TSTW 5/8/08
Thursday, May 8
Lacrosse 3 (active U.S. spy satellite launched in 1997) will move from SW to NE from about 9:38 to 9:48 p.m. It reaches its highest point in the sky (85° altitude, magnitude 2.6) around 9:43 p.m., near the Bowl of the Big Dipper, during astronomical twilight.
5 Astraea (10.3) passes 4' south of 37 Virginis (6.0) tonight. They are closest at 9:51 p.m.
Friday, May 9
Jupiter begins retrograde (westward) motion relative to the background stars in Sagittarius, 1:49 a.m.
The Iridium 21 satellite will flare to -6 magnitude around 11:01 p.m. at azimuth 264° (W) and altitude 12°, in Canis Minor near Procyon.
Saturday, May 10
May Antihelion meteors may be seen around this date (6 meteors per hour, or less).
Mars is near the Moon early this a.m. Moonset: 1:14 a.m. Marsset: 1:29 a.m.
Lacrosse 3 will move from SW to NE from about 8:55 to 9:04 p.m. It reaches its highest point in the sky (88° altitude, magnitude 2.6) around 9:00 p.m., between Leo and Ursa Major, during nautical twilight.
The Moon is near the Beehive Cluster (M44) this evening. Use binoculars.
Sunday, May 11
The asteroid 2008 HR3 passes 725,978 miles above the Mediterranean Sea at 11:15 a.m.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988), American physicist, was born 90 years ago.
First Quarter Moon, 10:47 p.m.; rises 11:50 a.m.; transits 7:09 p.m.; sets 2:14 a.m. Monday; = +14°
Lacrosse 2 (active U.S. spy satellite launched in 1991) will move from NNW to SSE from about 9:08 to 9:17 p.m. It reaches its highest point in the sky (88° altitude, magnitude 2.6) around 9:13 p.m., near the Bowl of the Big Dipper, during nautical twilight.
Monday, May 12
The Cassini Saturn orbiter passes 621 miles above the surface of Titan at 5:02 a.m.
Mercury reaches its highest altitude above the WNW horizon during evening twilight tonight. Best evening view of 2008!
The Moon, Saturn, and Regulus form a right triangle this evening.
The 11.0-magnitude asteroid 29 Amphitrite may pass in front of the 9.9-magnitude star Tycho 1871-02127-1 in Taurus for up to 5.0 seconds around 9:52 p.m. For more info, visit http://asteroidoccultation.com/asteroid.htm.
The Iridium 68 satellite will flare to -6 magnitude around 10:53 p.m. at azimuth 271° (W) and altitude 11°, in Canis Minor near Procyon.
Wednesday, May 14
The first U.S. space station, Skylab, was launched 35 years ago (1973).
The Moon crosses the celestial equator heading south.
The Progress 29P robotic cargo delivery ship is scheduled to be launched at 3:22 p.m. from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on a mission to the International Space Station.
Every once in a while a really great documentary comes along: In the Shadow of the Moon is one of them. This 2006 British film, which like most documentaries (unfortunately) had a very limited theater engagement, was released in the U.S. on DVD in February 2008, and is now available through Amazon and Netflix.
It is the remarkable story of the Apollo missions to the Moon, told eloquently by many of the astronauts who journeyed there: Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Alan Bean (Apollo 12), Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 & 13), Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14), David Scott (Apollo 9 & 15), John Young (Apollo 10 & 16), Charles Duke (Apollo 16), Eugene Cernan (Apollo 10 & 17), and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17). You certainly get the impression that not only are these guys personable and intelligent, but that they have aged well and still have much insight and wisdom to offer us about the past, present, and future.
The historical importance of this documentary cannot be overstated. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like hearing about the first (and still only) human missions to the Moon firsthand from the astronauts who journeyed there. And, sadly, these pioneering astronauts are not going to be with us much longer. Some have already left us. This is a story that needed to be told by those who can tell it best. Kudos to directors David Sington & Christopher Riley, and producers Duncan Copp, Christopher Riley, Sarah Kinsella, John Battsek, and Julie Goldman for making this a film of lasting cultural significance, a film that will be admired and appreciated a hundred-plus years from now.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a spacecraft that will launch in October or November this year and will enter a low polar orbit, just over 30 miles above the Moon's surface. LRO's high-resolution mapping cameras will return 70 - 100 terabytes of data, and will be able to identify the most promising sites for human and robotic exploration in the coming decades. These cameras will even be able to detect the larger pieces of hardware left behind by the Apollo and other lunar missions of the past 50 years.
You can participate in this mission! By visiting http://lro.jhuapl.edu/NameToMoon/index.php, you can send your name to lunar orbit aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and, eventually, to the lunar surface.
NASA and its corporate and international partners are busy developing new spacecraft and launch vehicles that will take humans to Earth orbit and, most significantly, back to the Moon. Collectively, this is called Project Constellation.
The last flights of the Space Shuttle program are scheduled for 2010, when Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour will all be making their final missions.
The two-stage Ares I rocket will primarily be used to launch astronauts into Earth orbit aboard the new Orion spacecraft. Its maiden flight is scheduled for April 2009. The larger Ares V, also a two-stager, will be used to lift heavy payloads, including the Altair lunar lander. The Ares V is not scheduled to fly until 2018.
Orion will carry four to six astronauts to Earth orbit, and eventually to the Moon. The first unmanned flight of Orion is scheduled for 2012, and the first manned flight in 2014.
Altair will carry a crew of four to the lunar surface. The first lunar landing is now scheduled for December 2018, just shy of 50 years after Apollo 11 made its historic landing on the Moon. Life is too short, and progress frustratingly slow...
