March 1-7, 2021 / Vol 40, No 9 / Hawai`i Island, USA

International Efforts Towards Increased Human Spaceflight Progressing Through 2021 & Beyond

Russia plans MS-18 to transport 3 Cosmonauts to ISS NET April 9 – however, NASA has proposed an in-kind exchange that would see an Astronaut fly on the Soyuz mission in trade for later ride on Commercial Crew, possibly affecting roster. Roscosmos intends to move its human spaceflight program out of LEO before decade’s end, with Angara A5 planned for uncrewed launch of deep space vessel Oryol (Eagle) from Vostochny by 2023, crewed launch by 2025, and integration with US$15B SHLV Yenisei by 2028, allowing cislunar range. China Shenzhou-12, launching from Jiuquan SLC NET June on Long March 2F, is to be 7th crewed flight for China and first since 2016. Tianhe-1 (“Heavenly Harmony”) will launch on Long March 7 / Tianzhou 2 ahead of Shenzhou-12, in which Taikonauts are to begin assembly of Chinese Large Modular Space Station. India Gaganyaan (“Sky Craft”) human spaceflight program expects first uncrewed launch of its 8,200-kg spacecraft via human-rated GSLV Mk3 by December, while the first 4 ‘Gaganauts’, currently enrolled at Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center, are slated to reach space in late 2022 / early 2023. USA spaceflight plans include SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing Starliner (September) missions for ISS and Blue Origin first crewed New Shepard launch NET April. NASA flagship rocket SLS system, intended to transport Artemis crew to the Moon, is hoped to complete an uncrewed lunar orbit by Q4. (Image Credits: NASA, Roscosmos, CNSA, ISRO, Boeing, SpaceX, Blue Origin)

MONDAY

Highlights…
Mar 1 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 64 seven-member crew begin experiments delivered via Cygnus NG-15 S.S. Katherine Johnson on artificial retina manufacture, off-the-shelf computing in space, and muscle atrophy in worms; Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi prepare for EVA on Friday.

Mar 1 — NewSpace: Enpulsion to equip Blue Canyon Technologies with MICRO R³ thrusters for MethaneSAT support craft; Deployable Space Systems latest company to be added to Redwire portfolio; Astra expects to raise US$500M with public funding, aims for ‘100 year plan’.

Mar 1 — Solar System: Mars Perseverance operational, sending full color, high resolution images and sound back to Earth; mission team planning further nightside shots of Venus during next Parker Solar Probe gravity assist flyby; continued Juno observations of objects impacting Jupiter aids impact rate and planet composition data.

Mar 1 — Galaxy: Supermassive black holes rending stars through gravitational tidal force may be origin of neutrino blasts; Voyager records in interstellar space may outlast humanity, MWG, suggests study; Univ. of Copenhagen and Lund Observatory researchers working on ‘pebble accretion theory’ for water planets in MWG.

Mar 1 — Global: ESA moves forward with lunar cave exploration mission planning; Chandrayaan-3 thought to be making second attempt at prime landing site plateau between craters Manzinus C / Simpelius N (70.9°S); Roscosmos working to modernize domestic space technology supply chain.

Mar 1 — USA: Hayley Arceneaux to join Inspiration4 private spaceflight as St Jude ambassador; USA to seek binding resolution on space behavior at UN General Assembly; ULA Vulcan Centaur being tested at Cape Canaveral SFS, awaiting flight-ready Blue Origin BE4 engines.

Mar 1 — Hawai’i: HIEDB hosting Web Series on ‘Native Hawaiian Perspectives: Navigating Science and Culture Post Pandemic‘; VLBA used to determine black hole Cygnus X-1 size and proximity; UH Hilo celebrating15 years of exploration at ʻImiloa Astronomy Center with pop-up giveaways.

NET Mar — International Astronautical Federation, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), Online: IAC 2021 Press Conference; providing updates for 72nd IAC being held Oct 25-29.

= 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: Mars (W), Uranus (W); Morning Planets: Mercury (ESE), Jupiter (ESE), Saturn (ESE).

IAF Accelerating Global Networking, In-Person Events at GLEX and IAC 2021

International Astronautical Federation is planning to host “IAC 2021: It Is Happening!” press conference in early March with Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre featuring (L-R) IAF Executive Director Christian Feichtinger, IAF President Pascale Ehrenfreund, and IAC 2021 LOC Chairs Salem Humaid Al Marri and Adnan Al Rais. Abstracts are due February 28 for 72nd IAC being held October 25-29 in Dubai, UAE with theme ‘Inspire, Innovate & Discover for the Benefit of Humankind’. Typically attracting 6,000 participants, IAC 2022 is set for France and IAC 2023 in Azerbaijan, with an open call for IAC 2024 hosting bids. IAF Spring Meetings, in partnership with International Academy of Astronautics and International Institute of Space Law, will be held online March 23-25. Numerous committees will help to advance / update on IAF Commercial and Human Spaceflight Safety, Space Security, Entrepreneurship and Investment, Cultural Utilisation of Space, Space Life Sciences, Near Earth Objects, Earth Observations and many other areas. Various awards and honors will be narrowed down including nominees for ‘3G’ Diversity Award, World Space Awards, Excellence in Industry, and Young Space Leaders. The Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) in St. Petersburg, Russia is reset for June 14-18 and will highlight the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s spaceflight. Also ongoing is IAF Global Networking Forum Space Conversations Series, which are free, live webinars held every 2 weeks on Wednesday. (Image Credits: IAF, DLR, MBRSC)

 Mar 1-2 — Planetary Advisory Committee, NASA, Online / Washington DC: Planetary Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting.

