IO Group: https://groups.io/g/DARCskynet/topics
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/306498286059167/
Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
The rotation of a nearby star stuns astronomers
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/07/240731141033.htm
Artist’s Concept
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
“Nearby Star Systems That Could be Good Targets in the Search for Alien Life”
By Robert Lea space.com & Keith Cowing Astrobiology.com
“We have identified stars where the habitable zone’s X-ray radiation environment is similar to or even milder than the one in which Earth evolved.”
3D Map of Stars Near the Sun
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mFxkA42kxqv7L9WU6xr6aT-1200-80.jpg
Venus and Habitable Zone Chart
http://hzgallery.org/venus/venus_zone_sm.jpg
Video: Animation Showing Exoplanet “Transiting” Face of Star
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2LB3U8Yaueh6GzHFiiAW8N-1200-80.gif
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- August 4, 1943: Michael McCulley (STS-34)
- August 4, 1955: Charles Gemar (STS-38, STS-48, STS-62)
- August 4, 1955: Andrew Allen (STS-46, STS-62, STS-75)
- August 5, 1930: Neil Armstrong (Gemini 8, Apollo 11)
- August 6, 1950: Winston Scott (STS-72, STS-87)
- August 6, 1962: Gregory Chamitoff (KD5PKZ; STS-124/126 (Expedition 17/18), STS-134)
- August 7, 1956: Kent Rominger (STS-73, STS-80, STS-85, STS-96, STS-100)
- August 7, 1962: Jose Hernandez (STS-128
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
“Scutum the Shield” and “Corona Austrina the Southern Crown”
Space Launches For This Week
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
August 10 Falcon 9 • Starlink 10-7
Launch time: Four-hour window opens at 7:21 a.m. EDT (1121 UTC)
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster will land on a SpaceX droneship.
Updated: August 05
August 11 Electron • Acadia 3
Launch time: 11:15 p.m. NZT on the 21st – 1115 UTC / 7:15am EDT
Launch site: Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch the Acadia 3 satellite for Capella Space, a commercial provider of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery data. The satellite will be deployed into a 615km circular orbit. The mission has been named “A Sky Full Of SARs” by Rocket Lab. Delayed from July at request of Capella Space.
Updated: August 08
NET August 11/12 Falcon 9 • ASBM
Launch time: 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT, 0200 UTC)
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: August 05
NET August 15 Falcon 9 • Transporter-11
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch dozens of satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit on the company’s 11th such rideshare mission. Among the payloads are the European Space Agency’s Arctic Weather Satellite, UK-based Surrey Satellites’ Tyche satellite for the UK Space Command, Japan-based iQPS’ QPS-SAR No. 8 satellite and U.S.-based Planet Labs’ Tanager-1 satellite. Delayed from July 10.
Updated: July 29
NET August Falcon 9 • WorldView Legion 3 & 4
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the second 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.
Updated: July 10
NET August 26 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, April 2024 and early summer 2024.
Updated: August 07
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.
ISS
Aug 15
Aug 17
Aug 18
Tiangong
Aug 11