Space Month 2017 America Opens with Canada Day July 1
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MONDAY Ongoing… Jun 26 — Solar System: Tianzhou-1 cargo ship at Tiangong-2 space lab in LEO testing multi-directional space rendezvous, automated docking, refueling; Kepler adds 219 potential planets to catalog – 4,034 planet candidates total with 50 potentially habitable; meteorite isotope ratio study shows Jupiter, the oldest planet, may have divided early Solar System in two; New Horizons team observing KBO 2014 MU69 to measure size, view potential debris hazards. Jun 26 — Galaxy: Lowell Observatory study using 65 giant galaxy observations from Hubble indicates most massive galaxies have been aligned (pointed toward neighbor galaxies) for 10B years; ESA selects 2026 PLATO mission to search for habitable exoplanets & 2034 LISA to search for gravitational waves in Universe; Astrophysicists starting “Cosmowebportal” to create data center for cosmological simulations. Jun 26 — Global: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces plans for new space sector laws, licensing commercial spaceflight, rockets, satellites, spaceports; Xu Yansong of CNSA states Nov 30 potential date for launch of Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission; ISRO & NASA working on joint Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Earth monitoring satellite; Russia talks about Astronaut training with India & collaborating on NASA / ESA Cislunar Gateway. Jun 26 — NewSpace: Peter Beck of Rocket Lab discusses 3D printing for Electron rocket, launches at US$5M, battery-powered engine that can be printed in 1 day; Astrobotic signs agreement with ATLAS for Lunar Laser Communications payload to launch to Moon on Peregrine lander; Blue Origin still targeting late 2018 for commercial New Shepard flights, not sure of passenger ticket cost; Canadensys Aerospace receives US$450,000 6-month contract for Lunar Surface Mobility Concept Study (as does MDA). Jun 26 — Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands: TU Delft Starship Team (DSTART) Symposium; to share recent progress on interstellar multidisciplinary effort involving astrophysics, biotechnology, computer simulation, chemistry, art. |
= 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;’ Greenwich, England).
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Jupiter (SW), Saturn (SE); Morning Planets: Venus (E), Uranus (E), Neptune (SE).
2017 Asteroid Day: New Initiatives Focus on Detection, Deflection, Resources
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Jun 26-28 — Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, AIAA, Moscow, Russia: SpaceOps Workshop 2017; to discuss Space endeavors via Moon & Mars, missions 2030 & Beyond, advanced data analysis technologies.
Jun 26-29 — Lockheed Martin Corp., NASA, USAF, FAA, DARPA, Indian Wells CA: 2017 National Space & Missile Materials Symposium & Commercial and Government Responsive Access to Space Technology Exchange. Jun 26-30 — European Astronomical Society, Prague, Czech Republic: European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) 2017. Jun 26 – Jul 2 — Curtin University, Perth Convention Bureau, NASA SSERVI, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia: Workshop on Shock Metamorphism in Terrestrial and Extra-Terrestrial Rocks. Jun 26 – Jul 21 — Other Worlds Laboratory at University of California – Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA: 2017 Exoplanet Summer Program. Jun 26 – Aug 25 — International Space University, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland: ISU 30th Space Studies Program (SSP 2017). Jun 26 — Moon: 3.2° S of Beehive Cluster, 01:18. Continued from…Jun 10 – Sep 10 — EuroChem, TransTelekom, DHL, General Electric, Samsung, Siemens, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Astana, Kazakhstan: Expo 2017 Astana: Future Energy. Jun 30 – Jul 29 — Space Media Ventures, National Space Society, Online: Kickstarter Campaign: Space Odyssey Game; presented by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, for people of all ages to experience new Worlds and add to them as real science & their collective imagination allows. Jun 15 – Aug 15 — International Space Elevator Consortium, Online: ISEC 2017 Summer Internship Program; six interns to perform home-based / online intern studies with ISEC. Jun 17 – Aug 19 — Singularity University, Moffett Field CA: SU 2017 Global Solutions Program; for students to develop Moonshot innovations addressing humanity’s grand challenges; Climate Change is overarching theme for 2017. |
Jun 24 – Jul 2 — The Meteoritical Society, Curtin University, The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Perth, Australia: Workshop on Shock Metamorphism in Terrestrial and Extra-Terrestrial Rocks.
Jun 25-27 — Space Frontier Foundation, Moffett Field CA: NASA Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Programs (SBIR/STTR).
Jun 25-28 — American Water Resources Association, Tysons VA: 2017 Summer Specialty Conference on Climate Change Solutions – Collaborative Science, Policy and Planning for Sustainable Water Management.
