Space Space Calendar: Launches, Sky Events & More

[Penny]

10 days and counting to Perseverance's landing day.

NASA/JPL Eyes Link: https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/orrery/#/sc_perseverance

NASA Mars Perseverance rover: What to expect on landing day

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[Telmar]

Pretty excited about this year. Lots of things: flight of Thomas Pesquet on Dragon Crew2, Starliner might make a succesful test, Landing on Mars, and maybe a succesful Starship test.

Thanks for spreading the news Penny!

 

[Penny]

Pretty excited about this year. Lots of things: flight of Thomas Pesquet on Dragon Crew2, Starliner might make a succesful test, Landing on Mars, and maybe a succesful Starship test.

Thanks for spreading the news Penny!

True, just in February alone, NASA, China, and the United Arab Emirates each have Mars missions – with China's Tianwen-1 rover sending back it's first image of Mars two days ago, the UAE's Hope Probe reaching Mars orbit tomorrow, and NASA's Perseverance Rover set to land on Mars in 10 days time.

These are the space missions to watch in 2021​

There is a lot to be excited about this year and the next decade in missions and research.

​

 

[morris]

NASA taps SpaceX to bring its Gateway station to the Moon

When the first two segments of NASA’s Gateway station make their way to the Moon sometime in 2024, they’ll be carried into space by a Falcon Heavy rocket.

ca.movies.yahoo.com

In the lead up to Artemis, NASA has been awarding contracts to private companies to speed up the project’s timeline. In January, however, it came out that the agency had quietly pushed back the award timeframe for two lander contracts from late February to the end of April, which has cast doubt over whether NASA will be able to meet its ambitious 2024 goal for Artemis.

 

[Flagg]

True, just in February alone, NASA, China, and the United Arab Emirates each have Mars missions – with China's Tianwen-1 rover sending back it's first image of Mars two days ago, the UAE's Hope Probe reaching Mars orbit tomorrow, and NASA's Perseverance Rover set to land on Mars in 10 days time.

These are the space missions to watch in 2021​

There is a lot to be excited about this year and the next decade in missions and research.

​

And it includes two multi-day orbital flight seats up for grabs likely launching Q4

1 for a lottery winner to raise funds for a kids cancer hospital

1 for an entrepreneurship/promotion dragon’s den panel like competition

Both launching on the same flight.,

 

[Penny]

And it includes two multi-day orbital flight seats up for grabs likely launching Q4

1 for a lottery winner to raise funds for a kids cancer hospital

1 for an entrepreneurship/promotion dragon’s den panel like competition

Both launching on the same flight.,

True!

 

[Penny]

The UAE's Hope Probe has successfully entered orbit around Mars​

The United Arab Emirates' first mission to Mars arrived at the red planet on Tuesday and successfully entered orbit on its first attempt.

Article Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/09/world/uae-hope-probe-mars-mission-orbit-scn-trnd/index.html

 

[Penny]

Tianwen-1, China's mission to Mars, has entered orbit​

After traveling through space for seven months, China's Tianwen-1 probe has reached Mars and successfully entered the planet's orbit on Wednesday -- bringing it one step closer to landing on the surface.

Article Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/10/asia/china-tianwen-1-mars-orbit-hnk-scli-scn/index.html

 

[Penny]

NASA taps SpaceX to bring its Gateway station to the Moon

When the first two segments of NASA’s Gateway station make their way to the Moon sometime in 2024, they’ll be carried into space by a Falcon Heavy rocket.

ca.movies.yahoo.com

In the lead up to Artemis, NASA has been awarding contracts to private companies to speed up the project’s timeline. In January, however, it came out that the agency had quietly pushed back the award timeframe for two lander contracts from late February to the end of April, which has cast doubt over whether NASA will be able to meet its ambitious 2024 goal for Artemis.

NASA picks SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch 1st Gateway station pieces to the moon​

NASA has selected SpaceX to deliver the first two segments of the moon-orbiting Gateway space station for its upcoming Artemis program, which aims to put astronauts back on the moon. The elements will launch atop a Falcon Heavy rocket, sometime in 2024.

The flight, which is the second to be awarded to SpaceX this week (the first was a contract worth $98.8 million to launch NASA's SPHEREx astrophysics mission) will carry the Gateway's power and habitation modules. Launching from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mission will cost NASA $331.8 million and is scheduled to blast off no earlier than May 2024.

Article Link: https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-to-launch-nasa-lunar-gateway-modules

 

[Picanha]

NASA taps SpaceX to bring its Gateway station to the Moon

When the first two segments of NASA’s Gateway station make their way to the Moon sometime in 2024, they’ll be carried into space by a Falcon Heavy rocket.

ca.movies.yahoo.com

In the lead up to Artemis, NASA has been awarding contracts to private companies to speed up the project’s timeline. In January, however, it came out that the agency had quietly pushed back the award timeframe for two lander contracts from late February to the end of April, which has cast doubt over whether NASA will be able to meet its ambitious 2024 goal for Artemis.

Artemis is pretty ambitious and complex. Lots of components to create. But if it succeeds it is such a huge step forward from just landing on the moon. But as Gateway has to be finished first I also see 2024 as a tight deadline.

