IO Group: https://groups.io/g/DARCskynet/topics
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/306498286059167/
Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Brenda Magee (WB5OZL) Memorial
Saturday, January 03, 2026
Memorial Service
2:00 pm
Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home
7405 West Northwest Highway
Dallas, TX 75225
Brenda WB5OZL
Cosplay
Frieda Contest
FOFM
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
6 Spaceflights Ahead in 2026
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/12/22/spacex-nasa-blue-origin-rocket-launches/87841665007/ – “USA Today” – Eric Lagatta
- NASA’s 1st human moon mission in more than 50 years
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/L8exumuVUaJatGHCPDRuQm-1920-80.jpg.webp
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch new version of Starship megarocket
- More astronauts headed to International Space Station
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/crew-12-compile.jpg
- Boeing Starliner to fly again – but with no crew this time https://cdn.britannica.com/38/239338-050-3C531622/Starline-crew-ship-approaches-International-Space-Station-May-2022.jpg
- NASA plans series of robotic moon landings
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2Emmyu4F6bxYQLpbn7crGP-1918-80.jpeg.webp
- What’s next for Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, Blue Origin after a big year in space?
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dRN4JBAQwvJgwDoquBEE83-879-80.jpg.webp
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Exploration News
SPHEREx Completes First All-Sky Infrared Map
Date: December 2025
Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS’s Closest Earth Approach
Date: December 19, 2025
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Pvmi4MNsFrESjVVcU94qGE-1920-80.jpg.webp
First Wheelchair User in Space
Date: December 20, 2025
Hubble Observes Cosmic Collisions
Date: December 18, 2025
Parker Solar Probe’s 26th Solar Flyby
Date: December 18, 2025
Space-Related Birthdays
| Astronaut | Birthday | Birth Year | Flights | Notes |
| Millie Hughes-Fulford | December 21 | 1945 | STS-40 | She was the first woman to fly as a NASA payload specialist. Her single mission, STS-40 Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS-1) aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in June 1991, was the first Spacelab mission dedicated to biomedical studies. |
| Bruce McCandless II | December 21 | 1937 | STS-41-B, STS-31 | He is most famous for performing the first untethered spacewalk in 1984 during Space Shuttle Challenger’s STS-41-B mission, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). He also flew on STS-31, which successfully deployed the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. |
| Yuri Malenchenko | December 22 | 1961 | Soyuz TM-19, STS-106, Soyuz TMA-2, Soyuz TMA-11, Soyuz TMA-05M, Soyuz TMA-19M | He is notable for being the first person to marry in space during Expedition 7 in 2003. He has accumulated over 827 days in orbit, placing him among the top cosmonauts for career time in space. |
| Karol J. Bobko | December 23 | 1937 | STS-6, STS-51-D, STS-51-J | He served as pilot for the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-6) and commanded two other Space Shuttle missions, STS-51-D and STS-51-J, which included deploying communications satellites and a classified Department of Defense mission. |
| Oleg Skripochka | December 24 | 1969 | Soyuz TMA-01M, Soyuz TMA-20M, Soyuz MS-15 | He has participated in three space flights, serving as a flight engineer and commander on various expeditions to the International Space Station. He conducted three spacewalks during his Expedition 25/26 mission. |
| Michael P. Anderson | December 25 | 1959 | STS-89, STS-107 | He flew on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-89 which was a docking mission to the Mir Space Station, and STS-107 where he served as payload commander for a dedicated science mission. He tragically perished in the Columbia disaster during re-entry. |
| Barbara Barrett | December 26 | 1950 | Certified for space flight (backup spaceflight participant for Soyuz TMA-16) | She trained as an astronaut in Russia and was certified for space flight, serving as the backup spaceflight participant for the Soyuz TMA-16 flight. She is also a pilot and served as the 25th United States Secretary of the Air Force. |
| Valeri Sharov | December 26 | 1953 | None | He was a Russian journalist selected as a cosmonaut in 1990 but never assigned to a space flight. He retired in 1992 after completing basic training. |
| Naoko Yamazaki | December 27 | 1970 | STS-131 | She was the second Japanese woman to fly in space, serving as a Mission Specialist on STS-131 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. During her mission, she operated the robotic arms of the space shuttle and the ISS and orchestrated cargo transfer activities. |
This Week in Space History
Apollo 8 Launch
Date: December 21, 1968
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/a5T74wPpVqYdLXkNqpW4CZ-1200-80.jpg.webp
SpaceX Falcon 9 First Stage Landing
Date: December 22, 2015
Apollo 8 Enters Lunar Orbit and Christmas Eve Broadcast
Date: December 24, 1968
https://www.ittc.ku.edu/~evans/aviation/apollo8/earthrise.jpg
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Launch
Date: December 25, 2021
Salyut 4 Space Station Launch
Date: December 26, 1974
https://www.russianspaceweb.com/images/spacecraft/manned/space_stations/salyut/launch_1.jpg
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Constellations “Fornax the Furnace” and “Eridanus the River”
Space Launches For This Week
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
NET January 3 Falcon 9 • Starlink 6-88
Launch time: 12 a.m. EST (0500 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into a low Earth orbit. About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, believed to be tail number B1101, launching for its first time, will land on the drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Dec. 19 & 20. Delayed from Dec. 21. Delayed from Dec. 28. Moved from Jan. 3 to unconfirmed date on Dec. 19.
Updated: December 22
NET January 12/13 Spectrum • Second test flight
Launch time: Window opens at 2 a.m. DST (3 p.m. EST / 2000 UTC on Jan. 12)
Launch site: Launch Complex 1, Andøya Spaceport, Norway
A Spectrum rocket from Isar Aerospace will launch on its second test flight. As of Dec. 22, a payload for this mission hasn’t been announced.
Updated: December 26
NET February 1 H3 • QZS-7
Launch time: 4:30 p.m. JST (2:30 a.m. EST / 0730 UTC)
Launch site: Yoshinobu Launch Complex, JAXA Tanegashima Space Center
An H3 launch vehicle, a rocket developed through a partnership between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), will launch the Michibiki No. 7, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZS-7). This will be the ninth launch of an H3 rocket.
Updated: December 01
NET February 6 Space Launch System • Artemis 2
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket will launch an Orion spacecraft on the Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed flight of the program. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will perform a lunar flyby during a roughly 10-day mission that will see their capsule, ‘Integrity’, splash down in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from Feb. 5.
Updated: December 22
NET February 15 Falcon 9 • Crew-12
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a four-person crew to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Crew-12 flight. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir will command the mission alongside pilot and fellow NASA astronaut, Jack Hathaway. They are joined by mission specialists Sophie Adenot, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Andrey Fedyaev, a Roscosmos cosmonaut. This will be the second flight for Meir and Fedyaev and the first flight for both Hathaway and Adenot. The quartet will conduct a long-duration mission onboard the ISS. Following stage separation, the first stage booster supporting this mission will return to a landing site adjacent to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Updated: December 19
We currently have the following people checked in via w5fc.org… You can check-in via the club website by clicking on the hotlink provided.
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
Tiangong
