SpaceLoft XL Launch Provides Affordable Space Access

Up Aerospace is set to launch various suborbital payloads on the SpaceLoft XL (SL-7) sounding rocket sponsored by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC) and NASA Flight Opportunities Program (FOP) from Spaceport America’s Vertical Launch Complex in Las Cruces, NM on June 21. This will be the 11th launch for Up Aerospace, the 1st sub-orbital for NASA FOP and the 19th overall from Spaceport America. Students from 5 schools including Cobre High School, Camino Real Middle School and New Mexico State University will have their experiments flown at a speed of Mach 5 to a 119-km altitude, experience about 4 minutes of weightlessness and land 515 km away at the White Sands Missile Range. Patricia Hynes (TL), Director of the NMSGC, envisions student access to space increasing from an annual launch to monthly, and eventually, to daily launches as the technology / space sector develops. Jerry Larson (TR), President of Up Aerospace, hopes students will be inspired to seek careers as launch crews, rocket engineers and payload designers. The 6-m long, 25-cm diameter sounding rocket will also carry payloads from the FAA, DoD, NASA and Celestis, Inc. (Image Credit: Up Aerospace, NMSGC, P. Hynes, NASA)

50th International Paris Air Show

Full of new innovations and the latest in technology the Paris Air Show takes place June 17-23. Bringing together some 2,215 exhibitors, 351,000 visitors, 290 high-level international delegations and 3,200 journalists, it is among the largest aerospace industry events in the world. Held at Le Bourget Airport & Exhibition Center, where Charles Lindbergh landed in 1927 after making his record-breaking non-stop transatlantic flight, the Show now drives development of the aerospace sector and acts as a catalyst for numerous international partnerships. The 20-nation European Space Agency has announced that a major contract for the estimated US$1.6B 2-stage ExoMars project is being signed at the Show on June 17 with prime contractor Thales Alenia Space. The contract, with nominal value over US$866M, funds the entire 2016 orbiter / landing demonstrator module and a portion of the 2018 lander / rover surface package. Leading European space technology firm Astrium is showcasing its Automated Transfer Vehicle responsible for resupply of the International Space Station and the Ariane 5 rocket which just achieved its 55th consecutive launch success. Also taking place, the finals of the International Rocketry Challenge organized by Group of French Aerospace Industries. (Image Credit: SIAE, ESA, Astrium, Thales Alenia Space)

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

MONDAY

Jun 17 — Tiangong-1, LEO: Shenzhou 10 Commander Nie Haisheng & crew Zhang Xiaoguang, Wang Yaping conducting science experiments, education activities; will undock spacecraft from space lab module & practice manual docking.

Jun 17 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 36 reviewing procedures for 3 upcoming EVAs scheduled Jun 24, Jul 9, Jul 16; unloading 2,480 kg of dry cargo including science experiments, crew supplies, 3D-printed tool box from ATV-4.

Jun 17 — NuSTAR, LEO: In high-energy X-rays, viewing dormant black-hole 3M light years away with mass 5M times Sun; will periodically check to see if black hole becomes active again.

Jun 17 — Spitzer, Heliocentric Orbit: Taking infrared images of Milky Way Galaxy’s lesser-known outer edges as part of Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (Glimpse 360) project.

Jun 17 — Sierra Nevada Corp., Louisville CO: NewSpace company to build berthing mechanism for Bigelow’s BEAM inflatable module launching to ISS 2015 under US$2M contract from NASA.

Jun 17 — Space Expeditions Corp., Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Expanding to Hong Kong, China and New York, USA; planning for daily commercial suborbital flights starting 2014 at US$100K per ticket on XCOR Lynx.

Jun 17 — Planetary Resources Inc., Bellevue WA: Requesting US$1M in pledges to fund Arkyd space telescope for public use; with US$2M will upgrade spacecraft to search for exoplanets.

Jun 17 — CASBAA Co., Singapore: CASBAA’s Satellite Industry Forum; at Shangri-La Hotel.

Jun 17-21 — San Jose State University, ESA, University of Idaho, AGI, NASA, San Jose CA: 10th International Planetary Probe Workshop; at San Jose State University.

Jun 17-21 — Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics – University of Chicago, Chicago IL: Workshop: Galaxies within the Cosmic Web; in Kersten Physics Teaching Center on University of Chicago campus.

Jun 17-23 — Group of French Aerospace Industries (GIFAS), International Exhibition of Aeronautics and Space (SIAE), Paris, France: 50th International Paris Air Show; CNES taking part in public job forum; at Paris Le Bourget Exhibition Centre.

Continued from…

Jun 10-21 — Thirty Meter Telescope, Akamai Workforce Initiative, Hawai`i Community College, Kailua-Kona HI: 2013 Akamai Observatory Career Exploration; at Kealakehe High School.

Jun 10 – Sep 2 — NASA, Seattle WA: Destination Station exhibit; for public to learn about living in space aboard the ISS; at Pacific Science Center.

Jun 15-19 — University of Oulu, Academy of Finland, Oulu, Finland: Space Climate 5 Symposium; at Sokos Hotel Eden.

Jun 15-20 — NASA, Wallops Island VA: RockOn 2013; participants build, test, fly science payload on suborbital rocket; launch to about 117.5-km altitude occurs Jun 20.

Jun 16-21 — Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Munich, Germany: Cosmic Dawn at Ringberg; to discuss latest developments in understanding formation, evolution of the first structures and galaxies in Universe.

TUESDAY

Jun 18 — ISS , LEO: ISS Expedition 36 In-Flight Event for ESA with Euronews; live coverage available, 12:15 UT.

Jun 18 — NASA, Washington DC: NASA Asteroid Initiative Call for Ideas; public forum to provide status update on asteroid initiative planning, encourage feedback and ideas; 09:15 – 12:00 EDT.

Jun 18 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium: Conformal Gravity: New Light on Dark Matter and Dark Energy; presented by Robert Nesbet from IBM Almaden Research Center; 12:00 PDT.

Jun 18-19 — ESA, Darmstadt, Germany: 4th European Ground System Architecture Workshop (ESAW); at European Space Operations Centre.

Jun 18-20 — International Academy of Astronautics, Pasadena CA: 10th IAA Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference; at Caltech.

Jun 18-21 — JAXA, Tokyo, Japan: SPICA (Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics) Science Conference 2013 – From Exoplanets to Distant Galaxies: SPICA’s New Window on the Cool Universe; at the University of Tokyo.

Jun 18 — Moon: 0.78° E of Spica, 12:00.

Jun 18 — Asteroid 2013 JR28: Near-Earth flyby (0.035 AU).

WEDNESDAY

Jun 19 — ISS, ATV-4 Reboost Demonstration , LEO: Scheduled firing of ATV-4 engine to demonstrate reboost of ISS altitude orbit.

Jun 19 — ISS , LEO: ISS Expedition 36 In-Flight Educational Event with the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas; 12:15 UT; live coverage available.

Jun 19 — The National Academies, Washington DC: Meeting: Human Spaceflight – Public and Stakeholder Opinions Panel; at Keck Center.

Jun 19 — U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space & Technology, Washington DC: Hearing: Subcommittee on Space – NASA Authorization Act of 2013; at Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 EDT.

Jun 19 — Library of Congress – Science, Technology and Business Division, Washington DC: Lecture: Exotic Earths: Exploring Planets around other Stars; with speaker Avi Mandell of NASA.

Jun 19 — Space Transportation Association, Washington DC: STA Lunch with Senator Bill Nelson; Chair of Senate Science and Space Subcommittee to discuss NASA budget, prospects.

Jun 19-21 — The National Academies, Irvine CA: Meeting: Human Spaceflight – Technical Feasibility Panel; at Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center.

Jun 19-21 — ESA, Paris, France: 4th Gaia Science Alerts Workshop; at Paris Institute of Astrophysics (IAP).

Jun 19 — Moon: 3.6° S of Saturn, 07:00.

Jun 19 — Jupiter: At conjunction with Sun, 06:00; occulted (unobservably) by Sun, which happens about every 6 years.

THURSDAY

Jun 20 — Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas: JSC Memorial Ceremony for Astronaut Neil Armstrong; live coverage available, 10:00 CDT.

Jun 20 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: Failure, Test and Operations Data Workshop 2013; to enhance data feedback processes to benefit all ESA projects; at European Space Research and Technology Centre.

Jun 20-21 — California Institute of Technology, Pasadena CA: 2013 Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference: Beyond LEO; with keynote speakers Simon “Pete” Worden of NASA Ames & Geoff Marcy of UC Berkeley; at Caltech.

Jun 20 — Summer Solstice: Days are longer and nights shortest (opposite in Southern Hemisphere) as Sun, traveling along ecliptic, reaches a point farthest north of celestial equator; 19:04.

Jun 20 — Asteroid 2013 KL6: Near-Earth flyby (0.035 AU).

FRIDAY

Jun 21 — Up Aerospace Inc., Launch SpaceLoft XL (SL-7) / Flight Opportunities Program Payloads, Las Cruces NM: SpaceLoft XL sounding rocket sponsored by NASA Flight Opportunities Program & New Mexico Space Grant Consortium to launch suborbital payloads.

Jun 21 — International Academy of Astronautics, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories – Caltech, Pasadena CA: Theodore von Kármán Symposium; in Lees-Kubota Lecture Hall of Caltech.

Jun 21 — International Academy of Astronautics, Pasadena CA: IAA Regional Meeting.

Jun 21 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Magmatic Volatiles in the Inner Solar System: Constraints from Apatite in Planetary Materials and Apatite-Melt Partitioning Experiments; presented by Francis McCubbin from University of New Mexico; in Lecture Hall of USRA, 15:30 CDT.

Jun 21 — `Imiloa Astronomy Center, University of Hawai`i – Hilo, Hilo HI: Mauna Kea Skies Talk; Professor Gary Davis from Joint Astronomy Centre Telescope talks about recent discoveries; 19:00 HST, US$8-10.

Jun 21 — The Space Show, Online: Rob Kelso of PISCES (Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems) in Hawaii talks with host Dr. David Livingston.

Jun 21 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Brian Duffy; US$49.95 adult.

Jun 21 — Moon: 6.6° N of Antares, 14:00.

Jun 21 — Asteroid 2013 LC2: Near-Earth flyby (0.098 AU).

SATURDAY

Jun 22 — United Societies in Space Inc., International Space Development Authority Corp., Castle Rock CO: 3rd Annual Conference: Carpe Diem Ad Astra (Seize the Day to the Stars); to discuss Moon Permanent Base headed by Buzz Aldrin, Space Debris & Mitigation; at ISDAC headquarters.

Jun 22 – Jul 4 — Southwest Research Institute, University of Hawai`i, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Kamuela HI: 8th Workshop on Catastrophic Disruption in the Solar System; 3rd Workshop on Binaries in the Solar System; at Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel.

SUNDAY

Jun 23-25 — Cryogenic Society of America, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Girdwood AK: 25th Space Cryogenics Workshop; to discuss cryogenics related to space missions, components, instrumentation, launch vehicles; at Alyeska Resort.

Jun 23-28 — Gordon Research Conferences, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley MA: Gordon Conference on Origins of Solar Systems; at Mount Holyoke College.

Jun 23-28 — Stellar Astrophysics Centre, White Dwarf Research Corp., et al, Sydney, Australia: 6th Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium Conference: A New Era of Stellar Astrophysics with Kepler; at Novotel Sydney Central hotel.

Jun 23 — Moon: At perigee (distance: 356,584 km), 01:00; Full (Strawberry Moon), 01:33.

India Set To Reignite GSLV, Advance Toward Human Spaceflight

Anticipation is building for the next launch of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket set for July. After two consecutive failures and a lifetime success rate of only 60%, ISRO has taken 31 months to conduct thorough investigations and over 35 ground tests of the indigenous cryogenic third stage engine, including a simulated high-altitude test, in preparation for this return to flight. The 1,980-kg, 2.5-KW GSAT-14 communications satellite is the designated payload. If successful, India will immediately ramp up preparations for an experimental flight of the next generation GSLV Mark 3 as early as January 2014. This updated variant will double the lift capacity of the system to 4 tons and is the vehicle of choice for the future of the India human spaceflight program. ISRO is currently working with a budget of nearly US$2.2M to conduct pre-project studies and develop critical technologies toward this goal, including environmental control, spacesuit, reentry and crew escape system. The proposed total budget for development of the human program is US$2.3B, expected to begin no earlier than 2017. Success of the GSLV next month will greatly improve prospects for a 2014-2015 launch of the Chandrayaan-2 lunar exploration mission to demonstrate soft-landing and deploy a rover on the surface of the Moon. Pictured: Rakesh Sharma, First Indian in Space, Intercosmos Research Astronaut, Soyuz T-11. (Image Credit: ISRO)

10th IPPW to Discuss Science Goals and Technologies for Future Planetary Missions

The 10th International Planetary Probe Workshop will be held June 17-21 at San Jose State University, California, USA. It is sponsored by ESA, JPL, NASA, AGI, Science and Technology Corp. and others. About 100 scientists, engineers, technologists and space mission designers will speak on new technologies, scientific discoveries and international cooperation for exploring the solar system via planetary probe missions. Tom Spilker from JPL (pictured) and Denis Lebleu from Thales Alenia Space are co-conveners for the ‘Giant Planets’ session which will cover science and engineering aspects of past and future atmospheric entry probes to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. There are also sessions about Venus and Titan, current projects for airless planetary bodies (such as the Moon, Mercury, NEAs) and Mars landers / in-situ activities. Preceding this event will be a 2-day short course on ‘Entry, Descent, and Landing Systems’ from June 15-16. Students will hear from 24 experts on topics including aerodynamics, software, heatshields, hypersonic / supersonic decelerators, parachutes and recent EDL technology case studies. As the Russia Luna Moon probes (1959) aided our understanding of and further piqued our curiosity about our nearest celestial neighbor, future missions to Jupiter, its moons, the outer solar system and exoplanets will advance humankind’s understanding of the Universe and thirst for exploration. (Image Credit: NASA, JPL, ESA)

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

MONDAY

Jun 10 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 36/37 crew preparing for undocking of Progress 51P on Jun 11, arrival of ATV-4 Albert Einstein on Jun 15; Misurkin & Yurchikhin reviewing procedures for EVA scheduled Jun 24.

