Skynet 7-3-21 “NEOWISE Mission Extended” & “Lupus, the Wolf” 9PM CT

IO Group: https://groups.io/g/DARCskynet/topics

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/306498286059167/

Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.

Discussion Topic of the Evening.

Topic: Asteroid-Hunting Space Telescope Gets Two-Year Mission Extension

Two-Year Extended Mission

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/asteroid-hunting-space-telescope-gets-two-year-mission-extension

WISE Telescope

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/WISE_artist_concept_%28PIA17254%2C_crop%29.jpg

Dark Asteroid Detection (Artist’s Concept)

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia21259_neowise20161220.jpg

NEO Surveyor

https://cdn.uanews.arizona.edu/s3fs-public/styles/uaqs_large/public/story-images/neosurveyor.jpg?itok=mCs7-EbA

Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History 

Astronaut Birthdays 

  • June 27, 1937: Joseph Allen (STS-5, STS-51-A)
  • June 27, 1951: Sidney Gutierrez (STS-40, STS-59)
  • June 27, 1977: Nicole Mann (Boeing CST-100 Starliner CFT in late 2021)
  • June 28, 1946: John Lounge (STS-51-I, STS-26, STS-35)
  • June 29, 1955: Charles Precourt (STS-55, STS-71, STS-84, STS-91)
  • June 29, 1962: George Zamka (STS-120, STS-130)
  • June 30, 1951: Stephen Oswald (STS-42, STS-56, STS-67)
  • July 1, 1963: Ed Lu (STS-84, STS-106, Expedition 7)
  • July 2, 1952: Linda Godwin (STS-37, STS-59, STS-76, STS-108)
  • July 2, 1959: Wendy Lawrence (STS-67, STS-86, STS-91, STS-114)
  • July 3, 1935: Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17)
  • July 3, 1943: Norman Thagard (STS-7, STS-51-B, STS-30, STS-42, Mir EO-18, STS-71)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week

Constellation Lupus, the Wolf

Space Launches For This Week

Space Coast Launches

Space Flight Now Launch Schedule

July

Falcon 9 • Starlink

Launch time: TBD

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

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch on the first dedicated mission with Starlink internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base. This mission will deploy an unspecified number of Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit. [June 7]

July 15

Proton • Nauka

Launch time: 1716 GMT (1:16 p.m. EDT)

Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

A Russian government Proton rocket will launch the Nauka laboratory module to the International Space Station. The Nauka module, or the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, will also carry the European Robotic Arm to the space station. [June 18]

July 27

Ariane 5 • Star One D2 & Eutelsat Quantum

Launch window: TBD

Launch site: ELA-3, Kourou, French Guiana

Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA254, to launch the Star One D2 and Eutelsat Quantum communications satellites. Owned by the Brazilian operator Embratel Star One, the Star One D2 was built by Maxar and will deliver telecommunications, direct-to-home television services, and fast broadband to customers in South America, Mexico, Central America, and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. The Eutelsat Quantum satellite was built by SSTL and Airbus Defense and Space under the auspices of a public-private research and development project between the European Space Agency, Eutelsat and Airbus. Designed for coverage over the Middle East and North Africa, the software-defined satellite can be reprogrammed for new communications missions in orbit. Delayed from January, February, March 4, and May. [June 7]

July 30

Atlas 5 • CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2

Launch time: 1853 GMT (2:53 p.m. EDT)

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

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-082, will launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on second unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station. This mission was added after Boeing’s decision to refly the Starliner’s Orbital Flight Test before proceeding with the Crew Flight Test. The rocket will fly in a vehicle configuration with two solid rocket boosters and a dual-engine Centaur upper stage. Delayed from 3rd Quarter. Delayed from Jan. 4. Moved forward from March 29, April 2 and May. [May 13]

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, 2020. Delayed from March 28, April 18, and May 2021. [May 13]

TBD

PSLV • RISAT 1A

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), designated PSLV-C52, will launch the Indian RISAT 1A radar Earth observation satellite. [March 12]

Recent Astronomical Discoveries 

Astronomers have identified a white dwarf so massive that it might collapse

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210630115319.htm

Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.

All times are “local” (Dallas) time.

ISS

https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&lat=33.0462&lng=-96.9942&loc=Lewisville&alt=0&tz=CST

July 12

https://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx?lat=33.0462&lng=-96.9942&loc=Lewisville&alt=0&tz=CST&satid=25544&mjd=59408.1612488291&type=V

Hubble Space Telescope

https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=20580&lat=33.0462&lng=-96.9942&loc=Lewisville&alt=0&tz=CST

July 11

https://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx?lat=33.0462&lng=-96.9942&loc=Lewisville&alt=0&tz=CST&satid=20580&mjd=59406.4469234229&type=V

July 12

https://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx?lat=33.0462&lng=-96.9942&loc=Lewisville&alt=0&tz=CST&satid=20580&mjd=59407.4392845906&type=V