Category Archives: Events

Activism, Events, Mars

Humans 2 Mars Summit – April 22-24, 2014 in Washington D.C.

The next Humans 2 Mars Summit will take place on April 22-24, 2014 at George Washington University (GW).

2014 H2M is being co-sponsored by the George Washington University and the Space Policy Institute at GW.

H2M 2014 will continue the discussion started at the 2013 H2M Summit to explore how humanity can land on Mars by the 2030’s. This event will feature discussions on new concepts of Mars architectures, updates on science missions and objectives, planetary protection, In Situ Resource Utilization, human factors, international cooperation, and a myriad of other topics.

H2M2013-poster

The Summit examines the question

What do we need to land humans on Mars by 2030? If you want to know the answer, we invite  you to join us at the Humans to Mars Summit.
H2M will be a comprehensive Mars exploration conference to address the major technical, scientific, and policy-related challenges that need to be overcome to send humans to Mars by 2030. This summit will be one of the most authoritative and diverse Mars exploration conferences ever held, with involvement of key contributors from NASA, industry, the science community, and non-traditional players. Expect to rub shoulders with both established aerospace leaders as well as newer commercial space entity leaders.
The 2013 Summit talks are available at  Panel Presentations | Humans2Mars
Events, History, Space Policy

Conference on human spaceflight at US Naval Academy

The 2013 U.S. Naval History Conference  Past,  Present and Future of Human Space Flight is underway this morning at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The first panel includes Jim Lovell, Bob Crippen, Bob Cabana, Ken Ham, moderator David Hartman.

Find notes on the event sessions at:

Update: Here’s another conference underway, the theme of which undermines some of the statements in the first session of the above conference about HSF deteriorating in the US: Workshop on Golden Spike Human Lunar Expeditions: Opportunities for Intensive Lunar Scientific Exploration

Events, Rocketry

Rocket Boys Festival – Beckley, West Virginia – Oct.4-6

The Rocket Boys Festival (Oct. 4-6) is on again:

THE ROCKETS BOYS ARE COMING AGAIN!!!

The October Sky Rocket Boys Festival (OSRBF) will again be held in Beckley, West Virginia after last year’s move to Raleigh County from McDowell County. The home of the OSRBF will again be the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine at New River Park in Beckley, West Virginia. After hosting the event for the past 13 years, the Festival Committee in Coalwood, WV decided it was no longer viable to continue the festival there and in 2012 the festival was moved to Beckley.

The 2013 Festival will feature four of the Rocket Boys plus other special guests to be added to the the schedule later in 2013. As in the past, festival goers will have a chance to meet the Rocket Boys, enjoy music by area performers, and shop craft and food vendors. One of the featured highlights will be a Rocket Launch from New River Park’s LaunchPad Beckley. Additionally, the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine will be open to the festival vistors who wish to travel underground to get a first hand look at how coal was mined.

The event is inspired by Homer Hickam‘s book/movie Rocket Boys/October Sky/Rocket Boy. He will participate in the festivities.

Events, Rockets, Space Systems

SpaceX launches upgraded Falcon 9 v.1.1 rocket

A big Sunday for NewSpace . Here is a video of the successful launch of the SpaceX upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 with new engines, 16 m longer stages, new fairing, etc.

http://youtu.be/uFefasS6bhc

Events, Multiple media, Space Systems

Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo module captured with ISS robotic arm

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Congratulations to Orbital Sciences and NASA on the successful capture of the Cygnus module by the robotic arm under the control of US astronaut Karen Nyberg and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano.

The module will be slowly brought up to the Harmony module for berthing around 9:00 am EDT.

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[ Update Sept.30.13: Here is a NASA video of highlights of the capture and berthing:

]

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It’s a busy day for NewSpace. At noon today, SpaceX is scheduled to launch its upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 for the first time.

NewSpace Watch, for which I am the managing editor, reports daily on exciting developments in commercial spaceflight like the Cygnus mission and Falcon 9 launch. Costs are dropping and capabilities are rising with the innovations by companies such as these that are pursuing innovative ways to reach and develop space. Subscribe for just $4.95 per month.