Jun 10 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: Traveling at about 27 km/sec relative to Sun with all instruments powered off except magnetometer running at low data rates; will power on instruments shortly before Earth flyby scheduled Oct 9.

Jun 10 — Curiosity, Glenelg Intrigue, Mars: Scientists analyzing ‘Cumberland’ rock sample; rover will head to ‘Mount Sharp’ after observing nearby mudstone & sandstone boundary, ‘Shaler’ layered outcrop, ‘Point Lake’ pitted outcrop.

Jun 10 — Orbital Sciences Corp., Wallops VA: NewSpace company preparing for Pegasus XL launch of IRIS scheduled Jun 26, Antares rocket launch of Cygnus cargo freighter on test flight to ISS Sep 12.

Jun 10 — Spaceport Sweden, Kiruna, Sweden: Establishing education program; students will develop space camp Summer 2013, first intern to begin working at Spaceport Sweden mission control Fall 2013.

Jun 10 — Up Aerospace Inc., Las Cruces NM: Providing SpaceLoft XL sounding rocket sponsored by NASA Flight Opportunities Program to launch suborbital payloads for Celestis Inc., FAA, various schools.

Jun 10-11 — AIAA, Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland OH: Introduction to Spacecraft Design and Systems Engineering Course.

Jun 10-14 — ESA, ASI, National Institute for Astrophysics, et al, Catania, Italy: International Venus Workshop; at the Diocesan Museum of Catania.

Jun 10-21 — Thirty Meter Telescope, Akamai Workforce Initiative, Hawai`i Community College, Kailua-Kona HI: 2013 Akamai Observatory Career Exploration; at Kealakehe High School.

Jun 10 – Sep 2 — NASA, Seattle WA: Destination Station exhibit; for public to learn about living in space aboard the ISS; at Pacific Science Center.

Jun 10 — Moon: 5.8° S of Mercury, 11:00.

Jun 10 — Asteroid 2013 LD2: Near-Earth flyby (0.015 AU).

Jun 10 — Asteroid 2013 KK6: Near-Earth flyby (0.059 AU).

Continued from…

May 1 – Jul 1 — University of Colorado – Boulder, Online: Send Your Name & Message to Mars; contest to send name / message to Mars aboard MAVEN spacecraft launching between Nov 18 – Dec 7; winners announced Aug 8.

May 21 – Jul 9 — NASA, Online: Accepting Proposals: Phase II Visionary Advanced Concepts; for cutting-edge ideas to transform future aerospace missions, enable new capabilities, alter approaches to launching, building, operating aerospace systems.

Jun 3 – Aug 9 — Florida Space Grant Consortium, Space Florida, Kennedy Space Center FL: Space & Aeronautics Internships at Exploration Park; paid internship for 4 science / engineering students to work on projects bound for ISS.

Jun 4 – Aug 10 — Space Foundation Discovery Center, Colorado CO: Summer of Discovery; featuring new space, science, space technology related theme each week, Northrop Grumman Science Center, El Pomar Space Gallery.

Jun 5 – Jul 9 — National Research Council of the National Academies, Online: Accepting Papers: Submit Input to Study on Human Spaceflight; requesting ideas on the role of human spaceflight / vision for the future.

Jun 5 – Jul 31 — NASA, LEGO Group, Online: NASA-LEGO Design and Build Contest; to inspire students of all ages to use toy bricks to build models of future airplanes and spacecraft.

Jun 9-13 — ESA, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Thun, Switzerland: 21st ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research.

TUESDAY

Jun 11 — ISS, Undocking of Progress 51P Resupply Vehicle, LEO: Progress 51P, filled with ISS waste, to be sent into parking orbit for Russia ground-based radar systems calibration tests; will burn up upon reentry to Earth atmosphere on Jun 19; undocking scheduled at 13:53 UT; live coverage available.

Jun 11 — National Space Club Florida Committee, Cape Canaveral FL: Luncheon at the Radisson Resort at the Port; to provide information on space activities; featuring Commercial Crew Development Panel speakers; US$17-20.

Jun 11 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium: Martian Sonic Anemometer; presented by Don Banfield from Cornell University; 12:00 PDT.

Jun 11-12 — NASA, Houston TX: JSC Administrative Support Services (JASS) II Contract Industry Day: One-on-One Communications with Industry Support.

Jun 11-13 — ESA, JAXA, RSA, NASA, Aeroflex Corp., STAR-Dundee Ltd, Gothenburg, Sweden: 2013 International SpaceWire Conference; at Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel.

Jun 11 — Moon: 11.5° S of Pollux, 05:00.

Jun 11 — Asteroid 2013 LB2: Near-Earth flyby (0.065 AU).

WEDNESDAY

Jun 12 — North Carolina Aerospace Alliance, North Carolina Military Business Center, Research Triangle Park NC: Commercial Suborbital Spaceflight & North Carolina’s Nanobiotechnology and Defense Industries Symposium and Investment Summit.

Jun 12-14 — IEEE, AIAA, Turkish Air Force Academy, Istanbul, Turkey: 6th International Conference on Recent Advances in Space Technology (RAST): New Ways of Accessing Space for Benefit of Society.

Jun 12 — Moon: 6.4° SSW of Beehive Cluster, 11:00.

THURSDAY

Jun 13 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 36/37 In-Flight Event for “Destination Station” in Seattle, Washington; 17:50 UT.

Jun 13 — George Marshall Institute, TechAmerica Space Enterprise Council, Washington DC: Space Launch Industrial Base: Challenges and Opportunities; to discuss government policy, competitiveness of launch industry, options for controlling launch costs; at TechAmerica HQ, 09:00 – 11:00 EDT.

Jun 13-14 — British Interplanetary Society, UK Centre for Astrobiology, London, United Kingdom: Workshop: Extraterrestrial Liberty – What is Freedom Beyond the Earth? at BIS.

FRIDAY

Jun 14 — Chang’e-2, Deep Space: Spacecraft reaches total travel distance of 50M km today; expected to reach 100M km milestone in July 2014.

Jun 14 — Space Florida, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: Space Florida Tour of Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

Jun 14 — Women in Aerospace, Arlington VA: WIA 4th Annual Conference – Aerospace 2013: Turning Today’s Innovation into Tomorrow’s Future; at Key Bridge Marriott; 08:30 EDT.

Jun 14 — Peninsula Astronomical Society, Los Altos Hills CA: LADEE: The Lunar Dust and Atmosphere Environment Explorer; lecture by Brian Day from NASA Lunar Science Institute; at Foothill College.

Jun 14 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Massive Ice Avalanches on Iapetus Mobilized by Friction Reduction During Flash Heating; presented by Kelsi Singer of Washington University – St. Louis; in Lecture Hall of USRA, 15:30 CDT.

Jun 14 — The Space Show, Online: Gordon Woodcock gives a Space-Based Solar Power analysis from recent International Space Development Conference; with host Dr. David Livingston.

Jun 14 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Ken Cameron; US$49.95 adult.

Jun 14 — Moon: 5.5° SSW of Regulus, 08:00.

SATURDAY

Jun 15 — ISS, Docking of ATV 4 Cargo Ship, LEO: European Space Agency ATV 4, named Albert Einstein, scheduled to dock with ISS 13:46 UT; live coverage available.

Jun 15 — Oregon L5 Society , Oregon City OR: ORL5 Meeting; to educate public on possible uses of space, promote establishment of a spacefaring civilization.

Jun 15 — Space Frontier Foundation, Online: Finalists Announced: 2013 NewSpace Business Plan Competition; entrepreneurs create business plan for commercial development of space; will compete in mid-October.

Jun 15-16 — San Jose State University, ESA, AGI, NASA, Science and Technology Corp., San Jose CA: International Planetary Probe Workshop (IPPW) Short Course on Entry, Descent, and Landing Systems; in conjunction with IPPW 10 on Jun 17-21.

Jun 15-19 — University of Oulu, Academy of Finland, Oulu, Finland: Space Climate 5 Symposium; at Sokos Hotel Eden.

Jun 15-20 — NASA, Wallops Island VA: RockOn 2013; participants build, test, fly science payload on suborbital rocket; launch to about 117.5-km altitude occurs Jun 20.

SUNDAY

Jun 16-21 — Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Munich, Germany: Cosmic Dawn at Ringberg; to discuss latest developments in understanding formation, evolution of the first structures and galaxies in Universe.

Jun 16 — Moon: At first quarter, 07:24.

Shenzhou 10: Evolution of China Human Spaceflight… Leading to the Moon?

The China National Space Agency human spaceflight program Shenzhou 10 mission launches as early as June 7 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert 1,600 km west of Beijing. Carried by the advanced Long March 2F rocket, the capsule and 3 Taikonauts, expected to include second female China spaceflyer Wang Yaping, are scheduled to make final planned rendezvous with “proto-space station” Tiangong 1. A quality review panel headed by Academician Bao Weimin has given the go-ahead for continued launch preparations. The mission will demonstrate manual and automated docking with the 8,000-kg orbiting target vehicle and the crew will use their short stay to conduct scientific experiments and presentations to spectators on Earth. The next generation Tiangong 2 launching in 2013 will be much larger at 20,000 kg and serve as a fully functional space laboratory capable of 3-person life support for up to 20 days. Some analysts foresee a convergence of the Shenzhou / Tiangong programs with the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. The Moon-bound lander / rover combo Chang’e-3, expected to launch in 2013, is just one major step away from the automated sample return mission Chang’e-5 planned for 2017. With round trip cis-Lunar capacity on the horizon and advancing human spaceflight systems, China may soon be attempting Human Moon Missions. (Image Credit: CNSA)

Europe ATV 4 Advances Development of Human Space Exploration Technologies

The European Space Agency’s 4th Automated Transfer Vehicle, named Albert Einstein, is scheduled to launch to the ISS on June 5 from Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana via Arianespace launch providers on an Ariane 5 ES rocket, designated VA213. Albert Einstein will be the heaviest spacecraft ever lifted into orbit by an Arianespace rocket with a total mass of 20,235 kg. The US$300M spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the Zvezda module on June 15 after 10 days in orbit. ATVs have the largest cargo carrying capacity of any ISS resupply vehicle, up to 8,000 kg, and the thrusters are used at intervals of 10 to 45 days to boost the station’s altitude. After the propellant, water, air and cargo are transferred to the ISS, Albert Einstein will be loaded with up to 6,500 kg of waste to be incinerated upon reentry to Earth’s atmosphere scheduled October 15. The ATV program is set to end after the completion of the 5th ATV mission, to launch in 2014. Each ATV mission contributes to future Human space exploration missions as Europe develops and adapts the ATV to serve as the ESA Service Module for NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (BR), scheduled to first launch on the Space Launch System in 2017. (Image Credit: ESA, NASA)

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

MONDAY

Jun 3 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 36 loading trash onto Progress 51P, scheduled for Earth atmospheric incineration on Jun 11; new crew members Nyberg, Yurchikhin, Parmitano continuing ISS orientation.

Jun 3 — Chandra X-ray Observatory, HEO: 3-year study of SGR 0418 reveals that magnetars – remains of dead stars that irregularly emit high-energy radiation – may be more diverse & common than previously thought.

Jun 3 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Magnetometer and camera data of 800-km long, 1-2-km high mountain on Dione suggest liquid or slushy layer exists under ice-crust of moon; next flyby scheduled June 16, 2015.

Jun 3 — SpaceX, Hawthorne CA: NewSpace company working to complete 7th milestone for NASA CCiCap; outlining plans for flying crewed Dragon spacecraft in LEO, rendezvous / docking with ISS & other orbiting spacecraft.

Jun 3 — XCOR Aerospace Inc., Mojave CA: Test firing propulsion system of Lynx XR-5K18 engine for reusable suborbital Lynx vehicle; working toward 180-second engine burn which will give required propulsion to get to space.

Jun 3 — Innovative Space Propulsion Systems LLC, Houston TX: Finalizing 440-N NOFBX rocket engine for launch to ISS in SpaceX Dragon capsule 2013-14; will be mounted to the outside of Columbus module for about 1 year.

Jun 3 — International Launch Services, Launch Proton / SES 6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Proton rocket set to deliver SES 6 satellite to provide television / cable / digital inclusion services for N & S America, Europe.

Jun 3 — Aerospace Industries Association, Washington DC: Space in Our World Discussion Series: The New Age of Human Exploration; panel discussion on current activities / benefits of human spaceflight; Frank Slazer moderates.

Jun 3-5 — Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Southwest Research Institute, NASA, Broomfield CO: Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference 2013.

Jun 3-5 — von Kármán Institute for Fluid Dynamics, International Academy of Astronautics, Brussels, Belgium: 5th European Cubesat Symposium.