Gateway - NASA

Coming Soon to a Moon Near You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLqu4sS4iR4&list=PLTXQuaxXBKKyLl4kLPIcF73mYgvafCArT&index=2

www.nasa.gov

ESA and JAXA cantributions:

(In space the UK still is in Europe )

Europe steps up contributions to Artemis Moon plan

Europe steps up contributions to Artemis Moon plan

Thales Alenia Space will build Europe's two major contributions to the Lunar Gateway space station.

www.bbc.com

Airbus studies “Moon Cruiser” concept for ESA’s cis-lunar transfer Vehicle

Airbus studies “Moon Cruiser” concept for ESA’s cis-lunar transfer vehicle

Airbus has been awarded a CLTV (Cis-Lunar Transfer Vehicle) study for a "Moon Cruiser" by the European Space Agency (ESA). According to the study concept (two parallel Phase A/B1), the CLTV is a versatile, autonomous logistics vehicle that could, for example, provide timely and efficient support...

www.airbus.com

Also for later moon settlement the EL3 (if ESA gets it done) they also need the A64 for it...but so many delays..

Argonaut

Argonaut is Europe’s autonomous access to the Moon, allowing us to play a major role on the surface of our natural satellite. The lunar lander is being designed for a series of missions with many options for its payloads – from cargo and infrastructure delivery to scientific operations, a rover...

www.esa.int

And then in the late 2020s the JAXA Hydrogen Fuel Moon Vehicle

Toyota News and Stories | Toyota Europe

Keep up with the latest news and discover more about our stories to fully immerse yourself in the Toyota World.

www.toyota-europe.com

 

[Penny]

NASA and SpaceX Are Teaming Up to Uncover the Birth of the Universe​

NASA and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, have announced that they are collaborating on a remarkable space mission, one that could help us better understand the origins of our universe. SpaceX is providing launch services for NASA's Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission...yes, it's a bit of a mouthful.

SPHEREx is a $98.8 million two-year mission that aims to explore the sky in near-infrared light. This light is not visible to the human eye, and it can be the key to answering comic questions involving the birth of the universe. The mission will also seek out water and organic molecules in stellar nurseries where stars are born as well as in disks around stars.

Altogether, data will be gathered on more than 300 million galaxies, as well as on more than 100 million stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. The SPHEREx mission is set to be launched as early as June 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket.

Article Link: https://interestingengineering.com/...aming-up-to-uncover-the-birth-of-the-universe

 

[Penny]

Tricky terrain: Helping to assure a safe rover landing.

After a nearly seven-month journey to Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover is slated to land at the Red Planet's Jezero Crater Feb. 18, 2021, a rugged expanse chosen for its scientific research and sample collection possibilities.

But the very features that make the site fascinating to scientists also make it a relatively dangerous place to land—a challenge that has motivated rigorous testing here on Earth for the lander vision system (LVS) that the rover will count on to safely touch down.

Article Link: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-tricky-terrain-safe-rover.html

 

[Penny]

Flight over the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing site​

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[Penny]

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[morris]

12th April 1961 Radio communications between Yuri Gagarin (code name "Cedar") Sergei Korolev (code name "Sunset-1) and ground control during the space ship launch. In Russian, with English subtitles.

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[Penny]

First Flight of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter: Live from Mission Control​

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[Penny]

NASA's New Horizons reaches rare distance, looks out to Voyager

Fifteen years after launching from Earth at a record speed, and six years since it became the first-ever spacecraft to fly by Pluto, NASA's New Horizons is about to reach a mile marker that only four other robotic probes in history have surpassed.

On Saturday (April 17) at 8:42 p.m. EDT (1242 GMT April 18), New Horizons will reach 50 AU (astronomical units) from the sun — or 50 times the distance the Earth is from the sun. That is 4.65 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers). At 50 AU, it takes more than 6.5 hours for signals sent from New Horizons to reach Earth, and that is while traveling at the speed of light.

Article Link: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-041521a-new-horizons-50-au-voyager-photo.html

 

[morris]

China is about to start building a space station in orbit

China is about to launch the first section of a new space station, beginning a massive orbital construction project that is expected to end in 2022 with an outpost about a quarter of the size of the International Space Station

www.newscientist.com

While the exact date hasn’t been announced, China is expected to launch its 18-metre-long core module, called Tianhe, this week. Tianhe will contain living quarters for up to three astronauts, along with the station’s control centre, power, propulsion and life-support systems. It will be followed by two other main modules, both designed to house scientific experiments.
The Chinese Space Station (CSS) will be the 11th crewed space station ever built. It is China’s third station, although the previous two were significantly smaller. The CSS will be slightly larger than Mir, the Soviet space station that preceded the ISS.

 

[morris]

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The Long March-5B Y2 launch vehicle launched the Tianhe Core Module, the first component of the China Space Station, from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, China, on 29 April 2021, at 03:23 UTC (11:23). The Tianhe Core Module (天和核心舱) is the first component of the China Space Station (中国空间站), China’s new space station intended for long-term habitation.

 

[Penny]

Dragonfly drone to fly on Titan in follow-up of Ingenuity on Mars​

After Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, Dragonfly will be the next NASA drone helicopter to fly above the surface of another world when it arrives on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, after launching from Earth in 2027.


Dragonfly will be much larger than tiny Ingenuity-- about the size of a small car-- although it is still undergoing design. It will conduct a mission lasting over two years to investigate samples on the surface of Titan’s organic oceanic world.

The dual quadcopter will be able to travel tens of miles in a single flight, powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG), like one used on the Perseverance rover on Mars, to provide 60 watts of power to charge onboard batteries. Ingenuity has relied on solar power, but the atmosphere of Titan is too dense to provide enough sunlight and Titan is much farther from the Sun than Mars.

Article Link: https://www.fierceelectronics.com/electronics/dragonfly-drone-to-fly-titan-follow-up-ingenuity-mars