Independent Moon Missions Advancing
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MONDAYMar 2 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 42 six-member crew stowing EVA spacesuits & gear, preparing for Change of Command Mar 10, working with cell cultures grown on orbit, exploring ways to improve Earth observation photography; future EVAs will relocate the external Permanent Multipurpose Module for arrival of Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) later this year. Mar 2 — Tiangong-1, LEO: “Heavenly Palace” 1,250 days in orbit, 330-380 km above Earth, collecting data with Earth Observation instruments & hyperspectral imager, observing crystal growth science payload, detecting Sun energy particles & ionospheric disturbances. Mar 2 — Rosetta, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Orbit: ESA spacecraft imaging active plumes, coma & surface features, set to perform flybys of comet at 15-100 km from its center; planning to sample plume material in July. Mar 2 — New Horizons, Pluto Trajectory: Now 133 days and 185M km from Pluto / Charon closest approach at 13,000 km; researchers believe Pluto may have as many as 10 moons, plus ring systems. Mar 2 — Blue Origin LLC, Kent WA: NewSpace company developing BE-4 rocket engine in partnership with ULA & Boeing Company; four-year partnership to allow for testing in 2016 and flight by 2019. Mar 2 — Reaction Engines Ltd., Oxfordshire, England: With funding from ESA & British government, making full scale version of SABRE (Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine), capable of cooling air from 1,000° C to 150° C in one hundredth of a second, for use in future Skylon space plane. Mar 2 — Final Frontier Design (FDD), Brooklyn NY: Men and women testing 6.8-kg FFD intra-vehicular activity spacesuits at Embry-Riddle designed under NASA Space Act Agreement. Mar 2 — University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: Life in the Universe Lecture Series: Amazing Discoveries: A Billion Earth-like Worlds; presented by Laird M. Close, Professor of Astronomy at Steward Observatory. Mar 2 — American Astronautical Society, Online / Springfield VA: Abstracts Due: 4th International Space Station (ISS) Research and Development Conference; to be held Jul 7-9. |
= 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;’ Greenwich, England).
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Venus (WSW), Mars (WSW), Jupiter (E), Uranus (WSW); Morning Planets: Mercury (ESE), Saturn (S).
21st Century Jupiter and Saturn Missions on the Horizon
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Mar 2-5 — European Southern Observatory (ESO), Santiago, Chile: Workshop: Ground and Space Observatories – A Joint Venture to Planetary Science. Mar 2-5 — National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Fukuoka, Japan: 3rd Asia Oceania Space Weather Alliance (AOSWA) Workshop: International Collaboration on Space Weather Forecast; at the Luigans Spa & Resort. Mar 2-6 — ESA, Lisbon, Portugal: 8th European Symposium on Aerothermodynamics for Space Vehicles. Mar 2-6 — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Nagoya University, Fukuoka, Japan: United Nations/Japan Workshop on Space Weather: Science and Data Products from International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI) Instruments; at the Luigans Spa & Resort. Mar 2 — Moon: 5.9° SSW of Beehive Cluster, 05:00; 5.3° SSW of Jupiter, 19:00. Mar 2 — Asteroid 2015 DS53: Near-Earth flyby (0.008 AU). Mar 2 — Asteroid 2015 DR: Near-Earth flyby (0.027 AU). Mar 2 — Asteroid 2015 CN13: Near-Earth flyby (0.029 AU). Continued from… Oct 16, 2014 – Jun 11 — NASA, University of Hawai`i, Mauna Loa HI: Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission 3.
Mar 1 – Jan 1, 2016 — Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), Multiple Locations: Cycle 3 of science flights to observe universe consists of science flights grouped into multi-week observing campaigns totaling about 450 research flight hours. TUESDAYMar 3 — RSA, Launch Rockot / Gonets M, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia: Russia government Rockot to launch 3 Gonets M communications satellites. |
Mar 3 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: Lecture: Dating Impact Craters: What Can Precise and Accurate Ages Teach Us? presented by Martin Schmieder.
Mar 3 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: SETI Weekly Colloquium: It’s Life Jim, but Not as We Know It: The Prospects of Life in Titan’s Seas; presented by Jason Barnes of University of Idaho, 12:00.
Mar 3 — Ames Research Center, NASA, Moffett Field CA: 3rd Annual Space Science and Astrobiology Jamboree.
Mar 3 — The Space Show, Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Anatoly Zak, Russian Space News.
Mar 3-4 — NASA History Program Office, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC: The NACA Centenary: A Symposium on 100 Years of Aerospace Research and Development.
Mar 3 — Mercury: 0.85° NNW of 4 Vesta, 23:00.
Mar 3 — Asteroid 2007 ED125: Near-Earth flyby (0.031 AU).
WEDNESDAY
Mar 4 — Cassini OTM-405, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #405 today.
Mar 4 — Foothill College, Los Altos Hills CA: Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture: The Sentinel Mission: Finding the Asteroid Headed for Earth; presented by Astronaut Ed Lu, 19:00.
Mar 4-5 — SMi Group, London, United Kingdom: 10th Annual Military Space Conference; at Holiday Inn Regents Park.
Mar 4 — Moon: 3.8° SSW of Regulus, 03:00; at apogee (distance 405,960 km), 21:00.
Mar 4 — Venus: 0.09° NNE of Uranus, 10:00.
THURSDAY
Mar 5 — Oregon L5 Society, United States Parks Service, Vancouver WA: Lecture: Back to the Moon with the Lunar Rover Mission; presented by Dan Dolan of Moon Base Builders; at Pearson Air Museum.
Mar 5 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Dwarfs Structural Properties – Feedback and Environmental Effects; presented by Dr. Laura Sales.
Mar 5 — Moon: Full (Lenten / Worm Moon), 08:05.
Mar 5 — Asteroid 2008 HA2: Near-Earth flyby (0.069 AU).
Mar 5 — Asteroid 2015 DK155: Near-Earth flyby (0.078 AU).
FRIDAY
Mar 6 — Dawn, Main Asteroid Belt: Spacecraft to arrive at Ceres today, enter orbit; launched Sep 2007.
Mar 6 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Preservation of Isotopic Heterogeneity in a Convecting Martian Mantle; presented by Walter Kiefer of LPI.
Mar 6-7 — University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls IA: 2015 Midwest Astrochemistry Meeting.
Mar 6 — Mercury: At aphelion (0.4667 AU from Sun), 10:00.
Mar 6 — Asteroid 2015 DT: Near-Earth flyby (0.028 AU).
SATURDAY
Mar 7-14 — IEEE, AIAA, PHM Society, Big Sky MT: 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference; at Yellowstone Conference Center.
SUNDAY
Mar 8 — Daylight Saving Time (USA): Set clock ahead 1 hour; does not include Hawai’i, American Samoa or Arizona (except the Navajo Reservation).
Mar 8 — Moon: 3.3° NNE of Spica, 15:00.