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Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Recent Astronomical Discoveries
Organic molecules of unprecedented size discovered on Mars
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/03/250324152436.htm
Molecule Life Cycle
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/14-330a.jpg
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
“Why is Easter on April 20th?”
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Exploration News
Mar 23 – Mar29
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Team Wins 2024 Collier Trophy
Airbus wins contract for ExoMars lander platform
Space-Related Birthdays
Scott J. Horowitz Mar 24, 1957 STS-75, STS-82, STS-101, STS-105
Lodewijk van den Berg Mar 24, 1932 STS-51-B
Kenneth S. Reightler Jr. Mar 24, 1951 STS-48, STS-60
Jim Lovell Mar 25, 1928 (He’s 96.) Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, Apollo 13
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/James_Lovell.jpg/220px-James_Lovell.jpg
William Oefelein Mar 29, 1965 STS-116
Michael Foreman Mar 29, 1957 STS-123, STS-129
This Week in Space History
March 23, 1965 Gus Grissom and John Young launched aboard Gemini III in the first US spaceflight crewed by more than one astronaut
March 24, 1979 Columbia Unveiled
March 27, 1968, Yuri Gagarin Dies
March 29, 1974, Mariner 10 First Flyby of Mercury
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
March 30 Falcon 9 • Starlink 6-80
Launch time: Window opens at 2:16 p.m. EDT (1916 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 into low Earth orbit. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster will target a landing on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean
Updated: March 27
March 30/31 Falcon 9 • Starlink 11-13
Launch time: Window opens at 5:23 p.m. PDT (8:23 p.m. EDT, 0023 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster will land on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean
Updated: March 27
NET March Alpha • ‘Message in a Booster’
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-2, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket will launch Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 satellite bus to low Earth orbit. The sixth launch of an Alpha rocket, designated FLTA006, marks the second flight within a multi-launch agreement between Firefly Aerospace and Lockheed Martin, which may include up to 25 missions within a five-year timeframe. Delayed from March 15/16 due to range availability.
Updated: March 26
NET March 31/April 1 Falcon 9 • Fram2
Launch time: 9:47 p.m. EDT (0147 UTC)
Launch site: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch four commercial astronauts into a 90-degree inclination polar orbit to begin a three-day, free-flyer mission onboard Crew Dragon Resilience. The mission is led by Chun Wang, a cryptocurrency investor and co-founder of Bitcoin mining company, f2pool. He is joined by Norway’s Jannicke Mikkelsen, vehicle commander; Australia’s Eric Philips, vehicle pilot; and Germany’s Rabea Rogge, mission specialist. This will be the fourth launch for Dragon Resilience, which will feature the return of the cupola addition to the nosecone. It replaces the Skywalker apparatus used during the Polaris Dawn mission.
Updated: March 25
NET April 8 Soyuz 2.1a • Soyuz MS-27 / 73S
Launch time: 8:47 a.m. MSK (1:47 a.m. EDT, 0547 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 Sergey Ryzhikov will be joined by fellow cosmonaut Alexey Zubritsky and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. The Soyuz is set to dock with the ISS at about 5:04 a.m. EDT (0904 UTC). The spacecraft will remain docked with the orbiting outpost until about Dec. 8, 2025. This will be the third spaceflight for Ryzhikov and the first for both Zubritsky and Kim.
Updated: February 05
NET April 21 Falcon 9 • CRS-32
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the company’s 32nd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-32) mission to the International Space Station. The flight will carry thousands of pounds of science investigations, technology demonstration and other consumables to the orbiting outpost to support the crew onboard. The Cargo Dragon spacecraft will remain docked to the ISS for about a month before undocking and returning to Earth for a splashdown off the coast of California. The Falcon 9 first stage booster used to launch this mission will target a landing back at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Updated: March 24
NET April 29 Vega-C • Biomass
Launch time: 6:15 a.m. GFT (5:15 a.m. EDT, 0915 UTC)
Launch site: Europe’s Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana
An Arianespace Vega-C rocket will launch the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer Biomass satellite into a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 666 km (413.8 mi). Biomass features a P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and is designed “to collect information on the height and structure of different forest types and measure the amount of carbon stored in the world’s forests and how it changes over time. In addition, the Biomass mission will map subsurface geology in deserts, the ice structure of ice sheets and the topography of forest floors.” This mission, also referred to as VV26, will be the fourth launch of a Vega-C rocket.
Updated: March 25
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: March 08
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.
Updated: October 17
NET November 2025 Falcon 9 • Sentinel-6B
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the second of the two-satellite Sentinel-6 series. NASA awarded SpaceX a $94 million firm fixed price contract for the launch in 2022. The Sentinel-6B “will use a radar altimeter to bounce signals off the ocean surface and deliver continuity of ocean topography measurements,” according to NASA. The mission is designed through a partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the European Organization for the Exploration of Meteorological Studies.
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
Mar 29
Mar 30
Mar 31
Apr 1
Apr 3
Tiangong
Mar 30
Mar 31
Apr 1
Apr 2
Apr 3