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Vol 29, No 14
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Discovery STS-131 Set to Launch April 5 For ISS Rendez-Vous

The International Space Station (ISS) will welcome 7 more occupants if the launch of Discovery STS-131 on April 5 from Cape Canaveral FL is successful.  The 6 E-23 crew members will be joined by Cmdr Alex Poindexter, pilot Jim Dutton and mission specialists Rick Mastricchio, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Naoko Yamazaki and Clayton Anderson, bringing the total number onboard the ISS at 13. Discovery is set to deliver the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module containing science racks which will be transferred to labs on ISS as well as 6 other payloads (BL). The mission will also feature three 6 ½  hr spacewalks carried out by Mastricchio and Anderson to replace an ammonia tank assembly,  a rate gyro assembly on the S0 element of the ISS truss and to retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 marks the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 2nd to carry the most payloads since Columbia STS-107. STS-131 is also the 3rd mission to carry 3 female astronauts after STS-40 and STS-96. (Credit: NASA)

NewSpace Industry Meets in Arizona For 'Space Access 2010 Conference'

Much of the responsibility for basic space access has been passed to the USA commercial sector in the new White House plan for space exploration. Representatives of many of the companies who could help make this new policy successful will be meeting in Phoenix AZ on April 8-10 for 'Space Access 2010.' Space Access Society's annual conference on the technology, politics and business of radically cheaper access to space will feature a cross-section of leading players in the field discussing the latest advances in the fast-moving entrepreneurial NewSpace industry. This year's program features presentations by Dave Masten (TL) of Masten Space Co, John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace and Jeff Greason of XCOR Aerospace. An overview of Japan Space Developments will be given by Misuzu Onuki (BL) and Leik Myrabo (BC) will discuss International Collaboration with Brazil on Hypersonic Beamed Energy Propulsion. (Credit: XCOR, Masten Space, Armadillo Aerospace, spaceentreprenuers.com, Space Access Society)
THIS WEEK
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
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: Jupiter (E) / Evening Planets: Mercury (W), Venus (W), Mars (SW), Saturn (ESE).
 

