IAA Holds 6th Planetary Defense Conference in Washington DC Area

International Academy of Astronautics convenes its biannual Planetary Defense Conference April 29 – May 3 at The Hotel at University of Maryland in College Park. International experts will gather to analyze dangers from and contingencies to avoid asteroid and comet collisions with Earth – including keynote speakers NASA Administrator James Bridenstine, Romana Kofler of UNOOSA, Rüdiger Jehn of ESA, and Hary Harel Ben-Ami of Israel Space Agency, as well as representatives of ISRO and Russian Academy of Sciences. A detailed impact scenario designed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be conducted, allowing participants to practice engaging with their peers in such a hypothetical event, attempting to answer questions such as “[Despite being] able to deflect the object… could our leaders provide funding and make other decisions at critical points?”. The imagined object (dubbed ‘2019 PDC’ by Minor Planet Center) would be a 100- to 300-meter asteroid that has a 1% chance of impacting on April 29, 2027, about 0.38 au (57 million kilometers or 35 million miles) away when discovered, approaching Earth at about 14 km/s (8.5 mi/s or 31,000 mph). According to the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, 19,985 known Near Earth Objects exist – 987 of which are 1 km in diameter or larger. Asteroid Day, a UN sanctioned global event dedicated to raising awareness of asteroids supported by the B612 Foundation, occurs on June 30. (Image Credits: NASA, IAA, B612 Foundation)

MONDAY

5th Kalpana Chawla Space Policy Dialogue Conference in New Delhi to Promote Space Enterprise, International Cooperation

The 5th Kalpana Chawla Annual Space Policy Dialogue Conference is being held April 29 – May 1 by Observer Research Foundation, Secure World Foundation and Jawaharlal Nehru University at Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi, India. The conference emphasizes the need for a national space policy in India to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in security, civil and commercial space. In memory of (TL-BR) Dr. Chawla, overarching themes reflect international cooperation, importance of research for betterment of humankind, and transcending barriers of nationality and gender. Multiple talks and 9 Panel discussions include topics on established space powers strengthening emerging space growth, India major space partners, women in space, India-Europe in space, smallsats, space industry and propulsion, NewSpace, and debating a space policy for India. Speakers are Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan (ORF), Victoria Samson (Secure World Foundation), Jessica West Ploughshares (UNCOPUOS), Francis Chizea (National Space Research and Development Agency, Nigeria), Roger Mari Sese (Philippines Dept.of Science and Technology), Jean-Jacques Tortora (ESTI), Susmita Mohanty (Earth2Orbit), Surbhi Baghotia (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO), and Rahul Narayan (Team Indus). India is advancing its human-rated Gaganyaan capsule, and hopes to launch Astronauts to space aboard GSLV Mk 3 starting 2022. Its Chandryaan-2 launch to Moon South Pole NET July, carrying a NASA retroreflector, may catalyze ambitious planning for India Human Moon Missions. (Image Credits: ORF, SWF, ISRO, et al)

Apr 29 – May 1 — Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Secure World Foundation, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India: 5th ORF Kalpana Chawla Annual Space Policy Dialogue.

Apr 29 – May 3 — National Academies of Sciences, Washington DC: Spring Meeting of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.

Apr 29 – May 3 — International Academy of Astronautics, Washington DC: 2019 IAA Planetary Defense Conference (PDC).

Apr 29 — Aten Asteroid 2008 GL20: Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 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.

TUESDAY

Apr 30 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / CRS 17, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to launch 19th Dragon spacecraft on 17th operational cargo delivery mission to ISS; 04:22 EDT.

Apr 30 — IAF, AIAA, et al, Washington DC: IAC Kick-Off Reception; 17:00-19:00

Apr 30 — Library of Congress – Science, Technology and Business Division, Washington DC: Lecture: Apollo at 50: The Lasting Effect of Exploration of the Lunar Surface on Our Current Exploration of the Moon; by Noah Petro, Project Scientist for Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.