IO Group: https://groups.io/g/DARCskynet/topics
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/306498286059167/
Saturday’s DARC SkyNet is at 9PM CT.
Discussion Topic of the Evening.
“Battle for the Night Sky”
Chart of Total Satellites in Orbit
Concentric Shells of Satellites
Starlink vs. Normal Satellites
Catastrophic Collisions by Altitude
Waz Up
Space Exploration and Space History
Space Exploration News
Roman Space Telescope Executes Crucial Mid-Course Trajectory Burn (August 31, 2026)
ISS Expedition 75 Crew Completes Exterior Maintenance Spacewalk (September 1, 2026)
CST-100 Starliner Prepared for Autonomous Undocking and Deorbit (September 2–4, 2026)
Space-Related Birthdays
| Astronaut | Birthday | Birth Year | FCC Callsign | Flights | Notes |
| Jack Swigert | August 30 | 1931 | None | Apollo 13 | Flew as the Command Module Pilot on Apollo 13 in April 1970 after replacing Ken Mattingly 72 hours prior to launch. When an oxygen tank exploded en route to the Moon, Swigert famously relayed, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” |
| Megan McArthur | August 30 | 1971 | KE5FYE | STS-125, SpaceX Crew-2 (Expedition 65/66) | Oceanographer and veteran NASA astronaut who has logged over 212 days in space. She later piloted the SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon spacecraft Endeavour to the ISS, spending 198 days conducting extensive microgravity science. |
| Leonid Popov | August 31 | 1945 | None | Soyuz 35/37 (Salyut 6), Soyuz 40, Soyuz T-7 | Soviet cosmonaut who logged over 200 days in space across three missions. He commanded the Salyut 6 EO-4 long-duration expedition in 1980, remaining in orbit for a then-record 185 days. |
| Pavel Vinogradov | August 31 | 1953 | RV3BS | Soyuz TM-26 (Mir EO-24), Soyuz TMA-8 (Expedition 13), Soyuz TMA-08M (Expedition 35/36) | Veteran Russian cosmonaut who logged 580 days in orbit and completed 7 spacewalks totaling over 38 hours. He is an avid amateur radio operator (RV3BS) active on ARISS/RS0ISS contacts. |
| Christopher Ferguson | September 1 | 1961 | None | STS-115, STS-126, STS-135 | Retired U.S. Navy Captain and NASA astronaut who logged over 40 days in space across three Space Shuttle missions. He piloted STS-115,. He commanded STS-126, bringing the Leonardo logistics module to expand station living capacity, and commanded STS-135 aboard Atlantis in July 2011, the historic final flight of the Space Shuttle Program. |
| Ye Guangfu | September 1 | 1980 | None | Shenzhou 13, Shenzhou 18 | People’s Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonaut who logged over 374 days in space, setting the record as the first Chinese astronaut to accumulate over a full year in orbit. |
| Claude Nicollier | September 2 | 1944 | HB9CN | STS-46, STS-61, STS-75, STS-103 | The first Swiss astronaut and one of ESA’s founding astronaut corps members, logging over 42 days in space across four Space Shuttle missions. |
| Christa McAuliffe | September 2 | 1948 | None | STS-51-L | Dedicated high school social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, selected from more than 11,000 applicants as the first participant in NASA’s Teacher in Space Project. She and her six crewmates tragically perished on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff. |
| Gerhard Thiele | September 2 | 1953 | DG1KIL | STS-99 | German physicist and European Space Agency astronaut who flew on STS-99 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in February 2000, logging over 11 days in space. |
| Sherwood C. “Woody” Spring | September 3 | 1944 | None | STS-61-B | Retired U.S. Army Colonel and NASA astronaut who logged 165 hours in space aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-61-B in 1985. |
| Andriyan Nikolayev | September 5 | 1929 | None | Vostok 3, Soyuz 9 | Soviet cosmonaut and the third Russian in space, logging over 21 days in orbit across two pioneering missions. On Vostok 3 in August 1962, he flew the first simultaneous dual spaceflight alongside Pavel Popovich on Vostok 4, communicating between spacecraft and broadcasting the first live TV transmissions from orbit. |
| Yulia Peresild | September 5 | 1984 | None | Soyuz MS-19 | Prominent Russian stage and screen actress who became the first professional actor to film a feature film in space. She launched aboard Soyuz MS-19 in October 2021 alongside cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and film director Klim Shipenko. She spent nearly 12 days aboard the International Space Station filming key dramatic scenes for the movie The Challenge (Vyzov). |
This Week in Space History
