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Vol 28, No 37
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Europe Planetary Science / Space Policy Advancement Featured at Events

Planetary science / missions and space policy will be the focus of 2 international conferences in Europe this week. On September 13-18, The European Planetary Network will hold its annual European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) in Potsdam Germany. A platform where the planetary science community can exchange ideas and network, EPSC will be interactive with a mix of talks, workshops, panels and posters. Program groups will cover the full scope of planetary science, including topics on terrestrial planets, giant planet systems, missions and techniques, small bodies and planetary moons and laboratory and field investigations. Russia Scientists Lev Zelenyi (T) and Maxim Martynov will present mission concepts and science goals of the Europa lunar lander and Noriyuki Namiki of JAXA will discuss global topography and gravity of the Moon observed by Kaguya. On Sep 16-17, the 3rd European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) Autumn Conference will be held in Vienna, Austria. Experts on space policy research in Europe along with members of the European Space Policy Research and Academic Network will converge to review space policy issues and challenges. Walter Peeters (B) of the International Space University will present his discussion on ‘Space Commerce in Europe in Time of Economic and Financial Crisis.’ Other topics include space as a strategic policy area and new security-related satellite missions in Europe. (Credit: NASA / JPL, EPN, ESPI, ISU, esf.org, ufn.ru)

Mars Events Look At Future Robotic / Human Exploration

2 rovers and 3 orbiters are currently operating on Mars, and some experts, including the Augustine Commission, see it as the major destination for human exploration. 3 events this month focus on preparing for the next steps of Mars exploration. NASA Ames is hosting a Workshop on Sep 15-17 focusing on the global behavior of dust in the Martian atmosphere. The goal of the workshop is to synthesize results of observers, modelers and experimentalists to gain a better understanding of the processes responsible for lifting, transport and removal of dust in the atmosphere. Sep 15 is also the application deadline for the 9th season of field operations at the Mars Desert Research Station, which will take place from Nov 14-Apr 18, 2010. Initiated by the Mars Society, the project aims to develop key knowledge for human Mars exploration, and to inspire the public by making sensuous the vision of human exploration of the red planet. On September 9-11, Mars scientists from the USA and around the world gathered at the Faculty Club on ASU's Tempe Campus for a meeting of the Mars Panel for the Decadal Survey. Chaired by ASU professor Philip Christensen, the panel is developing proposals for USA goals and priorities for exploring the red planet in the 2013-2022 timeframe. Their final report is due in March 2011. (Credit: NASA, Mars Society, ASU)
THIS WEEK
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
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 (E) / Evening Planets: Jupiter (SE).
 

MONDAY
Sep 14 — 1% for NASA Ensures USA Multi World Civilization, Nationwide / Washington DC: Boldness, Vision of a Jefferson or JFK for the New 2010 Decade; http://www.spaceagepub.com/calendar/SCarchive/SC-20090831.html.
Sep 14 — International Space Station, LEO: E20 Crew conducting routine maintenance and scientific experiments while awaiting arrival of Japan HTV cargo ship set to rendezvous with ISS on Sep 17; http://spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv1/090902missiontimeline.html.
Sep 14 — NASA Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, Lunar Orbit: LCROSS mission team chooses Cabeus A to be target Moon crater for spacecraft impact scheduled for 07:30 EDT on Oct 9; http://twitter.com/LCROSS_NASA/statuses/3915331893.
Sep 14 — India Chandrayaan-1 Lunar Orbiter, Lunar Orbit: ISRO scientists speculate failure of bus management unit that performs vital control functions most likely led to premature end of the spacecraft; http://www.ptinews.com/news/.
Sep 14 — International Lunar Observatory Association, Hawai`i Island HI / Global: ILOA preparing to open membership campaign for institutions / individuals to observe, communicate from the Moon; http://www.iloa.org/.
Sep 14 — Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Red Planet: NASA MRO to be kept in safe mode, suspending science observations for several weeks while engineers investigate what is plaguing the spacecraft; http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/.
Sep 14-16 — US Arctic Research Commission (USARC), Kotzebue AK: '90th USARC Meeting;' http://www.arctic.gov/.
Sep 14-17 — American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics, Pasadena CA: 'AIAA Space 2009 Conference and Expo,' NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver / 'Education Alley,' NASA Astronaut / Mountaineer Scott Parazynski on Sep 15-17; http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=1.
