July 23 – 29, 2012 / Vol 31, No 30 / Hawai`i Island, USA

NewSpace 2012 Brings Disruptive Innovation & Evolutionary Enterprise; AIAA Goes Deep Space to Relaunch America

The Space Frontier Foundation, as well as NewSpace leaders, supporters, investors and activists continue championing ideas for opening the space frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible at NewSpace 2012: New Profits – New Products – NewSpace on July 26-28 in Santa Clara, California USA. About 60 diverse experts will participate in 25 thought-provoking Panels to discuss topics like Democratizing Space, Space Alternative Architectures and Enabling Sustainable Human Space Access. The US$100,000-first-prize Business Plan Competition will feature 10 finalists including: Digital Solid State Propulsion, with “the first truly throttle-able solid rocket motor”; Nanoly, a nanotech solution enabling long-term non-refrigerated storage of perishable mission-critical medicines; Space Ground Amalgam developing inflatable technologies to enhance satellite capabilities; and Terminal Velocity Aerospace, offering small custom reentry capsules for data and payload return. SpaceX and Space Systems / Loral will host career informational sessions for students, young professionals and job seekers on Thursday and Friday evenings respectively. On Tuesday July 24 The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will hold a Capitol Hill dialogue, Deep Space: Relaunching American Exceptionalism, moderated by Dr. Scott Pace, Director of the Space Policy Institute. (Image Credit: SFF, DSSP, Terminal Velocity Aerospace, Nanoly)

Expedition 32 Crew Embarks on Historic, Eventful ISS Mission

With three new crew members safely onboard, Expedition 32 begins a busy 4-month period on the ISS that will include the arrival of Japan HTV, Russia Progress and SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicles, extra-vehicular activities and a multitude of science experiments. The mission is noteworthy for its several highlights: the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft docked with the ISS 37 years to the day after the very first docking of America and Russia spacecraft during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. The Russia Progress cargo vehicle, set to launch on August 1, will attempt the first ever same-day arrival at the ISS after just four orbits. Sunita Williams, current record-holder for the longest space flight (195 days) for a woman, will become only the second female ISS commander when Gennady Padalka and two crew mates return to Earth in mid-September. JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will perform his first spacewalk to fix faulty electrical distribution equipment and install a new video camera. Another spacewalk will be conducted by Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko, one of Russia’s most experienced cosmonauts, who will move the Strela crane from the Pirs module in preparation for its permanent relocation to the Russia Multipurpose Laboratory Module, expected to arrive at the ISS in late 2013. (Image Credit: NASA)

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= 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;’ Greenwich, England).

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Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mars (WSW), Saturn (SW). Morning Planets: Venus (E), Jupiter (E).

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MONDAY

Jul 23 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 32 crew preparing for July 27 arrival of Japan’s third HTV re-supply craft carrying 4.6 tons of supplies and research gear.

Jul 23 — Dawn, Main Asteroid Belt: Begins climbing out of high-altitude mapping orbit 2 on July 25; after departing Vesta, DAWN will head for Ceres.

Jul 23 — Kepler Observatory, Heliocentric Orbit: Kepler Principal Investigator William Borucki and Kepler Science Team will receive 2012 Maria & Eric Muhlmann Award from Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) at this year’s ASP Conference on August 7.

Jul 23 — NASA, US Geological Survey, Washington DC: ‘LandSat Program,’ winners from ‘My American Landscape: A Space Chronicle of Change‘ contest to be announced.

Jul 23 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: NASA Advisory Council: ‘Commercial Space Committee Meeting;’ ‘Science Committee Meeting;’ ‘Human Exploration and Operations Committee Meeting.’

Jul 23-27 — NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena CA: ‘2012 Sagan Exoplanet Summer Workshop: Working with Exoplanet Light Curves.’

Jul 23-27 — Space Frontier Foundation, Moffett Field CA: ‘Teachers in Space: Suborbital Flight Experiment Workshop.’

Jul 23-29 — Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc., Oshkosh WI: ‘EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.’

