Humans to Mars 6th Annual Summit Highlights Advances Toward Becoming Multi Planet Species

The Humans to Mars Summit, hosted by Explore Mars, Inc., is scheduled for May 8-10 at George Washington University, Washington D.C. There will be 79 speakers including (TL-BR) NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Astronaut Michael López-Alegría, Francesc Godia of ESA, JAXA Astronaut Takuya Onishi, DLR Executive Board Chair Pascale Ehrenfreund, Kathy Laurini of Johnson Space Center, New Worlds Institute Founder Rick Tumlinson, and National Air & Space Museum Director Ellen Stofan. The summit will focus on international collaboration, economics and manufacturing of space exploration, cislunar economy, Mars simulations, robotics, financial accessibility, policy, and sustainability with the goal of humans reaching Mars by the 2030s. The event will include industry and student-led panel discussions on pathways to Mars, critical science, deep space networks, the Mars Generation, and congressional panels. Presentations involve ISS and other stepping stones, affordability, AI, scientific preparations, and environmental controls. Additional aspects include luncheons, dinner receptions, and 3 film premiere screenings. The comprehensive summit intends to increase productivity, spread awareness and support, and create a positive impact on STEM education as well as encourage participation in the advancement of becoming a Multi Planet Species. Previous speakers have included NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, Astronaut and Explore Mars Board Member Buzz Aldrin, and Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye. The summit will be broadcast live via webcast. (Image Credit: Explore Mars, NASA, ESA, JAXA, DLR, Space Foundation)

MONDAY

Spacetide 2018 Looking to Boost Japan NewSpace Industry with a Focus on 2030 National Goals

The 3rd Spacetide Conference is being held in Tokyo at Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall on May 10, organized by Spacetide Foundation. Comprised of 5 panel discussions, 4 individual keynote presentations and multiple networking events, the Conference will cover spaceflight, big data, deep space economy, and space as a driver for other industries. Speakers and Panelists include (L-R) Astronaut Koichi Wakata, Spacetide Founder Masayasu Ishida, Astroscale CEO Nobu Okada, JAXA VP Shizuo Yamamoto, SFF Chairman Jeff Feige, Interstellar Technologies President Takahiro Inagawa, PD AeroSpace CEO Shuji Ogawa, Blue Origin rep. Ted McFarland, ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada, and Ale Co. CEO Lena Okajima. Experts expect global space economy will exceed 1.1 trillion USD by 2040, and in Japan the ‘Space Industry Vision 2030‘ aims to double current space industry within 12 years with a recent agreement to invest US$940M in space start-ups, and considerations to enact new laws that would allow businesses to own land and resources on the Moon and other celestial bodies. There are more than 20 commercial space companies in Japan working to reach and explore the Moon, clean up space debris, create the first human-made meteor shower, offer suborbital tourism, and develop launchers, microsatellites and communications technologies. Some of these companies and new startups will speak during the 50-minute Startup Pitch session. Japan is active in Space with Astronauts, contributions to ISS, Hayabusa 2 and Akatsuki, four launch vehicles, two launch sites, multiple Astronomical and Earth observation satellites, and is currently developing Mercury Exploration Mission “BepiColombo”, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), and H3 Launch Vehicle planned for NET Apr 2020. (Image Credit: Spacetide, ispace, ALE Co. Ltd., Astroscale, NASA)

May 7-8 — Caltech, JPL, NASA, Pasadena CA: Interplanetary Smallsat Conference 2018.

May 7-8 — United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Secure World Foundation, Simons Foundation Canada, Geneva, Switzerland: 2018 UNIDIR Space Security Conference.

May 7-11 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, San Gabriel Valley CA: The First Billion Years Initiative – Differentiation: Building the Internal Architecture of Planets Conference.

May 7-11 — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, Austria: Intersessional Meeting to Finalize the Draft Resolution on UNISPACE+50.

May 7-11 — Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, National Research Council Canada, SPARCS, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada: 8th Annual Meeting of the SKA Pathfinder Radio Continuum Surveys Working Group (SPARCS).

May 7 — Moon: At last quarter, 16:10.

May 7 — Apollo Asteroid 1999 FN19: Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)

May 7 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 GX: Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)

Continued from…

Dec 21, 2017 – Jun 4 — New Horizons, KBO Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) Trajectory: Spacecraft in hibernation mode until Jun 4; will awaken and prepare for KBO flyby 1 Jan 2019; approach officially begins in August.

NET May 5-30 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / “It’s Business Time” Multi-Payload, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Launch window opens for first fully commercial launch dubbed ‘It’s Business Time’ with two Spire Lemur 2 CubeSats and one GeoOptics CICERO satellite.

May 5-13 — Friends of Amateur Rocketry, Mars Society, Edwards Air Force Base CA: FAR-MARS Student Rocketry Teams Competition; team whose bi-propellant liquid-fueled rocket comes closest to reaching 13,716 meters (45,000 ft) will receive $50,000; team that comes closest to hitting same altitude with rocket-powered by liquid-methane and liquid-oxygen will receive $50,000.