Jun 3-7 — ESA, Darmstadt, Germany: Mars Express 10th Anniversary Celebration; at European Space Operations Centre.

Jun 3-7 — `Imiloa Astronomy Center, Hilo HI: Camp `Imi-possible; for kids in grades K-5 to learn about ‘WAI-ology’ – water’s role in inner and outer Solar System.

Jun 3 – Aug 9 — Florida Space Grant Consortium, Space Florida, Kennedy Space Center FL: Space & Aeronautics Internships at Exploration Park; paid internship for 4 science / engineering students to work on projects bound for ISS.

Jun 3 — Asteroid 2004 KH17: Near-Earth flyby (0.098 AU).

Continued from…

Apr 2 – Jun 5 — NASA, Online: NASA Seeks Academic Partners for Smallsat Technology Collaboration; accepting proposals for small spacecraft (smallsat) projects.

May 28 – Jun 7— NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lewes DE: Fermi Summer School 2013; at University of Delaware Conference Center.

May 28 – Aug 2 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Lunar Science Institute, Houston TX: Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program; students earn 50 hours of credit, evaluate possible Moon landing sites for robotic & Human exploration missions.

May 29 – Jun 7 — University of Alabama – Huntsville, National Science Foundation, CSPAR, NSF, Huntsville AL: 2013 UAHuntsville Space Weather Summer School.

Jun 2-6 — American Astronomical Society, Indianapolis IN: 222nd Meeting of the AAS; at Indiana Convention Center; expecting more than 500 professional astronomers, educators, journalists, space enthusiasts.

Jun 2-9 — JAXA, Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan: 29th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science.

TUESDAY

Jun 4 — NASA, Launch Black Brant 12 sounding rocket / CIBER, Wallops Island VA: Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER) astrophysics observatory scheduled to make fourth and final suborbital flight; alternate dates Jun 5-10.

Jun 4 — National Space Weather Program Council, Washington DC: Space Weather Enterprise Forum 2013 – Space Weather Impacts: They Happen All the Time; to feature NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

Jun 4 — NASA, Washington DC: Media Briefing on Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission; 13:00 EDT, live coverage available.

Jun 4 — The British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Unveiling the Secrets of the Universe; by Tejinder Virdee, Professor of Physics at Imperial College London.

Jun 4 – Aug 10 — Space Foundation Discovery Center, Colorado CO: Summer of Discovery; featuring new space, science, space technology related theme each week, Northrop Grumman Science Center, El Pomar Space Gallery.

Jun 4 — Asteroid 2013 JE29: Near-Earth flyby (0.051 AU).

Jun 4 — Asteroid 2013 JB36: Near-Earth flyby (0.076 AU).

WEDNESDAY

Jun 5 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 5 / ATV 4, Kourou, French Guiana: Arianespace set to use Ariane 5 ES rocket designated VA213 to launch 4th ESA Automated Transfer Vehicle, named Albert Einstein, to ISS; 18:52 local time; set to arrive at ISS on Jun 15.

Jun 5 — AIAA, Online: The Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion Webinar.

Jun 5 — AIAA, Online: Abstracts Due: AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (SciTech 2014); to be held Jan 13-17, 2014.

Jun 5-7 — NASA, Worcester MA: NASA’s 2013 Sample Return Robot Challenge; at Worcester Polytechnic Institute; US$1.5M grand prize.

Jun 5-7 — Nagoya University, SKA-Japan Consortium, Nagoya, Japan: Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Science Workshop in East Asia 2013.

THURSDAY

Jun 6 — AIAA, Williamsburg PA: 2013 Aerospace Today and Tomorrow; at Kingsmill Resort.

Jun 6 — von Kármán Institute for Fluid Dynamics, International Academy of Astronautics, Brussels, Belgium: 6th QB50 Workshop; to discuss international network of 50 Cubesats to study temporal and spatial variations of lower thermosphere (90-320-km altitude) and perform other research.

Jun 6 — Moon: 5.3° S of Pleiades, 16:00.

FRIDAY

Jun 7 — CNSA, Launch Long March 2F / Shenzhou 10 & Crew of 3, Jiuquan, Gansu, China: Long March 2F to launch Shenzhou 10 spacecraft with Wang Yaping & 2 Taikonauts TBC to dock with Tiangong-1 space laboratory; if successful will be China 5th human space mission.

Jun 7 — ISS, LEO: In-Flight Event with Italian Networks for the European Space Agency with Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano; 12:35 UT.

Jun 7 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: The Surface Composition of Mercury From MESSENGER Data; presented by Shoshana Weider from Carnegie Institution of Washington; in Lecture Hall of USRA, 15:30 CDT.

Jun 7 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Leroy Chiao; US$49.95 adult.

Jun 7-9 — American Astronautical Society, AIAA, Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., Abilene & Burkett TX: Student CanSat Competition.

Jun 7 — Moon: 1.8° SSE of Mars, 04:00; 3.4° N of Aldebaran, 14:00

Jun 7 — Asteroid 2013 HO11: Near-Earth flyby (0.063 AU).

SATURDAY

Jun 8 — The British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Chinese/Soviet Forum; to hear from / talk to experts on China and Russia Space Programs.

Jun 8-9 — Satellite Applications Catapult Centre, London & Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Satellite Applications Catapult Hackathon; to discuss using space technologies / data to benefit other sectors including healthcare, natural resources, emergency services.

Jun 8-9 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: JPL Open House; Canceled.

Jun 8 — Moon: New Moon, 05:58; 3.2° SSW of Jupiter, 21:00.

SUNDAY

Jun 9 — The Space Show, Online: Dmitriy Tseliakhovich, founder of Escape Dynamics LLC, talks with host Dr. David Livingston.

Jun 9-13 — ESA, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Thun, Switzerland: 21st ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research.

Jun 9 — Moon: 5.3° S of Venus, 23:00.

Jupiter-Bound Juno Spacecraft Enters Next Cruise Phase, Heads Toward Earth Flyby Gravity Assist

The Juno spacecraft is entering ‘Inner Cruise 3′ phase on May 28. During this 161-day period the flight team, including PI Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute and Deputy PI John Connerney of Goddard Space Flight Center, will be focusing on the Earth flyby gravity assist scheduled for October 9. It will bring Juno within an altitude of about 500 km and boost its velocity by 7.3 km per second. Juno will pass behind the Earth as seen from the Sun and its three 9 m X 2.65 m solar arrays will not receive direct sunlight, for the first time, for 20 minutes. Three trajectory correction maneuvers are planned before the flyby and one after to place Juno in its final trajectory for Jupiter. At the time of the flyby, the 1,593-kg spacecraft with 29 sensors, 8 science instruments and 1 color camera will have traveled approximately 1.6B km, which is more than half of the mission route to Jupiter. 27 days after the flyby, on November 5, Juno will enter the final cruise phase, ‘Quiet Cruise,’ which will last 791 days. The US$1.1B NASA project, scheduled to arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016, will help answer some of the many questions about the giant gas planet and its role in the formation of our Solar System. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Japan International Space Tech and Science Symposium With Major Focus on Moon

The 29th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science with the theme ‘Wish It, Dream It, Do It!’ occurs June 2-9 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. The primary objectives are to encourage specialists in the fields of space engineering, space science, space medicine and space law to exchange information and promote space activities. The program includes 3 entire sessions on ‘Missions to the Moon’ chaired by leaders from JAXA and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), including Tatsuaki Hashimoto (T) and Fuyuhiko Kikuchi who are both involved in the SELENE-2 project. The session chaired by Sho Sasaki (B) of NAOJ includes his talk on ‘Sciences of Human Exploration of Lunar Polar Regions,’ as well as ‘The Proposal for the Concept of Lunar Transfer Vehicle’ by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and ‘VOLTEX: A Flying Robot Concept for Exploration of Lava Tubes’ by the PES and RNS Institutes of Technology in India. There is also a forward looking talk by a diverse range of Japan experts on ‘Lunar and Planetary Exploration in the Coming Decade’ billed as an attempt by the community of planetary scientists in Japan to innovate new decision making processes for planetary mission concepts. (Image Credit: JAXA, NASA)

= All times for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mercury (WNW), Venus (WNW), Jupiter (WNW), Saturn (SE).

MONDAY

May 27 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 36 Vinogradov, Misurkin, Cassidy working on new Treadmill with Vibration Isolation System; preparing for arrival of 3 member crew scheduled to dock May 29, 02:17 UT.

May 27 — Kepler, Heliocentric Orbit: In Point Rest State, fuel-efficient mode using thrusters to control pointing of spacecraft, tipping it toward Sun & letting Solar pressure tip it back, resembling pendulum motion.

May 27 — Opportunity, Cape York, Mars: Driving 2.2 km toward ‘Solander Point’ on rim of Endeavour Crater to continue science observations & reach favorable slope before Mars winter daily sunshine minimum occurs Feb 2014.

May 27 — Cassini OTM-350, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #350 today.

May 27 — Sierra Nevada Corp., Edwards CA: NewSpace company preparing for ground & approach-and-landing flight tests of Dream Chaser over next few months at Dryden Flight Research Center.

May 27 — Virgin Galactic, Mojave CA: Working to complete test-flight program, gain FAA license for first flight of SpaceShipTwo on Dec 25; will follow with commercial flights, more than 580 people have signed up.

May 27 — Tethers Unlimited Inc., Bothell WA: Developing ‘SPIDER’ for robotic exploration anchor tethers, ‘Trusselator’ for on-orbit fabrication & integration of solar arrays, 2 other projects under NASA SBIR contracts.

May 27-28 — CNES, Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble, Grenoble, France: Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope (NEAT) 2013 Simulation Workshop; to discuss proposed NEAT mission to detect and characterize planetary systems.

May 27-29 — Russian Academy of Sciences, German Institute of Navigation, IEEE, AIAA, et al, Saint Petersburg, Russia: 20th St. Petersburg International Conference on Integrated Navigation Systems.

May 27-30 — Intelsat, ABE International, ARABSAT, Russian Satellite Communication Co., Johannesburg, South Africa: SatCom Africa 2013; at Sandton Conference Centre.

May 27-31 — `Imiloa Astronomy Center, Hilo HI: Camp `Imi-possible; for kids in grades K-5 to learn about ‘WAI-ology’ – water’s role in inner and outer Solar System.

Continued from…

Feb 14 – Jun 2, 2014 — NASA NSPIRES, Online: Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2013; proposal and submission period for those interested in advancing research concepts and technologies for Space and Earth sciences.

Apr 2 – Jun 5 — NASA, Online: NASA Seeks Academic Partners for Smallsat Technology Collaboration; accepting proposals for small spacecraft (smallsat) projects.

May 20-29 — Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, Brussels, Belgium: Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting 2013 (ATCM XXXVI) & Committee for Environmental Protection Meeting (CEP XXVI).

May 21 – Jul 9 — NASA, Online: Accepting Proposals: Phase II Visionary Advanced Concepts; for cutting-edge ideas to transform future aerospace missions, enable new capabilities, alter approaches to launching, building, operating aerospace systems.

May 23 – Jul 10 — NASA, Online: Accepting Proposals: Summer of Innovation ‘Mini-Awards’; organizations may receive up to US$2.5K to offer students STEM educational experiences.

May 24-27 — Novaspace, Tucson AZ: Spacefest V; to include astronauts, space scientists, space artists, space entrepreneurs; at JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort and Spa; US$50.

TUESDAY

May 28 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: Inner Cruise 2 phase ends today; Inner Cruise 3 phase begins, will last 161 days; team focusing on required maneuvers for upcoming Earth flyby gravity assist Oct 9.

May 28 — National Defense Industry Association – Georgia, Atlanta GA: Georgia Space Port Briefing; at Georgia resource Center.

May 28-29 — AGI, ULA, NRAO, Sinclair Interplanetary, et al, Ithaca NY: iCubeSat 2013 – The 2nd Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop.

May 28-30 — Canadian Astronomical Society, University of British Columbia – Physics and Astronomy Department, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Annual Meeting of the Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA 2013).

May 28 – Jun 7— NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lewes DE: Fermi Summer School 2013; at University of Delaware Conference Center.

May 28 – Aug 2 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Lunar Science Institute, Houston TX: Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program; students earn 50 hours of credit, evaluate possible Moon landing sites for robotic & Human exploration missions.

WEDNESDAY

May 29 — RSA, Launch Soyuz / ISS 35S, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: An RSA Soyuz rocket set to launch members of Expedition 36/37: Karen Nyberg of NASA, Fyodor Yurchikhin of RSA, Luca Parmitano of ESA; 02:31 local time; will dock with ISS after 4 orbits / 6 hours.

May 29 — The British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: The Philosophy of the Starship; symposium featuring Kelvin Long, Keith Cooper, Stephen Ashworth, Bob Parkinson.

May 29 — NASA, Mountain View CA: NASA Research Park Exploration Lecture Series: Designing for User Experience, Health and Sustainability for the Next-Generation Workforce; at Google’s Bay View campus, building 3, 19:00 – 21:00 PDT.

May 29 — Planetary Resources Inc., Seattle WA & Online: Planetary Resources project announcement; to include Peter Diamandis, Eric Anderson, Chris Lewicki; at the Great Gallery in the Museum of Flight, 10:00 PDT.

May 29 — Space Frontier Foundation, Online: Last Day to Apply: 2013 NewSpace Business Plan Competition; entrepreneurs focus on / plan commercial development of space, advance NewSpace movement.

May 29-31 — DLR German Space Operations Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Canadian Space Agency, Munich, Germany: 5th International Conference on Spacecraft Formation Flying Missions and Technologies.

