March 25-31, 2024 / Vol 43, No 13 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Luxembourg Opens 6th Space Resources Week, Paris Hosts IAF Spring Meetings

With semi-overlapping dates, two Europe conferences will host significant events over three days this week: The Space Resources Week in Luxembourg (March 25-27), and the Spring Meetings of the International Astronautical Federation (March 26-28). Space resource utilization and exploration has been promoted significantly in Luxembourg since 2016 with the SpaceResources.lu initiative launched by the government and Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA). During this 6th Meeting, over 150 abstracts were submitted to cover aspects of regulatory, financial and commerce dimensions of the space resources market. A shared ethos of the past / current meetings is “no one can do this alone”. The 2-day Space Resources Course will be taught by representatives from LSA, ESA, ISU, CO School of Mines, ESRIC, and NASA JSC. Also being held alongside the Space Resources Week at the European Convention Center on March 26 is the UNOOSA Expert meeting with the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities. The IAF Spring Meetings gathering in Paris will bring together the IAF Administrative and Technical Committees, IAF Bureau, and the International Programme Committee which will select the abstracts to become part of the 75th IAC in Milan in October. There is also the IAF Global Networking Forum, and two IDEA 3G Diversity events (breakfast and lunch, both featuring opening comments by IAF President Clay Mowry) with the themes “Is the Next Generation ready to take up leadership roles?” and “Tracking the Evolution of 3G+ Principles at the IACs”. (Image Credits: LSA, IAF)

MONDAY 

☆ Mar 25 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 70 planned to be 10-member crew pending launch of Soyuz-MS 25 and arrival of Novitskiy, Vasilevskaya and Dyson, and work with ~3,000 kg of cargo from SpaceX CRS-30.

☆ Mar 25 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 17 three-member crew look forward to welcoming Shenzhou 18 in one month and planning return to Earth shortly thereafter.

☾ = Moon activity

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

Artemis 3 Project Scientist to Present on Science and Exploration of the Moon

Center for Advanced Sample Analysis of Astromaterials from the Moon and Beyond (CASA Moon) Planetary Sample Science Seminar Series hosting Artemis 3 / LRO project scientist Noah Petro of Goddard Space Flight Center to speak on science goals of the first planned human lunar landings of the 21st century. Petro, who has championed Malapert Massif for lunar exploration and Earth observation at the Lunar Surface Science Workshop, will address a hybrid audience in-person at a University of New Mexico Northrop lecture hall and online. CASA Moon is a one of five new research teams organized under the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) in Spring of 2023, and will be funded $1.5M / yr over 5 years by the Science Mission and Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorates. Led by UNM Institute of Meteoritics Senior Research Scientist Chip Shearer, CASA Moon is also supported by the UMN Sustainable Space Research Grand Challenge, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Upcoming seminars for the Fall 2024 series include U-Pb systematics of lunar samples by Alexander Nemchin of Curtin University; Origin of sulfur isotopes reservoirs on the Moon by James Dottin if Brown University April 10; and Connecting samples with source craters via impact modelling April 24 by Katarina Miljkovic, also of Curtin University. (Image Credits: NASA)

● Mar 25 — NASA Advisory Council Science Committee, Online: Meeting of the NAC Science Committee.

o Mar 25-27 — European Space Resources Innovation Centre, Luxembourg Space Agency, European Space Agency, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg: Space Resources Week 2024; also coinciding with UNOOSA Expert Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities.

☆ Mar 25 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 CF6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)

TUESDAY

● Mar 26 — NOAA, National Science and Technology Council Space Weather Operations, Research and Mitigation (SWORM), Online: Space Weather Advisory Group Meeting.

o Mar 26-28 — International Astronautical Federation, Paris, France: IAF Spring Meetings 2024.

☾ Mar 26 — Moon: 1.27° NE of Spica, 12:00.

WEDNESDAY 

● Mar 27 — CASA Moon, SSERVI, Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico, LPI, Albuquerque NM and Online: CASA Moon Planetary Sample Science Seminar Series: Artemis III Science and Exploration of the Moon; by Noah Petro, Goddard Space Flight Center, 11:00 MDT.

☆ Mar 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 EA3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)