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Vol 29, No 13
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Expedition 23 Crew to Launch to ISS Aboard Soyuz TMA-18

3 remaining E-23 flight engineers are scheduled to launch aboard a Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft from Baikonur, Kazakhstan to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 2. Russian Cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov (BC) and Mikhail Kornienko (BR) along with NASA Astronaut Tracy Caldwell (BL) are set to arrive at the ISS on April 4 to join E-23 crew members Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi and Timothy Creamer who have been in orbit for 4 months. Once aboard the ISS, crew members will conduct more preparations for the arrival of Shuttle Discovery STS-131 set to launch from Cape Canaveral FL on Apr 5. STS-131 will be delivering the most payloads since Columbia STS-107, including a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and several on-board payloads. Beginning Mar 31, NASA TV will air crew activities from Baikonur, including Soyuz rocket mating and rollout, prelaunch activities, crew interviews and news conferences.  TMA-18 will be the 105th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft which will be docked at the ISS for 6 months to serve as an emergency escape vehicle. (Credit: NASA, RSA)

NASTAR Center Training Amateur Astronauts for Suborbital Space Flight

Virgin Galactic, one of several companies preparing to begin commercial suborbital flights in the coming years, has plans to send many thousands of astronauts into space in its 1st 10 years of operation. 330 amateur astronauts have already made a US$20,000 deposit to reserve their spot on one of the first flights, expected in 2011 or 2012. To prepare these future astronauts for the suborbital experience, NASTAR Center is offering a series of 2-day Space Flight Trainings for US$5,800 per person. The next scheduled training will take place at NASTAR's Philadelphia PA location on 29-30 March. Additional flights are scheduled for May, Jun, Jul, Sep, Nov and Dec. Trainees will be taught to manage the stresses imposed on their body during space flight through instruction and practice of comprehensive techniques used by NASA astronauts. The program culminates with 2 space flights on the NASTAR Space Training Simulator, STS-400 (CR). Pictured: NASTAR President Dick Leland (TL). (Credit: NASTAR, Virgin Galactic)

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: Saturn (S) / Evening Planets: Mercury (W), Venus (W), Mars (S), Saturn (ESE).
 

MONDAY
Mar 29 — International Space Station, LEO: E-23 crew prepares for the arrival of 3 more crew members; RSA Cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko and NASA Astronaut Tracy Caldwell; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html.
Mar 29 — NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar Orbit: LRO functioning nominally from lower mapping orbit (50 km) as scientists continue to analyze data and images; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html.
Mar 29 — Mars Rover Opportunity, Red Planet: Scientists continue to study an influx of data received from Mars Rover Opportunity after uploading Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) software which gives the rover control to make its own decisions on targets of interest; http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/NASA_Mars_Rover_Getting_Smarter_As_It_Gets_Older_999.html.
Mar 29-30 — NASTAR Center, Philadelphia PA: 'NASTAR 2-Day Space Training Program;' http://www.nastarcenter.com/2dayspace.php.
Mar 29-31 — ASTRON, NAIC, Groningen, The Netherlands: 'RFI Mitigation Workshop 2010;' http://www.astron.nl/rfi/.
Mar 29-Apr 1 — Applied Technology Institute, Cape Canaveral FL: 'GPS Technology: Solutions for Earth and Space;' http://www.aticourses.com/gps_technology.htm.
Mar 29-Apr 1 — Institute of Physics, Windermere, United Kingdom: '37th IOP Annual Conference on Plasma Physics;' http://plasma10.iopconfs.org/index.html.
Mar 29-Apr 2 — Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara CA: 'Exoplanets Rising: Astronomy and Planetary Science at the Crossroads;' http://content.asce.org/conferences/earthspace2010/index.html.
Mar 30 — Moon: Full Moon; Hoku I Hinaiaeleele; 16:25.
Continued from . . .
Jan 30 — Museum of Science and Industry, Confucius Institute / University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom: 'Exhibition: From Gunpowder to Space Rockets - The China Space Program,' includes models of ancient rockets, recent satellites, rockets, space ships and a lunar rover; through Aug 7; http://www.mosi.org.uk/whats-on/china-space-exhibition.
Mar 22 — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, Austria: '49th Session of the Legal Subcommittee 2010;' through Apr 1; http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/Legal/2010/index.html.
Mar 23 — The University of Utah, Snowbird UT: '2010 Snowbird Workshop on Particle Astrophysics, Astronomy and Cosmology;' through Apr 2; http://www.physics.utah.edu/snowpac/.
Mar 28 — ESA, Les Houches, France: 'Workshop Mars III,' Aims to integrate main results of recent Earth-based observations and missions to Mars (MarsExpress, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Phoenix and Mars Exploration Rovers) into a new global picture of Mars evolution; through Apr 2; http://www.rssd.esa.int/index.php?project=MARSEXPRESS&page=planet_mars3.
TUESDAY
Mar 30 — NASA Advisory Council, Washington DC: 'NASA Advisory Council Commercial Space Committee Meeting;' http://www.nasa.gov/offices/nac/home/index.html.
Mar 30 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: 'Microelectronics Presentation Days;' http://www.nasa.gov/offices/nac/home/index.html.
Mar 30 — Moon: 3.0°SSW of Spica; 16:00.
WEDNESDAY
Mar 31 — The SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium Series Lecture: 'Primordial Ice Reservoirs of the Solar System,' David Jewitt; http://www.seti.org/csc/lectures.
Mar 31 — National Science Foundation, Online: Call for Nominations Deadline for 2010 National Medal of Science; http://aas.org/node/1469.
Mar 31-Apr 2 — The National Academies, Irvine CA: 'Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space;' http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/meetingview.aspx?MeetingID=3831&MeetingNo=6.
THURSDAY
Apr 1 — NASA Voyager 1 & 2, Deep Space: Flight system performance for Voyager 1 & 2 still nominal; Voyager 1 traveling a total distance of 21,722,000,000 km since Sep 5, 1977 launch and Voyager 2 traveling 20,715,000,000 km since Aug 20, 1977 launch; http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/.
Apr 1 — Russian Space Agency, Baikonur, Kazakhstan: Prelaunch news conference and Russian State Commission meeting; http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/mar/HQ_M10-042_Soyuz_TV_Coverage.html.
Apr 1 — Adler Planetarium, Chicago IL: 'Announcement of winners for Adler / ComEd 'Shoot for the Moon Essay Contest;' http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/special/index.shtml.
FRIDAY
NET Apr 2 — Launch Soyuz TMA-18 / ISS 22S, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Soyuz rocket set to launch manned Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft to the International Space Station with members of Expedition 23; http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html.
Apr 2 — Cassini OTM-241, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #241 today; http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/.
SATURDAY
Apr 3 — Zero Gravity Corporation, Washington DC: Commercial weightless flight onboard G Force One at Dulles International Airport; http://www.gozerog.com/.
Apr 3 — Mercury: 1.6° N of Antares, 00:00; 3.0° WNW of Venus, 22:00.
Apr 3 — Asteroid 2010 EE43: Near-Earth Flyby (0.076 AU).
SUNDAY
Apr 4 — Easter Sunday
Apr 4 — San Diego Air and Space Museum, San Diego CA: 'The Science of Aliens,' participants to learn about alien fiction, science, worlds and communication, each giving a different insight into the subject of extraterrestrial life; http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/upcoming/scienceofaliens.
 
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Space Calendar Published Weekly, Mondays. ISSN 0741-1731. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © March 29, 2010. 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. 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.