Electronic Check-In

SKYNET!!!!  9PM CT – 10:30 PM CT

Saturday’s Topic: “NASA’s CLARREO Pathfinder Mission” & Constellation: “Centaurus the Centaur” 

Net Control: Billye KF5PDS

Afterglow Movie 10:30PM: The Day After Tomorrow: Into Infinity (1975) – TV Pilot

2-Meter Repeater W5FC: 146.880MHz, PL 110.9, –

Echolink: W5FC-R, node 37247.

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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.

Discussion Topic of the Evening.

“NASA’s CLARREO Pathfinder Mission”

CLARREO Pathfinder is an instrument payload that will measure reflected solar radiation at an unprecedented level of accuracy. CLARREO Pathfinder data will do this by taking highly accurate measurements of sunlight reflected by Earth and the Moon. These measurements, anchored to international standards, will be five to ten times more accurate than those from existing sensors. The high accuracy in the measurements makes it possible to detect Earth’s subtle trends decades sooner and provides the knowledge needed to make informed decisions.

Clarreo Mission Patch

Clarreo Mission Team

Partners

ISS Payload

Monitoring Earth (and Sun and Moon!) 

Sun

Moon

Reflected Sunlight Monitoring

Datacube

CLARREO Pathfinder (CPF)

CLARREO Pathfinder

Waz Up

Space Exploration and Space History 

Space Exploration News

Artemis II Astronauts Hold Historic Post-Mission Briefing (April 16, 2026)

SpaceX Achieves 600th Successful Falcon Booster Landing (April 18, 2026)

Blue Origin Launches Third New Glenn Rocket with Mixed Results (April 20, 2026)

NASA Unveils New Capabilities for the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope (April 21, 2026)

Rocket Lab Completes 87th Electron Launch “Kakushin Rising” (April 23, 2026)

Hubble Celebrates 36th Anniversary with New Trifid Nebula Photo (April 24, 2026)

Space-Related Birthdays

Astronaut	Birthday	Birth Year	FCC Callsign	Flights	Notes
Jay Apt	April 18	1949	N5QWL	STS-37, STS-47, STS-59, STS-79	A veteran of four Space Shuttle missions who helped deploy the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. He also performed two spacewalks during his career to repair hardware and test station assembly techniques.
Michael J. Smith	April 19	1945	N/A	STS-51-L	Served as the pilot for the Space Shuttle Challenger on its final mission. He was a decorated naval aviator before joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 1980.
Sergei Zalyotin	April 19	1962	N/A	Soyuz TM-30, Soyuz TMA-1	Commanded the final crewed mission to the Mir space station in 2000. He later visited the International Space Station as commander of the Soyuz TMA-1 taxi flight.
Gregory Olsen	April 20	1945	KC2ONX	Soyuz TMA-7	The third private citizen to self-fund a trip to the International Space Station. He conducted scientific experiments in crystal growth and remote sensing during his 10-day stay.
Donald Pettit	April 20	1955	KD5MDT	STS-113, STS-126, Soyuz TMA-03M, Soyuz MS-26	Known for his prolific “Saturday Morning Science” videos that demonstrated physics in microgravity. He is a veteran of both the Space Shuttle and multiple long-duration ISS expeditions.
Aleksandr Laveykin	April 21	1951	N/A	Soyuz TM-2	Spent six months aboard the Mir space station during the EO-2 expedition in 1987. During his mission, he performed three spacewalks to perform station maintenance and research.
Gennady Padalka	April 21	1958	RN3DT	Soyuz TM-28, TMA-4, TMA-14, TMA-04M, TMA-16M	Holds the world record for the most cumulative time spent in space, totaling 878 days. He commanded four of his five missions to the Mir and International Space Stations.
Donald Williams	April 22	1942	N/A	STS-51-D, STS-34	Pilot for the first flight of the Syncom IV-3 satellite and commander of the mission that launched the Galileo probe to Jupiter. He was a veteran naval aviator with over 400 carrier landings.
Mark C. Lee	April 22	1952	N/A	STS-30, STS-47, STS-64, STS-82	Famous for performing the first untethered U.S. spacewalk in 28 years to test the SAFER jetpack. He logged over 33 days in space across four Space Shuttle missions.
Alexander Viktorenko	April 22	1947	N/A	Soyuz TM-3, TM-8, TM-14, TM-20	A veteran of four long-duration missions to the Mir space station. He spent a total of 489 days in space and performed numerous spacewalks to upgrade station systems.
Vladimir Komarov	April 23	1927	N/A	Voskhod 1, Soyuz 1	Commanded the first space mission to carry more than one crew member. He was tragically the first human to die during a space mission when Soyuz 1 crashed upon reentry.
Kjell Lindgren	April 23	1973	KO5MOS* Look what it spells!	Soyuz TMA-17M, SpaceX Crew-4	Served as a flight engineer and commander on the ISS, conducting hundreds of scientific experiments. He is also a board-certified emergency medicine physician.
Yvonne Cagle	April 24	1959	N/A	Management	A NASA flight surgeon and astronaut who has contributed extensively to space medicine and human performance research. Though she has not flown in space, she remains a key leader in the astronaut corps.
Frank De Winne	April 25	1961	ON1DWN	Soyuz TMA-1, Soyuz TMA-15	The first European Space Agency astronaut to serve as commander of the International Space Station. He later became the head of the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne.
Denis Matveyev	April 25	1983	N/A	Soyuz MS-21	Served as a flight engineer for ISS Expeditions 66 and 67, participating in the first “all-Roscosmos” Soyuz crew to the station. He conducted multiple spacewalks to integrate the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

