Indonesia Hosts 1st APRSAF Space Exploration Workshop for Asia
 The 1st Space Exploration and Kibo Utilization Workshop for Asia is being organized by the Space Environment Utilization Working Group (SEUWG) of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) for May 28, hosted by the Indonesia National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN). A major objective of the Working Group since its inception has been to promote utilization of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module on the International Space Station among Asian countries in cooperation with Japan, specifically in the fields of life science, space medicine, physics / materials science, space observation, Earth observation and advanced technology demonstration. A broader goal of this workshop is to advance progress on recommendations set at APRSAF-21 in Tokyo last December, including improving our knowledge about the Earth, the Solar System and the Universe by crewed and uncrewed space exploration. The program opens with remarks by Dr. Thomas Djamaluddin of LAPAN and an overview by SEUWG Co-Chair Mr. Yoshiya Fukuda of JAXA. There will be presentations from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand, the Department of Science and Technology of Philippines and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. The 22nd Session of the APRSAF Annual Meeting will be hosted in Bali, Indonesia December 1-4. (Image Credit: JAXA/NASDA, APRSAF/SEUWG)
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MONDAY
 May 25 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 43 crew to relocate Permanent Multipurpose Module from Unity to Tranquility Module this week, working with Muscle Atrophy Research & Exercise System and Fluid Shifts study; 3 members scheduled to return to Earth June 11; ISS now 6,030 days in orbit.
May 25 — Tiangong-1, LEO: Currently uncrewed, China space station in 330-370 km orbit with inclination of 42° continuing to collect data for future, larger space station to establish permanent China human presence in LEO by 2020.
May 25 — Venus Climate Orbiter (Akatsuki), Heliocentric Orbit: JAXA spacecraft being monitored for instrument health & thermal conditions, will attempt to achieve Venus orbit in Dec.
 May 25 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: Traveling at 10 km per second relative to Sun, craft is 681M km from Earth with one-way radio signal travel time of ~38 minutes, in excellent health & operating nominally, has 283M km (~1.89 AU) to go before entering Jupiter orbit.
 May 25 — Pioneer Astronautics, Lakewood CO: NewSpace company receiving 2 small business awards to develop nitrous ethane-ethylene rocket engine for small spacecraft & Carbonaceous Asteroid Volatile Recovery (CAVoR) system to extract water & volatiles for propellant, life support, ISRU manufacturing.
May 25 — Moon Express, KSC FL: To transport ‘MoonLIGHT’ laser range finding arrays to Moon for US$24M (half funded by ME) through 4-mission agreement with Italy National Laboratories of Frascati & University of Maryland.
May 25 — Flexure Engineering, Seattle WA: Promoting Lunar Initiatives, preparing for next LunarCubes workshop Oct 6-9 in San Jose, providing cryogenic engineering, optical performance testing, extreme environment testing expertise.
 May 25-27 — AIAA, St. Petersburg, Russia: 22nd St. Petersburg International Conference on Integrated Navigation Systems.
May 25-26 — Terrapinn Holdings Ltd., Russian Satellite Communications Co., SatADSL, et al, Johannesburg, South Africa: Conference: SatCom Africa; at Sandton Convention Centre. |
= 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: Venus (W), Jupiter (W); Morning Planets: Saturn (S), Uranus (E), Neptune (ESE).
4th Interplanetary CubeSat Conference Advancing Designs, Concepts & Collaboration
The 4th Interplanetary Workshop (iCubeSat 2015) will be held May 26-27 in South Kensington, London, United Kingdom at Imperial College. The Workshop is organized by JA Initiative, which supports a number of projects for private and peaceful robotic exploration of Space. This year will feature a record 45 presentations and attendees from companies, space agencies and universities from more than 20 countries. Talks, round tables and unconference sessions will focus on technology, science and collaboration. Opening remarks will be given by Michael Johnson of JA Initiative / Pocket Spacecraft and Steven Schwartz, Director of Imperial Space Lab. Notable talks include Onur Celik from Cranfield University UK on ‘CubeSat Landing Opportunities for Binary Asteroid Exploration,’ Frank Crary from University of Colorado USA on ‘Enhanced electromagnetic sounding of Europa’s ocean using CubeSats,’ Andres Dono from NASA Ames USA on ‘Lunar orbit stability for small satellite mission design’ and Xingzhi Hu from National University of Defense Technology China on ‘Uncertainty-based Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Lunar CubeSat Missions.’ Other topics for CubeSat applications include UV astrophysics, monitoring space weather, technology testbeds, imaging exoplanets and interplanetary CubeSats to study particle acceleration and radiation. (Image Credit: JA Initiative, Pocket Spacecraft, Imperial College, NASA, JPL)
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May 25-28 — UK Centre for Astrobiology, Sardinia, Italy: Workshop and Discussion in the Caves of Sardinia: Extraterrestrial Subsurface Exploration.
