Category Archives: Events

“A Day in Space” – July 16, 2020 – National Space Society virtual event

An announcement from the National Space Society (NSS):

A Day in Space – NSS

Join us on July 16, 2020, for a remarkable event: A Day in Space, the first NSS live virtual speakers’ series!

This exciting, one-day virtual event will take you on a journey that begins with the Space Race, explores the solar system, examines the science and technology of human spaceflight, and looks at the future of space settlement. Exclusive bonus material will follow the premiere of A Day in Space. And best of all, it’s entirely FREE!

Guests include NSS leaders, Apollo astronauts and flight directors; engineers and scientists working on NASA’s planetary exploration programs; astrophysicists who search for habitable exoplanets; and educators, physicians, and investors focusing on the business and future of NewSpace and space settlement.

Besides the full-day premium event on July 16, those who sign up for A Day in Space will receive exclusive bonus content released in the following weeks—you can enter your email address at the A Day in Space website, https://adayinspace.nss.org/, to receive updates, bonus content, and a chance to win free books, meteorites and other cool space swag!

A Day in Space will be available across multiple platforms, including:

  • The NSS Facebook page
  • The NSS Youtube channel
  • The e360tv streaming TV network
  • e360tv’s Roku/AppleTV/Amazon Fire platforms
  • e360tv’s mobile streaming platforms
  • Space.com’s Youtube channel

More information can be found at the A Day in Space website, https://adayinspace.nss.org/. The presentation will be archived on the e360tv platform and the NSS Youtube page and website for future viewing.

We’ll see you at A Day in Space on July 16. For more information and to register for updates and prizes go to https://adayinspace.nss.org/

Featuring

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=== Space Art from C. Sergent Lindsey ===

Sweatshirt imprinted with “SpaceX Delivers the Goods” by C Sergent Lindsey.

Asteroid Day: June 30, 2020

The annual Asteroid Day returns again this Tuesday, June 30th: Asteroid Day LIVE 2020

Asteroid Day is held on 30 June each year to mark the date of Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history, the Siberia Tunguska event. Asteroid Day was co-founded by astrophysicist and famed musician Dr Brian May of the rock group QUEEN, Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, filmmaker Grig Richters, and B612 Foundation President Danica Remy, to educate the public about the importance of asteroids in our history and the role they play in the solar system. In 2016, with the leadership of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), the United Nations declared Asteroid Day to be a global day of education to raise awareness and promote knowledge in the general public about asteroids. Major events in past years have taken place in London, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Tanzania, Milan and Rimini, Italy; Garching, Germany; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; in addition to thousands of events worldwide.

Asteroid Day’s major partners include: Association of Space Explorers, B612 Foundation, Broadcasting Center Europe, EC GROUP, European Space Agency, Luxembourg Space Agency, OHB SE, and SES. Asteroid Day, Asteroid Day LIVE, Asteroid Day TV and SpaceConnectsUs are all programmes of Asteroid Foundation, a Luxembourg based non-profit.

The day’s Programme of presentations, interviews, and panel discussions will be hosted by Luxembourg and webcast at AsteroidDay on Twitch.TV.

This year, the event is a fully digital celebration of asteroid science and exploration. Panel discussions and one-on-one interviews with astronauts and world experts will be broadcast on 30 June 2020.

Each year Asteroid Day presents the public with a snap-shot of cutting-edge asteroid research from the largest telescopes on Earth to some of the most ambitious space missions. Topics of discussion this year include the acceleration in the rate of our asteroid discoveries and why it is set to accelerate even faster, the imminent arrival of samples from asteroid Ryugu and Bennu, the exciting preparations for the joint US-Europe mission to binary asteroid Didymos, and much more. 

Asteroids are the leftover remnants of the birth of the planets in the Solar System, and many are the shattered fragments of these diminutive proto-planets that never made it to maturity. “Asteroid exploration missions tell us about the birth of our own planet and reveal how asteroids can serve astronauts as stepping stones to Mars,” says Tom Jones, PhD, veteran astronaut and planetary scientist, and Asteroid Day Expert Panel member.

Each asteroid is an individual with its own story to tell. And that’s what Asteroid Day is all about: bringing those stories to the widest audience possible. “Space and science have been an endless source of inspiration for SES! This is one of the reasons why we and our partners continue to do extraordinary things in space to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth,” says Ruy Pinto, Chief Technology Officer at SES. “Through satellite broadcasting, we are able to reach millions of TV households and this enables us to unite people around science, space, and technology topics.”

“The valuable expertise of SES and BCE play a central role in making Asteroid Day an international success and enabling us to have a global conversation about space, space resources, and asteroids in these COVID-19 times.” says Mark Serres, the CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency.

The panel discussions include:

A highlight of this year’s events will be the official premier of the documentary Apollo 9 & Beyond (at Vimeo.com), which profiles Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart,  who has been a leader in efforts to deal with the threat of asteroid impacts on Earth:

In this profoundly beautiful and moving film, Apollo 9 Astronaut Rusty Schweickart discusses the Apollo 9 mission, his life-altering spacewalk, and our cosmic birth. Rusty describes testing the Lunar Module, the first true spaceship that would four month later land men on the moon, his historic spacewalk, the first EVA of the Apollo era, and the incredible beauty of the Earth from space.

Beyond the Apollo 9 mission itself, Rusty goes much deeper to explore the philosophical and evolutionary implications of humanity’s first steps into the cosmos, describing the powerful effects of his “five minutes” alone on the Lunar Module porch as he observed the Earth below and pondered the big questions of existence – questions he would come to answer back on Earth.

More at  Apollo 9 and Beyond Film – Rusty Schweickart – Asteroid Day.