May 29-31 — University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France: 2013 International Primitive body Exploration Working Group (IPEWG) Workshop.

May 29-31 — American Astronautical Society, AIAA, University of Virginia, NOAO, et al, Charlottesville VA: Requirements for UTC and Civil Timekeeping on Earth: A Colloquium Addressing a Continuous Time Standard.

May 29 – Jun 7 — University of Alabama – Huntsville, National Science Foundation, CSPAR, NSF, Huntsville AL: 2013 UAHuntsville Space Weather Summer School.

THURSDAY

May 30-31 — The National Academies, Washington DC: Meeting: Ethics Principles and Guidelines for Health and Safety Standards for Long Duration and Exploration Spaceflights.

May 30 — Asteroid 2013 JR17: Near-Earth flyby (0.096 AU).

FRIDAY

May 31 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Decoding the High-Temperature Origins of Refractory Oxides from Ancient Stars; presented by Tom Zega from University of Arizona; in Lecture Hall of USRA, 15:30 CDT.

May 31 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Mike McCulley; US$49.95 adult.

May 31 – Jun 2 — Silicon Valley Space Center, Space Frontier Foundation, I Dream of Space Co., Mountain View CA: SVSC Space Start-Up Weekend; for spaceflight entrepreneurs.

May 31 — Moon: 5.6° NNW of Neptune, 00:00; at last quarter, 08:59.

May 31 — Asteroid 285263 (1998 QE2): Near-Earth flyby (0.039 AU).

SATURDAY

Jun 1 — Deep Space, Ceres Trajectory: Dawn spacecraft, running ion propulsion system trajectory thrusters, is now about 11.9M km from Vesta and 54.8M km / 615 days from Ceres approach.

Jun 1 — NASA, Rockledge FL: Contract to Modify Mobile Launcher with potential of US$20.7M goes to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. to modify the mobile launcher that will enable Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket to send Humans into space.

Jun 1 — NASA, Oak Ridge TN: Environmental Compliance and Operations Contract with potential of US$80M goes to Navarro Research and Engineering Inc. to provide environmental compliance and restoration services for White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces NM.

Jun 1 — NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland OH: Free 1-hour tour of 8-by-6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel; first tour starts 10:00 EDT.

Jun 1 — Federation of Galaxy Explorers, Arlington VA: 2013 Galaxy Ball; Space Leadership Award goes to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

Jun 1 — Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station, Mauna Kea HI: The Universe Tonight: Smithsonian Submillimeter Array; at 2,800-meter altitude on Mauna Kea, 18:00 HST.

Jun 1 — Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC: Buzz Aldrin Book Signing – Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration; 11:00 EDT.

Jun 1 — DIYRockets Inc., Sunglass Co., Shapeways Inc., Online: Design Due: 3D Printed Rocket Challenge; final design due for competition to design 3D printed rocket engine that could carry nano-satellites into space.

Jun 1-2 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Exoplanet Exploration Program (EXOPAG) 8 Meeting; Canceled.

Jun 1 — Asteroid 2013 JU22: Near-Earth flyby (0.052 AU).

Jun 1 — Asteroid 2011 BM45: Near-Earth flyby (0.075 AU).

Jun 1 — Asteroid 2013 JT17: Near-Earth flyby (0.098 AU).

SUNDAY

Jun 2 — The Space Show, Online: Dr. Bill Rowe, specializing in astronaut cardiovascular health & medicine, talks with host Dr. David Livingston.

Jun 2 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Model Rocket Launches; up to 609-meter altitude; 13:00 – 14:00 EDT.

Jun 2-6 — American Astronomical Society, Indianapolis IN: 222nd Meeting of the AAS; at Indiana Convention Center; expecting more than 500 professional astronomers, educators, journalists, space enthusiasts.

Jun 2-9 — JAXA, Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan: 29th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science.

Jun 2 — Moon: 3.8° NNW of Uranus, 14:00.

NSS 32nd ISDC & Spacefest V Advancing Space Exploration and Interest

The National Space Society hosts the 32nd Annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC) on May 23-27 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla in San Diego, California, USA. The theme is ‘Global Collaboration in 21st Century Space.’ With the focus on humans becoming a Multi-World species this century, ISDC aims to promote innovative ideas and networks for space transportation, policies, technologies, advocacy and education. Over 117 speakers include Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (TL), GLXP Senior Director Alexandra Hall (TR), Deep Space Industries CEO David Gump (ML) and Professor at the University of Advancing Technology Natasha Vita-More. The opening keynote speaker will be Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp (MR). Spacefest V will be held in Tucson, Arizona, USA on May 24-27 at the Starr Pass Resort and Spa. Sponsored by Novaspace, this event brings together scientists, astronauts, astronomers, space enthusiasts and artists to discuss human / robotic exploration, commercial space industry, space history and astronomy. There will be more than 35 speakers and 15 astronauts including Gemini 9 and Apollo 10 & 17 Astronaut Gene Cernan (BR), Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla, Journalist at Space.com Leonard David and Team Leader of Cassini-Saturn Imaging Dr. Carolyn Porco. (Image Credit: NSS, Novaspace, NASA, Discovery Enterprise)

Canada Hosts Events on Space Exploration, Industry and Enterprise

The 6th International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety Conference “Safety is Not an Option” takes place on May 21-23 at the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event is organized in cooperation with the International Space Safety Foundation and includes sessions on 3 topics that deserve increased attention: Space Debris Remediation, International Space Traffic Control, and Commercial Human Spaceflight Safety. The Manfred Lachs Conference on the Regulation of Emerging Modes of Aerospace Transpiration is on May 24-25 at McGill with support of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Featuring seven sessions and a gala dinner, the meeting aims to: assess current status / future plans for aerospace transportation, examine regulatory challenges to aerospace vehicles, and suggest viable policy and regulatory mechanisms to facilitate aerospace transportation / ensure safety of global aviation. Particularly vexing to current frameworks are emerging systems for point-to-point transportation capable of seamless operation within both airspace and outer space. Galaxy Forum Canada 2013 – ‘Human Moon Missions: Giant Steps into the Galaxy’ on May 25 in Vancouver, BC brings together Leaders and Innovators working on projects to extend Human exploration and enterprise to the Moon. These steps toward Galaxy / Solar System competence should bring great opportunities and rewards not only for those who choose to push boundaries on the Space frontier, but for everyone on Earth. (Image Credit: IAASS, ILOA)

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

MONDAY

May 20 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 36 with Vinogradov as Commander preparing for 3 member crew scheduled to arrive May 29, 02:17 UT, exercising for 2.5 hours per day, performing routine maintenance.

May 20 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: Spacecraft is now 141 days and 78M km from Earth flyby gravity assist which will boost velocity by 26,280 kph.

May 20 — Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Orbit: HiRISE camera images indicating more than 200 small asteroids / bits of comets less than 1-2 m in diameter hit Mars every year forming craters at least 3.9-m across.

May 20 — Aquaporin Space Alliance, Copenhagen, Denmark: NewSpace Co. commercializing Aquaporin Inside membranes for spacesuit drinking water, cooling of spacecraft systems, purification of water from other planetary bodies.

May 20 — Able Space Corp., Denver CO: Planning to develop small suborbital rockets, also liquid-propellant test-stand capable of withstanding 4,448 N for under US$2,000.

May 20 — Newton Launch Systems Ltd, London, United Kingdom: Undertaking a 6-month study for technical, economic feasibility of a UK-based small satellite / spacecraft launcher.

May 20 — Sally Ride Science Foundation, Kennedy Center, NASA, Washington DC: A National Tribute to Sally Ride; to promote STEM education; at John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

May 20 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Engineering Colloquium Series: The Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD); presented by Don Boroson of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 15:30 EDT; free.

May 20 — National Geographic Society, Online: Google+ Hangout with Buzz Aldrin and Conrad Anker; 19:00 UT.

May 20-21 — NASA Astrobiology Institute, Sydney, Australia: The Hadean Earth-Moon System.

May 20-21 — Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge MA: Exoplanets in the Post-Kepler Era; presented by Dave Latham.

May 20-22 — International Space University, Haifa, Israel: ISU@Technion-Israel; 3-day interdisciplinary space course; US$657 (€500).

May 20-22 — UC Davis, Swig Foundation, Davis CA: Davis Cosmic Frontiers Conference: Mining the Cosmic Frontier in the Planck Era.

May 20-24 — International Astronomical Union, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lijiang, Yunnan, China: IAU Symposium 298: Setting the Scene of Gaia and LAMOST – The Current and Next Generations of Surveys and Models.

May 20-24 — NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Titusville FL: NASA 4th Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition; for university-level students to design / build innovative excavators (Lunabots) able to mine and deposit at least 10 kg of lunar simulant within 10 minutes.

May 20-26 — Washington University – St. Louis, St Louis MO: WUSTL lunar exploration events; featuring Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison Schmitt, Human Moon exploration forum, 3-day Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Cameras science meeting.

May 20-29 — Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, Brussels, Belgium: Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting 2013 (ATCM XXXVI) & Committee for Environmental Protection Meeting (CEP XXVI).

Continued from…

Apr 4 – Oct 25 — NASA, Online: 2014 Night Rover Challenge; for researchers to create energy storage system allowing simulated lunar rover to operate at average 85 W throughout 14-day-long lunar night, exceed a minimum of 300 W-hrs/kg.

Apr 10 – Jul 16 — JAXA, Online: Send Names / Messages to Asteroid 1999 JU3 on Hayabusa2 Spacecraft; accepting public submissions of names / messages to ride aboard spacecraft launching to asteroid in 2014.

Apr 24 – Aug 5 — AIAA, NASA, Online: Accepting abstracts for SpaceOps 2014: Exploring Innovation; 13th International Conference on Space Operations to occur May 5-9, 2014.

Apr 29 – Aug 14 — Icarus Interstellar Co., Online: Registration Period for Icarus Interstellar Starship Congress on Aug 15-18.

May 1 – Jul 1 — University of Colorado – Boulder, Online: Send Your Name & Message to Mars; contest to send name / message to Mars aboard MAVEN spacecraft launching between Nov 18 – Dec 7; winners announced Aug 8.

TUESDAY

May 21 — NASA Stennis Space Center, Stennis Space Center MS: Quarterly Meeting of the Stennis Business Consortium.

May 21-22 — UC San Diego, Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, San Diego CA: Starship Century Symposium 2013; to discuss challenges / opportunities for humankind’s long‐term future in space; featuring Peter Schwartz, Geoffrey Landis, Adam Crowl, more.

May 21-23 — Chinese Society of Astronautics, International Academy of Astronautics, Shanghai, China: 5th CSA-IAA Conference on Advanced Space Systems & Applications: New Era for Space Science and Technology.

May 21-23 — Polytechnic University of Turin, Thales Alenia Space, ASI, ESA, JAXA, NASA, Turin, Italy: 4th International Workshop on Verification and Testing of Space Systems.

May 21-23 — International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, International Space Safety Foundation, ESA, JAXA, CNES, Canadian Space Agency, NASA, Montreal, Quebec, Canada: 6th IAASS Conference: Safety is Not an Option.

May 21-23 — Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Smartershows, Long Beach CA: Space Technology Expo: Design – Build – Test; at Long Beach Convention Center.

May 21-23 — ESA, IEEE Electron Devices Society, Paris, France: 14th IEEE International Vacuum Electronics Conference; special session includes space technologies and applications of vacuum electron devices.

May 21-23 — NASA Lunar Science Institute, Online: NLSI Workshop Without Walls: Lunar Volatiles Part 1; virtual meeting to present / discuss latest research regarding volatiles on Moon.

May 21 — Asteroid 2012 FC71: Near-Earth flyby (0.057 AU).

WEDNESDAY

May 22 — ISS, Online: Expedition 36 In-Flight Event with Florida Today, USA Today and the Florida Institute of Technology; 14:50 UT.

May 22 — Scaled Composites LLC, Mojave CA: Current FAA Commercial Space Transportation Experimental Permit allowing unlimited number of launches of SpaceShipTwo reusable suborbital rocket utilizing White Knight Two carrier aircraft expires today; new permit to communicate future allowances, provide for additional testing.

May 22 — ESA, Frascati, Italy: Inauguration of ESA’s Near Earth Object Coordination Centre at ESRIN; media briefing begins 14:30 local time.

May 22 — W. M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela HI: MOSFIRE: A Powerful New Astronomy Tool at the W. M. Keck Observatory; free lecture by Ian McLean of UCLA; at Kahilu Theater, 19:00 HST.

May 22 — Library of Congress – Science, Technology and Business Division, Washington DC: Lecture: How to Manage a Satellite Going 17 Thousand Miles per Hour; with speaker Steve Covington of NASA.

May 22 — NASA, Houston TX: Space Station Social; for 30 social media followers to experience Johnson Space Center, learn about ISS research and ground facilities.

May 22 — San Diego Air and Space Museum, San Diego CA: Buzz Aldrin Book Signing – Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration; 17:00 – 20:00 PDT; US$29 for Museum entrance.

May 22-24 — ESA, Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Belgium Federal Science Policy Office, Brussels, Belgium: Space Environment Information System (SPENVIS) User Workshop 2013.

May 22 — Moon: 0.54° WNW of Spica, 00:00; 3.7° SSW of Saturn, 20:00.

May 22 — Asteroid 2013 JK14: Near-Earth flyby (0.059 AU).

THURSDAY

May 23 — ISS, Online: Expedition 36 In-Flight Educational Event with the Talbot Innovation Middle School in Fall River, MA; 14:05 UT.

