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Vol 29, No 17
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Progress Launch and the Future of ISS Cargo Delivery

A Soyuz Rocket (BR) will launch the 37th Progress (TR) cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station on April 28 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will then dock with the station on May 1. With a total payload limit of 3200 kg, the reliable Progress spacecraft has been integral in helping the ISS program maintain an uninterrupted human presence since Nov 2, 2000. In June 2010, the ISS will overcome Mir's record of 9 years and 257 days of continuous human occupation and current plans project the maintenance of 6-person crew operations through 2020. With the retirement of the USA Space Shuttle next year, future crews will have to rely on many more visits of Progress spacecraft as well as ESA's ATV (CL), Japan's HTV and the still-to-be-proven Space X Dragon (BL) and Orbital Science Corporation Cygnus capsules. ESA is planning to launch the 2nd ATV 'Johannes Kepler' on an Ariane 5 launcher during the end of 2010 with 6.6 metric tons of wet and dry cargo. Space X is scheduled to launch the first Dragon capsule via a Falcon 9 rocket NET Jul 21 on a 4.5 hour test flight. If successful, it will begin regular cargo operations in 2011. (Credit: NASA, SpaceX)

6th Astrobiology Science Conference to Address Evolution and Life in the Universe

The Astrobiology community will have the opportunity to share new discoveries and insight as they gather for 'Astrobiology Science Conference 2010’ in League City TX, April 26-29. Sponsored by NASA’s Astrobiology Program as well as The Lunar and Planetary Institute and Universities Space Research Association, the biennial, international event will comprise of over 500 presentations and 38 poster sessions from scientists studying the origin, evolution and future of life in the universe.  This year’s conference theme, ‘Evolution and Life: Surviving Catastrophes and Extremes on Earth and Beyond,’ will focus on the environmental, chemical, biological, physical and social factors that affect the pace and course of evolutionary change. Speakers include University of Arizona Professor Chris Impey (TL) to discuss the next 50 years of Astrobiology and NASA JPL Scientist Kevin Hand (CL) who will present on the potential of life on Jupiter moon Europa. (Credit: NASA, LPI, UA)
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: Venus (WNW), Mars (SW), Saturn (S).
 

