May 18-24, 2015 / Vol 34, No 20 / Hawai`i Island, USA

ULA Atlas Launch from Cape Canaveral Carries X-37B and LightSail

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V is set to take flight at 10:45 EDT on May 20 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station SLC-41. The rocket will carry the US Air Force Space Command and Rapid Capabilities Office reusable vertical-landing X-37B space plane on a 200+ day mission carrying a Hall Effect thruster test unit and a NASA materials science experiment known as Material Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space (METIS). Hall Effect thrusters are highly fuel-efficient single propellant motors that ionize and expel the fuel using electricity. This is an upgraded version of the orbit correction thrusters already in use on some Air Force satellites. METIS is designed to study the effects on nearly 100 different materials of exposure to the space environment via the X-37B payload bay, which has clamshell doors that open to space similar to the Space Shuttle. The same Atlas rocket also hosts the Planetary Society LightSail Test Flight CubeSat. This will be the first spacecraft to rely solely on sunlight for propulsion. The 3-unit CubeSat will spend about a month in orbit communicating with the ground, before deploying and testing its 32-square meter solar sails and sending images back to Earth. (Image Credit: ULA, Boeing, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Planetary Society)

MONDAY

May 18 — ISS, LEO: Three Expedition 43 members return to Earth delayed until early June due to Progress 59P cargo ship failure, crew training for Robotic Refueling Mission, working with rodent research experiment, preparing for Dragon CRS-6 departure, reviewing procedures for upcoming mission to relocate permanent Multipurpose Module from Unity Module to Tranquility.

May 18 — Chang’e 5-T1, Moon Orbit: China service module in near-circular 200-km orbit testing technologies & making observations of Moon surface for 2017 sample return mission; launched Oct 23, 2014, stayed at Lagrange Point (L2) orbit from Nov-Jan, entered Moon orbit Jan 13.

May 18 — Rosetta, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Orbit: Trying to reestablish connection with Philae lander as craft get closer to Sun in order to upload data to send back to Earth, detecting molecular nitrogen, working to map remaining 30% of comet southern hemisphere not yet fully illuminated.

May 18 — Altius Space Machines, Louisville CO: NewSpace company developing rendezvous & capture technology for satellites, aerocapture & aerobraking technology for interplanetary CubeSats, low-inertia STEM arm (LISA) manipulators for use on SPHERES robots at ISS to help astronauts with tasks.

May 18 — Final Frontier Design, Brooklyn NY: To design High Pressure EVA Glove (HPEG) for astronaut extravehicular activities through NASA Small Business Innovation Research award (4th one given to company), selling 3rd generation intra-vehicular activity spacesuits & various IVe / EVA gloves.

May 18 — Explore Mars Inc., Beverly MA: Publishing printed Humans to Mars Report (H2MR) annually to address current progress & challenges of achieving humans Mars missions, as well as a website to archive support materials.

May 18-20 — ESA, NASA, JAXA, Frascati, Italy: Conference: The Contribution of Safety and Mission Assurance to Cost-Effective Missions (TRISMAC 2015).

North America Events: Space Tech Expo in California and ISDC2015 in Canada

The Space Tech Expo will be held May 19-21 in Long Beach, California, USA to bring together experts in the field of spacecraft, satellite, launch vehicle and space technology. The ‘West coast’s premier space event’ with the theme Design, Build, Test is organized by Smarter Shows with participation from prominent NewSpace, entrepreneurial, government and military sectors. There will be 200+ exhibitors and 60+ speakers including (T, L-R) Rob Meyerson of Blue Origin, Tom Cwik of JPL, Robert Feierbach of S3, Barry Matsumori of SpaceX, Clay Mowry of Arianespace and Frank Slazer of AIA. The 34th annual National Space Society International Space Development Conference (ISDC2015), co-hosted by the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA), is set for May 20-24 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. About 1,000 international participants are expected, and featured guests are (B, L-R) Anousheh Ansari (First Female Private Space Explorer), Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11 Moon Astronaut), Lori Garver (Former NASA Deputy Administrator), Soichiro Mihara (Japan Space Systems) and David Kendall (Chair of UN COPUOS). There will also be a presentation on ‘The Science of Interstellar’ by physicist and author Kip Thorne. ISDC2015 topics will revolve around ‘Next Breakthrough Technologies,’ where they are being utilized and how they will impact space exploration and life on Earth. (Image Credit: NSS, Smartershows, ISDC, NASA, SSERVI, CSA, CSCA, et al)

May 18 — Moon: 4.7° SSE of Mars, 09:00; 0.98° N of Aldebaran, 17:00; 5.7° S of Mercury, 22:00.

May 18 — Asteroid 2015 JF: Near-Earth flyby (0.023 AU).

Continued from…

Oct 16, 2014 – Jun 11 — NASA, University of Hawai`i, Mauna Loa HI: Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission 3.

May 1 – Jun 30 — Johnson Space Center, NASA, National Space Grant Foundation, Houston TX: 2015 eXploration Habitat (X-Hab); university-level students’ designs for functional space habitat subsystems prototypes to be submitted & evaluated.

May 12-22 — Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX), The University of Western Ontario, Various Locations AZ & UT: Planetary Surfaces Processes Field School.

TUESDAY

May 19 — RSA, Launch Proton / Garpun, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Proton Rocket set to deliver Garpun communications satellite for Russia military.

May 19 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Space Medicine: On Earth and Beyond; presented by Daniela Petrova.

May 19 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: SETI Weekly Colloquium: Geology before Pluto: Pre-encounter considerations; presented by Jeff Moore, 12:00.

May 19 — Planetary Society, Cape Canaveral FL: Bill Nye to Discuss LightSail Spacecraft at Media Meet & Greet; at Air Force Space & Missile History Center, 16:00-17:00.

May 19-21— International Academy of Astronautics, Yuzhnove Design Office, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine: 5th IAA Conference on Space Technologies: the Present and Future.