April 4-10, 2016 / Vol 35, No 14 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Space Innovation, Disruption and Lunar Considerations Energizing Europe

The Space Innovation Congress in London, United Kingdom on April 7-8 showcases leading edge innovations related to space exploration with insight from over 80 speakers including 3 astronauts. There are dedicated tracks covering the entire Space exploration and Earth observatory ecosystems with satellites, big data, crop monitoring, space debris, maritime surveillance, space weather, biomedical, commercial space collaboration and telecoms. In one talk, Shaun Whitehead a space engineer with a focus in optics / sensors who has contributed to Spektr-RG, BepiColombo, XMM Newton, Beagle 2, SWIFT, Chandrayaan, Chang’e programs will talk about his new venture ThumbSat. The Start-Up Innovation Incubator will be overseen by James Shepherd (Space Angles Network), Adrian Braine (SETsquared), James Bruegger (Seraphim Capital) and Adrien Muller (Catapult). Disrupt Space summit in Bremen, Germany was founded by space professionals and ISU alumni Magni Jonannsson, Philippe Cyr, Izan Peris Marti to connect top entrepreneurs with decision makers to solve today’s industry and sustainability problems using space. The theme is “Turning the Solar System into our backyard. Let’s play!” Select speakers will provide participants with key perspectives and advice, including Director General of ESA Johann Wörner who is leading a resurgence of lunar mission development, and human Moon exploration considerations, VP at Airbus Bülent Altan, and President of the European Business Angels Network Candace Johnson. Downrange is the 4th European Lunar Symposium in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on  May 18-19. (Image Credit: SIC, DS)

MONDAY

Apr 4 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 47 preparing for Dragon CRS-8 berthing to Harmony node on Sunday, satellite deployment of STMSAT-1 from Kibo airlock & U.S. EVA-36 in April; unloading cargo from Progress 63P docked to Zvezda port and Cygnus OA-6 docked to Unity module, participating in international interactions study between crew members & ground controllers; ISS has been in orbit for 6,345 days.

Apr 4 — Tiangong 1, LEO: China space lab gradually descending into earth atmosphere over next few months for fiery disintegration in preparation for new space station to be completed by 2020; Tiangong-1 operated for more than 1,630 days.

 Apr 4 — Chang’e 5-T1, Moon Orbit: Service Module observing landing site and testing support systems needed to rendezvous & communicate with 2017 Chang’e-5 sample return mission (likely to land near Chang’e-3 site at Sinus Iridum / Bay of Rainbows); has been operating at Moon since Jan 2015.

 Apr 4 — Rosetta, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Orbit / Main Asteroid Belt: Spacecraft magnetometer detecting magnetic and magnetic-free areas around Comet, studying nucleus and solar wind interactions; comet mass estimated at slightly less than 10B tonnes (~11M ton); Philae lander on surface unlikely to send signal to Earth again.

Apr 4 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Titan flyby scheduled at 990-km altitude.

 Apr 4 — Planetary Resources, Bellevue WA: NewSpace company with Chris Lewicki as CEO, Founders Peter Diamandis & Eric Anderson, receives full patent for method, apparatus & system for asteroid prospecting and mining; Arkyd-6 Flight test system 6-unit CubeSat planned for completion this month.

Apr 4 — Bigleow Aerospace, Las Vegas NV: Long-awaited 1,360-kg, 16-m³ volume Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to arrive at ISS this week, will be prepared for attachment to Tranquility node (Node 3) to test and validate expandable habitat technology, determine radiation protection capabilities over next 2 years.

 Apr 4 — Earthrise Space Foundation, Orlando FL: Through Omega Envoy GLXP project & NASA Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data contract, working to enhance student access & interest in space technology, reach the Moon surface with low-cost commercial products.

Protecting Society from High-Impact Space Weather: Prediction, Response, Recovery

The Secure World Foundation is hosting “Space Weather as a Global Challenge” in Washington DC April 4. Experts including (L-R) Victoria Samson (Secure World), Steven Clarke (NASA), Mark Gibbs (United Kingdom Met Office) and Jérôme Lafeuille (World Meteorological Organization) will introduce international leaders to the 2015 U.S. National Space Weather Strategy while increasing collaboration on space weather preparedness initiatives. Solar wind, geomagnetic storms and coronal mass ejections can threaten lives of Astronauts in Space and on the Moon, and damage electronics in spacecraft, satellites, airlines and infrastructure on Earth that are vital for security, economic stability and daily life. National Research Council estimates the potential economic damage from a large geomagnetic storm at US$1-2 Trillion with 4-10 years of recovery time. The Center for Nonlinear Studies and Los Alamos National Laboratory “2016 SHIELDS Workshop: Shielding Society from Space Weather” is being held Apr 4-8 at Santa Fe, New Mexico. The 5 days will be spent addressing the question “How far are we from predictive capabilities for space weather?” and assess the space and plasma physics research, computational science and engineering critical for fulfilling that need. Active missions studying the Sun and space weather include Hinode (JAXA), PICARD (CNES), and NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, and Solar & Heliospheric Observatory. Long-duration observations from the Moon are also being planned to study Earth and Space dynamics. Image Credit: Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NASA, JAXA, CNES, Merco Press, WMO)

Apr 4 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference Recap.

Apr 4-7 — National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC), Charlottesville VA: 2016 NAASC Workshop on Molecular Gas in Galactic Environments; at Omni Charlottesville Hotel.

Apr 4-8 — ESA, Oxford University, EuroVenus, Oxford, United Kingdom: International Venus Conference 2016.

Apr 4-8 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference (SCTC); focusing on the science and technology of electrical charging of spacecraft by the space environment.

Apr 4-8 — Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Santa Fe NM: 2016 SHIELDS Workshop: Shielding Society from Space Weather; at Drury Plaza Hotel.

Apr 4-16 — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, Austria: 55th Session of the Legal Subcommittee of the UNOOSA.

Apr 4 — Moon: 1.8° NNW of Neptune, 14:00.

Continued from…

Aug 28, 2015 – 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.

Feb 26 — Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC: Exhibit Open: A New Moon Rises – New Views from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.

TUESDAY

Apr 5 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Lecture: Moon Express 2017 – A Private Lunar Mission Enabling Science & Commerce; Bob Richards, 12:00.

Apr 5-7 — Reed Exhibitions Limited, Hamburg, Germany: Aircraft Interiors Expo 2016.