October 16-22, 2017 / Vol 36, No 42 / Hawai`i Island, USA

ASE 30th Planetary Congress Meets in Toulouse

The Association of Space Explorers is organizing the 30th Planetary Congress on October 16-20, hosted by Toulouse Métropole and Cité de l’espace in Toulouse, France with the theme Space is My Future. Hosted under the High Patronage of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales with official partnership of ESA and Airbus, the annual event includes 100 astronauts, cosmonauts and taikonauts from around the world. The purpose is to promote the benefits of space exploration and research to the general public, fostering education and real international cooperation. A dynamic 5-day program features ceremonies, technical sessions, openings for education, the general public and the media, as well cultural and touristic programs. Special support is being provided by President of ASE – Europe Michel Tognini, ESA Astronaut and German physicist Reinhold Ewald, 1st French Astronaut and co-founder of ASE in 1985 Jean-Loup Chretien, 1st French woman Astronaut Claudie Haignere, CNES and ESA Astronaut Jean-François Clervoy, CNES Astronaut Jean-Pierre Haignere, and Romanian Cosmonaut Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu. Various developments make Toulouse an appropriate and timely venue, including: Thomas Pesquet’s Proxima mission, the ‘Astronauts’ temporary exhibition running at Cité de l’espace until the end of 2018, the City chairing the Ariane Cities Community and it being appointed 2017 European Science Capita (ESOF) until 2018. Of the 551 people to have explored in Earth-orbit, 60 have been women.(Image Credit: ASE, ESA)

MONDAY

Oct 16 — Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ: Colloquium: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Galaxy; Annika Peter, 16:00.

Oct 16-18 — Space Telescope Science Institute, NASA, ESA, CSA, Baltimore MD: Meeting: Observing Protoplanetary and Debris Disks with James Webb Space Telescope.

U.S. Admin Embraces Human Moon Missions in Time for Apollo @50

Reestablished U.S. National Space Council led by Vice President Mike Pence states USA will send Humans back to the Moon to lay the foundation for Solar System exploration. Meeting in another 40 days, the team will address FY19 budgetary considerations and work to outline how America will lead in Space, launch from U.S. soil and support innovative technologies. Commercial space leaders capable of and eager to boost space capabilities stress the importance of continued, unwavering political and financial support. With renewed commitment and permission for NASA to ‘touch the Moon’, strategic steps toward becoming a Multi World Civilization may finally be taken. A Human Return to the Moon and the First Woman on the Moon would impact next-gen populations which have not yet seen in real time anyone travel beyond LEO. Findings from Oct 10-13 Lunar Exploration Analysis Group meetings will be forwarded to NASA in support of a Human Lunar return with maximized science objectives. Recent initiatives supporting the transcending vision of First Women on the Moon include Stanford on the Moon Conference featuring Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, 68th IAC 3G First Woman on the Moon Breakfast Forum, NSS Ad Astra Magazine cover story “Who Will Be The First Woman On The Moon?”, Icarus Interstellar “Are Women Allowed on the Moon?” article, Umberto Caballaro Women Spacefarers: Sixty Different Paths to Space book, SPC First Woman on the Moon advocacy during USA 2016 Presidential campaign, and ESA inclusive Moon Village concept. (Image Credit: NASA, us.gov, SPC, GLXP, NSC Creative)

Oct 16-20 — Green Bank Observatory, National Science Foundation, Green Bank WV: Transformative Science for the Next Decades with the Green Bank Observatory Big Questions, Large Programs, and New Instruments.

Oct 16-21 — Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, State Research Center on Space Hydrometeorology (Planeta), Roscosmos, Vladivostok, Russia: 8th Asia/Oceania Meteorological Satellite Users’ Conference.

Continued from…

Oct 3-31 — National Geographic, Multiple Locations USA: NASA Astronaut Terry Virts tour from NY to CA for book signing “View from Above” featuring foreword by Buzz Aldrin and 300 photographs.

Oct 15-19 — Inter-Islamic Network on Space Sciences & Technology (ISNET), Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre (RJGC), Amman, Jordan: ISNET/RJGC Workshop on CubeSat Technologies: Its Design and Development.

Oct 15-20 — American Astronomical Society, Provo UT: Division for Planetary Sciences; at Utah Valley Convention Center.

Oct 15-20 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, ESA, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany: 7th International Fermi Symposium.

TUESDAY

Oct 17 — INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), LEO: Detecting some of the most energetic radiation in Space, ESA, NASA, Roscosmos spacecraft begins 16th year of operations in Space; launched 2002; expected to continue operations until early 2020s, run out of fuel and fall to Earth Feb 2029.

Oct 17 — Library of Congress Science, Technology and Business Division, Washington DC: Lecture: The Star That Ate Manhattan Could Guide Humanity Beyond the Solar System; by Zaven Arzoumanian, NASA.

Oct 17-18 — Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Washington DC: FAA COMSTAC Meeting.