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Continued from…

Jun 18 – Jul 26 — NASA Explorer Schools, Various NASA centers: ‘NASA Explorer Schools Summer Workshop;’ workshops to include ‘Extreme Green’ at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH; ‘Airborne Research Experience’ at Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, CA; ‘There is More to Light than Meets the Eye’ at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD; and ‘Atmospheric Science’ at Wallops Island, VA.

Jul 1 – Dec 31 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Online: ‘AIAA Short Course: Introduction to Space Flight,’ Francis Hale.

Jul 16-27 — International Centre for Theoretical Physics, South American Institute for Fundamental Research, São Paulo Research Foundation, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil: ‘Advanced School in General Relativity: Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology.’

Jul 22-26 — Evans and Sutherland, Megastar, SkySkan, Zeiss, Baton Rouge LA: ‘21st International Planetarium Society Conference.’

Jul 22-26 — The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, The Southwest Research Institute, Laurel MD: ‘The Pluto System on the Eve of Exploration by New Horizons: Perspectives and Predictions.’

Jul 22-27 — Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Munich, Germany: ‘International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.’

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TUESDAY

Jul 24 — China National Space Administration, Launch TL-1 Tianlian-1 (3) – CZ-3C, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan, China: Set to launch third TL-1 Tianlian-1 data and tracking relay satellite.

Jul 24 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Washington DC: ‘Deep Space: Relaunching American Exceptionalism.’

Jul 24- Aug 2 — Aeronautics and Space Agency of FFG, European Space Agency, International Space Science Institute, Austrospace, Europlanet Research Infrastructure, Alpbach / Tyrol, Austria: ‘‘Summer School Alpbach 2012: Exploration of the Giant Planets and their Systems.’

Jul 24 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Performing flyby of Saturn moon Titan at distance of 1,012 km.

Jul 24 — Moon: 4.0° S of Mars, 11:00.

WEDNESDAY

Jul 25 — Russian Federal Space Agency, Launch Proton / Telkom 3 & Express MD2, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Set to launch Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage to deploy the Telkom 3 and Express MD2 satellites.

Jul 25 — NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: Colloquium: ‘Media Invited to The Mars Yard at JPL.’

Jul 25 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium: ‘Life in the Multiverse,’ presented by Andrei Linde of Stanford University.

Jul 25 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Visitor Center, Greenbelt MD: Colloquium: ‘NASA Invites Public to Learn About Light, Optics, and the James Webb Space Telescope.’

Jul 25-26 — NASA, Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Houston TX: ‘Media Days with CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield.’

Jul 25 — Moon: 5.7° S of Saturn, 07:00; 1.6° SSE of Spica, 08:00; Moon at first quarter, 22:56.

Jul 25 — Mercury: 6.2° S of Beehive Cluster, 22:00.

THURSDAY

Jul 26 — NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston TX: ‘Briefings To Preview Space Station Expeditions.’

Jul 26 — Space Frontier Foundation, Santa Clara CA: ‘2012 Annual Advocates Meeting.’

Jul 26-27 — Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, NASA, Washington D.C.: ‘NASA’s Strategic Direction.’

Jul 26-28 — Space Frontier Foundation, Santa Clara CA: ‘NewSpace Conference 2012,’ featuring the annual ‘NewSpace Business Plan Competition.’

FRIDAY

Jul 27 — Arianespace, Launch Intelsat 20 / Hylas 2 Ariane 5, Kourou, French Guiana: Intelsat 19 & 20 will be among the most powerful fixed service satellites ever built, with unprecedented capacity to provide services for broadband, video, and voice applications.

Jul 27 — Asteroid 2006 CF: Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU).

SATURDAY

Jul 28 — Russian Federal Space Agency, Launch Rockot / Gonets M, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia: Set to launch two Gonets M message relay satellites and the MiR spacecraft, carrying technology demonstration payloads developed by researchers and students.

Jul 28 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Performing Orbital Trim Maneuver #329.

Jul 28 — Moon: 5.2° N of Antares, 12:00.

SUNDAY

Jul 29-Aug 1 — AIAA, Heat Transfer Society of Japan, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society, Egyptian Society of Mechanical Engineers, Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Atlanta GA: ‘48th Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit and 10th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference.’

Jul 29 — Jupiter: 4.7° N of Aldebaran, 20:00.