Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/306498286059167/
Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
Planetary Defense – NASA’S DART Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/pdco/index.html#dart
DART Fact Sheet:
DART Mission Overview:
https://dart.jhuapl.edu/Mission/index.php
Dart Mission Plan
Dart Spacecraft
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/211124173553-screengrab-nasa-dart-1-exlarge-169.jpg
Dimorphos/Didymos
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- March 24, 1932: Lodewijk van den Berg (STS-51-D)
- March 24, 1951: Kenneth Reightler (STS-48, STS-60)
- March 24, 1957: Scott Horowitz (STS-75, STS-82, STS-101, STS-105)
- March 25, 1928: Jim Lovell ( Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, Apollo 13)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Lynx, the Wild Cat & Cancer, the Crab
Space Launches For This Week
Space Coast Launches
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
April 1
Electron • BlackSky 16 & 17
Launch time: 1235 GMT (8:35 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: Launch Complex 1A, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch two small second-generation satellites for BlackSky’s commercial fleet of Earth observation spacecraft. Rocket Lab has nicknamed this mission “Without Mission a Beat.” Delayed from September, December. Delayed from Feb. 4 and Feb. 13 by payload issues. [March 25]
April 1
Falcon 9 • Transporter 4
Launch time: 1624 GMT (12:24 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Transporter 4 mission, a rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with numerous small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. [March 25]
April 3
Falcon 9 • Axiom Mission 1
Launch time: 1713 GMT (1:13 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on its sixth flight with astronauts. The commercial mission, managed by Axiom Space, will be commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría. Paying passengers Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe will also be on-board for the 10-day mission to the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon will return to a splashdown at sea. Delayed from Feb. 21 and March 30. [March 25]
NET April 14Falcon 9 • Starlink 4-14
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch with another batch of Starlink internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. [March 25]
April 15
Falcon 9 • NROL-85
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The mission is designated NROL-85. The first stage will return to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg. [March 25]
April 19
Falcon 9 • Crew 4
Launch time: 1059 GMT (6:59 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on its seventh flight with astronauts. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will launch on the Crew Dragon spacecraft to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon will return to a splashdown at sea. [March 25]
April
Ariane 5 • MEASAT 3d & GSAT 24
Launch window: TBD
Launch site: ELA-3, Kourou, French Guiana
Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA257, to launch the MEASAT 3d and GSAT 24 communications satellites. Built by Airbus Defense and Space for MEASAT, a Malaysian operator, MEASAT 3d is a multi-mission communications satellite outfitted with C-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band payloads for direct-to-home TV broadcasting and internet services over Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. GSAT 24 is a direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite for the Indian Space Research Organization. [Dec. 14]
April
Astra Rocket 3.3 • TROPICS 1 & 2
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-46, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A commercial small satellite launch vehicle developed by Astra will launch the first pair of small CubeSats for NASA’s TROPICS mission. The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats, or TROPICS, mission will measure environmental and inner-core conditions for tropical cyclones. [March 25]
April 30
Falcon 9 • Nilesat 301
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Nilesat 301 geostationary communications satellite. Nilesat 301, built by Thales Alenia Space, will provide digital broadband and internet connectivity services for the Egyptian operator Nilesat. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. [March 25]
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Scientists Solve Solar Secret
Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.
All times are “local” (Dallas) time.
Tiangong
Mar 28
Mar 29
X-37B
Mar 30
Apr 1
Envisat
Mar 28
Mar 29
Mar 31
Apr 3
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