May 23 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Titan fly-by scheduled at 970-km altitude.

May 23 — Sustainable Silicon Valley, NASA Ames Research Center, Microsoft, et al, Moffett Field CA: Solutions Fair and 2013 WEST Summit; showcasing competition winners’ proposals on ways space research / technology can create global-sustainability solutions.

May 23-25 — The National Academies, NASA, Washington DC: Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science Meeting.

May 23-27 — National Space Society, San Diego CA: 32nd Annual International Space Development Conference; at Hyatt Regency La Jolla; featuring Bas Lansdorp, Dr. Robert Kerr, Bob Richards, Dan Lester, Dr. Robert Piccioni.

May 23 — Asteroid 163364 (2002 OD20): Near-Earth flyby (0.039 AU).

FRIDAY

May 24 — Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson KS: Opening of SpaceWorks Observation Gallery; public invited to view Apollo Saturn V F-1 rocket engines recently recovered by Bezos Expeditions.

May 24 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, John Blaha; US$49.95 adult.

May 24-25 — McGill Institute of Air and Space Law, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Association for Advancement of Space Safety, Montreal, Quebec, Canada: 2013 Manfred Lachs Conference on the Regulation of Emerging Modes of Aerospace Transportation.

May 24-26 — Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Southland Astronomical Society, Invercargill, New Zealand: 2013 RASNZ Conference; at Ascot Park Hotel.

May 24-27 — Novaspace, Tucson AZ: Spacefest V; to include astronauts, space scientists, space artists, space entrepreneurs; at JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort and Spa; US$50.

May 24 — Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: Penumbral eclipse starts 17:53, ends 18:26; will be visually imperceptible due to the small entry into the penumbral shadow.

May 24 — Moon: Full (Planting / Milk Moon), 14:26.

SATURDAY

May 25 — International Lunar Observatory Association, Space Age Publishing Co., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Galaxy Forum Canada – Vancouver: Human Moon Missions: Giant Steps into the Galaxy; featuring Alain Berinstain, Steve Durst, John Chapman, Bob Richards, Alan Stern, Jim Keravala.

May 25 — Astronuts Kids’ Space Club, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada: 2nd Annual What’s Up in Space Event; featuring CSA Astronaut David Williams and models of Canadarm & Dextre robot.

May 25-26 — Austrian Ministry for Science and Research, Technical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria: MARS2013 Science Workshop; to discuss data from Ibn Battuta Center integrated Mars analog field simulation.

May 25-26 — SpaceUp, French Aeronautics and Astronautics Society (3AF), Paris, France: SpaceUp Paris; Paris’ first SpaceUp, the “unconference” where participants decide space issues / topics to discuss, schedule and structure of event.

May 25 — Moon: 6.6° N of Antares, 03:00; at perigee (distance 358,377 km), 16:00.

SUNDAY

May 26 — The Space Show, Online: Multiple guests including Bill Gaubatz & Cathy Harper discuss the DC-X First Flight 20th Anniversary with host Dr. David Livingston.

May 26 – Jun 16 — Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen CO: Workshop: The Obscured Universe: Dust and Gas in Distant Starburst Galaxies.

May 26 — Asteroid 2012 KF25: Near-Earth flyby (0.079 AU).

Latin America Advancing Geophysics, Space Technology, Astrophysics and Education

The American Geophysical Union ‘Meeting of the Americas’ brings together Earth and space scientists, educators, students and other leaders on May 14-17 in Cancun, Mexico. Members of the Program Committee include Ricardo Trindade from the University of Sao Paulo (Planetary Sciences), Blanca Mendoza of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Space Physics and Aeronomy) and Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla representing NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (SPA-Heliospheric Physics). The 7th Argentine Congress on Space Technology takes place on May 15-17 in Mendoza, Argentina. Organized by the Argentina Association of Space Technology and the National University of Cuyo, co-sponsored by the AIAA, the event features almost 100 presentations over 9 technical sessions. The International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) is working with leading astrophysics institutions to advance Galaxy 21st Century education in Latin America. The Hawai`i based non-profit, with the mission to expand human understanding of the Cosmos through observation from our Moon, is conducting Galaxy Forum Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on May 14, following up a successful Galaxy Forum Chile in Santiago on May 10. (Image Credit: AGU, NOAA, AATE, ILOA)

A. C. Clarke Center Public Launch Events: Inaugural Symposium & Starship Century Symposium

The Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination (ACCCHI) is hosting an inaugural symposium titled ‘Visions of the Future’ on May 14 at the Atkinson Hall of the University of California, San Diego. Inspired by Clarke’s imagining of 2001 in 1968, this free symposium will serve as a platform to discuss science 33 years from now with the understanding that human imagination can advance all aspects of societies. The 14 speakers include Director of ACCCHI Sheldon Brown, Assistant Professor of UCSD’s Department of Cognitive Science Ayse Saygin and Director of the Center for Transformative Media at Parsons The New School for Design Edward Keller. On May 21-22, ACCCHI will host Starship Century Symposium 2013 in collaboration with authors Gregory and James Benford. It asks the questions: Is this the century we build Starships? Why go to the stars? Can we? Should we? Geoffrey Landis of NASA will speak on ‘The Nuclear Rocket: Workhorse of the Solar System,’ Artist / Journalist Jon Lomberg will present ‘Becoming Galactic’ and Jill Tartar of SETI Institute moderates the ‘Getting to the Stars’ panel. The annual International Space Development Conference, also in San Diego, will be on May 23-27. (Image Credit: ACCCHI, UCSD)

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

MONDAY

May 13 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 34/35 members Chris Hadfield, Roman Romanenko, Tom Marshburn returning to Earth; May 13 undocking scheduled 23:08 UT, May 14 Kazakhstan landing 02:30, live coverage available.

May 13 — Herschel, Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange Point: Observing 1,000° C gas in center of Milky Way which black hole Sagittarius A* may be devouring.

May 13 — Curiosity, Yellowknife Bay, Mars: Mission team preparing to move rover to ‘Cumberland’ rock 2.75 meters west of ‘John Klein’ rock in order to drill / perform experiments.

May 13 — Golden Spike Co., Boulder CO: NewSpace company beginning to solidify Human lunar lander technology concepts with completed feasibility study by Northrop Grumman.

May 13 — SpaceX, Las Cruces NM: Preparing to move Grasshopper reusable rocket prototype to Spaceport America to begin high-altitude tests; signed 3-year agreement to lease land / facilities.

May 13 — Spaceport Sweden, Kiruna, Sweden: Finalizing commercial spaceflight program utilizing Dynamic Flight Simulator with unique G profiles which may be used in future commercial space vehicles.

May 13 — NASA, Washington DC: NASA to Mark 40th Anniversary of Skylab and Life Off Earth; televised roundtable discussion featuring Skylab and current astronauts, space missions agency managers; starts 14:30 EDT.

May 13 — The Space Show, Online: Buzz Aldrin talks about his book, Mission to Mars, with host Dr. David Livingston.

May 13 — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, Austria: Gagarin, First in Space; screening of video documentary; daughter of Yuri Gagarin, Yelena Y. Gagarina, will be present.

May 13-15 — Astrophysics Laboratory of Marseille, Marseille, France: Planet Validation Workshop; to discuss Kepler, future exoplanet missions, observations and data modeling, planetary systems, galactic structure.

May 13-17 — University of Granada Galactic Astrophysics Group, Granada, Spain: Workshop: The Role of Bars in Galaxy Evolution.

May 13 — Moon: At apogee (distance 405,386 km), 04:00.

Continued from…

Jan 19 – May 18 — University of California at Riverside ARTSblock Program, Riverside CA: Free Enterprise: The Art of Citizen Space Exploration; art exhibit with NewSpace movement theme.

Mar 26 – May 29 — Space Frontier Foundation, Online: 2013 NewSpace Business Plan Competition; to help entrepreneurs focus on / plan commercial development of space, advance NewSpace movement.

Apr 2 – Jun 5 — NASA, Online: NASA Seeks Academic Partners for Smallsat Technology Collaboration; accepting proposals for small spacecraft (smallsat) projects.

Apr 4 – Oct 25 — NASA, Online: 2014 Night Rover Challenge; for researchers to create energy storage system allowing simulated lunar rover to operate at average 85 W throughout 14-day-long lunar night, exceed a minimum of 300 W-hrs/kg.

Apr 10 – Jul 16 — JAXA, Online: Send Names / Messages to Asteroid 1999 JU3 on Hayabusa2 Spacecraft; accepting public submissions of names / messages to ride aboard spacecraft launching to asteroid in 2014.

TUESDAY

May 14 — International Launch Services, Launch Proton / Eutelsat 3D, Baikonur Cosmodrone, Kazakhstan: A Proton Rocket to deliver Eutelsat 3D communications satellite to provide services to Europe and Africa; 22:02 local time.

May 14 — Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, San Diego CA: Arthur C. Clarke Center Inaugural Symposium: Visions of the Future; to include The Literary Imagination; held in conjunction with Starship Century Symposium 2013 on May 21-22.

May 14 — International Lunar Observatory Association, Space Age Publishing Co., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Galaxy Forum South America – Brazil: Galaxy Education and Galaxy Enterprise in the 21st Century; free / open to public.

May 14 — National Space Club Florida Committee, Cape Canaveral FL: Luncheon at the Radisson Resort at the Port; to provide information on space activities; featuring Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana; US$17-20.

May 14-15 — Federal Aviation Administration, Washington DC: COMSTAC Open Meeting.

May 14-17 — American Geophysical Union, Brazil National Scientific and Technical Society of Geophysicists, LatinMag, Geochemical Society, Cancun, Mexico: AGU: Meeting of the Americas.

May 14-17 — Applied Technologies Institute, Littleton CO: Space Mission Structures: From Concept to Launch Course; conducted by Tom Safarin and Poti Doukas; US$1,990.

May 14 — Moon: 11.5° SSW of Pollux, 22:00.

WEDNESDAY

May 15-16 — University of Geneva, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland: First Characterizing Exoplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) Science Workshop.

May 15-17 — Argentina Association of Space Technology, National University of Cuyo, Professional Council of Aeronautic and Space Engineering, AIAA, Mendoza, Argentina: 7th Argentine Congress on Space Technology.

May 15-17 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: 12th Symposium on Advanced Space Technologies in Robotics and Automation (ASTRA 2013); at European Space Research and Technology Centre.

May 15-18 — ESA, NASA, JAXA, DLR, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan: Heavy Ion in Therapy and Space Radiation Symposium 2013; to include 24th Annual NASA Space Radiation Health Investigators’ Workshop, 5th ESA Space Radiation Investigators’ Meeting, more.

May 15 — Asteroid 2010 LF14: Near-Earth flyby (0.096 AU).

THURSDAY

May 16-23 — RR Auction Inc., Amherst NH: Space and Aviation Autograph and Artifact Auction.

May 16 — Moon: 6.5° SSW of Beehive Cluster, 04:00.

May 16 — Asteroid 2013 HT15: Near-Earth flyby (0.045 AU).

FRIDAY

May 17 — NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston TX: Media Invited to Speak with Samuel Ting, Principal Investigator for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

May 17 — `Imiloa Astronomy Center, University of Hawai`i – Hilo, Hilo HI: Mauna Kea Skies Talk; astronomers from Mauna Kea observatories speak about recent discoveries; this session features Institute for Astronomy Hilo Telescope; 19:00 HST, US$8-10.

May 17 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Ken Cameron; US$49.95 adult.

May 17-18 — UK Astronomers Ltd., Sky at Night Magazine, Warwickshire, United Kingdom: International Astronomy Show.

May 17-19 — NASA, Covington KY: ‘Driven to Explore’ traveling exhibit.

May 17 — Moon: At first quarter, 18:35; 5.6° SSW of Regulus, 23:00.

SATURDAY

May 18 — International Academy of Astronautics, Beijing, China: IAA Academy Day.

SUNDAY

May 19 — Cassini OTM-349, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #349 today.

May 19 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Sunday Experiment: James Webb Telescope; for families to learn about current / future science missions managed by NASA Goddard; in Auditorium and Science Center/Sphere, 13:00 – 15:00 EDT.

