November 3-9, 2014 / Vol 33, No 44 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Tennessee Interstellar Workshop Advancing Interstellar Discussions, Concepts

The third Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW) with the theme Long-Term Thinking, Present-Day Action is being held November 9-12 at Oak Ridge TN. Bringing together prominent interstellar figures from academic, bio-medical, public and private sectors, 4 parallel tracks will feature broad concepts relevant to Interstellar studies: near-term and far-term concepts for traveling at interstellar ranges; enabling technologies in power, propulsion, materials and shielding; life sciences, human biology, ecology, life support and hibernation; and colonization strategies, extrasolar planets, astrobiology, xenology, SETI and first contact. Dr. Sara Seager of MIT will give a keynote presentation on ‘The Search for Earth 2.0: Extrasolar Planetary Discoveries.’ Guests and speakers include Dr. Mae Jemison of 100 Year Starship, Les Johnson of TVIW, Marc Millis of Tau Zero Foundation, and Dr. James Benford and Andreas Hein of Icarus Interstellar. Ken Roy will teach a course on Terraforming 101, and Les Johnson will offer a Space Propulsion 101 course. Kelvin Long, Chief Editor of The Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, will be speaking about an alternative approach to SETI. (Image Credit: TVIW, Icarus Interstellar, UC Berkeley, A. Westphal, M. Rademaker)

MONDAY

Nov 3 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 41 six-member crew transferring ~2,721 kg of cargo from Progress 57P, reviewing procedures & preparing for change of command / crew departure Nov 9, working with Rodent Research study.

Nov 3 — Chang’e-3 Lander & Yutu Rover, Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium, 44.12°N 19.51°W, Moon Surface: Expected to wake today for start of Lunar Day 12, will continue Moon environment & Astronomical observations until next hibernation estimated Nov 14.

Nov 3 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Now on orbit 209 of Saturn, next flyby of Titan planned at 980-km altitude Dec 19; data suggests moon Mimas may have frozen core shaped like a football, or it contains liquid water ocean.

Nov 3 — Planetary Resources Inc., Bellevue WA: NewSpace company developing next test vehicle Arkyd 6 planned for launch in Q3 2015; Arkyd 3 technology / system test platform recently lost due to OSC launch failure.

Nov 3 — Mishaal Aerospace Corp., Miami FL: Working on M-OV Orbital Vehicle to launch 363-454 kg satellites to LEO, and M-LV Lunar Vehicle to allow for various lunar and inner Solar System missions.

Nov 3 — NanoRacks LLC, Houston TX: Plans to ship replacement control module for malfunctioning small satellite dispenser & US$10M External Research Platform to ISS on SpaceX CRS-5 mission launching Dec 9.

Nov 3 — Moon Express, Kennedy Space Center, NASA, KSC FL: Lunar CATALYST project update event, 14:00 EST.

Nov 3 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: The Galactic Center Massive Black Hole; presented by Reinhard Genzel.

Nov 3-4 — The National Academies, Irvine CA: Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics Meeting.

Indonesia Building 21st Century Capabilities in Astronomy and Astronautics

Scientists, engineers and educators are currently developing national astronomy and astronautics projects to advance the 21st Century science capabilities of the world’s 4th most populous country. With burgeoning growth of nearby Bandung city making observations from Indonesia’s sole astronomical observatory – Bosscha – ever more difficult, initiatives to construct a 2.5-m class telescope and a 1-m radio telescope in the country are progressing. Site selection efforts have identified Mount Timau, in East Nusa Tenggara, and Mount Rinjani, in West Nusa Tenggara as potential sites. Another initiative would see a hydrogen alpha solar telescope built on Biak Island, Papua. The space agency, LAPAN, is expected to complete work on a Space Port and Launch Center at Morotai Island by 2025. This complex is intended to act as the test site and future operational base of the LAPAN experimental satellite launcher. Earlier this year, LAPAN Chairman Dr. Thomas Djamaluddin hosted a high level meeting to discuss draft regulations on the implementation of a space plan and space-related activities. Last year the Rocket Technology Center conducted a successful static test of the RX 320 booster generating thrust of up to 4.9 tons. This is one of two rockets that will form the building blocks of the 4 stage orbital satellite rocket Roket Pengorbit Satelit (RPS) that is currently in development. (Image Credit: GalaxyForum.org, Bosscha Observatory, LAPAN, NASA)

Nov 3-5 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Houston TX: Workshop on Volatiles in the Martian Interior.

Nov 3-6 — Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology, NASA, AIAA, Canadian Space Agency, JHU/APL, Linthicum Heights MD: 28th Space Simulation Conference: Extreme Environments: Pushing the Boundaries; at Westin Hotel.

Nov 3-7 — Brazil National Observatory, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 19th Advanced School of Astrophysics.

Continued from…

Oct 20 – Dec 12 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Space Frontier Foundation, Online: Commercial Space Executive Leadership Training Course; with instructors Dan Rasky and Bruce Pittman.

Nov 2-6 — University of Colorado – Boulder, NASA, Portland OR: NASA Living with a Star 2014 Workshop: Evolving Solar Activity and Its Influence on Space and Earth.

TUESDAY

Nov 4 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: SETI Talks: Lakes, Fans, Deltas, and Streams: Geomorphic Constraints on the Hydrologic History of Gale Crater, Mars; presented by Marisa Palucis of UC Berkeley, 12:00 PST.

Nov 4 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Satellite Formation from Rings; presented by Aurélien Crida.

Nov 4 — Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson AZ: LPL Colloquium: The Surface of Titan from Cassini During the Solstice Mission.

Nov 4-6 — SMi Group Ltd., London, United Kingdom: 16th Annual Global MilSatCom 2014.