Yahoo News Space Calendar 2017: Launches, Sky Events & More
LAST UPDATED July 6: These dates are subject to change, and will be updated throughout the year as firmer dates arise. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on a date you see here. Launch dates collected from NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, Spaceflight Now and others. Please send any corrections, updates or suggested calendar additions to hweitering@space.com.
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July
July 6: Vice President Mike Pence will visit NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. You can watch Pence's arrival at the facility at noon EDT (1600 GMT) and his address to KSC workers at 1 p.m. EDT. Watch Live
July 6: Skywatchers have a rare chance to easily locate Saturn as it passes close by the moon Thursday night.
July 9: The full moon of July, known as the Thunder Moon, will occur at 12:07 a.m. EDT (1707 GMT). This full moon is also called the Buck Moon.
July 14: A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the Kanopus-V-IK infrared Earth observation satellite along with Russia's Zond solar research satellite and multiple small spacecraft from U.S. companies from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:36 a.m. EDT (0636 GMT).
July 17-20: International Space Station Research & Development Conference (Washington, D.C.)
July 21: The new sci-fi film, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" will be released in movie theaters worldwide.
July 28: A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft to the International Space Station with members of the Expedition 52/53 crew, including Randy Bresnik of NASA, Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT). They will arrive and dock at the ISS at 6:01 p.m. EDT (2201 GMT). Hatch opening and welcome ceremony will begin at about 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT on July 29).
July 28-29: The Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks overnight on Friday, July 28. Delta Aquarid meteors will be visible from July 12 to Aug. 23.
Also slated to launch in July (from Spaceflight Now):
Sometime this quarter (July–Sept.) SpaceX will launch the Falcon Heavy rocket for its first demonstration flight from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
August
Aug. 1: An Arianespace Vega rocket will launch with the Optsat-3000 high-resolution reconnaissance satellite for the Italian military and the French-Israeli Venus environmental satellite from Kourou, French Guiana at 9:58 p.m. EDT (0158 GMT on Aug. 2).
Aug. 2: Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazansky will go for a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS Russian EVA-43).
Aug. 3: A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-M) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Launch window: 9:02-9:42 a.m. EDT (1302-1342 GMT)
Aug. 7: The full moon of August, also known at the Full Sturgeon Moon, will occur on Monday, Aug. 7 at 2:11 p.m. EDT (1911 GMT). A partial lunar eclipse will coincide with this full moon and can be seen from Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Aug. 7-9: National Astronomy Teaching Summit Conference (Ft. Meyers, Florida)
Aug. 10: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon CRS-12 cargo craft on the 12th cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 2:07 p.m. EDT (1807 GMT).
Aug. 11: A Japanese H-2A rocket (H-2A F35) will launch the Michibiki-3 navigation spacecraft from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Launch window: 1:00-10:00 a.m. EDT (0500-1400 GMT)
Aug. 12-13: One of the brightest meteor showers of the year, the Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of Saturday, Aug. 12 and the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 13. A waning gibbous moon may hamper the view of the meteor shower's peak this year. Perseid meteors will appear in the sky from July 17 to Aug. 24. [When, Where & How to See It]
Aug. 14: A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch a classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NROL-42) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Launch window: 3:01-7:00 a.m. EDT (0701-1100 GMT).
Aug. 21: The Great American Total Solar Eclipse will sweep across the United States on Monday, Aug. 21. The moon will pass before the sun, cast a shadow first over Oregon that will move across the country all the way to South Carolina. Viewers across the continental U.S. who are outside the path of totality will still be able to see the eclipse in its partial form. [Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Path, Viewing Maps and Photo Guide]
Aug. 24: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Formosat-5 Earth observation satellite for Taiwan’s National Space Organization (NSPO) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Aug. 25/26: Orbital ATK will launch a Minotaur IV rocket on a historic mission for the U.S. military's Operationally Responsive Space program (ORS-5) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at approximately 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT).
Aug. 28: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the U.S. military's X-37B, a spaceplane also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, on the program's fifth mission (OTV-5).
Aug. 31: A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch a classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NROL-52) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Aug. 31: Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA239, to launch the Intelsat 37e and BSAT 4a communications satellites.
Also slated to launch in August (from Spaceflight Now):
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 10 Iridium NEXT satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the SES-11/EchoStar 105 hybrid communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
September
Sept. 6: The full moon of September will occur on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 3:03 a.m. EDT (0803 GMT). September's full moon is known as the Full Harvest Moon.
Sept. 12: Expedition 53/54 crewmembers Mark Vande Hei of NASA and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will launch atop a Russian Soyuz rocket on a mission to the International Space Station.
Sept. 12: An Orbital ATK Antares rocket will launch the Cygnus cargo spacecraft (OA-8) to the International Space Station from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Sept. 15: NASA's Cassini orbiter will plunge into Saturn, ending a nearly 20-year mission.
