moon, 11:06.

Oct 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2001 GP2: Near Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)

Oct 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 SM4: Near Earth Flyby (0.021 AU)

Oct 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 RJ3: Near Earth Flyby (0.039 AU)

FRIDAY

Oct 2-4 — NASA, CSA, CNES, JAXA, ESA, Online: NASA International Space Apps Challenge; 9th annual hackathon.

Oct 2 — Moon: 0.70° SE of Mars, 19:00.

Oct 2 — Venus: 0.09° S of Regulus, 14:00.

Oct 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 RZ3: Near Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)

SATURDAY

Oct 3 — ISS, NG-14 “S.S. Kalpana Chawla” Rendezvous and Capture, ~405-km Altitude: Northrop Grumman 14th operational Cygnus cargo freighter dubbed “S.S. Kalpana Chawla” to arrive at ISS 03:45 EDT, installation begins 07:00, live coverage available.

Oct 3 — Moon: At apogee (distance 406,288 km), 08:00.

Oct 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 SY3: Near Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)

SUNDAY

Oct 4-10 — World Space Week Association, Global: World Space Week 2020; to celebrate international contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition; Oct 4 is 63rd observation of 1st Space mission Sputnik One launched by Soviet Union 1957; Oct 10 is 53rd observation of Outer Space Treaty going into effect 1967.

Oct 4-10 — Rencontres du Vietnam, Quy Nhon, Vietnam: 16th Rencontres du Vietnam: Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific Region – From Environmental Aspects to Socio-Economic Impacts.

Oct 4 — Moon: 2.96° SE of Uranus, 02:00.

Oct 4 — Aten Asteroid 2010 UC: Near Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)