H2M Summit Advances 2030 Human Mars Mission with Collaboration and Discussion

The Human to Mars (H2M) Summit will be taking place at George Washington University in Washington D.C. on May 6-8. Sponsored by Explore Mars Inc., George Washington University Space Policy Institute, Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and others, this conference will address the feasibility of sending humans to Mars by 2030 on technical, scientific and policy-related levels. Some of the 85 expert speakers are GWU’s Pascale Ehrenfreund (L), Apollo Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (CL), NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (CR), Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Kathy Nado (R) and Space Launch Systems Program Manager Todd May. Panel topics include Mars Precursor Missions, Mission Architecture and Transportation, Propulsion Options, and Living on Mars: Habitation and Life Support Challenges. Alain Ouellet from Canadian Space Agency, Bernhard Hufenbach from ESA and Manabu Kato from JAXA will speak during the May 8 International Cooperation Panel. NASA is developing the SLS heavy-lift rocket / Orion space capsule to support the goal of Human exploration of other planets. Commercial companies, such as Mars One, Inspiration Mars and SpaceX, and international space agencies including Russia, India, China, Europe and Japan are also developing technologies / Mars mission programs which will be vital toward making Human Mars missions, and Human Jupiter missions, a reality. (Image Credit: Explore Mars, NASA, Getty Images, NSS)

Sub-Orbital Spaceflight: Proving Tech for Future Missions to LEO, Deep Space

With SpaceShipTwo roaring to life supersonic over Mojave Air and Space Port things are looking up for the suborbital space tourism sector. This is a major step toward qualification and licensing ahead of Virgin Galactic operational flights expected early 2014. The Hybrid Rocket Motor, main oxidizer valve and other major subsystem components propelling Branson’s 2-pilot, 6-passenger craft are supplied by Sierra Nevada Corporation — boosting prospects for native application of similar systems in the SNC Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle scheduled for test flights in 2014. Scaled Composites, founded by Burt Rutan, builds the spacecraft and the mother ship White Night Two — it is also working on the carrier aircraft for Stratolaunch System’s orbital launcher project. The Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference is set for June 3-5 in Broomfield, CO and themed ‘The Year Spaceflights Begin.’ The distinguished list of Keynote speakers includes two astronauts and top names from NASA, FAA, Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Challenger Center and other major organizations. The conference provides briefings from and networking with flight providers like VG and XCOR. The International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight will be October 16-17 in Las Cruces, NM. It features top thought leaders and cutting-edge technologies with commercial spaceflight applications. These parabolic enterprises will garner technical, financial and operational experience that can be transferred to orbital and interplanetary vehicles of the near future, while also keeping the public’s imagination directed upward with stellar aspirations. (Image Credit: VG, SNC, Scaled Composites)

= All times for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Venus (WNW), Jupiter (W), Saturn (SE).

MONDAY

May 6 — ISS, LEO: Commander Hadfield, Flight Engineers Marshburn & Romanenko packing items for May 14 return to Earth; RSA Cosmonauts working with Matryoshka experiment to measure radiation exposure.

May 6 — Kepler, Heliocentric Orbit: Reaction wheel #4 exhibiting signs of elevated friction & torque levels, indicates bearing deterioration; engineering team developing plan if wheel should fail.

May 6 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: Spacecraft, about 78M km from Earth, is traveling 24 km per second with 4.7 minute one-way radio signal, completed about 40% of total distance to Jupiter insertion.

May 6 — Bigelow Aerospace LLC, Las Vegas NV: NewSpace company with NASA Space Act Agreement conducting study of ways company can contribute to missions beyond LEO (to be complete in 100 days).

May 6 — Blue Origin LLC, Kent WA: Testing / analyzing 444,822 newtons BE-3 liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen rocket engine; manufacturing subscale booster propellant tank.

May 6 — Skybox Imaging Inc., Mountain View CA: Planning to launch first satellites SkySat-1 & 2 this year to provide Earth images within a few hours; want constellation of 24 within 5 years.

May 6-7 — Global Science and Technology Forum, Singapore: 1st Annual International Conference on Space Environment & Aviation Technology (SEAT 2013); topics include aerospace & aviation community, atmospheric / space / planetary environment, space weather.

May 6-8 — Explore Mars Inc., George Washington University Space Policy Institute, Washington DC: The Humans to Mars Summit (H2M); to include Buzz Aldrin, Charles Bolden, Dennis Tito; at GW Lisner Auditorium.

May 6-8 — Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, Campbell River, Vancouver Island, Canada: CFHT 10th Users’ Meeting 2013; to discuss recent accomplishments and future challenges.

May 6-8 — NRAO, Associated Universities Inc., NSF, Charlottesville VA: Radio Astronomy in the LSST Era; to discuss Large Synoptic Survey Telescope radio wavelength observations.

May 6 — Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak: The 1st of 2 showers that occur each year as result of Earth passing through dust released by Halley’s Comet; meteors appear to radiate from Constellation Aquarius, 30 per hour likely, visible in N. & S. Hemisphere.

Continued from…

Apr 2 – May 21 — NASA, Online: Early Stage Innovation NASA Research Announcement; requesting technology proposals for science instruments, cryogenic propellant storage, optical coatings, oxygen recovery, NEA protection / understanding.

Apr 22 – Aug 31 — Mars One, Online: Accepting applications from those interested in one-way ticket to Mars to set up permanent Human settlement; US$38 to apply.

Apr 24 – Aug 5 — AIAA, NASA, Online: Accepting abstracts for SpaceOps 2014: Exploring Innovation; 13th International Conference on Space Operations to occur May 5-9, 2014.

Apr 29 – Aug 14 — Icarus Interstellar Co., Online: Registration Period for Icarus Interstellar Starship Congress on Aug 15-18.

May 1 – Jul 1 — University of Colorado – Boulder, Online: Send Your Name & Message to Mars; contest to send name / message to Mars aboard MAVEN spacecraft launching between Nov 18 – Dec 7; winners announced Aug 8.

May 5-8 — The Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium, Space Resources Roundtable, Canadian Institute of Mining, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 4th Annual PTMSS/SRR Symposium; in conjunction with CIM 2013 Convention.

May 5-9 — American Astronomical Society Division on Dynamical Astronomy, Paraty, Brazil: 2013 Meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division on Dynamical Astronomy.

TUESDAY

May 7 — ISS, LEO: In-Flight Event with Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Science and Space; 17:05 UT; live coverage available.

May 7 — International Space University, Strasbourg, France: MSc13 Team Project Final Presentations; students report on areas of importance to future of space exploration.

May 7 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium: The Next Generation of Radio Telescopes; presented by Geoffrey Bower from UC Berkeley; 12:00 PDT.

May 7-8 — Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology, Space Systems Loral, Global VSAT Forum, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Global Space and Satellite Forum; in conjunction with Milsatcom Middle East.

WEDNESDAY

May 8 — ESA, European Space Policy Institute, Vienna Business Agency, et al, Vienna, Austria: From Space to Business: The Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) Programme.

May 8 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: 2001 Mars Odyssey Project Science Group Meeting.

May 8 — AIAA, Washington DC: 2013 Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala; honoring influential, inspiring individuals in aerospace industry.

May 8-10 — Pagnanelli Risk Solutions Ltd., Arianespace, ESA, NASA, ASI, DLR, Rome, Italy: 17th International Space Conference: The Impact of Space Weather and Space Exploitation on Modern Society – Hazards’ Forecasting, Prevention, Mitigation and Insurance at an International Level.

THURSDAY

May 9 — NASA, Online: Live Interview with Expedition 36/37 NASA Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg in Star City, Russia; 14:00 local time.

May 9, 10 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: The von Kármán Lecture Series: Radar Imaging of Near Earth Asteroids; featuring Dr. Lance Benner of JPL.

May 9-10 — NASTAR Center, Southampton PA: Basic Suborbital Space Training; to include classroom academics, simulated flight exposures.

May 9 — Annular Solar Eclipse: Moon’s apparent disk is just smaller than Sun’s, making Sun appears as a brilliant ring; highly visible in Australia & S. Pacific Ocean; greatest eclipse to occur at 15:52.

May 9 — Moon: 0.75° NE of Mars, 05:00; 0.81° ENE of Mercury, 11:00; New Moon, 14:31.

FRIDAY

May 10 — International Lunar Observatory Association, Space Age Publishing Co., University of Chile, Santiago, Chile: Galaxy Forum South America – Chile: Galaxy Education and Galaxy Enterprise in the 21st Century.

May 10 — Royal Astronomical Society, London, United Kingdom: RAS Specialist Discussion Meeting: Observation, Evolution and Origin of Planetary Satellites; at Piccadilly Burlington House.

May 10 — College of Marin, NASA, Kentfield CA: Free Lecture: Adam Steltzner, Chief Engineer of the Mars Rover Project.

May 10 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Scientific Colloquium: Hubble at 23; by Jennifer Wiseman.

May 10 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, John-David Bartoe; US$49.95 adult.

May 10 — Moon: 5.3° SSE of Pleiades, 12:00; 1.4° S of Venus, 14:00.

May 10 — Asteroid 1988 TA: Near-Earth flyby (0.034 AU).

SATURDAY

May 11 — Aerospace Industries Association, National Association of Rocketry, The Plains VA: Team America Rocketry Contest.

May 11 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: Educator Workshop: How to Think Like a NASA Scientist; at JPL Theodore von Kármán Auditorium, 08:30 – 16:30 PDT.

May 11 — AIAA – San Francisco, Exploratorium Museum, San Francisco CA: Day at the Museum; for K-12 students to investigate the Exploratorium.

May 11 — Moon: 3.5° N of Aldebaran, 10:00.

SUNDAY

May 12 — ISS, LEO: Live Coverage of ISS Expedition 35/36 Change of Command Ceremony; Chris Hadfield hands over ISS command to Pavel Vinogradov, 19:40 UT.

May 12 — The Space Show, Online: Tom Olson and Jeff Krukin discuss Exodus Consulting Group (created for NewSpace industry) with host Dr. David Livingston.

May 12 — Moon: 2.6° S of Jupiter, 04:00.

Second Vega Rocket Launch Marks Several Firsts

The second Vega Rocket, designated flight VV02, is scheduled to launch via Arianespace launch providers on May 3 at 23:06 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. It will use the Vespa dual-payload adapter for the first time to hold ESA’s 160-kg Proba-V Earth observation satellite and Vietnam’s first Earth observation satellite VNREDSat-1A, a 120-kg spacecraft built by EADS Astrium for the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology. The 30-meter tall, single-body launcher with three solid rocket stages and a liquid rocket upper module will also carry Estonia’s first CubeSat, ESTCube-1 built by University of Tartu students to test electric solar wind sail technology. This launch is the first of five €400M (US$520M) ESA-sponsored Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment (VERTA) program flights. VERTA are planned to launch at least twice per year and deploy 3 additional ESA missions: ADM-Aeolus, LISA Pathfinder and Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV). These five flights also serve to test the launcher’s capabilities and dependability before offering €320M (US$416M) commercial launches. Vega’s first commercial contracts are for ESA’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security satellites Sentinel-2 and 3, scheduled for launches 2014–16. (Image Credit: ESA, EADS Astrium, University of Tartu)

Canada Events Advance Astronautics, Space Commerce, Mining Sciences

The Canadian Aeronautics & Space Institute holds the 60th Aeronautics Conference and Annual General Meeting, themed ‘Aerospace Clusters: Where Are We Headed,’ on April 30 – May 2 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The technical program features six Symposia, including Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies, Aerospace Structures and Materials, Human Factors and Propulsion. There will also be a special Women in Aerospace Reception with guest speaker Karen Deme, Test Pilot at Bombardier Aerospace. The next Canadian Space Commerce Association bimonthly meeting in Toronto on Thursday May 2 features keynote speaker Dr. Yaroslav Pustovyi, a former Ukraine astronaut candidate, speaking about his experiences in astronaut training and perspectives on the changing role of research astronauts in the new commercial spaceflight era. The 4th annual joint Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium / Space Resources Roundtable will be held in conjunction with the Canadian Institute of Mining 2013 Convention at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on May 5-8. The purpose is to promote closer collaboration between space and mining sectors. Three major themes will drive the conference: Solid Planetology, Resource Extraction & Utilization, and Commercialization. (Image Credit: CASI, PTMSS, NASA)

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

MONDAY

Apr 29 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 35 crew transferring 22 kg of oxygen, 26 kg of air, 420 kg of water, 800 kg of propellant, 1,580 kg of spare parts from Progress 51P resupply vehicle; continuing work with Robonaut 2.

Apr 29 — WISE, LEO: Viewing 6B-light-year distant Galaxy SDSSJ1506+54 rapidly converting fuel into stars with almost 100% efficiency, emitting infrared light equivalent to more than 100B times energy of Sun.

Apr 29 — Herschel, Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange Point: Spectral images providing evidence that Jupiter has 2-3 times more water in S. Hemisphere due to 1994 impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Apr 29 — Garvey Spacecraft Corp., Long Beach CA: NewSpace company continuing to launch / test P-18D rocket; next goals include implementing thrust vector control and conducting flights above 100 km.

Apr 29 — LiftPort Group, Port Orchard WA: Working to develop Lunar Elevator, testing vectran string attached to atmospheric balloons and designing climbing robots.

Apr 29 — Kentucky Space LLC, Lexington KY: Assisting space entrepreneurs / innovations through newly-created Space Tango business accelerator; will begin by investing in up to 6 USA companies.

Apr 29 — Virgin Galactic, Mojave CA: SpaceShipTwo powered flight scheduled today, hoping to break sound barrier.

Apr 29 — The Space Show, Online: Ed Wright, Project Manager for Citizens in Space, talks with host Dr. David Livingston.

Apr 29-30 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Washington DC: Advisory Council Science Committee, Planetary Protection Subcommittee Meeting.

Apr 29 — Asteroid 242643 (2005 NZ6): Near-Earth flyby (0.064 AU).

Continued from…

Apr 1 – May 1 — NASA, Online: The eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge 2014; for university-level students to plan / design deep-space habitat.

Apr 2 – May 21 — NASA, Online: Early Stage Innovation NASA Research Announcement; requesting technology proposals for science instruments, cryogenic propellant storage, optical coatings, oxygen recovery, NEA protection / understanding.

Apr 2 – Jun 5 — NASA, Online: NASA Seeks Academic Partners for Smallsat Technology Collaboration; accepting proposals for small spacecraft (smallsat) projects.

Apr 10 – Jul 16 — JAXA, Online: Send Names / Messages to Asteroid 1999 JU3 on Hayabusa2 Spacecraft; accepting public submissions of names / messages to ride aboard spacecraft launching to asteroid in 2014.

Apr 22 – Aug 31 — Mars One, Online: Accepting applications from those interested in one-way ticket to Mars to set up permanent Human settlement; US$38 to apply.

