Satellite 2019 Conference in Washington DC to Feature VP Pence, NASA Head Bridenstine

Satellite 2019 is being held at Walter E. Washington Convention Center May 6-9, themed The Business of Meaningful Connections. More than 15,000 people are expected to attend from 105 countries, including 310 speakers and 340 exhibitors. Monday Keynote will be given by (L-R) USA Vice President Mike Pence discussing national space strategy. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will kickoff the Wednesday Awards Luncheon and speak about new commercial partnership opportunities for NASA space exploration, science and sustainability projects. The conference includes Startup Space competition and pitch workshop, tech demos, satellite 101 education event and a Satellite Lunar Ball celebrating Apollo@50. SGx Keynotes Series, created in partnership with Space Generation Advisory Council and Future Space Leaders Foundation, includes UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo, Sirisha Bandla from Virgin Orbit, Alissa Haddaji from COSPAR, Talal Kaissi from UAE Space Agency, Melissa Sampson from Ball Aerospace, Thomas Zurbuchen from NASA and representatives from the National Space Council, SEDs, SWF, Blue Origin, Spire and Momentus. Other sessions will cover launchers, satellite applications and communication services, funding, international cooperation, empowering women and cultivating diversity in aerospace, and orbital debris. The International Academy of Astronautics is holding its ’12th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation’ May 6-10 in Berlin, Germany and expects participation from Europe, USA, Argentina, China, South Africa, Japan, India, Russia and Mongolia. (Image Credits: SatShow, ESA, NASA, et al)

MONDAY

May 6-9 — SatShow, Airbus, SES, SpaceX, ULA, Iridium, et al, Washington DC: Satellite 2019 Conference; featuring USA VP Mike Pence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

South America Astronomy Workshop and Satellite Programs

Argentina and South America astronomers look to the skies. Workshop of Astronomical Infrastructure opens May 8-10 in Cordoba, home of Argentine National Observatory. The Gravitation and Relativity Group at University of Cordoba hosts annual GRAV2019 conference in April. The Pierre Auger international cosmic ray observatory near Mendoza detects ultra-high energy particles from space. Argentina National Commission on Space Activities (CONAE) is developing the indigenous Tronador satellite launcher and plans to increase the annual space budget to US$180M by 2027. Brazil astronomers using the Kepler Space Telescope observe a giant Jupiter-type planet orbiting a double star system in the Milky Way. Rio de Janeiro is home to Brazil’s National Observatory and Valongo Observatory. Sao Paulo is close to the Brazilian Decimetric Array radio telescope and the Itapetinga Radio Observatory. Brazilian Space Agency, a partner in the International Space Station, hopes to draw satellite launches to Alcantara Space Center on northwest coast near equator. Chile Atacama Desert is one of the world’s premier astronomy sites with 330 clear nights per year. It hosts telescopes including the Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and Gemini South Observatory. Paranal Observatory is home of the Very Large Telescope, composed of four 8.2 meter diameter instruments. The Atacama Desert will be home to the Very Large Telescope, a key part of a South America astronomy future. (Image Credits: European Southern Observatory, SpaceX)

May 6-10 — NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral FL: NASA 10th Annual Robotic Mining Competition; 50 teams compete to design & build a mining robot to simulate a Moon or Mars ISRU mission.

May 6 — Moon: 2.23° N of Aldebaran, 12:00.

May 6 — Amor Asteroid 2009 MN8: Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU)

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.

Mar 19 – Jul 19 — Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Problems, Moscow, Russia: Mixed gender crew of 6 to participate in 4-month space / lunar simulation mission SIRIUS (Scientific International Research In Unique Terrestrial Station).

Apr 13 – Sep 2 — The Museum of Flight, Seattle WA: Exhibit: Destination Moon – The Apollo 11 Mission.

NET May – Jun — Hayabusa2, Asteroid 1999 JU3: JAXA craft planning for 2nd / last sample collection touchdown within this period.

May 4-10 — UC Santa Barbara, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara CA: Dynamical Models for Stars and Gas in Galaxies in the Gaia Era.

TUESDAY

May 7-9 — National Research Council Canada, Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), Penticton, British Columbia, Canada: Workshop: Future of Canadian Radio Astronomy.

May 7 — Moon: 3.2° SSE of Mars, 15:00.