Apollo 10 @50 Observed as International Entities Plan 21st Century Moon Missions
50th year of Apollo Moon Missions 10, 11 and 12 are celebrated this year and especially on May 18, July 20, and November 19 respectively. Revival of the USA Human lunar program is now aiming to land women and men on the South Pole within the next 5 years, with an emphasis on creating a sustainable architecture. While the general outline of returning to the Moon with commercial and international partnerships through step-by-step technology development has been made public, no FY2020 funding request or commitment has yet been announced. NASA has chosen 9 companies to fulfill future Commercial Lunar Payload Services contracts; is set to determine Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads providers; and has ordered a pre-solicitation for Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) for Human Lunar Lander Ascent System. International support for Lunar Orbital Gateway-Platform concept underlines the consensus and interest in occupying cislunar space. Rediscovering historic missions and exploring new frontiers are significantly increasing with the possible locating of the jettisoned 4-meter wide Apollo 10 module ‘Snoopy’, Beresheet commercial craft attempting lunar landing, China landing Chang’e-4 on the Far Side, India planning Moon South Pole region landing by September, and Chang’e-5 sample return launching NET December. (Image Credits: NASA, CNSA, ISRO, LRO)
MONDAY
Highlights… May 13 — ISS, 405-km LEO: Expedition 59 six-member crew transferring nearly 2,500-kg of cargo from Dragon CRS-17 including new instrument to map CO2 in Earth atmosphere and 6 other experiments to be attached to external platforms; stray 2-3 meter cable on Dragon, which was meant to separate at liftoff, being monitored in case of interference.
May 13 — NewSpace: Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin unveils Blue Moon lander, praises USA 2024 lunar timeline; Interstellar Technologies launches first Japan private suborbital space launch; China iSpace to attempt first private orbital flight in June; SpinLaunch building test facility at Spaceport America.
May 13 — Galaxy: Evidence of exomoon around star Kepler 1625 is questioned; Spitzer Space Telescope study finds that earliest galaxies were brighter than expected; Magellan telescope in Chile finds hydrogen in supernova ASASSN-18tb.
May 13 — Global: India Chandrayaan-2 lander and rover testing in Byalalu for launch NET 9 July and landing 6 Sept; KosmoKurs testing technology for suborbital space flights and planning to develop first Russia private spaceport; Israel Space Agency donates US$5.6M toward Beresheet-2.
May 13 — Hawai’i:Imiloa Navigator Chad Kālepa Baybayan presents article exploring Hawaii astronomy, navigation and history; James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and Gemini North Telescope investigating young stellar object G29.862–0.044; Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope initial observations used in study of globular clusters in galaxy Messier 106.
= All times
for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).
Humans to Mars Summit Coincides With Forum For New Leaders
The Humans to Mars Summit 2019 opens May 14-16 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC. Tentative speakers include NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (L) and Ellen Stofan, Director of the National Air and Space Museum. Jan Woerner, Director-General of ESA, will deliver an address via Skype. Opening addresses will be given by Chris Carberry and Artemis Westenberg (R) the Explore Mars CEO and CEO Emeritus. A session titled Beyond Apollo will ask whether a lunar landing in 2024 can help enable a human Mars mission in the 2030’s. NASA aims to send humans to Mars orbit by 2033, though a report by the Science and Technology Policy Institute claims the latter year is unfeasible. In a session on Surface Operations Paul Wooster, the Principal Mars Development Engineer of SpaceX, will talk of plans to land on Mars early. Pascale Ehrenfreund of Germany DLR will add updates from the InSight mission. At lunch in the National Academy of Sciences courtyard, space journalist Leonard David will unveil his new book ‘Moon Rush’. Kim Binsted of University of Hawai’i HI-SEAS will contribute to a session on analog missions. Avi Loeb of Harvard University will talk about exploring beyond Mars. In October the National Academy of Sciences will be venue for a joint China-USA Forum for new leaders in space science. (Image Credits: NASA, National Air and Space Museum, ESA, Explore Mars)
May 13 — Moon: At perigee (distance 368,657.648 km), 11:54.
Continued from…
Jan 2019 – Sep 2020 — New Horizons, Kuiper Belt: Full data from spacecraft 7 instruments during KBO Ultima Thule flyby to be transmitted to Earth over this time period.
May 14-16 — Explore Mars, Inc., Washington DC: 2019 Humans to Mars Summit; focusing on the goal to land humans on Mars within two decades; featuring Buzz Aldrin, Jim Bridenstine, Tom Stafford, Ellen Stofan, Alan Stern, Rebecca Keiser, Roya Mahboob, Ann Merchant.
May 15-16 — National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Space Studies Board of U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Beijing, China: 9th Forum for New Leaders in Space Science.
May 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 JN2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.018 AU)
May 17 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 JG1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
May 17 — Apollo Asteroid 2019 GT1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)
SATURDAY
May 18 — Apollo 10 50th Observation, Nationwide USA: Fourth crewed Apollo mission and second to orbit Moon, Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, Eugene A. Cernan to be honored today as plans for Human Moon Landings within 5 years advance.
May 18 — Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles Astronomical Society, Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers, The Planetary Society, Los Angeles CA: Griffith Observatory Public Star Party; 14:00-21:00.
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May 13 — 
May 13 — NewSpace: Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin unveils 
May 13 — USA: NASA Officials give statements to 
= All times
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).
The Humans to Mars Summit 2019 opens May 14-16 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC. Tentative speakers include NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (L) and Ellen Stofan, Director of the National Air and Space Museum. Jan Woerner, Director-General of ESA, will deliver an address via Skype. Opening addresses will be given by Chris Carberry and Artemis Westenberg (R) the Explore Mars CEO and CEO Emeritus. A session titled Beyond Apollo will ask whether a lunar landing in 2024 can help enable a human Mars mission in the 2030’s. NASA aims to send humans to Mars orbit by 2033, though a report by the Science and Technology Policy Institute claims the latter year is unfeasible. In a session on Surface Operations Paul Wooster, the Principal Mars Development Engineer of SpaceX, will talk of plans to land on Mars early. Pascale Ehrenfreund of Germany DLR will add updates from the InSight mission. At lunch in the National Academy of Sciences courtyard, space journalist Leonard David will unveil his new book ‘Moon Rush’. Kim Binsted of University of Hawai’i HI-SEAS will contribute to a session on analog missions. Avi Loeb of Harvard University will talk about exploring beyond Mars. In October the National Academy of Sciences will be venue for a joint China-USA Forum for new leaders in space science. (Image Credits: NASA, National Air and Space Museum, ESA, Explore Mars)
