Articles by: SPC

October 29 – November 4, 2018 / Vol 37, No 44 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Southern CA Events Advance Space Settlement, Moon Village and SEDS Space Vision Initiatives

National Space Society is hosting Space Settlement Summit 2018 November 2-3 at University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Featured speakers include Garret Reisman, Charles Bolden, Mark Hopkins, Bruce Pittman, John Mankins and Kirby Ikin talking on panel topics: vision of space settlement, material developments of past 12 months, what to do with 150 tons to orbit, engaging further communities in space settlement discussion, and newcomers to the field. The 2nd International Moon Village Workshop / Symposium is being held Nov 4-5, simultaneously with a planned USC space business lecture and event. It will comprise plenary sessions and breakout sessions organized according to the 10 MVA working groups. Among the confirmed speakers are Giuseppe Reibaldi (MVA), Scott Pace (NSC), Johann-Dietrich Wörner (ESA), Yoshifumi Inatani (ISAS/JAXA), Jing Peng (CAST), Torsten Kriening (PT Scientists), Rahul Narayan (Team Indus), Michelle Hanlon (For All Moonkind) and Rick Tumlinson (New Worlds). Aligning Space Settlement and Moon Village conferences this year reflects the significant international support to return humans to the Moon toward Solar System expansion and exploration. Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) ‘SpaceVision 2018 Conference: Build Space Better’ is being held Nov 1-3 in La Jolla. Organized entirely by students, the conference promotes interdisciplinary approach to the future of space development and student leadership in aerospace and STEM. (Image Credits: NSS, ESA, Fosters + Partners, Don Davis, NASA)

MONDAY

Highlights…
Oct 29 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 57 three-member crew replacing gear inside Kibo Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack, maintaining ISS air & water filters, and battery charges and backups for computers, camcorders, EMUs; HTV-7 packed with waste and ready to be released using Canadarm-2 next month; upcoming Cygnus NG-10 spacecraft to be named S.S. John Young.

Oct 29 — NewSpace: Sean Casey of SVSC to become VP of business development at ATLAS Space Operations; SpaceX plans to fly a reused Falcon 9 Block 5 booster for the third time; Blue Origin former cargo ship intended to be used for booster landings is docked in Pensacola, Florida for upgrades.

Oct 29 — Solar System: First interplanetary CubeSats MarCO relaying images of Mars in preparation of Insight landing Nov 26; NASA ending efforts to contact Opportunity rover on Mars; High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) for future crew missions to Venus being discussed at NASA; Juno confirms atmosphere ‘wave trains’ on Jupiter reported by Voyager, causation theories developing.

Oct 29 — Galaxy: Universe explorer Hubble being tested and evaluated after executing maneuvers to get backup gyroscope moving at operable speeds; supernova remnant Kes 75 which may have exploded 500 years ago, contains youngest pulsar in Milky Way; China astronomers using Las Campanas Observatory in Chile studying giant protocluster of galaxies dating from when Universe was 1B years old.

Oct 29 — Global: Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin to visit USA for Soyuz MS-09, MS-10, space cooperation discussions; ESA testing CHEOPS exoplanet hunter satellite readying for 2019 Q2 launch; Korean Aerospace Research Institute developing Kompsat-7 Earth-observation satellite for 2021; China & ESA to work on joint Solar-wind Magnetosphere Explorer.

Oct 29 — USA: NASA outlines Request for Proposals for Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads; today is celebrated for 20th observation of STS-95 Discovery launch in 1998, and John Glenn return to Space; NSC supports U.S. Space Force.

Oct 29 — Hawai’i: Keck Telescope observes death of star exploding into a supernova; NAOJ Subaru Telescope demonstrates new algorithm in searching for exoplanets; SpARCS survey using Keck and Gemini telescopes investigates why galaxies stop forming stars.

= 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 (SW), Mars (S), Jupiter (WSW), Saturn (SW), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE).

Reinventing Space From London To Leiden

The 16th Reinventing Space Conference runs October 30 – Nov 1 at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. The conference, organized by the British Interplanetary Society, follows the successful launch Oct 20 on an Ariane 5 booster of the BepiColombo spacecraft, first mission launched to Mercury in 14 years. The morning of Nov 1 is the Women in Aerospace-Europe Breakfast, with the Sir Arthur Clarke Awards for Space Achievement in the evening. The United Kingdom independently operates the Skynet satellite constellation built by Airbus. With the coming of Brexit, the UK may be forced to leave the Galileo GPS project and consider launching its own GPS constellation. In the next ten years RISpace anticipates new mega-constellations of satellites and In Situ Resource Utilization from the Moon. ESA sponsors Space for Inspiration Oct 29-31 in Bilbao, Spain. This international conference is for anyone interested in Space exploration. It focuses on how Space can be a powerful instrument of positive change and new businesses on Earth. In Leiden, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences stages Roadmap for Universal Life Oct 29 – Nov 2. Workshop will explore the origins of life, prerequisites for life’s emergence, biochemistry on Earth and the search for biosignatures in the Universe. (Image Credits: ESA, NASA, BIS, RAS, RISpace, SaVi, RSC, Univ. of Leiden, et al)

Oct 29 — CNSA, Launch Long March 2C / CFOSAT, Jiuquan, China: China to launch the China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT).

Oct 29 — JAXA, Launch H-2A / GOSAT 2 & KhalifaSat, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: Japan H-2A rocket to launch Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite 2 (GOSAT 2) for JAXA, Japanese Ministry of Environment, National Institute of Environmental Studies.

