Zhongguo / China Holds 2019 National Day of Space Flight and 5 Interrelated Meetings in Changsha to Promote International Cooperation
National Day of Space Flight on April 24 will celebrate the 49th observation of the launch of China 1st satellite Dongfanghong-1. In Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA) and China Space Foundation are hosting 2019 China Space Conference April 23-25 themed ‘Pursue Space Dreams for Win-Win Cooperation’. Keynote speakers include China Lunar Exploration Project Chief Designer Wu Weiren, CNES COO Lionel Suchet and former Deputy Gen. of China Manned Space Program Zhang Yulin. International Institute of Space Law, CSA and China Institute of Space Law are hosting ‘Symposium on International Governance of Emerging Space Issues under the Rule of Law’ April 24-25 with more than 100 delegates from government, institutes and universities. The ‘United Nations/China Forum on Space Solutions’ April 24-27 will forge new partnerships and enhance international space cooperation toward sustainable space development goals. Opening addresses will be given by CNSA Administrator Kejian Zhang, Hunan Province Governor Dazhe Xu and UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo. Caelus Foundation, Secure World Foundation and CSA are organizing ‘Workshop on Sino-U.S. Space Commercialization’ April 25 focused on potential information exchange between USA and China through space commerce. The ‘International Forum on Human Living and Working in Long-term Lunar Habitation’ April 25 includes Bernard Foing, Amanda Kruijver, and many scientists from China presenting on topics: Moon dust and radiation environment, ISRU, solving conflicts and settling differences on the Moon, and legal rules of human landings. (Image Credits: CSA, CSF, CNSA, SCIO, CNES, CMSE, NASA, UNOOSA, ESA/EST) |
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MONDAY
Highlights…
 Apr 22 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 59 six-member crew working to transfer ~3,450 kg of cargo from newly arrived Cygnus NG-11 dubbed S.S. Roger Chaffee; performing experiments for JAXA probiotics investigation, NASA SUBSA crystal production study, ESA dust / airway monitoring analysis, and setting up CSA Bio-Analyzer system to test astronaut blood samples in space.
 Apr 22 — NewSpace: SpaceIL planning to build Beresheet 2.0, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter scientists think Retroreflector Array may have survived; SpaceX awarded launch contract for Double Asteroid Redirect Mission in 2021, seeking equity funding to build ambitious Starship; Stratolaunch Roc performs successful first flight, planning orbital rocket launches in 2020.
Apr 22 — Solar System: Chang’e-6 being planned with international payload contributions totaling 20 kg; Messenger data indicates a Mercury solid inner core; Hubble Telescope to dedicate 206 orbits around Earth to study Kuiper Belt in ‘Solar System Origins Legacy Survey’.
Apr 22 — Galaxy: Event Horizon Telescope, following image of black hole in M87, works to image Milky Way black hole; Harvard University astronomers studying a 2014 meteor calculate it may be of interstellar origin; computer simulations suggest that reionization of the universe took place later than previously thought.
Apr 22 — Global: China Academy of Space Technology chief scientist talks on Mars sample return and Jupiter probes plans; Japan Bridgestone tire company joins with Toyota and JAXA in developing lunar rover; PLD Space of Spain completes drop test of Miura orbital launcher.
 Apr 22 — USA: Christina Koch is now scheduled to return 6 Feb 2020 after 328 days in orbit, marking longest spaceflight by a woman; NASA accelerating production of Space Launch System to meet goals of 2020 launch and 2024 landing on Moon; Blue Origin signs agreement for use of historic rocket Test Stand 6740 in Huntsville AL.
Apr 22 — Hawai’i: Planned Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on Haleakala is said to be on track for first light 2019, and all 5 instruments operational by 2020; Subaru telescope discovers evidence of heating at Jupiter’s poles; University of Hawaii astronomers contribute to discovery of third planet in Kepler-47 system.
 Apr 22 — Earth Day Network, Worldwide: Earth Day 2019; to broaden, diversify & activate the environmental movement worldwide; originally proposed to occur March 21 (first day of Spring) by creator John McConnell.
 Apr 22-28 — Hayabusa2, Asteroid 1999 JU3: JAXA craft planning to study crater 2 (CRA2) after explosive Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) first week of April.
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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: Mars (W); Morning Planets: Mercury (E), Venus (E), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (SE).
LunarCubes and CubeSat Workshops at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
The 8th Annual LunarCubes Workshop, hosted by the CubeSat Developers Workshop, opens at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo April 26. Cal Poly and Stanford University are pioneers in developing cubesats as student projects. Bob Twiggs (L), presently CEO of Conquest Technologies, is a builder of small satellites from his days as a Stanford professor. The ‘Lucky 13’ deep space cubesats are being built to fly with Orion on Exploration Mission-1 in 2020. CubeSat Astronomy Workshop also occurs April 26. Small satellites could lead to a revolution in space astronomy formerly dominated by big projects like the James Webb Space Telescope. Astronomy missions currently in orbit include ASTERIA, a miniaturized space telescope and technology demonstrator launched from ISS with principal investigator Sara Seager, HaloSat a cubesat also launched from ISS to study X-rays from the Milky Way galactic halo, and PicSat a nanosatellite built by Paris Observatory to observe transits of exoplanet Beta Pictoris b in front of its star. Following the weekend, the Inter-Planetary Small Satellite Conference opens at Cal Poly April 29-30. Speakers include Christopher Baker of NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program and Dr. Anthony Colaprete (R) of NASA Ames Research Center, principal investigator of the Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper selected to fly on EM-1. NASA as part of its Lunar Initiative announces opportunities for small payloads on lunar landers and orbiters. (Image Credits: Cubesat Developers Workshop, MIT, NASA, Conquest) |
Apr 22 — Lyrid Meteor Shower Peak: Lyrids derived from Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher with period 415 years, are medium-swift (49 km/sec), often bright with persistent trains and can offer 15-20 per hour.