Apr 24 – Aug 5 — AIAA, NASA, Online: Accepting abstracts for SpaceOps 2014: Exploring Innovation; 13th International Conference on Space Operations to occur May 5-9, 2014.

TUESDAY

Apr 30 — Cassini OTM-348, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #348 today.

Apr 30 — The National Academies, Online: Human Spaceflight Meeting: Technical Panel Teleconference.

Apr 30 — NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA: Workshop: Heat Shield Capability Needs for Extreme Entry Environment Missions in Support of Woven Thermal Protection System Technologies.

Apr 30 – May 2 — Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: CASI 60th Aeronautics Conference & Annual General Meeting – Aerospace Clusters: Where Are We Headed?

Apr 30 – May 3 — Keck Institute for Space Studies, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: Workshop: Airships – A New Horizon for Science.

WEDNESDAY

NET May — Herschel, Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange Point: Space observatory, now without liquid Helium to cool instruments, scheduled to propel itself into long-term stable orbit around Sun this month.

NET May — Boeing Company, Chicago IL: Developing CST-100 7-person spacecraft for NASA CCiCAP, Dual Engine Centaur Liquid Oxygen Duct Development Test to occur this month.

NET May — SpaceX, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: Upgrading Dragon spacecraft to carry humans to space for NASA CCiCAP, Human Certification Test Review to occur this month.

May 1 — Deep Space, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Trajectory: Rosetta spacecraft in deep-space hibernation is near Jupiter orbital path heading toward inner solar system; scheduled to wake up Jan 2014 and approach comet May 2014.

May 1 — Curiosity, Yellowknife Bay, Mars: Transmissions from Earth to rover resuming today, after being suspended due to solar conjunction.

May 1 — Stratolaunch Systems, Dulles VA: Booster Contract Awarded to Orbital Sciences Corp. to develop rocket for Stratolaunch’s carrier aircraft.

May 1 — NASA, New Orleans LA: Program Integration Contract Modification for Support at Michoud Assembly Facility with potential of US$477M goes to Jacobs Technology Inc. to advance Human spaceflight endeavors including Orion spacecraft and core stage of Space Launch System rocket.

May 1 — NASA, Houston TX: Human Health and Performance Contract with potential of US$1.76B goes to Wyle Laboratories Inc. to provide biomedical, medical, health services in support of Human spaceflight programs at Johnson Space Center.

May 1 – Jul 1 — University of Colorado – Boulder, Online: Send Your Name & Message to Mars; contest to send name / message to Mars aboard MAVEN spacecraft launching between Nov 18 – Dec 7; winners announced Aug 8.

May 1 — Asteroid 2013 EU9: Near-Earth flyby (0.095 AU).

THURSDAY

May 2 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 35 In-Flight Education Event with Fredericksburg High School of Texas; 16:35 UT, live coverage available.

May 2 — Canadian Space Commerce Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: CSCA Meeting; at Blake’s Law Firm, 19:30 local time.

May 2 — Space Transportation Association, Washington DC: STA Luncheon with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden; at 2325 Rayburn House Office Building, 11:30 EDT; free.

May 2 — NASA, Lawton OK: Great Plains Science Day; featuring NASA traveling exhibit Driven to Explore and 4B-year-old Moon rock.

May 2 — Moon: At last quarter, 01:16.

FRIDAY

May 3 — Arianespace, Launch Vega / Proba-V, VNREDSat-1A & ESTCube-1, Kourou, French Guiana: Designated flight VV02, European Vega rocket to launch Proba-V Earth observation satellite, VNREDSat-1A – Vietnam’s 1st Earth observation satellite, ESTCube-1 – Estonia’s 1st CubeSat.

May 3 — National Museum of the USAF, Wright-Patterson AFB OH: Space Day 2013; free STEM event for students in grades 5-8, teachers, parents.

May 3 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: CRISM Analysis of Crater Uplifts; presented by Veronica Bray from University of Arizona; in Lecture Hall of USRA, 15:30 CDT.

May 3 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Scientific Colloquium: Satisfying our Curiosity about the Habitability of Ancient Mars with 9 Months of Exploration of Gale Crater; by Paul Mahaffy.

May 3 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Leroy Chiao; US$49.95 adult.

SATURDAY

May 4 — NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland OH: Free 1-hour tour of Altitude Combustion Stand Facility; first tour starts 10:00 EDT.

May 4 — Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, Rosman NC: Space Day; open house featuring Galaxy Walk, meteorites, Space Shuttle artifacts; 10:00 – 16:00 EDT, free.

May 4 — Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station, Hawai`i Island HI: The Universe Tonight: `Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii; 18:00 HST.

May 4, 5 — Silicon Valley Space Center, Mountain View CA: SVSC Citizen Science Workshop – XCOR Cubelab Payloads; hosted by Sean Casey at Hacker Dojo; US$150.

SUNDAY

May 5 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Model Rocket Launches; up to 609-meter altitude; 13:00 – 14:00 EDT.

May 5-8 — The Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium, Space Resources Roundtable, Canadian Institute of Mining, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 4th Annual PTMSS/SRR Symposium; in conjunction with CIM 2013 Convention.

May 5-9 — American Astronomical Society Division on Dynamical Astronomy, Paraty, Brazil: 2013 Meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division on Dynamical Astronomy.

May 5 — Asteroid 2013 GR38: Near-Earth flyby (0.048 AU).

May 5 — Asteroid 2013 GQ38: Near-Earth flyby (0.053 AU).

Orion Capsule Progressing Toward 2014 Test Flight

The Orion Crew Capsule, being built by Lockheed Martin Corporation, will begin 6-8 weeks of intensive load testing on April 22 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. Each series of tests will last 3-5 days and thousands of gauges on the capsule will measure stresses during lift-off, separation from the launch vehicle and 3 other events. The capsule will also undergo high-speed water tests to evaluate the splashdown recovery method. Soon Orion will receive a 5-m diameter Avcoat ablative heat-shield (the same material used for the Apollo capsule), avionics and other hardware and will be powered up for the first time this summer. Orion’s first flight, Exploration Flight Test (EFT)-1, is scheduled for September 2014. It will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy Rocket into a 5,793-km altitude, highly-elliptical orbit and is estimated to reenter Earth’s atmosphere at 84% of the speed of a return from the Moon. At a recent Orion briefing, Space Launch System Program Planning and Control Manager Keith Hefner (L), Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development Dan Dumbacher (C) and Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer (R) discussed the significant progress of the Space Launch System which is on track for its first test flight in 2017. Together Orion and SLS will take Humans farther into space than ever before. (Image Credit: NASA, K. Kremer, J. Rhian / AmericaSpace)

Europe Seeks to Clear Space for the Future

The 6th European Conference on Space Debris is being held at the European Space Operations Centre ESA/ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany on April 22-25. Today there are about 29,000 trackable objects with sizes larger than 10 cm and hundreds of millions of smaller pieces in orbit – accumulated during 4,900+ space launches since 1957. With 6,000 tons of debris and relative orbital velocities up to 56,000 km/h, these objects are a grave threat to human spaceflight, robotic space science, orbiting communications infrastructure and the viability of future launch operations. In two parallel sessions the conference provides a forum to discuss radar / optical / in-situ measurement techniques, environmental modeling theories, on-orbit / reentry risk analysis, hypervelocity impacts & shielding, mitigation & removal concepts and policy / legal issues. ESA Astronaut Reinhold Ewald (R) gives a keynote presentation on Monday, the rest of the program is available online. ESA Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations Thomas Reiter (L) says “this is a global task… [that] should be undertaken by joint efforts in cooperation with the world’s space agencies and industry.” As well as government programs by ESA, CNES / Astrium, Switzerland, JAXA, and NASA / DARPA, there are proposals for commercial mitigation services at an average cost of under US$400 per kilogram. (Image Credit: ESA, Clean Space)

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

MONDAY

Apr 22 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 35 preparing for Progress 51P resupply vehicle scheduled to arrive Apr 26; Astronaut Cassidy working with Burning And Suppression of Solids (BASS) experiment to study how solids burn & extinguish in microgravity.

Apr 22 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: Available power to solar arrays increasing as spacecraft gets closer to Sun; project team reduced power flow to Juno from 2,200 W to 500 W, at Jupiter will operate on about 450 W.

Apr 22 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Tracking supply of hydrocarbon methane and lakes on Titan; data suggests methane is being lost and not replaced, Titan could run out in tens of millions of years.

Apr 22 — SpaceX, Brownsville TX: NewSpace company proposed commercial launch site receives FAA draft Environmental Impact Statement claiming no significant impacts on health, safety, environment allowing project to continue.

Apr 22 — Virgin Galactic, Mojave CA: Analyzing data from recent glide cold-flow test of SpaceShip Two in preparation for powered test flights; more than 500 people have signed up for US$200K suborbital flights.

Apr 22 — Planetary Resources Inc., Bellevue WA: Partnering with Bechtel Corp. to develop effective, low-cost robotic exploration technologies to mine near-Earth asteroids for raw materials.

Apr 22 — Lockheed Martin Corp., Cape Canaveral FL: Orion to begin intensive load tests to measure capsule stresses during lift-off, separation from second stage, 3 other events in preparation for 2014 flight.

Apr 22 — Earth Day, Global: Earth Day 2013 conjunction with Moon Day (Monday).

Apr 22 — Silicon Valley Space Center, AIAA, Mountain View CA: Small Payload Seminar – Polar Sub-Orbital Science; at Hacker Dojo, 18:30 – 21:00 PDT.

Apr 22-24 — The National Academies, Washington DC: Human Spaceflight Meeting.

Apr 22-24 — JAXA, ESA, Chicago IL: MESSENGER-BepiColombo Workshop: The Evolution and Constitution of Mercury’s Interior; at Congress Plaza Hotel.

Apr 22-24 — Chandra X-Ray Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, NASA, Cambridge MA: 9th Chandra/CIAO Workshop; to help users of Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations (CIAO) software; hosted at Chandra X-Ray Center.

Apr 22-25 — ESA, ASI, International Academy of Astronautics, UK Space Agency, Committee on Space Research, Darmstadt, Germany: 6th European Conference on Space Debris; at European Space Operations Centre.

Apr 22-26 — Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy, Square Kilometre Array Organisation, Bonn, Germany: The Modern Radio Universe 2013.

Apr 22-26 — International Space University, Strasbourg, France: Executive Space Course.

Apr 22 — Asteroid 2009 SQ104: Near-Earth flyby (0.071 AU).

Apr 22 — Asteroid 2010 CE55: Near-Earth flyby (0.081 AU).

Apr 22 — Asteroid 2012 XF55: Near-Earth flyby (0.084 AU).

Continued from…

Mar 26 – May 29 — Space Frontier Foundation, Online: 2013 NewSpace Business Plan Competition; to help entrepreneurs focus on / plan commercial development of space, advance NewSpace movement.

Apr 1 – May 1 — NASA, Online: The eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge 2014; for university-level students to plan / design deep-space habitat.

Apr 1 – Aug 1 — Cornell University, University of Hawai`i – Manoa, Hawaii Island: Mars Analog Mission and Food Study; 6-member crew to live under “Mars exploration conditions” and evaluate preparation strategies / new forms of food for long-term space exploration missions.

Apr 2 – May 6 — NASA, Online: 17th Screening of Space Program Artifacts; schools and museums may apply to receive Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope artifacts.

Apr 2 – May 21 — NASA, Online: Early Stage Innovation NASA Research Announcement; requesting technology proposals for science instruments, cryogenic propellant storage, optical coatings, oxygen recovery, NEA protection / understanding.

Apr 4 – Oct 25 — NASA, Online: 2014 Night Rover Challenge; for researchers to create energy storage system allowing simulated lunar rover to operate at average 85 W throughout 14-day-long lunar night, exceed a minimum of 300 W-hrs/kg.

Apr 10 – Jul 16 — JAXA, Online: Send Names / Messages to Asteroid 1999 JU3 on Hayabusa2 Spacecraft; accepting public submissions of names / messages to ride aboard spacecraft launching to asteroid in 2014.

TUESDAY

Apr 23 — ISS, Undocking of Progress 50P Resupply Vehicle, LEO: Progress 50P, filled with ISS waste, set to burn up upon reentry to Earth atmosphere.

Apr 23-25 — NASA/JPL Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility, Monrovia CA: NASA SPICE Domestic Training Class; to provide spacecraft orbit information and other data used for analyzing space science observations, mission engineering functions and planning.

Apr 23-25 — AIAA, Herndon VA: Integrated Communications Navigation and Surveillance 2013 Conference.

Apr 23-25 — Applied Technologies Institute, Columbia MD: Solid Rocket Motor Design and Applications Course; conducted by Richard Lee; US$1,740.

WEDNESDAY

Apr 24 — RSA, Launch Soyuz / Progress 51P, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: An RSA Soyuz rocket set to launch more than 3 tons of cargo to ISS aboard 51st Progress cargo delivery ship, 16:12 local time; scheduled to dock Apr 26 at 12:27 UT.

Apr 24 — Golden Spike Company, Online: Last Day of Indiegogo Campaign: Help Send Nations and People to the Moon.

Apr 24 — Planetary Resources Inc., Online: Google+ Hangout; to celebrate company’s 1-year anniversary, give status update, look to the future; 18:00 UT.

Apr 24-25 — NASA, Washington DC: NASA Advisory Council Meeting.

Apr 24 — Moon: 0.19° WNW of Spica, 14:00.

