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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Discussion Topic of the Evening
What is the Event Horizon Telescope?
Event Horizon Telescope
Telescope Array
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/EHT-infography.png
EHT Telescopes throughout the World
https://www.ru.nl/publish/pages/960038/eht2017-705×510.png
M87 Blackhole
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Black_hole_-_Messier_87_crop_max_res.jpg
3C279
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/EHT3C279PressReleaseImage.png
Sagittarius A*
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- May 15, 1942: Tony England (STS-51-F)
- May 15, 1949: Frank Culbertson, Jr. (STS-38, STS-51, STS-105, Expedition 3 (9/11), STS-108)
- May 16, 1945: Brewster H. Shaw (STS-9, STS-61-B, STS-28)
- May 17, 1967: Joseph M. Acaba (STS-119, Exp. 31/32, Exp. 53/54)
- May 18, 1930: Don Lind (STS-51-B)
- May 19, 1939: Dick Scobee (STS-41-C, STS-51-L)
- May 19, 1955: Pierre J. Thuot (STS-36, STS-49, STS-62)
- May 20, 1944: David M. Walker (STS-51-A, STS-30, STS-53, STS-69)
- May 20, 1951: Thomas Akers (STS-41, STS-49, STS-61, STS-79)
- May 20, 1964: Paul W. Richards (STS-102)
- May 21, 1942: Robert C. Springer (STS-29, STS-38)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Coma Berenices, Bernice’s hair, and Canes Venatici, the hunting dogs
Space Launches For This Week
Tom KE5ICX
Space Coast Launches
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
May 25
Falcon 9 • Transporter 5
Launch time: 1835 GMT (2:35 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Transporter 5 mission, a rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with numerous small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. Moved to Cape Canaveral from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. [April 28]
May
Alpha • Multi-payload
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-2W, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A Firefly Alpha rocket will launch on its second test flight with a rideshare payload consisting of multiple unspecified small satellites. [March 25]
May
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 and December 2019. Delayed from January and December 2020. Delayed from April 2021. [March 25]
NET May 31
Electron • CAPSTONE
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 1B, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, mission to the moon. CAPSTONE will fly to the moon on Rocket Lab’s Photon space tug, entering a unique halo-like lunar orbit to test deep space navigation and communications in the same orbit to be used by NASA’s Gateway mini-space station. Moved from Launch Complex 2 in Virginia to Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Delayed from 2021 due to COVID-related issues. Delayed from March 2022. [May 4]
TBD
SSLV • BlackSky Global
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) will launch on its first commercial mission with four Earth observation satellites for BlackSky Global, a Seattle-based company. The rideshare mission for BlackSky is being arranged by Spaceflight. Delayed from November, late 2019 and early 2020. Delayed from early 2021 and July. [March 31]
June 3
Soyuz • Progress 81P
Launch time: 0923 GMT (5:23 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the 81st Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. The rocket will fly in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration. [April 20]
June
Long March 2F • Shenzhou 14
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Jiuquan, China
A Chinese Long March 2F rocket will launch the Shenzhou 14 spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts to rendezvous and dock with the Chinese space station in low Earth orbit. This will be China’s ninth crewed space mission, and the third to the Chinese space station. Delayed from May. [April 20]
June 7
Falcon 9 • SpaceX CRS 25
Launch time: 1530 GMT (11:30 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon 2 spacecraft on its fifth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight is the 25th mission by SpaceX conducted under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. [May 9]
June
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. Delayed from April 30. [April 20]
June
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. Delayed from April. [April 28]
June
Vega C • LARES 2
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: ZLV, Kourou, French Guiana
An Arianespace Vega C rocket will launch the LARES 2 satellite for ASI, the Italian space agency. The spherical LARES 2 satellite is covered in laser mirrors to enable precise tracking from the ground, enabling research into geoodynamics and general relativity. This will mark the inaugural flight of Europe’s new Vega C rocket, featuring a more powerful first stage motor, an enlarged second stage, an improved liquid-fueled upper stage, and a new payload fairing design. Delayed from mid-2020 by coronavirus impacts. Delayed from December 2020, early 2021, April 2022, and May 2022. [April 9]
NET June
Falcon 9 • O3b mPOWER 1, 2, 3
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first three O3b mPOWER broadband internet satellites into Medium Earth Orbit for SES of Luxembourg. The satellites, built by Boeing, will provide internet services over most of the populated world, building on SES’s O3b network. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from May. [April 20]
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Merging Black Holes, New Method of Measuring Void
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220509132625.htm
Measuring Super Massive Black Holes
https://theglobestalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG-20220520-WA0100-1.jpg
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.
X-37B
May 23
Envisat
May 22
May 25
May 28
May 30
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