March 11-17, 2024 / Vol 43, No 11 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Moon Matters: LPSC2024 in USA Being Held Prior to PRC Launch of Queqiao 2 Lunar Relay

The 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, sponsored by NASA, USRA and the Lunar and Planetary Institute, will convene ~2,000 planetary scientists and students from March 11-15 in the Woodlands, Texas. There will be 5 simultaneously occurring tracks featuring oral and poster presentations, plenary and special sessions, as well as awards for NASA early-career winners. LPSC24 co-chairs are Walter Kiefer (USRA, LPI) and Justin Filiberto (JSC). Louise Prockter will speak on ‘The Secret Lives of Icy Moons’, followed by a NASA HQ Briefing with Lori Glaze, Sarah Noble, Joel Kearns and others. Lunar-focused sessions will cover dark sites on the Moon, magma, science of upcoming missions, impacts, polar volatiles, samples, crust and tectonics. Launching to a halo orbit around Earth-Moon Lagrange point L2 in support of Chang’E-6, -7 and -8 lunar missions is the ~1,200 kg Queqiao 2 relay satellite aboard a Long March 8 rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, China on March 18. This mission will also carry two small satellites called Tiandu 1 and 2 which will fly in formation with Queqiao 2 to verify further communication and navigation tests. Queqiao 2 is a more advanced version of Queqiao 1 which also resides at Earth–Moon L2. It has a deployable 4.2-meter dish antenna, and will provide four X-band links to communicate with Chang’E landers and rovers on the lunar surface, and one S-band link for Earth. (Image Credits: LPI, USRA, STScI, NASA, ESA, CSA, Webb ERO, CNSA, CCTV)

MONDAY 

☆ Mar 11 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 70 becomes 10-member crew with newly arrived SpaceX Crew-8 Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Alexander Grebenkin; preparing for Expedition 71 handover.

☆ Mar 11 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 17 three-member crew continue to monitor solar panels on Tianhe core after 8-hour EVA repaired damage from space debris (14th spacewalk overall at TSS).

☾ = Moon activity

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

March Storm Space Lobbying Blitz Kicks off in Washington DC

Alliance for Space Development, supported by National Space Society and Space Frontier Foundation, is gearing up for its annual space advocacy event March Storm on March 11-13 at House and Senate office buildings on Capitol Hill. A 1-day training session will be held Monday March 11, while March 12 and 13 will be dedicated to in-person meetings with legislators, where space advocates will pitch policy ideas – this year regulatory issues will be a subject of focus. Specifically, March Storm will lobby for the extension of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004 for an additional 8 years, which would prevent the FAA from regulating private spaceflight during an extended ‘learning period’. Secondary initiatives include passage of 2 pieces of legislation: the Commercial Space Act (H.R. 6131 sponsored by Representative Brian Babin [R-TX]) which would empower the Department of Commerce to oversee private space activity, and the ORBITS Act (S. 477, sponsored by Senator John Hickenlooper [D-CO]) which aims to mitigate orbital debris. March Storm will also advocate appropriation increases for Office of Commercial Space Transportation as well as funding for NEO Surveyor earth defense telescope, an economic feasibility study of space-based solar power transmission to Earth, and for development of in situ resource utilization technology by NASA STMD – necessary for Artemis era long-term human presence on the lunar surface. Donations are accepted from those who support the development of space but are unable to attend. (Image Credits: NSS, SFF)

★ Mar 11 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / CRS SpX-30, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: SpaceX to launch CRS-30 Commercial Resupply Service mission to International Space Station.

● Mar 11 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: Submissions Due: Small Business Innovation Research & Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR).

● Mar 11-13 — Space Frontier Foundation, Alliance for Space Development, National Space Society, Washington DC: March Storm 2024: Growth-Enabling Space Regulation.

● Mar 11-15 — Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), USRA, NASA, The Woodlands TX: 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) 2024.

TUESDAY

● Mar 12 — The Space Show, Online / Las Vegas NV: Dr. David Livingston hosts Fortuna Investments Justus Parmar on Investing in Space.

☆ Mar 12 — Apollo Asteroid 2015 FM34: Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)

WEDNESDAY 

● Mar 13 — Beyond Earth Institute, Online: Webinar: Sacred Skies: Respecting & Integrating Diverse Spiritual Perspectives in Space Policy; featuring Charlie Chafer (Celestis), Jason Batt (Beyond Earth), Karl Aspelund (Univ of Rhode Island), Alires Almon (WellPower).

☾ Mar 13 — Moon: 3.4° NNW of Jupiter, 14:00.

☆ Mar 13 — Jupiter and Uranus: At heliocentric conjunction, 16:00