March 23-29, 2015 / Vol 34, No 12 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Launch Expedition 43/44 Crew, Kelly and Kornienko to Begin 1-Year Mission on ISS

International Space Station Expedition 43/44 Gennady Padalka (RSA), Mikhail Kornienko (RSA) and Scott Kelly (NASA) prepare for their launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on March 27 on Soyuz TMA-16M. They will join Commander Terry Virts of NASA, Anton Shkaplerov of RSA and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA. Kornienko and Kelly are scheduled to remain in Space until Mar 2016, which will set them near the 3rd place record for longest continuous spaceflight currently held by Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov of the Soviet Union at 365 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes; 1st place record is Valeri Polyakov of RSA at 437 days, 17 hours, 58 minutes.  Key studies of the 1-year mission are functionality tests, behavioral health, visual impairment, metabolic activities, physical performance, microbial changes and “human factors” (fine motor performance, ISS habitability, training retention). The ‘Twins Study’ is composed of 10 separate investigations to be conducted with identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly (who will remain on Earth). The six-member Expedition 43 crew is planned to facilitate the capture and berthing of SpaceX Dragon CRS-6, and the arrival of Progress 59P. During their extended stay Kelly and Kornienko will be part of Expeditions 43-46 and are scheduled to help with four Dragon CRS (7-10) crafts, Cygnus Orb 4, JAXA HTV-5, three Progress ships (60-62P), the Sarah Brightman ISS tourist mission, as well as at least 2 EVAs. (Image Credit: NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA)

MONDAY

Mar 23 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 43 ready to welcome 3 crew members on Mar 27, conducting experiments / investigations on cognition, ISS airway monitoring, food acceptability (Astro Palate), biochemical profile, biological markers of oxidative & inflammatory stress (Cardio Ox), neuromapping, microbiomes.

Mar 23 — Tiangong-1, LEO: China first space station, 10.4 meters long with main diameter of 3.35 meters, testing technologies for Tiangong-2 & -3, and additional Space Station to be completed by 2020 to establish permanent human presence in LEO.

 Mar 23 — MAVEN, Mars Orbit: Monitoring unexpected high-altitude (150-300 km) dust cloud of unknown source & composition, observing solar activities, mapping ozone layer in lower atmosphere.

 Mar 23 — New Horizons, Pluto Trajectory: In spin mode (an efficient mode for sending data to Earth) until April 4, spacecraft is now ~4.8B km from Earth & ~140M km from Pluto.

Mar 23 — Flexure Engineering, Seattle WA: NewSpace company hosting 5th Lunar Surface Applications Workshop Apr 14-17 featuring Astronaut Cady Coleman, Moon Express, Astrobotic, Masten, Part-Time Scientists, Interorbital Systems.

 Mar 23 — Clyde Space Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland: In a partnership with UK Space Agency, will develop 3 smallsats for £1M (~US$1.47M) for Outernet Inc. of New York; also working on Picasso CubeSat for ESA & a platform for the National University of Singapore.

 Mar 23 — Dhruva Space, Bengaluru, India: Developing ~30-kg technology demonstrator satellite & satellite for India branch of Amateur Radio Operators, global non-profit that promotes the launch of radio satellites.

Mar 23 — Secure World Foundation, Washington DC: International Law and Military Activities in Space; at George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs.

Mar 23 — Cornell University, Ithaca NY:  Lecture: The General Circulation of Pluto; presented by Peter Gierasch.

Mar 23 — Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Lowell Observatory, NRAO, University of Arizona, Oracle AZ: Star and Planet Formation in the Southwest.

Secure World Foundation Panel Discussion at George Washington University

The Secure World Foundation and the George Washington Military Law Society host a luncheon panel discussion from 12:00-14:00 on Monday, March 23, 2015 at the GWU Campus in Washington DC. SWF works with governments, industry, international organizations and civil society to develop and promote ideas and actions for international collaboration that achieve the secure, sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space. This panel discussion focuses on the relationship between international law and military activities in space. The panel is moderated by Brian Weeden, Technical Advisor at SWF and the speakers are: Wing Commander Duncan Blake, Royal Australian Air Force; Gary Brown, Head of Communications, Washington Delegation, International Committee of the Red Cross; Cassandra Steer, Executive Director, Centre of Research in Air and Space Law, McGill University; Peter Hays, Adjunct Professor, George Washington University. SWF is based in Broomfield CO, USA and also maintains an office in Washington, DC. It is lead by Executive Director Dr. Michael Simpson, who is a prominent figure in the space community as former President of the International Space University among other roles. In addition to Space Sustainability, Space Law and Policy, and Human and Environmental Security, SWF is intensely focused on Planetary Defense from the threat of NEOs and asteroids. (Image Credit: SWF, GWU, NASA)

Mar 23-24 — AIAA, Aerospace States Association (ASA), Sacramento CA: 4th Annual California Aerospace Week: Innovation Ignited.

Mar 23-27 — European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile: Workshop: Dissecting Galaxies Near and Far.

Mar 23 — Asteroid 2015 EF7: Near-Earth flyby (0.016 AU).

Mar 23 — Asteroid 2015 FM: Near-Earth flyby (0.040 AU).

Continued from…

Oct 16, 2014 – Jun 11 — NASA, University of Hawai`i, Mauna Loa HI: Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission 3.