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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
“Is the Day 12 Hours Long on the Equinox? It’s Complicated”
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- September 17, 1930: Thomas P. Stafford (Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo–Soyuz Test Project)
- September 17, 1930: Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14)
- September 17, 1943: Samuel Durrance (STS-35, STS-67)
- September 18, 1944: Charles Veach (STS-39, STS-52)
- September 19, 1957: Richard Linnehan (STS-78, STS-90, STS-109, STS-123)
- September 19, 1965: Sunita Williams (STS-116/117-Exp 14/15, Exp 32/33, Boeing Crewed Flight Test)
- September 19, 1987: Kayla Barron (SpaceX Crew-3/Exp 66/67)
- September 20, 1960: James Pawlczyk (STS-90)
- September 21, 1955: Richard Heib (STS-39, STS-49, STS-65)
- September 22, 1965: Robert Satcher (STS-129)
- September 23, 1944: Loren Shriver (STS-51-C, STS-31, STS-46)
- September 23, 1961: William C. McCool (STS-107)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Capricorn the sea goat.
Space Launches For This Week
Space Coast Launches
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
September 23/24 Falcon 9 • Starlink 6-18
Launch time: Approx. 8:06 p.m. – 12:37 a.m. EDT (0006-0437 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster is to land on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean.
Updated: September 19
October Atlas 5 • Project Kuiper Protoflight
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: September 11
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
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: September 19
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
TBD 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: September 11
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
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Carbon source found on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230922110733.htm
Europa
https://th.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.Kcs40DRhBORfYr4j_jpKLy&pid=News&w=80&h=80&c=14&rs=2&qlt=90
Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.
All times are “local” (Dallas) time.
Tiangong
Sept. 27
Sept. 29
Oct. 1
Envisat
Sept. 24
Sept. 27
Sept. 29
Sept. 30