Articles by: SPC

November 7-13, 2016 / Vol 35, No 45 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Canada Set for Space, Science Policy Symposiums and 15th CSS Space Summit

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The Canadian Space Commerce Association and Canadian Space Policy Centre are hosting the 1st Annual Canadian Space Policy Symposium “Aligning Space Policy with the Canadian Innovation Agenda” November 8 at Shaw Centre in Ottawa. Long-term space strategies will be discussed in terms of creating high tech business environments, achieving innovation through academics, and staying at the forefront of technological developments by speakers (BL-R) Sylvain Laporte (President, CSA), Gordon Osinski (Western University), Philip Miller (ExactEarth), Iain Christie (AIAC), Adam Keith (EuroConsult Canada), Alex MacDonald (NASA) and Charity Weeden (Lquinox Consulting). Canada Science Policy Conference Nov 8-10 will have 30 panel sessions, 150 panelists, 600 participants and 5 pre-conference symposiums. The 15th Canadian Space Society Annual Summit “At the Centre of it All!“ is expecting 200 attendees Nov 12-15 in Winnipeg. It will feature Canadian Space Leaders Roundtable, panel discussions and lectures including ‘A Bold Vision for Canadian Space Astronomy in 2020s’ (Patrick Cote, NRC) and ‘Designing the Second Generation of Magnetic Resonance Images for Astronauts’ (Gordon Sarty, Univ. of Saskatchewan). The 2016 Canadian Aerospace Summit, expecting 1,000 participants, is set for Nov 15-16 in Ottawa and the Canadian Space Exploration Workshop is being held Nov 24-25. Other notable space companies and groups in Canada include Canadensys Aerospace, Thoth Technology, Open Space Orbital, Astronomy and Space Exploration Society, Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, Canadian Astronomical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. (Image Credit: CSCA, CSA, CSS, CSPC, UWO, EuroConsult, NASA, AP, C. Weeden)

MONDAY

Ongoing…
star-grey Nov 7 — ISS, 330-435-km LEO: Expedition 50 to remain 3-member crew for another week, continuing cargo transfers from Cygnus OA-5 & Progress 64P, greenhouse experiment validating technologies for deep space food supply – next batch of lettuce to be harvested end of Nov, Cosmonauts working with Kontur-2 Experiment to operate on-planet robots from ISS, planning for Progress 64P & HTV-6 arrival before start of 2017.

star-grey Nov 7 — Tiangong-2, 393-km LEO: Two Taikonauts in 10.4-m long, 3.35-m diameter Space Lab to spend another 12 days in space, working with 14 mission & experiment packages including multi-spectral limb imaging spectrometer, space plant growth experiment, stereoscopic microwave altimeter.

star-full-grey Nov 7 — Juno, Jupiter Orbit: Appears to be working nominally and responding to commands after exiting safe mode; 4,100-km altitude close fly-by of Jupiter planned for Dec 1 at 12:03 EST, Period Reduction Maneuver scheduled Dec 11 will aim to move craft into intended science orbit.

circle-full-grey Nov 7 — Asteroid Redirect Mission, NASA, Washington DC: Proposed project to move NEA to Moon orbit for Astronaut exploration ~2026 may pivot or be dismissed with change in USA administration; NASA announces more than 15,000 NEAs have been identified with ~30 new discoveries a week.

circle-full-grey Nov 7 — Moon Express, Cape Canaveral FL: NewSpace company offering to match funding at US$500K per NASA experiment payload to fly to Moon 2017-2020 to help space agency fill in knowledge gaps in understanding “potential role of Moon in future exploration activities.”

circle-full-grey Nov 7 — Virgin Galactic, Las Cruces NM: Planning to begin VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo glide tests to gather data, starting at ‘speed limit’ of Mach 0.6; Unity 2-pilot, 6-passenger spacecraft will eventually undergo faster glide tests, rocket-powered flights, off-nominal testing, Astronaut experience testing.

circle-greyNov 7 — Mars One, The Hague, The Netherlands: Down to 100 semi-finalists from 705 potential Mars settlers, company planning to send lander to Mars 2018 with communications satellite, company delays date of one-way human missions to 2027.