MONDAY
Apr 5 — International Space Station, LEO: E-23 crew members prepare for upcoming arrival of Discovery STS-131 while conducting science experiments, maintenance and exercise activities; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html.
Apr 5 — NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar Orbit: LRO operating nominally in low polar orbit (50km) and continues to return global data of lunar surface; http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html.
Apr 5 — International Lunar Observatory Association, Hawai`i Island HI / Global:: Galaxy Forum 2010 Hilo HI; new date set confirmed for Sunday morning 23 May 10:30 - 12:30 at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center; featured speakers include Galaxy Educator Kumiko Usuda of Subaru Telescope, Native Hawaii cultural practitioners, ILOA, possible planetarium and observatory presentations; http://www.uahirise.org/hiwish/.
Apr 5 — Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Red Planet: HiWISH page from University of Arizona and NASA JPL allows the public to continue to request MRO HiRISE camera take photos of specific spots on Mars; http://www.uahirise.org/hiwish/.
Apr 5 — Launch Discovery STS-131 / 19A, Cape Canaveral FL: 33rd U.S. mission to the International Space Station set to carry a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module with supplies and experiments for utilization aboard the station; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html.
Apr 5-8 — NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA: '3rd Next Generation Conference: Industrial Structural Analysis;' http://ngec.arc.nasa.gov/NGEC-3.
Apr 5 — Cassini Titan Flyby, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts close flyby of Saturn moon Titan (altitude 7462 km);  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturntourdates/saturntourdates2010/.
Apr 5 — Moon: At Last Quarter; 23:37.
Apr 5 — Comet 81P / Wild 2: Closest Approach to Earth (0.673 AU).
Apr 5 — Asteroid 2009 HE60: Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU).
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.
TUESDAY
Apr 6 — NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston TX: 'Apollo 13 40th Commemoration Event;' http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/complete.htm.
Apr 6-8 — NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Beltsville MD: 'Titan Through Time,' topics to cover formation and early evolution, current evolution and Titan's fate;' http://titanworkshop.hostcell.net/agenda.html.
Apr 6 — Cassini Flyby, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts flyby of Dione, Mimas, Tethys, Calypso, Epimetheus & Janus; http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturntourdates/.
Apr 6 — Asteroid 2004 ER21: Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU).
WEDNESDAY
Apr 7 — The SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium Series Lecture: 'Starship Life Support,' Harry Jones; http://www.seti.org/csc/lectures.
Apr 7-8 — Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany: 'Steady Jets and Transient Jets: Characteristics and Relationship;' http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/mmassi/conference/jets2010/.
Apr 7-8 — ESA, London, United Kingdom: 'Exoplanet Roadmap Advisory Team Workshop: A Roadmap for Exoplanets;' http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=46568.
Apr 7-9 — Astrobiology Society of Britain, London, United Kingdom: '4th Astrobiology Conference: Building Habitable Worlds;' http://www.astrobiologysociety.org/component/content/article/22/288-register-for-the-asb4-in-2010.html.
Apr 7-10 — University of Florida, Gainesville FL: 'From Stars to Galaxies: Connecting Our Understanding of Star and Galaxy Formation;' http://conference.astro.ufl.edu/STARSTOGALAXIES/home.html.
THURSDAY
Apr 8 — Launch Dnepr / Cryosat 2, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: ISC Kosmotras Dnepr rocket set to launch ESA CryoSat 2 Earth observation satellite which will monitor precise changes in the polar ice caps / floating sea ice to determine the rate the planet's ice cover is diminishing; http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html.
NET Apr 8 — Launch Ariane 5 / Astra 3B & COMSATBw 2, Kourou, French Guiana: Arianespace Flight set to use an Ariane 5 rocket with cryogenic upper stage to launch Astra 3B direct-to-home television and broadband satellite for Europe and COMSATBw 2 communications satellite for the German military; http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html.
Apr 8 — WM Keck Observatory, Kamuela HI: 'Cosmic Dawn: The Quest for the First Galaxies,' Richard Ellis; http://keckobservatory.org/calendar.
Apr 8 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: 'Direct Measurements of Solar Activity in the Past 35,000 Years,' Devendra Lal; http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/seminars/#1437.
Apr 8-9 — International Astronautical Association, European Space Policy Institute, et al, Vienna, Austria: 'Regulatory Issues of Satellite Remote Sensing; http://www.espi.or.at/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99&Itemid=42.
Apr 8-10 — Space Access Society, Phoenix AZ: 'Space Access 2010 Conference,' the technology, politics and business of radically cheaper access to space; http://www.space-access.org/.
Apr 8-10 — Conrad Foundation, Moffett Field CA: 'Conrad Foundation Spirit of Innovation Awards,' Book signing with Anousheh Ansari;' http://www.conradawards.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=175&Itemid=269.
Apr 8-11 — Laboratory for Space and Microgravity Research, Madrid, Spain: 'All You Can Fly!;' http://fly.leem.es/.
Apr 8 — Moon: At Apogee (Distance 63.50 Earth-radii); 17:00.
FRIDAY
Apr 9 — NASA Kennedy Space Center, Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, Cape Canaveral FL: 'Apollo 13 40th Commemoration: Experience the Journey;' http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/40th-Anniversary-Apollo-13-Weekend.aspx.
Apr 9-10 — NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA: 'NASA Ames' 1st Education Day / Yuri's Night;' http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/about/index.html, http://ynba.org/.
Apr 9-10 — NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville AL: '17th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race;' http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov/.
Apr 9 — Moon: .80° SE of Asteroid 6 Hebe, 03:00; 3.8° NNW of Neptune, 12:00.
SATURDAY
Apr 10 — San Diego Space Society, Oceanside CA: 'Yuri's Night: San Diego,' commemorates humankind’s first venture into space, by Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961 and the launch of the first Space Shuttle by NASA exactly twenty years later; http://sandiegospace.org/category/calendar/.
Apr 10 — SETI Italy, Insubria University, et al, Varese, Italy: '50th Ozma Bioastronomy SETI;' http://setiitalia.altervista.org/ozmava.html.
Apr 10 — International Institute of Space Law, Washington DC: 'Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition,' North American Regional Rounds; http://www.spacemoot.org/currentfinal.htm.
Apr 10 — Cassini OTM-242, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #242 today; http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/.
Apr 10 — Asteroid 2004 FG11: Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU).
Apr 10 — Asteroid 4238 Audrey: Closest Approach to Earth (1.228 AU).
SUNDAY
Apr 11-17 — Apollo 13 40th Commemoration: On April 11, 1970, Astronauts James Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise embarked on the 3rd Apollo mission, 2 days later en route to the Moon, a faulty electrical system forced mission to be aborted; crew used lunar module as a lifeboat during return trip and splashed down safely on Earth Apr 17 making the mission a 'successful failure;' http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-13/apollo-13.html.
Apr 11 — New Mexico Museum of Space History, Alamogordo NM: '40th Commemoration of Apollo 13;' http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/events.php?view=detail&event_id=140.
Apr 11 — Brevard County Commission, Cocoa FL: Space Rally at the Cocoa Expo to support NASA budget increase; http://www.floridatoday.com/.
Apr 11 — Quasarchile, Santiago, Chile: Amateur astronomy adventure tour departure date; http://www.quasarchile.cl/fixed_departure_date_option.htm.
Apr 11-17 — The Moon Society, Milwaukee WI: 'Apollo 13 Moon Party 40th Commemoration;' http://www.moonsociety.org/.
Apr 11 — Moon: 5.5° NNW of Jupiter; 08:00.
Apr 11 — Asteroid 2003 TT9: Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU).
 
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Space Calendar Published Weekly, Mondays. ISSN 0741-1731. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © April 5, 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.