Solar System Focus with Humans to Mars Summit 2020, Outer Planets and Venus-Akatsuki Meetings

Explore Mars Inc. hosts the 2020 H2M Summit online August 31 to September 3. Over the 4 days, there will be 85+ speakers including (TL-BR) Janet Ivey (Explore Mars), Kathy Lueders (NASA), Mary Lynne Dittmar (Coalition for Deep Space Exploration), Pam Melroy (Astronaut), Shawna Pandya (Physician), Leland Melvin (Astronaut), Masaki Fujimoto (JAXA), Lori Glaze (NASA), Ellen Stofan (National Air and Space Museum), Clive Neal (University of Notre Dame), Alan Stern (SwRI), Marcia Smith (Space Policy Online), Sian Proctor (Professor) and Congresswoman Kendra Horn. Talks will feature Moon in 2024 / Mars in 2033, Leadership Perspectives on Diversity and Inclusion, Lessons from COVID-19 – And How to Apply to Mars Exploration, Surface Power on the Moon and Mars, and technical aspects of ISRU, City Design, Sustainability, and Entry, Descent and Landing. Also occurring Aug 31-Sep 3, the Venus Science mini-Zoom Conference is being held by NASA Goddard and the JAXA Akatsuki science team, sharing data on Venus atmosphere, exosphere, climate, surface, volcanism and mantel dynamics. The NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group is meeting Sep 1-3 to discuss Planetary Science Division updates, missions to Europa, Saturn + Enceladus, Neptune + Triton, Pluto + Kuiper Belt, and Solar System Telescope Concepts. Some of the >25 experts at the meeting include Jeff Moore (NASA ARC) & Linda Spilker (JPL), Scott Bolton (SwRI) and Louise Prockter (JHU). (Image Credits: Explore Mars, NASA, SwRI, JPL, JAXA, UAESA, ESA, CNSA, et al)

MONDAY

ASE Working To Bring Off-World ‘Overview’ Consciousness To Earth-Bound Population

With 4 chapters in USA, Russia, Europe and Asia, each with respective Boards of Directors governed by an International Executive Committee, Association of Space Explorers represents a broad coalition of those who have traveled past the 100-km high Kármán line. As of April, 566 individuals have crossed the threshold into outer space – 444 from 38 countries are represented by ASE. President Oleg Kotov is supported by regional leaders Stephen Oswald in USA, Alexander Alexandrov in Russia, Reinhold Ewald in Germany and Soichi Noguchi in Japan. Typically, ASE motto ‘Delivering The Astronaut Perspective’ is embodied by ASE Planetary Congress, the world’s largest gathering of space travelers – 2020 was to see the 33rd in the series, but has been reset to fall of 2021 due to the ongoing global medical crisis. Planetary Congress XXXIII will be held in Budapest, Hungary, hosted by Cosmonaut Bertalan Farkas. Farkas conducted material science on Salyut 6 station for nearly 8 days in 1980, making Hungary the 7th nation to have sent citizens to outer space. A pillar of ASE is STEM education, furthered by programs such as AstroSat Challenge, Blast Off with an Astronaut, Space Station Explorers and AstroSchool, and by a variety of scholarship and research opportunities offered in association with International Space University. Planetary Stewardship is also a priority for the organization, with standing committees on NEO detection, orbital debris and space traffic management. (Image Credits: ASE, Bertalan Farkas, NASA, Wikipedia)

Aug 31 — ESA, Online / Noordwijk, The Netherlands: Due: Applications for ESA Director General Position; ESA council to accept applications until this date for successor of Johann-Dietrich Wörner who will exit ESA June 2021.

Aug 31 — Brazilian Space Agency (Agência Espacial Brasileira / AEB), Online / Brasilia, Brazil: Initial license applications due from international launch providers interested in utilizing Alcantara Spaceport, Brazil.

Aug 31 — Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Online /  Tucson AZ: Last Day to enter submission for Art of Planetary Science 2020: A Virtual Odyssey.

Aug 31 – Sep 3 — Explore Mars Inc., Online / Washington DC: Humans to Mars Summit 2020; largest annual conference dedicated to goal of sustainable human presence on Mars starting NLT early 2030s.

Aug 31 – Sep 3 — NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Akatsuki Science Team, Online: Venus Science Today 2020: A mini-Zoom conference.

Aug 31 — Venus: 8.6° S of Pollux, 11:00.

Continued From…

Nov 2019 – Nov 2020 — Hayabusa2, Earth Trajectory: JAXA Hayabusa2 with two samples collected from C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu on trajectory for Earth return.

Jul 29 – Oct 31 — CNSA, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Online / Beijing, China: Students to submit ideas for payloads for Chang’e-7 lunar south pole craft, and ZhengHe mission that will return samples from Asteroid 2016HO3 and visit Comet 133P.

Aug 30 – Sep 3 — Astra Space, Launch Astra Rocket 3.1 / “2 of 3”, Pacific Spaceport Complex, Kodiak Island AK: Astra Space second attempt to launch Rocket 3 to LEO during this window.

TUESDAY

NET Sep — Association of Space Explorers, Budapest, Hungary: 33rd Planetary Congress of the ASE; reset to 2021.

Sep 1 — Arianespace, Launch Vega / SSMS POC, Kourou, French Guiana: Vega rocket, designated VV16, to launch Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept mission with ~50 satellites for commercial and institutional customers; launch at 21:51:10 EDT.