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.
“Extraterrestrial Vortex” from Wiki
Mercury Magnetic Tornadoes
https://www.nasa.gov/images/content/351501main_mag_tornadoes_lgweb.jpg
Lightning on Venus
https://cms.bbcearth.com/sites/default/files/2020-12/2fnq80000001000.jpg
Mars
Cyclones on Mars
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Mars_cyclone.jpg
Jupiter
Jupiter South Pole Vortices
Saturn
Saturn Great White Spot
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Saturn_Storm.jpg
Titan
Titan South Polar Vortex
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Vortex_on_saturn%27s_moon_titan.png
Uranus
Uranus, Dark Spot
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Uranus_Dark_spot.jpg
Neptune
Great Dark Spot
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Neptune_darkspot.jpg
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- September 3, 1944: Sherwood Spring (STS-61-B)
- September 6, 1946: Bryan O’Connor (STS-61-B, STS-40)
- September 6, 1955: Carl Walz (STS-51, STS-65, STS-79, STS-108, Exp 4, STS-111)
- September 7, 1939: David Griggs (STS-51-D)
- September 9, 1952: Lee Morin (STS-110)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Space Launches For This Week
Space Coast Launches
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
September 15 Soyuz • Soyuz MS-24
Launch time: 1544 UTC
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the crewed Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft to the International Space Station. The mission will carry Russian commander Oleg Kononenko, Russian flight engineer Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara into orbit for a long-duration flight on the space station. The rocket will fly in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration.
Updated: August 20
NET September 26 Atlas 5 • Project Kuiper
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
The first two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation will launch on an Atlas 501 rocket. These satellites were originally scheduled to fly on the first Vulcan rocket.
Updated: August 20
NET September 29 Falcon 9 • USSF-124
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch a mission for the U.S. Space Force and Missile Defense Agency.
Updated: August 20
TBD Falcon 9 • WorldView Legion 1 & 2
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first pair of WorldView Legion Earth observation satellites for Maxar Technologies. Maxar plans to deploy six commercial WorldView Legion high-resolution remote sensing satellites into a mix of sun-synchronous and mid-inclination orbits on three SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. The first stage of the Falcon 9 will return to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base for landing. Delayed from April and June.
Updated: August 20
October 4/5 Vega • THEOS-2 & FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON
Launch time: 10:36 p.m. GMT on Oct. 4(9:36 p.m. EST Oct. 4, 0136 UTC on Oct. 5)
Launch site: ZLV, Kourou, French Guiana
Arianespace will launch a Vega rocket, designated VV23, sending a collection of 12 satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit. The main payload is the THailand Earth Observation System-2 (THEOS-2), which is an Earth-observing satellite built by Airbus Defense and Space on behalf of the Kingdom of Thailand. It’s designed to complement THEOS-1, which launched in 20008. The secondary payload is FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON, which was developed by the Taiwanese Space Agency (TASA). It’s Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) tool will help meteorologists gather wind data over oceans to help with forecasting the trajectory and intensity of typhoons.
Updated: August 31
October 5 Falcon Heavy • Psyche
Launch time: 1438:37 GMT (10:38:37 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission. The Maxar-built spacecraft will travel to the metallic asteroid Psyche, where it will enter orbit in 2029. This is the first spacecraft to explore a metal-rich asteroid, which may be the leftover core of a protoplanet that began forming in the early solar system more than 4 billion years ago. The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will return to Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovery. The center core will be expended. Delayed from 2022 due to payload software issues. Moved forward from Oct. 10, 2023.
Updated: April 01
October Falcon 9 • O3b mPOWER 5 & 6
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the third pair of 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 March, June 9 and Aug. 27.
Updated: August 22
November 1 Falcon 9 • SpaceX CRS 29
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon 2 spacecraft on a 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 29th mission by SpaceX conducted under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.
Updated: August 20
Nov. 15 Falcon 9 • IM-1
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the IM-1 mission with the Nova-C lander built and owned by Intuitive Machines. The IM-1 mission will attempt to deliver a suite of science payloads to the surface of the moon for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Delayed from 3rd Quarter of 2022, December 2022, January 2023, March 2023, and June 2023.
Updated: August 17
November Long March 2F • Shenzhou 17
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Jiuquan, China
A Chinese Long March 2F rocket will launch the Shenzhou 17 spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts to rendezvous and dock with the Chinese space station in low Earth orbit. This is China’s 12th crewed space mission, and the sixth to the Chinese space station. The crew members have not been announced by China.
Updated: March 22
4th Quarter Falcon 9 • ASBM
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission, consisting of two satellites owned by Space Norway. The Falcon 9 will launch the two Northrop Grumman-built satellites into a highly elliptical orbit that lingers over the Arctic region. The satellites carry communications payloads for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Space Force, and Inmarsat.
Updated: March 22
December 11 Falcon 9 • NG-20
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Cape Canaveral, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch Northrop Grumman’s 21st Cygnus cargo freighter on the 20th operational cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station. The mission is known as NG-20. The launch vehicle for this mission was changed from Northrop Grumman’s own Antares 230+ rocket to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ended engine and booster production for the Antares program. Delayed from October.
Updated: August 20
4th Quarter Vulcan Centaur • Peregrine
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch on its inaugural flight with the Peregrine commercial lunar lander for Astrobotic. The Peregrine robotic lander will carry multiple experiments, scientific instruments, and tech demo payloads for NASA and other customers. The mission will also launch two prototype satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband constellation. The Vulcan Centaur rocket will fly in the VC2S configuration with two GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters, a short-length payload fairing, and two RL10 engines on the Centaur upper stage. Delayed from mid-2022 and late 2022. Delayed from 1st Quarter 2023 and May 4.
Updated: August 30
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Ravenous Black Hole Consumes Three Earths’-worth of Star Every Time it Passes
Ravenous Black Hole
Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.
All times are “local” (Dallas) time.
Sept. 10
Sept. 12
Sept. 15
Tiangong
Sept. 18
Envisat
Sept. 10
Sept. 11
Sept. 13
Sept. 14
Sept. 16
Sept. 17
Sept. 18
You must log in to post a comment.