Apr 22 — Moon: 7.9° NNE of Antares, 01:00.
Apr 22 — Amor Asteroid 2019 FV2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)
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).
Apr 13 – Sep 2 — The Museum of Flight, Seattle WA: Exhibit: Destination Moon – The Apollo 11 Mission.
TUESDAY
Apr 23 — Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: LPL Colloquium: From Microbes to Exoplanets: Ecological Remote Sensing of the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica and Beyond; by Mark Salvatore, Assistant Professor at Northern Arizona University.
Apr 23-24 — NASA, OPAG, Washington DC: Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) Steering Committee Meeting.
Apr 23-25 — Cubesat Developers Workshop, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo CA: Cubesat Developers Workshop 2019.
Apr 23-25 — Chinese Society of Astronautics, China Space Foundation, Changsha, China: 2019 China Space Conference.
Apr 23 — Pi Puppids Shower Peak: Occurs within the boundaries constellation of Puppis, particles can travel 15 km/s and appear at about 10 per hour. |
Apr 23 — Moon: 1.66° NNE of Jupiter, 03:00.
Apr 23 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 GM4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)
Apr 23 — Apollo Asteroid 478784 (2012 UV136): Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)
WEDNESDAY
Apr 24 — Hubble Space Telescope, LEO: Spacecraft with 2.4-meter diameter main telescope begins 30th year in space today, launched Apr 24, 1990; expected to continue operations until at least 2022.
Apr 24 — People’s Republic of China, Nationwide: National Day of Space Flight 2019; commemorating the launch of China’s first satellite, Dongfanghong-1 on April 24, 1970.
Apr 24 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Lecture: The NASA Archives – 60 Years in Space; by Piers Bizony, author of The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Apr 24 — Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: Lecture: Project Eden – The Search for Nearby Exo-Earths; by Daniel Apai from Steward Observatory, 19:00.
Apr 24-26 — International Astronautical Federation, Centre Royal de Télédétection Spatiale (CRTS), CNES, Marrakesh, Morocco: Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries (GLEC 2019).
Apr 24-27 — UNOOSA, China National Space Administration, Changsha, China: United Nations/China Forum on Space Solutions: Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.
THURSDAY
Apr 25 — Caelus Foundation, Secure World Foundation, Chinese Society of Astronautics, Changsha, China: Sino-US Space Commercialization Workshop.
Apr 25 — Specialty Committee of Space Medico-Engineering and Astrobiology of Chinese Society of Astronautics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Changsha, China: International Forum on Human Living and Working in Long-term Lunar Habitation.
Apr 25 — Industrial Development Agency (JSC), ESA, Open Innovation Network, et al, Warsaw, Poland: European Space Tech Transfer Forum 2019.
Apr 25 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Polarization by Interstellar Dust — What Does it Tell Us? by Bruce Draine from Princeton.
Apr 25 — Moon: 0.45° SE of Saturn, 05:00.
FRIDAY
Apr 26 — Cubesat Developers Workshop, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo CA: 8th LunarCubes Workshop 2019, and CubeSat Astronomy Workshop.
Apr 26 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: Colloquium: The Impact Hazard from Small Near-Earth Objects – Lessons from Chelyabinsk; by Peter Brown from University of Western Ontario, 15:30.
Apr 26 — Moon: At last quarter, 12:18.
SATURDAY
Apr 27 — Ad Astra Kansas Foundation, Washburn University, Topeka KS: 11th annual Ad Astra Kansas Space Celebration.
Apr 27 — Mauna Kea Astronomy Outreach Committee, Mauna Kea HI, 2,800-meter level: Malalo o ka Po Lani; presentation covering cultural components that surround Mauna O Wakea, 18:00 followed by stargazing program, at Mauna Kea Visitor Information Center.
Apr 27-30 — National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC: 156th National Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting.
Apr 27 — Aten Asteroid 2019 GF1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.012 AU)
SUNDAY
Apr 28 — Star Gaze Hawaii, Kamuela HI: Stargazing at Westin Hapuna Beach Resort; adults US$40, kids $20, 20:00.
Apr 28-30 — Tel-Aviv University, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israeli National I-CORE Center for Astrophysics, Tel-Aviv, Israel: Tal Alexander Workshop: Dynamics and Accretion Near Massive Black Holes.
Apr 28 — Moon: at apogee (distance 404,566 km), 08:00.
Apr 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 GX5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.018 AU)