2020 Vision — Humans on the Moon
International, Public, Private Partnerships seeing Humans to the Moon by 2020 is a worthy goal with an eye toward staying for good – permanently establishing Humanity as a Multi World Species. USA 21st Century Leadership and the State of the Union would be significantly bolstered by our participation in the human expansion to the 8th Continent, Luna. National programs and policies from USA, China, Russia, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Canada and others, as well as independent enterprises such as Moon Express Golden Spike, Shackleton Energy, Bigelow Aerospace, ILOA, Space Adventures and Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation are realizing that collaboration and integration / interoperability are vital to efficient and effective Cislunar development. Many agencies and associations have been pushing for more truly international opportunities for collaboration. The ESA ‘Science and Challenges of Lunar Sample Return Workshop’ on February 18-19 highlights the Moon as an important location for exploration and “the next destination for humans beyond LEO,” while recognizing that this is “most likely… through international cooperation.” The Orion vehicle currently in development by NASA with help from ESA is designed with the capabilities to facilitate Human Moon Missions. Apollo took America to the Moon and then as a nation, it retreated. To return and stay we will need to think and act as one species. (Image Credit: NASA, CNSA, AlanZinn, GSC, ME, SpaceX, ISRO)
Ad Astra per Aspera: Honoring Astronauts of Apollo 1, Challenger STS-51L, Columbia STS-107
Three anniversaries of space exploration tragedies are honored this week, and the astronauts lost are celebrated in educational and inspirational events around the world. January 27 marks the 47th observation of the Apollo 1 fire and the deaths of Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee. Seven astronauts, Francis “Dick” Scobee, Michael Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick and Ronald McNair, are celebrated January 28 on the 28th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51L loss. February 1 is the 11th remembrance of the Columbia STS-107 loss of Richard Husband, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown and Kalpana Chawla. All astronauts (~540 thus far) assume the dangers of space exploration willingly in pursuit of the profound rewards and adventure that exploring the unknown provides. USA, Russia and China have sent humans into space and continue advancing technologies to that end. India, Japan, South Korea and the European Union also work toward that goal, and hopefully international human space exploration missions to the Moon, Mars & Beyond will follow. In honor of all astronauts and explorers we will continue to go boldly, embark upon increasingly challenging missions and explore new frontiers for the betterment of humankind. (Image Credit: NASA, GSFC, KSC, JPL, Caltech, ASU, M. Nicolas)
= All times for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mercury (WSW), Mars (S), Jupiter (E); Morning Planets: Venus (ESE), Saturn (SE).
MONDAY
Jan 27 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 38 conducting health studies – Energy, Reaction, Ocular Health; Wakata participating in Try Zero-G which allows students / public to suggest physical tasks for JAXA astronauts.
Jan 27 — ISS, Russia EVA-37a, LEO: Commander Oleg Kotov, Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazansky to perform spacewalk to re-install UrtheCast camera systems; 13:10 UT, live coverage available.
Jan 27 — Herschel Space Observatory, Heliocentric Orbit: Data from decommissioned spacecraft reveals Ceres has water vapor, icy surface, atmosphere; 1st definitive confirmation of water vapor on object in Main Asteroid Belt.
Jan 27 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: About 0.84 AU from Earth, 889 days to Jupiter Orbital Insertion; operations team will enable full power capability of solar arrays in Sep.
Jan 27 — Golden Spike Co., Boulder CO: NewSpace company working with Draper Laboratory to evaluate lunar lander concepts / compatibility with landing sites, recommend guidance system architecture.
Jan 27 — Deep Space Industries, McLean VA: CEO David Gump announces company will reveal new initiatives this year and be able to begin accepting small investments in next few months.
Jan 27 — Mars One, The Hague, The Netherlands: Will release Mars One: The Human Factor, a book of essays exploring the mental, physical, psychological aspects of proposed Mars One mission.
Jan 27 — 47th Apollo 1 Observation, Nationwide USA: Increasing space awareness and education, remembrances / events honor three Apollo 1 crew members, Command Pilot Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee, whose lives were lost when a launch rehearsal test resulted in a cabin fire.
Jan 27 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Online / Greenbelt MD: Pre-Proposal Teleconference: Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (Lunar CATALYST) initiative; to discuss potential proposals from U.S. private sector that would lead to 1 or more no-funds exchanged Space Act Agreements, 11:00 EST.
Jan 27 — Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA, Online / Laurel MD: Applications Due: 2014 Internship Program; summer projects for students interested in working on NASA missions or space-related research opportunities at APL.
Jan 27-28 — Applied Technology Institute, Columbia MD: The Space Environment – Implications for Spacecraft Design course; instructor Dr. Alan Tribble, US$1,245.
Continued from…
Jan 12-31 — National Autonomous University of Mexico, National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE), Tonantzintla, Mexico: 2014 School of Astronomy Observations for Latin American Students.
Jan 16 – Mar 17 — Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Online / Greenbelt MD: Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (Lunar CATALYST) initiative; seeking proposals from U.S. private sector that would lead to 1 or more no-funds exchanged Space Act Agreements.
