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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
Does the Sun have a mini-black hole wandering around inside it?
(from Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy Newsletter, February 27, 2024 – Issue #688)
Two Mini Black Holes – No Waiting
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ktmKCp5rdQoUhe7PeWRQ26-1920-80.jpg.webp
Mini Black Hole
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Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Exploration News
Perseverance rover spots Ingenuity helicopter’s snapped-off rotor blade on Mars
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/JsnnSJo2Jsp3xU3pCMWTAS-650-80.jpg.webp
Astronomers Accidentally Find A Galaxy That Hasn’t Birthed Any Stars
https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1jbc7f.img?w=600&h=433&m=6
Space-Related Birthdays
Susan Helms Feb 26, 1958 STS-54, STS-64, STS-78, STS-101, Expedition 2 (STS-102/STS-105)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Helms_sj4.jpg/220px-Helms_sj4.jpg
Jack Lousma 29-Feb-1936 Skylab 3, STS-3
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Lousma.jpg/220px-Lousma.jpg
Michael Lampton 01-Mar-1941 STS-9, STS-45
Deke Slayton 01-Mar-1924 Apollo-Soyuz test project
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Slayton.jpg/220px-Slayton.jpg
This Week in Space History
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Constellation “Gemini, the Twins”
Space Launches For This Week
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
March 2/3 Falcon 9 • Crew 8
Launch time: 11:16 p.m. EST (0416 UTC on the 3rd)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the program’s 13th flight with astronauts. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to land at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin will launch on a Crew Dragon spacecraft to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon will return to a splashdown at sea off the coast of Florida. Delayed from Feb. 22, 28 and Mar. 1.
Updated: March 01
NET March 9/10 Electron • ‘Owl Night Long’
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Pad B, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch a dedicated mission for Japan Earth-imaging satellite company, Synspective. The launch of the StriX-3 satellite is the fourth launch in a multi-launch agreement following ‘The Owls’ Night Begins’ in December 2020, ‘The Owl’s Night Continues’ in February 2022 and ‘The Owl Spreads its Wings’ in September 2022. This will be Rocket Lab’s third Electron launch of 2024 and its 45th to date.
Updated: February 20
NET March 20 Electron • NROL-123
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 2, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch its first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from Launch Complex 2 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The NROL-123 mission, also known as ‘Live and Let Fly,’ was booked as part of the NRO’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract. It will launch a classified payload to orbit.
Updated: February 21
March 21 Soyuz • Soyuz MS-25
Launch time: 4:21 p.m. MSK (9:21 a.m. EDT, 1321 UTC)
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A Russian government Soyuz rocket will the crewed Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft to the International Space Station. The mission will carry Russian commander Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian flight engineer Marina Vasilevskaya, and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson into orbit for a long-duration flight on the space station. The rocket will fly in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration. The Soyuz will dock at the Prichal module about three hours after liftoff. On its return trip, it will bring back Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.
Updated: February 05
TBD Atlas 5 • USSF 51
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-101, will launch the USSF 51 mission for the U.S. Space Force. This mission will launch an undisclosed payload for the military.
Updated: January 15
NET April 22 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 and July 21, 2023.
Updated: February 21
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
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.
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Ice shell thickness reveals water temperature on ocean worlds | ScienceDaily
Visible satellite passages over the next couple of days.
All times are “local” (Dallas) time.
ISS
Mar 5
Mar 7
Mar 8
Tiangong
Mar 9
Mar 10