Oct 29-30 — Air Traffic Control Association, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington DC: ATCA/FAA Commercial Space NAS Integration Conference 2018.

Oct 29-31 — ESA, Bilbao, Spain: Conference: Space for Inspiration; focusing on how space can be a powerful instrument for positive change – and new businesses – on planet Earth.

Oct 29-31 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: European Space Thermal Engineering Workshop.

Oct 29 – Nov 2 — Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Astronomical Society, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, et al, Leiden, The Netherlands: Workshop: A Roadmap for Universal Life.

Oct 29 — Aten Asteroid 475534 (2006 TS7): Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

Oct 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 TS2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)

Oct 29 — Aten Asteroid 302169 (2001 TD45): Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)

Continued from…

Oct 25-31 — KARI, Launch Korea Space Launch Vehicle Test, Naro Space Center, South Jeolla, South Korea: South Korea to test launch single stage rocket; aiming to reach 100-km altitude on 10-minute test.

TUESDAY

Oct 30 — Juno, Perijove 16 / 15th Science Flyby, Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft in 53-day orbit to come within ~3,500 km of Jupiter cloud tops during Perijove 16, its 16th close flyby of Jupiter and 15th science flyby with instruments turned on.

Oct 30 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Soyuz / Progress 71P (MS-10), Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Russia Soyuz rocket to launch Progress 71P resupply ship to ISS.

Oct 30 — Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, SpaceIL, Los Gatos CA: SpaceIL: to the Moon and beyond; featuring Yonatan Winetraub, co-founder of SpaceIL, discussing the project to land an Israeli spacecraft on the Moon in February.

Oct 30-31 — Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom: Workshop: Towards an All-Sky Radio SETI Telescope.

Oct 30 – Nov 1 — RISpace, British Interplanetary Society, Glasgow, United Kingdom: 16th Reinventing Space Conference; highlighting trends that will define space enterprise a decade from now.

Oct 30 – Nov 2 — Theoretical Astrophysics Group (TAG) at Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), Daejeon, South Korea: Conference: Cosmic Dust and Magnetism.

Oct 30 — Moon: 10.9° S of Castor, 02:00; 7.3° S of Pollux, 07:00.

Oct 30 — Aten Asteroid 2018 UC: Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Oct 31 — American Astronautical Society, Springfield VA: Nominations Due for AAS Awards.

Oct 31 – Nov 2 — Theoretical Astrophysics Group at Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon, S Korea: Cosmic Dust and Magnetism.

Oct 31 – Nov 3 — American Society of Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), Bethesda MD: 34th ASGSR Annual Meeting.

Oct 31 — Moon: 0.68° S of Beehive Cluster, 06:00; at last quarter, 06:41; at perigee (distance 369,836 km), 10:24; 2.0° NNE of Regulus, 20:00.

Oct 31 — Amor Asteroid 2016 WZ7: Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU)

THURSDAY

NET Nov — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / “It’s Business Time” Multi-Payload, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Two-week launch window opens for first fully commercial launch dubbed ‘It’s Business Time’ with two Spire Lemur 2 CubeSats and one GeoOptics CICERO satellite; live coverage available.

Nov 1 — Deep Space, KBO 2014 MU69 Trajectory: Project scientists preview New Horizons flyby of KBO Ultima Thule planned New Years Day 2019 – while spacecraft continues to send data on KBO brightness, potential moons & debris, and performs navigation refining maneuvers.

Nov 1 — The Economist, NYC NY: The Economist: Space Summit.

Nov 1 — San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco CA: Lecture: Stephen Hawking – A Celebration of His Life and Work; by professor Andrew Fraknoi.

Nov 1-2 — Heritage Auctions, Online / Dallas TX: Neil Armstrong’s Private Collection to be Sold.

Nov 1-3 — SEDS UC San Diego, La Jolla CA: SpaceVision 2018 Conference: Build Space Better.

FRIDAY

Nov 2 — International Space Station, LEO: Today marks 18 full years / start of 19th year of continuous Human occupation of ISS; first component launched Nov 20, 1998, occupation began Nov 2, 2000.

Nov 2-3 — National Space Society, University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA: NSS Space Settlement Summit.

SATURDAY

Nov 3, 4 — Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station, Mauna Kea HI (2,800 meters): Star Gazing program, 19:00-22:00, weather permitting, free.

Nov 3 — Northern Taurids Meteor Shower Peak: Appearing to radiate from constellation Taurus, Taurids are associated with Comet Encke and offer about 7 meteors per hour and travel at ~28 km/s.

Nov 3 — Amor Asteroid 2016 VH2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)

SUNDAY

Nov 4 — Breakthrough Prize Foundation, Moffett Field CA: 2019 Breakthrough New Horizons award ceremony for winners awarded a total of US$22M discoveries in math, physics and the life sciences.

Nov 4-5 — Moon Village Association, National Space Society, University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA: 2nd International Moon Village Workshop; fostering cooperation for existing or planned global Moon exploration programs of public and private initiatives.

Nov 4-7 — Geological Society of America, Indianapolis IN: 2018 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting.

Nov 4-7 — International Association of Advanced Materials, Stockholm, Sweden: Advanced Energy Materials World Congress (AEMWC 2018).

Nov 4 — Standard Time (USA): Change clocks back 1 hour from Daylight Saving to Standard Time; does not include Hawai’i, American Samoa or Arizona (except the Navajo Reservation).

Nov 4 — Aten Asteroid 2002 VE68: Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)