Nov 7 — Silicon Valley Space Center, Space Mission UK, BootUp World, Menlo Park CA: Space Mission UK; space start-ups from UK meeting with US investors and space companies.

nov-jan-2017 = 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: Venus (SW), Mars (SW), Saturn (SW), Uranus (SE), Neptune (S); Morning Planets: Jupiter (ESE).

Silicon Valley Space Events Include AIAA Asteroid Mining and Future Space Economy Dinner

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Featuring Daniel Faber, CEO of Deep Space Industries (DSI), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics San Francisco Chapter Dinner Meeting takes place at 18:30 November 10 in Mountain View CA. DSI is positioning itself to provide the right supplies to the right location to support near-future expansion of space enterprise. SpaceX is heading to Mars, ULA projecting cis-lunar econospheres, ESA evolving Robotic / Human Moon Village, and national programs pushing further out into the Solar System than ever before. Faber and other DSI principals such as Rick Tumlinson, Petr Johanes, Mark Sonter, and John Lewis, recognize the opportunity and importance of asteroid mining in the space economy. DSI Prospector-1, billed as the first commercial mining mission, is being planned to launch by the end of the decade. Faber has a Degree in Mechatronic Engineering and a Postgrad Certificate in Antarctic Studies (international policy and regulation). He founded the Canadian Space Commerce Association. Silicon Valley Space Center hosts Space Mission UK on Nov 7 in Menlo Park for space start-ups from the UK to meet with USA investors and local space companies. SVSC is also hosting a TechTalk by Hale Reynolds, Director of Business Development at SSL, with the theme Small Satellite Manufacturing on Nov 16 at Hacker Dojo in Santa Clara. (Image Credit: DSI, SVSC, BootUP, SSL, Skybox)

 Nov 7 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Microwave Observations on Saturn’s Rings; Zhimeng Zhang (Cornell Astronomy), 12:30.

Nov 7 — Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: Lecture: Green Fireballs! James McGaha, Director of Grasslands Observatory, 19:30.

Nov 7-10 — Group on Earth Observations, St. Petersburg, Russia: GEO-XIII Plenary and Exhibition; Park Inn by Radisson Pribaltiyskaya hotel.

Nov 7-11 — Square Kilometre Array Telescope, Goa, India: Conference: Science for the SKA Generation (SKA 2016).

Nov 7-16 — Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), Tenerife, Spain: 2016 28th Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics: Solar System Exploration.

Nov 7-17 — Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics, International Space Weather Initiative, Sangli, Maharashtra, India: SCOSTEP/ISWI International School on Space Science.

Nov 7 — Moon: At first quarter, 09:51.

Nov 7 — Apollo Asteroid 2002 UQ12: Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU).

Nov 7 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 UZ40: Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU).

Continued from…

Nov 5-9 — UNOOSA, Iranian Space Agency, Inter-Islamic Network on Space Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran: United Nations/Islamic Republic of Iran Workshop on the Use of Space Technology for Dust Storm and Drought Monitoring in the Middle East Region.

TUESDAY

Nov 8 — Canadian Space Commerce Association,Canadian Space Policy Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: 1st Annual Canadian Space Policy Symposium; held in conjunction with Canadian Science Policy Conference 2016 on Nov 8-10.

Nov 8 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Lecture: History of Clays on Mars – How We Found Them + Astrobiological Importance; Janice Bishop of SETI, 12:00.

Nov 8-10 — SMi Group, SES, Airbus Defence & Space, Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., et al, London, United Kingdom: 18th annual Global MilSatCom; featuring keynote addresses, presentations and interactive panel discussions; expecting over 450 attendees.

