15:30-18:30 HST; Please RSVP to info@iloa.org to join the ILOA Galaxy Forum and learn more about Hawai’i lunar and space initiatives!

At the Forum, ILOA Director Steve Durst will highlight the non-profit’s lunar missions: the ILO-C which is a small camera launching aboard China’s Chang’E-7 lander in August 2026 to the Moon South Pole area, the ILO-1 observation and communications instrument suite that is planned to launch aboard the Astrolab FLEX-C rover and operate on the Moon for at least 1 full year starting in 2027, and the ILO-X cameras (named Ka ‘Imi and Lunar Codex) that landed on the Moon in February 2024 via Intuitive Machines.

Also being discussed at Galaxy Forum will be the cutting-edge astronomical observations made by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and EAO / James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, with presentations by CFHT Director Jean-Gabriel Cuby and EAO / JCMT Support Astronomer Harold Peña.

Kimo Pihana, a Hawaiian Cultural Practitioner, will discuss the importance of the Moon for Hawai’i and the connections between astronomy and Hawaiian culture.