Apollo 17
Apollo 17 on the Moon
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Eugene_Cernan_at_the_LM%2C_Apollo_17.jpg
Apollo 17 Mission Insignia
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Apollo_17-insignia.png
Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Ap16_pse.jpg
Composition Experiment (LACE)
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_17/images/lace_lg.gif
Gene Cernan
https://cdn.geekwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/170116-cernan-1-1240×1005.jpg
Crew Photo
Apollo 17 Lift-off
Apollo 17 Recovery
Apollo 17 CM in Houston
Waz Up
The Star of Bethlehem
NORAD’s Santa Tracker (Billye KF5PDS)
NORAD’s Santa Tracker
https://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647099/norads-santa-tracker-began-with-a-typo-and-a-good-sport
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Launches For This Week
Space Coast Launches
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
Dec. 21
Falcon 9 • SpaceX CRS 24
Launch time: 1006 GMT (5:06 a.m. EST)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon 2 spacecraft on its fourth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The flight is the 24th mission by SpaceX conducted under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from Dec. 4. [Nov. 1]
Dec. 21
H-2A • Inmarsat 6 F1
Launch window: 1433:52-1633:26 GMT (9:33:52-11:33:26 a.m. EST)
Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
A Japanese H-2A rocket will launch the Inmarsat 6 F1 communications satellite for London-based Inmarsat. Built by Airbus Defense and Space, the satellite carries L-band and Ka-band payloads to provide mobile communications services to airplanes and ships. The H-2A rocket will fly in the “204” configuration with four strap-on solid rocket boosters. [Nov. 4]
Dec. 22
LauncherOne • Above the Clouds
Launch window: 2200-0100 GMT on 22nd/23rd (5:00-8:00 p.m. EST; 2:00-5:00 p.m. PST on 22nd)
Launch site: Cosmic Girl (Boeing 747), Mojave Air and Space Port, California
A Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket will launch on its fourth flight after dropping from a modified Boeing 747 carrier jet. The mission will be Virgin Orbit’s second operational launch, carrying small satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Test Program, Spire, and the Polish company SatRevolution. [Dec. 14]
Dec. 23
Angara-A5 • Test Flight
Launch time: 1500 GMT (10:00 a.m. EST)
Launch site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
A Russian government Angara-A5 rocket will launch on its third orbital test flight with a Perseus, or Persei, upper stage derived from Russia’s venerable Block DM upper stage. Russian officials have not identified a payload for the mission. [Dec. 14]
Dec. 24
Ariane 5 • James Webb Space Telescope
Launch window: 1220-1250 GMT (7:20-7:50 a.m. EST)
Launch site: ELA-3, Kourou, French Guiana
Arianespace used an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA256, to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, a flagship observatory developed by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. JWST is the largest space telescope ever built, with a deployable mirror measuring 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter and four scientific instruments to observe the universe in infrared wavelengths. The mission will study the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets. The Ariane 5 ECA rocket will launch JWST on a trajectory toward its operating position at the L2 Lagrange point nearly a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth. Delayed from Oct. 31, November, Dec. 18, and Dec. 22. [Dec. 14]
Dec. 27
Soyuz • OneWeb 12
Launch time: 1310:37 GMT (8:10:37 a.m. EST)
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch 36 satellites into orbit for OneWeb, which is developing a constellation of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit for low-latency broadband communications. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket will use a Fregat upper stage. [Dec. 14]
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
A spacecraft has ‘touched’ the sun for the first time
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211214134947.htm
Illustration of Sun
https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2021/12/211214134947_1_900x600.jpg
Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.
All times are “local” (Dallas) time.
ISS
Dec. 20
Tiangong
Dec. 20
X-37B
Dec. 19
Dec. 20
Hubble Space Telescope
Dec. 19
Dec. 20
Envisat
Dec. 19
Dec. 22
Dec. 24