ISS Crew Ready for Great American Eclipse and Dragon CRS-12 Experiments

Expedition 52 international 6-member crew is hard at work 400 km above the Earth. Among the hundreds of experiments running at ISS at any given time, the arrival of SpaceX Dragon CRS-12 has brought multiple studies involving cosmic rays, cacti, crystal growth, bacteria, pharmaceuticals, stem cells, roundworms, freeze drying, science literacy (aka “Story Time from Space”), multiple Student Spaceflight Experiments and CubeSats to be deployed via Nanoracks Deployer. They are also studying more efficient solar arrays, physics of neutron stars, and adverse effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity on the heart. Expedition 52 is predicted to observe the Great American Eclipse as a partial eclipse and view the Moon’s shadow cast across the continent 3 times Aug 21 while orbiting at 27,577 kph. Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson are getting Soyuz MS-04 ready for their return to Earth Sep 3. Peggy Whitson holds the record for cumulative time in Space by any American Astronaut. On her landing, Whitson will have spent nearly 667 days in Space. Paolo Nespoli, Randy Bresnik and Sergey Ryazanskiy will remain aboard ISS and begin Expedition 53. (Image Credit: NASA, Roscosmos, ESA)

MONDAY

Australia Advancing Trajectory for Astronautics and Astrophysics

Touring the Land Down Under this week advocating for space exploration and development in Brisbane (August 22 at Great Hall, BCEC), Sydney (Aug 24 at State Theatre) and Melbourne (Aug 25 at Palais Theatre) is Chris Hadfield a Canadian Astronaut and space musician. Now may be an opportune time for Australia to create an official Space Agency. All major space agencies, as well as many related professional associations, institutions and companies from around the world, will be present in Adelaide, South Australia at the preeminent global civilian space conference International Astronautical Congress 2017 September 25-29 hosted in partnership with Space Industry Association of Australia. The continent has significant and early Space Age connections. Three Australian-born Astronauts have flown in space, Philip Chapman, Paul Scully-Power and Andy Thomas. Woomera launch site has been used by NASA and ESA — at one point it was second only to Cape Canaveral in terms of quantity and rate of rocket launches. Vital relay assets at the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex supported Apollo Moon landings. Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, Siding Spring Observatory, Mt Pleasant Observatory and a dozen other professional astronomical facilities are being operated. An expert review of Aussie space industry under Minister for Industry, Innovation, and Science Arthur Sinodinos is expected to report March 2018, while Shadow Minister Kim Carr called for more urgent movement toward a bona fide Space Agency. Canada space technology innovation and human spaceflight participation offers potential models for continued development in Australia. (Image Credit: Astronomical Society of Australia, AGDC, DSTO Salisbury, NASA)

Aug 21 — Total Solar Eclipse:

Aug 21 — Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center, NASA, Wallops Island VA: Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Event; 12:00-16:00, 81.5% partial eclipse visible from this site.

Aug 21 — Colorado School of Mines, Golden CO: Space Resources Fundamentals course begins today, followed by Spring 2018 Space Systems Engineering course, with graduate program in Spaces Resources full program implementation in Fall 2018.

Aug 21 — PBS Broadcasting, WGBH Boston, Broadcast / Boston MA: Nova: Eclipse Over America to premier 21:00 EDT.

Aug 21-24 — The Australian National University, CAASTRO – ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics Canberra, Australia: Conference: From Black Hole to Environment – Galaxy Evolution Across Multiple Wavelengths.

Aug 21-25 — American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division, Portland OR: 48th Meeting of the AAS Solar Physics Division.

Aug 21 — Moon: New Moon, 08:30; 5.9° NNE of Mercury, 23:00.

Continued from…

Jun 26 – Aug 25 — International Space University, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland: ISU 30th Space Studies Program (SSP 2017).

Aug 5 – Sep 18 — Johnson Space Center, NASA, Houston TX: Campaign 4: Mission 2 – Human Exploration Research Analog; 45 day analog spaceflight / Moon / Mars mission.

Aug 19-26 — Union of Radio Science, Montreal, Quebec, Canada: 32nd URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium.

Aug 20-24 — Boise State University, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Mississippi State University, et al, Boise ID: Conference: Exoclipse 2017 – Exploring New Worlds In the Shade.