Finishing up on our 5th week of quarantine, but
things are still moving along in rocket launches. NASA announced today that the
SpaceX Commercial Crew launch is now scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on May
27th. This is good because 3 astronauts just returned Friday morning
from the ISS and the US is down to just Chris Cassidy to man the station. I’m
sure he would appreciate 2 more people to help change filters and perform
science experiments. The SpaceX astronauts might spend 2-3 months aboard the
ISS. I’m looking forward to watching them head out to the launch pad in their
gull-winged white Teslas.
As far as our third attempt to guess the date for the return
of astronauts launched from American soil, Hank, who is new to the group, has
the inside track with his guess of May 29 for the docking to ISS. Good luck,
Hank. I’ve updated our spreadsheet of guesses on our website, MASScosmos.org.
On April 11, we celebrated the 50th anniversary
of Apollo 13 launch which was labeled as our “most successful” failure. I
always felt sorry for our local astronaut, Jim Lovell, who got to circle the
moon on two Apollo missions, 8 and 13, but never got to land. We can draw
inspiration from Apollo 13, with their “can do” spirit and the quote “failure
is not an option”.
Last night, Friday, my wife Carol saw at 8PM, a train of 15,
I think, SpaceX Starlink satellites go across the sky. I checked my phone app
and 26 Starlink’s will pass close to the bright orange star, Arcturus, tonight
from 9:00 PM until 9:40. If skies permit, check it out. Arcturus can be found
by following the curve of the Big Dipper’s handle which is usually visible in
our light-polluted skies. Last night the satellites where separated by about 10
degrees which can be measured by holding your fist up at an arm’s length
distance.
Ad Astra, Jim
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