= 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 (W), Venus (W); Morning Planets: Mars (SE), Jupiter (S), Saturn (SE).

2018 Events Advancing First Women on the Moon Initiative In the midst of planning for Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Anne McClain to become the 61st and 62nd Women in Space, USA Space Policy Directive 1 / future Human Moon Missions and Apollo 11 50th Observation events, international groups are advocating to see the First Women on the Moon. The IAF IDEA “3G” (Generation, Geography and Gender) Diversity Day with 3 events will occur March 28, and interviews for the Excellence in 3G Diversity Award will be conducted during the IAF Spring Meetings to recognize organizations advancing diversity and equality in the space sector. International Lunar Observatory Association Galaxy Forums with theme First Women on the Moon are set for July 4 in Silicon Valley CA and October 19 in Scarsdale NY. A special luncheon with South Korea Astronaut Yi So-yeon and women Astronauts from Japan, China and USA TBD will be held on December 5 during Galaxy Forum Hainan 2018 in China. The Stanford on the Moon Alumni Club Conference and Lunar Exhibit is being planned with participation from the 8 Stanford women Astronauts / representatives during the Stanford Homecoming Reunion Weekend October 26. Space Age Publishing Company continues its poll “First Woman on the Moon Will be from Where?”, and request for nomination for the First Woman on the Moon to be sent to news@spaceagepub.com. This year Space Center Houston is featuring Anna Fisher and Mary Cleave for its ‘Lunch with an Astronaut’ program. (Image Credit: NASA, KARI, IAF)

Mar 26 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: Colloquium: On the Physical Origin of Galaxy Size and Spin.; Rachel Somerville of Rutgers University. Mar 26-27 — International Academy of Astronautics, Paris, France: IAA 2018 Spring Meetings. Mar 26-29 — University of Coimbra (CITEUC), European Commission – Portugal 2020, Coimbra, Portugal: Workshop: The Transneptunian Solar System. Mar 26-29 — SME, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Boeing, University of Southern California, Florida Institute of Technology, Long Beach CA: AeroDef 2018. Mar 26-30 — Nagoya University, Career Development Project for Researchers of Allied University, Nagoya, Japan: Conference: Circumplanetary Disks and Satellite Formation. Mar 26 — Moon: at perigee (distance 404,145 km) 07:32; 1.8° S of Beehive Cluster, 15:00. Mar 26 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 FR1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU) Continued from… NET Mar 16-31 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / VCLS ELaNa, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: First full commercial launch of Electron rocket with various CubeSats for NASA Venture Class Launch Service (VCLS) Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) XIX mission. Mar 24-28 — Astronomical Society of Japan, SOKENDAI Graduate University for Advanced Studies, TENKYO Japanese Society for Education and Popularization of Astronomy, JAPOS Japanese Public Observatory Society, Fukuoka, Japan: Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP 2018). TUESDAY Mar 27 — Hawaii Supreme Court, Honolulu HI: Thirty Meter Telescope building permit appeal brief answers by UH Hilo and Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources due today; to be followed by another appellant response within 14 days in lengthy contested case.

Mar 27 — SETI Institute, Menlo Park CA: Lecture: Roving on Mars – Revving up for Future Exploration of the Red Planet. by Janice Bishop, Ginny Gulick, Pablo Sobron of SETI Institute.

Mar 27-28 — Applied Technology Institute, Littleton CO: ATI Course: Vibration Testing of Small Satellites; instructor Tom Sarafin.

Mar 27-29 — International Astronautical Federation, International Academy of Astronautics, International Institute of Space Law, Paris, France: IAF Spring Meetings 2018; at the CAP Convention Center.

Mar 27-29 — The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Washington DC: Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science Meeting.

Mar 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 DH1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.024 AU)

Mar 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2004 EU22: Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Mar 28 — Universities Space Research Association, Washington DC: Symposium: Return to the Moon: A Partnership of Government, Academia, and Industry; featuring Robert Lightfoot, Jan Woerner (video participation), Harrison Schmitt, Ellen Stofan, James Carpenter, Clive Neal, Carle Pieters, Dan Hendrickson, Christie Iacomini, Angel Abbud-Madrid and more.

Mar 28 — NASA HQ, Washington DC: Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission to be discussed with media at James Webb Auditorium, 13:00.