Maiden Flight of Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-41-D) – August 30, 1984
Maiden Flight of the NASA Super Guppy Aircraft – August 31, 1965
Pioneer 11 Becomes First Spacecraft to Encounter Saturn – September 1, 1979
U.S. and Russia Sign Historic Space Station and Shuttle-Mir Agreement – September 2, 1993
Viking 2 Lands on the Martian Surface – September 3, 1976
Mariner 2 Executes First Interplanetary Trajectory Maneuver – September 4, 1962
Launch of the Iconic Voyager 1 Interstellar Spacecraft – September 5, 1977
Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week
Chaz KF5JHA
Constellations “Scutum the Shield and Corona Austrina the Southern Crown”
8. Space Launches For This Week
Space Flight Now Launch Schedule
September 6 Falcon 9 • Starlink 15-24
Launch time: Window opens at 3:59 a.m. PDT (6:59 a.m. EDT / 1059 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit. The first-stage booster, tail number B1088, launching for a 19th time, is scheduled to land on the droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from Sept. 4 & 5.
Updated: September 01
September 9 Soyuz 2.1b • Progress MS-35 / 96P
Launch time: 9:15 p.m. Baikonur time (12:15 p.m. EDT / 1615 UTC)
Launch site: Site 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, will launch Soyuz 2.1a rocket with the Progress MS-35 spacecraft on a journey to the International Space Station. Referred to as Progress 96 by NASA, the cargo vehicle will bring supplies and science components to the orbiting outpost. The spacecraft will take about two days to reach the ISS.
Updated: September 03
September 10 Falcon 9 • USSF-153
Launch time: Window opens at 8:37 a.m. PDT (11:37 a.m. EDT / 1537 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a classified mission for the United States Space Force. Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, tail number B1081, launching for a 27th time, will target a landing on the droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, positioned in the Pacific Ocean.
Updated: September 03
Mid-September Falcon 9 • O3b mPOWER F
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the final three O3b mPOWER satellites on behalf of its longest-standing commercial customer, SES. The trio of spacecraft will join the other 10 satellites previously launched into medium Earth orbit (MEO).
Updated: September 04
September 14/15 Vega-C • Sentinel-3C and FLEX Earth Explorer
Launch time: 10:21 p.m. Kourou time (9:21 p.m. EDT / 0121 UTC)
Launch site: Europe’s Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana
An Avio Vega-C will launch the Sentinel-3C satellite, from the European Commission’s Copernicus program, and the FLEX (FLuorescence EXplorer) satellite, from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer program, to a Sun-synchronous Earth orbit at an altitude of 820 km with an inclination of 98.6 degrees. Both satellites were built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space along with other European companies. The mission, also designated VV30, is the second Vega-C flight managed by Avio and the eighth flight of a Vega-C rocket to date.
Updated: July 30
NET September 15 Starship • Flight 14
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Pad 2, Starbase, Texas
SpaceX’s SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) will from Starbase, Texas, on a what is believed to be the first orbital test flight since the integrated rocket began launching in April 2023. SpaceX will launch the mission using the Ship 41 upper stage and Booster 21 as the first stage. SpaceX may deploy some number of Starlink Version 3 satellites from S41.
Updated: September 03
TBD Falcon 9 • NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Crew Dragon spacecraft, tail number C-213 and named Grace, on its second flight to the International Space Station. The first stage booster, tail number B1101, launching for a third time, will return to Landing Zone 40, adjacent to the launch pad. The Crew-13 mission is led by NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, who is making her second trip to space and will become the first, active NASA astronaut to fly twice onboard a Dragon spacecraft. She’s joined by three, first-time fliers: NASA astronaut and pilot Luke Delaney; Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut and mission specialist Joshua Kutryk; and Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist Sergey Teteryatnikov. The four will spend about six months on the ISS as part of Expedition 75/76. Delayed from Sept. 12 due to an oxidizer leak in the Dragon propulsion system.
Updated: September 03
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.