Sept. 17-22: European Planetary Science Congress 2017 (Riga, Latvia)
Sept. 21: A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket will launch the first spacecraft in the Joint Polar Satellite System, NOAA's next-generation series of polar-orbiting weather observatories. Launch window: 5:47:03-5:48:06 a.m. EDT (0947:03-0948:06 GMT)
Sept. 21: A Eurockot Rockot launch vehicle with the Sentinel-5 Precursor Earth observation satellite will launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.
Also slated to launch in September (from Spaceflight Now):
An Orbital ATK Minotaur-C rocket will launch six SkySat Earth observation satellites for Google/Skybox Imaging.
October
Oct. 5: The full moon of October occurs on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 2:40 p.m. EDT (1940 GMT). It is also known as the Full Hunter's Moon.
Oct. 8: The Draconid meteor shower will peak on Sunday, Oct. 8. Draconid meteors will appear Oct. 6-10 and are best viewed in the early evening hours.
Oct. 11: The U.S. military will launch its fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite aboard an Atlas 5 rocket provided by the United Launch Alliance. It will launch from pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Oct. 12: A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the 68th Progress cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station.
Oct. 15: Occultation of Regulus – The brightest star in the constellation Leo will be covered by a crescent moon in the early morning of Sunday, Oct. 15. The occultation will be visible from the United States and the Caribbean.
Oct. 19: Uranus will be at opposition in its closest approach to Earth, and the planet's face will be fully illuminated by the sun. This the best time to observe Uranus, though a telescope is required to do so.
Oct. 21-22: The Orionid meteor shower peaks on the night of Friday, Oct. 20 and the early morning of Saturday, Oct. 21. Orionid meteors will be visible from Oct. 2 to Nov. 7.
Oct. 26: A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch a crewed Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station with members of the Expedition 54/55 crew: Scott Tingle of NASA, Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Oct. 27: An Atlas 5 rocket provided by the United Launch Alliance will launch the U.S. military's fourth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous satellite (SBIRS GEO 4) for missile early-warning detection.
Also slated to launch in October (from Spaceflight Now):
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Dragon CRS-13 spacecraft on a cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
November
Nov. 4: The full moon of November will occur on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 12:23 a.m. EDT (0523 GMT). It is also known as the Full Beaver Moon.
Nov. 4-5: The Taurid meteor shower will peak on the night of Saturday, Nov. 4 and the early morning of Sunday, Nov. 5. Taurid meteors will be visible from Sep. 7 to Dec. 10. This is a minor meteor shower with 5-10 meteors per hour, and light from the full moon may obstruct the view during the meteor shower's peak.
Nov. 5: Occultation of Aldebaran. For the second time this year, the moon crosses in front of the bright star Aldebaran on Nov. 5. This time the waning gibbous moon will be nearly full. The occultation will be visible from most of North America in the early evening. [Watch the Moon Play 'Peekaboo' with Bright Star Aldebaran]
Nov. 13: A spectacular conjunction of Venus and Jupiter will be visible in the evening sky. The two bright planets will be extremely close, appearing only 0.3 degrees apart. Look for this impressive pairing in the Eastern sky just before sunrise.
Nov. 14: An air-launched Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket will send NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite into orbit from Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.
Nov. 17-18: The Leonid meteor shower peaks between Thursday, Nov. 17 and Friday, Nov. 18. But Leonid meteors will be visible in the sky throughout the month of November.
Nov. 17: An Orbital ATK Antares rocket will launch a Cygnus cargo spacecraft (OA-9) to the International Space Station from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Also slated to launch in November (from Spaceflight Now):
SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida for an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station.
A Chinese Long March 5 rocket will launch the Chang'e 5 mission to return samples from the moon.
Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 rocket to launch four Galileo full operational capability satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation constellation from the Guiana Space Center.
A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket will launch NASA's ICESat-2 satellite to measure ice sheet elevation and ice sheet thickness changes linked to climate change, along with measurements of Earth's vegetation biomass.
An Arianespace Vega rocket (VV11) will launch with the ADM-Aeolus satellite for the European Space Agency.
December
Dec. 3: The full moon of December, also known as the Full Cold Moon, occurs at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1547 GMT) on Monday, Dec. 3. This will also be the only "supermoon" of 2017.
Dec. 5-7: SpaceCom 2017 (Space Commerce Conference and Exposition) in Houston, Texas.
Dec. 13-14: The Geminid meteor shower peaks on the night of Wednesday, Dec. 13 and the early morning hours of Thursday, Dec. 14. Geminid meteors will be visible Dec. 7-16.
Dec. 13: A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket will launch a classified spacecraft payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Dec. 21-22: The Ursid meteor shower peaks on the night of Thursday, Dec. 21 and the early morning hours of Friday, Dec. 22. Ursid meteors will appear in the sky Dec. 17-25.
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