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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Galaxies in dense environments tend to be larger, settling one cosmic question and raising others ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240814160704.htm
Typical Galaxy
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
Scientists Just Found Oceans of Liquid Water on Mars
From sciencealert.com by Michelle Starr
“A Lake on a Wet Mars”
https://www.sciencealert.com/images/2023/03/wet-mars.jpg
“Mars Mantle”
https://www.sciencealert.com/images/2024/08/water-mars.jpg
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Exploration News
NASA Citizen Scientists Spot Object Moving 1 Million Miles Per Hour
https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/subdwarf-1.jpg?w=2048&format=webp
Progress 89 Live Coverage
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/53376035451-a549d80ef0-k.jpg?resize=2000,1333
Here’s what Boeing Starliner astronauts are doing on the ISS as NASA works on their ride home
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zwyCX7hL2ExNYHboix3uvY-650-80.jpg.webp
Space-Related Birthdays
This Week in Space History
August 13, 1969 Apollo 11 parade
August 13, 1972 Explorer 46 launched
August 12, 1977 HEAO-1 Launch
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Aquila the Eagle
Space Launches For This Week
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule
NET August 26 Falcon 9 • Polaris Dawn
Launch time: 3:38 a.m. EDT (0738 UTC)
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 15
3rd Quarter Falcon 9 • BlueBird Block 1
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch five 700-square-foot Block 1 BlueBird satellites on behalf of its customer, AST SpaceMobile, Inc.
Updated: April 02
September 11, 2024 Soyuz • Soyuz MS-26
Launch time: 7:32 p.m. MSK (12:23:02 p.m. EDT, 1623:02 UTC)
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Site 31
A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket will launch a three-man crew to the International Space Station. Crew commander Alexey Ovchinin will be joined by fellow cosmonaut Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit. The Soyuz is set to dock withe the ISS at about 3:33 p.m. EDT (1933 UTC). The spacecraft will remain docked with the orbiting outpost until about April 1, 2025. This will be Pettit’s fourth flight to space.
Updated: August 12
Sept. TBD Vulcan • Certification Flight 2
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
The second flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket will carry ballast and a collection of small payloads. ULA changed this mission when it became clear the original payload, Sierra Space Dream Chaser cargo ship, would not ready for launch. This second test flight is needed to gain certification from the U.S. military to fly national security payloads.
Updated: July 15
NET September 24 Falcon 9 • Crew 9
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon spacecraft carrying a new crew of four to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman, Pilot Nick Hague, and Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov will embark aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft on a six-month expedition to the station. Delayed from Aug. 18 due to the extension of the Starliner Crew Flight Test mission.
Updated: August 06
TBD 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, January 2024, April 2024 and September 2024.
Updated: July 12
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 18
Aug 19
Aug 20
Aug 22