Sep 14-18 — Brazilian Society of Physics, Passa Quatro, MG, Brazil: '30th National Meeting on Physics of Particles and Fields;' http://www.sbfisica.org.br/~enfpc/.
Sep 14-18 — Fabra Observatory, et al, Barcelona, Spain: 'Pathways Towards Habitable Planets;' http://www.pathways2009.net/pdf/pathways_poster.pdf.
Sep 14-18 — University of Athens, Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics of the Academy of Athens, et al, Crete, Greece: '1st Mediterranean Conference on Classical and Quantum Gravity;' http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/mccqg/.

Sep 14-18 — Italian Ministry of University and Research, National Institute of Astrophysics, et al, San Servolo Island, Venice, Italy: 'The Shocking Universe: Gamma-Ray Bursts Science in the Agile, Glast and Swift Era;' http://www.brera.inaf.it/.
Sep 14-18 — The European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva, Switzerland: 'Particle Cosmology;' http://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=47189.
Sep 14-18 — The Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, The Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and High Energy, et al, Paris, France: '1st Paris-Berkeley Dark Energy Cosmology Workshop;' http://darkenergy09.in2p3.fr/.
Sep 14-18 — Russian Academy of Sciences Institution, Russian Foundation for Basic Research, et al, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Russia: 'The International Conferences: Nearby Dwarf Galaxies;' http://w0.sao.ru/hq/katya/NDG/index.html.
Sep 14-19 — Euro Space Society, Brussels; Mechelen; Liege, Belgium: 'Space Week 2009;' http://www.spaceweek2009.com/default-fr.aspx.
Sep 14-19 — National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Perugia, Italy: '22nd International Workshop on Weak Interactions and Neutrinos (WIN 09);' http://win09.lngs.infn.it/.
Sep 14-19 — University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland: 'Grassmanian Conference in Fundamental Cosmology;' http://cosmo.fiz.univ.szczecin.pl/?q=en/node/67.
Sep 14-19 — Initiative for an International Association of Dark-sky Parks, Lastovo Island, Croatia: '2nd Symposium for Dark-sky Parks and 2nd Dark-sky Camp;' http://www.darkskyparks.org/index.php/about-us.html.
Sep 14 — Moon: 6.2° SSW of Pollux; 01:00.
Continued from . . .
Jul 1 — NASA, X PRIZE Foundation, Open location USA: 'Lunar Lander Challenge Competition;' through October 31; http://space.xprize.org/.
Aug 28 — NASA, Hillsboro; Portland; Ashland OR: NASA interactive exploration exhibit to tour Oregon State; Aug 28-30 in Hillsboro, Sep 14-15 in Portland and Sep 18-20 in Ashland; through Sep 20; http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/outreach/outreach_OR_State.html.
Sep 9 — NASA, Humboldt; Omaha; Lincoln; Aurora NE: NASA interactive 'Driven to Explore' mobile exhibit to tour Nebraska State; Sep 9-10 in Humboldt, Sep 12 in Omaha, Sep 15-16 in Lincoln and Sep 18-19 in Aurora; through Sep 19; http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2009/JO09-026.html.
Sep 12 — Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Millbrae CA: 'Science Education and Outreach: Forging a Path to the Future;' through Sep 16; http://www.astrosociety.org/events/meeting.html.
Sep 13 — European Planetary Network, European Geosciences Union, Potsdam, Germany: 'European Planetary Science Congress 2009;' through Sep 18; http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2009/.
TUESDAY
Sep 15 — Launch Soyuz / Meteor M1, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Launch of the Meteor M1 weather satellite and an assortment of smaller payloads for international organizations; http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html.
Sep 15 — NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LRO, Lunar Orbit: LRO to end commissioning phase, transitioning into 50 km nominal mission orbit; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html.
Sep 15 — Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington DC: 'Options and Issues for NASA's Human Space Flight Program: Report of the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee;' http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?newsid=2590.
Sep 15 — The Mars Society, Online: Application deadline for 9th season of field operations at the Mars Desert Research Station taking place on November 14 - April 18, 2010;' http://desert.marssociety.org/fs09/apply.asp.
Sep 15 — NASA Ames Research Center, Wallops Island VA: News conference where White House federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra will outline vision for a new federal government cloud computing at 10:00 PDT; http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2009/M09-116.html.
Sep 15 — NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island VA: Night time artificial cloud study using NASA 4-stage Black Brant XII sounding rocket; http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast/.