MONDAY
Apr 26 — International Space Station, LEO: Expedition 23 crew members focused on maintenance activities and science experiments as they prepare for arrival of ISS Progress 37 which will bring to the station 870 kg of propellant, 50 kg of oxygen and air, 100 kg of water and 1375 kg of spare parts and experiment hardware; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html.
Apr 26 — NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar Orbit: LRO continues to return global data of lunar surface while operating nominally at low polar orbit (50km); http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html.
Apr 26 — International Lunar Observatory Association, Hawai`i Island HI / Global:
Apr 26 — Mars, Red Planet: Scientists continue study of Mars' Olympus Mons, the solar systems largest volcano (27km) suggesting that the mountain may yet have some ongoing volcanic activity; http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/04/mars-olympus-mons-the-solar-systems-most-massive-volcano-mars-.html.
Apr 26-27 — NASA Advisory Council, Washington DC: Meeting: 'NAC Exploration Committee;' http://www.spaceref.com/calendar/.
Apr 26-28 — The National Academies, Knoxville TN: 'Planetary Science Decadal Survey Meeting: Primitive Bodies Panel;' http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/meetingview.aspx?MeetingID=3825&MeetingNo=4.
Apr 26-29 — NASA Astrobiology, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, League City TX: 'Astrobiology Science Conference 2010: Evolution and Life - Surviving Catastrophes and Extremes on Earth and Beyond;' http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/abscicon2010/.
Apr 26-29 — National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine: '17th Young Scientists' Conference on Astronomy & Space Physics;' http://ysc.kiev.ua/.
Apr 26-30 — Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY: 'Workshop on P- and CP-odd Effects in Hot and Dense Matter;' http://www.bnl.gov/riken/hdm/.
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.
Apr 25 — American Astronomical Society Division of Dynamical Astronomy, Boston MA: 'The 2010 Meeting of the Division on Dynamical Astronomy;' through Apr 29; http://dda.harvard.edu/meetings/2010/.
Apr 25 — Geospatial Information Technology Association, Phoenix AZ: 'Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference 2010: Not Your Father's GIS Conference;' through Apr 29; http://www.gita.org/gis/.
Apr 25 — American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics, Huntsville AL: 'Space Ops 2010 Conference: Delivering on the Dream,' hosted by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; through Apr 30; http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=1.
Apr 25 — European Science Foundation, Leopold Franzens University, et al, Obergurgl, Austria: 'Putting our Solar System in Context: Origin, Dynamical and Physical Evolution of Multiple Planet Systems;' through Apr 30; http://www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/partnerships/esf-fwf-conferences-in-partnership-with-lfui.html.
TUESDAY
Apr 27-29 — International X-Ray Observatory, Paris, France: 'International X-Ray Observatory Science Meeting;' http://ixomeeting.cesr.fr/.
Apr 27 — Cassini Enceladus Flyby, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts close flyby of Saturn moon Enceladus (altitude 99 km);  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturntourdates/saturntourdates2010/.
Apr 27 — Moon: 2.9° SSW of Spica; 03:00.
Apr 27 — Asteroid Near-Earth Flyby: 2010 GE35 (0.026 AU); 2010 GS7 (0.067 AU).
WEDNESDAY
Apr 28 — Launch Soyuz / Progress 37P, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Russia Progress 37 cargo spacecraft delivers supplies to ISS crew; http://www.spaceflightnow.com/tracking/index.html.
Apr 28 — Indian Space Research Organization, Bengaluru, India: 'Indian Small Satellite Systems Conference 2010;' http://www.isro.gov.in/pdf/SmallSatelliteConference.pdf.
Apr 28 — The SETI Institute, Mountain View CA: Colloquium Series Lecture: 'PAH's and the Diffuse Interstellar Bands: From the Laboratory to Space' Farid Salama; http://www.seti.org/csc/lectures.
Apr 28 — The National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC: 'Mars Rovers Update,' John Grant; http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=1857.
Apr 28-29 — Malaysian Remote Sensing Society (MRSS), University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: '6th MRSS International Remote Sensing & GIS Conference and Exhibition;' http://spatial.upm.edu.my/mrss2010/ocs/index.php/IC/2010.
Apr 28-30 — ESA, Innsbruck, Austria: ' Workshop on Cold-Regions Hydrology;' http://www.congrex.nl/10c06/.
Apr 28-30 — Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, Adler Planetarium, et al, Chicago IL: ' Exploring the Universe Bit by Bit: New Directions and uses of Astronomy Visualization Software;' http://kicp-workshops.uchicago.edu/universe2010/.
Apr 28 — Moon: Full Moon; 02:18.
THURSDAY
Apr 29 — The Institute of Engineering and Technology, London, England: 'GNSS-10 Conference: The Future of Satellite Navigation;' http://www.theiet.org/events/2010/gnss.cfm.
Apr 29 — University of Houston - Clear Lake, Houston TX: 'Space Center Lecture Series: Apollo 13 - Anatomy Of The Failure,' Sy Liebergot; http://spacecenterlectureseries.com/future.html.
Apr 29 — The National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC: 'Impact Cratering and the Solar System Cataclysm,' Robert Strom; http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=1768.
Apr 29 — Cassini OTM-245, Saturn Orbit: Spacecraft conducts Orbital Trim Maneuver #245 today; http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/.
Apr 29 — Asteroid 2002 JR100: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU).
FRIDAY
Apr 30 — Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston TX: 'Life and Energy: The Importance of Power,' Tori Hoehler; http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/seminars/#1526.
Apr 30 — Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA), Houston TX: 'RNASA Foundation Annual Awards Banquet,' Keynote Speaker Charles Bolden; http://www.rnasa.org/press.
Apr 30-May 2 — New Hampshire Astronomical Society, Concord NH: 'AstroFest 2010;' http://www.nhastro.com/astrofest.php.
Apr 30 — Moon: 1.9° NNE of Antares; 12:00.
Apr 30 — Asteroid 2010 FF10: Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU).
Apr 30 — Asteroid 9769 Nautilus: Closest Approach to Earth (0.082 AU).
SATURDAY
May 1 — Deep Space: Scientists continue to study data and recreate new model of Earth-sized Extrasolar planet GJ 436b to explain why the planet lacks methane, an ingredient common to the planets in our solar system; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100421131339.htm.
May 1 — Dayton Challenger Center, Dayton OH: '2nd Annual Space Day;' http://www.challenger.org/clc/lc_profile.cfm?lc_id=52.
May 1-2 — NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA: 'California's Climate Education Conference;' http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm?page=130.
SUNDAY
May 2-6 — Los Alamos National Laboratory, Santa Fe NM: '2010 Beam Instrumentation Workshop;' http://www.lanl.gov/conferences/biw10/.
May 2-7 — European Geosciences Union (EGU), Vienna, Austria: 'EGU General Assembly 2010;' http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2010/.
May 2 — Venus: 6.4° N of Aldebaran; 19:00.
May 2 — Moon: 1.7° SE of Asteroid 1 Ceres; 11:00.
May 2 — Asteroid 2007 DB61: Near-Earth Flyby (0.090 AU).
 
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