September 29 – October 5, 2014 / Vol 33, No 39 / Hawai`i Island, USA

HST Astronomy to Be Enhanced by Moon, Mars, Jupiter System Observatories

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in LEO for over 24 years with its 2.4-meter mirror, and four main instruments observing in near ultraviolet, visible and near infrared spectra, continues to produce some of the most detailed images to date, made possible from its location in Space, outside of Earth atmosphere. HST has the opportunity this month, and in Feb 2016, to take advantage of a rare stellar alignment of red dwarf Proxima Centauri (nearest Star to the Sun – 4.24 LY) when it passes in front of another star. It will attempt to search for small terrestrial-like planets by looking for microlensing effects. ESA Gaia space telescope in LEO and ESO VLT on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile may also be able to make comparable observations / confirm findings. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is ready to begin construction also on Cerro Paranal. The team hopes to achieve first light in 2019, first science 2021. A further complement to Space astronomy would be Lunar, Mars and Jupiter system observatories. ILOA is contracting Canadensys Aerospace Corp. to build the ILO-1 space observatory intended for the Moon South Pole to conduct radio and optical astronomy, scientific and commercial communications, and hopes with its affiliated Space Age Publishing Company to pursue Mars and Jupiter system observation and astronomy. (Image Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Sahu, J. Anderson, H. Bond, PSU, M. Dominik, STScI/AURA/UKSTU/AAO, R. Thompson, S. Brunier)

MONDAY

Sep 29 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 41 transferring 2,216 kg cargo from Dragon CRS-4; will set up 3D printer, GLACIER freezer, US$30M RapidScat instrument to measure ocean wind; three new crew members Serova, Wilmore, Samoukutyaev continue ISS orientation.

Sep 29 — MESSENGER, Mercury Orbit: Team planning to bring elliptical orbit of the only spacecraft at Mercury down to 10-km altitude before planned impact / mission end Mar 2015.

Sep 29 — Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), Mars Orbit: Using 5 instruments to detect the presence of methane & amount of water loss into space from upper atmosphere, analyzing neutral composition of particles in exosphere, mapping surface topography / composition / mineralogy.

Sep 29 — Swiss Space System, Payerne, Switzerland: NewSpace company may partner with Russia aerospace co Kuznetsov to use Soviet-era NK-39 engines in its developing SOAR spaceplane.

Sep 29 — SpaceX, Multiple Locations: Construction of commercial spaceport for satellite launches to begin at Boca Chica TX; has at least 2 more launches planned for 2014.

Sep 29 — Mars One, The Hague, The Netherlands: Narrowing down applicants from 705 potential Mars settlers; 37 days left for ‘Ticket to Rise‘ fundraising campaign.

Sep 29 – Oct 1 — University of Chile, Santiago, Chile: 6th Meeting of the Dynamical Astronomy in Latin-America.

Sep 29 – Oct 3 — International Astronautical Federation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 65th International Astronautical Congress: Our World Needs Space.

Sep 29 – Oct 3 — Australia Telescope National Facility, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Narrabri, Australia: CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS) Radio Astronomy School 2014.

Sep 29 — Moon: 8.6° N of Antares, 06:00; 5.6° N of Mars, 08:00.

IAC 2014: Premier Astronautical Event Returns to Canada

More than 3,000 people, including international space agency leaders, astronauts, space science / engineering experts and commercial space pioneers will gather in Toronto, Canada from September 29 – October 3 for the 65th International Astronautical Congress. This is the 3rd time the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI) has co-hosted the world’s premier international astronautical event (1991-Montreal, 2004 Vancouver). The always highly-anticipated Opening Ceremony will feature a performance by Cirque du Soleil, whose founder Guy Laliberte is Canada’s 1st private space explorer. With the theme ‘Our World Needs Space,’ this year’s IAC will include an exploration of the ways that space activities help to meet our needs here on Earth. The leaders of CSA, CNSA, NASA, ESA, JAXA, ISRO and ROSCOSMOS will come together for the Heads of Agencies plenary on the afternoon of Sep 29, while 20 parallel technical sessions exploring a comprehensive range of topics in space science and exploration get underway. Taking advantage of the diverse assembly of space professionals, several other parallel events will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Center prior to and during the IAC including the 13th Annual Space Generation Congress (Sep 25-27), the 24th UN / IAF Workshop on ‘Space Technology for Socio-Economic Benefits’ (Sep 26-28), the IAA Academy Day (Sep 28), and Galaxy Forum Canada 2014 with the theme ‘Moon South Pole and Human Missions: Giant Steps into the Galaxy’ (Oct 1). (Image Credit: IAF)

Sep 29 — Asteroid 2014 SH224:

Sep 29 — Asteroid 2014 SS143: Near-Earth flyby (0.009 AU).

Sep 29 — Asteroid 2014 SZ144 : Near-Earth flyby (0.010 AU).

Continued from…

Sep 23 – Oct 23 — Benjamin Ahr Harrison, Kickstarter, et al, Online: Kickstarter Campaign: Shoot the Moon: A documentary feature film; raising funds to document LiftPort Group’s progress toward creating a Space elevator.

NET Sep 24 — ISRO, Launch GSLV Mk 3 / Atmospheric Test Flight, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk 3 to launch on suborbital test flight, will carry mock-up human crew module.

Sep 24 – Oct 2 — Nordic Network of Astrobiology, EU COST (Cooperation in Space and Technology), La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain: Summer Course on Exoplanets.

TUESDAY

Sep 30 — The Space Show, Tiburon CA / Online: Dr. David Livingston talks with Jennifer Gusteic, NASA HQ.

WEDNESDAY

NET Oct — Hubble Space Telescope, LEO: Spacecraft will search for Earth-sized planets around Proxima Centauri as star passes in front of another star; sensitive ground and space-based telescopes, such as ESA Gaia and European Southern Observatory VLT may search as well.

NET Oct — CNSA, Launch Long March 3C / Test Module, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China: China to launch spacecraft on round trip to Moon to test reentry technologies for 2017 Chang’e-5 Moon sample return mission.

NET Oct — ISRO, Launch PSLV / IRNSS 1C, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle flying PSLV-C26 mission, to launch IRNSS 1C navigation satellite.