May 25-29 — ESO, University of Crete, Plantanias-Chania, Crete, Greece: Conference: Gas, Dust, and Star-Formation in Galaxies from the Local to Far Universe.
May 25-29 — International Institute for Advanced Scientific Studies (IIASS), Salerno, Italy: 1st Advanced School on Exoplanetary Science – Methods of Detecting Exoplanets.
May 25 — Moon: At first quarter, 07:19.
May 25 — Asteroid 2015 HT9: Near-Earth flyby (0.031 AU).
May 25 — Mars: 5.9° N of Aldebaran, 20:00.
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 24-28 — Japan Geoscience Union, Chiba, Japan: Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2015.
May 24-29 — Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) and the CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS), Sydney, Australia: 8th Southern Cross Astrophysics Conference: Multiwavelength Dissection of Galaxies.
TUESDAY
May 26-27 — JA Initiative, Imperial College – London, Pocket Spacecraft, London, United Kingdom: 4th Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop (iCubeSat 2015). |
May 26-28 — Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), UAE Space Agency, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Global Space & Satellite Forum 2015.
May 26 – Jul 31 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: 2015 Exploration Science Summer Intern Program.
May 26 — Moon: At apogee (distance 403,793 km), 12:00.
May 26 — Venus: 7.4° S of Castro, 14:00.
May 26 — Mercury: 1.6° SSE of Mars, 16:00.
May 26 — Asteroid 2015 JW: Near-Earth flyby (0.039 AU).
WEDNESDAY
May 27 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 5 / DirecTV 15 & Sky Mexico 1, Kourou, French Guiana: Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA223, to launch DirecTV 15 & Sky Mexico 1 satellites.
May 27-29 — Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Virgo EGO Scientific Forum (VESF), Thessaloniki, Greece: Workshop on Binary Neutron Star Mergers.
THURSDAY
May 28 — National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), Space Environment Utilization Working Group of Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), Jakarta, Indonesia: First Space Exploration Workshop.
May 28-29 — Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA: Emerging Researchers in Exoplanet Science Symposium (ERES).
FRIDAY
May 29 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Subduction on Jupiter’s Moon Europa: The Case for Plate Tectonics in the Ice Shell; presented by Simon Kattenhorn & Louise Prockter.
May 29 — Kennedy Space Center, NASA, Titusville FL: 2015 US Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Gala; Induction Ceremony to follow.
May 29 — Moon: 3.4° NNE of Spica, 11:00.
May 29 — Asteroid 2015 KH: Near-Earth flyby (0.037 AU).
May 29 — Venus: 4.0° S of Pollux, 11:00.
SATURDAY
May 30 — Kennedy Space Center, NASA, Titusville FL: 2015 US Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony; honoring John Grunsfeld, Steven Lindsey, Kent Rominger, M. Rhea Seddon.
May 30 — Asteroid 2015 JZ1: Near-Earth flyby (0.044 AU).
May 30 — Mercury: At inferior conjunction with Sun, 2.08° S of Sun and 0.549 AU from Earth, 07:00.
SUNDAY
NET May 31 — International Launch Services, Launch Soyuz / Inmarsat 5 F3, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: ILS Proton rocket with Breeze M upper stage to deploy Inmarsat 5 F3 communications satellite for Inmarsat of London.
May 31 – Jun 5 — Technion Israeli Institute of Technology, Lewiner Institute for Theoretical Physics, Haifa, Israel: Workshop: Triple Evolution & Dynamics in Stellar and Planetary Systems.
May 31 — Mercury: 3.5° NW of Aldebaran, 03:00.