NSS 36th ISDC Looks to Space Settlement, Women and Men on the Moon
The 2017 National Space Society International Space Development Conference is holding its 36th annual meeting May 25-29 in St. Louis MO at Union Station Hotel. A wide variety of Astronauts, space leaders, entrepreneurs and scientists include Thomas Stafford, Linda Godwin, William Gerstenmaier, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Andrew Aldrin, Loretta Whitesides, Madhu Thangavelu, Pete Swan, Rob Kelso, Peter Kohk, Bruce Pittman, David Schrunk, Clive Neal and Ben Bussey. Main topics are Back to the Moon, Integrated Space Plan, Mars Exploration and Settlement, Space Elevator, Transportation, Business and Medicine. Other activities include Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI) Special, NewSpace Business Pitch Competition, and Fight for Space film screening and debate. While exploring the “Many Roads to Space” the overarching theme is how technology of today will transform the future of space exploration. Space settlement could begin with the inspiring initiative to put the First Woman on the Moon. Only 60 of the 553 space travelers have been women. Only 12 men have been to the surface of the Moon. As companies, countries and individuals advance concepts to transport people to Space and to live off-world permanently, a challenging, next-gen, international and parallel goal of Women and Men pioneering the new frontier at the Moon South Pole could secure Humanity’s Multi World Species existence, while serving as a stepping stone into deeper Space and the Galaxy. (Image Credit: NSS, ISDC, NASA)
MONDAY
Ongoing… May 22 — ISS, 330-435-km LEO: Expedition 51 Whitson, Pesquet, Fischer, Yurchikhin, Novitskiy deploying CubeSats, working on fluid shifts studies, performing interviews with Fox News, Bloomberg TV, French Media / ESA, Reuters Video News, Denver TV, “O” Oprah Magazine; Novitskiy & Pesquet doing lower body / negative pressure exercises & packing Soyuz for return to Earth next week.
May 22 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron Rocket, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Ten-day launch window opens for inaugural test flight of Rocket Lab commercial rocket dubbed “It’s a Test”, expected to perform 3 tests before rocket is deemed operational.
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Rocket Lab Electron Small-Satellite Launcher Opens Window for Maiden Test Flight
A 10-day launch window for the first test flight of Electron by Rocket Lab starts May 21. The two-stage 10,500-kg, 1.2-m diameter launch vehicle is now licensed to fly by the FAA and projected to be able to carry a 150 kg payload to 500 km Sun Synchronous Orbit. Constructed almost entirely of composite materials and with a price point of US$4.9M the USA-based New Zealand affiliated company intends to capitalize on the booming CubeSat expansion by quickly ramping up to a hundred launches per year. The maiden flight, dubbed It’s a Test is set to carry an experimental payload to elliptical orbit of 300-500 km at 83° inclination from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of North Island, New Zealand, 39°S 178° E. The site is licensed to launch rockets every 72 hours for 30 years. This is the first of three planned test flights before commercial operations begin. If successful it could mark the world’s first orbital launch from an entirely private launch facility. According to Founder and CEO Peter Beck, “Our number one priority is to gather enough data and experience to prepare for a commercial phase. Only then can we can start delivering on our mission to make space more accessible.” Other new independent launchers coming online in the near future include Launcher 1 by Virgin Galactic, Vector-R by Vector Space Systems, Xephyr by Masten, Falcon Heavy by SpaceX, and New Shepard by Blue Origin. (Image Credit: Rocket Lab)
May 20-27 — Beijing National Palace of Culture, Beijing, China:2017 National Science and Technology Week; celebrating science, technology and space, and featuring Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission and Mars virtual reality experience.
May 25 — ISRO, Launch PSLV / EKS 2E, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, flying on PSLV-C38 mission, to launch ISRO satellite 2E of the Cartosat series, the current generation of Indian remote sensing satellites.
May 25 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Soyuz / EKS 2,Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Russia government Soyuz rocket to launch EKS 1 early warning satellite for Russia military.
May 26 — The Space Show,Online / Tiburon CA: Dr. David Livingston talks with Scott Pace, Director Space Policy Institute, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University.
May 26, 27 — Space Center Houston,Houston TX:Lunch with an Astronaut, Ken Cameron, adult US$69.95.
May 26 — Comet 73P-AI/Schwassmann-Wachmann: Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU).
SATURDAY
May 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 HP49: Near-Earth Flyby (0.063 AU).
May 27 — Aten Asteroid 2016 GK135: Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU).
May 27 — Apollo Asteroid 6063 Jason: Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU).
SUNDAY
May 28-31 — National Institute for Space Research – INPE, SELPER Brazil – Latin American Association on Remote Sensing, Santos, Brazil:18th Brazilian Remote Sensing Symposium.
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May 22 — 
May 22 — Global: India planning Chandrayaan-2 Lunar lander / orbiter / rover to launch 2018, second Mars mission, Venus orbiter, Jupiter mission, advancing GSLV Mk 3; NASA confirms that it 
= 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;’ Greenwich, England).
