September 7-13, 2015 / Vol 34, No 36 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Galaxy Forum and Lunar Deep Space Conference Align in Beijing

International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) is launching, supporting and collaborating with projects around the world to propel human civilization to the Moon for good, and for all. Galaxy Forum China 2015 – Astronomy from the Moon: Further Establishing the New Frontier – on Wednesday 9 September 2015 at National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), with participation of Beijing’s leading scientists and educators, features: Prof. Jianyan Wei LUT and SVOM Principal Investigator, NAOC; Steve Durst Founding Director of ILOA, Publisher and Editor of Space Age Publishing Co.; Dr. R. Pierre Martin Assistant Prof. of Astronomy, Univ. of Hawaii, ILOA Lunar Astronomy Team; Dr. Jing Wang Astronomer, LUT Scientist, NAOC. ILOA is collaborating with the NAOC Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) at Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium 44°N 20°W aboard the China Chang’e-3 Moon Lander, the first spacecraft to land on the Moon in almost 40 years and the only spacecraft operating on the lunar surface. Moon South Pole is as exciting and enriching a new frontier as Humans on Mars or trillion dollar asteroids, and much closer in time and space. Chinese Academy of Sciences is also hosting a separate but somewhat parallel event, the 2nd Beijing International Forum on Lunar and Deep Space Exploration on September 7-10 at the Beijing Conference Center. Session Chairs and invited speakers include, Ouyang Ziyuan of CLEP (Pictured: BR), Jean-Pierre Bibring of Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Andrew Coates of University College London, Gordon Chin of NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center, Zou Yongliao (BL) of the Lunar and Deep-space Exploration office at Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chris Sallaberger of Canadensys Aerospace. (Image Credit: ILOA, CAS, CNSA, NASA)

MONDAY

Sep 7 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 45 nine-member crew with 1 JAXA, 1 Kazakhstan, 1 Denmark, 4 Russia & 2 NASA Astronauts unloading cargo from HTV-5 and Soyuz TMA-18M; Mogensen of Denmark to perform telerobotics, communications, biological observations & test heart rate monitor & exercise bike force-measuring pedals built by Danish Aerospace Company.

Sep 7 — Chang’e-5T1, Circular Moon Orbit: Service module of Chang’e-5T1 mission conducting remote sensing & imaging of pre-selected lunar sample collection site at ~30-km altitude; will conduct lunar gravity field observations.

Sep 7 — Curiosity, Mount Sharp, Mars: Rover will journey farther up 5.5-km high, layered Mount Sharp (the same height as Mons Huygens the tallest lunar mountain); investigating soil samples containing silica & hydrogen; has driven more than 11 km since landing Aug 2012.

Sep 7 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: With a one-way radio signal travel time ~50 minutes, craft is now 893M km away traveling at 38 km/sec relative to Earth, has 203M km (1.36 AU) before reaching Jupiter.

Sep 7 — Open Space Orbital, Nova Scotia & Ontario, Canada: NewSpace company working on rocket launcher ‘Neutrino’ to launch small satellites (50 kg) for & from Canada; first testing planned for last quarter 2020.

Sep 7 — Astrobotic Technology Inc., Pittsburgh PA: Testing Griffin Lander / Red Rover, planning on mid-2016 rideshare on Falcon 9 with GLXP Team Hakuto; offering payload delivery to Moon (US$1.2M per kg & smaller MoonMail packages), reported customers include AEM Mexican Space Agency, Pocari Sweat, Elysium, Carnegie Mellon University ‘Moon Arts Ark.’

Sep 7 — Planet Labs Inc., San Francisco CA: Latest 14 Dove CubeSats now at ISS being prepared for launch through Kibo airlock / NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer; planning for a fleet of 125 in total to image entire Earth once a day; will eventually launch CubeSats into low sun-synchronous orbit ~450-500 km altitude.

Sep 7 — Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University College of Aviation, Online / Daytona Beach FL: Abstracts Due: 2nd Annual Space Traffic Management Conference: An Evolving Landscape.

Hawai`i Advancing Space Mission Research and Technology, Knowledge of Universe, Enthusiasm for Sci-Fi

The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS 4) 1-year mission at 2,440-meter altitude of Mauna Loa, Hawaii is underway with a 6-person crew living in a 384-cubic meter, solar-powered, two-story habitat. Commander Carmel Johnston (environmental scientist from Montana State University) will be leading crew members chief scientific officer & crew physicist Christiane Heinicke, health science officer & habitat journalist Sheyna Gifford, chief engineering officer Andrzej Stewart, crew biologist Cyprien Verseux and crew architect Tristan Bassingthwaighte. Sponsored by NASA and University of Hawaii at Mānoa, this long-duration mission ending August 28, 2016 will simulate space travel / Mars habitation and focus on crew cohesion and performance during various tasks under strenuous conditions. Standing 35 meters taller than its neighbor, revered Mauna Kea – home to space rover / technology testing and observatories discovering new information about the Universe and our place within it. Development for Thirty Meter Telescope is still under discussion. Project OHANA collaborative effort proposed by Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and the ILOA ILO-1 Moon Observatory offer promising next-frontier advancements while preserving Hawaii and its leadership in science and astronomy. Space / Sci-fi authors, actors and enthusiasts will be joining the HawaiiCon at Hapuna Prince Hotel Aug 10-13 to ‘explore another world without leaving Earth.’ (Image Credit: HI-SEAS, NASA, University of Hawaii, HawaiiCon, et al)

Sep 7-10 — Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC), Beijing, China: 2nd Beijing International Forum on Lunar and Deep-space Exploration (LDSE 2015); with conference chairman / Director of CAS Prof. Hejun Yin, chair of science & technology committee Prof. Ouyang.

Sep 7-10 — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Space Research Institute of Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria: United Nations/Austria Symposium on Integrated Space Technology Applications for Climate Change; Canceled.

Sep 7-10 — AIAA, Gold Coast, Australia: 33rd AIAA International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC-2015).

Sep 7-11 — Council of European Aerospace Societies, Delft, The Netherlands: 5th Challenges in European Aerospace (CEAS) Air & Space Conference & 12th European Workshop on Aircraft Design Education (EWADE).

Sep 7-11 — The University of Sheffield, Space Systems Laboratory, The European Office of Aerospace Research & Development, Liv, Ukraine: 3rd UK-Ukraine-Spain Meeting on Solar Physics and Space Science.

Continued from…

Mar 1 – Jan 1, 2016 — Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), Multiple Locations: Cycle 3 of science flights to observe universe consists of science flights grouped into multi-week observing campaigns totaling about 450 research flight hours.

Aug 9 – Sep 13 — Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen CO: Workshop: New Directions to Shed Light on Dark Matter.

Aug 28 – Aug 28, 2016 — NASA, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, Mauna Loa HI: Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission 4; at 2,440-meter altitude.

Sep 1-30 — Flexure Engineering LLC, LunarCubes, Online / Pasadena CA: Flash Art Competition; writing and 2D art contest which focuses on lunar and space exploration; US$3,500 grand prize.