Here is an infographic illustrating the rate of impacts on earth versus the size of the asteroids: Asteroid danger explained – ESA

Chart showing impact rate vs asteroid size. (Click for full size.) Credits: ESA

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Space Songs – Live concert from Air & Space Museum

The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum is hosting an online space music event tonight at 8:00 pm EDT: Space Songs: Through the Distance

Join the National Air and Space Museum Thursday, April 30 at 8 pm EDT for a YouTube concert event, sharing songs about space and isolation to celebrate how extreme situations can bring out the very best in us all and why there’s no challenge we can’t face together. This recorded concert, hosted by Tested’s Adam Savage, will feature special guests and performances by Sting, Clipping, Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast, Dan Deacon, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Valerie June, Lukas Nelson, Grace Potter, and Vagabon.

We know that people love space. And it’s not just because of Moon rocks and pretty pictures of the cosmos. Space exploration is an extraordinary expression of humanity and can inspire us like nothing else.

Naturally, there are a lot of great songs about spaceships and astronauts—about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances And many artists use solitude to fuel creativity and experimentation. We could all use a little bit of that inspiration right now. So while our museum remains closed to the public, we want to share some songs that inspire us with viewers at home.

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June 30th is Asteroid Day – Events start today

Asteroid Day is

… a dynamic awareness and educational program to inspire  the world about asteroids – their role in the formation of our universe, how we can use their resources, how asteroids can pave the way for future exploration and finally how we can protect our planet from asteroid impacts. Asteroid Day events are held on 30 June each year to mark the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska impact. Asteroid Day events are largely independently organized around the world for people of all ages and are mostly free-of-charge. Asteroid Day is a program run by the Asteroid Foundation, a Luxembourg nonprofit organization.

Asteroid Day 2019

June 30th is Asteroid Day, but many events are being held globally today through Sunday: Asteroid Day To Celebrate Fifth Anniversary with Thousands of Events Planned Worldwide to Raise Awareness about Asteroids, 27-30 June 2019.

The Asteroid Today channel is now live streaming: ADLIVE from Luxembourg


Watch live video from AsteroidDay on www.twitch.tv

Here is a schedule for Asteroid Day events and panels:

Follow developments and updates at Asteroid Day ☄ (@AsteroidDay) | Twitter.

A new film about asteroid research with next-gen telescopes is making its debut during Asteroid Day:

New Era of Cosmic Discovery” is a short film scheduled to be broadcasted as a part of the Asteroid Day 2019 live program from Luxembourg, from June 26th till July 2nd, 2019. Program schedule: asteroidday.org/broadcast-schedule/ Free streaming available via asteroidday.org/

We are on the brink of an era of cosmic discovery. A new generation of telescopes and astronomical surveys are yielding a 1000-fold increase in the amount of available astronomical data. At the University of Washington and the DiRAC Institute, a team of scientists are writing the software to identify and track objects in the sky that change with time. They are working with LSST [Large Synoptic Survey Telescope] to build the largest census of our Solar System ever undertaken.

Asteroid Day was

… co-founded in 2014, by Dr. Brian May, astrophysicist and lead guitarist of QUEEN, together with Danica Remy, President of B612 Foundation, Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 Astronaut, and filmmaker Grig Richters. In 2016, the United Nations officially designated Asteroid Day as the international day of awareness and education about asteroids. Together with the United Nations, space agencies, schools and universities Asteroid Day is organized by networks of supporters who host events worldwide on 30, June and any other day of the year that the independent groups determine.

To initially launch the Asteroid Day education programs in 2014, members of the asteroid community drafted and released a petition to gather public support for asteroid education and called on governments to accelerate the funding of asteroid discovery programs. Today, this petition, the 100X Asteroid Declaration, has been signed by hundreds of prominent individuals around the world, including leaders in science, technology, and business, and more than 125 astronauts.

Thanks to its partners and supporters, and particularly to the Government of Luxembourg, where the Foundation is headquartered, Asteroid Day has made significant strides educating the world about asteroids.  Through our work we share information and teach about the science, opportunities, and risks of asteroids. Since the first events in 2015, the movement has grown exponentially. Through Asteroid Day, we continue to inspire people and young minds to look up into the sky and to be excited about our Solar System.

Here is a video about the history of Asteroid Day narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson:

Asteroid Day 2019 Poster
Official Asteroid Day 2019 poster art.

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Delta-v

Update: Space Access 2019, April 18-21, Fremont, CA

Here is the latest update on the upcoming Space Access 2019 conference:

Less than two weeks till the Space Access 2019 conference, April 18-20 at the Fremont Marriott Silicon Valley in Fremont California.  Our near-final conference program is now available online.  Links to each day’s schedule:

Thursday 4/18/19 – The Entrepreneurial Revolution In Smallsat Launch
Friday 4/19/19 – Reusable Rocket Transport Networks in Earth-Moon Space
Saturday 4/20/19 – Getting There Faster: Advanced High Energy Propulsion

Overall conference info is at http://space-access.org/updates/sa2019info.html.

Register for the conference now and avoid the At-Door Registration line.  (Online registration ends after April 12th.)

Discount Hotel Rooms Available Again at the Marriott

Our SA2019 $130 per night discount Marriott room rate has been extended and is available for bookings through Wednesday April 10th.  Rooms are for the moment available at our rates for all nights of the conference, including a very limited number for Wednesday night 4/17.  Call (510) 413-3700, hit “1” for Reservations, and mention “Space Access 2019” to get the $130 rate.

(If they are again out of discount Wednesday rooms when you call, you may find an affordable Wednesday 4/17/19 rate nearby at this link.)

And, our Hospitality Space needs your help!  We’ve run into local budget problems with putting on our traditional Hospitality spread – Learn How You Can Help!

Hope to see you there!