Sep 15 — NASA, Flagstaff AZ: Annual 'Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS)' media day for journalists which include lunar rover and Tri-ATHLETE demonstrations and interview opportunities with engineers, scientists and astronauts;' http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/sep/HQ_M09-167_Desert_RATS_Invite.html.
Sep 15-17 — National Center for Spatial Studies, ESA, et al, Toulouse, France: '11th European Conference on Spacecraft Structures, Materials and Mechanical Testing;' http://www.ecssmmt.com/accueil.html.
Sep 15-17 — NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA: 'Mars Dust Cycle Workshop;' http://humbabe.arc.nasa.gov/MarsDustWorkshop/DustHome.html.
Sep 15-18 — National Center for Spatial Studies, ESA, et al, Aix en Provence, France: '11th International Symposium on Materials in Space Environment;' http://www.ismse11.com/accueil.html.
Sep 15-18 — HughesNet, iDirect, et al, London, United Kingdom: 'The COMSYS VSAT2009 Conference;' http://www.comsys.co.uk/vc09_mn.htm.
Sep 15 — Moon: 1.4° SSW of Vesta, 00:00; SSW of center of Beehive cluster, 01:00; At Perigee (Distance 57.08 earth-radii), 22:00.
WEDNESDAY
Sep 16 — SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium Series, 'HST Imaging of Fomalhaut: Direct Detection of an Exosolar Planet and Kuiper Belt around a Nearby Star' by Paul Kalas; http://archive.seti.org/pdfs/csc-Sept16.pdf.
Sep 16 — Royal Irish Academy, Irish Light Pollution Awareness Campaign, et al, Dublin, Ireland: 'What is Light?' Leo Enright; http://www.ria.ie/mailings/Dark%20Skies%20lecture/web%20flier.pdf.
Sep 16 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: 'Human Dependability Workshop 2009; http://www.congrex.nl/09m17/.
Sep 16 — British Interplanetary Society, London, United Kingdom: 'Designing a Spacecraft to Observe Climate Change' Jessica Housden; http://www.bis-spaceflight.com/sitesia.aspx/page/196/id/2067/l/en-us.
Sep 16-17 — European Space Policy Institute, Vienna, Austria: '3rd ESPI Autumn Conference;' http://www.espi.or.at/images/stories/dokumente/Conference2009/3rd%20autumn%20conference.pdf.
Sep 16-17 — The University of Sydney, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, Canberra, Australia: 'Science with SKAMP Workshop: Widefield Spectroscopy of the Southern Radio Sky;' http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/sifa/Main/ScienceWithSKAMP.
Sep 16 — Moon: 3.0° SSW of Venus, 06:00; SSW of center of Regulus, 14:00.
THURSDAY
Sep 17 — International Space Station, LEO: Japan HTV cargo ship set to rendezvous with ISS, delivering 3.5 tons of food, supplies, and experiments; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html.
Sep 17 — NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston TX: Live news coverage featuring Expedition 22 crew members, Timothy Creamer, Oleg Kotov and Soichi Noguchi at 13:00 CDT; http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/aug/HQ_M09-116_X22_briefing.html.
Sep 17 — NASA, Online: Media teleconference on recent development and ongoing progress in NASA's Constellation program at 16:00 EST; http://www.spaceref.com/calendar/calendar.html?pid=5247.
Sep 17 — W M Keck Observatory, Waimea HI: Mauna Kea Lecture Series, 'Subaru Telescope,' Masahiko Hayashi; http://keckobservatory.org/calendar.
Sep 17-18 — NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: ' The von Karman Lecture Series: Measuring Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from Space - The NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory Mission;' http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.cfm?year=2009&month=9.
Sep 17-18 — ESA, Frascati, Italy: '3rd Coastal Altimetry Workshop;' http://www.congrex.nl/09c32/.
Sep 17-24 — Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Paris, France: 'Paris: Art, Astronomy and History;' http://www.astrosociety.org/events/france.html.
Sep 17 — Asteroid (Near Earth Fly-by), 2008 EJ68 (0.027 AU); 2000 CO101 (0.046 AU).
Sep 17 — Asteroid 8299 Tealeoni; Closest Approach to Earth (1.243 AU).
FRIDAY
Sep 18 — Launch Proton / Nimiq 5, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Launch of the Proton rocket with Breeze M upper stage will deploy the Nimiq 5 spacecraft. Satellite will provide direct-to-home services across Canada; http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html.
