International Polar Year, IYPE Present Geosciences World Congress In Oslo, Norway

The 'Geosciences World Congress' will take place on Aug 6-14 in Oslo, Norway. The primary theme of the Congress is 'The Year of Earth Sciences,' including the International Polar Year (IPY) and International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), both running from 2007-2009. The conference will also feature the '33rd International Geological Congress,' which includes a session on Planetary Science: 'Earth and Beyond: A Cosmic Perspective.' The session will discuss Earth-like planets, the evolution of asteroids and comets, volcanism, impact craters on Earth and other planets, and the prospects of water on Mars with Maria Zuber of MIT. IPY and IYPE are organized by the United Nations and UNESCO, and are intended to raise awareness about Earth and its role in the Solar System through increased research of Earth's North (TR) and South (TL) Poles, including as analogs to the polar regions of the Moon (BR), Mars (BL) and other planets. As a member state of the European Space Agency, Norway has developed its space industry, including satellite monitoring, navigation, and solar and aurora research. The country's high latitude is a major asset when it comes to launching rockets into polar orbit, and the Andoya Rocket Range in the northern Vesteralen archipelago is a popular site to launch weather satellites and research balloons for domestic, international and commercial uses. (Credit: Google Earth, NASA, IPY, UN, IGC)

Commercial Spaceflight Industry Looks Forward After Oshkosh

The '2008 Oshkosh AirVenture' featured 2 NewSpace debuts, as well as interesting discussions from NASA Administrator Mike Griffin (BL) and space entrepreneur Burt Rutan (CL) on the government-private sector interaction as it pertains to the future of commercial spaceflight. At Oshkosh, Rutan and Richard Branson presented WhiteKnightTwo, which will carry SpaceShipTwo (SS2) on suborbital space tourism flights beginning in the next couple of years. The duo also promised that AirVenture 2009 would be the first commercial stop for SS2 (BR), creating 6 new private astronauts in the process. The Rocket Racing League also made its debut at last week's air show, showcasing a demonstration of the X-Racer (T) from former US Navy pilot Jim Bridenstine's team. The rocket-powered aircraft races are scheduled to hold their first competition at AirVenture 2009 following demonstrations in Reno NV on Sep 10-14, Las Cruces NM in Oct, and Las Vegas NV on Nov 8-9. Griffin repeated his claim that NASA will support the NewSpace industry once commercial human spaceflight services are available. This includes NASA sponsoring scientific payloads aboard suborbital spacecraft, using the Ares rockets for commercial use, and the COTS program. SpaceX is due to make its 3rd launch attempt from Kwajalein between Aug 1-5, with the goal of reducing or eliminating the projected gap between the Shuttle retirement and the beginning of Orion operations. One overriding theme during the event from both government and private is the necessity for space travel – cited from physicist Stephen Hawking – being about the survival of the human race as a multi-world species. (Credit: RRL)