US Space Policy Meetings &
First Women Landing on the Moon
National Space Council, led by US VP Mike Pence, is planning to hold its 4th public meeting in McNair DC on October 23, the same day as “Transformers: Space” sponsored by Washington Post, NASA, AIAA and ASE. High priority topics include American leadership in space, commercial space, and Administration-proposed Space Force. Among the participants at “Transformers: Space” are Ellen Stofan, Jim Bridenstine, Astronaut Sandy Magnus, Astronaut Nicole Stott, Bill Nye, George Whitesides, and Heidi Hammel. The 11th Annual American Astronautical Society Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium is being held in Huntsville AL on Oct 23-25 with theme Galvanizing U.S. Leadership in Space. Speakers include Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, Eileen Collins, Mary Lynne Dittmar, Clive Neal, Dan Dumbacher and Bobby Watkins talking on lunar surface operations, gateway planning, NewSpace, ISS commercialization, exploration tech and partners, and space policy direction. The National Space Program plans a Human Return to the Moon, and with it perhaps is the consideration for the First Women on the Moon – as near in time as possible to Apollo 11 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing 50th Observation. The 61st Woman in Space, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, is currently at ISS; Sunita Williams and Nicole Mann are training as part of the Commercial Crew Astronauts; and the 5 women candidates of 2017 Astronaut class are more than half-way through their astronaut training. One of these women could be on Exploration Missions to the Moon, and hopefully be one of the first to land on its surface. (Image Credits: NASA, AIAA, Kim Shiflett, ILOA, Golden Spike Co., ESA, Mon Express) |
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MONDAY
Highlights…
 Oct 22 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 57 three-member crew may not return to Earth or see new members until next spring; working with Cold Atom Lab, Lighting Effects investigation, Food Acceptability log, SPHERES Tether Slosh experiment, and finalizing HTV-7 Cargo Transfers.
 Oct 22 — NewSpace: Blue Origin adjusts first crewed mission to 2019 and orbital flights 2021; SpaceX vessel Mr. Steven being tested for fairing recoveries, developing Texas site for BFR spaceship advancements; Rocket Lab to build launch pad at Wallops Flight Facility in VA.
Oct 22 — Solar System: BepiColombo to begin its 7-year journey to Mercury; selected Mars landing site to be chosen after final Mars 2020 rover workshop; Hayabusa2 touchdown on Asteroid Ryugu postponed until Jan 2019 for planning considerations; Chang’e-4 rover name to be selected soon.
Oct 22 — Galaxy: Moon observations with radio telescope could reveal hydrogen signals of infant Universe; Trillion Planet Survey led by students at UC Santa Barbara searching for laser signals from possible intelligent life in Andromeda Galaxy 2.5M light-years away; this week Andromeda highly visible in Southern sky.
Oct 22 — Global: UAE companies may partner with ispace of Japan for Moon 2040 settlement groundwork; ISRO creating 6 space technology incubation centers to promote startups and space research; Roscosmos schedules 3 uncrewed Soyuz launches before next crew launch in 2019.
 Oct 22 — USA: National Academies makes recommendation to NASA of where to search for signs of life; 50th observation of Apollo 7 safe return commemorated today, and Fisher Space Pen noted – first flown on Apollo 7 and used on every human space mission since.
Oct 22 — Hawai’i: Researchers at UH Manoa present study on Ganymede showing strike-slip tectonics; discovery of galaxy proto-supercluster ‘Hyperion‘ being compared with Keck Observatory ORELSE superclusters survey; Hyper Suprime Cam survey using Subaru Telescope continues measuring distribution of matter in Universe, first-year results published.
 Oct 22-27 — European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Ruđer Bošković Institute, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Dubrovnik, Croatia: Cosmology 2018 Conference.
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= 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 (S), Mars (S), Jupiter (WSW), Saturn (SW), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE).
Croatia Cosmology Conference and CERN Experiment on Shores of Sea Change in Universe Theories
Scientists studying the Universe are meeting at Cosmology 2018 in Dubrovnik, Croatia October 22-27. The conference is sponsored by the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb and SISSA in Trieste. It follows a cosmology Summer school held in Trieste. Cosmology 2018 brings together researchers in astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics. Astronautics continues to benefit astrophysics, as space experiments have led to an explosion in data about the Universe. New probes are expected to find unknown physics, and help in establishing needed new theories. CERN Europe, home to the Large Hadron Collider, is assembly point for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. AMS, which led to additional shuttle flights for Endeavour and Atlantis, has measured 123 million cosmic rays. AMS suffers from failing cooling pumps, and will be serviced by a future International Space Station EVA. The European Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space is also scheduled for installation on ISS. ACES will test if the speed of light is constant to one part in 10 billion. While the Hubble Space Telescope remains in Safe mode due to a gyroscope failure, its 73 km/sec per megaparsec measurement of the Universe’s expansion rate disagrees with 67 km/sec from the Planck mission. The European Euclid Space Telescope will be launched in 2021, providing more data. Scientists meeting in Croatia are preparing for a paradigm shift in understanding the Universe. (Image Credits: NASA, ICTP) |
Continued from…
Oct 21-26 — American Astronomical Society DPS, Knoxville TN: 50th Annual Meeting of the AAS Division For Planetary Sciences (DPS).