Nov 8-10 — University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Banting Polytechnic College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Aerotech VI Conference: Innovation in Aerospace Engineering and Technology.

Nov 8-11 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: 10th ESA Round Table on Micro and Nano Technologies for Space Applications.

Nov 8 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 TT93: Near-Earth Flyby (0.091 AU).

WEDNESDAY

Nov 9 — H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Planetary Society, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Carl Sagan Day “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe”; featuring Casey Dreier, Director of Space Policy at the Planetary Society, 19:00.

Nov 9 — ILOA, Space Age Publishing Company, Kamuela HI: Galaxy Forum Hawai`i 2016 – Kamuela: Astronomy Benefits Hawaii; featuring Doug Simons, Steve Durst, Sherry Bracken; at Anna Ranch 16:30-18:30, free.

Nov 9 — Moon: 0.95° NNW of Neptune, 04:00.

THURSDAY

Nov 10 — AIAA – San Francisco, Mountain View CA: Dinner Meeting: Asteroid Mining and the Future Space Economy; Daniel Faber, CEO of Deep Space Industries, to discuss importance of asteroid mining in space economy of the near future, at Michaels at Shoreline 18:30-21:00.

Nov 10 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Orographic Clouds on Titan & SAUL-TOPO; Paul Corlies (Cornell Astronomy), 12:30.

Nov 10-11 — Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, Beijing, China: 2016 KIAA-PKU Astrophysics Forum: Future Large Optical-Infrared Facilities in China.

Nov 10 — Apollo Asteroid 2004 KB: Near-Earth Flyby (0.026 AU).

FRIDAY

Nov 11 — CNSA, Launch Long March 11 / XPNAV 1, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China: Long March 11 rocket to launch X-ray Pulsar Navigation (XPNAV 1) research satellite built by Chinese Academy of Sciences to collect data on X-rays generated by Pulsars.

Nov 11 — United Launch Alliance, Launch Atlas 5 / WorldView 4, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: ULA Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-062, to launch WorldView 4 Earth observation satellite for DigitalGlobe.

Nov 11 — Royal Astronomical Society, London, United Kingdom: Meeting: Crustal Differentiation on Mars – A New View of the Red Planet Forty Years after Viking; Meeting: Fine-Tuning on the Cosmological and the Quantum Scales.

Nov 11 — Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Boeing Co., Titusville FL: Grand Opening of Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame; honoring Human space exploration and the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs.

Nov 11 — Silicon Valley Space Center, Santa Clara CA: Hacker Dojo Warming: HD 3.0; celebrating the new Hacker Dojo where TechTalks series focusing on emerging technical concepts and innovations in aerospace is hosted.

Nov 11-13 — Spaceport America, Academy of Model Aeronautics, New Mexico Filmmakers Give Back, Las Cruces NM: Spaceport America Drone Summit.

Nov 11 — Mercury: At aphelion (distance 69,817,326 km), 05:00.

SATURDAY

Nov 12-13 — Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is), British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Starship Engineer Workshops; with Kelvin Long (Executive Director i4is), Rob Swinney (Deputy Director i4is).

Nov 12-15 — Canadian Space Society, Magellan Aerospace, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: 15th Canadian Space Society Annual Summit: At the Centre of it All! two-day public event hosted by Manitoba Museum followed by two-days for Conference proceedings & gala dinner.

Nov 12 — Taurids Meteor Shower Peak: Appearing to radiate from constellation Taurus, Taurids offer about 7 meteors per hour and travel at ~28 km/s.

Nov 12 — Moon: 2.7° SSE of Uranus, 02:00.

Nov 12 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 UN5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.048 AU).

Nov 12 — Amor Asteroid 2016 UX40: Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU).

Nov 12 — Apollo Asteroid 2016 UZ56: Near-Earth Flyby (0.100 AU).

SUNDAY

Nov 13-15 — Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of the University of Florida (UF), International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Orlando FL: 1st IAA Conference on Space Situational Awareness (ICSSA).