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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Discussion Topic of the Week
What’s this Mysterious Envisat We Hear About Every Week?
ENVISAT Model
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Envisatmod.jpg
Arianne Rocket
Envisat in Orbit(Artist Concept)
https://eoportal.org/ftp/satellite-missions/e/Envisat_01_03_2022/Envisat_Auto3C.jpeg
Reference system
Geocentric
Regime Polar low Earth
Semi-major axis 7,144.9 km (4,439.6 mi)
Eccentricity 0.00042
Perigee altitude 772 km (480 mi)
Apogee altitude 774 km (481 mi)
Inclination 98.40 degrees
Period 100.16 minutes
Repeat interval 35 days
Epoch 15 December 2013, 03:07:00 UTC[1]
California Fires
Envisat Instruments
http://www.altimetry.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/diag.gif
MWR
https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/documents/20142/0/MWR%20instrument-1566307164605.png
AATSR
MIPAS
https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/documents/20142/0/MIPAS-1556712952901.jpg
MERIS
SCIAMACHY
https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/documents/20142/0/South_Pole_ozone_400-1566298180852.jpg
RA-2
ASAR
A complete callout about Envisat is available on it’s own website:
https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/missions/envisat
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- October 3, 1935: Charles Duke (Apollo 16)
- October 3, 1951: Kathryn Sullivan (STS-41-G, STS-31, STS-45; first EVA by an American woman)
- October 4, 1957: Gregory Linteris (STS-83, STS-94)
- October 5, 1929: Richard Gordon Jr (Gemini 11, Apollo 12)
- October 5, 1958: Brent Jett Jr (STS-72, STS-81, STS-97, STS-115)
- October 7, 1969: Karen Nyberg (STS-124, Expedition 36/37; married to astronaut Doug Hurley)
- October 8, 1956: Janice Voss (STS-57, STS-63, STS-83, STS-94, STS-99)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Capricorn, the Sea Goat
Space Launches For This Week
Space Coast Launches
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
Oct. 12/13
Falcon 9 • Hotbird 13F
Launch window: 0325-0524 GMT on 13th (11:25 p.m.-1:24 a.m. EDT on 12th/13th)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Hotbird 13F television broadcasting satellite for Eutelsat. Hotbird 13F is the first satellite to be built on Airbus’s new Eurostar Neo all-electric spacecraft design, and will provide television broadcast services to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. [Oct. 3]
October
Falcon 9 • Starlink 4-36
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. Delayed from Sept. 26 in ripple effect from Starlink 4-34 delays. Delayed from Sept. 30 after Hurricane Ian. [Sept. 29]
October
GSLV Mk.3 • OneWeb 14
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 3 (GSLV Mk.3) 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. This is the first launch of OneWeb satellites since the suspension of launches on Soyuz rockets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Sept. 22]
October
Falcon 9 • Starlink 4-37
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. [Sept. 13]
Oct. 26
Soyuz • Progress 82P
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the 82nd Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. The rocket will fly in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration. [March 25]
October
Long March 5B • Mengtian
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Wenchang, China
A Chinese Long March 5B rocket will launch the Mengtian laboratory module, the third major element of China’s space station in low Earth orbit. [April 20]
October
Falcon Heavy • USSF 44
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the USSF 44 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The mission is expected to deploy two spacecraft payloads directly into geosynchronous orbit, one of which is the military’s TETRA 1 microsatellite. The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will land on drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean, and the core stage will be expended. Delayed from late 2020, 2nd quarter of 2021, July 2021, and October 2021 by payload issues. Delayed from early 2022 and June 2022. [Sept. 1]
TBD
Starship • Orbital Test Flight
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Starbase, Boca Chica Beach, Texas
A SpaceX Super Heavy and Starship launch vehicle will launch on its first orbital test flight. The mission will attempt to travel around the world for nearly one full orbit, resulting in a re-entry and splashdown of the Starship near Hawaii. Delayed from early 2022. [March 9]
Nov. 1
Atlas 5 • JPSS 2 & LOFTID
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-3E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch Joint Polar Satellite System 2, or JPSS 2, polar-orbiting weather satellite for NASA and NOAA. Built by Northrop Grumman, JPSS 2 will provide global weather observations for medium and long-term forecasts. The Atlas 5 will also launch the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, re-entry aeroshell vehicle on a test flight. LOFTID is a joint project between NASA and ULA. The rocket will fly in the 401 vehicle configuration with a four-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. Delayed from Sept. 30 due to anomaly during testing of the satellite’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, or VIIRS, instrument. [June 3]
Check-ins or comments
At this point we should be reaching our 90 minute cut-off point, so NCS can decide whether to cut any of these topics due to lack of time.
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Brenda WB5OZL
Exploring Jupiter’s Moon, Europa, Possible with Silicon-germanium Transistor Technology
Europa Environment
https://www.daviddarling.info/images/Europa_life.jpg
Artist’s Concept: Life on Europa
https://www.daviddarling.info/images/life_on_Europa.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.
Tiangong
Oct. 10
Envisat
Oct. 11
Oct. 13
Oct. 14
Oct. 16
Oct. 17