Exploring Mercury: Insights from the BepiColombo Mission

Astronaut	Birthday	Birth Year	FCC Callsign	Flights	Notes
Carl E. Walz	September 6	1955	KC5TIE	STS-51, STS-65, STS-79, STS-108/ISS Expedition 4/STS-111	Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and NASA astronaut who logged over 230 days in space. He flew on three Space Shuttle missions and later lived on the ISS for 196 days, performing three spacewalks.
S. David Griggs	September 7	1939	None	STS-51-D	U.S. Naval aviator and NASA astronaut who flew as a mission specialist on STS-51-D in 1985. He conducted the first unscheduled spacewalk in NASA history and died in a vintage aircraft crash in 1989.
Ed Dwight	September 9	1933	None	Blue Origin NS-25	Aviation trailblazer and former U.S. Air Force test pilot selected as the first African American astronaut candidate. In 2024, at age 90, he flew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-25, becoming the oldest human to reach space at the time.
Lee Morin	September 9	1952	KF5DDB	STS-110	Retired U.S. Navy Captain, physician, and NASA astronaut who flew on STS-110 in 2002. He conducted two spacewalks to install the ISS S0 Truss and is an active amateur radio operator.
Anatoly Artsebarsky	September 9	1956	U7MIR	Soyuz TM-12 (Mir EO-9)	Soviet cosmonaut who spent 144 days in space as commander of Mir EO-9 in 1991. He performed six spacewalks, including building the Sofora truss, and operated amateur radio as U7MIR.
Charles Simonyi	September 10	1948	KE7KDP / HA5SIK	Soyuz TMA-10/TMA-9 (Expedition 14/15), Soyuz TMA-14/TMA-13 (Expedition 18/19)	Hungarian-American software pioneer who flew twice to the ISS as a self-funded participant. He spent 29 days in space and engaged in extensive ham radio outreach.
Gherman Titov	September 11	1935	None	Vostok 2	Soviet cosmonaut who became the second human to orbit Earth on Vostok 2 in 1961. He made 17 orbits, became the first to sleep in space, and remains the youngest person to orbit Earth.
Robert Crippen	September 11	1937	None	STS-1, STS-7, STS-41-C, STS-41-G	Retired U.S. Navy Captain and astronaut who logged 565 hours in space across four Shuttle missions. He was pilot of STS-1 and later commanded three missions, including the first satellite repair.
Roger K. Crouch	September 12	1940	None	STS-83, STS-94	American physicist and NASA payload specialist with 471 hours in space on Columbia in 1997. He conducted microgravity experiments and participated in SAREX educational activities.
Anousheh Ansari	September 12	1966	None	Soyuz TMA-9/TMA-8 (Expedition 13/14)	Iranian-American engineer and space explorer who visited the ISS in 2006. She spent eight days conducting experiments and engaging in ham radio outreach.

This Week in Space History

Launch of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) (September 6, 2013)

Launch of STS-69 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour (NASA’s 100th Crewed Spaceflight) (September 7, 1995)

Launch of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission (September 8, 2016)

Maiden Launch of Conestoga 1 — The Dawn of Commercial Spaceflight (September 9, 1982)

ICE Spacecraft Achieves Humanity’s First Cometary Flyby at Comet Giacobini-Zinner (September 11, 1985)

Gemini 11 Sets Altitude Record and Demonstrates Artificial Gravity (September 12, 1966)

Miss Carolyn’s Constellation of the Week

Constellations “Scutum the Shield” and “Corona Austrina the Southern Crown”

Space Launches For This Week

Space Flight Now Launch Schedule

Launch Schedule

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 Soyuz 2.1b • Progress MS-35 / 96P

Launch time: TBD

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. Delayed from Sept. 9 due to an issue with the Soyuz 2.1b third stage.

Updated: September 10

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

NET Q4 2026 Alpha • FLTA008

Launch time: TBD

Launch site: SLC-2, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

A Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket will launch on mission for a yet unannounced customer. This will be the debut of the Block 2 iteration of the rocket, which features larger liquid oxygen tanks on both the first and second stages, increasing the overall length of the rocket by two meters. Delayed from Summer 2026.

Updated: August 11

NET October 19/20 H3 • Martian Moons eXploration (MMX)

Launch time: 4:41:03 JST on Oct. 20 (3:41:03 p.m. EDT / 1941:03 UTC on Oct. 19)

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 Martian Moons eXplorer (MMX) mission to survey the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos. This is set to be the first sample return mission from the Martian sphere of influence with the samples from Phobos expected to return to Earth in fiscal year 2031. The mission is supported by NASA, CNES, DLR, and ESA.

Updated: August 26

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.

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.

The Second Oldest HAM Radio Club In Texas