Lunar Surface Science and LunarCubes 2024 Workshops Focus on Next-Gen Mission Concepts

The 25th virtual session of the Lunar Surface Science Workshop (LSSW) is being held September 17-18 by LPI, USRA and NASA with theme ‘Plume-Surface Interactions.’ The LSSW series began in 2020 to determine what science could be done and experiments deployed by Artemis crew on the surface of the Moon and has expanded to include science input for Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) and other lunar spacecraft. This workshop will focus on understanding rocket exhaust-induced plume-surface effects at lunar touchdown as regards general safety, protecting hardware / lunar environment, and conducting science experiments. Goals would be to identify potential community knowledge gaps / areas for collaboration and potentially shape future instrumentation / missions. Also this week is the LunarCubes 2024 meeting on Sep 21 as part of the September 19-21 Appalachian Space Technology & Research Advancement Conference (ASTRA-Con) at Morehead State University (Kentucky). The LunarCubes Working Group is choosing ‘Moon Shot Moon Bots’ as the theme of the 4-hour meeting. Pamela Clark (pictured) of the Space Science Center and Tod Mesirow are the originators of the decade-old concept of Moon Bots, that is, “multi-platform flyover / multi-encounter / rover mobility with commercial off-the-shelf cell phone ‘payload’ technology,” which needs an update that includes today’s technology. (Image credits: Morehead Univ., NASA, Langley Research Center, USRA, LPI)

MONDAY 

☆ Sep 16 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 seven Astronauts and Boeing Starliner CST-100 two members welcome newly-arrived Soyuz MS-26 Cosmonauts Ovchinin & Vagner and NASA Astronaut Pettit; studies are being done of blood clotting with megakaryocyte cell cultures, effects of moisture on plants grown in space with lettuce, and if vision changes in astronauts can be avoided with B vitamins.

☆ Sep 16 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 18 three-member crew will be sent various bricks made from simulated lunar soil to determine which will be most suitable for building structures on the Moon; one type will have been heated to 1,000°C using electromagnetic induction in a sintering furnace, creating a brick in just 10 minutes.

● Sep 16 — Federal Aviation Administration Department of Transportation, Online: Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) meeting, public invited.

o Sep 16-20 — Novaspace Group, Airbus, ArianeSpace, IntelSat, Milbank, Paris, France: World Space Business Week; 27th year, The Westin, full registration €3,600.

☆ Sep 16 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / Kinéis Killed the RadIoT Star (Kinéis 6-10), Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B, Onenui Station, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Electron rocket set to launch 2nd batch of five 30 kg satellites toward total of 25 for the French Kinéis IoT constellation, watch in person from Blucks Pit Road, Nuhaka; 13:02 HST.

☆ Sep 16 — Aten Asteroid (2024 RQ): Near-Earth Flyby (0.003 AU)

☾ = Moon activity

★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events; in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).

Artificial Intelligence to Advance Space Missions

Two conferences this week focus on the uses of artificial intelligence (AI) for space missions. The European Space Agency and International Academy of Astronautics are convening SPAICE 2024: AI in and for Space in the UK September 17-19 to allow “fertile ground for novel ideas and trends” that have potential for a profound impact. Presentations by attendees from 25 countries include 45 oral / 62 poster and have 8 general themes with largest numbers covering onboard AI or navigation / control. Keynote speakers are Angela Schoellig from Technical University of Munich, Jürgen Schmidhuber representing institutions in both Switzerland and Saudi Arabia, Katja Hofmann of Microsoft Research, Ryan S. McClelland of NASA, Ioana Ciucă from Australian National University. New York City sees the U.S. premiere of documentary film AI AND ROBOTICS: A Near Future You’re Not Prepared For the evening of September 17. Produced by David Savage and Harvey Nash companies, with 36 locations globally, it features interviews with AI experts from The National Robotarium in Scotland, the Estonian Government, which has been a leader in using AI, and prominent academics. Following the film, a panel discussion led by NASA Goddard Chief AI Officer Omar Hatamleh may echo themes mentioned at the UK premiere discussion of maintaining the human element in decision-making, allowing innovation and not mistaking AI for a friend. AI autonomous systems and predictive analytics are assisting space missions. (Pictured L-R top: Schoellig, Schmidhuber, Hofmann, McClelland, Ciucă; L-R bottom: Hatamleh, Savage. Image credits: Airbus, NASA, DFKI, Georgia Tech, NashSquared, Microsoft, respective speakers)

TUESDAY

● Sep 17 — Harvey Nash companies, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, New York NY: Film “AI and Robotics: A Near Future You’re Not Prepared For” and panel discussion “Exploring the Next Frontier with AI: Transforming Space, Earth Science and the Future”; at The Forum, Columbia University, 16:00-19:00 EDT.

● Sep 17-18 – LPI, USRA, NASA, Online / Houston TX: Lunar Surface Science Workshop 25: Plume-Surface Interactions.

o Sep 17-19 — ESA, Harwell, United Kingdom: SPAICE: AI in and for Space; unified conference on Space and Artificial Intelligence at European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT).

● Sep 17-20 — Maui Economic Development Board, AMOS Conference Committee, Maui HI:  25th Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference (AMOS).

☾ Sep 17 — Moon: 0.35° NNE of Saturn, 01:00; Full Harvest Moon with partial eclipse, 16:36; 0.63° N of Neptune (occultation), 22:00.

☆ Sep 17 — Apollo Asteroid (2024 ON): Near-Earth Flyby (0.007 AU)

WEDNESDAY

o Sep 18 — Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Taipei, Taiwan: Colloquium: Direct Imaging of Exoplanets; from investigation of Jovian planet formation/evolution to future explorations for the Second Earth; presented by Uyama Taichi of California State University Northridge / Astrobiology Center, 14:20-15:20.

★ Sep 18 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 Block 5 / Starlink Group 9-17, SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB CA: Taking satellites to LEO for Starlink space-based Internet communication system at launch cost ~US$52M; in-person viewing locations; 07:20 PDT.

☾ Sep 18 — Moon: At perigee (distance 357,304 km), 03:34.

☆ Sep 18 — Venus: 2.40° NNE of Spica, 00:00.

☆ Sep 18 — Apollo Asteroid (2024 RH8): Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU)