ISS & Mars Conference Seeks Path to Interplanetary Human Exploration
Coordinated by the Explore Mars non-profit group, the International Space Station & Mars Conference is scheduled for April 12-13 at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France. Discussions among members of the ISS international partnership, and leaders of industry and planetary exploration will focus on potential utilization of ISS to advance the goal of sending humans beyond Low Earth Orbit – specifically to Mars. Among the distinguished speakers are Dr. Berndt Feuerbacher (R), President of the International Astronautical Federation and Dr. Simon “Pete” Worden Director (L) of the innovative NASA Ames Research Center. Chris Sallaberger, MDA Vice President of Space Exploration and MDA team lead on the current pre-build study for the International Lunar Observatory Association ILO-1 mission to the Moon South Pole, will be sitting on two panel discussions. A Live Webcast of the event is planned and organizers will also be accepting questions for speakers and moderators via Twitter to #issandmars. According to Executive Director Chris Carberry, the mission of Explore Mars is “to promote science and technology innovation and education related to Mars Exploration…through a series of technology innovation awards, scientific symposiums and workshops, Mars analog work, technology demonstrations, and other programs.” (Image Credit: ExploreMars.org, NASA, DLR)
NewSpace Leaders Meet In Arizona for Space Access Conference ’12
The Space Access Society (SAS) will continue its mission to promote technology, business, and radically cheaper access to space with ‘Space Access ’12 Conference’ April 12-14 in Phoenix AZ. Over 100 NewSpace leaders and space enthusiasts will converge at this year’s event to discuss the most recent developments in space entrepreneurship, reusable space launch development, space tourism, beamed energy propulsion, and small satellites. SAS Founder Henry Vanderbilt (TL) will open the event followed by a presentation from L5 Society Founder Keith Henson on ‘$100 a Kg to GEO with Beamed Energy Propulsion.’ Other noteworthy speakers this year are Gary Hudson (TR) of Space Studies Institute, Dave Masten (BL) of Masten Space and Ryan McLinko of Space Frontier Foundation. Presentations will be made by GLXP contenders Will Baird (BR) of Team Phoenicia, Paul Breed of Unreasonable Rocket and Tim Pickens of Rocket City Space Pioneers. Michael Laine will discuss Liftport and space elevators. Panel discussions include ‘World Space Program & Prospects’ led by Jeff Foust, Clark Lindsey and Doug Messier, and ‘NewSpace Lessons Learned’ with Gary Hudson, Henry Spencer and Henry Vanderbilt. The Phoenix Chapters of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the National Space Society will host a Yuri’s Night celebration for event participants on Apr 12. (Image Credit: SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Masten Space, Team Phoenicia, Liftport Group)
= 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).
Weekly Planet Watch – Morning Planets: Saturn (S) / Evening Planets: Venus (W), Mars (SE), Jupiter (W).
MONDAY
Apr 9 — International Space Station, LEO: E-30 crew members continue to work with a variety of scientific research and ongoing maintenance of the systems aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Apr 9 — Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar Orbit: NASA LRO functioning nominally in its 50±15 km near-circular orbit as it makes digital elevation and surface maps that will be a fundamental reference for future human exploration.
Apr 9 — Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Red Planet: NASA spacecraft continues to take incredible imagery of Mars surface activity with HiRISE camera, recently capturing pictures of 20km-high dust devil on Amazonis Planitia; More than 21,700 images taken by HiRISE are available for viewing on the instrument team’s website.
Apr 9 — Jupiter Juno Mission, In Transit to Jupiter: All systems nominal on Juno spacecraft as it continues long journey to Jupiter.
Apr 9 — Space Show, Nationwide:This week’s Space Show continues to cover important space issues with informative interviews from space advocates.
Apr 10-17 — NASA, Cape Canaveral FL: Media events for Space Shuttle Discovery’s departure; A NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft set to transport Discovery to Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling VA on April 17.
Apr 10 — The University of Texas of Arlington Planetarium, Arlington TX: ‘Cosmic Colors,’ participants will learn how scientists use the entire electromagnetic spectrum to view the universe.
Apr 10 — Moon: 5.6° SSW of Regulus, 05:00; 8.3° SSW of Mars, 11:00.
Apr 10 — Asteroid 2004 FG11: Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU).
Apr 10 — Asteroid 4116 Elachi: Closest Approach to Earth (0.810 AU).
WEDNESDAY
Apr 11 — Johnson Space Center, Houston TX: News conference with E-30 Cmdr Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers Don Pettit and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers at 09:15 CDT.
Apr 11-20 — The GLOBE Program, The National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Global: ‘GLOBE at Night: Less of Our Light, More Star Light,’ event to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure their night sky brightness and submit their observations to a website from a computer or smart phone.
Apr 12 — 51st Commemoration of Human Spaceflight / Cosmonautics Day, Worldwide:On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin of Russia became the 1st human to orbit Earth on the Vostok 1 spacecraft; The flight lasted 108 minutes, circling Earth at a speed of 27,400km per hour and 327km above Earth.
Apr 12 — 31st Commemoration of 1st Space Shuttle Launch, USA:On April 12, 1981 Astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen launched aboard STS-1, the 1st orbital flight of NASA’s Columbia Space Shuttle which lasted for 2 days and orbited the Earth 37 times.
NET Apr 12 — North Korea, Launch Unha 3 / Kwangmyongsong 3, Tongchang-ri, North Korea:A North Korea Unha 3 rocket set to launch from the Tongchang-ri launch base to carry the Kwangmyongsong 3 satellite into polar orbit.
Apr 12 — Yuri’s Night Celebrations, Worldwide: ‘Yuri’s Night 2012,’ annual worldwide party to celebrate Yuri Gagarin’s 1st flight into space–as well as to promote space exploration.
Apr 12 — National Science Foundation, South Pole Station, Antarctica: ‘Yuri’s Night 2012.’
Apr 13 — The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, Washington DC: ‘The Great Space Debate,’ four of the country’s top debaters to discuss the future of the USA space program held at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Apr 15 — Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD: ‘The Sunday Experiment: Technology Transfer,’ April’s Sunday Experiment will touch on three of Goddard’s major concentrations: Earth science, space and the instruments we use to study them.
Apr 15 — The Space Frontier Foundation, Nyak NY: Application deadline for ‘Teachers in Space Program,’ which will give 140 teachers the opportunity to engage in authentic astronaut training and real space science experiences.
Includes ~150 meetings covering the fields of COSPAR Scientific Commissions / Panels / Task Groups, such as SC B: The Earth-Moon System, Planets, and...
At the Palais des Nations and online. Outer space is entering a renewed phase of strategic importance, defined by rapid innovation, growing competition and deepening...
This international lunar science meeting has two objectives: to provide a platform for leading experts to review recent advances across lunar research, from the...
At CSIR International Convention Centre. Key topics are Earth Observation, Developing Space Tourism, Space Supply Manufacturing. Cultural tours are offered.
(No earlier than 10 Aug) Japan to launch the MICHIBIKI No. 7 | Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZS-7) navigation satellite. Launch window remains open through...
Participants will receive theoretical and hands-on training in electron imaging and X-ray spectroscopy for application to planetary samples. This training opportunity is targeted at...
"Leading Australia’s Space Future for Our Strategic Advantage". Southern Space 2026 brings together decision-makers who set the direction for Australia’s space sector. It is...
The second test launch of LandSpace's ZQ-3 rocket with undisclosed test payloads. Zhuque-3 first stage booster will attempt to land on its downrange landing...
A total solar eclipse with a magnitude of 1.0386 (greatest eclipse 17:47:06 UTC) will be visible in parts of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic...
Includes presentation of the Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence, activities for the new class of Astronaut Scholars, 2-day Technical Conference where Scholars present their...
During U.S. spacewalk 97, two astronauts will replace a Space-to-Ground antenna on the orbital complex. The antenna is a critical communication system NASA uses...
Key themes include: Characterizing exoplanet-host solar-like stars; Star-planet interactions; Planet populations around solar-like stars. At University of Liège.
Coordinated by the Explore Mars non-profit group, the International Space Station & Mars Conference is scheduled for April 12-13 at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France. Discussions among members of the ISS international partnership, and leaders of industry and planetary exploration will focus on potential utilization of ISS to advance the goal of sending humans beyond Low Earth Orbit – specifically to Mars. Among the distinguished speakers are Dr. Berndt Feuerbacher (R), President of the International Astronautical Federation and Dr. Simon “Pete” Worden Director (L) of the innovative NASA Ames Research Center. Chris Sallaberger, MDA Vice President of Space Exploration and MDA team lead on the current pre-build study for the International Lunar Observatory Association ILO-1 mission to the Moon South Pole, will be sitting on two panel discussions. A Live Webcast of the event is planned and organizers will also be accepting questions for speakers and moderators via Twitter to #issandmars. According to Executive Director Chris Carberry, the mission of Explore Mars is “to promote science and technology innovation and education related to Mars Exploration…through a series of technology innovation awards, scientific symposiums and workshops, Mars analog work, technology demonstrations, and other programs.” (Image Credit: ExploreMars.org, NASA, DLR)
The Space Access Society (SAS) will continue its mission to promote technology, business, and radically cheaper access to space with ‘Space Access ’12 Conference’ April 12-14 in Phoenix AZ. Over 100 NewSpace leaders and space enthusiasts will converge at this year’s event to discuss the most recent developments in space entrepreneurship, reusable space launch development, space tourism, beamed energy propulsion, and small satellites. SAS Founder Henry Vanderbilt (TL) will open the event followed by a presentation from L5 Society Founder Keith Henson on ‘$100 a Kg to GEO with Beamed Energy Propulsion.’ Other noteworthy speakers this year are Gary Hudson (TR) of Space Studies Institute, Dave Masten (BL) of Masten Space and Ryan McLinko of Space Frontier Foundation. Presentations will be made by GLXP contenders Will Baird (BR) of Team Phoenicia, Paul Breed of Unreasonable Rocket and Tim Pickens of Rocket City Space Pioneers. Michael Laine will discuss Liftport and space elevators. Panel discussions include ‘World Space Program & Prospects’ led by Jeff Foust, Clark Lindsey and Doug Messier, and ‘NewSpace Lessons Learned’ with Gary Hudson, Henry Spencer and Henry Vanderbilt. The Phoenix Chapters of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the National Space Society will host a Yuri’s Night celebration for event participants on Apr 12. (Image Credit: SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Masten Space, Team Phoenicia, Liftport Group)
= 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).
Apr 9 — International Space Station, LEO: E-30 crew members continue to work with a variety of scientific research and ongoing maintenance of the systems aboard the orbiting laboratory.
