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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
The origin of most meteorites finally revealed | ScienceDaily
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
Next Generation of Telescopes
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2017/europeanextr.jpg
Chile Extremely Large Telescope
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/The_E-ELT.jpg
Vera C. Rubin Telescope
Hubble and Webb Telescopes
Chandra X-Ray Telescope
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Chandra_artist_illustration.jpg
Hitomi X-Ray Satellite
https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/missions/files/hitomi_main.jpg
Wavelength Spectrum Comparison
https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/Images/science/observatories_across_spectrum_full.jpg
Euclid Launch and Mission on Falcon 9
6U Cubesat Telescopes
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqgy2qAW_N9lG06i-v76Q6jDe9HTrM89yo6A&s
Gravitational Lensing
https://i.sstatic.net/icb0w.jpg
Final
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2017/europeanextr.jpg
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Astronaut Birthdays
- October 13, 1952: Michael Clifford (STS-53, STS-59, STS-76)
- October 13, 1962: Michael Good STS-125, STS-132)
- October 14, 1978: Kathleen Rubins (Soyuz MS-01/Exp 48-49; Soyuz MS-17/Exp 63-64; first to sequence DNA in space; Artemis Team)
- October 16, 1956: James Newman (STS-51, STS-69, STS-88, STS-109)
- October 17, 1926: Karl Gordon Henize (STS-51-F)
- October 17, 1933: Bill Anders (Apollo 8)
- October 17, 1956: Mae Jemison (STS-47; first African American woman in space)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Constellation “Aquarius, the Water Bearer”
Space Launches For This Week
Tom KE5ICX
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
NET October 19/20 Falcon 9 • OneWeb 20
Launch time: Window opens at 10:04 p.m. PDT (1:04 a.m. EDT, 0509 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the final batch of OneWeb’s Gen 1 satellites to low Earth orbit. Nearly eight minutes after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1082, will return for a touchdown at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4). Launch delayed due to Falcon 9 second stage problem on Crew 9.
Updated: October 17
October 21 Falcon 9 • Starlink 6-61
Launch time: Window opens at 6:40 p.m. EDT (2240 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster will touch down on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Updated: October 17
TBD Electron • ‘Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes’
Launch time: 11:30 p.m. NZDT (6:30 a.m. EDT, 1030 UTC)
Launch site: Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch a satellite for “a confidential commercial customer.” The mission is described as “Rocket Lab’s fastest turnaround to date: from signed contract to launch date in less than two months.” The payload, the orbit and the timing of deployment were not disclosed at the time the launch was announced. Delayed by Rocket Lab from Oct. 19 “to perform final checkouts.”
Updated: October 18
NET November New Glenn • NG-1
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 36
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket will launch the company’s Blue Ring spacecraft, which is capable of both hosting and deploying multiple payloads. Blue Origin will attempt to land the first stage booster on its sea-based landing platform, ‘Jacklyn.’
Updated: September 11
NET Spring 2025 New Glenn • EscaPADE
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket will launch a pair of identical spacecraft on NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission. The two satellites, named Blue and Gold, will make a roughly 11-month journey to Mars where they will then perform about an 11-month science mission while orbiting the Red Planet. Blue and Gold were manufactured by Rocket Lab over about 3.5 years and carry science experiments from the University of California, Berkeley. This launch of the New Glenn rocket will also feature a landing attempt on its landing barge in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from October 13.
Updated: September 11
TBD 2025 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.
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
ISS and Tiangong have low or partial passes this week.