Jan 20 – Feb 25 — Penn State Lunar Lion Team, RocketHub, Online / State College PA: Lunar Lion Google Lunar X Prize Crowdfunding Campaign.
Jan 21 – Mar 7 — Zybek Advanced Products, Kickstarter Inc., Online / Boulder CO: Project Moon Dust: Synthetics for Outer Space Education – Kickstarter Campaign.
Jan 26-30 — American Astronautical Society, AIAA, Santa Fe NM: 24th AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting; at La Fonda Hotel.
Jan 26 – Feb 2 — Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Valday, Russia: International Workshop on Prospects of Particle Physics: Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics.
TUESDAY
Jan 28 — 28th Challenger STS-51L Observation, Nationwide USA: Educational and ceremonial events held worldwide to advance space technology / education and honor 7 crew members killed in shuttle accident: Commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Astronaut Christa McAuliffe (the 1st ‘Teacher in Space’), Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis, Mission Specialists Ellison S. Onizuka (the 1st Asian American Astronaut), Judith A. Resnick and Ronald E. McNair.
Jan 28 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: SETI Talks: How to search for life in the solar system; presented by Alfonso Davila of SETI, 12:00 PST.
Jan 28 — Moon: 2.2° S of Venus, 17:00.
Jan 28 — Asteroid 2012 BX34: Near-Earth flyby (0.025 AU).
WEDNESDAY
Jan 29-30 — Fisher Institute for Air & Space Strategic Studies, Israel Space Agency, Israel Ministry of Science, Technology & Space, Herzliya, Israel: 9th Ilan Ramon Annual International Space Conference.
Jan 29 — Moon: At perigee (distance 356,712 km), 13:52.
THURSDAY
Jan 30 — Cassini OTM-370, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #370 today.
Jan 30 — Moon: New Moon, 11:39.
FRIDAY
Jan 31 — ISS, LEO: In-Flight Event with Space.com; live coverage available, 13:50 UT.
Jan 31 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: LPI Seminar Series: Provenance of Lunar Meteorites from Samples and Spectroscopy; presented by Peter Isaacson from Hawai`i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology.
Jan 31 — Space Center Houston, Houston TX: Lunch with an Astronaut, Clay Anderson; US$49.95 adult.
Jan 31 – Feb 5 — American Astronautical Society – Rocky Mountain Section, Breckenridge CO: 37th Annual Guidance and Control Conference; at Beaver Run Resort.
Jan 31 — China Lunar New Year, Worldwide: China Lunar New Year 2013 Spring Festival marks the Year of the Horse.
Jan 31 — Moon: 3.9° NNW of Mercury, 19:00.
Jan 31 — Asteroid 2008 CM20: Near-Earth flyby (0.086 AU).
SATURDAY
NET Feb — Virgin Galactic, Mojave CA: Planning to conduct first 100-km altitude test flight of SpaceShipTwo this month.
NET Feb — JAXA, Launch H-2A / ASTRO-H, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: JAXA ASTRO-H, an X-ray telescope made in collaboration with Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency and NASA to launch to LEO.
NET Feb — Boeing Co., Chicago IL: Developing CST-100 7-person spacecraft for NASA CCiCap, Pilot-in-the-loop Demo to occur this month.
NET Feb — Sierra Nevada Corp., Louisville CO: Developing 7-person Dream Chaser suborbital / orbital vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane for NASA CCiCap, Wind Tunnel Testing to occur this month.
Feb 1 — Deep Space: Dawn spacecraft scheduled to arrive at Ceres about 1 year from today; will study dwarf planet with camera, infrared mapping spectrometer, gamma ray & neutron spectrometer.
Feb 1 — 11th Columbia STS-107 Observation, Nationwide USA / Global: Annual international conferences and events take place to further space exploration efforts in remembrance of Columbia 7 loss: Commander Richard D. Husband, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (the ‘1st Israeli astronaut’), Astronauts William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla (the ‘1st Indian American astronaut’ and ‘1st Indian woman in space’).
Feb 1 — Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, Huntsville AL: Safety and Mission Assurance Contract Extension goes to Bastion Technologies Inc. of Houston TX to continue providing support services to Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate at MSFC.
Feb 1 — Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station, Mauna Kea HI: The Universe Tonight: Thirty Meter Telescope; at 2,800-meter altitude on Mauna Kea, 18:00 HST.
Feb 1 – Dec 31 — Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), Multiple Locations: Cycle 2 of science flights to observe universe consists of 47 science flights grouped into multi-week observing campaigns totaling about 350 research flight hours.
SUNDAY
Feb 2 — Cassini, Saturn Orbit: Titan flyby scheduled at 1,236-km altitude.
Feb 2 — The Space Show, Online / Tiburon CA: Host Dr. David Livingston talks with Dr. Armen Papazian, Executive Director of International Space Development HUB (ISDHub).
Feb 2 — The Arts Catalyst, London, United Kingdom: Last Day: Republic of the Moon exhibit; featuring artwork, performances, workshops, music, talks, playful protests against lunar exploitation; at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf.
Feb 2-6 — American Meteorological Society, Atlanta GA: 94th AMS Annual Meeting: Extreme Weather – Climate and the Built Environment: New Perspectives Opportunities, and Tools.