33rd National Space Society ISDC Explores Modern Space Renaissance
The National Space Society 33rd International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2014) is being held May 14-18 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The theme ‘A Space Renaissance’ highlights cutting-edge technologies, ideas and approaches to space exploration in the 21st Century. About 800 individuals will gather to exchange ideas on how humans should live and work in space, harness resources, and become a Multi World Species. In attendance will be (pictured L-R, T-B) Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Robert Zubrin (Mars Society), John Spencer (STS), Bob Richards & Naveen Jain (ME), Mike Pinkston (OSC), and Gwynne Shotwell (SpaceX). Elon Musk will be presented with the NSS Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award. Space Enterprise, Experience, Engagement, Policy, Solar Power and Settlement are among the 11 Tracks and Special Programming sessions. David Dunlop will be Chairing the May 16 Lunar Sub-Track of the NASA Exploration session which will include participation from GLXP Teams Moon Express, Penn State Lunar Lion and Synergy Moon. There is also a SpaceUp planned for May 18, tour of JPL, and an exhibit hall featuring SFF, ISU, ISEC and SEDS. (Image Credit: NSS, NASA, ESA, W. Myers, Mars One)
European Lunar Science Symposium in London
The Natural History Museum, in partnership with NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, hosts the 2nd European Lunar Symposium on May 15-16 in London, United Kingdom. The Science Organizing Committee is lead by Dr. Mahesh Anand of Open University and Prof. Sara Russell of Natural History Museum. The program consists of oral and poster presentations divided into 4 broad themes: Science of the Moon, Science on the Moon, Science from the Moon and Future Lunar Missions. Dr. James Carpenter of ESA co-chairs the Future Missions session and gives a talk on ‘Lunar exploration and science in ESA.’ Prof. Ralf Jaumann of DLR talks on “A Dedicated Small Lunar Exploration Orbiter and Mobile Payload Element.’ The conference materials note the “global surge in lunar exploration” and “current interests in exploration of the Moon ranging from astronomical, astrophysical, geological, commercial, resource utilization, and strategic considerations.” Much of the current focus for robotic and human exploration is on the south polar region with areas of relatively stable environmental conditions and apparently high concentrations of valuable resources. Dr. David Kring of LPI / SSERVI makes a keynote presentation Friday at 11:10 UT on ‘Exploring the lunar south polar region and far side with human and human-assisted sample return missions.’ This conference builds on the first European Lunar Science Symposium held in Berlin April 2012. (Image Credit: ESA, NASA)
= 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 – Evening Planets: Mercury (WNW), Mars (S), Jupiter (W), Saturn (SE); Morning Planets: Venus (E).
MONDAY
May 12 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 40 begins after May 13 departure of 3 previous crew members; Dragon spacecraft being filled with experiments, cargo for return to Earth May 18; 4 newly installed exterior HD Earth Viewing cameras streaming video of Earth.
May 12 — ISS, LEO: Change of Command Ceremony; Koichi Wakata hands ISS command to Steve Swanson, 19:00 UT, live coverage available.
May 12 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: US$1.1B spacecraft in Quiet Cruise Phase until Jan 5, 2016, traveling at ~69,400 kph; in Main Asteroid Belt, now closer to Jupiter than it is to Sun.
May 12 — New Horizons, Pluto Trajectory: Mission team seeking 2.5 days on Hubble Space Telescope to locate Kuiper Belt Object for New Horizons to target after 1-year mission at Pluto.
May 12 — Copenhagen Suborbitals, Copenhagen, Denmark: NewSpace company planning for 90-second static test burn of TM65LE engine for HEAT2X rocket at 14:00 CEST May 17.
May 12 — Mars One, The Hague, The Netherlands: Continuing to interview / eliminate Mars Astronaut candidates from remaining 705 applicants; will begin construction of 1st Mars simulation outpost.
May 12 — Ventions LLC, San Francisco CA: Developing on-board pressurization systems for Mars sample return missions and low-cost 3U CubeSat propulsion system under NASA Small Business Innovation Research award.
May 12 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft viewing; NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and media invited to see MMS mission progress.
May 12-15 — Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), Dubai, United Arab Emirates: World Space Risk Forum 2014: New Capital. New Threats. New Markets.
May 12-15 — ESA, Madrid, Spain: Venus Express VIRTIS and VMC Data Workshop.
May 12 — Moon: 1.7° NNE of Spica, 04:00.
