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HTML File: Week 37, 2022 - Newest Addons of the Month.txt
These are the newest and updated add-ons available for download starting Week 33 to 37 (August 14 - September 17, 2022) by category
The confirmed planets of TOI-561 to scale
The planet Seraphius of Orion's Paradise
The existence of both planets around Kapteyn's Star was disproven in 2021
2008 TC3 is the first asteroid ever discovered that is on a collision course with Earth
Updates
The six manned missions launched during Project Mercury, 1961-1963
Updates
again, please do not use <u> </u>
in html.
HTML File: Week 39, 2022 - The DART mission Successfully Crashes onto Dimorphos!.txt
Artist's impression of DART crashing onto Dimorphos, the moon of asteroid 65803 Didymos
On September 26, 2022 the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission by NASA and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) successfully demonstrates a method of planetary defense by crashing itself onto Dimorphos, the moon of the asteroid 65803 Didymos. Launched in 2021-Nov-24 from a Falcon 9, DART is designed to simulate a method of planetary defense called kinetic impactors, where a spacecraft uses its entire mass to slam itself onto an asteroid to knock off its course a little if its headed directly to Earth. The asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos themselves do not cross into Earth's orbit, and there's no chance they'll pose a threat to our planet for a foreseeable future even the mission itself goes awry
The whole event is recorded by a small cubesat called LICIACube, where it studied the immediate aftermath just 2 minutes and 45 seconds after the impact of DART to the asteroid moon. Analysis of the main probe's effects to the asteroid itself will be conducted by a European follow-up mission, called Hera, as early as 2026
You can download the Double Asteroid Redirection Test and 65803 Didymos addons to see the events in action on Celestia! The exact impact date/time on Celestia is 2022-Sept-26, 23:14:17 UTC
Source: NASA
65803 Didymos and its moon, Dimorphos, together at a distance of 920 km and T-2.5 minutes before impact
Dimorphos at a distance of 12 km away and literally T-2 seconds before impact
Final (complete) close-up image of Dimorphos ever taken by DART
LICIACube's view from afar of the moment of impact, 2022-Sept-26
Timelapse of 65803 Didymos, showing the collision of DART onto Dimorphos as observed by ground telescopes on ATLAS
HTML File: Week 40, 2022 - India's First Mission to Mars Officially Ended.txt
Artist's impression of Mangalyaan-1 in orbit around Mars
On October 2, 2022 it was reported that the Mars Orbiter Mission, also known as Mangalyaan-1, has ended its 8-year mission to the Red Planet. Sources at ISRO state that the mission ended after completely running out of propellant and discharging its battery after a lengthy eclipse event in April 2022, which led to loss of contact months later on September 27, 2022.
Mangalyaan was launched in Nov 2013 onboard PSLV-C25 as the first interplanetary mission from India, making ISRO the fifth space agency in the world to launch such a mission to the Red Planet (after NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, and JAXA) upon arrival in Sept 2014. The spacecraft was a demonstration mission aimed at establishing that India could design, launch and operate a mission on another world.
You can download the Mangalyaan-1 addon to view India's first interplanetary mission orbiting Mars on Celestia
Source: India Today
all uploaded
HTML File: Week 42, 2022 - Newest Addons of the Month.txt
These are the newest and updated add-ons available for download starting Week 38 to 42 (September 18 - October 22, 2022) by category
Kepler-64 and its four parent stars
Updates
The Briar Patch from Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
A nearby irregular galaxy called Leo P
MR 22 is a planetary nebula surrounding a false Wolf-Rayet star
65803 Didymos and its moon, Dimorphos
Updates
Alexei Leonov outside Voskhod 2, 1965-Mar-18
Updates
An artistic impression of the Sun
HTML File: Week 43, 2022 - Ed Stone Retires as Voyager's Project Scientist after 50 Years.txt
Dr. Ed Stone in front of a Voyager spacecraft model in 2019
Dr. Edward Stone has retired as the project scientist for NASA’s Voyager mission a half-century after taking on the role. Stone accepted scientific leadership of the historic mission in 1972, five years before the launch of its two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Under his guidance, the Voyagers explored the four giant planets and became the first human-made objects to reach interstellar space, the region between the stars containing material generated by the death of nearby stars.
Until now, Stone was the only person to have served as project scientist for Voyager, maintaining his position even while serving as director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California from 1991 to 2001. JPL manages the Voyager mission for NASA. Stone retired from JPL in 2001 but continued to serve as the mission’s project scientist.
