July 25-31, 2016 / Vol 35, No 30 / Hawai`i Island, USA

21st Century Humanity – A Multi World Species: The Moon, Mars and Solar System Complete

Spacemonth 2016 and the 47th Observation of Humans becoming a Multi World Species with Apollo 11 in 1969 are celebrated this July. As candidates vie for U.S. Presidency, we note nearly 44 years since Humans were on the Moon or even past LEO. The USA can reassert itself as a pioneering leader in space, go many steps beyond the current Mars focus and capitalize on investments made in human space exploration. Progress is vital toward permanent bases on other Worlds starting with the Moon. America’s next frontier could be the Moon South Pole with its peaks of eternal light, water ice and continuous line of sight communications to Earth allowing for solar-powered bases, and eventual fuel-depots to launch toward next endeavors at Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Beyond for Solar System Complete exploration. The science, technology, economic and species survival benefits depend on 21st Century visionary leadership, and should not be ignored or postponed. The political candidates, from the two major parties dating back to the 19th century, make supportive references to the space program and commercial space enterprise, but a contemporary and ambitious message of “Women on the Moon” and “Moon, Mars, Solar System Complete” could inspire 21st Century leadership similar to that of John F. Kennedy “We choose to go to the Moon”, Neil Armstrong “One giant leap for Mankind”, and “We came in Peace for all.” (Image Credit: NASA, SAIC, Pat Rawlings, ESA)

MONDAY

Jul 25 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 48 six-member crew (3 RSA, 2 NASA, 1 JAXA) preparing for August EVA, transferring ~2,268 kg of cargo from Dragon CRS-9 and 3,000 kg from Progress 64, will set up Heart Cells investigation to study cell changes in space, filling out weekly Space Headaches questionnaire, logging liquid, food and medicine intake; total of 549 people have been to space.

Jul 25 — Kepler (K2 Mission), Heliocentric Orbit: Of the 104 recent exoplanets confirmed, scientists suggest 2 planets of the 4-planet Solar System at K2–72 dwarf star (181 light-years away) could support life, predict that 500 to 1,000 new exoplanets will be discovered over the course of K2 planned 4-year mission; 5,154 candidates, 2,453 confirmed exoplanet so far.

Jul 25 — Juno, Jupiter Orbit: Traveling at ~9,750 kph, successfully transmitting data to Earth with downlink average data rate of less than 337 bits per second, first close-up images of Jupiter to be taken Aug 27, Science Orbit Phase to begin in Nov to study planet origins and interior; NASA shares 1,300 untouched JunoCam photos.

Jul 25 — Space Studies Institute, Mojave CA: NewSpace company planning SSI G-Lab off-world, spin-system laboratory to test the impact of various gravities (Mars 38%, Moon 16% Earth gravity) on generations of vertebrates for application to Human non-terrestrial living; also funding Exotic Propulsion Initiative to explore advanced physics for potential deep-space, Interstellar applications.

Jul 25 — WayPaver Foundation, Chattanooga TN: Accepting applicants for US$100,000 Fellowship Program in 2017 to support research technologies in energy, biology and manufacturing fields for terrestrial and lunar applications, Letter of Intent due Oct 14, winner announced Feb 28, 2017.

Jul 25 — Relativity Space, Location TBA: Rocket company startup with the theme “building orbital rockets with zero human labor” raises US$9.54M, working on business plan and investors; incorporated in Delaware with mailing address in Seattle WA, CEO Tim Ellis, CTO Jordan Noone.

Galaxy New Worlds / Exoplanets Come into Focus as Deep Space Awareness Broadens

With Juno arriving at Jupiter, New Horizons zipping past Pluto toward the Kuiper belt and Kepler scouting out thousands of exoplanets, there is rising momentum toward deep space research and exploration. The Institute of Astrophysics and Space Science and the University of Porto are holding the 4th Azores International Advanced School: Asteroseismology and Exoplanets – Listening to the Stars and Searching for New Worlds in Azores, Portugal July 17-27. The NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) and Astrobiology Institute are hosting the Exoplanet Biosignatures Workshop Without Walls in Seattle WA Jul 17-19. Galaxy Forums in Kansas (Aug 13) and possibly at Scarsdale High School in New York (Sep 23) will feature Exoplanet matters. The Kepler space telescope in its redefined K2 mission is cooperating with W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawai`i, the twin Gemini North and South telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, the Automated Planet Finder of University of California Observatories and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona to confirm Exoplanet discoveries. The latest announcement validates 104 new worlds out of 197 candidates spotted during the first year of the Kepler reboot. It seems certain that there are billions, if not trillions or quadrillions of planets in our Galaxy. Even within our own Solar System there are fascinating new worlds to explore and more to be discovered. Some projections indicated there may be 200 Dwarf Planets in the Kuiper Belt and up to 10,000 in the Oort Cloud beyond. So far 5 are officially recognized: Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake and Ceres. (Image Credit: NASA, Hubble/STSI, M. Vargic)

Jul 25-26 — The National Academies, Washington DC: Meeting: Review of NASA’s Evidence Reports on Human Health Risks.

Jul 25-27 — AIAA, SAE, ASEE, Salt Lake City UT: 52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference; at Salt Palace Convention Center.

Jul 25-29 — NAOJ, East Asian Observatory, Quy Nhon, Vietnam: Conference: Star Formation in Different Environments.

Jul 25-29 — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech/NASA, Pasadena CA: 28th Annual Planetary Science Summer School.

Jul 25 – Aug 5 — University of Hawai`i at Hilo, Hilo HI: 2nd annual Software Systems in Astronomy course; with Professor Albert Conrad, covers software design & implementation of telescope / instrument control systems, observation planning tools, software for analyzing / archiving astronomical data.

Jul 25 — Moon: 1.4° NNW of asteroid 18 Melpomene, 19:00; 12.8° SSE of Uranus, 20:00.

Continued from…

Jun 17 – Aug 15 — Canadian Space Agency, Longueuil, Quebec, Canada: 4th Astronaut recruitment campaign for CSA; expects to announce selected candidates in Summer 2017.

Jun 27 – Aug 5 — Mavericks Lab, NASA, SETI, Moffett Field CA: Mavericks Lab Applied Research Accelerator: Asteroid Grand Challenge.

Jul 12 – Sep 1 — International Space University, Technion Institute, Israel Space Agency, Haifa, Israel: ISU 29th Space Studies Program (SSP 2016).

Jul 17-27 — Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA), University of Porto, Azores Islands, Portugal: 4th Azores International Advanced School: Asteroseismology and Exoplanets – Listening to the Stars and Searching for New Worlds.

Jul 24-30 — Institute of Astronomy at University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom: Meeting: Binary Stars @ Cambridge.