31st ISTS Advances Space Technology, Science and Discovery in Japan

The joint conference of the 31st International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, the 26th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics and the 8th Nano-Satellite Symposium takes place June 3-9 at the Ehime Prefectural Cultural Hall in Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan. Program Chairperson Ryoichi Imai of JAXA is expecting about 1,000 participants and has led development of an extensive schedule of plenary lectures, sessions on latest research, panel discussions, student sessions, poster session, cultural night, exhibitions, a control system design contest and a global trajectory optimization competition. JAXA Astronaut Takuya Ohnishi will make a Keynote Speech on ISS Expedition 48/49 and the Future of Human Spaceflight. There is diverse input from within Japan and internationally from China, India, Korea, USA, Europe, Russia, Brazil, UK, Taiwan, Australia and others. Topics range from propulsion to policy, navigation guidance and control to education and outreach. Ahead of the conference Japan is scheduled to launch an H-2A Rocket from Tanegashima Space Center carrying the Michibiki 2 navigation satellite for Japan Quasi-Zenith Satellite System on May 31. It is also working on development of its H3 Launch Vehicle preparing for first test flight in fiscal year 2020. (Image Credit: ISTS, NASA, GoogleEarth)

MONDAY

Ongoing…
May 29 — ISS, 330-435-km LEO: Expedition 52 to begin Jun 1 with Whitson handing over command to Yurchikhin, crew members Novitskiy & Pesquet to return to Earth, Whitson recent 10th spacewalk makes her 3rd overall for cumulative EVA time, expecting Dragon CRS-11 arrival by end of week, performing eye, brain, muscle scans.

May 29 — Solar System: Decommissioned China Space station Tiangong-1 estimated to burn up in Earth atmosphere between Oct 2017 – April 2018; Juno data from 6th Jupiter flyby being sent back to Earth, traveled more than 102M km in Jupiter orbit so far; Saturn moon Titan may be more tectonically similar to Mars than Earth; NASA community announcement asks researchers to plan possible instruments for Europa lander mission.

May 29 — Galaxy: Scientists studying data from recent brightness dips in Tabby’s Star (KIC 8462852 located 1,280 LY away), first dips were observed by Kepler; Trappist-1 observations being analyzed, exoplanet H likely icy and unable to support life; CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) in Geneva 4-year study places new limitations on dark matter, shows no evidence of solar axions.

May 29 — Global: Australia estimated to spend US$1B on Space activities annually, may start a national Space Agency; Appointment of new NASA administrator expected soon (perhaps Bridenstine); ISRO readying for Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 to Moon South Pole 2018 Q1; Indonesia Palapa-N1 communications satellite to be built by China Great Wall Industry Corp.; England and France scientists study ‘Neptune’ plasma propulsion thruster.

May 29 — NewSpace: Moon Express co-founder Naveen Jain states lunar lander should be ready to launch by end of 2017; Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin advocating permanent human settlement at Moon Pole; Spire satellite with offices in Singapore, San Francisco, Glasgow is building fleet of satellites to observe Earth, company data results being analyzed by NOAA; Rocket Lab analyzing results of maiden Electron launch.

= 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: Mars (WNW), Jupiter (S); Morning Planets: Mercury (E), Venus (E), Saturn (SE), Neptune (ESE).

NYC Hosts 10th World Science Festival and 1st Dawn of Private Space Science Symposium

The 10th World Science Festival is celebrating the human spirit of exploration, discovery, and creativity from May 30 – June 4 in five boroughs of New York City and Times Square. Developed by World Science Foundation, the 2017 festival features more than 50 multimedia events, Astronauts, celebrities, scientists, technologists, innovators and Nobel Laureates. The Women in Science event highlights scientists and Astronauts: Sarah Demers, Ayana Elizabeth, Maryam Zaringhalam, Yvonne Cagel, Lesa Rosa, Ellen Stofan and others. Prominent speakers include Bill Nye, Tina Fey, France Cordova, Alan Alda, Brian Greene, Clayton Anderson, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Day, and Paul Nurse. Some topics covered are time & the Cosmos, A.I., V.R., evolution beyond Earth, human regeneration, World Science University, big data & physics, astronomy, chemistry, microbiology, neurosciences and pioneers in science & space. Dawn of Private Space Science Symposium (DPSS) June 3-4 at Columbia University is bringing together commercial companies with policy makers and scientists to collaborate on scientific research objectives in space. DPSS will focus on 3 main challenges – Cost, Time and Policy. The organizers are Sandya Narayanswami, Mark Jackson and Szabolcs Marka of Science Partnership Fund. Participants include Jennifer Lopez of CASIS, Elizabeth Kennick of Teachers in Space, Maria Manoli of McGill University, Sirisha Bandla of Virgin Galactic, Gregg Maryniak of X Prize, Jon Morse of BoldlyGo Institute, Matthew Napoli of Made in Space, Tom Prince of JPL, Olivia Scharfman of SEDS, Erika Wagner of Blue Origin, Pete Worden of Breakthrough Prize, and Anthony Yuen of SGAC. (Image Credit: World Science Foundation, DPSS, Breakthrough Initiatives, Moon Express, et al)

May 29 – Jun 1 — Canadian Astronomical Society, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Canadian Astronomical Society Annual General Meeting.

May 29 – Jun 3 — European Research Council Advanced Grant, Bavarian Research Institute of Experimental Geochemistry and Geophysics (BGI) at University of Bayreuth, Nice, France: Program: Protoplanetary Disks and Planet Formation and Evolution.

May 29 – Jun 23 — Munich Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics, Garching, Germany: Workshop: Accretion and Early Differentiation of the Earth and Terrestrial Planets.

May 29 — Moon: 3.4° S of Beehive Cluster, 15:23.

