Space Calendar -- Space Age Publishing Company

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Vol 28, No 13

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'100 Hours of Astronomy' To Celebrate Galileo, Bring Astronomy To New Audience

100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA) is a Cornerstone Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. The event will take place round-the-clock, round-the-globe on Apr 2-5, while the Moon is in first quarter to gibbous phases, allowing for good early evening observations. The program opens with a VIP event at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia PA, featuring one of the telescopes used by Galileo 400 years ago and a lecture by Paolo Galluzzi (CL), Director of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Italy. A webcast of science centers from around the world, also on Apr 2, will focus on space observation throughout history. From Apr 3-4, a unique 24-hour webcast called 'Around the World in 80 Telescopes' will take viewers inside the domes and control rooms of some of the most advanced telescopes on and off the planet. The webcast will begin with telescopes on Mauna Kea HI, USA, before moving westwards around the globe. Apr 4 will be a 24-hour Global Star Party, as astronomy clubs in over 100 countries will provide telescopes for public viewing. The last day of 100HA will highlight and celebrate the Sun with various solar observing activities organized by the Solar Physics Task Group. A concurrent program, 100HA Junior, is assisting teachers, parents and astrophysicists to network with and provide one-on-one astronomy lessons and demonstrations to interested students. (Credit: IYA2009, The Franklin)

Space Entrepreneurs In Arizona For 17th Space Access Conference

The Space Access Society is holding its 17th annual conference on radically cheaper access to space this week on April 2-4 in Phoenix AZ. The event brings together NewSpace leaders with regulatory and space tourism experts, with an intensive single-track schedule that encourages participants to conduct one-on-one meetings. Among featured speakers at this year's conference is John Carmack (TL) of Armadillo Aerospace, which recently released concept images (BL) of a personal suborbital vehicle it hopes to fly commercially from New Mexico's Spaceport America in 2010. Also represented will be Rocketplane Global (CR), Unreasonable Rocket (BR), XCOR Aerospace, Garvey Spacecraft, Masten Space and several other start-up space ventures. Presentations will cover upcoming personal spaceflight competitions such as the X Prize Cup / Lunar Lander Challenge, the Space Elevator Games, the Lunar X Prize, and NASA's Centennial Challenges Program. James van Laak and Michelle Murray of the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation (TR) will be in attendance, as well as professionals on space law, space debris, space business loans and space media. Commercial suborbital spaceflight opportunities in the near future will be discussed, as well as emerging technologies such as the space elevator. Additionally, Misuzu Onuki (TC) will provide a status update of Japan space venture companies. (Credit: SAS, Armadillo, RpK, Unreasonable Rocket, FAA)

THIS WEEK

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

LEGEND

	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 – Morning Planets: Venus (E), Mars (ESE), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (S) / Evening Planets: Saturn (ESE).

MONDAY

	Mar 30 — International Space Station, LEO: Expedition 18 and 19 crews, along with spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, aboard ISS this week until E18 departure in their Soyuz TMA-13 on April 7; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html.
	Mar 30 — NASA, Washington DC: Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle full-size mockup at the National Mall for public viewing; http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/mar/HQ_M09048_Orion_Mockup.html.
	Mar 30-31 — National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC: 'Summit on America's Climate Choices;' http://americasclimatechoices.org./summit.shtml.
	Mar 30-Apr 1 — Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore MD: 'Observational Signatures of Black Hole Mergers;' http://www.stsci.edu/institute/conference/blackholemergers.
	Mar 30-Apr 1 — ESA , IEEE EMC Italian Chapter, Florence, Italy: 'ESA Workshop on Aerospace EMC;' http://www.congrex.nl/09c03/.
	Mar 30-Apr 2 — Space Foundation, Colorado Springs CO: '25th National Space Symposium;' http://www.nationalspacesymposium.org/.
	Mar 30-Apr 2 — ESA / ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany: '5th European Conference on Space Debris;' http://www.congrex.nl/09a03/.
	Mar 30 — Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Red Planet: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter the most powerful camera to ever orbit another planet releases hundreds of new red-cyan anaglyph images of Mars; http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16852-zooming-in-on-mars-in-glorious-3d.html.
	Mar 30 — Moon: 0.65° N of Center of Pleiades; 04:00.
	Mar 30 — Moon: 9.7° N of Aldebaran; 21:00.
	Mar 30 — Asteroid 2008 SV11: Near-Earth Flyby; (0.036 AU).
*Continued from . . .*
	Mar 9 — NASA Headquarters, Washington DC: 'NASA 2009 Mission Madness Tournament'; online game, fans vote for favorite NASA space mission, winner to be determined on Apr 8; http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/missionmadness/index.html.
	Mar 23 — United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Vienna, Austria: '48th UN COPUOS Legal Subcommittee Meeting;' through Apr 3; http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/meetings.html.

TUESDAY

	Mar 31 — ESA Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems, Moscow, Russia: ''Mars 500' 6-member crew begins 150-day simulated trip to Mars; http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMS3LBDNRF_index_0.html.
	Mar 31 — Lamar University, Beaumont TX: Apollo 17 Moonwalker Harrison Schmitt will talk with students as part of the University's Academic Lecture Series; http://www.lamar.edu/newsevents/news/207_7296.htm.

WEDNESDAY

	Apr 1 — International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston TX: E18 and E19 crews, both aboard ISS to hold a news conference about their upcoming change of command, 09:10 CDT; http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/mar/HQ_M09049_SpaceStation_Crew_Briefing.html.
	Apr 1-2 — NATO Research and Technology Organization, Mountain View CA: SCI-209 Lecture Series on 'Small Satellite Formations For Distributed Surveillance: System Design and Optimal Control Considerations;' http://www.rta.nato.int/Detail.asp?ID=3196.
	Apr 1-3 — University of California Irvine Center for Cosmology, Irvine CA: '5th UC Irvine Center for Cosmology Workshop: Intermediate-Mass Black Holes: from First Light to Galactic Nuclei;' http://physics.uci.edu/IMBH/index.html.
	Apr 1-3 — European Space Agency, Stuttgart, Germany: '6th European WS on Thermal Protection Systems & Hot Structures;' http://www.congrex.nl/09c09/.
	Apr 1-4 — Charterhouse School, UKSEDS, et al., Godalming Surrey, UK: 'UK Space Conference 2009;' http://www.ukspaceconference.org/.
	Apr 1 — Cassini OTM-186, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #186 today; http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/.
	Apr 2 — Moon: at Perigee (Distance 58.01 earth-radii); 16:00.

THURSDAY

	Apr 2 — Space Foundation, Colorado Springs CO: 'Space Career Fair,' held in conjunction with '25th National Space Symposium;' http://www.spacecareerfair.org/.
	Apr 2 — Space Foundation, Colorado Springs CO: 'Space Technology Hall of Fame Dinner;' featuring Bill Nye the Science Guy, held in conjunction with '25th National Space Symposium;' http://newsletters.spacefoundation.org/spacewatch/articles/id/138.
	Apr 2 — Technology Training Corporation, Las Vegas NV: 'Space-Based Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance: Payloads, Programs, and Acquisitions Requirements;' http://www.asdevents.com/event.asp?ID=507.
	Apr 2-4 — Space Access Society, Phoenix AZ: '17th Annual Space Access Conference;' http://www.space-access.org/.
	Apr 2-4 — NASA Ames Research Center, Conrad Foundation, Moffett Field CA: 'Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Generation Summit;' http://www.conradawards.org/innovation_summit.htm.
	Apr 2-4 — National Afterschool Association, New Orleans LA: 'National Afterschool Association 2009 Annual Conference,' Featuring NASA representatives; http://www.naaconvention.org/.
	Apr 2-4 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Mainz, Germany: 'Conference on Micro-Raman Spectroscopy and Luminescence Studies in the Earth and Planetary Sciences (Spectroscopy 2009);' http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/spectroscopy2009/.
	Apr 2-5 — International Year of Astronomy, Worldwide: '100 Hours of Astronomy: An Event 400 Years in the Making;' http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/.
	Apr 2 — Moon: First Quarter; 04:33.
	Apr 2 — Moon: 5.5° SSW of Pollux; 21:00.
	Apr 2 — Asteroid 2009 FX10: Near-Earth Flyby; (0.037 AU).

FRIDAY

	Apr 3 — Launch Proton / W2A, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: International Launch Services Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage will deploy the W2A telecommunications spacecraft for Eutelsat; 06:24; http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html.
	Apr 3 — VU University Amsterdam, Planetary Society, Amsterdam, Netherlands: 'Space 2.0: Interplanetary Economics – Resources from Space;' http://www.ruimtevaart-nvr.nl/php/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=268.
	Apr 3-4 — NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville AL: '16th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race;' http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov/.
	Apr 3-4 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Norfolk VA: '2009 Region I-MA Student Conference;' http://region1ma.aiaastudentconference.org/control/content/page/info.
	Apr 3-5 — NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA: 'CONTACT 2009;' http://www.contact-conference.org/2009/2009index.htm.
	Apr 3 — Moon: 1.4° SSW of Beehive Cluster; 22:00.

SATURDAY

	Apr 4 — NASA, Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge MA: 'Kepler Workshop: A Search for Habitable Planets;' http://kepler.nasa.gov/ed/workshops.html#20090404.
	Apr 4-Sep 7 — The Franklin Institute, Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Philadelphia PA: 'Galileo, the Medici and The Age of Astronomy' Exhibit; http://www2.fi.edu/exhibits/traveling/galileo/index.php.
	Apr 4 — Cassini Titan Flyby, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts flyby of Saturn moon Titan (altitude = 4,150 km); http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturntourdates/.
	Apr 4 — Asteroid 2009 FS4: Near-Earth Flyby; (0.035 AU).

SUNDAY

Apr 5 — Moon: 2.4° SSW of Regulus; 13:00.

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Space Calendar Published Weekly, Mondays. ISSN 0741-1731. All Rights Reserved. Copyright Mar 30, 2009, Space Age Publishing Company, 65-1230 Mamalahoa Highway - Suite D-20, Kamuela, Hawaii 96743; 480 California Avenue - Suite 303, Palo Alto, California 94306, USA. Editor & Publisher, ILOA Director / Steve Durst. Associate Editor, ILOA Executive Director / Charles Bohannan. Managing Editor / Jason Ventura. Assistant Editor / Joseph Sulla. Marketing Editor / Michelle Gonella. Special Contributors: Hawaii Aloha. Australia / Kirby Ikin. Canada / Robert Richards. China, Asia / Patricia Yu, Chen Kan Arth. Europe-Russia / Theo Pirard. India, South Asia / Radhakrishna Rao, USA, Bill Carswell. www.spaceagepub.com, news@spaceagepub.com.