IAA, MVA and SCAR Meet in Italy for Antarctica, Moon, Mars and Beyond
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MONDAY Highlights… Jun 17 — NewSpace: Carnegie Mellon University building rover as one of 28 payloads for Astrobotic lander; Canadensys wins US$400K for Mars Sample Fetch Rover study; Bigelow Space Operations along with Space Adventures will sell ISS visits; China unveils regulations for commercial launch industry. Jun 17 — Solar System: Data from GRAIL 2011-12 mission discovers mass concentration of material (possibly metal) 5x the size of Hawai’i Island, potentially from meteorite that created South Pole-Aitken Basin; Curiosity rover observes cloud patterns in Mars atmosphere; JUNO orbiter images dark vortex in Jupiter atmosphere. Jun 17 — Galaxy: Hubble Space Telescope images spiral galaxy NGC 4051; Euclid mission scheduled for 2022 launch selects dark patches of sky to search for hypothetical ‘dark’ energy; while confirmed exoplanet count totals 3972, IAU invites countries to name exoplanets through national campaigns. Jun 17 — Global: ISRO confirms Chandrayaan-2 for July 15; Space in Africa reports African space industry generating US$7B annually, may generate $10B per year by 2024; Changan Auto to sponsor next China iSpace launch in July; ESA moves forward with reusable Space Rider transport system. Jun 17 — USA: Deep Space Atomic Clock, Green Propellant Infusion, LightSail 2 prepared for June 24 launch on SpaceX Falcon Heavy; Blue Origin unveils mockup of suborbital capsule, invests US$1B in Florida Space Coast, plans New Glenn launch in 2021 and Blue Moon for lunar missions; NASA Psyche nickel-iron asteroid mission could launch 2022. Jun 17 — Hawai’i: Gemini North observations indicate that black hole at center of galaxy NGC 4395 is about 40x less massive than previously thought; CFHT will closely observe Taurid swarm of asteroids, one of which may have struck Siberia in 1908; PanSTARRS may face observing challenges due to SpaceX Starlink satellite constellation. |
= 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’).
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mercury (WNW), Mars (WNW), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (S); Morning Planets: Venus (ENE), Neptune (ESE).
Russia, Germany Spektr-RG X-Ray Astrophysics Space Observatory to Launch June 21
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Jun 17 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Saturnian Dynamics; by Matthew Hedman, Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Idaho.
Jun 17-19 — Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, Laval, Québec, Canada: Astro 2019: Space for Business. Jun 17-19 — International Academy of Astronautics, Torino, Italy: 11th IAA Symposium on The Future of Space Exploration – Moon, Mars and Beyond: Becoming an Interplanetary Civilization. Jun 17-19 — Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley (OAVdA), Courmayeur, Italy: 5th Workshop of SCAR Astronomy and Astrophysics from Antarctica (AAA). Jun 17-20 — Canadian Astronomical Society, Montréal, Québec, Canada: 2019 Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) Annual Meeting. Jun 17-23 — SIAE / French Aerospace Industries Association, Paris, France: International Paris Air Show. Continued from…Jan 2019 – Sep 2020 — New Horizons, Kuiper Belt: Full data from spacecraft 7 instruments during KBO Ultima Thule flyby to be transmitted to Earth over this time period. Mar 19 – Jul 19 — Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender crew of 6 to participate in 4-month space / lunar simulation mission SIRIUS (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station). May 20 – Aug 9 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: 31st Annual Planetary Science Summer Seminar. Jun 10-19 — NASA, NOAA, Aquarius Underwater Laboratory, Key Largo FL: NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 23; all-female crew perform space analogue mission for ISS, Moon, Mars. Jun 12-21 — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, Austria: 62nd Session UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. |
TUESDAY
Jun 18 — 36th Observation of the 1st American Woman in Space, Nationwide USA / Global: Celebrating the first American woman to fly in Space, Sally Ride on Space Shuttle Challenger STS-7 mission in 1983, while USA plans First Woman to the Moon South Pole 2024 via developing Artemis program.
Jun 18 — Moon Village Association, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy: MVA General Assembly.
Jun 18-20 — USRA, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Flagstaff AZ: 4th Planetary Data Workshop.
Jun 18-20 — UBM, Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, AsiaSat, et al, Singapore: CommunicAsia 2019.
Jun 18 — Mercury: 0.22° NNE of Mars, 09:00; 0.56° SE of Saturn, 19:00.
Jun 18 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 LC1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)
Jun 18 — Aten Asteroid 2014 MV18: Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Jun 19 — Moon Village Association, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy: MVA Italian Network Outreach Event.
Jun 19 — John F. Kennedy Library, Boston MA: JFK Space Summit; featuring Caroline Kennedy, Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, Jeff Bezos, scientists and NASA experts, 10:30 AM-19:30.
Jun 19 — Mercury: 5.4° SSW of Pollux, 04:00.
THURSDAY
Jun 20 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 5 / DirecTV 16 and Eutelsat 7C, Kourou, French Guiana: Ariane 5 ECA booster to launch DirecTV 16 and Eutelsat 7C communications satellites.
Jun 20 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Cassini-Huygens and The Lord of the Rings; by planetary physicist Dr. Sheila Kanani.
Jun 20 — SpaceX, TBA: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk may provide public with update on Starship and Super Heavy advances.
Jun 20, 21 — JPL, Caltech, NASA, Pasadena CA: von Kármán Lecture Series 2019: Lecture: Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On – Designing Tomorrow’s Space Missions Today.
Jun 20-22 — Planetary Science Institute, NASA, Tucson AZ: Building the NASA Citizen Science Community.
Jun 20 — Mars: 5.5° S of Pollux, 22:00.
Jun 20 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 LB2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU)
FRIDAY
Jun 21 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Proton / Spektr-RG, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Proton booster and Block DM upper stage to launch Spektr-RG X-ray observatory, a joint project between Roscosmos and Germany DLR.
Jun 21 — June Solstice: Longest day of the year (opposite in Southern Hemisphere) as Sun reaches a point farthest north of celestial equator, 05:56.
Jun 21 — Moon: Moon at perigee (distance 357,368 km), 10:00.
Jun 21 — Aten Asteroid 2010 RX30: Near-Earth Flyby (0.094 AU)
SATURDAY
Jun 22 — CASC, Launch CZ-4B / Tianyi MV-1, Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China: Long March 4B to launch ZY-2D, BNU-1, and Tianyi MV-1 satellites.
Jun 22-23 — Gordon Research Center, South Hadley MA: Gordon Research Seminar: Origins of Solar Systems – The Composition and Assembly of Planets.
Jun 22 — Moon: 2.46° NNE of Regulus, 18:00; at apogee (distance 404,566 km), 22:00.
Jun 22 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 WQ3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU)
SUNDAY
Jun 23 — Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Moon Orbit: NASA spacecraft reaches 10 full years / enters 11th year in Moon orbit today; launched Jun 18, 2009, arrived at Moon 5 days later.
Jun 23 — CASC, Launch Jielong-1 / Tianqui-2, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China: First flight of Smart Dragon J-1 orbital booster to launch Tianqui-2 comsat among payloads of 4 private companies.
Jun 23-28 — Gordon Research Center, South Hadley MA: Gordon Research Seminar: Origins of Solar Systems – Meteoritical, Spacecraft and Astrophysical Perspectives on the Assembly and Composition of Planets.
Jun 23 — Moon: 3.6° SSE of Neptune, 18:00.
Jun 23 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 LM1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)