Continued from…
Mar 28 – Jul 28 — NASA, University of Hawaii, Mauna Loa HI: Hawai‘i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission 2; six-member crew live in habitat on slopes of Mauna Loa at 2,500-meter elevation to simulate long-duration Mars mission.
Apr 28 – Jun 30 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Online / Greenbelt MD: Request For Information: Evolving ISS into a LEO Commercial Market.
Apr 28 – May 30 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Online / Greenbelt MD: Request For Information: Europa Mission Concepts Costing Less Than US$1 Billion.
TUESDAY
May 13 — ISS, Undocking of Soyuz TMA-11M, LEO: Expedition 38/39 members Wakata, Mastracchio, Tyurin scheduled to return to Earth; undocking scheduled 22:33 UT, live coverage available.
May 13 — Cassini OTM-379, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #379 today.
May 13 — Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom: EnVision: M4 Venus Orbiter Workshop.
May 13 — UK Satellite Applications Catapult, Harwell, United Kingdom: 2014 UK CubeSat Workshop.
May 13 — Armstrong Flight Research Center, NASA, Edwards AFB CA: NASA Armstrong Research Center Renaming Ceremony (formerly Dryden Flight Research Center).
May 13-14 — Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, NASA HQ, Arlington VA: Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Meeting; at Crystal City Marriott.
May 13-14 — Maker Media, Oracle, Intel, Autodesk, Redwood City CA: MakerCon 2014; to feature Edward Wright, United States Rocket Academy founder and Citizens in Space program manager; at Oracle Conference Center.
May 13-15 — Max Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany: Workshop: The Formation of the Solar System.
WEDNESDAY
May 14-15 — SMi Group Ltd., Singapore: 4th MilSatCom Asia Pacific Conference.
May 14-16 — NASA HQ, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Arlington VA: 1st Landing Site Workshop for the 2020 Mars Rover Mission; at Crystal City Marriott.
May 14-18 — National Space Society, Los Angeles CA: International Space Development Conference (ISDC) 2014: A Space Renaissance; at Sheraton Gateway Hotel.
May 14 — Moon: 0.56° S of Saturn, 02:00; Full (Flower Moon), 09:18.
THURSDAY
May 15 — United Launch Alliance, Launch Delta 4 / GPS 2F-6, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: ULA to launch Air Force 6th Block 2F navigation satellite for Global Positioning System; 20:08 – 20:26 EDT.
May 15 — RSA, Amur Oblast, Russia: Construction of first launch pad of new Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast, Russia to begin today.
May 15-16 — NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, ESA, DLR, The Open University, London, United Kingdom: European Lunar Symposium; at Natural History Museum.
May 15 — Moon: 8.0° N of Antares, 12:00.
FRIDAY
May 16 — RSA, Launch Proton / Express AM4R, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Proton Rocket to launch Express AM4R satellite to provide television broadcasting, broadband Internet, multimedia services and mobile communications for the Russian Satellite Communications Co.
May 16 — National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton OH: Celebrating National Space Day.
May 16 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, John-David Bartoe; US$49.95 adult.
May 16 — Asteroid 2014 HL132: Near-Earth flyby (0.052 AU).
SATURDAY
May 17 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Titan flyby scheduled at 2,994-km altitude.
May 17 — Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, ATK Aerospace Group, Salt Lake City UT: Launchfest 2014; twenty college & university teams launch rockets to 6,100-meter altitude.
May 17 — Asteroid 2010 JO33: Near-Earth flyby (0.010 AU).
May 17 — Asteroid 2014 JH15: Near-Earth flyby (0.020 AU).
SUNDAY
May 18 — ISS, Dragon spacecraft Undocking, LEO: Dragon spacecraft on CRS-3 mission to return to Earth, 13:00 UT, live coverage available.
May 18 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt MD: Sunday Experiment: NASA’s Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office; free program for families to learn about NASA operations, 13:00 – 15:00 EDT.
May 18-19 — Space Generation Advisory Council, Space Foundation, Colorado Springs CO: Space Generation Fusion Forum 2014; at Broadmoor Hotel.
May 18-23 — Chinese Academy of Sciences, Max Planck Society, Xian, Shaanxi, China: 10th Sino-German Workshop on Galaxy Formation and Cosmology: From Dark Matter to Galaxies.
May 18 — Moon: At perigee (366,714 km), 02:04.
May 18 — Asteroid 2014 FP47: Near-Earth flyby (0.096 AU).