Category Archives: Events

Contests and Games, Events, Rocketry

130 student teams to compete in 2nd Annual Spaceport America Cup rocket competition

An announcement from Spaceport America:

Second Annual Spaceport America Cup Scheduled
for June 19-23 at Spaceport America, NM 
130 Teams of College and University Rocketeers from Around the Globe to Compete

SPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. (PRWEB) JUNE 13, 2018:  Student rocketeers from around the globe will gather at Spaceport America June 21-23 for the Second Annual Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition for student rocketry teams. The public in invited to meet the team and see their projects on June 19 in nearby Las Cruces, NM. Spaceport America is located between the cities of Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

More than 130 teams from US and international colleges and universities – including Canada, Egypt, Great Britain, India, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, Switzerland, as well as 31 of the 50 US States, plus the District of Columbia, and four of 13 Canadian provinces and territories – are registered. The competition will be challenging for the participants and exciting for spectators, as students will be launching solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets to target altitudes of 10,000 and 30,000 feet.

Among the events open to the public, under the auspices of the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association and Spaceport America, are:

  • Tuesday, June 19 – 8 am – 5 pm: Free admission. Come interact with students and view their projects at the Las Cruces Convention Center, 680 E University Ave, Las Cruces, NM 88001
  • Thursday-Saturday, June 21 – 23: Gates are open 8 am – 4 pm, dependent on weather conditions. Watch as rockets soar thru the sky and mingle with students in the spectator area. A three-day pass for adults is $20, with a one-day pass available for $10. For children in grades K-12, a three-day pass is $10; a one-day pass is $5.

Visit www.spaceportamericacup.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

About Spaceport America: Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world. The FAA-licensed launch complex, situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, has a rocket-friendly environment of 6,000 square miles of restricted airspace, low population density, a 12,000-foot spaceway, and 340 days of sunshine and low humidity. Some of the most respected companies in the commercial space industry are customers at Spaceport America: Virgin Galactic, United Launch Alliance, Boeing, UP Aerospace, EnergeticX, Pipeline2Space and EXOS Aerospace. Visit http://spaceportamerica.com for more information.
Spaceport America is #NewMexicoTRUE.

Follow Spaceport America on
Twitter: @Spaceport_NM
Facebook: @SpaceportNM
Instagram: @spaceport.america

About Las Cruces: Nestled in southern New Mexico’s Mesilla Valley between the Rio Grande River and Organ Mountains, Las Cruces is quickly becoming a popular southwestern destination, and is now emphasizing its close connections to space travel, including the First Annual Space Festival in April 2018, and a full-size replica of Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo on display near City Hall. Las Cruces blends a unique variety of such special events, attractions, culture and historical sites, as well as superb weather, with 350 days of sunshine per year. For more information on all Las Cruces has to offer, contact Visit Las Cruces at (575) 541-2150 or http://www.visitlascruces.com.

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Asteroids & Comets, Events, Space participation

Asteroid Day – June 30, 2018

Saturday June 30th is Asteroid Day: 

Asteroid Day is a global awareness campaign where people from around the world come together to learn about asteroids, the impact hazard they may pose, and what we can do to protect our planet, families, communities, and future generations from future asteroid impacts. Asteroid Day is held each year on the anniversary of the largest impact in recent history, the 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia. 

In this brief video, Neil deGrasse Tyson tells the story behind Asteroid Day.

Here is a list and map of Asteroid Day events around the world: Plan your Event | Asteroid Day.

All around the globe, regionally organised events are held on Asteroid Day. These events range from live concerts and community events, to lectures and other educational programmes, to raise public awareness of the need for increased detection and mapping of asteroids.

Check out the set of resources including infographics, class lesson plans, paper models, etc : Asteroid Day Resources.

Submit a question to the Asteroid Day Expert Panel:

The Asteroid Day Expert Panel is chaired by Physicist Dr. Mark Boslough (left) and consists of 16 world–class asteroid experts. They oversee the scientific information Asteroid Day is publicising to guarantee accuracy.  They are always happy to answer any asteroid related questions you may have.

