IO Group: https://groups.io/g/DARCskynet/topics
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
Ryugu asteroid sample contains all five key components of DNA, scientists find
Robert Lea
Space.com
The Five Nucleobases of DNA and RNA Found on Asteroid Ryugu
Artist’s Depiction “Hayabusa 2”
The team’s research was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Exploration News
Artemis II SLS Rollout to Pad 39B
Date:March 19, 2026
SpaceX Surpasses 10,000 Active Starlink Satellites
Date:March 17, 2026
ESA Announces LEO Cargo Return Initiative
Date:March 18, 2026
Hera Spacecraft Completes Critical Maneuver for Asteroid Rendezvous
Date: March 17, 2026
Moderate Solar Flare Causes Regional Radio Blackouts
Date: March 16, 2026
Space-Related Birthdays
| Astronaut | Birthday | Birth Year | FCC Callsign | Flights | Notes |
| Frank Borman | March 14 | 1928 | None | 2 | Borman commanded the historic Apollo 8 mission, which was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Earth’s orbit and circle the Moon. He is also remembered for his leadership during the Gemini 7 long-duration mission, proving humans could survive two weeks in microgravity. |
| Michael Fincke | March 14 | 1967 | KE5AIT | 3 | Fincke is a veteran of three spaceflights and formerly held the American record for the most total time spent in space. He has served as the commander of the International Space Station and is an active participant in the amateur radio program from orbit. |
| Alan Bean | March 15 | 1932 | None | 2 | Bean was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 12, becoming the fourth human being to walk on the lunar surface. After his NASA career, he became a celebrated artist, famously incorporating actual moon dust and spacecraft fragments into his paintings of the lunar environment. |
| Walter Cunningham | March 16 | 1932 | WA4SIR | 1 | Cunningham served as the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 7, the first crewed mission of the Apollo program to fly in space. The mission was a critical 11-day test that verified the spacecraft’s systems and cleared the way for future lunar landing attempts. |
| James Irwin | March 17 | 1930 | None | 1 | Irwin was the Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 15 and the eighth person to walk on the Moon, where he helped pilot the first Lunar Roving Vehicle. He is also known for his spiritual journey following the mission, founding the High Flight Foundation to share his experiences. |
| Ken Mattingly | March 17 | 1936 | None | 3 | Mattingly famously missed the Apollo 13 flight due to measles exposure but played a key role in the ground-based rescue efforts before later flying on Apollo 16. He also commanded two Space Shuttle missions, STS-4 and STS-51-C, contributing significantly to orbital research. |
| James F. Reilly | March 18 | 1954 | N5YJ | 3 | Reilly is a geologist who flew on three shuttle missions and conducted five spacewalks to help build the International Space Station. After his NASA career, he served as the Director of the United States Geological Survey, applying his space-based insights to Earth sciences. |
| James Voss | March 19 | 1949 | KE5GKR | 5 | Voss is a veteran of five space shuttle missions and served as a flight engineer on the second expedition to the International Space Station. He co-holds the world record for the longest spacewalk, lasting nearly nine hours during the assembly of the ISS. |
| Oleg Artemyev | March 21 | 1970 | R0ISS | 3 | Artemyev is a Russian cosmonaut who has completed three long-duration missions to the ISS and is a highly experienced spacewalker. He is well-known for his active engagement with the amateur radio community and sharing orbital photography with the public. |
This Week in Space History
Discovery of Uranus (March 13, 1781)
First Liquid-Fueled Rocket Launch (March 16, 1926)
Gemini 8 First Orbital Docking (March 16, 1966)
First Spacewalk by Alexei Leonov (March 18, 1965)
Soyuz T-15 Dual-Station Mission (March 13, 1986)
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Space Launches For This Week
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
March 22 Falcon 9 • Starlink 10-62
Launch time: Window opens at 10:43 a.m. EDT (1443 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. The first stage booster, tail number 1078, launching for a 27th time, will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. Booster previously listed as B1067.
Updated: March 17
NET March 23 Spectrum • ‘Onward and Upward’
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 1, Andøya Spaceport, Norway
A Spectrum rocket from Isar Aerospace will launch on its second test flight. The two-stage rocket is carrying five CubeSats onboard: CyBEEsat from TU Berlin, TriSat-S from the University of Maribor, Platform 6 from EnduroSat, FramSat-1 from NTNU, and SpaceTeamSat1 from TU Wien Space Team. The sixth and final announced payload is an experiment called “Let it Go” from Dcubed. Exolaunch is responsible for managing payload integration and deployment. Delayed from Jan. 21 due to a pressurization valve issue.
Updated: March 18
NET March 24 Electron • ‘Daughter of the Stars’
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 1, Mahia, New Zealand
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch two satellites on a dedicated mission for the European Space Agency (ESA). This is the first flight for a new European satellite navigation system calls Celeste LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Position, Navigation, and Timing). This will ultimately be an 11-satellite constellation designed to understand how a low Earth orbit satellite fleet can mesh with other PNT assets in space, like Galileo, EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), and other GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) constellations to improve resilience and optimize services. These first two satellites, IOD-1 and IOD-2, will be deployed into a 510km circular orbit.
Updated: March 16
March 24 Falcon 9 • Starlink 17-17
Launch time: Window opens at 4:03 p.m. PDT (7:03 p.m. EDT / 2303 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of 25 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. More than eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, tail number B1100, launching for a fourth time, will land on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean.
Updated: March 16
March 26 Falcon 9 • Starlink 10-44
Launch time: Window opens at 7:22 a.m. EDT (1122 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. The first stage booster, tail number 1067, launching for a 34th time, will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.
Updated: March 17
NET March Falcon 9 • Transporter-16
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch dozens of satellites into a Sun-synchronous Earth orbit on this SmallSat rideshare mission. Numerous customers are flying onboard the rocket, including 57 customer payloads being manifested by German company, Exolaunch, and 19 payloads from Texas-based Seops Space.
Updated: March 09
NET March 29 Atlas 5 • Amazon Leo 5
Launch time: Window opens at 3:53 a.m. EDT (0753 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch a batch of broadband internet satellites for Amazon Leo’s low Earth orbit constellation. This is the sixth out of nine Atlas 5 rockets purchased by Amazon to fly its satellites.
Updated: March 18
NET March New Glenn • BlueBird 7
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket will launch AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7satellite into low Earth orbit. This is the second satellite in AST SpaceMobile’s next-generation satellite constellation and is designed to support space-based cellular broadband for commercial and government customers. This will be the third launch of a New Glenn rocket to date. As of Jan. 22, Blue Origin hasn’t stated if it intends to attempt a booster recovery on this mission.
Updated: February 26
NET April 1 Space Launch System • Artemis 2
Launch time: 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 UTC)
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 & 6. Delayed from Feb. 8. Delayed from March 6 due to helium issue with the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage.
Updated: March 03
TBD Atlas 5 • Boeing Starliner-1
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. Originally planned as the first post-certification flight with a four-person crew, this will instead be an uncrewed cargo flight to test changes to the vehicle made in the aftermath of the Crewed Flight Test that launched in 2024.
Updated: March 08
NET Q4 2026 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. Delayed from 2025.
Updated: December 22
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.
