March 2024

SKYNET!!!! 9PM CT – 10:30PM CT

Saturday’s Topic: “The NASA NISAR Mission” & “Leo, the lion and Leo minor, the small lion”

Net Control: Billye KF5PDS

Afterglow Movie 10:30PM: “Point B” (2012)

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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.

Discussion Topic of the Evening.

The NASA NISAR Mission

NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Satellite

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NISAR_(satellite)#/media/File%3AArtist’s_concept_of_NISAR_over_Earth.jpg

NISAR Undergoing Tests

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NISAR_(satellite)#/media/File%3ANASA-ISRO_NISAR_satellite_inside_anechoic_chamber_at_URSC%2C_ISRO.webp

NISAR Solar Array

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NISAR_(satellite)#/media/File%3ANASA-ISRO_NISAR_satellite_going_through_solar_array_extension_testing_at_ISRO_facility.webp

NISAR DGA Antennas

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NISAR_(satellite)#/media/File%3ANASA-ISRO_NISAR_satellite’s_DGA_antenna.webp

NISAR Diagram

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NISAR_(satellite)#/media/File%3ANISAR_diagram.jpg

Waz Up

Space Exploration and Space History

Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week

Constellations “Leo, the Lion and Leo minor, the Small Lion”

Space Launches For This Week

Space Flight Now Launch Schedule

Launch Schedule

March 25 Falcon 9 • Starlink 6-46

Launch time: Window opens 5 p.m. EDT (2100 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 will land on the droneship ‘A Short Fall of Gravitas’ in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: March 22

March 28 Delta 4-Heavy • NROL-70

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-37B, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket will launch a classified spy satellite cargo for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The largest of the Delta 4 family, the Heavy version features three Common Booster Cores mounted together to form a triple-body rocket. This is the final flight of a Delta 4 rocket.

Updated: March 12

April 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 2023.

Updated: March 19

NET April Vulcan Centaur • Dream Chaser 1

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch on its second demonstration flight with Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser cargo vehicle for the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser is a lifting body resupply spacecraft that will launch on top of a rocket and land on a runway. This will be the Dream Chaser’s first flight to space. The Vulcan Centaur rocket will fly in the VC4L configuration with four GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters, a long-length payload fairing, and two RL10 engines on the Centaur upper stage. Delayed from August 2022, December 2023 and January 2024.

Updated: December 13

NET April 30 Falcon Heavy • GOES U

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy will launch the fourth and final satellite of the next-generation series of geostationary weather satellites for NASA and NOAA. GOES-U will orbit 22,300 miles above the equator to monitor weather conditions across the United States. The satellite will be renamed GOES-19 once it reaches its operational orbit.

Updated: February 08

NET May 1 Atlas 5 • CST-100 Starliner Crew Flight Test

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-085, will launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on its first mission with astronauts, known as the Crew Test Flight, to the International Space Station. The capsule will dock with the space station, then return to Earth to landing in the Western United States. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will fly on the mission. The rocket will fly in a vehicle configuration with two solid rocket boosters and a dual-engine Centaur upper stage. Delayed from August and 1st Quarter of 2020. Delayed from mid-2020 after Boeing decision to refly the Orbital Flight Test. Delayed from early 2021, June 2021, and late 2021. Delayed from late 2022 to implement fixes on the Starliner spacecraft after OFT-2. Delayed from April 2023, July 2023 and April 2024.

Updated: March 22

June Falcon 9 • Türksat 6A

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Türksat 6A communications satellite for the Turkish operator Türksat. Türksat 6A is the first geostationary communications satellite to be built in Turkey, with development led by TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute and Turkish Aerospace Industries. Delayed from 2nd Quarter 2023 and March 2024.

Updated: December 13

June 24 Long March 2C • SVOM

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China

A Chinese Long March 2C rocket will launch the Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) spacecraft. The satellite is a dual Franco-Chinese mission, which is “dedicated to the study of the most distant explosions of stars, the gamma-ray bursts.” There are four main instruments on board, two of which are French and two which are Chinese. The spacecraft will be launched to a 625-km Earth orbit and will operate for at least three years with an option to extend for another two years beyond that. Delayed from late 2023.

Updated: January 28

Summer 2024 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: December 13

NET Summer Falcon 9 • Polaris Dawn

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The Polaris Dawn mission will be commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, making his second trip to space. He will be joined on the all-private mission by pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. The Crew Dragon will return to a splashdown at sea. Delayed from November and December 2022, March 2023 and April 2024.