May 29 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 CS: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU).

May 29 — Amor Asteroid 2017 JU1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU).

May 29 — Apollo Asteroid 481532 (2007 LE): Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU).

Continued from…

May 5 – Jun 19 — Johnson Space Center, NASA, Houston TX: Campaign 4: Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA 2017); 45 day analog spaceflight / Moon / Mars mission.

May 25-29 — National Space Society, St. Louis MO: 36th annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2017): In the Spirit of Exploration and Discovery.

May 28-31 — National Institute for Space Research – INPE, SELPER Brazil – Latin American Association on Remote Sensing, Santos, Brazil: 18th Brazilian Remote Sensing Symposium.

May 28 – Jun 18 — Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen CO: Workshop: Quantum Gravity and New Moonshines; and Workshop: After Inflation.

TUESDAY

May 30-31 — Buzz Aldrin Space Institute at Florida Institute of Technology, Kennedy Space Center, NASA, KSC FL: Mars Mission Social Sciences Workshop at Buzz Aldrin Space Institute.

May 30-31 — iCubeSat Organizing Committee, Imperial College London, JA Initiative, University of Oxford, et al, Cambridge, United Kingdom: iCubeSat 2017 – the 6th Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop; to address technical challenges, opportunities, practicalities of interplanetary space exploration with CubeSats.

May 30 – Jun 1 — UK Space Agency, Lockheed Martin, Reaction Engines, Airbus Defence & Space, Manchester, United Kingdom: United Kingdom Space Conference 2017.

May 30 – Jun 1 — IAA, American Astronautical Society, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN-University), Moscow, Russia: 3rd IAA Conference on Dynamics and Control of Space Systems (DYCOSS).

May 30 – Jun 4 — World Science Foundation, Simons Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, NYC NY: 10th Annual World Science Festival.

WEDNESDAY

May 31 — JAXA, Launch H-2A / Michibiki 2, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: JAXA H-2A rocket to launch Michibiki 2 navigation spacecraft for Japan Quasi-Zenith Satellite System.

May 31 – Jun 2 — NOAA, University of Maryland, USM Foundation, College Park MD: 3rd Blue Planet Symposium: The Role of the Oceans in Earth’s Life-Support System.

May 31 — Moon: 0.3° S of Regulus, 06:08.

THURSDAY

NET Jun — CNSA, Launch Long March 5 / Shijian-18, Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): China Long March 5 rocket to loft Shijian-18 experimental satellite this month; will be second Long March 5 flight.

NET Jun — Landspace Technology, Launch Landspace-1 Rocket, TBA, China: NewSpace company with CEO Zhang Changwu hopes to launch first orbital rocket this month.

NET Jun — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Formosat 5, Vandenberg AFB CA: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch Formosat 5 for Taiwan National Space Organization (NSPO).

NET Jun — Canada Space Advisory Board, Canada Nationwide: New space strategy to be launched this month supporting the development of long term priorities for Canada’s space program.

Jun 1 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / CRS 11, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to launch 13th Dragon spacecraft on 11th operational cargo delivery mission to ISS.

Jun 1 — Arianespace, Launch Ariane 5 / ViaSat 2 & Eutelsat 172B, Kourou, French Guiana: Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA237, to launch ViaSat 2 and Eutelsat 172B communications satellites.

Jun 1 — Moon: At first quarter, 02:42.

Jun 1 — Apollo Asteroid 418094 (2007 WV4): Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU).

Jun 1 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 KX4: Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU).

FRIDAY

Jun 2 — ISS, Expedition 51 / Soyuz MS-03 Undocking, 330-435-km LEO: Expedition 50/51 crew Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA scheduled to return to Earth with experiments and gear, undocking at 06:50 EDT, live coverage available.

Jun 2 — Challenger Center, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Sacramento CA: Voyage to Mars; simulated space mission supporting astronauts from Mission Control and hands-on science experiments, robotics, space probe development.

Jun 2 — Caltech, Pasadena CA: Lecture: The Origin of Elements by Ivana Escala, 20:00.

Jun 2 — RISpace, British Interplanetary Society, Online / Glasgow, United Kingdom: Abstracts Due: 15th Reinventing Space Conference; occurring Oct 24-27.

Jun 2 — NASA Ames Research Center, Online / Moffett Field CA: Abstracts Due: 8th Annual Lunar and Small Bodies Graduate Conference (LunGradCon 2017); to be held Jul 17, preceding NASA Exploration Science Forum.

SATURDAY

Jun 3-4 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: 37th BIS Soviet/Chinese Technical Forum 2017.

Jun 3-4 — Columbia University, Science Partnership Fund, Planetary Society, Fiat Physica, NYC NY: Dawn of Private Space Science Symposium 2017; featuring Pete Worden of Breakthrough Prize Foundation, Erika Wagner of Blue Origin, Sirisha Bandla of Virgin Galactic, Gregg Maryniak of XPRIZE.

Jun 3-9 — ISTS, Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Science, JAXA, Matsuyama, Japan: 31st ISTS (International Symposium on Space Technology and Science), 26th ISSFD (International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics), 8th NSAT (Nano-satellite Symposium).

Jun 3 — Moon: 2.3° N of Jupiter, 06:08.

Jun 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2017 KJ3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU).

Jun 3 — Amor Asteroid 2017 JL3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU).

SUNDAY

NET Jun 4 — International Launch Services, Launch Proton / EchoStar 21, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage to launch EchoStar 21 communications satellite, formerly known as TerreStar 2.

Jun 4-8 — American Astronomical Society, Austin TX: 230th Meeting of the AAS; at JW Marriott Austin, in conjunction with the Laboratory Astrophysics Division Annual Meeting.

Jun 4 — Amor Asteroid 2017 KJ5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU).