August 31 – September 6, 2015 / Vol 34, No 35 / Hawai`i Island, USA

UNOOSA Hosts Upcoming Space Symposiums In South Africa, Austria, China

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs symposium in Cape Town, South Africa is being held September 1-4 at the University of Cape Town to discuss small satellite (<150 kg) missions and basic space technology benefits. Africa relies on satellites to provide maps and GPS for agriculture, environmental conservation and protection, disaster management, and healthcare in remote areas. This 4th Symposium attended by engineers, scientists and educators will focus on space law, space debris mitigation, measures for long-term sustainability of outer space activities, and regional / international cooperation. University of Cape Town Professor Peter Martinez (T) is mission administrator of the Foundation for Space Development ‘Africa2Moon’ project working to send a smallsat to the Moon in order to take video imagery, and inspire education, opportunity and economic empowerment in Africa. The UNOOSA Symposium on Integrated Space Technology Applications for Climate Change is planned for Sep 7-10 in Graz, Austria, at the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Keynote addresses, plenary presentations and discussions will cover space technology applications for the water cycle, agriculture, ecosystems, disaster-risk management, response and recovery. On Sep 14-16 the UN is also holding the International Conference on Space-based Technologies for Disaster Management in Beijing, China. (Pictured: UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo; Image Credit: UNOOSA, NASA, University of Cape Town)

MONDAY

Aug 31 — ISS, LEO: JAXA 5th Kounotori HTV cargo including 14 Planet Labs CubeSats & Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) dark matter study being transferred to ISS; Exp 44 six-member crew preparing for Exp 45 / visiting crew 3 person arrival.

 Aug 31 — Chang’e-3 Lander & Yutu Rover, Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium, 44.12°N 19.51°W, Moon Surface: China mission in Lunar Day 22 collecting data from surface of Moon including ultra-violet and optical observations; science team preparing for total lunar eclipse on Sep 28.

 Aug 31 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Measuring gravitational field of moons during flybys, acquiring images of planet & rings, observing storms & magnetosphere, searching for unknown satellites.

Aug 31 — ULA, Launch Atlas 5 / MUOS 4, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to launch 4th Mobile User Objective System satellite for U.S. Navy.

 Aug 31 — Thoth Technology Inc., Pembroke, Ontario, Canada: NewSpace company providing mini rovers, spectrometers, cameras, mission plans, simulation services for space missions; recently granted U. S. patent for space elevator concept.

Aug 31 — PlanetiQ, Bethesda MD: Opening new science and engineering facility in Boulder CO to develop 12 Pyxis-RO micro-satellite fleet to monitor space weather, Earth weather & climate; to launch 2016-17.

Aug 31 — NanoRacks LLC, Houston TX: External Payload Platform to be mounted on outside of ISS & be fully operational by spring 2016, will provide customer experiments with exposure to extreme environment of space.

Aug 31 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY: Lecture: Habitable Zones from the Pre- to Post-Main Sequence; presented by Ramses Ramirez.

Aug 31 – Sep 2 — AIAA, Pasadena CA: AIAA Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition (SPACE 2015); to discuss commercial cargo and crew space transportation, weather satellites, launch vehicles.

Aug 31 – Sep 4 — Kiepenheuer Institute for Solar Physics, Freiburg, Germany: Solarnet III / HELAS VII Conference: The Sun, the Stars, and Solar-Stellar Relations.

Aug 31 — Apollo Asteroid 2015 PS227: Near-Earth flyby (0.061 AU).

AIAA SPACE 2015 Advancing Space Transportation, Settlement and Commercial Enterprise

AIAA is holding Space and Astronautics Forum and Exposition (SPACE 2015) August 31 – September 2 at Pasadena Convention Center in California with ~1,000 participants. Leading professionals within the space industry will discuss vital topics, challenges and future opportunities with over 350 technical papers from ~100 government, academic, and private institutions across 21 countries. Along with the Technical portion, the Plenary Program is offering a panel “The Business of Space – How is the space business evolving to meet future needs?” moderated by Carissa Christensen the Managing Partner of Tauri Group, to discuss how NewSpace enterprises are moving the industry forward. Along with many other studies, a technical paper “Construction Technologies for Application to Development of Lunar/Martian Surface Structures Using In-Situ Materials” by M.J. Werkheiser, M. Fiske, J. Edmunson, B. Khoshnevis will discuss the necessity of using in-situ materials allowing for self sufficiency in space. Forum 360° panelists will review missions: ESA Rosetta, NASA Dawn and New Horizons. This year’s featured speakers are (L-R) Gwynne Shotwell, George Nield, Robert Lightfoot Jr., Maj. Gen. Robert McMurry, and Wanda Sigur. AIAA is committed to the global aerospace profession by gathering and delivering the latest technology / industry information, and is the world’s largest technical society. (Image Credit: NASA, AIAA, Space 2015)

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 30 – Sep 1 — Space Angels Network, Seattle WA: 2015 Space Angels Network Expedition; unique expedition for members to view commercial space start ups in Seattle area.

TUESDAY

NET Sep — CNSA, Launch Long March 6 / Multi-Payload, Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China: Long March 6 rocket to deploy cluster of small China amateur & university research satellites.

Sep 1 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Planet Occurrence Rates with Kepler: Reaching Towards the Habitable Zone; presented by Christopher Burke.

Sep 1-4 — Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria: Joint Annual Meeting of the Austrian Physical Society and the Swiss Physical Society.

Sep 1 — Moon: 1.6° ESE of Uranus, 06:00.

Sep 1 — Aten Asteroid 281375 (2008 JV19): Near-Earth flyby (0.045 AU).

Sep 1 — Aten Asteroid 2004 TD10: Near-Earth flyby (0.072 AU).

WEDNESDAY

Sep 2 — RSA, Launch Soyuz TMA-18M / ISS 44S, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: An RSA Soyuz rocket set to launch members of Expedition 45/46; to include Andreas Mogensen of ESA (the 1st Danish Astronaut), Sergi Volkov of RSA, Private Spaceflight Participant Aidyn Aimbetov (will be 3rd Astronaut from Kazakhstan).

Sep 2 — AIAA, Pasadena CA: Sweet Space 2015: An Evening of Astronaut Stories from the Cosmic Frontier; with Astronauts Robert Curbeam, Steve Lindsey, Sandy Magnus, Garrett Reisman, Kent Rominger; at Pasadena Convention Center.

Sep 2 — The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom: 2nd Scottish Exoplanet/Brown Dwarf Meeting.