THURSDAY

Apr 25 — CNSA, Launch Long March 2D / Gaofen 1 , Jiuquan, China: Long March 2D to launch Gaofen 1 high-resolution remote sensing satellite for Earth imaging.

Apr 25 — The British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Project Orion Nuclear Propulsion; presented by Douglas Liddle.

Apr 25-27 — Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp., Jacobs ESTS Group, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Huntsville AL: 20th Annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race; competitive racing of student built “Moonbuggies” at U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

Apr 25 — Lunar Eclipse: Highly visible over Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia; penumbral eclipse 08:03 – 12:11, partial eclipse 09:54 – 10:21.

Apr 25 — Moon: Full (Egg / Grass Moon), 09:59; 3.5° SSE of Saturn, 10:00.

Apr 25 — Asteroid 2013 GK69: Near-Earth flyby (0.035 AU).

FRIDAY

Apr 26 — RSA, Launch Soyuz / Glonass K, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia: RSA Soyuz rocket to launch Glonass K navigation satellite.

Apr 26 — Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation, Houston TX: Annual Gala; National Space Trophy presented to Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Apr 26 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Icy Moon – The Great (and Perplexing) Equatorial Ridge on Saturn’s Moon Iapetus; by Andrew Dombard from University of Illinois – Chicago; in Lecture Hall of USRA, 12:00 CDT.

Apr 26 — The Space Show, Online: Chuck Killian, Director of Mars Desert Research Station Mission Support, talks with host Dr. David Livingston.

Apr 26 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, John-David Bartoe; US$49.95 adult.

Apr 26 — Asteroid 2013 GE55: Near-Earth flyby (0.070 AU).

SATURDAY

Apr 27 — Ad Astra Kansas Foundation, Topeka KS: Ad Astra Kansas Day – Space Celebration 2013; at Washburn University Stoffer Science Hall.

Apr 27 — Moon: At perigee (distance 361,872 km), 10:00; 6.6° N of Antares, 16:00.

SUNDAY

Apr 28-30 — Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Annapolis MD: The End of the Ignorosphere: An Aeronomy Researchers Conference on Commercial Suborbital Access to Space.

Apr 28 – May 3 — Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel: Workshop: Space Weather And Plasma in Space (IsraSWAPS-2013).

OSC Antares / Cygnus Demo Launch Advances USA Space Sectors

The first flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket is scheduled for April 17 between 17:00 – 20:00 EDT from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, USA. This A-One Test Launch Mission with a Cygnus mass simulator aims to validate the medium-class launch system and gather flight data. After liftoff the first stage will fire for about 4 minutes carrying the craft to a 113-km altitude where the upper stack will separate and continue on its upward trajectory for 93 seconds. Then the 2nd stage will fire for over 2 minutes bringing the payload to a 256-km altitude. OSC is working toward 8 commercial ISS resupply flights under a US$1.9B NASA contract. Its COTS demonstration mission, tentatively scheduled for June, will have the spacecraft berth with the ISS and deliver about 731 kg of cargo. A Castor 30B upper stage will help deliver 2,000 kg of cargo for the first 2 Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions. OSC will upgrade to a Castor 30XL capable of delivering 2,700 kg for the final 6 flights. CRS contracts are successfully creating efficient and affordable means for America to resupply the ISS, boosting economic growth and allowing NASA funding to go toward projects beyond LEO. (Image Credit: OSC)

Meeting in Brazil Combines Astronomy and Astronautics

The 6th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics takes place in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 18-20. The meeting includes special presentations, workshops, exhibitions, Digital Mobile Planetarium Sessions, astronomy club exhibitions, an international competition, a star party and many other activities. It is being organized by the Louis Cruls Astronomy Club with support of United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), Program UNAWE, Astronomers Without Borders and Star Peace. Confirmed speakers include the Brazilian Astronaut Marcos Pontes, AEB representative Carlos Gurgel and Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) expert Carlos Alexandre Wuensche. There is also strong international participation with Gennady Saenko of ROSCOSMOS, James Thieman Manager of Radio Jove, Scott Roberts of Explorer Scientific, Laurent Laveder of Project TWAN, Sebastián Musso President of the Center for Astronomical Studies of Mar del Plata in Argentina and Nazar Sallam AWB National Coordinator for the United Arab Emirates. Brazil is set to become the only non-European member of the pioneering European Sothern Observatory and is also working to rekindle its space launch enterprise at Alcantara. In the coming years Brazil could emerge as a major contributor to space science and exploration. (Image Credit: Louis Cruls Astronomy Club, AEB, NASA)

= All times for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).

Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Jupiter (W), Saturn (SE).

MONDAY

Apr 15 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 35 crew facilitating Progress 49 undocking at 12:01 UT Apr 15; Romanenko & Vinogradov preparing for 6-hour EVA scheduled 14:06 Apr 19 to install / retrieve experiment packages on Zvezda module, replace reflector device.

Apr 15 — Integral Space Observatory, Elliptical Earth Orbit: Detecting X-ray flare 47M LY away; data suggests central black hole with mass of 300,000 Suns feeding on object with mass 14-30 times that of Jupiter.

Apr 15 — Herschel Space Observatory, Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange Point: Providing images of dust belt produced by colliding comets / asteroids orbiting subgiant star with planetary system about 100 LY away.

Apr 15 — Armadillo Aerospace LLC, Mesquite TX: NewSpace company developing suborbital commercial aircraft for space tourism; building 3 or more STIG VTVL rockets; ultimate goal is to provide orbital flights.

Apr 15 — Spaceport Sweden, Kiruna, Sweden: Establishing space tourism in Sweden, developing spaceport; offering spaceflight preparation program, Northern Light Flights, parabolic flights – next is June 24 for US$8,280.

Apr 15 — Odyssey Moon Ltd., Isle of Man, United Kingdom: Developing commercial lunar robotic transportation service for low cost, frequent access to Moon; competing for GLXP US$30M prize.

Apr 15 — Kennedy Space Center, KSC FL: Media Invited to View Orion.

Apr 15 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Engineering Colloquium Series: Advanced Manufacturing; presented by LaNetra Tate of NASA, 15:30 EDT; free.

Apr 15 — NASA Lunar Science Institute, Moffett Field CA: NLSI HQ Seminar Series: Characterizing Luna Incognita; presented by Ben Bussey from JHU/APL, 09:00 – 10:00 PDT.

Apr 15 — AIAA – Sydney, Canberra, Australia: Yuri’s Night Celebrations – Canberra Public Lecture: Deep Space Industries – Mining and Manufacturing in Space; with Daniel Faber of DSI; at University of New South Wales.

Apr 15-19 — International Academy of Astronautics, ESA, NASA, Flagstaff AZ: 3rd IAA Planetary Defense Conference: Gathering for Impact! at High County Conference Center.

Apr 15 — Moon: At apogee (distance 404,431 km), 12:00.

Continued from…

Mar 26 – May 29 — Space Frontier Foundation, Online: 2013 NewSpace Business Plan Competition; to help entrepreneurs focus on / plan commercial development of space, advance NewSpace movement.

Apr 1 – May 1 — NASA, Online: The eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge 2014; for university-level students to plan / design deep-space habitat.

Apr 2 – May 6 — NASA, Online: 17th Screening of Space Program Artifacts; schools and museums may apply to receive Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope artifacts.

Apr 4 – Oct 25 — NASA, Online: 2014 Night Rover Challenge; for researchers to create energy storage system allowing simulated lunar rover to operate at average 85W throughout 14-day-long lunar night, exceed a minimum of 300 W-hrs/kg.

Apr 10 – Jul 16 — JAXA, Online: Send Names / Messages to Asteroid 1999 JU3 on Hayabusa2 Spacecraft; accepting public submissions of names / messages to ride aboard spacecraft launching to asteroid in 2014.

Apr 13-19 — King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Science and Technology Week 2013.

Apr 14-18 — Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, University of Alabama – Huntsville, NASA, Nashville TN: Huntsville in Nashville: The Seventh Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium.

TUESDAY

Apr 16 — International Launch Services, Launch Proton / Anik G1, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Proton Rocket set to deliver Anik G1 satellite to provide broadcasting / communications services for Canada, N. America, S. America; 00:36 local time.

Apr 16 — Federal Aviation Administration, Online: COMSTAC Systems Working Group Public Teleconference; to assist FAA in developing guidelines for occupant safety in commercial suborbital and orbital spacecraft.

Apr 16 — Library of Congress – Science, Technology and Business Division, Washington DC: Lecture: Measuring Habitability on Mars with the Curiosity Rover; with speaker Pamela Conrad of NASA.

Apr 16 — University Honors College – Alaska, NASA, Anchorage AK: Free Lecture: Why Curiosity? What Are We Discovering? presented by NASA scientist John Grotzinger.

Apr 16 — Space Transportation Association, Washington DC: STA Lunch with Bill Gerstenmaier; NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations gives update on future HEO activities at State Visitor’s Center, 11:00 – 03:30 EDT.

Apr 16-18 — AIAA, University of New Mexico, Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies, Albuquerque NM: The Space Technology and Applications International Forum (STAIF II).

Apr 16-19 — USA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder CO: Space Weather Workshop; to discuss space weather impacts on communication, navigation, spacecraft operation, aviation, electric power.

Apr 16 — Asteroid 2013 EO126: Near-Earth flyby (0.088 AU).

WEDNESDAY

Apr 17 — Orbital Sciences Corp., Launch Antares / Demo, Wallops Island VA: OSC Antares rocket to launch simulated Cygnus cargo freighter on demo flight; launch window 17:00 – 20:00 EDT; live coverage available; alternate launch dates Apr 18-21.

Apr 17 — NASA, Washington DC: NASA Advisory Council Human Exploration and Operations Committee Research Subcommittee Meeting.

Apr 17 — Exploratorium Museum, San Francisco CA: Museum reopening at new location, Embarcadero Pier 15/17.

Apr 17-19 — International Academy of Astronautics, National Space Agency of Ukraine, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine: 4th IAA International Conference on Space Technologies: The Present and Future.

Apr 17 — Moon: 11.5° SSW of Pollux, 15:00.

THURSDAY

Apr 18 — NASA, Washington DC: Advisory Council Human Exploration and Operations Committee Meeting; Advisory Council Technology and Innovation Committee Meeting; 2-Day Advisory Council Science Committee Meeting.

Apr 18 — University of Houston – Clear Lake, Houston TX: 2013 Physics and Space Science Spring Seminar Series: Characteristics and Physics of Plasma Detachment in the VASIMR Engine; presented by Chris Olsen from Rice University; free; in UH-Clear Bayou Building room 1218, 19:00 CDT.

Apr 18-19 — Johnson Space Center, Houston TX & Online: WebEx Meeting: One-on-One Communications with Industry Guidance for Software, Robotics, and Space Systems Services (SRS3) Procurement.

Apr 18-20 — Louis Cruls Astronomy Club, Brazilian Space Agency, Astronomers Without Borders, Star Peace, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 6th International Meeting of Astronomy and Astronautics: Toward Space.

Apr 18 — Moon: At first quarter, 02:31; 6.5° SSW of Beehive Cluster, 19:00.

Apr 18 — Asteroid 2013 EV108: Near-Earth flyby (0.044 AU).

FRIDAY

Apr 19 — ISS, LEO: RSA EVA by Roman Romanenko and Pavel Vinogradov; live coverage available starting 13:30 UT.

Apr 19 — RSA, Launch Soyuz / Bion-M1, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Bion-M1 medical research project with 79 biological experiments and test subjects of mice, geckos, fish, fruit, seeds and Mongolian gerbils to launch to LEO for 1 month and safely return to Earth for analysis; 16:00 local time.

Apr 19 — `Imiloa Astronomy Center, University of Hawai`i – Hilo, Hilo HI: Mauna Kea Skies Talk; Dr. Pierre Martin from UHH Hoku Kea Telescope will speak about recent discoveries; 19:00 HST, US$8-10.

Apr 19 — The Space Show, Online: Dr. John Brandenburg senior propulsion scientist at Orbital Technologies Corp. talks with host Dr. David Livingston.

Apr 19 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Leroy Chiao; US$49.95 adult.

Apr 19 — Asteroid 2013 GH23: Near-Earth flyby (0.014 AU).

SATURDAY

Apr 20 — The Astronomical League, Global: International Astronomy Day 2013; local astronomical societies, planetariums, museums and observatories host public activities to increase awareness about astronomy and our universe.

Apr 20 — Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Company, Mojave CA: Plane Crazy Saturday; VG & TSC accepting resumes; free open house 10:00 – 14:00 PDT.

Apr 20 — Sally Ride Science Foundation, Las Vegas NV: MoonKAM: The Next Phase; for educators to learn about MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students), part of GRAIL education outreach program.

Apr 20 — Kennedy Space Center, Titusville FL: 2013 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction; welcoming Curt Brown, Eileen Collins, Bonnie Dunbar as the 12th group of space shuttle astronauts honored in U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Apr 20-21 — NASA, Global: 2nd International Space Apps Challenge; events across all 7 continents and in space; participants develop mobile applications, software, hardware that could contribute to space exploration missions, help improve life on Earth.

Apr 20 — Moon: 5.6° SSW of Regulus, 15:00.

SUNDAY

Apr 21— NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: Sunday Experiment: Mars Science Laboratory; for families to learn about current / future science missions managed by NASA Goddard; in Auditorium and Science Center/Sphere, 13:00 – 15:00 EDT.

Apr 21— Mojave Marathon, Mojave CA: 2013 Mojave Marathon; begins 08:00 PDT at Mojave baseball park.