Sep 18 — University of Houston Clear Lake, AIAA, Houston TX: 'Keys to Successful Program Management and Important Decisions in the Space Shuttle Program,' Bob Thompson; http://www.spacecenterlectureseries.com/.
Sep 18 — Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF), University Park PA: 'ASF Public Presentation and Ceremony,' Scott Carpenter; http://live.psu.edu/story/41110.
Sep 18 — Global VSAT Forum (GVF), London, United Kingdom: 'GVF Satellite Summit / VSAT 2009;' http://www.comsys.co.uk/vc09_mn.htm.
Sep 18-19 — International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Berlin, Germany: 'Planetary Mapping and Databases: Results from Current Missions;' http://www.igg.tu-berlin.de/ISPRS/workshop_6-7/.
Sep 18-19 — Department of Physics of the Universities, National Institute of Nuclear Physics, et al, Tokyo, Japan: 'Italian Autumn in Japan 2009: Seminars on Cosmic Rays from the International Space Station;' http://jiscriss.roma2.infn.it/index.php?lang=en&itemid=0.
Sep 18 — Moon: New Moon, 08:43; 6.2° SSW of Saturn, 06:00; 1.1° SSW of Mercury, 14:00.
Sep 18 — Asteroid1865 Cerberus, Closest Approach to Earth (0.617 AU).
Sep 18 — Asteroid 2009 PT2, Near Earth Fly-by (0.054 AU).
SATURDAY
Sep 19 — Zero Gravity Corporation, Las Vegas NV: Commercial weightless flight onboard G Force One at McCarran International Airport; http://www.gozerog.com/.
Sep 19 — NASA Langley Research Center, Williamsburg VA: 'NASA Exploration Day at Busch Gardens;' http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/event_nasa-expl-day.html.
Sep 19 — Aerospace Walk of Honor, Lancaster CA: Aerospace Walk of Honor plaque unveiling and honoree recognition program for James McDivitt (Gemini 4 / Apollo 9); http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/about/Dryden/events.html.
Sep 19 — Oregon Historical Modelers Society, Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, McMinnville OR: 'Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum Model Show and Contest 2009;' http://www.geocities.com/oregonshow.
Sep 19 — New Mexico Museum of Space History, Alamogordo NM: 'From Raptors to Shuttles;' http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/content.php?id=191.
SUNDAY
Sep 20 — Orange County Space Society, Irvine CA: 'Disney in Space: Walt Disney and the Future of Space Travel in the 1950's,' John Sisson; http://www.meetup.com/SoCal-Science-Cafe/calendar/11163928/.
Sep 20-23 — Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff AZ: 'Solar Analogs II;' http://www.lowell.edu/workshops/SolarAnalogsII/index.php.
Sep 20-23 — International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS), Alghero, Italy: '27th IAS Meeting of Sedimentologists;' http://www.igg.tu-berlin.de/ISPRS/workshop_6-7/.
Sep 20-25 — NASA Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral FL: 'Astronaut Encounter with Charles Walker;' http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/.
Sep 20-25 — German Physical Society, Bad Honnef, Germany: 'DPG Physics School 2009: Astroparticle Physics;' http://www-ik.fzk.de/DPG-School2009.
Sep 20-27 — Italy National Institute of Nuclear Physics, S. Tecla, Sicily, Italy: '5th European Summer School on Nuclear Astrophysics;' http://agenda.ct.infn.it/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=poster&confId=169.
Sep 20-30 — Department of Physics University of Rijeka, Scuola International, Rabac, Croatia: 'Summer School NOVICOSMO 2009;' http://www.novicosmo.org/novi09.pdf.
Sep 20 — Moon: 3.0° SSW of Spica; 08:00.
Sep 20 — Venus: 0.45° NNE of Regulus; 03:00.
Sep 20 — Asteroid (Closest Approach to Earth), 5050 Doctorwatson (1.187 AU); 5535 Annefrank (1.301 AU).
 
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Space Calendar Published Weekly, Mondays. ISSN 0741-1731. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © September 14, 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. Assistant Editor / Joseph Sulla. Marketing Editor / Michelle Gonella. Editor Assistant / Asia Becerra. Special Contributors: Hawaii Aloha. Australia / Kirby Ikin. Canada / Robert Richards. China, Asia / Chen Kan Arth. Europe-Russia / Theo Pirard. India, South Asia / Radhakrishna Rao, USA, Bill Carswell. www.spaceagepub.com, news@spaceagepub.com.