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.
It’s here! Eclipse 2024.
Dark Observatory
https://www.aavso.org/dark-ridge-observatory-dro
Tom Smith (K5TCS)
Bill N5BB’s presentation
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- March 31, 2957: Patrick Forrester (STS-105, STS-117, STS-128)
- April 1, 1946: William Fisher (STS-51-I)
- April 3, 1926: Gus Grissom (Mercury-Redstone 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 1)
- April 5, 1949: Judith Resnik (STS-41-D, STS-51-L)
- April 5, 1950: Franklin Chang Diaz (STS-61-C, STS-34, STS-46, STS-60, STS-75, STS-91, STS-111)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Constellations “Pyxis, the Compass, and Antlia, the Pump”
Space Launches For This Week
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
April 7 Falcon 9 • Bandwagon-1
Launch time: 7:16 p.m. EDT (2316 UTC)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
The first of SpaceX’s Bandwagon ride-share missions, targeting a low Earth orbit with an inclination of approximately 45.4 degrees. There are 11 spacecraft onboard the Falcon 9. The booster will return for a touchdown at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station about 7.5 minutes after liftoff.
Updated: April 05
April 9 Delta 4-Heavy • NROL-70
Launch time: 12:53 p.m. EDT (1653 UTC)
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. Delayed from March 28.
Updated: April 02
April 10 Falcon 9 • Starlink 6-48
Launch time: Approx. 12:00 – 4:31 a.m. EDT (0400-0831 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean about 8.5 minutes after liftoff.
Updated: April 04
NET April 24 Electron • ‘Beginning Of The Swarm’
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Pad B, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch a pair of satellites on behalf of both NASA and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). KAIST’s NEONSAT-1 is the primary payload and is described as “an Earth observation satellite with a high-resolution optical camera designed to monitor for natural disasters along the Korean Peninsula by pairing its images with artificial intelligence.” Additional NEOSAT satellites will be launched n 2026 and 2027. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) is the secondary payload. It’s a technology demonstration that is geared to show off materials that can be used for solar sail propulsion. NASA “plans to test the deployment of new composite booms that will unfurl the solar sail to measure approximately 30 feet per side, or about the size of a small apartment in total. Flight data obtained during the demonstration will be used for designing future larger-scale composite solar sail systems for space weather early warning satellites, asteroid and other small body reconnaissance missions, and missions to observe the polar regions of the sun.”
Updated: April 01
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 May 1 Atlas 5 • CST-100 Starliner Crew Flight Test
Launch time: 12:55 a.m. ET (0455 UTC)
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 28
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
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
CHEOPS detects a ‘rainbow’ on an exoplanet
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240405130420.htm
CHEOPS Exoplanet
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.
NO ISS Passes
Tiangong
April 9
April 10
April 11
April 12
Hubble Space Telescope
April 11
April 12
April 13
April 14