Mar 28-29 — International Union of Radio Science (URSI), Meudon, France: URSI France 2018 Workshop.

Mar 28-29 — CNES, Airbus, Boeing, ESA, ASTECH Paris Region, PROXIMUM Group, et al, Paris, France: Paris Space Week; at Paris-Orly Airport.

Mar 28 — Moon: 0.98° NNE of Regulus, 05:00.

Mar 28 — Venus: 0.07° SSE of Uranus, 15:00.

Mar 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 FU1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)

Mar 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 SR2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.048 AU)

Mar 28 — Apollo Asteroid 2013 QM48: Near-Earth Flyby (0.087 AU)

Mar 28 — Aten Asteroid 2003 FY6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)

THURSDAY

NET Mar 29 – Apr 9 — CNSA, Tiangong-1 Earth Atmosphere Reentry, LEO: China 1st Space Lab to disintegrate during Earth atmosphere reentry; predicted to reenter between 43°N and 43°S latitudes during this time frame.

Mar 29 — ISS, U.S. Extra Vehicular Activity #49, 405-km LEO: Expedition 55 crew members Drew Feustel and Richard Arnold to perform 6.5-hour spacewalk in support of an upcoming science payload and to enhance ISS communications envelope via the Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2) architecture beginning approximately 8:10 am EDT; live coverage available.

Mar 29 — ISRO, Launch GSLV Mk. 2 / GSAT 6A, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 2, flying on the GSLV-F08 mission, to launch GSAT 6A communications satellite.

Mar 29 — CNSA, Launch Long March 3B / Beidou, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China: Long March 3B rocket to launch 2 satellites for China Beidou navigation network into Medium Earth Orbit.

Mar 29 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Iridium Next 41-50, Vandenberg AFB CA: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch 10 satellites for Iridium next mobile communications fleet.

Mar 29 — International Astronautical Federation, Paris, France: IAC 2018 Bremen International Programme Committee meeting and abstract selection.

Mar 29 — Moon Village Association (MVA), Paris, France: MVA Association Advisory Committee meetings to occur.

Mar 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 FB: Near-Earth Flyby (0.013 AU)

FRIDAY

Mar 30 — University of Utah, Salt Lake City UT: Astronaut Ellen Stofan and author of “Hidden Figures” Margot Lee Shetterly featured as keynote guests for University of Utah theme year on empowerment.

Mar 30 — Georgia Tech Strategic Plan Action Group (SPAG), Georgia Tech College of Science and Engineering, Ivan Allen College, McEvers Foundation, Atlanta GA: 2018 Georgia Tech Astrobiology Colloquium: Exploring Life Origins and the Universe: A Networking Event.

Mar 30 — NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), Moffett Field CA / Online: Abstracts Due: 5th annual NASA Exploration Science Forum (2018); to be held Jun 26-28 at Ames Research Center.

Mar 30 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 FB2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU)

SATURDAY

Mar 31 — Moon: Full Blue Moon, 02:37.

Mar 31 — Aten Asteroid 2010 GD35: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)

Mar 31 — Apollo Asteroid 2001 FA58: Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)

SUNDAY

NET Apr — Gaia, Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point: ESA spacecraft next data release expected this month, on mission to map 1 Billions Stars.

Apr 1 — Deep Space, Kuiper Belt: New Horizons will remain in hibernation mode for 2 more months, then begin preparations and trajectory changes for KBO Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) flyby 1 Jan 2019; recent interview with PI Alan Stern on the mission.

Apr 1 — Juno, Perijove 12 / 11th Science Close Flyby, Jupiter Orbit: NASA craft in 53-day orbit to come within ~3,500 km of Jupiter cloud tops during Perijove 12, its 12th close flyby of Jupiter and 11th science flyby with instruments turned on.

Apr 1 — Smithsonian Channel, Broadcast: Airing of ‘Finding Life in Outer Space’ and ‘Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet’.

Apr 1 — Moon: Moon 6.9° NNE of Spica, 02:00.

Apr 1 — Mercury: at inferior conjunction with Sun, 0.597 AU the Earth and 2.84° N of Sun, 08:00.

Apr 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 EM4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)

Apr 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2007 RX8: Near-Earth Flyby (0.085 AU)

Apr 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 FB2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)