This Week in Space History

India Enters the Space Age with Aryabhata (April 19, 1975)

The Soviet Union Launches Salyut 7 Space Station (April 19, 1982)

China Launches its First Satellite, Dong Fang Hong I (April 24, 1970)

Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (April 24, 1990)

Deployment of Hubble into Orbit (April 25, 1990)

Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week

Constrellation: “Centaurus the Centaur”

Space Launches For This Week

Space Flight Now Launch Schedule

Launch Schedule

April 25 Falcon 9 • Starlink 17-16

Launch time: Window opens at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT / 1400 UTC)

Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of 25 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. More than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, tail number B1088, launching for a 15th time, will land on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: April 17

April 25/26 Soyuz 2.1a • Progress MS-34 / 95P

Launch time: 1:21 a.m. MSK on April 26 (6:21 p.m. EDT / 2221 UTC on April 25)

Launch site: Site 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, launched Soyuz 2.1a rocket with the Progress MS-34 spacecraft on a journey to the International Space Station. Referred to as Progress 95 by NASA, the cargo vehicle will bring supplies and science components to the orbiting outpost.

Updated: April 17

NET April 27 Falcon Heavy • Viasat-3 F3

Launch time: Window opens at 10:21 a.m. EDT (1421 UTC)

Launch site: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch VisSat’s next communications satellite, called Viasat-3 F3. This is the third in a three-satellite series, which will be launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The rocket features two Falcon side boosters and one core booster, the latter of which will be expended. The two side boosters, B1072 (launching for a second time) and B1075 (launching for a 22nd time) will target landings back at Landing Zone 2 and Landing Zone 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Updated: April 20

NET April 27/28 Atlas 5 • Amazon Leo 6

Launch time: Window opens at 8:52 p.m. EDT (0052 UTC)

Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch a batch of 29 broadband internet satellites for Amazon Leo’s low Earth orbit constellation. This is the seventh out of nine Atlas 5 rockets purchased by Amazon to fly its satellites.

Updated: April 20

NET April 28 Ariane 6 • Leo Europe 2 (LE-02)

Launch time: 5:51 a.m. Kourou time (4:51 a.m. EDT / 0851 UTC)

Launch site: Europe’s Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana

An Arianespace-built Ariane 6 rocket, flying in a 64 configuration, will launch 32 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit. This will be the second flight of an Ariane 64 rocket, which features four boosters. The mission is designated as VA268 by Arianespace and Leo Europe 02 (LE-02) by Amazon. This is the second in a series of 18 Ariane 64 launches procured by Amazon to launch its Amazon Leo satellites (previously called Project Kuiper).

