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July 22-28, 2024 / Vol 43, No 30 / Hawai`i Island, USA

NASA Moon to Mars Focus: International Conference on Mars and Lunar-Robust Exploration Science Forum 

Four members of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and representatives of California Institute of Technology and NASA Mars Exploration Program convene The Tenth International Conference on Mars in Pasadena, July 22-25. Goals are an overview of Mars knowledge gained since the Mariner 4 first flyby in July 1965, an identification of crucial planetary science questions and exploration planning. The Science Organizing Committee is a stellar group of scientists with participants from Japan, Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, England, the ESA, Canada, nine USA states and Washington DC. There will be an evening public talk on July 24. Each day includes plenary, recap, poster highlights and oral sessions in two tracks. The final day has a session to synthesize conference content and prepare a draft report. NASA Solar System Exploration Virtual Institute (SSERVI) will hold NASA Exploration Science Forum 2024 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, July 23-25. A live and virtual conference, it attracts >5,000 persons for ~70 lunar and ~20 other scientific presentations. In-person public talk is “Origin of the Moon”. Over 40 posters are presented. Eugene Shoemaker Distinguished Scientist Medal, Michael J. Wargo Exploration Science Award, Angioletta Coradini Mid-Career Award and Niebur Award all will be presented. Associated in-person event is July 22, the 15th annual Lunar and Small Bodies Graduate Forum to present four SSERVI research topics including Missions and Human Exploration. (Image credits: NASA)

MONDAY 

Jul 22 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 71 seven-member crew delay EVAs and continue work with two Boeing CST-100 Astronauts for the foreseeable future, pending Starliner safety review conclusions; ongoing experiments include with Lumina optical fiber, hydroponic plant water flow, and protein crystallization research.

Jul 22 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 18 three-member crew Ye Guangfu, Li Guangsu and Li Cong monitoring zebrafish and hornwort research project, and conducting plant stem cell studies; CMSA publishes high-res images of recent EVA.

Highlights…

o NewSpace: Astrobotic launch of Griffin lunar lander officially delayed to Sep 2025, while Intuitive Machines IM-2 and Firefly Blue Ghost lunar landers aim for 2024 launch; Skyroot Aerospace of India planning Vikram-1 first flight after successful proof pressure test of Kalam-1200 first stage; Astroscale Japan ADRAS-J demo satellite engaging in autonomous operations / debris inspections in LEO.

o Global: Wenchang commercial launch site at Hainan, China is being prepared for inaugural launch of Long March 12 NET August; As Indonesia National Observatory plans first light mid-2024 for 3.8-m optical instrument, country also considers building 20-m radio telescope; African Space Council President Tidiane Ouattara discusses Africa Space Agency (AfSA) goals to finalize 10-person council and recruit a director general.

USA: NASA seeking input / interest on disassembly and reuse of VIPER after cancelling project, looking to keep other CLPS missions on schedule – possible new Task Order/s announcements upcoming to new lunar locations such as Malapert Mountain; LunaRecycle, under Centennial Challenges Program, looking for Moon debris management solutions for Artemis missions.

o Jul 22-25 — Institute for Basic Science, Planetary Atmospheres Group, Daejeon, Korea: Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Conference on Planetary Science and Space Exploration; at Science Culture Center.

● Jul 22-25 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Mars Exploration Program, Pasadena CA: The Tenth International Conference on Mars.

☆ Jul 22 — Pluto: At opposition in longitude, magnitude 14.4, 11:00.

= Terrestrial and… o = International terrestrial events

= Moon activity

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


Weekly Planet Watch Morning Planets: Mars (E), Jupiter (E), Saturn (SE), Uranus (E), Neptune (E); Evening Planets: Mercury (WNW), Venus (WNW).

S Korea Hosts Next Planetary / Space Conference, Advances KLPO and KASA

Coordinated as a satellite event to the 3,000-attendee 45th COSPAR, the Institute for Basic Science Conference on Planetary Science and Space Exploration (PSSE 2024) is set to occur July 22-25 in Daejeon. It will include diverse participation from international organizations such as Chinese Academy of Sciences, Indian Space Research Organisation, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Sorbonne Université, Kyoto Sangyo University, ESA, Space Research Institute (IKI) and Israel Weizmann Institute of Science.  The tracks are Moon, Earth and near Earth; Terrestrial Planets; Atmospheric chemistry and dynamics; Gas giants and moons; and Solar System. Mission data being discussed will come from Juno, ExoMars, JWST, Venera-D and Akatsuki. The second talk on day one will be ‘An Overview of the Korean Moon mission, KPLO’ by Eunhyeuk Kim from Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). KLPO (aka Danuri) is the first space and first lunar mission from South Korea, launched 2022. Its 5 instruments will continue collecting data from lunar orbit until at least 2025 in the extended mission phase. KARI is now working with the newly formed Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA), which is planned to invest US$72B to accomplish a 2045 Mars landing, with first robotic lunar landing by 2032. Korea was the 10th nation to sign the Artemis accords and has only one Astronaut to date, Soyeon Yi, who flew to ISS in 2008. (Image credits: Institute for Basic Science, KASA, KARI, NASA)

Ongoing…

● May 28 – Aug 7 — LPI-JSC Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Houston TX: Exploration Science Summer Intern Program.

● Jun 8 – Aug 3 — International Space University (ISU), Rice University, NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston TX: 36th ISU Space Studies Program (SSP 2024).

☆ NET Jul — ISRO, Launch LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) / Gaganyaan G2, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: India planning for 1st uncrewed flight of Gaganyaan on a short orbital test flight.

o Jul 1 – Aug 30 — Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Taipei, Taiwan2024 Summer Student Program; students conduct original research under supervision of professional astronomers.

TUESDAY

★ Jul 23 — Chandra X-ray ObservatoryHEO: NASA spacecraft in extended mission phase reaches 25th full year / begins 26th year of operations in space; instruments able to detect X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope; launched 1999.

 Jul 23-25 — NASA, SSERVI, Washington University, St. Louis MO: NASA Exploration Science Forum (NESF2024).

☾ Jul 23 — Moon: At perigee (distance 364,894 km), 19:44.

☆ Jul 23 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 LY2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU)

WEDNESDAY

☾ Jul 24 — Moon: 0.46° NNE of Saturn, 11:00.

☆ Jul 24 — Amor Asteroid 2022 MS: Near-Earth Flyby (0.087 AU)

THURSDAY 

o Jul 25-27 — Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO), Nicosia, Cyprus: Pan-European IMD 2024 Celebration – The Moon, a Laboratory for Peace and Imagination.

☾ Jul 25 — Moon: 0.59° N of Neptune, 05:00.

☆ Jul 25 — Mercury: 2.12° SW of Regulus, 01:00.

FRIDAY

● Jul 26 — Doc Waller’s Earth & Space Report, Online / Rockport MA: Webinar: What can astronomy tell us about climate change? by Travis Rector (University of Alaska).

o Jul 26 — Yuzhnoye State Design Office, Moon Village Association, Online / Ukraine: 3rd PromoMoon Initiative Closing Ceremony; for Moon Village Generation PromoMoon Initiative winners.

☆ Jul 26 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 MH1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.012 AU)

SATURDAY

☾ Jul 27 — Moon: At last quarter, 16:53.

☆ Jul 27 — Mercury: At aphelion, 0.4667 AU from the Sun, 06:00.

SUNDAY

☆ Jul 28 — Aten Asteroid 523664 (2012 OD1): Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)