Mar 1-3 — University of Southampton, Online / Southampton, United Kingdom: Workshop: A (Hubble) Tension Headache.

Mar 1-5 — Keck Institute for Space Studies, Caltech, Online / Pasadena CA: Virtual Workshop: Beyond Interstellar – Extracting Science from Black Hole Images – Part 2.

Mar 1 — Aten Asteroid 2011 DW: Near-Earth Flyby (0.036 AU)

Continued From…

NET Early 2021 — ISRO, Launch SSLV / Demonstration Launch, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: New Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) to launch on first orbital test flight.

TUESDAY

Mar 2 — British Interplanetary Society, Online / London, United Kingdom: Lecture: The Changes of our Planet seen from Space; by Tommaso Parrinello – Cryosat and Aeolus Mission Manager, ESA/ESRIN; 18:00 UTC.

Mar 2 — European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, at al, Online: Event: Our Planet: Too Big to Fail; 13:00 CET.

Mar 2-3 — ESA, Online / Noordwijk, The Netherlands: 2nd ESA Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing.

Mar 2-4 — Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, MIT Kavli Institute, Online / Cambridge MA: Meeting: Cool Stars 20.5.

Mar 2-5 — National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT), Radio Science Research Group, Radio Astronomy Operation Center and Division of Foreign Affairs,  Online / Chiang Mai, Thailand: 13th East Asian VLBI Workshop 2021 (EAVW21).

Mar 2 — Moon: 6.0° NNE of Spica, 02:00.

WEDNESDAY

Mar 3 — Caltech Department of Astronomy, Online / Pasadena CA: Lecture: Discovering, Weighing, and Characterizing Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs; by Tim Brandt, Assistant Professor at UC Santa Barbara; 16:00 PST.

Mar 3 — Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Online / Washington DC: Live Chat: What Mars Reveals about Life in Our Universe.

Mar 3 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 Meeting # 10.

Mar 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 DV1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.005 AU)

Mar 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 DE1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)

Mar 3 — Aten Asteroid 2020 SP: Near-Earth Flyby (0.047 AU)

THURSDAY

Mar 4 — W. M. Keck Observatory, Rob and Terry Ryan Foundation, Online / Washington DC: Lecture: Kepler, TESS, And Keck Observatory – Driving Our Understanding Of Exoplanetary Systems; by David Ciardi, Chief Scientist, NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, 17:00 HST.

Mar 4 — Teledyne Photometrics, Teledyne Princeton Instruments, Online: Webinar: Enabling the Next Generation of Astronomy; 09:00 PST.

Mar 4 — Mars: 2.60° SE of Pleiades, 06:00.

Mar 4 — Jupiter: 0.32° S of Mercury, 21:00.

Mar 4 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 DW1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.004 AU)

FRIDAY

 Mar 5 — ISS, U.S. EVA #72, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 64 NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins and JAXA Astronaut Soichi Noguchi spacewalk to vent Early Ammonia System, maintenance video communications, live coverage available; begins 14:00 EST.

Mar 5 — Space Court Foundation, Online: Tear Down the Wall: Breaking the silos that divide the global space community; with Theresa Hitchens (Breaking Defense), Andre Rypl (Brazilian Mission to the UN Organizations), Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan (Observer Research Foundation), Mari Eldholm (Norwegian Industrial Forum for Space Activities), Daniel Porras (SWF); 11:00 EST.

Mar 5 — Moon: 5.0° NNE of Antares, 07:00; at last quarter, 15:31.

Mar 5 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 CN3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU)

Mar 5 — Aten Asteroid 2021 CF8: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)

SATURDAY

Mar 6 — Thai National Observatory (TNO), NARIT, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand: TNO Open House; inviting domestic tourists to view facilities and participate in stargazing.

Mar 6-7 — Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, UK / Online: 33rd National Student Space Conference (NSSC 2021); featuring talks by leading space science and industry figures, career fair, networking.

Mar 6-13 — AIAA, Online / Big Sky MT: 42nd IEEE Aerospace Conference 2021.

Mar 6 — Mercury: At westernmost elongation, 01:00

SUNDAY

Mar 7 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink V1.0-L20, LC-39A, KSC FL: Falcon 9 to launch next batch of ~60 satellites for SpaceX Starlink broadband network; 22:41 EST.

Mar 7 — Kuiper Belt Object 523671 (2013 FZ27): At Opposition (46.772 AU)