Updated: April 17

April 29 Falcon 9 • Starlink 17-36

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of 25 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. More than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, tail number B1071, launching for a 33rd time, will land on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: April 17

NET April Vega-C • Smile

Launch time: TBA

Launch site: ZLV pad, Europe’s Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana

An Avio Vega-C rocket will launch the Smile mission, a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The Smile (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is set to deploy from the rocket 57 minutes after liftoff and deploy its solar arrays within 10 minutes after that. It has a planned mission life of three years and will operate in a highly elliptical Earth orbit. According to ESA, “Smile will use four science instruments to study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun. This will improve our understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic storms and the science of space weather.” Delayed from April 9 “due to a technical issue… on a subsystem component production line after VV29 launcher integration.”

Updated: April 13

NET Q4 2026 Vulcan Centaur • Dream Chaser 1

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch on its second demonstration flight with Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser cargo vehicle for the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser is a lifting body resupply spacecraft that will launch on top of a rocket and land on a runway. This will be the Dream Chaser’s first flight to space. The Vulcan Centaur rocket will fly in the VC4L configuration with four GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters, a long-length payload fairing, and two RL10 engines on the Centaur upper stage. Delayed from August 2022, December 2023, January 2024,  April 2024 and September 2024. Delayed from 2025.

Updated: December 22

TBD Atlas 5 • Boeing Starliner-1

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. Originally planned as the first post-certification flight with a four-person crew, this will instead be an uncrewed cargo flight to test changes to the vehicle made in the aftermath of the Crewed Flight Test that launched in 2024.

Updated: April 09

TBD Spectrum • ‘Onward and Upward’

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: Launch Complex 1, Andøya Spaceport, Norway

A Spectrum rocket from Isar Aerospace will launch on its second test flight. The two-stage rocket is carrying five CubeSats onboard: CyBEEsat from TU Berlin, TriSat-S from the University of Maribor, Platform 6 from EnduroSat, FramSat-1 from NTNU, and SpaceTeamSat1 from TU Wien Space Team. The sixth and final announced payload is an experiment called “Let it Go” from Dcubed. Exolaunch is responsible for managing payload integration and deployment. Delayed from Jan. 21 due to a pressurization valve issue. Delayed from March 23 due to strong winds. Delayed from March 25 due to boat in the keep out zone. Delayed from April 9 due to leak in composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV).

Updated: April 10

Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.

You can use the http://www.heavens-above.com website to find out what’s in orbit and

where to look during fly-overs

All times are “local” (Dallas) time.

ISS – No Visible Passes

Electronic Check-Ins: https://forms.gle/8WMBMAfFzT5VdcZt5

SKYNET!!!!  9PM CT – 10:30 PM CT

Saturday’s Topic: “Ripples in spacetime may have revealed 1st evidence of tiny black holes born in the Big Bang” & “Sextans the Sextant and Hydra The Water Snake” 

Net Control: Tom KE5ICX

Afterglow Movie 10:30PM: “ZombieLand Doubletap” (2019)

2-Meter Repeater W5FC: 146.880MHz, PL 110.9, –

Echolink: W5FC-R, node 37247.

Youtube.com Search “DARC Skynet”

Facebook.com Search “DARC Skynet”

Direct Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCishlh8WmW7OXy9Q6sxsaag

SKYNET!!!!  9PM CT – 10:30 PM CT

Electronic Check-Ins: https://forms.gle/pqaDxursPn1jnBoA8

Saturday’s Topic: “Project Hail Mary and Special Relativity – Part 2” & Constellations “Pyxis the Compass” and “Antlia the Pump” 

Net Control: Virginia NV5F

Afterglow Movie 10:30PM: “The Stranger” (1973)

2-Meter Repeater W5FC: 146.880MHz, PL 110.9, –

Echolink: W5FC-R, node 37247.

Youtube.com Search “DARC Skynet”

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Direct Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCishlh8WmW7OXy9Q6sxsaag

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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.

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Electronic Check-Ins: https://forms.gle/jzd23C8Rh2R3bWhH7

SKYNET!!!!  9PM CT – 10:30 PM CT

Saturday’s Topic: “The Artemis II Mission” & Constellations “Leo the Lion” and “Leo Minor the Small Lion”

Net Control: Bill N5BB

Afterglow Movie 10:30PM: “Snowpiercer” (2014)

2-Meter Repeater W5FC: 146.880MHz, PL 110.9, –

Echolink: W5FC-R, node 37247.

Youtube.com Search “DARC Skynet”

Facebook.com Search “DARC Skynet”

Direct Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCishlh8WmW7OXy9Q6sxsaag