TUESDAY
Oct 23 — Chang’e-5T1 Service Module, Lunar Orbit: China module collecting data on Lunar surface for future Moon missions reaches 4 full years in Space today, launched 2014.
Oct 23 — National Space Council, McNair DC: Fourth meeting of NSC planned for today at National Defense University.
Oct 23 — Washington Post, NASA, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Association of Space Explorers (ASE), Washington DC: Transformers: Space; examining factors shaping the new era of space travel featuring VP Mike Pence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Bill Nye, Chris Ferguson, Victor Glover, Ellen Stofan, Leland Melvin, Nicole Stott, Heidi Hammel.
Oct 23 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: To The Moon And Beyond; luncheon Honoring Apollo Flight Director Gene Kranz, Benefits Project To Restore Apollo Mission Control, Marriott Marquis Houston.
Oct 23-25 — American Astronautical Society, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, Huntsville AL: 11th Annual Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium: Galvanizing U.S. Leadership In Space; at Charger Union Theater.
Oct 23-25 — Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop, Oak Ridge TN: TVIW Symposium on The Power of Synergy; at Y-12 New Hope Center.
Oct 23 — Uranus: At opposition, 15:00.
Oct 23 — Amor Asteroid 2016 TS55: Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
Oct 23 — Aten Asteroid 2014 UR: Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU) |
WEDNESDAY
Oct 24 — Mars Odyssey, Mars Orbit: NASA spacecraft begins 18th year in orbit around Mars today, holds record for longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth; launched 2001.
Oct 24 — Kennedy Space Center, KSC FL: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will speak during “Moon to Mars” events.
Oct 24 — SETI Institute, Bremerton WA: Lecture: Kepler, K2, TESS and Beyond – The Era of Exoplanets has Arrived! by Jeff Coughlin of SETI at Olympic College, 18:30-20:30.
Oct 24-26 — UNOOSA, Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, China: United Nations International Conference on Space-based Technologies for Disaster Risk Reduction – Enhancing Disaster Preparedness for Effective Emergency Response.
Oct 24 — Moon: 4.4° SSE of Uranus, 06:00; Full (Hunter’s Moon), 06:46.
Oct 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 TT5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.041 AU)
Oct 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2013 HT150: Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
Oct 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2004 FW1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)
Oct 24 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 UO7: Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)
THURSDAY
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.
Oct 25 — ESA, Madrid, Spain: Intermediate Ministerial Meeting (IMM18); at European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC).
Oct 25 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 UH8: Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU)
FRIDAY
Oct 26 — STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) A & B, Heliocentric Orbit: NASA craft imaging Sun and solar phenomena begins 13th year in space today, launched 2006.
Oct 26 — Northrop Grumman, Launch Pegasus XL / ICON, L-1011, Skid Strip, Cape Canaveral AFS: Pegasus XL rocket to launch NASA Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite into orbit.
Oct 26 — Stanford on the Moon Alumni Club, Stanford CA: Stanford on the Moon Conference; Astronaut Tammy Jernigan will help open 1st SOM Lunar Exhibit honoring 9 Stanford women astronauts, also featuring SOM Advisory Committee discussion, SOM Endowment Fund Awards; held during Stanford Reunion Homecoming Weekend 2018 in Varian Physics Lab.
Oct 26 — Olympic College, SETI University, Bremerton WA: Lecture: Kepler, K2, TESS and Beyond – The Era of Exoplanets has Arrived! by Jeff Coughlin, SETI Institute scientist, 18:30-20:30.
Oct 26 — Moon: 8.4° SSE of Pleiades, 11:00.
Oct 26 — Venus: At inferior conjunction with Sun, 0.272 AU from Earth and 6.26° south of Sun, 04:00.
Oct 26 — Amor Asteroid 2018 TQ2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.056 AU)
SATURDAY
Oct 27 — Solar System Walk, Waimea HI: Family event walking through Solar System model in town of Waimea, Keck Telescope Headquarters to Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Headquarters, 10:00-14:00.
Oct 27 — NASA Johnson Space Center Open House, Houston TX: Celebration of NASA 60th anniversary and International Space Station 20th anniversary, Exhibits and Guest Speakers From International Space Station, Orion, Commercial Crew, and ARES, 10:00-14:00.
Oct 27 — Villanova University, Villanova PA: Martian Greenhouse Talk + Tour at Villanova University.
Oct 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.
Oct 27 — Moon: 1.6° N of Aldebaran, 03:00.
SUNDAY
Oct 28 — Standard Time (Europe): Change clocks back 1 hour, from Summer Time to Standard Time.
Oct 28 — Moon: 3.3° S of M35 cluster, 19:00.
Oct 28 — Mercury: 3.1° SSW of Jupiter, 21:00.
Oct 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 RJ7: Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)