Get updates at

Here is the movie 51 Degrees North which

 inspired Asteroid Day. It was directed by co-founder Grigorij Richters and the music was composed by Dr. Brian May. We are proud to present to you this alternate version of the film, by Discovery Science. As an event organiser you can have access to download both the full length film (88 minutes) or the 45 minute (Discovery Science) version. Event organizers must fill out this form to download the movie.


51 Degrees North – Full movie, free. from Asteroid Day on Vimeo.

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Activism, Events, Space participation

International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2018)

The National Space Society is holding its annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2018) this week in Los Angeles, California at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, May 24-27, 2018. There is still time to sign up.

The big list of speakers includes many top movers in NewSpace including Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and SpaceX engine development leader Tom Mueller.

The packed schedule begins each day with a plenary talk and then splits into multiple parallel tracks covering most any topic of interest in space exploration, development, and settlement.

On The Space Show, Thursday, 05/17/2018, Aggie Kobrin and Dave Dressler talked about the “ISDC 2018 programming, logistics, keynote speakers, exhibits, space settlement and much more”.

Events, Space Arts, Space films and videos

Chesley Bonestell documentary to debut at Newport Beach Film Festival

A new documentary movie about pioneering space artist Chesley Bonestell will debut May 1st at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

The film is titled Chesley Bonestell: A Brush With The Future:

Behind every architect and builder is an artist who takes designs and ideas, morphing them into beautiful images for everyone to understand. Chesley Bonestell was this artist, yet very few know his name. He worked on the Golden Gate Bridge and the Chrysler Building, as a matte artist on famous movies like Citizen Kane, and his mesmerizing paintings of planets and star systems helped jumpstart America’s space program. His iconic “Saturn As Seen From Titan”, became known as “the painting that launched a thousand careers.” Discover the power of the forgotten man whose art inspired Americans to conquer “The Final Frontier”.

“Saturn As Seen From Titan” by Chesley Bonestell

Note that back in 2013 the AIAA Houston Section‘s Horizons Newsletter posted hi-res reproductions of the famous and influential series of articles on spaceflight by Wernher von Braun in Colliers Magazine in 1952-54, which included many illustrations by Bonestell. I wrote about this in these postings:

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Events, Space participation

Yuri’s Night – World Space Party : Celebrate “humanity’s past, present, and future in space”

The annual Yuri’s Night – World Space Party happens this week in honor of the first human – Yuri Gagarin – to go into space on April 12, 1961.

Yuri’s Night is the World Space Party. We hope to see you dream, explore, and celebrate with us at the hundreds of YN events held around the world each April.

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!”  — Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space.

Find a party near you at yurisnight.net/events/

Here is a message from the National Space Society about the global event:

The National Space Society has teamed with Yuri’s Night!

The crew of Expedition 27 celebrates Yuri’s Night aboard the International Space Station in 2011

The National Space Society invites you to celebrate Yuri’s Night in your local area. Yuri’s Night is a global celebration of humanity’s past, present, and future in space. Yuri’s Night parties and events are held around the world every April in commemoration of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to venture into space on April 12, 1961, and the inaugural launch of the first Space Shuttle on April 12, 1981.

Yuri’s Night events combine space-themed partying with education and outreach. These events can range from an all-night mix of techno and technology at a NASA Center, to a movie showing and stargazing at your local college, to a gathering of friends at a bar or barbecue.

In 2011, the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight, over 100,000 people attended 567 officially-recognized events in 75 countries on all 7 continents, while tens of thousands more watched the 12-hour live Yuri’s Night Global Webcast and participated online in the virtual world of Second Life.

The list of North American events this year can be accessed at https://yurisnight.net/events/#north_america

Yuri’s Night would like to thank the National Space Society for helping make Yuri’s Night in Los Angeles on April 7 the best event ever in the long history of Los Angeles Yuri’s Nights. The massive dance under the space shuttle Endeavour was truly awesome. (For details see www.la.yurisnight.net.)

This is just the beginning! On April 13 the Yuri’s Night celebration will rock the Space Coast in Florida with a dance under the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Help the National Space Society make this party one for the history books.

For more information and to get tickets see www.la.yurisnight.net/spacecoast.

Chantelle Baier
Director, National Space Society
Event Coordinator, Yuri’s Night