Dr. Linda Spilker will succeed Stone as Voyager’s project scientist as the twin probes continue to explore interstellar space. Spilker was a member of the Voyager science team during the mission’s flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. She later became project scientist for NASA’s now-retired Cassini mission to Saturn, and rejoined Voyager as deputy project scientist in 2021
The twin Voyager spacecraft are available for download as add-ons in Celestia here
Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
HTML File: Week 46, 2022 - Artemis 1 Successfully Launches to the Moon on Maiden Flight of the SLS Rocket.txt
Artemis 1 lifts off from Pad 39B during the maiden flight of the SLS rocket, 2022-Nov-16
On November 16, 2022 the Space Launch System rocket has lifted off successfully on its maiden flight, carrying an Orion spacecraft and a number of cubesats to the Moon and beyond. The launch is the first leg of a mission in which Orion is planned to travel approximately 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and return to Earth over the course of 25.5 days. Known as Artemis 1, the mission is a critical part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which the agency explores for the benefit of humanity. It’s an important test for the agency before flying astronauts on the Artemis 2 mission.
Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars.
Artemis 1 and all subsequent Orion missions are available for download in Celestia here
Source: NASA
Artemis I Launch to the Moon - YouTube Official livestream of the launch of Artemis 1, 2022-Nov-16
The Orion spacecraft for Artemis 1 being integrated for launch in October 2020
Interior view of the Orion CM showing the test dummy Moonikin Campos occupying the commander's seat
The Earth as seen from Artemis 1 en route to the Moon, 2022-Nov-16
HTML File: Week 50, 2022 - The Crew of the DearMoon Project is Officially Announced.txt
A 2018 concept art of a SpaceX Starship flying past the Moon during the DearMoon Project
On December 8, 2022 Yusaku Maezawa has officially announced the eight crew members and two backups that will accompany him to the future circumlunar Starship mission called DearMoon. Originally conceived in 2017 as a Crew Dragon/Falcon Heavy flight to the Moon, DearMoon is a six-day lunar tourism mission and art project scheduled for launch NET 2023, pending the test flights of Starship itself. Its primary objective is to have eight passengers travel with Maezawa for free around the Moon, where Maezawa expects that the experience of space tourism will inspire the accompanying passengers in the creation of something new. The art would be exhibited some time after returning to Earth to help promote peace around the world.
Over a million people applied for the eight seats available on this mission
Source: YouTube
(From left) Farrington, Hall, Dodd, Dele, Seung-hyun, Maezawa, Aoki, Adam, Iliya, Joshi, and Miyu
PRIMARY CREW
BACKUP CREW
NOTE: The (numbers) indicate the total number of spaceflights each person above has undertaken during this mission
HTML File: Week 51, 2022 - Newest Addons of the Month.txt
These are the newest and updated add-ons available for download starting Week 43 to 51 (October 23 - December 18, 2022) by category
SDSS J122859.93+104032.9 b is one of only two known asteroids outside our Solar System (the other is HD 240779 b)
UPDATES
Tintin and Haddock as the Explorers on the Moon
ORION's ARM
UPDATES
Rhea was speculated to have rings of its own, but so far its existence isn't confirmed
A distant planetary nebula called NGC 2438
Aerial view of the six Apollo landing sites on the Moon, 1969-1972
ASTEROIDS and NEOs
COMETS
EARTH and the MOON
UPDATES
Orion's first encounter with Moon during Artemis 1 on 2022-Nov-21
CONCEPTUAL
UPDATES
Closing...continue to #48
Continued from #9. Can't attach a backup HTML file here for some reason
Week 33, 2022: NameExoWorlds 2022 has been Announced!
On August 8, 2022 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO), the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is launching a contest to name 20 exoplanetary systems to be observed by JWST. The competition, NameExoWorlds 2022, was announced at a press conference at the XXXI IAU General Assembly, currently being held in Busan, South Korea. The contest seeks to bring together both professional astronomers and the wider public, giving them the opportunity to name the 20 selected exoplanets along with their host stars
For more information and if you're willing to participate, their registration form can be found on their Homepage here. Deadline of registrations will be until 2022-Nov-11 and the results of this campaign will be revealed to the public by March 2023
Source: International Astronomical Union (IAU)
List of ExoWorlds 2022
The following are the list of host stars/exoplanets involved in the 2022 edition. If there is a link embedded that means it has an addon available for download on Celestia (as of 2022-Aug-18):