SKYNET!!!! 9PM CT – 10:30PM CT
Saturday’s Topic: “The Starlink Satellite Constellation” & “The Star Regulus”
Net Control: Tom KE5ICX
Afterglow Movie 10:30PM: “The Cosmic Man” (1958)
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.
The Starlink Satellite Constellation
Starlink Coverage
https://i.insider.com/5cdb2755021b4c77930987d4?width=1400&format=jpeg&auto=webp
Starlink Satellites in Orbit (Movie)
Starlink/Falcon Heavy – Saturn V Comparison
https://i1.wp.com/scng-dash.digitalfirstmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/rockets.jpg?
Starlink Deployment (Movie)
https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Starlink-v0.9-deployment-SpaceX-3.gif
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Exploration News
Space X Crew Dragon Launch (5-27-20)
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EgszZR9udjfbW96H6BytDg-650-80.jpg
Space-Related Birthdays
Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin (Born 5-10-1900)
https://miro.medium.com/max/1360/1*paxVjPN8gHx7CpOMTb-AWA.jpeg
This Week in Space History
Alan Shepard – Freedom 7 Mission (5-5-61)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EXSaQmTWAAAYWm0?format=jpg&name=small
Hayabusa Spacecraft
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Hayabusa_hover.jpg/300px-Hayabusa_hover.jpg
M2-F2 Lifting Body Crash Lands (5-10-67)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Northrop_M2-F2.jpg/300px-Northrop_M2-F2.jpg
Waz Up?
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Month/Topic of the Week
Star of the week: Regulus (Alpha Leonis)
Regulus in Constellation Leo
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xg6TKZjve4BNJRMguCfCD5-1200-80.jpg
Regulus
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/2b/eb/d32bebccc93c735accf2bc2afdd0bdda.jpg
Regulus Size Comparison with Sun and Jupiter
https://tecake.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/regulas-1280×720.jpeg
Regulus and Ecliptic
https://images.theconversation.com/files/156153/original/image-20170209-28708-1kmvhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip
Space Launches For This Week
Space Coast Launches
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
May 16
Atlas 5 • USSF 7/OTV-6
Launch period: TBD
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch the USSF 7 mission, formerly known as AFSPC 7, for the U.S. Space Force. The mission’s primary payload is the X-37B, a spaceplane also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, on the program’s sixth mission. The rocket will fly in the 501 vehicle configuration with a five-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. Delayed from December. Moved forward from May 20. [April 19]
NET
May 17
Falcon 9 • Starlink 7
Launch window: Approx. 0800 GMT (4:00 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is expected to launch the eighth batch of approximately 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, a mission designated Starlink 7. Delayed from May 7. Updated to clarify the possibility of launching May 17, assuming range availability. [May 5]
May
LauncherOne • Launch Demo
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: Cosmic Girl (Boeing 747), Mojave Air and Space Port, California
A Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket will make its first orbital test flight after dropping from a modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Delayed from early 2019 and summer 2019. [May 4]
May
Electron • “Don’t Stop Me Now”
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch on its 12th flight on a rideshare mission. The rocket will carry three payloads into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, and the ANDESITE CubeSat for Boston University and NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, which will study Earth’s magnetosphere and Space Weather. The M2 Pathfinder satellite, a collaboration between the Australian government and the University of New South Wales Canberra Space, will also be launched on a communications and technology demonstration mission. Rocket Lab has nicknamed the launch “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Delayed from March 29 due to coronavirus pandemic. [May 4]
May 20
H-2B • HTV 9
Launch time: 1730 GMT (1:30 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
A Japanese H-2B rocket will launch the ninth H-2 Transfer Vehicle. The HTV serves as an automated cargo vehicle to deliver equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. [April 3]
TBD
GSLV Mk.2 • GISAT 1
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 2 (GSLV Mk.2), designated GSLV-F10, will launch India’s first GEO Imaging Satellite, or GISAT 1. The GISAT 1 spacecraft will provide continuous remote sensing observations over the Indian subcontinent from geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above Earth. Delayed from Jan. 15, February and March 5. [March 13]
TBD
Falcon 9 • SAOCOM 1B
Launch time: 2321 GMT (7:21 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: Cape Canaveral, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the SAOCOM 1B satellite for CONAE, Argentina’s space agency. SAOCOM 1B is the second of two SAOCOM 1-series Earth observation satellites designed to provide radar imagery to help emergency responders and monitor the environment, including the collection of soil moisture measurements. Delayed from 4th Quarter of 2019, January and February. This mission was originally scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Delayed from March 30 due to coronavirus pandemic. [March 25]
TBD
SSLV • Demonstration Launch
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) will launch on its first orbital test flight. Consisting of three solid-fueled stages and a liquid-fueled upper stage, the SSLV is a new Indian launch vehicle designed to carry small satellites into low Earth orbit. Delayed from September, December and January. [Jan. 25]
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Telescopes and spacecraft join forces to probe deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200507163959.htm
10. Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.
All times are “local” (Dallas) time.
Hubble Space Telescope
https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=20580&lat=33.0462&lng=-96.9942&loc=Lewisville&alt=0&tz=CST
That Falcon9 is popping out Starlinks satellites like a Pez dispenser (or an alien queen). More Starlink overview is available at http://www.starlink.com, including a description of the ion propulsion system which uses krypton as fuel.