TUESDAY
Jun 27 — Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), Sun-Synchronous Orbit: NASA observation satellite investigating the physical conditions of the chromosphere of Sun begins 5th year in space, launched 2013.
Jun 27-28 — ESA, European Commission, Malta Council for Science and Technology, Kalkara, Malta: Workshop: Space Solutions and Resilience in the Mediterranean Sea.
Jun 27-29 — International Academy of Astronautics, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy: 10th IAA Symposium on the Future of Space Exploration: Towards The Moon Village and Beyond; to present final results of IAA activities related to programs beyond LEO and discuss the Moon Village vision.
Jun 27-29 — Space Frontier Foundation, San Francisco CA: NewSpace 2017: Convergence “Explore Your Opportunity in the Space Frontier”.
Jun 27-29 — The National Academies, Irvine CA: Meeting: Review of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes.
Jun 27 — Moon: 0.1° S of Regulus, 14:26.
WEDNESDAY
Jun 28 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 5 / Inmarsat S-band / Hellas-Sat 3 & GSAT 17, Kourou, French Guiana: Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA238, to launch Inmarsat European Aviation Network S-band / Hellas-Sat 3 and ISRO GSAT 17 communications satellites.
Jun 28 — NASA, American Library Association, Kamuela HI: Astro Bash 2017; at Thelma Parker Memorial Public Library, 16:30-19:00.
THURSDAY
Jun 29 — Moon: Occults asteroid 16 Psyche, one of the 10 most massive known asteroids in Main Belt; it is a metallic M-type asteroid, over 200 km in diameter, fairly pure iron–nickel composition and thought to be the exposed core of a protoplanet.
FRIDAY
Jun 30 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: NASA / ESA / ASI spacecraft begins 14th year of operations in Saturn orbit today; launched Oct 15, 1997, reached Saturn 2004; controlled impact planned for Sep 15.
Jun 30 — International Astronautical Federation, Online: Early Registration Due: 68th International Astronomical Congress 2017 (IAC 2017); occurring Sep 25-29.
Jun 30 — Asteroid Day Ltd., Global: Asteroid Day 2017; education, events, films and entertainment hosted by organizations and individuals to increase awareness about asteroids.
Jun 30 – Jul 3 — Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) 2017 General Assembly.
Jun 30 — Moon: At first quarter, 14:51; 2.7° N of Jupiter, 21:28.
Jun 30 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 LC: Near-Earth Flyby (0.062 AU).
SATURDAY
NET Q3 — Interorbital Systems Corp., Launch Neptune 8 rocket / Team Synergy Moon GLXP Lander & Rovers, TBD: Planning to launch 4-stage Neptune 36 Common Propulsion Module (CPM) on Lunar Direct Trajectory; will carry CYGO Cruiser craft which will release TubeSats & Team Synergy Moon Lander (which will then deploy Tesla Prospector Rover & Tesla Surveyor Rover) in attempt to win US$20M Google Lunar XPRIZE.
Jul 1 — Deep Space, Interstellar Space & Heliosheath: Humankind’s farthest mission in space, Voyager, to be highlighted on PBS documentary Aug 23, to celebrate the 40th observation of launch of Voyager 2; both craft communicating with Earth and expected to continue until at least 2025 when power may run out.
Jul 1 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Intelsat 35e, Cape Canaveral AFS FL, Pad LC-39A: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to launch Intelsat 35e communications satellite, launch 19:35-20:35.
Jul 1 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Mike Foreman, adult US$69.95.
SUNDAY
Jul 2 — ISS, Dragon CRS-11 Return to Earth, 330-435-km LEO: SpaceX Dragon CRS-11 resupply craft to be released from ISS 11:43 EDT, live coverage available, set to splashdown in Pacific Ocean with ~2,000 kg of return experiments and cargo.
Jul 2 — ARTEMIS P1, Moon Orbit: Craft begins 7th year in Moon orbit today; originally launched with constellation of 5 satellites in 2007 to study Earth magnetosphere, NASA craft collecting data on Moon interaction with Sun; reached Moon 2011.
Jul 2 — CNSA, Launch Long March 5 / Shijian 18, Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): China Long March 5 rocket to launch Shijian 18 communications satellite.
Jul 2-5 — University of Cambridge, Center for Theoretical Cosmology, Cambridge, United Kingdom: Stephen Hawking 75th Birthday Conference: Gravity and Black Holes.
Jul 2-6 — Royal Astronomical Society, Hull, United Kingdom: 25th Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting; at E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics – University of Hull.